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The Dungeon of Three Deceits: Sector 2

34

Room 3


In this room, one of the largest in the whole dungeon, a three-foot-high wrought-iron railing partitions off a twenty-foot by twenty-foot area in the center of the room. The south wall of the room holds a door that appears to be made of smoked glass; through the glass one can barely make out a candle-lit hallway. The door has neither key nor handle, and proves to be entirely resistant to harm. The rest of this large room holds two long tables, pushed against the east and west wall respectively; the tables are covered with candles of many sizes and colors, and that candlelight is the room's only light source.

Inside the railing, the floor is tiled in marble squares of five feet by five feet. The railing on the north side of the square has a gate that allows one to enter the square, though it is equally easy to step over or under the railing. Lines of inlaid semiprecious stones run from square to square, as displayed below. Massive statues of a lion, a goat, and a dragon occupy some of the squares, as shown. The northwestern corner of the railing holds a small, flat table, and on this table are tiny figurines: three lions, three goats, three dragons, and four figurines of men. The animal figurines clearly match the larger statues already in place.


Characters may select a puzzle piece from the side table, enter the tiled floor, and place the piece. As soon as the piece rests on the floor, it grows to full size. (This is a property of the floor and the figurine together, and the figurine does not do this if placed elsewhere.) Characters may remove pieces by placing a hand on them; this causes figurines other than the original three statues to shrink back to their original size for ease of movement. The goal of the puzzle is to place the pieces so that each row, each column, and each gem-line has one lion, one goat, one dragon, and one human figure. Solving this puzzle causes the smoked glass door in the south wall to dissipate, and it remains gone until someone manually resets the puzzle.

(This puzzle is stolen from here, and is used and adapted without permission.)



Room 28


This area, and most nearby rooms in this quarter of the dungeon, are populated by humanoids with goat-like heads. The walls of the hallway leading to Room 28 are rough stone that shows the signs of much violence, as well as repeated strikes from large, blunt instruments, as if someone thought they could smash the walls down through main force. Broken weapons and shields clutter the hallway. Rushlights in Room 28 are the only source of lighting other than what the PCs carry with them.

The floor of Room 28 is covered with gnawed bones, and piles of charred skulls are stacked against the walls. The door indicated in the northeastern wall of the chamber is concealed by hanging cloth and piles of skulls; once that clutter is pushed out of the way, it is neither secret nor difficult to open. The skulls in front of that particular door rest on top of a piece of cloth that can be dragged out of place. A DC 12 Perception check notices the cloth, while a DC 17 Perception check notices the rope handle to open the door.

The passageway leading to Room 28 has two side-passages, which are living space for the goat-headed people. Filthy piles of straw provide their bedding, and the remains of something once human seems to have been their most recent meal.

Several goat-headed people wait in ambush. An archer waits, and draws attention, in the main chamber. Thanks to his low-light vision, he almost certainly sees the PCs as soon as they enter the other end of the hallway. A goat-headed smasher stands in wait in the northern of the two side-passages in this hallway. A heavy cloth hangs across the entrance of the southern side-passage, concealing another goat-headed smasher and one creature from the fluctuating creature table. The goat-headed archer and goat-headed smashers treat the fluctuating creature as if it is another goat-headed archer.

Goat-headed smashers are many things, but "patient" is not among them. The ideal plan is for the PCs to get pinned down between the two goat-headed smashers while artillery support picks them apart, but the goat-headed smashers are likely to spring the trap early if the PCs proceed cautiously and make them wait.

One of the goat-headed smashers has a horned helm, and does an additional +1d6 damage on all charge attacks.

For larger parties, add another goat-headed smasher in the southern side-passage; for smaller parties, replace the fluctuating creature with another goat-headed archer.

