Page 91 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

ing in a random direction (roll a d4) after landing prone Creature. The centaur figure is the mummified re-
in area 45. The spider pursues prey into the chute, but is main of a sacred offspring of Chitza-Atlan, the guard-
unlikely to emerge to fight in an open area. ian of the gateway to the underworld. This guardian has
Upper End. The top of this passage is covered with two functions: to prevent any but the dead from entering
a pewter basin, which requires a successful DC 10 the e ruins, and to keep those creatures in the ruins
Strength (Athletics) check to move. confined there. Thus, if any character tries to exit this
room by any door other than the one entered from, the
LOCATIONS ON THE THIRD TIER centaur mummy (see appendix B) animates and attacks
the characters. The mummy will also defend itself if
The tunnel that leads up from area 45 opens onto the
third tier of the temple. The following locations are iden- attacked. A word or a pass from Zotzilaha will gain
tified on map 3.1. free passage.
Treasure. If all thejunkjewelry is taken (eight hun-
48. HOUND OF THE BAT dred pieces), the total value of the haul is 80 gp. The real
The description below assumes that the characters treasure is concealed in the bottoms of the two urns.
entered the room by traveling through the chute and Buried beneath the stones are two crushed silver masks
pushing aside the pewter cover. The tunnel comes out (worth 25 gp each), an electrum serpent bracelet (worth
at the bottom of a stone ring that, from inside the room, 50 gp), a broken marble statue of a monkey (50 gp), and
resembles a well. (If they entered from the west, the four silver hairpins set with jade worth (5 gp each).
pewter cover is still in place.)
50. JADE WALL
This room is small and plainly decorated. On the north
I Here a wall of green, polished stone blocks the way. I
and south sides are fountains made of bronze-inlaid
marble. The southern one is cracked, and only dry limy
deposits remain in it. The northern one contains about This wall, which is 7 feet wide and 7 feet tall, is a trap
for those attempting to break into the ruins. If any tam-
two feet of dark water, fed by a trickle that falls from the
pering is done to the wall, it falls west out into the ante-
top of the fountain. In the water, the white, gauzy form of
room. If the wall falls on a creature, the creature must
a crayfish lies on a bed of lime encrustations. make a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save,
To the west, stairs lead up out of the room, and to the creature takes 9 (2d8) bludgeoning damage and is
either side of the stairs along the west wall are narrow, knocked prone under the wall, restrained. A successful
dust covered ledges. DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check is needed to lift the
stone wall off any trapped beneath it.
Creature. The fouled water in the fountain contains a 51. WIND TUNNEL
neutral evil water weird. It rises up and attacks charac-
ters who disturb the water.
This five-foot-diameter passage is dry and dusty, and it
Treasure. The "crayfish" is nothing more than the
shows no sign of having been used for ages. Near the top
shed shell of a long-expired resident of the fountain. Be-
neath it is a platinum key and chain (worth 20 gp). The of the corridor walls, about three feet from the ceiling,
key unlocks the portcullis that blocks the exit in area 53. stone lintels run the length of the passage. The corridor
abruptly widens to a cube fifteen feet on a side with a
49. SACRED CHITZA-ATLAN
corrugated floor. In the ceiling of this area, a bronze, cir-
(SHEET-zah AY-tlan)
cular trapdoor is set. The cover is latched shut.
In the four corners of this foyer are sets of metal rungs
In the middle of this chamber is what appears to be the forming a ladder that leads up and across the arched
withered, preserved form of a centaur mounted on a ceiling to the trapdoor. The rungs are broken in several
slab of marble. Tinted green and decked out in lacquered places, leaving rusty spikes. On the other side of this
leather, feathers, and copper wire jewelry, he faces the area, the corridor continues.
western entrance to this chamber. The centaur holds a
bronze-hafted pike tipped with a broad, blue-gray, flame-
Hazardous Hatch. Opening the hatch releases a
shaped spearhead. whirlwind. The character who climbed up to open the
Scattered around the room are jewelry and knick- hatch is hurled to the floor and takes 3 (ld6) bludgeon-
knacks, made of beaten copper, cut and polished obsid- ing damage as the wind emerges and fills the 15-foot
ian, shells, quartz, and coral. Much of this treasure is at chamber. Thereafter, it costs 3 feet of speed to move 1
foot in the room. The hatch can't be shut, and the wind
the feet of the centaur, symbolically being trod under-
doesn't die down.
foot. Two tall urns shaped like wicker baskets stand along
Each creature that starts its turn in this area must
the north wall, each one filled with river stones. make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. (A character
grasping the rungs of one of the ladders has advantage

CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN
90