Dirigible
Explorer
4. Shrine of the Asphyxiating God (Owain 'Dirigible' Abramczyk)
Door: The northward-facing wooden door is unlocked but is barred from the outside; thus, PCs approaching from room #3 will have no trouble opening it (Break DC 18 [20 with bar in place]; Hardness 5; Hit points 15).
Traps: The braziers. (Magical; triggered by action; automatic reset; gas; all targets in a 25' by 25 room; never miss; onset delay (1 round); Search DC 26; Disable Device DC 26.
This trap takes the form of smoke that billows up from the braziers when they are fanned by the wings of the smoke mephits. After a one round delay, the smoke reaches dangerous levels, as described in The Environment (DMG, pg x).
Features: The altar depicts two nude male and female forms in the grips of death by suffocation. Luckily for the PCs, it does not carry any lingering curse. The walls are flat and bland, but are marked with faint images of contorted bodies and pleading hands that almost seem to be reaching out of the walls.
Encounter: [EL 6] Three human warrior skeletons stand in the middle of the room. They are armed only with their bare claws, and are heavily overgrown with a mat of brown moss (it is a mundane fungus, with no special properties or dangers). The skeletons attack as soon as the door is opened, and are not affected either by the concealment or the suffocation of the smoke, being undead.
A smoke mephit dwells in each of the braziers. They trigger the smoke trap as soon as PCs enter the room, hoping to weaken the PCs through coughing, choking and obscured vision while they deal with the skeletons.
Skeleton (3): Medium undead CR 1/3; HD 1d12; 6hp; Init +5; Speed 30ft (6 squares); AC 13 (+2 natural, +1 dex); Base Attack +0; Grapple +1; Attack claw +1 melee (1d6+1); Full attack 2 claws +1 melee (1d6+1); Space/Reach 5'/5'; Special Qualities: DR 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 60ft, immunity to cold, undead traits; Saves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +2; AL neutral evil; Str 13, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1.
Skills and Feats: Improved Initiative.
Smoke Mephit (2): Small outsider (air, extraplanar) CR 3; HD 3d8; 13hp; Init +7; Speed 30ft (6 squares), fly 50ft (average); AC 17 (+1 size, +3 dex, +3 natural); Base Attack +3; Grapple -1; Attack claw +4 melee (1d3); Full attack 2 claws +4 melee (1d3); Space/Reach 5'/5'; Special Attacks: Breath weapon, spell-like abilities; Special Qualities: DR 5/magic, darkvision 60ft, fast healing 2; Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +3; AL neutral evil; Str 10, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 15.
Skills and Feats: Bluff +8, Escape Artist +9, Hide +13, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Intimidate +4, Listen +6, Move Silently +9, Spot +6, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings); Dodge, Improved Initiative.
Breath Weapon (Su): 10-foot cone of hot smoke , damage 1d4, Reflex DC 12 half. Living creatures that fail their saves are tormented by itching skin and burning eyes. This effect imposes a –4 penalty to AC and a –2 penalty on attack rolls for 3 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +1 racial bonus.
Spell-Like Abilities: Once per hour, a smoke mephit can surround itself with a plume of smoke, duplicating the effect of a blur spell (caster level 3rd). Once per day it can create a mass of roiling smoke that duplicates the effect of wind wall (DC 15, caster level 6th). The save DC is Charisma-based.
Fast Healing (Ex): A smoke mephit heals only if in an arid, sooty environment.
Smoke mephits are simply a cosmetic alteration of dust mephits. These specimens have been bound for so long they have lost their summon abilities.
Other Features: Hidden in an alcove on the convoluted surface of the altar (Search DC 23) is a heavy sceptre of black jade, worth 3,000 gp. It also acts as a wand of silence (caster level 6) with one charge remaining.
Notes: This room is a long-abandoned shrine to the Asphyxiating God, a minor, evil deity of death, suffocation, living entombment, imprisonment and the undead. After the Crypt as a whole was finished, the clerics of the Asphyxiating God that had overseen the construction bound the mephits here as guardians and sealed the shrine and left it.
Door: The northward-facing wooden door is unlocked but is barred from the outside; thus, PCs approaching from room #3 will have no trouble opening it (Break DC 18 [20 with bar in place]; Hardness 5; Hit points 15).
