This is the tenth encounter in my 4E conversion of The Sunless Citadel, and the second encounter I’m posting this week to make up for the one I missed last month.

Encounter 10: Sanctuary of the Night Caller
Encounter Level 1 (500 XP)

The PCs discover an old, dry fountain that still holds a little magic. A shrine hides behind a trapped stone door. The shrines undead occupants guard a wondrous item of magic. This encounter includes the following creatures:

  • 3 skeletal warriors
  • 2 decrepit skeletons

sunlesscitadel_enc10

Read the following the players when they approach the fountain:

Dust and odd bits of stony debris and rubble lie scattered on the floor. An ornate fountain is built into the eastern wall. Through cracked, stained, and dry, the fountain’s carving of a diving dragon retains its beauty. A relief-carved stone door stands in the western wall.

Read the following when the PCs open the stone door:

Five dusty sarcophagi stand on end in this silent chamber–three on the north wall and two on the south. The carved stone lids each resemble a medium-sized humanoid with noble, fey features dressed in ceremonial robes. A shrine of worked obsidian is set against the center of the west wall. A single candle burns on the shrine.

Tactics
The sarcophagi open as soon as a PC touches either the shrine or one of sarcophagi, and the skeletons attack, seeking to flank the PCs. They will chase the PCs beyond the chamber.

Features
Illumination: Dim

Dragon fountain: A successful Arcana check (DC 22) will allow a PC to sense the presence of magic around the fountain. A successful Perception check (DC 16) will reveal a worn inscription on the basin’s front. The inscription is a single word written in Draconian: Nainarya, which translates to “Let there be fire.” If the inscription is spoken aloud, reddish liquid begins to well from the dragon’s mouth. It can be collected into a container or drunk directly. If consumed, the liquid acts as a potion of fire breath.

Potion of Fire Breath Level 5
As you open your mouth, deadly fire blasts forth to engulf your foes.
Potion 50 gp
Power (Consumable * Fire): Minor Action. Drink this potion and gain a single use of the Dragon Breath power with the Fire damage type.

Stone Door: Carvings on the stone door depict skeletal dragons. Those who stand within 1 square of the door feel a palpable coldness. A Draconic inscription above the door reads “Tana Aman Heka Men“, which translates “Channel good to open the way.” A Good-aligned (or Lawful Good) PC with the Channel Divinity class feature must make a Religion check (DC 20) to open the door.

The door is also rigged with a scything blade trap. Anyone who steps into the square directly in front of the door before successfully opening the door triggers the trap.

Scything Blade Level 1 Lurker
Trap XP 100
A scything blade sweeps across the 5-foot section of floor right in front of the door.
Trap:The square directly in front of the door features a scything blade. On it’s turn, it sweeps through the square, attacking the creature that occupies it.
Perception
  • DC 16: The PC notices a thin, shallow cut running across the 5ft section of the floor.
  • DC 21: The PC notices a think slot across the ceiling, corresponding to the cut across the floor. A successful Dungeoneering check (DC 15) allows the PC to recognize these as signs of a scything blade trap.
  • DC 21: The PC spots the pressure plate that activates the trap.

Initiative +6
Trigger
The trap rolls initiative when a creature enters the square in front of the door.
Attack
Standard Action Melee
Target: One creature
Attack: +4 vs. AC
Hit: 1d8+4 damage, target is pushed 1 square and knocked prone.
Countermeasures
  • A character can ready an action to attack the blade (AC 15, other defenses 12; hp 48). Destroying the blade renders the square safe from attack.
  • A successful Thievery check (DC 20) can be made to disable the pressure plate or jam the blade.

Obsidian Shrine: A Perception check (DC 20) will reveal a secret compartment in the shrine that holds a small chest. Within the chest are six peridot gems carved in the likeness of a dragon (worth 10gp each), a potion of healing, and Azan-gund (a Dwarven word that means “Night Caller”).

Azan-gund Level 5
A whistle carved from nephelium–a rare, transparent metal–to resemble a small dragon curled up like a snail. Azan-gund is etched on the whistle in Dwarven runes.
Wondrous Item 3,000 gp
Power (Daily * Arcane, Necrotic): Standard Action. Blow the whistle over a grave at night, or in darkness, and one corpse will animate and claw its way out to serve the bearer of the whistle. No more than two zombies can be animated at one time.