Page 74 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

Sun Painting. The painting of the pyramid an •· e
un conceals a secret door. A character whom ·e a
-uccessful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception chec · di cm·-
ers that the portion of the work that depict the sun is
·eparate from the rest and can be depres ed. Pu hing it
nward reveals and opens a secret door in the wall. The
tloor of the passage that leads north is 8 feet above the
:1oor of the great hall. Accessing this secret exit cau es
any bars over the niches to retract into the wall and the
pressure plates to reset.

16. SECRET DOOR
This description assumes an approach from the north.
The south side of the secret door is described in area 15.

The wall at the end of this corridor has a bas relief sculp-
ture of a warrior armed with a spear and shield. The
shield, which rests on the floor, resembles a sundial,
complete with a marker standing out from the wall.
Etched on the shield's surface are runes in Olman script.

The message on the shield reads, "Turn back!"
Instead of being part of a solid carving, the shield has
a seam that a character can discover with a successful
DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. Chips around the
·earn suggest that the shield can be pivoted. Experi-
mentation thereafter reveals that the sundial marker is
movable. When it's in its current position, leaning to the
The hinge can be loosened with oil, after which the
,ight, the secret door is closed. If the marker is pushed
beak opens easily, or the beak (AC 16, 25 hit points) can
o the left, the shield pivots, and the exit opens.
be broken off by dealing bludgeoning damage to it that
The floor of the area beyond the door is 8 feet lower
reduces it to O hit points. If a character's arm is caught
·han the floor in the corridor.
in the beak when the beak is struck, that character takes
one-quarter of the damage dealt to the beak and the
1-. HALL OF THE GREAT SPIRITS
beak takes the remainder.
Treasure. The golden circlet is a bracelet of rock
This corridor is high-ceilinged and decorated with sculp- magic (see appendix A) that was originally a ring, an
tures mounted on the walls. Two corridors branch off earring, or some other piece of stone giant jewelry.
from the main hall, a narrow one to the east and another
18. HALLWAY OF THE ANCESTORS
to the west. The statuary that adorns the walls consists
of four sculpted heads of animals. Each one is six feet
Along both sides of the corridor, deep in shadows, hu-
above the floor and two to three feet in diameter. Oppo-
man figures appear to be floating above the floor. As you
site the passage that leads east is the stylized head of
approach, you see that the figures seemingly suspended
a coyote, and across from the hallway going west is the
in the air are actually withered corpses standing upright
head of a grinning bear. Near the south end of the corri-
on a ledge two feet above the floor.
dor, the head of a bison is mounted on the east wall.
At the north end of the area, on the west wall, is what
appears to be the head of an eagle, with its beak open. Creatures. Once the lead character in the party
Something shines from within the eagle's mouth. reaches the midway point of the east-west passage, fif-
teen zombies animate and attack. These corpses don't
register as undead to a casting of detect evil and good
Wedged in the eagle's throat is an intricately crafted until after they animate.
golden bracelet. To remove the item, a character must ei- Disease. After combat with the zombies is finished,
her reach into the mouth or attempt to push the bracelet each character who took damage from the monsters
out with another object. must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or
Snapping Trap. Disturbing the bracelet in any way contract sewer plague (see "Sample Diseases" in chap-
will cause the beak to snap shut instantly. Whatever was ter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide). Unlike the normal
inserted into the mouth will be pinned, and the hinge of disease, symptoms of this disease manifest in an in-
the mechanism will jam. fected creature after 1 hour rather than ld4 days.

CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN
73