Aurora Borealis

The Buried Chamber

6 min read

The Buried Chamber

A hidden underground ruin in the desert of Drum La’thur on Akothis, between Drar and Dravenmere — discovered in Session 68 when Jaruul, drawn by a dark force pulling him eastward, led the party to it. Its true name and purpose are unknown.

Overview

From the surface, the site appears as a rock formation ringed by broken wooden planks — the remains of some old wreckage. Among the debris lie horse bones and old armour, with a hidden passage leading down. Notably, only Sneid Arkmos could discern the wreckage and the passage for what they were; Korin saw nothing but ordinary desert debris, hinting at a possible illusion or magic masking the place.

Below ground is a series of rooms — including one the party dubbed the eagle room — strung with braziers and watched over by statues, among them a gargoyle with glowing eyes. A mysterious voice speaks from these statues, posing riddles. When the gargoyle’s magic was dispelled, a brazier lit, doors opened, and sand began pouring into the chamber — and gelatinous cubes emerged to defend it. The ruin is, in effect, a riddle gauntlet: each riddle answered (and a collapsed corridor and falling cubes braved along the way) lights another brazier, and lighting them all stops the sand and unlocks the way deeper.

Beyond the final door lies a big inner chamber holding a glassy pool, ringed by statues of a forgotten idol or gods. At the centre of the pool, beneath the water, rests a coffin, barely visible below the surface.

The Riddles

A disembodied voice posed a series of riddles as the party explored. The first two, heard in Session 68:

“I don’t have eyes, but once I did see. I had thoughts, but now white and empty.”

“Wisdom is the offspring of suffering and time.”

In Session 69, solving the puzzle required answering three more, each spoken by a statue:

“If you drop me I’m sure to crack. Give me a smile and I will smile back.”

— a mirror (answered by Sneid Arkmos; Jaruul had found a piece of glass nearby)

“Men walk over, men walk under. In times of war, he burns asunder.”

— a bridge (answered by Dristuul in the eagle room)

“What does man love more than life, fear more than death or mortal strife? What the poor have, the rich lack, and what contented men desire? What the miser spends and the spendthrift saves, and all men carry to their graves?”

— nothing (answered by Dristuul at another statue; the pouring sand then stopped)

Key Features

The Braziers

  • The chamber is lit one brazier at a time, each ignited by solving a riddle or puzzle. Sneid Arkmos’s dispelling of the gargoyle lit the first; the party lit another after defeating the gelatinous cubes; and Dristuul worked out how to light the final brazier in Session 69.

The Golden Key and the Opulent Door

  • Jaruul discovered a magnificent door carved with an opulent figure. When Dristuul lit the final brazier, a golden key dropped from above (landing on Jaruul’s head), and the party used it to unlock the door.

The Inner Chamber — The Pool and the Coffin

  • Beyond the door, Dristuul was the first to enter a big chamber containing a glassy pool, ringed by statues of a forgotten idol or gods — resembling generic demons. At the centre of the pool, beneath the water, lies a coffin, barely visible below the surface.
  • In Session 70, the party opened the coffin. Inside lay a remarkably preserved corpse with skin stretched tightly over its bones — and another shard of the Wand of Orcus, which leaped toward Jaruul and merged with his existing shard.
  • In Session 71, the party returned the shard to the coffin. Korin dragged the corpse out, Dristuul melted it with acid breath, and Sneid Arkmos magically sealed both coffin and crypt door.

The Gargoyle Statue

  • Its glowing eyes were fed by a single magical source, which Sneid Arkmos identified and dispelled — triggering a lit brazier, opening doors, and a flood of sand.

Hazards

  • Gelatinous cubes lurk in the chamber. Kailas destroyed one but was injured by touching its remains; another fell from the ceiling mid-fight in Session 69 as more sand poured in.
  • Pouring sand and at least one blocked passage (Nyxara worked to clear it).

Events

  • In Session 68, Jaruul — feeling a dark force he associates with the dread pulling him east — insisted on entering and teleported inside when stopped. The party followed, restrained Jaruul, dispelled the gargoyle’s magic, and found themselves fighting gelatinous cubes as sand poured in. | - In Session 69, the party finished the fight (through pouring sand and a falling cube), solved the chamber’s riddles to light the remaining braziers, and used a golden key to open the opulent door — revealing the pool and the submerged coffin within.
  • In Session 70, the party explored the inner chamber and encountered a vampire who emerged from a bat and offered potions for Jaruul’s body. A fight erupted with the vampire and gnolls. During the chaos, Jaruul felt pulled toward the coffin, opened it, and discovered another shard of the Wand of Orcus — which merged with his previous shard as a voice entered his mind. Dristuul pulled him back to safety.
  • In Session 71, Jaruul woke possessed by the entity from the shard. The party fought him, Korin beheaded the vampire (whose severed head warned “The plan has changed, Undying One…”), and Sneid Arkmos found the shard in Jaruul’s pockets — now three times its original size. The truth was revealed: the stone is a Shard of the Wand of Orcus, capable of maintaining balance between worlds. The party returned the shard to the coffin, dragged out the preserved corpse, melted it with Dristuul’s acid breath, and sealed both the coffin and the crypt door.
  • In Session 72, Sneid Arkmos investigated the gargoyle mechanism and figured out how to retrigger the sand flow. He fixed the mechanism, used Mage Hand to socket the last crystal, and fled — burying the entire chamber along with the Shard of the Wand of Orcus. The site is now sealed beneath the desert.

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