This adventure is designed for first level characters.
The wizard Zenopus once dwelled in
this tower located on the moors overlooking the Janustream river near the town
of Saltmarsh. He built his lair next to the remains of an ancient graveyard
rumored to be haunted. One night, the tower was engulfed in a fiery green aura
visible four miles away and across the Janustream estuary in Saltmarsh. A few
brave folks from town investigated the tower and found it abandoned. The door
at the base of the cellar stairs was covered with strange symbols and wrapped
in silver chains. An explorer tried to open the door but a jolt of lightning
from the doors runes nearly killed her. Shortly afterward, strange spirits and
capering fey were seen atop the tower. After a few travelers went missing
nearby. The town council asked a Keoish galleon to bombard the structure with
catapult fire until it was battered into rubble.
Since then, the ruins have been
largely forgotten. The exception is Keledek the Unspoken, a wizard from Ket now
residing in nearby Saltmarsh, who used magic to open the cellar door and has
claimed the interior of the tower as his personal retreat. He later found that passages
beneath the tower led to a hidden sea cave. He has allowed smugglers from Saltmarsh
to use the cave as a secret meeting point. He has recruited several goblins to
keep watch over the place, along with a trained giant constrictor snake he
raised from a hatchling.
The goblins barricaded several
passages leading deeper into the dungeons after losing several of their number
to ghouls and giant rats that emerged from the depths.
Keledek is loath to tell anyone about
his secret stronghold, but he can't shake the idea of following the deeper passages
for the chance of unearthing Zenopus's lost secrets. If the characters earn his
trust, he might take them into his confidence. The details of the deep dungeons
are left to the DM's invention.
Blue map by Tim
Hartin
Dungeon Features
Corridors: All
corridors in this dungeon are 10 feet wide and 10 feet high. The magic user's
secret corridor (S to F) is 5 feet by 5 feet.
Doors: Unless
otherwise noted, all doors are five feet wide and made of wood (AC 15, 15 hit
points). They are unlocked.
Wandering Monsters: Check
every 30 minutes. A Wandering Monster occurs on a 6 on 1d6.
1.
3d4 (8) Kobolds
2.
2d4 (5) Goblins
3.
1d3 (2) Human Guards
and 1d2 (2) Human Mages
4.
1d4+4 (7) Orcs
5.
1d6 (4) Skeletons
+ 1d4 (3) Zombies
6.
1d4+4 (7) Thugs
7.
1d4 (3) Human Berserkers
8.
1d4+1 (4) Stirges
9.
1d4 (3) Human Bandits
and 1 Human Bandit Captain
10.
1d4+1 (4) Dwarven Guards
11.
1d6 (4) Elven Scouts
12.
1 Gelatinous
Cube
Dungeon Key
A Goblin Barracks
You enter a large room, 120 feet by I00
feet. There are doors in the east, west, and south walls. The room is furnished
with rough tables and benches and as many beds as there are occupants. The
occupants are goblins. There are 3 goblins
for every 2 player characters.
The
goblins wear leather armor and carry swords and daggers. If half their number
is killed, the others will try to escape through one of the doors or surrender.If surrender
is accepted the goblins will offer to lead the party to treasure but will try to
guide them to one of the dangerous trap rooms and then run.
There are
small wooden chests under each bed and several leather socks hanging on pegs
along the wall. Most of the socks contain junk, dirty clothes, old bones. etc.,
but two contain coins, 500 silver pieces each. There are several cloaks hanging
on pegs and in a pocket of one cloak there is a magical potion of growth in a glass vial. One of the chests is booby-trapped.
Opening the chest releases a cloud of sleeping gas filling an area 5 x 5 x 5
feet. Anyone within this area who fails a DC 10 Constitution saving throw falls
deeply asleep for 1d6 x 10 (40) minutes. The chest contains 2000 copper pieces.
B Ancient Crypt
You find what appears to be an ancient
crypt. The room is 50 feet by 50 feet room with a door on the northern wall and
an open door on the southern wall – busted and hanging on one hinge. The room
is totally dark, and the floor is covered with an inch of undisturbed dust. Four
deep niches in the walls can be seen from the north doorway but they are
covered with cobwebs. Nothing can be seen within them.
