Page 64 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

tarily leave the room. Lief pulls the rope the instant he See the diagram on page 76. The shaft (area K31a) de­
feels threatened. scends 90 feet from here to area K61, and ascends 40
Pulling the rope requires an action. When the rope is feet to area K3lb. Another 40 feet above that is a stone
pulled, a tremendously loud gong sounds. One or more trapdoor in the ceiling that opens into area K47.
creatures arrive ld6 rounds later, attacking any charac­ Operating the machinery in this room raises a stone
ters still in the room. Determine the creatures randomly elevator compartment from the bottom of the shaft, lift­
by rolling a d4: ing it past this room to the top of the shaft. See area K61
for more information on the elevator trap.
d4 Creature A character can spend 1 minute disabling the machin­
ld6 shadows ery in this room. The elevator trap won't function until
2 ld4 vampire spawn the machinery is repaired.
3 ld4 wights The iron lever set into the western wall is normally
4 l wraith and ld4 + l specters in the "down" position. Moving it to the "up" position
activates the trap and raises the elevator. Sliding it back
Lief was pressed into service by Strahd many years down lowers the elevator and resets the trap.
ago. He keeps all the books for Strahd, recording the When the elevator trap in area K61 is activated, all the
vampire's riches and conquests. Lief has been here chains, pulleys, and gears in this room move at once. It
longer than he can remember. He is grumpy because takes 10 seconds (1 round) for the elevator to reach the
Strahd doesn't allow him to know about all his trea­ top of the shaft, and the machinery doesn't stop·until the
sures. Even so, Lief has found out where one of Strahd's elevator completes its journey.
secret treasures lies. If he is treated with kindness, A secret door in the north wall is easy to spot
Lief will divulge the hiding place of the Holy Symbol of from this side (no ability check required) and opens
Ravenkind (see appendix C), as indicated by your card into area K27.
reading. Lief can draw a crude map showing a route to K31A. ELEVATOR SHAFT
that location. His map is geographically accurate, but he
admits that it doesn't acknowledge or avoid any dangers
that might lie along the way. Lief doesn't necessarily
know the most direct path to the symbol's location. Cold air fills this rectangular shaft, the walls of which are
Lief knows that there's a key that unlocks all four coated with mildew and worn smooth. Taut iron chains
chests, but he can't remember where he hid it. See extend up and down the shaft. The links of the chains are
"Treasure" below for more information. thick and covered with grease.
The western door leads to area K25. The eastern
door provides access to a staircase (area K21) that leads
down to area K9 and up to a landing outside area K35, The shaft is 170 feet tall. It starts at area K61, climbs
continuing upward from there to area K47. 90 feet to area K31, another 40 feet to area K31b, and
another 40 feet to area K47. When the elevator trap
TREASURE
The room contains hundreds of worthless books and
scrolls describing accounting procedures. The first
character who spends at least 10 minutes searching
the room and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Inves­
tigation) check finds a book with a bloodstained leather
cover. The pages of this book have been hollowed out,
creating a hole in which Lief has hidden the iron key
that unlocks the four wooden chests in this room.
Two of the locked chests contain 10,000 cp each. A
third chest contains 1,000 gp. The fourth chest holds
500 pp, hidden under which is a manual of bodily health. /

K31. TRAPWORKS

The aromas of grease and well-oiled wood hit your nos­
trils as you pull open the door. This ten-by-twenty-foot
room is filled with intricate machinery, except for small
spaces between the stone gears and the iron chains and
pulleys. On the other side of the machinery, to the south,
is a rectangular shaft that rises up from the darkness and
continues past this room. Attached to the west wall is a
steel plate that has an iron lever protruding downward.

CHAPTER 4 I CASTL.E RAVENLOFT