Page 89 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

successful DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned 45. ~ICTLAN
until the end of the creature's next turn. If the saving
(\Jeek-TLAN, Land of the Dead)
throw fails, the mirror, which is really an ochre jelly of
unusual color, comes out of the frame and falls upon the
character. Behind this false mirror is a door, which can - s room is decorated with a bizarre diorama depicting
be opened once the jelly is removed.
: eland of the dead. Small, brightly painted clay statues
Blue Mirror. The mirror on the western wall is ac-
have been placed about the room to represent the inhab-
tually a window of magical glass that offers a view of a
pool of water. Any character who touches the glass must itants of this realm and the unfortunate people they have
succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be drawn taken ,nto their care.
through the glass, becoming submerged in the water. In the center of the room, the floor rises to form a
Weapons can be used to break the glass (AC 15, 20 hit
small hill. A group of small figures seem to be struggling
points). If the glass is destroyed, the water in the pool
to roll a boulder up the hill, while a devil drives them on.
and those trapped in it spill out into the room.
Golden Liquid. Any nonmagical object immersed in Above the hill in the ceiling is a glowing spot that illumi-
the basin reacts with the fluid inside, which turns the nates the entire chamber with an eerie silver light.
object into gold for 1 hour. If any of the golden liquid is A cobblestone path leads from the western door to the
removed from the basin, it becomes colored water.
foot of the hill. A similar path runs eastward and then
veers south. Sections of the diorama around the perime-
44. SUN OF MOTION
ter of the room depict different environments in the land
of the dead.
In the center of this diamond-shaped room is a dais on
In the western end of the room is a region of burning
which a weirdly formed altar rests. The altar is made to
sands. There devils torture those who have been unfortu-
resemble a many-armed and beaked octopus-like crea-
nate enough to fall into their hands.
ture with a large purple-red stone its forehead. The altar
Along the southern side is a grassy plain where people
and floor are covered with dust. The walls of the room
frolic and hunt antelope and deer.
are decorated with paintings of the sun and moon in mo-
North of the grassy plain and south of the hill, the
tion. Other images show people standing about a temple
floor opens into a model of a canyon. A river of lava flows
making sacrifices of flesh and blood, while the figure of a
down it while flames lick the walls.
priest holds the heart of his latest victim above his head.
East of the hill, in a side area of the room, is a counter-
part to this fiery canyon-an icy waste.
Trapped Altar. The altar radiates an aura of trans- To the north of the hill is a putrid, bubbling marsh
mutation magic if detect magic is cast on it. Any crea-
where figures strive to keep their heads above
ture that touches the octopus figure sticks to the stone,
the surface.
becoming grappled (escape DC 15). Once a creature
is stuck, the octopus-altar starts to spin, dragging the From out of the marsh a black, torpid river wends its
victim about the room. Within 1 round, the speed is too way past the northern edge of the hill and flows west to
great for the victim to maintain footing, and the creature pour over the lip of a steam-filled chasm in the northwest
is dragged and bashed about, taking 3 (ld6) bludgeon- comer of the room. Within this dark chasm, worms pur-
ing damage at the end of each of its turns. A creature sue the fleeing forms of naked people.
that comes free while the altar is spinning tumbles away
from it and takes another 2 (ld4) bludgeoning damage. In the south comer of the room on the eastern wall is a
The gem in the center of the altar has AC 17 and 15 hit barred door.
points. If it is destroyed, the altar stops spinning and the
character is released. The gem is a cursed stone, but it
appears to be a jewel of value, and it can be pried from The light in the ceiling comes from the walls of a chute
that glows in the dark. The chimney can be reached by
the altar. If the gem comes in contact with a creature's
someone who climbs on the shoulders of another char-
flesh, that creature must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom
saving throw or be affected as if by an Otto's irresistible acter, but to enter it, the character must brace back and
dance spell, going into a spinning dance that lasts until legs against opposite walls because there are no protu-
the stone is released. To let go of the stone willingly, berances to hold onto. The steeply inclined passage be-
the creature must be the target of magic that removes a yond is full of cobwebs and leads eventually to area 48.
curse or breaks an enchantment. Each section of the diorama in this room has a mag-
ical aspect that affects any creatures that walk into the
If the creature dances for a number of minutes equal
region. If the effect isn't instantaneous and isn't related
to its Constitution score, it must succeed on a DC 10
Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaus- to a spell, it can be dispelled with dispel magic cast as a
tion. The creature repeats the saving throw whenever 5th-level spell (or at a level stated in the effect). A crea-
the same number of minutes elapses again, suffering ture on which a region's effect is dispelled is immune to
the effect for 1 minute.
one more level of exhaustion on a failed save.

CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN
88