Trial of the Pentagon
The door to this area has a pentagon carved into it. When the characters open the door, read:
Any characters inhabited by the spirits of Kubazan or Nangnang receive advice when entering this area:
The food is well prepared and delicious, and the beer is rich. Any character who partakes of the feast gains benefits and suffers detrimental effects based on what is consumed. Do not reveal detrimental effects to the players until those effects come into play. Roast Boar: The character feels stronger and has advantage on Strength checks, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Widow Groat. Both effects have a duration of 24 hours. Squash Stew: The character feels healthier and gains advantage on Constitution saving throws, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Peggy Deadbells. Both effects have a duration of 24 hours. Iced Cakes: The character feels energized and gains 2d10 temporary hit points, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Baggy Nanna for the next 24 hours. Frothy Beer: The character gains a special die: a d6. Anytime in the next 24 hours, the character can roll this die once and add the result to a d20 roll he or she just made. Additionally, if the character is inhabited by the spirit of a trickster god, the power normally granted by the spirit is suppressed for 24 hours. Characters who enter the room but do not partake of the food or drink are cursed with crippling hunger as soon as they leave this area. The effect imposes disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and it can be ended on a character with greater restoration, remove curse, or similar magic. Tapestries
Five red tapestries hang from iron rods bolted to the walls. Each is made up of pentagonal patches stitched together. Any character who inspects the tapestry on the southwest wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check sees something more: a subliminal devil’s face cleverly hidden in the design. The devil’s open mouth forms a pentagon. A character can reach into the devil’s mouth as though the fabric wasn’t there, uncovering a small extradimensional compartment with a glass lever set into the back of it. The compartment can be accessed only from the front side of the tapestry, and only while the tapestry is hanging on the wall. If the tapestry is taken from the room or destroyed, a new one materializes on the wall in 4d6 hours. If the lever in the tapestry is pulled, the pentagon seal on the skeleton gate in the Lair of the Sewn Sisters (area 71) rolls aside, revealing a pentagonal keyhole behind it.
The delicious aroma of spiced meat greets you. At the end of a twenty-foot-long corridor, a room opens up with red tapestries covering the walls. A feast is spread out on three tables, consisting of roast boar, squash stew, and a tray of iced cakes. Flagons of frothy beer complete the banquet.
A gaunt human male in a dusty black suit quietly arranges the items on the cake table, taking notice of your intrusion. Without a word, he gestures for you to come forward and sample the feast.
The gaunt gentleman is Mister Threadneedle, the Sewn Sisters’ manservant. A detect magic spell or similar effect reveals an aura of illusion magic around him. A successful dispel magic (DC 16) reveals his true form.
Mister Threadneedle is a scarecrow disguised with magic to appear human. In a pocket, he carries the Sewn Sisters’ hag eye (see the “Hags” entry in the Monster Manual) and one lustrous black marble (see the Ebon Pool (area 81)). Mister Threadneedle understands Common but can’t speak. He communicates by nodding and shaking his head, or with gestures and facial expressions.
Warned of the adventurers’ arrival, the hags prepared this magical feast and instructed Mister Threadneedle to lay it out. The scarecrowattacks the characters only if they attack first, or if the hags command him to.
Advice from the Spirits
Any characters inhabited by the spirits of Kubazan or Nangnang receive advice when entering this area:
Wild Kubazan urges his host to try the roast boar.
Greedy, skittish Nangnang urges her host to hoard all the iced cakes and shun the frothy beer.
Magical Feast
Greedy, skittish Nangnang urges her host to hoard all the iced cakes and shun the frothy beer.
The food is well prepared and delicious, and the beer is rich. Any character who partakes of the feast gains benefits and suffers detrimental effects based on what is consumed. Do not reveal detrimental effects to the players until those effects come into play. Roast Boar: The character feels stronger and has advantage on Strength checks, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Widow Groat. Both effects have a duration of 24 hours. Squash Stew: The character feels healthier and gains advantage on Constitution saving throws, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Peggy Deadbells. Both effects have a duration of 24 hours. Iced Cakes: The character feels energized and gains 2d10 temporary hit points, but has disadvantage on attack rolls made against Baggy Nanna for the next 24 hours. Frothy Beer: The character gains a special die: a d6. Anytime in the next 24 hours, the character can roll this die once and add the result to a d20 roll he or she just made. Additionally, if the character is inhabited by the spirit of a trickster god, the power normally granted by the spirit is suppressed for 24 hours. Characters who enter the room but do not partake of the food or drink are cursed with crippling hunger as soon as they leave this area. The effect imposes disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and it can be ended on a character with greater restoration, remove curse, or similar magic. Tapestries
Five red tapestries hang from iron rods bolted to the walls. Each is made up of pentagonal patches stitched together. Any character who inspects the tapestry on the southwest wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check sees something more: a subliminal devil’s face cleverly hidden in the design. The devil’s open mouth forms a pentagon. A character can reach into the devil’s mouth as though the fabric wasn’t there, uncovering a small extradimensional compartment with a glass lever set into the back of it. The compartment can be accessed only from the front side of the tapestry, and only while the tapestry is hanging on the wall. If the tapestry is taken from the room or destroyed, a new one materializes on the wall in 4d6 hours. If the lever in the tapestry is pulled, the pentagon seal on the skeleton gate in the Lair of the Sewn Sisters (area 71) rolls aside, revealing a pentagonal keyhole behind it.
Comments