Within
each of the four niches is an inanimate skeleton.
If anyone advances ten feet or more into the room, the skeletons come to life,
emerge from their niches, and attack the intruder until destroyed or turned
away. If turned, they run out the door farthest from the cleric.
There is
no treasure in this room.
C Empty Corridor
An empty corridor stretches before you.
Remember to check for wandering
monsters every 30 minutes.
D The Statue
The door to this room is made of heavy iron, AC 20, 25HP,
DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check to break.
The door opens outward into the hallway. Within is an empty room, 80 feet
by 50 feet. There are identical iron doors in the middle of each wall: north,
south, east, and west. The only feature within this room is a six-foot-tall
stone statue in the center. The statue is facing the door by which the party
just entered. Once opened, the door starts to slowly shut, activated by a
powerful spring in the hinges. The door will stop closing if anyone blocks the
door or prevents it from closing.
From
inside the room all doors are firmly held shut except the one the statue is
facing - that door can be easily opened, closed, and re-opened. The statue
turns easily to face each of the four doors. To open any other door, the statue
must be rotated on its base until it faces that door. Then the door opens
easily. Doors cannot be forced open, they are held by the equivalent of an
Arcane Lock spell, AC 30, 35 HP, DC 30 Strength (Athletics) check to break.
E Empty
Room
You find an empty room. The size of the rooms and the
number of doors is variable, as shown on the Dungeon Master's map.
F Keledek the Wizard
This is the conference
room of Keledek the wizard. Keledek is a Ketan mage who has made special arrangements with the smugglers of Saltmarsh.
The smugglers use the cave in Room M to make their secret rendezvous in
exchange for bringing Keledek special items or spell components.
The room is 50 feet by 60 feet. There
is a large wooden door in the south wall and a smaller lead door in the north
wall that appears to be unused. There is a work table in the southwest corner
and three odd-looking statues of human men placed along the east wall.
Keledek is standing behind the work table
in the southwest corner. Near him is the leader of the smugglers (bandit captain). The characters have
interrupted a meeting between the two.
Keledek carries
a scroll of levitation. When caught in this room Keledek will immediately
direct the smuggler captain to attack. Keledek will then immediately exit through
the secret door behind him, leaving the captain to his fate. There is a 50%
chance that Keledek will drop the magic scroll as he escapes.
The smuggler
captain will not fight to the death and will surrender once he has lost half
his maximum hit points. He wears a stolen jeweled belt with rubies worth 1000
gold pieces.
If Keledek
escapes, he will cast an Arcane Lock spell on the door run to Room S - AC 30,
35 HP, DC 30 Strength (Athletics) check to break. He will then run up the stairs
to his tower.
The three
stone statues are men who were turned to stone by Keledek special wand which he
has in his tower (see Room S2).
G Collapsed
Ceiling
You enter a gloomy room, 30 feet by 50 feet, whose
ceiling has collapsed creating a pile of rocks and debris four feet high that
covers the entire floor. The loose debris is considered difficult terrain. There
is a door in the center of the east and west walls and a corridor in the center
of the south wall.
There are 2d4
(5) giant rats hiding in the shadows
of the corners and in the cracks of the debris on the floor. They will attack with if the room is entered.
The rats may attempt a Dexterity (Stealth) check (2+1d20) with Advantage vs.
the passive Perception of the characters to determine which characters are
surprised.
The rats have
no treasure. Digging through the rubble of the collapsed ceiling for no less
than ten minutes will reveal a mass of old bones, chewed leather straps and
bits of armor along with a belt with a silver dagger in a sheath worth 50 gold
pieces and a bag containing 50 electrum pieces.
