Happy third week of Dungeon 23! this week we stretch up to the third and fourth floors of the Fortress of Ytrigall. Here we find the Fortress's true purpose, to guard the entrance the Crucible itself. Besides the Wargate that guards the bridge into the dungeon proper we also get the residence level, throne room, and many other fun odds and ends. With next week's map already complete I'm looking forward to the end of the month, and the start of the Crucible proper. Read on and enjoy!
Week 3: The Third and Fourth Floor
1/15: The Altar of Heroes and the Wargate
The third floor of the keep is mainly accessible via the large
staircase on the second floor. The staircase extends upwards to the living
quarters. The large room that makes up the main body of the keep is anchored by
large stone pillars that have been carved in bas relief to show a great army of
warriors and war wizards triumphing over demonic forces. The capitals of the
pillars have been carved to resemble the stacked helmets of fallen warriors.
The walls here are lined by arrow loops, and a massive stone altar takes up the
northern wall. The altar has been carved to show a scene of the gods coming
down from their sacred mountain to do battle alongside mortal warriors. The
mortal warriors are carved in gray and blue stone, while the gods are carved of
white marble and have blue gemstones for eyes. The Sun God wields a golden sun
disk as a shield.
-There are eight
small sapphires (100 gp each) and the Sun God’s golden disk (500gp) still
attached to the altar. The statues of the gods are all trapped. The noses of
each statue are pressure triggers which will release a cloud of Fear Gas (save
vs. paralysis or run away in fear for 1d4 rounds in a random direction) if touched
while prying the gems from their eyes. The golden disk of the Sun God is
attached to his hand, which is separated from the arm at the wrist. A pull rod
inside the arm attached to the stone hand holding the disk will trigger the
same gas to release if the disk is pulled on. A conspicuous circular-shaped
depression on the back of the altar can be fitted with the copper disk from
room 1/16 and twisted to disarm the trap entirely.
A massive double-sided fireplace on the southern wall, used to
heat up the entire floor. The Wargate can be seen through the fireplace on the
other side. A small door in the
southeastern corner and a large double door on the southwest side are the only
ways out of this room. The small north door to the eastern room is stuck. The
room’s walls and floor are covered in a dark green moss-like plant with fuchsia
flowers that clings to every surface of the room, hindering movement. Through
an open arch, a tiled throne sits in silence, its magnificent tiles displaying
alternating patterns of jaunty black dogs and green and black lozenges. Beside the
throne, there is a lever to lock and unlock the gate on the southwestern side
of the room. In the southeastern corner edge of the room, a door leads to the
wall walk beyond. This room contains 1d12 giant cockroaches in their
nest.
-If these flowers are collected and crushed and mixed with water, they can then be boiled down into a thick syrup. This syrup, when drank, will give the imbiber extremally restful and relaxing sleep. The drinker heals one additional hit point after 8 hours of rest.
The Wargate occupies the majority of the southern half of the
keep on this floor. It extends out over the walls, a long stone bridge
connecting it to a carved gaping Medusa’s face on the mountainside that serves as the entrance to
the Crucible proper. The fortress’s main reason to exist is to guard the
cliffside entrance to the yawning dungeon. To this end, a large metal cage, its
gate long since removed, surrounds the entrance to the bridge proper. Besides
the massive fireplace, the main feature in this room is a rather haphazard
still, its once-coppery surface now weathered to a bright green hue. A rickety
10’ ladder allows access to the large tub that the still drains into. The tub
is half full of a clear, potent-smelling liquid. A table and two chairs have
been placed in the southern corner, and a chest can be found near the
southwestern door to the wall walk. There is a small pillar next to the
fireplace, its thin diameter displaying the fading colors of spring flowers. A
locked gate allows entrance to the southeastern room of the keep. 2d6 kobolds
are building a large fire underneath the still.
-The distilled
liquid in the tub is an exceptionally high-proof alcohol that the kobolds are
distilling in order to make firebombs with. The chest contains 500 dirty copper
pieces in it.
1/16: The Gatehouse
Besides the wall walk, entrance to this floor of the gatehouse
can be accomplished through the spiral staircase in the northern room. Other
than the staircase, a large brass brazier and some empty wine bottles are the
only things of note in this room. Three doors on the southern wall lead to
three separate rooms. The western room has been ransacked, its crates and
barrels ripped apart for firewood. A severed humanoid leg rots under all the
dried wood, though no blood stains the stones here. The middle room is empty,
save for a curious collection of candles and candle wax on the ceiling as
though the gravity in this room is reversed (it is not). The eastern
room of the gatehouse contains the remnants of a large poster bed, a small end
table, a moldy rotting chair with side table, and a chest. A nice, glazed
window survives in this room too.
-Inside the
chest, an engraved copper disk with ragged grooves carved into it can be found.
The disk can be used to disarm the altar trap in room 1/15.
1/17: The Belltower
A small trap door allows entrance into this room from below.
The interior of the tower is lined with slatted shutters to allow the bell to
be heard from without. The bell itself has been scribed with holy runes of
protection. As long as the bell sounds, no one in earshot can cast arcane
magic. There is also an ornately carved chest in the corner with an elaborate
lock.
-The chest is
trapped. There are two false rivets on either side of the lock. If they are
depressed when the chest is opened, they will prevent the trap from firing. If
tripped, the trap will shoot a small stream of acid at the opener. (Save vs.
Breath Weapons or take 1d8 damage from the acid.) Inside the chest is Mace
+1 of Disruption.
