Page 217 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

Nothing will cause the vapors to clear, nor will any sort 8. GARGOYLE LAIR
of magic allow sight into the area, until the glowing When any door leading to the lair is opened, it frees the
stones are pressed in the proper sequence: yellow, blue, room·s occupant from temporal stasis.
orange. If this is done, the vapors disappear, and the
path appears to go eastward.
If the archway is entered when it is clouded, those What appeared to be a statue an instant ago comes to
characters doing so will be instantly teleported to area 7. life before your eyes. The creature flaps its wings and
If it is passed through after pressing the glowing stones stares at you.
in proper sequence, those who step through while
following the path will be teleported to area 11, and
those who pass through off the path will be sent back Creature. A mutated, four-armed gargoyle attacks
to area 3. anyone who enters its lair. This creature uses Multiat-
tack to make three attacks: one with its bite and two
6. THE FACE OF THE GREAT GREEN DEVIL with its claws.
The path of red tiles leads south from the fork. If any Treasure. Around the creature's neck is a collar stud-
character comes within 2 feet of the southern wall, read: ded with ten gleaming gems (blue quartz stones of 100
gp value each).
Hidden in a secret compartment of the collar is a slip
On the wall before you is a relief sculpture of a devil
of parchment with the following written on it in magical
face formed of mosaic tiles. The face has a huge O of a code (requiring comprehend languages to understand):
mouth, inside of which the space is dead black. "Look low and high for gold, to hear a tale untold. Take
the archway at the end, and on your way you'll wend."
Beneath the runes, the initial "A" is inscribed.
Aura. The devil face radiates an aura of transmutation
magic if detect magic is used on it, and a casting of 9. COMPLEX OF SECRET DOORS
detect evil and good or a paladin's use of Divine Sense If someone opens the door on the east wall of
reveals it as a desecrated place. area 8, read:
Mouth Trap. The mouth opening is similar to a
sphere of annihilation, but it is about 3 feet in diame-
amines the mouth and succeeds on a DC 20 Intelligence l
The small room beyond the door is empty and appears to
ter- plenty of room for those who wish to leap in and be
completely and forever destroyed. A character who ex-
have no other exits.
(Arcana) check identifies the trap for what it is.
The south wall contains the first in a series of secret
7. THE FORSAKEN PRISON doors. Each of these portals requires a successful DC
20 Wisdom (Perception) check to find and must be
opened by hand using a particular method, as follows:
This miserable cubicle appears to have absolutely no
A. Pull down and inward (hinged on bottom)
means of egress. Three iron levers, each about one foot
B. Pivot on central hinge
long, protrude from the south wall of the chamber. C. Pull inward and up at bottom (hinged on top)
D. Slide up
E. Pull double panels inward (hinged on sides)
Even a magical means of detection will not indicate any
way out of this place. F. Slide left
G. Door has seven studs in a row--pressall at once and
Levers. The iron ievers can be moved horizontally
door opens, but press 1 and 7 and the door falls in-
or vertically, singly or in combination. Only the act of
ward. A character pressing the studs or near enough
moving all three together upward or downward has any
to do so must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving
results. Moving them up opens a small trapdoor in the
throw or take 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage from the
center of the ceiling 10 feet above. Pushing them simul-
falling door.
taneously down opens the entire floor to a 100-foot-deep
pit with no exit. The floor returns to a closed position Bolts from Above. Each round that characters are in
in 10 minutes, sealing any victim inside the pit until an- any of the rooms inside the complex of secret doors, a
other creature triggers the floor trap again. number of bolts will be fired into the area from hidden
Crawl Space. The ceiling route is a crawl space some devices in the walls and ceilings, and there is a 50 per-
3 feet square. At the place it turns east there is a plug in cent chance that one character, randomly determined,
the ceiling, which can be detected only with magic or if in each such area must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity
a character has sense enough to check for secret doors. saving throw or take 5 (ldlO) piercing damage. There is
A character who succeeds on a DC 20 Wisdom (Percep- no way to prevent the bolts from being triggered.
tion) check can find the door. Also, anyone who raps or
sounds on the ceiling in the door's area hears it is hol- 10. GREAT HALL OF SPHERES
low, indicating a space beyond. Eventually the small tun- This area is similar to area 3, for the floor is of inlaid
nel leads to a magical one-way door, which opens in the tiles and the walls and ceiling are painted with figures
pit side as shown, and players are back to square one. of animals, strange signs and glyphs (which mean abso-

CHAPTER 7 I TOMB OF HORRORS
216