Page 75 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

19. SILVER COFFER stopping at doors and pausing for a minute. This float-
ing statuette serves no purpose and is more or less a
false lead.
At the end of the corridor is a small alcove holding a
The silver coffer weighs 15 pounds and is worth 150
three-foot-tall stone pedestal on which rests a small gp due to its fine workmanship. The copper figure is
silver coffer. Fifteen feet in front of the alcove, there is a worth 50 gp and weighs 5 pounds.
single small step up in the stone floor. Inside the alcove,
20. SPIRIT GUARD OF AYOCUAN
the floor is elevated an additional two feet.
(A-YO-kwan)
Hinged Floor. A character who examines the base of
A massive bronze door opens into this grand chamber.
the 2-foot step along the edge of the raised floor and suc-
ceeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check notices The place is filled with rubble and life-sized statuary,
a metallic glint coming from a hinge that runs across much of it broken. Standing in ranks is an army of clay
the full width of the floor. The hinge can be dismantled statues, in what must have once been an impressive ar-
by someone who uses thieves' tools, takes 5 minutes to
ray. Now, half of them are fallen and crumbled. Near the
do so, and succeeds on a DC 15 Dexterity check. On a
door are spear-wielders, perhaps twenty of them, outfit-
successful check, the trap (see below) is prevented from
triggering. On a failed check, the character hasn't man- ted only in scraps of leather now. At their feet lay obsid-
aged to dismantle the hinge but can try again. ian spearheads and bits of rotted \.AJooden shafts. Behind
Shifting Slab Trap. If the hinge in the floor isn't dis- these figures are archers, in a scattered formation. Few
mantled, a trap is triggered if more weight is placed on of them remain standing. Their arrows are gone, but they
the floor of the alcove than on the space immediately
hold laminated bows, dried and worm-eaten.
in front of the step up. The floor inside the alcove sinks
Farther into the room are figures of warriors with war
10 feet. At the same time, the 15-foot slab of floor north
of the alcove (as shown on the map) rises up, pivoting clubs and handaxes, wearing scraps of lacquered leather,
along its south edge. The northern side of the slab now sandals, and caps. Beyond all of this in the north end of
seals off the passage to the north, while the southern the chamber are a group of statues that must have been
side slopes down toward the alcove. Those who were on
an honor guard. These warriors wear feathered robes and
the slab when it pivoted fall prone and roll to the bottom
headdresses and are armed with pitted bronze spears.
of the slope on the alcove floor, 13 feet below where the
coffer sits on its pedestal. Each creature that falls in this Each of these figures wears a breastplate of shells. They
way takes 3 (ld6) bludgeoning damage. are standing near a domed structure. The stuccoed
When the slab finishes moving, it locks into place, so dome has no apparent openings.
the floor remains steeply sloped and the passage north On the east wall of the room are two carved stone col-
remains blocked. The locking mechanism is hidden by
umns flanking the remains of a covered sedan or litter,
the northern (elevated) edge of the floor, and it's in a very
with statues of attendants standing nearby.
narrow space. The stone around it can be chipped away
over several hours of tedious labor until the edge of the
slab no longer holds in place. A knock spell can also de- Treasure. The stuccoed dome is a cairn. It is a weak
feat the locking mechanism.
construction and can be broken into in 1 minute, using
Treasure. The silver coffer is unlocked, but it is
any bludgeoning instruments. If the characters work in
latched, so the lid will not come open unless the charac-
concert, the time can be divided among multiple work-
ters touch the box.
ers. Inside are six sets of worthless bones and six jade
bead pectorals, worth 50 gp each. In a dusty corner is a
Inside the coffer is a strange copper figurine, narrow, pendant made of silver and turquoise, which is an am-
ulet of protection from turning (see appendix A). In the
with fins, looking somewhat fish-like. Written on the side
center of the floor of this cairn is a bronze and chryso-
of this figurine are strange runes. On the slimmer end is
prase lamp set into the stucco, worth 15 gp.
a small arched square panel. Creature. Lifting the lamp will open a hidden door
in the floor, releasing a wight called Ayocuan from the
compartment in which he has been trapped. Ayocuan
The runes are in a script similar to Elvish and spell out
wears another amulet of protection from turning.
the name Ilnedraw. Deft fingers will be able to open the
Covered Sedan. Inside the curtained portion of the
small panel, revealing a hollow inside which is a wall of litter are the skeletal remains of a human, his arms are
lighted, colored beads.
shackled to an arm of the sedan. In his rib cage can be
Touching any of the beads will cause the panel to
found three arrowheads. Mixed throughout the broken
close. A few seconds thereafter, the figurine will rise
clay in the immediate area are nearly five thousand
into the air and start to fly about the alcove, hovering
beads of coral and shell worth 1 cp each.
at times and avoiding being touched by characters or
20A. Behind the columns along the east wall is a
missiles. Once an exit is available, the figure will fly
bronze door barred shut with a pitted copper bar so that
from the party and move randomly through the ruins,
CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN
74