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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 9192057" data-attributes="member: 11760">Traitor’s Ruin, a 5E dungeon for any tier of playIngredients:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ruined Monastery</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Silent Chime</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Face Blindness</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fighting Words</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Extradimensional Arachnid</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Hanged Elf</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Reality Show</li> </ul>The ruined monastery of Mainistir Fheallaire looms on the edge of a sea cliff, lashed by storms and surf. It was once the home of an order of elven clerics. They were betrayed from within, leading to the complete slaughter of the faithful in a single blood-soaked night. Mainistir Fheallaire is said to be cursed and is avoided by all. But recently, a woman has appeared in the characters’ dreams, wordlessly urging them to enter the monastery to compete for untold riches within.EntranceThe area around Mainistir Fheallaire is now overgrown with cruel brambles. But the path to the front entrance can be easily located, even if picking one’s way up it is a slow and difficult process. Hard to spot without looking for it (DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check), are an unusual number of spiderwebs amongst the brambles, despite a lack of insects that the spiders would prey upon.The entrance of the monastery is at the base of a partially ruined bell tower. Even from the ground, it’s clear that the bell is no longer in the tower.The heavy double doors have been smashed in by fallen stones. There also appear to be barricades on the inside of the doors that remain somewhat intact. The entire mess is held together by thick brambles, sealing the entrance. There does not appear to be any other way in or out of the ruined monastery, other than climbing the walls and roof to get into courtyard. (A successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check is required to do so.)The keystone above the doors is clear of grime. A message has been carved into the stone in Elvish, which is clearly legible, even in the worst weather or at night, because someone -- or something — wants the message to be read: “Let neither friend nor foe stand between me and my prize.”Any who read the message aloud vanish, and are teleported to a random room inside (roll 1d4 for the room). The spell shroud identity is cast on them (DC 24 WIS save to resist.) using a ninth level spell slot as they arrive. Those teleported inside will not recognize even lifelong companions shrouded by the spell.1. Beneath the bell towerThe ruined main door is just as impassible from the inside. The other exit from the room leads to the central courtyard of the monastery. Pinned to the door with a rusted sword is the skeletal corpse of an elf.The bell that once hung in the tower has fallen here, now cracked and bent. Any who stand in the tower can feel the vibration of a great bell ringing in panicked alarm, even though no sound can be heard.Any puddle or other reflective surface within the monastery doesn’t reflect what it ought to, something that it takes a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to realize. Instead, the reflections are a window into another dimension: On the far side, a dark-skinned woman with six arms and the head of a spider leans on a throne dangling from spiderwebs stretched across an infinite void, watching those within the monastery. Around her, dangling from webs of their own, are dozens of other fiends, each whispering to themselves as they watch those within the monastery, seemingly enjoying their struggles.2. CourtyardThe puddle-filled courtyard has exits leading to the bell tower, the cells and the abbot’s chambers. Other exits are blocked by collapsed rubble.In the center of the courtyard, growing up from the earth where a garden once grew is a black metal limb, ending in an arthropod’s claw clutching an enormous ruby. The ruby is equal in value to the group’s average level in thousands of gold. A message on the stone circle circling the limb on the ground reads, in Elvish, “to the victor go the spoils.” Any time a shrouded figure, including a PC, dies in the monastery, the ruby grows in size. It increases in value by thousands of gold equal to the level of the slain figure.The claw refuses to release the gem. Forcing the claw open requires a successful DC 30 Strength check. Destroying the limb is likewise almost impossible, with damage resistance 50 to all damage types and it requires 100 hit points of damage to break. In either case, the stolen ruby dissolves into a mass of spiders once it’s been seized.Once all other figures in the monastery are dead, the claw opens. It releases the ruby for the survivor to take and teleports them back to the entrance outside the belltower.A minute after someone arrives in the courtyard, another shrouded figure steps out of the shadows and attacks. They have identical stats as the player character. If they’re killed, the cobwebs fall away from their face, revealing the face of the player character they’ve duplicated before they and their belongings collapse into cobwebs. Should they kill the player character, the shrouded figure slips back into the shadows and vanishes.This scenario repeats once for each player character, the first time they arrive in the courtyard.3. The cellsExits from this area lead to the courtyard and to the abbot’s chamber.Most of the cells where the monks lived in life are now in ruins, spiderwebs filling the gaps between fallen stones. The cells that are passable have long-ago bloodstains on the floors and walls and most have the bones of slain clerics.The last cell has been barricaded from the inside, although not well: It only takes a successful DC 15 Strength check to force one’s way into the room. Inside, there are no figures or corpses, but written on the wall in dried blood is the message “I QUI-.” The last letter of “quit” is missing, as the writer vanished before finishing the word.Anyone saying “I quit” out loud is telepathically contacted by a female presence. She doesn’t speak in words, but asks if the speaker is really giving up the treasure by leaving. Anyone who agrees is teleported back outside the monastery, finding themselves standing before the bell tower once again, the shroud dispelled off them.4. The abbot’s chamberExits from the abbot’s chamber lead to the courtyard and to the cells.The chamber is in ruins, but in better shape than the rest of the monastery. Religious icons around the walls of the room have all been defaced and the large mirrors on two walls have had most of their glass smashed out.In the center of the room, a ghostly elf cleric struggles at the end of a noose, kicking frantically, hands bound behind their back, clearly unable to save themselves. A sign around their neck reads “BETRAYER.”The rope the elf dangles from is solid enough to sever or otherwise pull down, freeing the ghost from its torment.The grateful and silent ghost of the elf casts two spells on those who cut them down before departing for their afterlife: cure wounds and aid, both cast with a third level spell slot.Shroud Identity1st-level illusionCasting Time: 1 actionRange: 60 feetComponents: V, S, M (a fistful of spider webs)Duration: 1 hourYou conceal one creature – including their voice, body language, clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on their person – by shrouding them with an illusory shroud of thick spiderwebs crawling with spiders. The target’s voice is muffled and wobbles up and down in pitch, making it impossible to identify their regular voice.If cast on an unwilling subject, the creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw to resist being shrouded.The effect lasts until you use your action to dismiss it. The shrouds disguise the subject’s height and weight, making them seem potentially 1 foot shorter or taller and disguising whether they are naturally thin, fat, or in between. The spell can’t change body type, so the shrouded target still has a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs.The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. To see through the shroud and discern who is concealed within, a creature can use its action to inspect the subject’s appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd or 4th level, it lasts for 8 hours. When you use a spell slot of 5th or 6th level, it lasts for up to 24 hours. When you use a spell slot of 7th or 8th level, it lasts for up to 7 days. When you use a spell slot of 9th level, it lasts until dispelled. Spell Lists. Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard</blockquote>

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