Page 75 - Curse of Strahd_Neat

Pidlwick II can't speak and doesn't have an expressive K60A. NORTH TOWER ROOFTOP
face, so he relies mostly on hand gestures and simple di­
agrams to communicate. He understands Common but
can't read or write. A cold wind greets you atop the tower roof, its rain­
If the characters show kindness to the clockwork ef­
figy, it accompanies them and tries its best to be helpful slicked flagstones surrounded by a twenty-foot-diameter
and entertaining. It knows its way around the castle and ring of stone battlements. The thunderclouds above sud­
can serve as a silent guide. denly coalesce into the terrible visage of Strahd. The face
If one or more characters are mean toward Pidlwick utters a ghastly moan as thousands of bats fly out of its
II, its quiet resentment of them grows, and at some point gaping maw and descend upon the tower.
when the group is at the top of a staircase, it pushes one
of the offending party members down the stairs. The
target must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw Characters who remain on the roof are accosted by ten
or tumble to the bottom of the staircase, taking ld6 swarms of bats, which arrive in 3 rounds. If the char­
bludgeoning damage per 10 feet fallen. acters descend into the tower, the bats don't follow and
instead fly into the high tower (area K59), descend its
K60. NORTH TOWER PEAK central shaft (area K18a), and roost in the catacombs
If the characters climb the stairs to this area, read: (area K84).
The courtyard lies 260 feet below, and the roof of the
keep is 130 feet below.
The stairs end at a dark and dreary room with manacles
attached to the walls. In the middle of the room is a LARDERS OF ILL OMEN
wood-framed bed fitted with leather restraints. At the Refer to map 11 of the castle for areas K61 through K72.
foot of the bed rests a closed iron chest, is lid sculpted
with an emblem. K61. ELEVATOR TRAP
A wooden ladder leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. See area K31 and the accompanying Elevator Trap dia­
Thin streams of water drip through the trapdoor's rotting gram before running this encounter.
wood, forming a puddle around the base of the ladder.
This dusty, ten-foot-wide, thirty-foot-long corridor has a
The ceiling here is 9 feet high. The manacles are rusted flat ceiling ten feet overhead. To the south, a web-filled
and can be easily torn from the walls. The trapdoor in stairway spirals down into darkness. The north end of the
the ceiling leads to the tower rooftop (area K60a). hall ends at a wooden door.
The emblem worked into the lid of the iron chest is
Strahd's family crest. (Show the players Strahd's crest
on page 239.) Cyrus Belview (see area K62) stashed the This hallway contains an elevator trap, triggered when
chest here for safekeeping. at least 400 pounds of pressure is applied to the 10-foot­
square section of floor in the center of the hall (marked
TREASURE T on the map), or when the lever in area K31 is raised.
The iron chest is locked, and its key is with Cyrus Bel­ A party of adventurers moving in close formation down
view in area K62. the hall is certainly heavy enough to trigger the trap.
The chest contains a bejeweled gold crown (worth A character who searches for traps while crossing
2,500 gp) resting on a silk pillow. the hall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception)
check detects seams in the floor, walls, and ceiling that
TELEPORT DESTINATION suggest that the middle section isn't attached to the rest
.
Characters who teleport to this location from area K78 of the hall. A character.who makes a successful DC 15
arrive in the middle of the room. Intelligence (Investigation) check discerris that the trap·
can't be disarmed from this location ..
FORTUNES OF .RAVENLO,FT The middle 10-foot section of tbe hall is;a cl�verly hid­
.
If your card reading reveals.that a treasure'. is here, it is den elevator compartment, open tolbe.north �nd ·south
.
inside the iron chest: ·. . . '.,:.':' ·: .... ·· .. J .. · . so that it appears to b.e pirtqfthe p�ssageway. When
If your card reading·i;;did�te·;;?i,'.e�cbu�tei;,�ith' . ' the trap is sprung, two·st��l portcullis�s drop frdm the
Strahd in this area, he is ,st�i:tlifrifne'xHo thdton chest, ceiling at lightning speed -to seal-9ff the compartment,
' • .. .' • I : '� • • .
trapping within those creatur¢sl�atctdgger�d the trap.
"
An instant later, the closed-off ele�ator fa .propelled up
the western half of a 20-focit�wide:'i70�foot-tall shaft
(area K3la) to the sounds.of turni�·g ge�rs and rattling
chains. Magic sleep gas 'fflls the compartment as it rises,

74 CHAPTER 4 1 CASTLE RAVENLOFT
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