Goat-headed Archer    Level 4 Artillery
Medium natural humanoid     XP 175
HP 42; Bloodied 21
AC 16; Fortitude 16; Reflex 18; Will 14
Speed 6
Initiative +6
Perception +2
Low-Light Vision
Standard Actions
Handaxe (weapon) • At-Will, basic
Attack: Melee 1 (one creature); +9 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6 + 4 damage.
Longbow (weapon) • At-Will, basic
Attack: Ranged 20/40 (one creature); +11 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 6 damage, and the goat-headed archer pushes the target 1 square.
(Area) Clustered Volley (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: Area 1 within 20 (creatures in burst); +11 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 6 damage.
Triggered Actions
Ferocity • Encounter
Trigger: The goat-headed archer drops to 0 hit points.
Effect: The goat-headed archer makes a melee or ranged basic attack.
Str 15 (+4)    Dex 18 (+6)    Wis 10 (+2)
Con 12 (+3)    Int 8 (+1)    Cha 9 (+1)
Alignment chaotic evil     Languages Common
Equipment handaxe, longbow, arrow x30


Goat-headed Smasher    Level 6 Soldier
Medium natural humanoid     XP 250
HP 72; Bloodied 36
AC 22; Fortitude 20; Reflex 17; Will 18
Speed 6
Initiative +7
Perception +5
Low-light Vision
Standard Actions
Warhammer (weapon) • At-Will, basic
Attack: +13 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 4 damage, and the target is marked until the end of the goat-headed smasher’s next turn.
Smashing Charge • At-Will
Attack: +14 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6 + 5 damage, and the target is knocked prone.
Effect: The goat-headed smasher charges and makes the following attack in place of a melee basic attack.
Smash It… With My Head! • Encounter
Effect: The goat-headed smasher makes a goring charge, followed by a melee basic attack against the same target.
Triggered Actions
Smash It… With My Shield! • At-Will
Requirements: Requires a shield.
Trigger: When an adjacent target marked by the goat-headed smasher shifts or attacks a target other than the goat-headed smasher.
Attack (Immediate Interrupt): +11 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 + 4 damage, and the target is knocked prone.
One Last Smash!
Trigger: When the goat-headed smasher drops to 0 hit points.
Effect: The goat-headed smasher makes a melee basic attack.
Skills Endurance +11, Intimidate +9, Nature +10
Str 19 (+7)    Dex 14 (+5)    Wis 14 (+5)
Con 16 (+6)    Int 10 (+3)    Cha 12 (+4)
Alignment chaotic evil     Languages Common

Room 29

This room, and Room 30 (below), appear much more refined; the floors are hardwood, and the walls are brick and mortar. Room 29 holds a massive stone statue of a goat's head, set against the southern wall of the room. It is crudely carved, and appears very much out of place in the more refined trappings of the room. Small side-tables covered in candles provide light to the room.

Those examining the stone goat's head readily notice (Arcana DC 7; Perception DC 12) its powerful aura of magic; further study (Arcana DC 17, Religion DC 17) recognizes the potential of that magic to transform anyone who touches the stone or stays in its vicinity for the duration of an extended rest. Those who do touch the stone goat's head (up to once per minute) or take an extended rest in Rooms 29 or 30 receive the following attack: +9 vs. Fortitude; Hit: Character receives the Initial effect of goat-headed transformation.

Goat-headed Transformation    Level 6 Disease
Attack: +9 vs. Fortitude
Endurance: improve DC 23, maintain DC 19, worsen DC 18 or lower; as this is a curse rather than a true disease, characters can aid recovery with Religion as well as Heal
Effects: The target is cured <-> Initial Effect: The target takes a -2 penalty to all skill and ability checks <-> The target loses much of his rational thought, and cannot gain or use Action Points. <-> The target grows horns. Whenever the target is bloodied, at the beginning of his turn he makes Headbutt attack against a random adjacent target (Strength + 3 vs AC, 1d6 + Strength bonus damage). <-> The target is a goat-headed person under the control of the DM.

Room 30

The walls of this small area are made of brick and mortar in good condition, unlike the nearby Room 28. From this side, the door to Room 28 is quite obvious and easily opened.

The stable strand shown here looks like a doorway filled with drifting motes of light. Those lights are drawn to anything that passes through the doorway, but they do no harm. An Arcana check (DC 17) correctly identifies this phenomenon as another stable strand. Characters who have passed through other stable strands in this dungeon receive a +2 bonus to their skill check.

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