sII: The Tombs of Tomoachan
General Summary
Rubble-Filled Staircase
This staircase goes up for only a few steps, and then it seems that the rest is filled in with clay and stone rubble.
Digging Out
One or more characters can try to dig this staircase out. Any digging, however, will result in further movement of the rubble, dealing 2 (1d4) bludgeoning damage to each digger. Each digger must also succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be buried by the rubble, taking another 7 (3d4) bludgeoning damage. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the rubble engulfs the digger completely, and the trapped character can’t breathe until dug out. Struggling out on one’s own requires 1 minute of effort and a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. The staircase is completely blocked and leads nowhere.
Tomb Stone and Wet Lime
The walls of this corridor are wet and slimy. The stucco covering has become saturated with water and is decomposing and sloughing off in spots on the southern wall, exposing the seams of one of the large stone blocks from which this structure was built.
Wet Lime
Any flesh that comes in contact with the lime will take 1 acid damage per round. The lime must be removed from the skin to stop the damage, and it can either be wiped off or washed away.
If cloth or soft leather is used to protect flesh from contact with the wet lime, the lime will soak through in 2 rounds. Nonmagical leather armor won’t absorb the lime, but each hour of contact with it reduces the armor’s AC by 1, making the armor useless if its AC becomes 10. The lime can’t be removed from the stone, since it isn’t a coating.
After the stucco is scraped away from the seams, the block can be pushed inward by the combined effort of two or more characters with a total Strength of 48 or higher. The stone is about 6 feet tall, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet thick. It takes 1 minute to push the plug 10 feet, after which it can be circumvented.
The Sepulcher of Tloques-Popolocas
(Tloh-kays Poh-poh-LOH-kahs, master of the outsiders) (Tloh-kays Poh-poh-LOH-kahs, master of the outsiders)Beyond the plug is a small foyer holding three sealed urns on the east and west sides. To the south are double doors of bronze with glyphs worked into their faces sealed with a soft silver.
Glyphs
The ancient glyphs are scribed in Celestial. If anyone in the party can read this language, or if the message can be understood by other means, the glyphs will translate as “Here lies Tloques-Popolocas, master of the others, who is like the wind and the night! Stay out!” If anyone in the party is proficient with masons tools or a dwarf they can identify the soft silver as mythril.
The doors are locked (DC 15 Dexterity check to pick with thieves’ tools) and trapped. Opening the lock disables the trap. Forcing the doors open can be done with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check, but the act causes a glass sphere on the other side of the doors to break. This sphere is attached to the doors just above the lock, and opening the lock pushes the sphere aside, putting it out of harm’s way.
Someone who examines the door closely with a light source notices the glint of glass in the seam between the doors with a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check. Even with the lock still in place, the lever on which the sphere rests can be moved by someone who succeeds on a DC 20 Dexterity check using thieves’ tools. The painstaking process in the narrow space takes 5 minutes, and if the check fails by 5 or more, the sphere breaks at the end of the attempt.
If the glass sphere breaks, it releases green, swirling sleep gas throughout the area. Each time a creature ends its turn in this chamber, the creature must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 5,000 years. While poisoned in this way, a creature is also unconscious, and it is unaffected by the passage of time or by other poisons. If magic is used to cure the poisoned condition, the recipient is immune to the poison for 1 hour. A casting of dispel magic using a spell slot of 7th level or higher can also end the effect. The vapors linger for a month unless they are cleared away by a strong wind.
The seal on the urns is made of beeswax and may be broken so that the lids can be removed. Inside is large chunks of salt and dried out organs. The jars with or without their contents are 50gp each and weigh 25lbs.
Roost of the Conch
This room is constructed of large stone blocks, buttressed in the corners. The walls are wet and slimy, and mud covers most of the floor in a thin coating. To the east and west may be seen stone doors recessed in the wall, and to the north a set of stairs leads down.
In the center of the chamber sits a large polished boulder amid a pile of smaller rounded rocks. The boulder is five feet tall and colored brown with dark streaks and spots. Leaning against it is what appears to be a bamboo staff.
In the mud around the base of the boulder is a moving shape, looking like a crayfish. It is facing you and seems to be aware of your presence.
Slippery Mud
The floor of the chamber is very slippery, counting as difficult terrain. Any sudden actions, including those necessary for combat, may result in the character taking a spill. A character who uses the Dash action or tries to fight within the room must succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. The saving throw should be made before attacks are made. Creatures encountered here are unaffected by the mud.
The creature at the base of the boulder is a giant crayfish. If it is approached, it will advance waving its claws in an aggressive manner and speak. If any member of the party can understand Olman, an ancient language, the crayfish will be heard to say,
“Who is this? Who dares to enter the chamber of the guardian? You had better go, or I will have to discharge my sacred duty! Be off with you before I lose my temper!”
If the party retreats, the crayfish will not follow, but will take to marching back and forth in front of the boulder and will continue to threaten the party if they approach again. If the crayfish is attacked, it will immediately call forth its companion.
The boulder is in reality a huge shell inhabited by Kalka-Kylla, a giant hermit crab. The bamboo staff is one of its legs; a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check enables a character to discern this fact and get a hint as to Kalka-Kylla’s nature before the crab moves.
When the characters enter the room, Kalka-Kylla is asleep and will not awaken unless the crayfish is attacked. Once it is awake, it may attack or bargain. It speaks Olman.
The crab can be reasoned with, if the party doesn’t attack it and can come to terms with it. The crab denies any knowledge of this place, stating that it was brought into these warrens when very young. If asked for directions, it first sends the party to the rubble-filled staircase to the east, and then, if asked a second time, it sends the party to the west.
Courses of the Gods
This room is wet, and the walls are covered with a slimy, white buildup. There is about an inch and a half of water and mud blanketing the floor. Many overturned pedestals and pieces of broken statuary lie on the floor, partially buried in the mud. Opposite the entrance to this room is another door.
Only one pedestal remains standing, in the northwest corner. On it sits a small, metallic, three-sided pyramid. Overhead in the shadow-draped ceiling are inlaid colored tiles depicting a starry sky and forming strange patterns in the areas above the pedestals.
Green Slime
A dark, wet mass clings to the wall above the western door. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be green in color. The mass is a large colony of algae, though it resembles green slime; a successful DC 15 intelligence (Nature) check enables a character to tell the difference. Fire will have little effect on it, because the algae is oozing wet and fire doesn’t burn with much vigor in the presence of the poisonous gas that fills this level. Attempts to dislodge the slime will result in slippery sections of it dropping on the characters.
The walls of this room are heavily coated with caustic lime. Any flesh that comes in contact with this lime will take 1 acid damage per round. The lime must be removed from the skin to stop the damage, and can be either wiped off or washed away.
The small pyramid is made of silver (worth 5 gp). It represents the god of the moon and lightning, Apocatequil (A-poe-ka-TAY-kel). The fallen statuary was made of stucco and depicted other Olman gods. These include a coyote, a crab-headed figure, an alligator-headed god, a feathered warrior, and a jaguar.
Rewards Granted
Small pyramid is made of silver (5gp) was looted by Essam.
Character(s) interacted with
Report Date
29 Jan 2023
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