The Ruined Tower of Zenopus Prep Notes, Part Five

Continuing my fluffy prep for The Ruined Tower of Zenopus, Zach Howard's 5e adaption of Holmes' Sample Dungeon.
Room A
Rooms B-E
Rooms F & G
Rooms H-M

N. Sub-Necropolis
100x70’
A large room with low vaulted ceilings and caryatids (columns carved in the shapes of women). The ceiling caves in towards the North wall, ending in a slope of dirt and rubble, riddled with rat tunnels.

Ten carved sarcophagi are spaced evenly across the floor. As per Zach and Holmes.

P. Ghouls’ Pantry
70x50’
This room is filled with cracked and scattered wooden coffins (of recent make and in the Parsasian style), and the floor is littered with gnawed human bones.

Two fancy ghouls are in this room. They are dressed in a wild mismatch of fine funereal clothes and jewelry, now ragged and muddy. If they are aware of the PCs approach, they will hide among the coffins in order to ambush the intruders.

The ghouls wear a collection of bracelets, bangles, earrings, and rings worth 5d10 gp each. Investigation of the coffins reveals treasure based on level of success: 10-14: 10 pp; 15-19: 20 pp & 3 gems worth 10 gp each; 20+: 50 pp and 5 gems worth 10 gp each.

Dead End Passage: The east door leads to a corridor that has collapsed entirely. Investigation will reveal that this is below cemetery land, and that the ghouls dug through it to retrieve fresh caskets.

RT. Rat Tunnels
An unmappable warren of 3’ diameter, muddy tunnels.

• Every 100’: 50% chance of encountering a giant rat
• Every 200’: 50% chance of finding 1 coin of a random type (1. Copper; 2-3. Silver; 4. Electrum; 5. Gold; 6. Platinum.)
• After 500’, the PCs will encounter a 30’ diameter nesting chamber for 2 monstrous rats. 2d10 coins of each type lie scattered across the nest’s floor. Each monstrous rat wears a silver pendant with a red garnet, worth 50 gp each, or 150 as a set.
• After 1500’: the tunnels break into an abandoned basement chamber in the Ancient Ruins to the northwest of Bandar Arzoon and Zenopus’s Tower (see Portown map from The Ruined Tower of Zenopus).

S. Stairs to Beda-At, the Thaumaturgist’s Tower

40’ diameter

This round room is walled in common gray stone, not the milky white stone of so much of the dungeon. Wooden stairs run along the eastern wall to a trap door in the wood-framed ceiling. 

Zar-Varagh, the Thaumaturgist’s pet constrictor snake, is usually found lying on the stairs.

Beneath the stairs is a secret door leading to the F. Thaumaturgist’s Workroom. Tracks left by the Thaumaturgist or her guard will be apparent to anyone with tracking skills who attempts an investigation.

The Thaumaturgist has left some supplies here for her exploration of the dungeon: 

• 3 coils of silken rope (50’)
• 3 10’ poles
• 2 bed rolls
• 20 torches
• 1 tinderbox
• 1 crowbar
• 1 set of iron spikes
• 1 hammer

S1. Beda-At, The Thaumaturgist’s Bedroom

40’ diameter

A round tower room constructed of gray stone. 

This room is a domestic space. There is a bed piled with quilts (for the Thaumaturgist), a rough sleeping palette on the floor (for her guard), a basket (containing robes and underclothes), wooden chairs, and a table covered in grease stains and piled wax from years of dripping candles.

There is a wide fireplace and kitchen accoutrements, including well-used cooking implements and a larder (filled with sacks of lentils, barley, dried goat meat, dried mushrooms, and peppers; a tin of peppercorns {worth 5 gp} and salt, a box contains salted fish, and a clay bowl of grubs).

Wooden stairs set into the stone walls run up the eastern wall to a trap door in the ceiling.

A threadbare Parsasian rug at the foot of the stairs covers a trapdoor leading down.

S2. Beda-At, The Thaumaturgist’s Study

40’ diameter

A round tower room constructed of gray stone. Narrow (2’ wide) windows.

The walls of this room are crowded with shelves, tables, and desks, all covered in books and loose papers. 

• 2 large spell books, containing the following spells: (Cantrips: light, mage hand, shocking grasp); (1st level: charm person, magic missile); (2nd level: arcane lock, web)
• 3 volumes of Zenopus’ journal, written in code
• Piles of papers attempting to crack Zenopus’ code.
• 1 scroll of Stone to Flesh
• Records of various measurements in and around the dungeon: humidity, air pressure, size of rat droppings, number of consecutive times a coin lands heads up, etc.
• A cheaply printed pamphlet written in Oromi, titled “On the Care and Feeding of Apes”

In a secret compartment (Investigation 20+ to find) in one table is the Lesser Wand of Petrification.

The center of the room is empty, leaving the floor clear. Magic circles and tabulations made in chalk cover the floor. An Arcana 10+ check will reveal that the Thaumaturgist is trying find and summon Zenopus' spirit.

Against the south wall is a large, iron cage, containing a very angry ape. The key to the cage’s locked door lies in a table, nearby. 

Stairs continue up the east wall to a trap door in the ceiling.

S3. Beda-At, Tower Roof

40’ diameter

A circular flat rooftop, offering a view of the sea to the west and the port town of Badar Arzoo to the east. Northeast lies Tabah, the Ruined Tower of Zenopus, and beyond that, the cemetery. 

That's the end of the dungeon! Tomorrow, I'll post the Wandering Monsters.