Page 15 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

tons animate, pinpoints of red fire sparkling in their eye the creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of
sockets as they rise. each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success-
Treasure. Each skeleton has twenty arrows, 2d10 sp, ful save. The effect ends on its own 1 minute after the
ldlO gp, and one +l arrow in a special socket on the creature can no longer hear the music. A creature can
quiver. Because the skeletons are mindless, they don't escape the music by being on the other side of a closed
use the magical arrows. door that leads to the gallery, or by vacating the area (in-
cluding adjacent rooms) where the music is audible.
6. OLD APPROACH The globe has AC 10 and 10 hit points. If it is attacked
or handled, the music becomes louder, audible in areas
4 and 10 if the doors to those areas are open. The DC
The masonry walls of this twenty-foot-wide hall are in
of the Wisdom saving throw then increases to 20. If the
poor repair. The far end has collapsed, filling the south-
globe is reduced to O hit points or taken from the room,
ern section with rubble. The western wall is in much it cracks and goes dark and silent. It no longer functions.
better shape than the other walls, and it holds a stone
8. PRESSURE PLATE
door with a rearing dragon carved in relief on it. The door
has a single keyhole, situated in the rearing dragon's
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open mouth. The air is stale in this twenty-foot-long corridor, which
leads to another closed stone door.

Dragon Door. The door that is carved to look like a
dragon has a mechanical lock as well as an arcane Jock Arrow Trap. Each time any weight is placed on any
spell cast on it. The Strength (Athletics) check to defeat part of the center 10-foot-square section of the corridor,
the arcane lock is DC 30, and the Dexterity check to a mechanical pressure plate is activated, triggering a
bypass the magical lock using thieves' tools is DC 25. trap. An arrow fires from above the western door at the
Casting a knock spell on the door suppresses the mag- creature who triggered the trap: +5 to hit, 5 (ldlO) pierc-
ical lock for 10 minutes, lowering the DCs by 10 during ing damage.
that time. The mechanical lock remains intact if the With a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation)
magical lock is bypassed, requiring another knock spell check, a character can deduce the presence of the
or the use of the key. The key, which bypasses the magi- pressure plate from variations in the mortar and stone
cal lock as well as the mechanical one, is in area 21. around it, compared to the surrounding floor. Wedg-
Creature. One giant rat hides in the rubble. The rat ing an iron spike or some other similarly sized and
attacks anyone who moves to within 5 feet of the edge of sturdy object under the pressure plate prevents it from
the rubble or anyone left alone in this area. activating.

7. GALLERY OF FORLORN NOTES 9. DRAGON RIDDLE

As the door opens, a hissing noise and a puff of dust Dust fills this hall like a layer of gray snow. In the
around the door indicate that the chamber beyond has rounded northern end of the chamber stands a ten-foot-
been sealed for ages. Dust, long undisturbed, covers ev- tall sculpture of a coiled dragon carved from red-veined
ery surface in this large gallery. The air here is stale. white marble.
Three alcoves are on the north wall, and one is on the
south wall. Each alcove contains a dust-covered stone
Dragon Sculpture. If a creature moves within 5 feet
pedestal with a fist-sized crystalline globe resting on it. of the dragon statue, a magic mouth spell causes the
The globes in the northern alcoves are cracked and dark, dragon to utter a riddle in Common (to viewers, it seems
but the globe in the southern alcove glows with a soft as though the stone jaws are actually moving). The drag-
blue light. Faint tinkling notes issue from it. on's riddle is as follows:
We come at night without being fetched;
we disappear by day without being stolen.
If a character moves within 5 feet of the lit globe, brood-
What are we?
ing music begins to play throughout the area, and the
(Answer: stars)
sound carries into areas 6, 8, and 9 if the doors to those
areas are open. Any creature that can hear the music Secret Door. A secret door in the western wall leads
must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a suc- to area 10. Finding the door requires a successful DC
cessful save, a creature is immune to the music of the 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. Under the scrutiny of
globe for 24 hours. On a failed save, a creature becomes detect magic, the door radiates a faint aura of abjuration
charmed and, while charmed in this way, can take only magic. The door comes open, pivoting into the room,
the Dash action and move toward area 3. only if someone speaks the answer to the riddle.
The effect on a creature ends once that creature Once the door is opened, it closes on its own 1 minute
reaches the floor beyond the pit trap in area 3. If an later, although any obstruction placed in the doorway
affected creature is prevented from moving to area 3,

CHAPTER l I THE SUNLESS CITADEL
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