This AREA may be approached either from
the secret trap door above (area 313) or the
escape tunnel from outer works (area 4 of
the Broken Tower). To run the following
encounters properly, you must be familiar
with all the details of this lair and the occupants
of areas 336 and 337. Review
the notes
before starting. The occupants should
be
played with intelligence; they should be
very dangerous.
| The secret passage leads into a 20 ' x 30'
room where you are horrified —perhaps petrified — to see a huge pale green basilisk gazing at you. |
The lead character must make a saving
throw vs. petrification. Almost simultaneously, a
runnel of flame appears; read from
the passage below. The basilisk is illusory; if
disbelief is attempted and the saving throw
made, it is seen as such, and this fact can be
communicated to others, making them
immune to the effect. If the saving throw is
failed, the victim is petrified, despite the
illusory nature of the beast. The basilisk
gazes at one victim per round.
| A runnel of flame begins from the eastern
portion of the chamber and spreads
rapidly from the center, going both north and south. The moving flame creates a line of brightness along the east and west walls of the place, and then sends fiery streams into a pair of large cressets just at the corners where the north and south passages enter the basilisk's lair. The cressets spring into leaping flames, illuminating the whole AREA. |
An unseen servant was commanded to
empty a container of volatile oil into a sloping trough, highest above
a wall fountain
and basin on the east wall. Another unseen
servant strikes a light to cause the oil to
flame, and gravity does the rest. If any
significant amount of noise is produced by the
party at this time, the occupants of areas
336 and 337 are alerted.
If the party is absolutely quiet, those occupants might (10%)
be warned; if nearly quiet, use 30%. The
local inhabitants work together to insure
their very lives.