1
Stairs up to Level 5 - This flight of stairs is very long, descending
steeply into darkness. It is made of dark marble, shot through with
red streaks. Every third step is engraved with a complex golden
pictograph - (they merely count down from the top, in
Atalantëan, so that the rightful owners of the staircase would
know where the two traps on the staircase are). There is too little
gold to have any significant value in the glyphs. At the
three-hundredth and six hundredth steps are two magical traps
designed to prevent unauthorised access. At the first, a wall of fire
springs up when the glyph is stepped on (2d6 RKA, 1 hex area affect,
no range, 3 charges, each lasts 5 minutes. At the second, the step
appears to turn liquid, engulfing the first character to cross it.
Anyone else who comes in range will likewise be bound (attack is 8d6
entangle, 1 hex area affect, sticky, 1 charge). Both traps are
monitored by "spacial awareness", so invisible characters can be
affected.
2
Holding cells - This area was used to hold prisoners for
experimentation or the products of summonings or magical mishaps. All
doors are of bronze, verdigrised but still stout. The doors from the
passage are connected beneath the floor by heavy rods - one can only
be opened if the other is closed. The cells are all empty, but there
are also oubliettes set into the floor. These are simply 14 meter
deep shafts sealed with a heavy metal lid (which have breathing holes
in them) and barred from above. One of these retains its occupant - a
summoned spirit trapped in a created body. It will wail and howl, if
it hears any noise above, and releasing the lid will let it out.
Man-shaped, it has rotting, dead white flesh peeling from its body
and its face and hands are all but destroyed from pounding at the
stone over hopeless centuries. If freed, it will try to kill anything
that moves with no attempt at self preservation.
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3
Antechamber to the Labs - This area was where apprentices were
instructed and the mages met for discussion. Several large chairs,
ornately carved with mystic runes, benches and low tables dot the
room. The right hand side of the room hold a large cupboard filled
with scrolls that has been over set - the scrolls, crushed beneath
it, will turn to powder at the slightest touch.
4
Stairs up to level 7 - This flight of stairs is similar to the one
descending from level 5, but the runes are of silver - now tarnished
black as the stone it is set in.
5
Laboratory - This room has been stripped of most of its valuables,
but there is a large quantity of glassware, crucibles, mortars, etc.
The room is dominated by a large table that fills the centre of the
room and holds most of the stuff. On this is a small locked iron
chest guarded by a spell rune that paralyses anyone who sees it
painted on the lid of the chest (4d6 Entangle transparent, triggered
by sight). Inside this chest are a variety of semi-precious stones
used to grind up for scroll inks (2-12 Gp each). There is a furnace
in one corner and beside that is an upright suit of armour - the
guardian and servant of the laboratory. Any wanton destruction will
cause it to attack, otherwise it will remain quiescent.
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6
Laboratory - This laboratory was destroyed by its owner to prevent it
falling into enemy hands - the room itself is just a blackened shell
- even the stone of the walls have melted and run from the strength
of the spell used.
7
Scriptorium - This room was used to pen scroll and perform magical
writings. There are 2 large desks, one of which has collapsed into
fragments and the pots of inks, brushes and knives are ruined by age.
On the wall is a hanging made of coloured glass, each fragment looped
into several others, to form a mosaic, of the archaic style known as
a sacratata. The pattern is abstract, and the thing intact would
probably fetch 400 Gp or more from a wealthy collector, since they
are extremely rare. Behind this is a bronze mirror that acts as a
mind link for anyone who gazes into its surface when someone else
looks into a similar one. It is about 60 cm by 30 cm and weighs about
5 kg. There are still at least 2 such mirrors surviving - one is in
the Palace of arms at Drochaid na Banna, being used as an ordinary
mirror. The other is held by a Liassafar lord whose manse is beneath
the Croimlinne mountains. A matched pair would be worth a
considerable amount....
8
Laboratory - This room is bare and a shallow depression in the floor
has 3 pairs of strong manacles. The manacles are magic and will seize
whatever comes into the depression and hold it fast until the command
word is given. Each set can be treated as a 12 d6 entangle and they
attack at OCV 8, SPD 5.
9
Library - This room is lined on three walls by shelves, which are in
turn filled with scrolls, clay tablets, and metal or stone plates
incised with runes or painted in strange characters. It includes
works on geography (the worlds and moons of the solar system as well
as some extraplanar) magic, physiology (human and otherwise) and
history. Most are in the bastardised form of Atalantëan used in
Enneasis, but many tongues are represented - pure Atalantëan,
Thanatari and languages whose very names have been forgotten. It has
obviously been pillaged - there are scrolls and papers scattered
across the floors and the lockable cages that fill some shelves are
open and largely empty. Most of the paper is too decayed to be read,
but the rest is worth a 80 Gp to an antiquarian or a mage with a good
knowledge of ancient tongues.
10
Containment room - Access to this room is by means of a secret door.
One of the slabs of marble that face the wall is arranged so that it
pivots on its axis. It is rather heavy, so requires a STR of at least
10 to move. The door itself is warded by a relatively simple spell
designed to make any escapee from a summoning easier to catch. It is
a SPD drain (1d6, effects last 1 hour, 3 uses) triggered by walking
through the doorway without saying the password. This room is the
place where extremely dangerous sorceries were performed and also
used as a storage place for potentially lethal items. The floor is
covered in ornate traceries in chalk from the last hasty summonings
and standing at various points are 4 censers made of solid gold, each
one weighing about 10 Kg and worth about 500 Gp each. There are 4
large iron bound chests, one in each corner of the room. All have
their lids open, and rotted silk wrappings are strewn about. Most of
the contents of the chests are gone, but a few items remain. There
are 4 glass balls, heavily padded in silk. These appear to contain a
swirling green liquid and if broken (DEF 1, BOD 1) will rapidly
release a greenish gas that attacks all living flesh - treat as a 3d6
radius area effect cumulative transformation attack, not against
opponents sealed from the air or nonliving, that converts the target
into stone. There is also a lead box containing a sorcerer's wheel -
a brass disc heavily engraved with runes. It acts as a 20 d6 radius
area effect drain against all magic, with the following disadvantages
: it has a skill roll of 15+ which must be made each round of
operation, its effect is gradual, ie 1 d6 on the 1st phase, 2 d6 on
the second etc until it reaches full effect or fails its roll, it
cannot be turned off and it has one use - since once it fails the
skill roll it explodes (side effect) for 3+1d6 energy RKA (area
affect radius) in a spray of molten brass. The wheel is activated by
taking it out of the box and speaking a command word (engraved on the
wheel in Atalantëan). Thereafter it spins in the air, faster and
faster, soaking up magic in the surrounding area to propel
itself.
