You enter a round chamber of pale stone whose corners seem too far away for its size. Dust hangs motionless in the air, and a bronze needle circles a four-mark dial above a sealed stone housing. A translucent dwarf repeats the same gestures beside it, fading at the end of each minute as four chimes ring through the floor. Beneath your feet, faint amber veins of light pulse like a slow underground heartbeat.
You step into a round chamber where dust hangs in the air without falling. A bronze needle circles a dial above a sealed stone housing. A translucent dwarf raises one hand beside it, and a low chime sounds beneath your feet.
The dwarf repeats a sequence of four gestures, each aligned with a chime and a mark on the dial. After the fourth, the room shivers and returns to the moment you entered. Your memories remain, and the dwarf begins the same sequence again.
Let the group watch one full loop before asking for actions. If they miss a cue, the room resets without punishment; use the ghost's gestures as confirmation. Offer the first hint after two loops of uncertainty, the next after another failed attempt, and the final hint when the table is stalled.
You enter a round chamber of pale stone whose corners seem too far away for its size. Dust hangs motionless in the air, and a bronze needle circles a four-mark dial above a sealed stone housing. A translucent dwarf repeats the same gestures beside it, fading at the end of each minute as four chimes ring through the floor. Beneath your feet, faint amber veins of light pulse like a slow underground heartbeat.
The loop resets the room and its mechanisms every minute, but the party keeps its memories. A ghostly worker demonstrates the correct control and timing on each repetition. The controls and the worker's gestures are visible from the entrance.
The four marks on the dial are labeled:
EYE WEIGHT BELL DOOR
Below them, in worn Dwarvish, is the inscription:
When the first note wakes the eye, let it open. When the second bears down, give weight its due. When the third rings without a hand, answer in silence. When the fourth finds the door, let the stone remember.
The minute returns. The witness does not.
The chamber repeats a one-minute cycle, marked by four evenly spaced chimes. On each chime, the ghostly worker visibly touches one plate on the plinth, in sequence: eye, weight, bell, doorway. The players can observe as many loops as they need, then reproduce those gestures by touching the matching plate during each corresponding chime. A plate can be touched by any character, and the party may split the actions among themselves. The timing window is generous, about six seconds on either side of each chime. A correct touch makes the matching symbol glow amber; a wrong touch causes a brief vibration and resets the room. After all four correct touches, the housing opens. The party retains all knowledge through resets.
The loop begins when a creature enters the chamber or touches the four-mark dial. The first chime sounds immediately, and the repeating worker begins its gestures.
| DC | Check | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Intelligence (Investigation) | Notice that the ghostly worker's gestures always align with the same four chimes, despite the room resetting. |
| 14 | Intelligence (Arcana) | Recognize that the chamber resets its physical state but preserves the characters' memories, and that its four controls are keyed to distinct moments. |
| 12 | Wisdom (Perception) | Hear the four evenly spaced chimes and notice the different pitch associated with each moment. |
No hint given yet.
The four plates shine in turn. On the final chime, the bronze needle stops, the floor's amber veins flow toward the housing, and its lid opens without resetting. The party can take the Anchor of the Deep.
The room snaps back to the start of the minute, restoring the controls and housing while leaving the party's memories intact. A failed forced opening releases a harmless shock of earth energy: each creature within 10 feet of the housing takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage, or half as much on a successful DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. The loop then resets. This can happen only once per loop.
The dwarven geomancer Orra Deepmeasure built this chamber where a thin fault in time crossed an earth ley line. She used it to test attendants entrusted with the Anchor of the Deep, a device that stabilized underground passages during planar disturbances. The chamber's repeating minute was meant to train patience and coordination, while ensuring that only someone who learned its rhythm could remove the device without destabilizing the fault.
For a less experienced or smaller party, allow a correct plate touched between chimes to count for the next upcoming beat, and make the ghost's gestures exaggerated. For a more capable party, keep the six-second timing window and let the chamber's reset inflict the once-per-loop shock only if characters repeatedly force the housing.
Do not conceal the sequence behind a check: the worker demonstrates it plainly. Checks can sharpen observations or supply a hint, but the players should be able to solve the puzzle by watching. Treat a timing window generously, about six seconds around each chime, and allow players to coordinate freely.
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