O.K. here is room 3. it is kinda long but it is a big room. I'm not sure I did the zombies right. I wanted CR 2 human zombies. so I advanced the ones in the monstermanual even tho it say that they have no advancement. Also I'm not shure what the CR of the puzzle is so I wasn't shure how much treasure to give. So I may have gone overboard there. also if anyone thinks that the search DCs are too high or two low let me know. I think that all the doors go with the rooms behind them, so I don't get a door.
Room 3: Merodak's Burial Chamber (John “DiFier” Carroll)
Door: none (special: see features) See each room that has a door opening into this room for that door's description and statistics. I think that all the doors go with the rooms behind them, so I don't get a door.
You open the door to pitch blackness and utter silence. The walls of the room are smooth cut stone and have empty wall sconces to hold torches. The sconces are every 10 feet 12 foot above the floor. They are located between the columns and in the corners of the room. Beyond you can see four smooth stone columns and at the edge of your vision a pair of stairs leading up to a 10' tall, relief carved Dais. The floors are covered with a thick uneven layer of dust. There is an obvious path through the dust but even that has a thin layer of dust on it.
The room is Huge. Two bays of columns hide the walls. The ceiling is 60 feet above the floor and painted to look like a stormy sky. As you approach the dais you notice that it is covered with a relief carving and there is a stone sarcophagus sitting on top of it. Beyond the sarcophagus' dais is a second ten foot tall dais with a twice life sized statue of a hooded robed figure in it's right hand is a mace which is pointing at the sarcophagus. The figure's left hand is holding out a holy symbol of the god of death and destruction.
Traps: none (for now. I may have the statue be trapped some how)
Features:
All the columns are five foot in diameter and are smooth stone. On a general room search (DC 20) or if someone is searching the columns specifically (DC 10) they will notice that the group of four columns in each corner of the room are carved with the motif of one of the four elements. Earth (northeast corner) Wind (northwest corner), Fire (southwest corner) and Water (southeast corner).
If anyone decides to search the floor they will notice upon brushing away the dust (search DC 12 if searching the floor DC 25 for general search.) that Each of the five foot square floor tiles has a name carved into it. There are 240 with names on them. (the 5' squares that contain columns, the four noted below and the two dais don't have names on them) Each denotes a cultist of the God of Death and Destruction. They were entombed here below the floor, upon the death of the God's Cleric the leader of the cult, Merodak.
There are four open floor tiles that are different: the tiles between the four columns in each corner of the room, are blank. These tiles are loose and can be pulled up (DC 20 strength), plus they have only 15HP so they can easily be cracked and broken The characters get a DC 25 spot check to notice that below each of these four tiles is a zombie. (they probably will not need the check for the other 3 tiles) unless they make the spot check the zombie get a surprise round and attacks the closest PC to the opening, see the statistics on the zombies. Each Zombie is wearing a black rotting robe. They each have a four inch diameter stone amulet that has a sunburst carved onto the front and the word light carved into the back. Upon saying the command word “light” The pendant glows for 10 minutes. On the zombies' right ring finger is a nonmagical gold “element” ring, set with worthless red (fire), brown (earth) blue (water) or clear (air) gems, all around the band. (each ring is worth 40gp at most) The zombie's ring corresponds to the motif of the columns that surrounded the tile that entombed it.
Each side of the sarcophagus' dais has a scene of people fleeing a cloaked, hooded figure. The figure is holding up it's hands. One hand is empty. The other is holding a small four-inch diameter disk. In the east wall, the one with the stairs, the figure is to the right of the stairs. In the scene the ground is opening up and swallowing people as they try to flee the figure. The northern wall of the dais shows the figure surrounded by a burning landscape people bursting into flames as they flee. The southern wall shows the cloaked figure with a great storm blowing behind him. People are running and being blown away and struck by flying debris. The west wall shows a man standing on the water as people around him drown. The carvings are life sized. If someone says that they are searching the carvings they will notice on a DC of 15, (25 in a general search) that the hooded figures right hand has an individual ring finger that has pieces of glass where a ring would be. The four-inch diameter disk has a lip around the edge.
The floor of the dais is smooth black stone. The sarcophagus itself is made of stone (hardness 10, 600 HP). The lid is made out of two pieces and the one to the west seems to slide under the eastern one but it is closed tight and doesn't have any obvious means to unlock it. The only thing carved into is the name Merodak.
To open the sarcophagus the PCs must place the corresponding ring onto the finger of the figure on each side of the dais. East: earth, North: fire, West: water and South: wind. They must then activate the light amulets and fit them into the pendants of the four cloaked figures on the sides of the dais. The light will then shine through the ring be colored by the worthless gems and will activate the locking mechanism opening the stone bolts the keep the lid of the sarcophagus locked. A loud click will alert the PCs that the sarcophagus is unlocked but it still takes a DC 20 strength check to push the lid open allowing the lower half of the lid to slid into the upper half.
The lid begins sliding shut when just one light source is interrupted, whether blocked or when the duration of the spell has ended. It takes the lid 30 seconds to close completely and it locks once in place. A strength DC 20 will keep the lid at its current position but to open it more is DC 40. If the amulets are reactivated the sarcophagus will unlock again.
Inside the sarcophagus is the skeleton of the Cleric Merodak. He is wearing four silver rings similar to the 4 used to unlock the sarcophagus except with only one gem and each ring is worth 300gp. He has a silver circlet around his forehead worth 100gp. He is holding a masterwork mace that looks like the one the statue is holding (though only half as big) and on his arms are a pair non-magical bracers. (50gp) A search DC18 is required to notice a hole in the top of the wall at the head of the sarcophagus. The hole is about 2 inches in diameter and has 8 small slots that extend out from it. If the PCs cannot figure out that the silver mace fits into the hole, have them make a spot check. Anyone getting a 24 or higher notices the mace that the statue is holding and is currently pointed directly at the PCs. They notice that the mace is the same shape as the hole, just two times too big.
If the mace is inserted it is stuck there forever but the entire sarcophagus slides to the east 5 feet revealing a pit in the floor. The entire area inside the dais is open most is full of rotting cloths and tapestries and other rotting unidentifiable items. But there is a steel box that still appears to be in decent condition. Inside is a +1 mace with the spells Chill Touch (3rd level, 1/day used through the mace. If you attempt to hit with the mace and still make the touch attack the spell still works) and false life (3rd level, 1/day; faint necromancy 5,500gp), a pair of bracers of armor +1 and 500gp worth of gems.
Encounter: below each of the four tiles in the corners of the room (see the features section) is a zombie
Zombie (4): Medium Undead CR 2; HD 6d12; hp 42; Init -1; AC 11 (-1 Dex, +2 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 11; Base Atk +3; Grapple +4; Attack Slam +4 melee 1d6+1; slam +4 melee 1d6+1; Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA -; SQ single actions only, damage reduction 5/slashing, darkvision 60ft, undead traits.; AL neutral evil; Saves Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +5; Str 12, Dex 8, Con —,Int — , Wis 10, Cha 1
Skills and feats: toughness
Tactics: the zombies will attempt to grapple the closest PC to the opening and pull them down into the hole.