This madman wears a bizarre variety of
rags. His beard and hair are tangled and
unkempt, and he is soot-covered. He has
collected equipment which would help him
to escape, such as clothing, iron rations, a backpack
<veil, smock, low soft boots, girdle, scarf>
and so forth. Unfortunately, in his
madness, he has forgotten his goal to
escape. He also has a dagger, and has stolen
a <large belt> pouch with 8 topazes worth 50 gp
each: his pretty things.
<45, 50, 50, 100, 50, 50, 40, 50>
<total value: 435 gp>

This madman lives in the crawlspace
between the ceiling rafters and the roof of
the building, and clambers about on the
rafters from the ceiling, passing between
rooms through holes in the walls. To reach
the crawl space he climbs up the narrowing
chimney of the fireplaces in the various
rooms here and crawls to the crawlspace
through a hole in the chimney wall. The
crawlspace may also be reached by climbing
up the burnt timbers of the collapsed room.
If any intruders try to climb up the chimney <The Tight Squeeze, DSG>
while the madman is in the room, he drops a
noose around their neck, and hauls them
into the air to suffer 2-8 points of damage
per round until dead. Then he will drop the
body.

The madman will fight with a dagger if
attacked in the crawl space between the rafters
and the roof. Any character attempting
to fight hand-to-hand in this space has a -2
penalty to hit and damage rolls unless using
a dagger.

Madman: AC 8; MV 12"; Swashbuckler (F5); hp 41; #AT 1;
D 3-6
THACO 16
XP 396

16a. Collapsed Room
 

The ceiling of this room has collapsed and the rafters and the building roof 4 feet above are exposed. This room appears to have been gutted by fire and is littered with burnt timbers. In the east wall is a soot-covered fireplace. The room appears to be empty.

There are 3 vipers nesting beneath
rubble in the south end of the room. They
attack anyone disturbing them. Otherwise,
the room is empty. PCs may
gain access to the crawlspace between ceiling
and roof here by climbing up the burnt
timbers.

Vipers: AC 7; MV 6“; HD 1/2; hp 3 each;
#AT 1; D 1 + poison, save at +2
THACO 20n1
XP 33 each

16b. Abandoned Storeroom
 

Rows of dusty crates line the walls. One crate has fallen to the floor and broken open. A close examination of the contents reveal them to be moldy, dust-covered rations.

All the boxes contain moldy, inedible food. 
<standard rations, water, meal (grain), tea, sausages, wine (Sundish Lilac), etc.>
While the party searches the room a
crate will rise from one of the shelves as if by
levitation, then suddenly fly across the
room to smash against the floor at the feet of
one of the PCs. While the crate
flies through the air the party will hear an
eerie wail echoing throughout the room
which will end with a muffled yell of
“Begone! You disturb my REST!”

If a party member successfully searches
the ceiling for secret doors, he or she will
notice a narrow crack in the ceiling on line
with the path of the crate. The madman has
a thin, strong wire attached to the crate
which is invisible in the dim light. He uses
the wire to lift the crate, swing it, then drop
the crate to the ground. The wire is jarred
loose when the crate crashes and is then
pulled hack into the ceiling. The eerie noises
are made by the madman talking into an
empty bucket.

16c. Abandoned Armory
 

The room is filled with weapon racks, all of which are empty. The room is dusty  and cobwebs gather on the racks.

The room contains nothing of value.

16d. Abandoned Bedroom
 

This room contains a dusty bed, chest of drawers, night stand, and wooden rocking chair. Along the eastern wall is a large fireplace. As you open the door, a ceramic pitcher flies off the night stand and the rocking chair begins to rock with a creaking eerie sound. Out of the corner of your eyes you see a vague luminous shape in front of the fireplace. You hear  the shout: "Begone! I will warn you no  more!” echoing off the walls. The rocking chair quits rocking and the room is ominously silent. When you stare closely at the fireplace, the luminous figure is gone.

The madman is up to his tricks again. The
pitcher and the rocking chair have wires
attached to them to start them in motion.
The madman can operate these through a
concealed, makeshift trapdoor in the ceiling,
hidden in the shadows. Once the
pitcher shatters and the rocking chair starts
in motion, the controlling wires are pulled
back up. When the party’s attention is on
the rocking chair, the madman will reflect
candle light off a mirror onto a gauzy piece
of curtain hanging in from of the fireplace.
Having given the party a glimpse of the supposed
spirit, he shouts his warning, blows
out the <tallow> candle, and pulls the gauze in
through a chink in the chimney. He will then
exit the room.

