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Dungeons
Ruins · Medium · Level 16 · Medium

The Unlisted Cell

The first thing you notice is the tapping beneath the floor, keeping time with your pulse.
Rooms
8
Foes
12, CR 5 to 17
Traps
8
Treasure
13,720 gp
12345678Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Rootfall Vestibule

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Varkesh, the first keeper, is now a deathless warden fused to the ward network.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    2× Patrol WightsCR 8

    When: They appear after the party makes loud noise or spends more than 10 minutes in the upper halls.A pair of dead prison guards in cracked helmets walk their old route and tap their spears against the walls.
  2. 2

    Ceiling StalkerCR 10

    When: It hunts after a character takes damage in a corridor or a spell of 5th level or higher is cast.A boneclaw's shadow skitters along the ceiling before the creature itself arrives, drawn by bloodshed or exposed magic.
  3. 3

    1 swarm× Name MothsCR 5

    When: They emerge when a door is opened, a ward is disturbed, or a character speaks a name in the dungeon.A swarm of pale, mothlike undead flutters around the faintest light, their wings whispering fragments of names.

Rooms

8
1

Rootfall Vestibule

2 foes1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A square vestibule opens beneath a broken arch, with daylight falling through a shaft clogged by roots. Two doorways lead deeper, one toward the archive and one toward the old cells.

Features

  • A cracked floor mosaic shows a star held behind a barred window.
  • The archway to is open; the west door to hangs crooked on one hinge.
  • Fresh dust tracks lead toward the prison, then stop abruptly.

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Skeletal SentinelsCR 5

Two skeletal sentinels wear corroded scale shirts and carry rusted spears. Their eye sockets glow when anyone crosses the mosaic.Tactics. They hold the entrance and use the broken pillars for half cover, focusing attacks on anyone who tries to retreat toward the surface.

Traps

Falling StarDC 17 bludgeoning damage, Dexterity saving throw for half

Stepping on the star at the mosaic's center releases a counterweight from the ceiling. A shower of stone blocks slams into the vestibule.Disarm. A character can jam the visible pulley slot with a metal spike and succeed on a Dexterity check using thieves' tools.

Treasure

Bronze Astrolabe250 gp

A small bronze astrolabe, bent but usable, engraved with a local kingdom's extinct calendar.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

A Intelligence (Investigation) check spots that the mosaic's barred window depicts , not an ordinary prison. If characters call out, a distant metallic tapping answers from the direction of .

2 doors: N (archway), W (normal)

The place

What it is

The ruins of a buried observatory and prison lie beneath a collapsed hill, their chambers still arranged around an old system of wards.

Atmosphere

Cold mineral damp clings to the skin.

The threat

Varkesh, the first keeper, is now a deathless warden fused to the ward network.

History

The complex was raised by the astronomer-priests of a small hill kingdom, who built an observatory over a fallen star fragment and used its answers to predict floods and wars.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The hill makes a tapping sound at night, and the tapping stops if you say your own name aloud.
  2. 2An old prison under the ruins holds a man who has never been released, though the kingdom that sentenced him vanished centuries ago.
  3. 3The water below the hill runs uphill, and anyone who drinks it dreams of a star asking questions.
  4. 4A scholar paid well for a map of the ruins, then burned the map and refused to explain why.

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Miners Who AnsweredThe miners who broke into the hill have stopped returning, and their foreman insists that a voice underground called each of them by name. The party must find the missing crew before the voice learns more names.From: A worried mine foreman named Dorun asks for help and offers the miners' recovered tools as proof of payment.Reward: A recovered surveyor's kit, 1,200 gp, and a deed to a safe route through the upper ruins.
RetrievalTablets Before DawnA scholar wants the observatory's records before a rival expedition reaches them. The records are scattered between the library and the boss chamber, where Varkesh has used them to keep the star-spirit quiet.From: Professor Ilka Varga, a blunt archivist with a cracked brass lens, hires the party to retrieve specific tablets.Reward: A rare spell scroll, 2,000 gp, and access to the professor's library.
InvestigationNames in CopperA local healer believes the prayers scratched onto copper tags can cure a spreading sleep sickness. The tags in both shrines must be gathered, but removing them may disrupt the wards.From: A village healer named Sumi carries a copper tag that was found beside the first afflicted sleeper.Reward: A greater restorative draught for each character and a lasting favor from the village.

Corridors

4

  • Between and

    A line of shallow chisel marks runs along the lower wall, interrupted wherever the stone has cracked. The marks count down toward the prison wing, but the final tally has been scratched out.

  • Between and

    A narrow gutter carries clear water toward the prison doors, though the water runs uphill for a few feet before vanishing beneath the threshold.

  • Outside

    The walls here are warm, and a faint tapping answers footsteps from behind the stone. A successful Wisdom (Perception) check reveals that the rhythm follows a heartbeat.

  • Near and

    Small copper prayer tags hang from cracks in the masonry. Each bears a name rubbed nearly smooth, and the tags tremble when anyone speaks a lie.

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