H Water-Filled
Channel
You enter a room, 80 feet by 50 feet, with doors in the
north and south walls. The walls are fitted granite blocks with a 20-foot-high
ceiling. A 30-foot-wide water-filled channel bisects the room, entering through
a hole in the east wall and exiting through a hole in the west wall. There is
less than a foot of air-space between the water and the ceilings of the holes. There
is a 15-foot bare stone bank on either side of the channel and the drop into
the channel is sheer and requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check
to climb.
The channel is 10 feet deep and the current is swift. Anyone entering the water with a Strength of 14 or less will be swept away through the hold in the west wall. In addition to being swept away, anyone wearing metal armor will sink immediately to the bottom of the channel. See PHB page 146 for rules on removing armor. See also PHB page 183 for rules on suffocating and drowning. Characters with a bladed weapon may cut the straps of their armor in one minute but their armor is lost.
The channel is 10 feet deep and the current is swift. Anyone entering the water with a Strength of 14 or less will be swept away through the hold in the west wall. In addition to being swept away, anyone wearing metal armor will sink immediately to the bottom of the channel. See PHB page 146 for rules on removing armor. See also PHB page 183 for rules on suffocating and drowning. Characters with a bladed weapon may cut the straps of their armor in one minute but their armor is lost.
I The
Magic Mask
You enter a long room, 40 feet by 90 feet, with doors in
the north, south and east walls. In the center of the room is a bronze sundial
on a low pedestal. Set Into the stone of the west wall is a bronze mask, about
the size of a manhole cover. The eyes and mouth a mask are shut. Below the mask,
in common language, is an inscription: "I'll answer questions, one, no
more. I never speak til it be four."
The magic
is activated by shining the light of a single torch, lantern, etc. on the
sundial so the shadow of the gnomon falls on the Roman numeral IV. The bronze
mask then opens its eyes and says "Speak, I'll answer." It will give
a reasonable answer to any brief pertinent question and then say, "I've
answered one, now go away. I will not speak again today."
Since the
shadow must be held on IV, there is little chance of triggering the magic
accidentally, even by walking around the sundial with a light.
You enter room, 60 feet by 50 feet. The ceiling is lost in darkness but large spider webs are visible in the corners of the room. There are doors in the middle of all 4 walls. A giant spider lurks in the darkness of the roof, thirty-five feet above. The spider may attempt a Dexterity (Stealth) check (7+1d20) with Advantage vs. the passive Perception of the characters to determine which characters are surprised. The spider will attack with Advantage any character it has surprised. If the spider’s surprise attack is a hit, the target is knocked Prone and Grappled with the spider on top of them.
There is no treasure in this room, but a +1 dagger is imbedded in the spider's body - evidently a souvenir from some previous battle; it can be found only if the beast is cut open.
K Cavern
Wand of Petrification
Epilogue
You find a cavern, about 10 feet high, irregularly shaped
but approximately 60 feet wide by 120 feet long. A 30-foot-wide river runs through
it, bisecting the cave. There is a shallow beach on the far side of the cave where
flotsam from the river is deposited. There is an exit to the west. The cave is
completely dark, characters without light or darkvision will have to feel their
way out.
L Giant
Crab
You find a cave bisected by a 30-foot-wide river. There
is phosphorescent fungus growing on the rocks, so anyone can see without
lights. There are east and west entrances on both sides of the river to the
sandy beach. The river is only three to four feet deep at the center of the
channel and can be forded.
There is a
giant crab concealed under the sand
on the south beach. It will attack anything that moves on either beach.
M Sea
Cave
You enter a large sea cave with entrances to the north and
south. There is a sandy beach, on which are drawn up two row boats. The
entrance to the sea is to the west about 500 feet. If it is day up above, the
cove will be dimly illuminated by sunlight coming through the tunnel. If it is
night, a lantern located in one of the boats sheds a dim glow.
The cove is
used by smugglers and smugglers. The cave is presently occupied by four smugglers
(bandits) sitting in one of the boats,
talking. Each smuggler carries 2d6 (7)
gold pieces in his purse. The smugglers use the cave to hide treasure and
contraband. The boat contains two chests filled with treasure. One chest
contains 2000 silver pieces, the other 1000 electrum pieces and 12 gems each
worth 100 gold pieces. The boat also contains a bucket of large fish.