Dim, reddish light suffuses this almost bare room, where the air itself feels entombed. A pair of intricate wrought-iron braziers are the source of the illumination, and also pour forth a cloying, dead-tasting smoke that vanishes into the air. Between the braziers, against the far wall is a low rectangular structure, an altar that seems to be carved in the image of several intertwined, contorted bodies. There is nothing erotic or arousing about the sight, though... instead it brings to mind slow death and smothering isolation.
Traps: The braziers. (Magical; triggered by action; automatic reset; gas; all targets in a 25' by 25 room; never miss; onset delay (1 round); Search DC 26; Disable Device DC 26.
This trap takes the form of smoke that billows up from the braziers when they are fanned by the wings of the smoke mephits. After a one round delay, the smoke reaches dangerous levels, as described in The Environment (DMG, pg x).
Features: The altar depicts two nude male and female forms in the grips of death by suffocation. Luckily for the PCs, it does not carry any lingering curse. The walls are flat and bland, but are marked with faint images of contorted bodies and pleading hands that almost seem to be reaching out of the walls.
Encounter: [EL 6] Three human warrior skeletons stand in the middle of the room. They are armed only with their bare claws, and are heavily overgrown with a mat of brown moss (it is a mundane fungus, with no special properties or dangers). The skeletons attack as soon as the door is opened, and are not affected either by the concealment or the suffocation of the smoke, being undead.
A smoke mephit dwells in each of the braziers. They trigger the smoke trap as soon as PCs enter the room, hoping to weaken the PCs through coughing, choking and obscured vision while they deal with the skeletons.
Skeleton (3): Medium undead CR 1/3; HD 1d12; 6hp; Init +5; Speed 30ft (6 squares); AC 13 (+2 natural, +1 dex); Base Attack +0; Grapple +1; Attack claw +1 melee (1d6+1); Full attack 2 claws +1 melee (1d6+1); Space/Reach 5'/5'; Special Qualities: DR 5/bludgeoning, darkvision 60ft, immunity to cold, undead traits; Saves: Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +2; AL neutral evil; Str 13, Dex 13, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1.
Skills and Feats: Improved Initiative.
Smoke Mephit (2): Small outsider (air, extraplanar) CR 3; HD 3d8; 13hp; Init +7; Speed 30ft (6 squares), fly 50ft (average); AC 17 (+1 size, +3 dex, +3 natural); Base Attack +3; Grapple -1; Attack claw +4 melee (1d3); Full attack 2 claws +4 melee (1d3); Space/Reach 5'/5'; Special Attacks: Breath weapon, spell-like abilities; Special Qualities: DR 5/magic, darkvision 60ft, fast healing 2; Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +3; AL neutral evil; Str 10, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 11, Cha 15.
Skills and Feats: Bluff +8, Escape Artist +9, Hide +13, Diplomacy +4, Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Intimidate +4, Listen +6, Move Silently +9, Spot +6, Use Rope +3 (+5 with bindings); Dodge, Improved Initiative.
Breath Weapon (Su): 10-foot cone of hot smoke , damage 1d4, Reflex DC 12 half. Living creatures that fail their saves are tormented by itching skin and burning eyes. This effect imposes a –4 penalty to AC and a –2 penalty on attack rolls for 3 rounds. The save DC is Constitution-based and includes a +1 racial bonus.
Spell-Like Abilities: Once per hour, a smoke mephit can surround itself with a plume of smoke, duplicating the effect of a blur spell (caster level 3rd). Once per day it can create a mass of roiling smoke that duplicates the effect of wind wall (DC 15, caster level 6th). The save DC is Charisma-based.
Fast Healing (Ex): A smoke mephit heals only if in an arid, sooty environment.
Smoke mephits are simply a cosmetic alteration of dust mephits. These specimens have been bound for so long they have lost their summon abilities.
Other Features: Hidden in an alcove on the convoluted surface of the altar (Search DC 23) is a heavy sceptre of black jade, worth 3,000 gp. It also acts as a wand of silence (caster level 6) with one charge remaining.
Notes: This room is a long-abandoned shrine to the Asphyxiating God, a minor, evil deity of death, suffocation, living entombment, imprisonment and the undead. After the Crypt as a whole was finished, the clerics of the Asphyxiating God that had overseen the construction bound the mephits here as guardians and sealed the shrine and left it.
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