16e. Abandoned Dining Room
-

A long wooden table and wooden high backed chairs are in this room, covered with dust and cobwebs. Moldering food  <nuts, venison, porridge> still sits on the table. The room appears to have been 1st abandoned while a meal was in progress.

Hidden overhead on the rafters in the
northwest corner of the room is a sort of
large nest made from old blankets and tapestries. 
    <tapestries are worth 1-20 gp per square yard, DMG>
    <10 square yards, worth a total of 10 gp>
A female slave and her young child
are hiding here. The madman helped them
to escape, built the nest, and smuggles them food. 
    <greens, apples, peaches, sausages, water, porridge>
The woman and child will make no
noise since they are afraid anyone below
might be guards or slavers. She has knowledge
of areas 15, 16, and 17 only. The only
entrances to the above ceiling lair are via
one of the fireplaces (in 16a, 16d, and 16f).
then across the rafters and through the holes
between the rooms.

Escaped woman: AC 10; MV 12”; HD 1;
    <humans are usually level 0 or level 1>
hp 3; #AT 1; D 1 with a board
THACO 20n1 (unproficiency, -2 to hit)
XP 26

16f. Abandoned Kitchen
-

This room appears to have once been a kitchen. There is a large fireplace in the west wall and 2 cupboards, some shelves, and a heavv wooden table are  also in the room. The floor is covered with dust and cobwebs and the cupboard doors hang open, showing them to be empty and bare. The room appears to be empty.

As the party enters the room, a ceramic
plate flies by suddenly, to smash against the
wall beside them. Next a knife whizzes by,
striking a random party member, and causing
1d4 points of damage. The madman has
    <knives do 1d3 damage vs. S-M>
thrown these items from a concealed, makeshift
trapdoor in the ceiling behind the fireplace.
He will then hide.

The shelves contain some cracked plates
and cups. On the north wall, beside the
door, is a message apparently scrawled in
blood. The message says, ”Behold, the harbinger
of your fate.” Stuck to the wall below
the message is a bloody hand impaled by a
knife, the tip its finger pointing at the message.

Overhead in the crawl space is the madman’s
lair. He climbs in and out of the crawlspace
through the chimney of the fireplace.
He has fortified a section of the rafters
above with boards for flooring and has
made a wooden wall around it with benches
on the side. He has left spaces between the
benches through which to fire the light crossbow
he has in his lair. The walls give
him 75% cover and improve his AC by 7.
He has also weakened several of the beams
to act as traps. Anyone who attempts to
cross part of these weakened beams will
crash through the ceiling, taking 2-8 points
of damage.

In his lair the madman stores a sack of
soot and dust and a piece of a broom which
he uses to cover up his tracks. He also has
5 butcher knives scavenged from the
kitchen below, and some old rusty chains he
uses for sound effects.

16g. Abandoned Bedchamber
-

Through this door comes the sick, sweet odor of decay and death. <Odor Detection, DSG>

In the middle of this room hangs the
remains of a strangled hobgoblin, dangling
from the ceiling by a sash cord. The body is
blackened and bloated with decay. The
room appears to have once been used as a
bedroom for there are 2 beds, with mildewed
sheets, a broken <low> table and 2
smashed chairs. Assorted junk and loose
plaster litters the floor, and there is a bloody
stain on the floor beneath the body.

This hobgoblin came here on a dare by
the other guards, but got too smart for his
own good and tried to investigate the fireplace
in the kitchen. The madman dropped
a noose around his neck and strangled the
unfortunate fellow, then he hung the body
up in this room and cut off the hand to use
as a warning. The hobgoblin has a dagger in
his left <low hard> boot and 13 sp stuffed in a pouch
under his tunic.

Amid the litter on the floor can be found
2 old brushes and a gilt hand mirror that
is cracked. There is nothing else of value in
this room, but those who attempt to remain
in the room for more than 2 rounds will
find themselves gagging on the stench. 
-
>>17.