Every ten
minutes there is a 25% chance of another boatload of 1d4+1 (3) smugglers (bandits) rowing in from the west.
A prisoner
is bound, gagged, and lying prone in the bottom of the second boat. The prisoner
Lemundo the Lovely. Her father is the powerful Duke Marik Feldren of Seaton. Lemundo
is a good fighter in her own right (treat as a Scout) and carries a concealed dagger in her girdle. Her wealthy father would be very grateful for
her safe return.
A giant octopus on the bottom of the sea
cave will attack any boat unless it is thrown a large fish or other piece of
meat.
The
octopus will attempt to grapple any character it attacks. On its subsequent
turn, the octopus will drag the character overboard. See PHB page 195 for rules
on grappling and moving a grappled creature.
Any character
dragged overboard will be further pulled underwater. See also PHB page 183 for
rules on suffocating and drowning. Any character wearing heavy armor will
immediately sink to the bottom. See PHB page 146 for rules on removing armor.
Characters with a bladed weapon may cut the straps of their armor in one minute
but their armor is lost.
Exit from
the underground can be made by rowing out to the sea, although there is a possibility
of meeting another boat coming in.
N Catacombs
You enter a large room, 120 feet by 70 feet, that was
once part of the catacombs beneath the tower. The north wall has caved in
creating a debris field of difficult terrain within ten feet of the north wall.
When the party
enters the room there is a 50% chance a giant
rat will burst through the loose dirt at the north end of the room and
attack. Ever ten minutes spent in the room there is another 50% chance that a rat
will enter from the tunnels. The rats will not, however, leave room N except to
go back to the runnels.
There are doors on the east and west
walls. Ten stone sarcophagi are scattered about. They were once arrayed in two rows,
but the wall collapse has displaced them from their original locations. The
sarcophagus lids are heavy. A combined Strength score of 40 from no more than
six characters is required to lift them off. One character with a Strength of
at least 10 can spent ten minutes to slide the lid off the sarcophagus. Two
such characters may complete the task in five minutes, three in three, four in
two, five in one, and six in half a minute. Thus, in the time required to
remove all the lids, there’s a good chance one or more rats will appear.
The lids of four of the sarcophagi have
been removed and their contents long ago plundered, leaving empty vessels. Six,
however, remain closed. Each sarcophagus contains one of the following:
#1
contains only moldering bones but releases a cloud of noxious gas which renders
unconscious for ten to sixty (1d6 x 10) minutes anyone within 5 feet unless they
make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw against poison.
#2
contains a partially clothed skeleton which holds a cursed jeweled dagger in
the bony hands folded across its chest. If the dagger is removed it will flash
away into the air, turn and attack the character who touched it. The dagger’s makes
an attack against the triggering character. The dancing dagger has a +3 attack bonus
and deals 4 (1d6) damage on a hit. The dagger will continue to attack until it
draws blood, or the triggering character exits the room. It will then return to
the coffin with its owner. The dancing dagger has an AC of 17. If hit it falls
to the floor and remains motionless for 3 melee rounds and then takes up the
attack again! Putting it back in the sarcophagus will stop the attacks of
course.
#5 contains
an animated skeleton armed with a
curved scimitar. It will attack as soon as the lid is removed.
#6
skeletal form in chainmail holds a magic sword +1. Any warrior-type drawing it
from the scabbard will feel the surge of magical power it gives.
P Ghouls
This room is 50 by 80 feet and has doors in all four
walls. In the center of the room are two smashed coffins in which two ghouls have made their lair.
The
coffins contain, in addition to indescribable odds and ends, 50 platinum pieces
and 5 gems each worth 10 gold pieces.
The east
door leads to a short dirt tunnel whose ceiling has collapsed. Excavating this
tunnel would take days but may lead to further mysteries.
