Page 67 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

Pitons or similar tools can be driven into the door to character taking a pill. A character who uses the Dash
provide handles. Driving pitons into the door takes 1 action or tries to fight within the room must succeed on
minute and requires a successful DC 10 Strength check. a DC 10 Dexterity a\·ing throw or fall prone. The saving
With such a grip, the door can be opened with some throw should be made before attacks are made. Crea-
force, but with no check needed. (Objects inserted into tures encountered here are unaffected by the mud.
the holes that are already bored won't stay in the door.) Guardian. The creature at the base of the boulder is
The two hinge pins can be broken (each has AC 12 a giant crayfish see appendix B). If it is approached, it
and 20 hit points) and removed, but the door falls in- will advance waving its claws in an aggressive manner
ward. Someone who holds the door and succeeds on a and speak. If any member of the party can understand
DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check can keep the door up Olman, an ancient language, the crayfish will be heard
and lower it to the floor. Otherwise, the door falls, and to say, "Who is this? Who dares to enter the chamber
those within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 15 Dex- of the guardian? You had better go, or I will have to
terity saving throw to avoid the falling door. On a failed discharge my sacred duty! Be off with you before I lose
save, a creature takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage. my temper!"
If the party retreats, the crayfish will not follow, but
2. THE HALL OF THRASHING CANES will take to marching back and forth in front of the
boulder and will continue to threaten the party if they
l l approach again. If the crayfish is attacked, it will imme-
The stone walls of this corridor are carved to resemble
diately call forth its companion.
a stack of bamboo-like logs. The passage slopes down
Creature. The boulder is in reality a huge shell in-
from a single door on its western leg, the lintel of which habited by Kalka-Kylla (see appendix B), a giant hermit
has been crafted to represent a stylized cavern entrance. crab. The bamboo staff is one of its legs; a successful
It leads to double doors of beaten bronze, worked to re- DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check enables a character to
discern this fact and get a hint as to Kalka-Kylla's nature
semble a forest of seaweed.
before the crab moves.
When the characters enter the room, Kalka-Kylla
Pressure Plate. There is a pressure plate halfway is asleep and will not awaken unless the crayfish is
down the hallway that triggers a trap when weight equiv- attacked. Once it is awake, it may attack or bargain. It
alent to that of three or four humanoids is on it. See speaks Olman.
"The Ruins: General Features" at the beginning of the The crab can be reasoned with, if the party doesn't
adventure for details about pressure plates. attack it and can come to terms with it. The crab denies
If the trap triggers, several of the logs swing out from any knowledge of this place, stating that it was brought
either wall and buffet the party. Those in the plate's area into these warrens when very young. If asked for direc-
when the trap triggers take 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage tions, it first sends the party to the rubble-filled staircase
and are pushed 5 feet down the slope toward the double to the east, and then, if asked a second time, it sends the
doors. Once they swing out, the stone logs don't swing party to the west.
back and thus effectively block the passage, since they
bar the way from ceiling to floor with only a 6-inch gap 4. Mun-FILLED DOORWAY
remaining between the logs. Southern Approach. If the characters come upon the
doorway from the south, read:
3. ROOST OF THE CONCH
The landing at the foot of a short flight of steps is filled
This room is constructed of large stone blocks, but- with mud and silt that partially blocks the door leading
tressed in the corners. The walls are wet and slimy, and north. The door is meant to open inward, for there are
mud covers most of the floor in a thin coating. To the hinges on this side and a large grip to pull on.
east and west may be seen stone doors recessed in the
wall, and to the north a set of stairs leads down.
Any attempts to open the door will meet with failure un-
In the center of the chamber sits a large polished til the blockage is removed. Probing the silt will reveal
boulder amid a pile of smaller rounded rocks. The boul- its depth to be about 18 to 24 inches and its consistency
der is five feet tall and colored brown with dark streaks as tenacious as quicksand. The silt can be scooped out
and spots. Leaning against it is what appears to be a of the stairwell, but it is semi-liquid and will quickly flow
back. If water is forced, in quantity, through the silt, it
bamboo staff.
will wash the silt under the door jamb and down the hall
In the mud around the base of the boulder is a moving
beyond, alleviating the blockage.
shape, looking like a crayfish. It is facing you and seems Northern Approach. If the characters come upon the
The thin, muddy stream that trickles through the hallway I
to be aware of your presence. doorway from the north, read:
including those necessary for combat, may result in the I
Slippery Mud. The floor of the chamber is very slip-
pery, counting as difficult terrain. Any sudden actions,
here flows out from underneath the door that lies ahead.

CHAPTER 3 I THE HI ODEN SH RINE OF TAMOAGHAN
66