1/18: The Southeastern
Tower
The southeastern tower has 25’ tall ceilings with a
high-gabled roof. The room is entered through either the western doorway (the
door now laying on the floor here), or the northern door. Alternatively, the
room below this one can also be used to enter through a spiral stairway. Atop
the table in the northeastern corner of the room, an empty pipe rack and a
mound of various bird feathers can be found. A large loom in the northwestern
corner holds a half-finished tapestry depicting some sort of magic runes. It’s
not clear what enchantment was being woven, however. Through a small door on
the eastern side of the room is to a small cell, its glazed windows letting in the
only natural light in the room. There is an old cot frame, a slim table covered
in wax, a muddy brown rug, and a small chest in this room. The sound inside seems
noticeably muted compared to everywhere else in the fortress.
-Detect
Magic reveals the
rug to be enchanted with a lesser form of Silence, allowing it to greatly reduce sound within 10’ of it.
1/19: The Walls and Tower Tops
The fortifications end here at the third story. The three smaller towers and the outer wall’s edge are all crenulated to allow defenders better cover against besiegers. Most of the doors to the tower tops are still there, though the northwestern towers have been broken or pulled down. There are rain barrels on each tower top, though they are either empty or too dark and brackish to think about drinking from. Because the inner-wall edge is not crenulated, a few small ledges have been built on the inside edge to allow defenders to fire on attackers who happen breach the fortress. Similar-looking cantilevered covered rooms hang over the back wall and southwestern tower respectively. These are garderobes-- toilet pits that hang over the fortress walls to allow waste to be easily disposed of. The western garderobe has a 100' of old rope tied inside, snaking down through the hole to the outside of the fortress.
1/20: The Residence
A stone staircase leads up from the floor below, entering on a
resplendent throne room. Two small plinths near the northern wall are topped
with statues of warriors in antiquated armor wielding barbed swords. Beyond
this, atop a small dais, a stout table and two large, tiled thrones can be seen.
A resplendent tapestry hangs behind the throne, depicting a large gathering of
nobles. The family’s crest is on another tapestry that is hanging behind the two
statues. The crest shows a rampant black griffin with five yellow lightning
bolts clutched between its claws on a blood-red field. A large set of double
doors on the southern wall separates this space from the living quarters
proper. Four heavy steel spikes have been driven through the lintel and into
the doors to wedge them closed. Next to the stairs on the western side of the
room, there is a locked door to the buttery.
-Each statue is
worth 250 gp and weighs roughly 250 lbs. The tapestries will hold their luster
and signs of quality for a day, appearing to be worth 400 and 200 gp respectively.
After a few days have passed, they reveal themselves to be enchanted by magic
to appear in better shape than they are. The tapestries are, in truth, little
more than rags. The buttery door can be opened with any standard skeleton key.
Inside are trunks of bottles and barrels of many fine vintages, including: four
bottles of Kelkistio Elginberry Wine (50 gp a piece), two bottles of I’Vulanni
Mead (100 gp a piece), four small casks of Thermoi Spiced Ale (60 gp a piece),
a bottle of the high proof elven liquor known as K’voi (300 gp), and a half-barrel
of Glinthammar Clan Dwarven Stout (200 gp).
Once opened, the large double doors reveal a beautiful
solarium. The massive fireplace that runs the whole way through the keep
reaches its zenith in this room. On the western wall, a door allows access to
the master bedroom. As well as the grand fireplace, a moldering couch and two
well-appointed chairs with side tables complete this scene of domestic bliss.
The eastern wall bares two large windows, though the southern one is broken.
Besides it on the southern wall, a beautiful tapestry displays an opulent king
sitting on a tiled throne. He holds in one hand a scepter of rule, and in the
other, a holy symbol of the Sun God. The surprising domesticity of this scene
is utterly ruined, however, by the 1d4 Skeletons in rags and the 2d4 Zombies
wearing adventuring gear of various kinds.
-One of the
Zombies wields a shield +1. The tapestry on the wall in this room is real and
worth 300 gp.
The bedroom smells musty and rotten, the bedding of the great
poster bed now reduced to lichen, mold, and muck. There is a table and chair in the northwestern corner and atop a table in the southwest of the room a large and beautifully made silver table mirror. A window on the western wall lets some light in.
-Under the muck
of the bed a whale bone hair
comb (35gp) can be discovered. This is no ordinary table mirror, but a magic mirror enchanted with a formless spirit.
1/21: The Top of the Gatehouse
Accessed through the spiral stone staircase on the floor
below, the top of the gatehouse is cold and windswept. A small three-walled hut
has been built atop the gatehouse here to allow guardspersons to avoid bad
weather. Inside, another verdigris-encrusted brazier can be found, accompanied
by the fading smells of cooking. On the ground next to the brazier, a magically
elongated corpse of an elf sprawls. The only other objects in the southeastern
corner are reed pipes and an old broom. The view from the top of the gatehouse
is spectacular. Not only can one see down into the courtyard below, but a view
of the almost sheer mountainside behind the fortress is also on display. If one
turns from the south to the north, one is confronted by the deep forested
valleys and dusty foothills that stretch for leagues before they terminate on
the distant edge of the Green Desert beyond.
-The elf’s body
seems to have been elongated by magic. The corpse is easily over seven feet
long. They are dressed in a now-huge coat of chainmail and wield a single-edged
short sword forged in the elven fashion and kept inside an ornate scabbard
chased with golden ivy leaves and studded with green pearls (150gp). Inside the
satchel they carried is a spell book containing thin pages of willow bark sewn
together with copper wire and written in a spidery elven script. The spell book
contains Detect Magic, Read Languages, Read Magic, and Invisibility.
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