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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerakSpielman" data-source="post: 1398971" data-attributes="member: 7464">Nah, the secret door stays. It can't be opened normally, but it's going to be painfully clear that it's there, because there's going to be a riddle posted on it: Room 10: The Heroes of Durlath Hill (by Merak Spielman aka MerakSpielman)Door : The northern, stone door is unlocked and carved with scenes from a mighty battle (stats for typical stone door). Features : Upon reaching the end of the hall, the PCs clearly see a riddle carved onto the wall:Three of the coffins contain the remains of the three, long-forgotten heroes. One elf, one orc, and one man. The other 11 coffins contain 4 elves, 4 orcs, and 3 men. All of the coffins also contain the weapons and armor its warrior weilded in life. The elves each have studded leather, a dagger, and a composite longbow. The orcs each have a morningstar, hide armor, and a small wooden shield. The men each have a chain shirt, a longsword, and a small steel buckler. The bodies of the heroes are identical to the bodies of their brethren except the human hero has a gold signet ring with a mysterious crest (search check DC 20, worth 50gp), the orc hero has a necklace of shrunken humanoid skulls (reflecting his victories in battle, search check DC 15, worthless) and the elven hero wears a simple coronet of gold-gilded bay leaves (search check DC 10, worth 20gp). The skelitons are all old and brittle enough to fall apart if handled roughly. The solution of the puzzle is to close all the coffins except for those containing the bodies of the heroes. If this is done, the secret door will swing open. When the secret door closes again, the coffin lids all open, resetting the puzzle. The players, when trying to solve the puzzle, might ask specific questions about which niches contain the remains of which races. The coffins on the west wall contain, from north to south, an elf, a man, an elf, an orc (the hero), an orc, a man (the hero), and an orc. The coffins on the east wall contain an elf, an elf (the hero), an orc, a man, a man, an elf, and an orc. This inscription was made in a long-past age, before this crypt fell to the powers of darkness. It was never intended to be a serious impediment, since if anybody gained access to the crypt the Priests who guarded it had already failed their sacred duty. The "Sacred Ground" is now perverted and serves as the home of the spectre Damnation, who has diverted it's power to feed his own unholy goals. He allows this puzzle to remain because it amuses him, slows down intruders. The puzzle operates by a complex mechanical mechanism. Close examination of the secret door and the coffin lids will reveal that some sort of mechanism is present (Search check DC 25). A Disable Device check (DC 30) can entirely bypass the puzzle and open the secret door regardless of the configuration of coffin lids. If the players are irritated by the puzzle or having trouble solving it, the DM can opt to allow an Intelligence Check (DC 18) to provide hints (or even the solution). A bardic knowledge check (DC 20) will also provide a clue (for hints and clues, the DM decides what information to give based on what the party has managed to figure out). (Note: Remove this feature during editing if there is nobody in the crypt capable of casting this spell) Alarm spell: there is an Alarm spell active, centered halfway down the coffin-lined corridor. It is set to silently alert [the caster] if triggered, who will warn Damnation and give him time to prepare his forces to meet the intruders. The alarm spell will be revealed by a detect magic, which the players could cast while trying to figure out the puzzle. Encounter : None</blockquote>

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