Page 78 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

25. THE NEST OF THE WARRIORS General Features" at the beginning of the adventure).
If more than 30 pounds is placed on the plate, the trap
• described below triggers.
A bitter stench assails the senses as you lay e)es or. ::i e If the characters detect the presence of this plate, they
room ahead. Inside, amid a pile of rubbish, offa , ar.c can remove it from the floor with 10 minutes of work
bracken, ghostly lights move across the floo r. and a successful check as for an attempt to block the
plate from moving. A failed check means another 10
Closer observation reveals that the light is emitted t>y
minutes of work is required, followed by another check.
giant beetles. There seem to be around a dozen of these
Rolling Stone Trap. A millstone, concealed in the
creatures in the room, each about three feet in length. wall behind a layer of stucco, lies at the top of the steps.
They don 't appear to take notice of you. From within the No nonmagical means can detect the hidden stone. If
largest pile of trash, where most of the beetles are clus- the trap is triggered, the mechanism pushes the mill-
tered, come glints of something shiny. stone through the wall and sends it rolling down the
stairs. When this occurs, anyone who has a passive Per-
ception score of 14 or lower is surprised. Everyone rolls
Creatures. The garbage-infested room is home to thir- initiative, including the stone, which has a +10 bonus
reen giant fire beetles. They lack the two light-emitting to the roll. On its turn, the stone moves 60 feet. Anyone
glands behind the eyes that are normal for such crea- in its path must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving
rures. They do give off a soft glow that emanates from throw or take 27 (5d10) bludgeoning damage and have
their abdomens but doesn't provide significant illumina- a 50 percent chance to drop anything carried in hand. A
ion. The beetles are nonaggressive unless their nest is character whose saving throw fails by 5 or more takes
threatened. Any sudden noise will bring a beetle or two maximum damage, is knocked prone, and drops any-
o investigate. They examine any strange object with thing held in hand. Dropped objects take damage from
dieir feelers, and if it is edible, they bite it. Other beetles hitting the stone and end up somewhere on the stairs.
move toward the sound of their comrades fighting. The stone ultimately crashes into the doors to area
Treasure. The shiny objects in the beetles' nest are 25, breaking them open and destroying them. If beetles
odd pieces of metal, polished rocks, broken crystal, remain in the room, some or all of them come into the
three large turquoises (worth 20 gp each), and a +l dag- stairway agitated and looking for a fight.
ger that looks like junk. When it is used, its grip frays,
1t blade chips, and it flakes rust. If a character wielding 28. THE ARC OF NANAHUATCIN
this weapon gets a natural 1 on an attack roll, the dag- (Na-na-WA-tzen, the Pimply One)
ger breaks and becomes nonmagical.

LOCATIONS ON THE FIRST TIER This is a spacious, vaulted hall, weathered and cracked
.-\scending either of the routes out of the lower cham- from the ravages of time. The walls are charred and
bers brings the characters to the first tier of the scored. Scattered around the floor are several stone
emple proper. The following locations are identified statues of baboon-like creatures, chipped and tipped
on map 3.1. over. The remains of a few once-living baboons, partially
eaten, lie nearby, with fungus covering their corpses.
26. RAMP
If the characters approach from the north, read:
• As the area is further penetrated, it is discerned that
this was once a processional hall. Little remains to iden-
A ramp slopes gently down from north to south . Set in
tify its past purpose except for a carving etched in the
the floor at two-foot intervals are smooth stone cylinders
center of the worn floor that depicts a silver sun with a
that apparently function as rollers. single eye. The beast that lairs here will not attack until
the party sights it.
If the characters approach from the south, read:
Ahead, something spherical floats in the air at about
A ramp leads gently up from south to north . Set in the chest height. The sphere has a central eye and about a
dozen tentacles growing out of its top. Each appendage
floor at two-foot intervals are smooth stone cylinders
has a white sphere with a black pupil at its tip.
that apparently function as rollers .
Creature. The spherical creature is a gas spore that
27. STAIRS represents Nanahuatcin, the "sun."
This corridor ascends from south to north in a series of Treasure. Near the center of the south wall is a sack
short, gently sloped staircases. made of fish skin. It contains seven silver pellets, each
Pressure Plate. The 10-foot square indicated on the about the size of a sling bullet and worth 1 gp.
map is the location of a pressure plate (see .. The Ruins:

CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN
77