RT Rat
tunnels
These 3-foot diameter tunnels were dug through the soft
earth by giant rats. A medium sized creature could crawl through them, but all
attacks and skill checks would be made at Disadvantage. A small creature such
as a halfling or dwarf would be at no disadvantage. Every 100 feet there is a 50%
chance of meeting a rat, every 200
feet a 50% chance of coming on 5 gold pieces. The tunnels form an endless maze
and there is no end to the rats. The tunnels intersect the dungeons at the
northernmost corridor and at room N.
S Tower, Basement
You enter a round room, 40 feet in diameter with a 25-foot ceiling. There are two visible doors at ground level – one on the north wall and one on the south wall.
A spiral staircase begins at floor level on the north wall and winds around the wall of the room to the ceiling making 1 full turn. The stair ends in a closed trap door in the ceiling, leading up to room Sl.
In the center of the room is a giant constrictor snake.
There is a secret door under the stairs, opened by pressing a hidden catch. Any character searching the room must succeed at a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) attribute check to find the secret door and catch.
S1 Tower,
Ground Floor
You emerge through a trap door in the floor to find a
round room, 40 feet in diameter with a 25-foot ceiling. This is the base of the
ruined tower visible on the surface. There is a door to the north and a spiral
stair leading up, just like the one in Room S, ending in a trap door in the
ceiling. The door leads to the ruins on surface but is protected from entry
from the outside by an Arcane Lock spell.
The room appears to be a well-appointed
living chamber with a fireplace, cooking utensils and a few comfortable chairs.
The floors and walls are decorated with Ketan tapestries. The room is
unoccupied. The trap door above leads to room S2.
S2 Tower,
Upper Floor
This room is identical to S and S1 below it, a circular
room 40 feet in diameter with a 25-foot ceiling. This is the second floor of
the tower on the surface. A spiral stair leads to a trap door in the ceiling.
Other than the trap doors in the floor and ceiling, there are no doors. Tall windows, each no wider than two feet, are
located face north, south, east, and west. This is the wizard's study, and here
he has his two giant volumes of magic spells, table, lamps, chemicals, skulls, loose
pages of parchment, mystic designs on the floor, etc.
Against
the south wall there is an ape in an
iron cage. The key is in the lock of the cage door. The ape hates his captivity
and seeks revenge. He will attack as soon as he is released. If Keledek opens
the cage there is a 25% chance the ape will attack him. If anyone else opens
the cage, the ape will attack a random victim in the room and then try to
escape by squeezing through a window, down the side of the tower and across the
moors.
Keledek
the wizard keeps his wand of petrification
hidden in a secret compartment of the table. A character searching the
table must pass a DC20 Wisdom (Perception) check to find the compartment. Hidden among the undecipherable parchment
notes on the table is a scroll which reverses the petrification effect of the
wizard’s wand. The scroll crumbles to dust after one use.
Keledek himself
is described in room F. If he is not in room F he will be found here.
Wand of Petrification
This wand has 7 Charges. While holding
it, you can use an action to expend 1 of its Charges to attempt to turn one
creature that you can see within 60 feet of you into stone. If the Target’s
body is made of flesh, the creature must make a Constitution saving throw vs.
15. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the target is instantly petrified.
On any other failed save, the target is restrained and begins to turn to stone.
While restrained in this way, the target must repeat the saving throw at the
end of its next turn, becoming petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a
success. The petrification lasts until the target is freed by the greater
restoration spell or similar magic.
The wand regains 1d6 + 1 expended
Charges daily at dawn. If you expend the wand's last charge, roll a d20. On a
1, the wand crumbles into ashes and is destroyed.
Wand of Petrification
adventuring gear (wand)Category: Items
Item Rarity: Rare
Weight: 1
Epilogue
By the time the adventurers have
worked their way through this, the Dungeon Master will probably have lots of
ideas of his or her own to try out. Design your own dungeon or dig new passages
and levels in this one. What lies in the (undiscovered) deeper levels where
Zenopus met his doom? Do the smugglers have other treasure troves hidden in the
sea coves? What inhuman rites are practiced deep in the ghoul haunted passages
beneath the graveyard? What are the townspeople going to do when they discover
that our friends are tampering with Things Better Left Alone?
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