Underneath (and atop) the Archibald manor, lies a dark and terrible secret. Unfortunately for Archibald, that’s exactly what the party is after. It won’t be easy though, as unless you possess the unnatural strength of the night, the path ahead is filled with traps, puzzles, and dangerous foes. And though Mira will one day grow to possess the more than enough strength to open the door (even cave it in) she is still growing, and is nowhere near strong enough yet.
The first room has 2 exits, one for children of the night and the other for servants. The first door leads straight to a teleporter pad up to the roof. However this door weighs even more than the door to the basement, and has no key to make it lighter. The other door sits on the northmost wall of the room, and is opened by a switch on the southmost wall. However, turning on the switch also turns on the pillars. There are 3 rows of these pillars, the first two move 1 tile per pace (tile moved by an adventurer) and have a gap of 2 inbetween each pillar. the last one moves 1 tile per 2 paces and has a gap of 1 inbetween each pillar. touching the pillar flings you 15 feet backwards (enough to possibly hit another pillar and deal 2d4+1 force damage. the pillars are long wooden cylinders supported by a thin wooden stick. they have a ring of spikes at the top, bottom and middle of the pillar, though the spikes are wooden and blunt and do no damage themselves. There is writing on the wall of this room that reads:
“Pace by pace, know the rules
up until ten, the law of duels”
THE WAY THE MOVEMENT WORKS: First the player moves 1 tile, then the enironment moves one tile IN THAT ORDER.
Mira will be really bad at this and get really frustrated, trying to destroy the pillars multiple times. She hates puzzles, for a good reason. She always felt stupid when she was a kid. The rest of her family were so smart, and so was everyone in Fibrosia. It made her feel even more distant than being the only Dragonborn there already did. She still feels this way now, hating anything that makes her feel stupid or talked down to. That’s also part of why she doesn’t talk much or try to connect with people. Other than her having to hide her identity, she’s worried that she’ll say something stupid and get laughed at, so she chooses not to say anything at all. Mira isn’t a loner, she’s lonely. She feels so alone. She’s felt at least a little lonely for most of her life but now, being here, she feels more alone than ever. To a certain extent, she also hates herself. She hates herself for who she is compared to her family. Her father was a wise, kind, funny, humble man, who could never put his own needs first, and ruled with benevolence and kindness. Her mother was brave and strong, and if she was still alive she’d be able to easily do everything she struggled with, and she’d do it better. She wouldn’t do half the things Mira does. Why did Mira get to live when her father and brother had to die. Why did her mum sheild her with her body. If it wasn’t for Mira, she’d be alive, she’d be able to kill Tiamat, she’d be able to stop the day of black clouds all together. Billions would be alive if it wasn’t for her.
Mira hates herself.
I don’t know why I decided to include all this information in this page, but it all started coming to me and I had to write it down.
In the next room, there is another switch to open the door. The room only starts checking steps when it’s flipped. They find the following message written on the wall
“A cheat! A rat! Have you no pride?!
Before 10, the gun was fired.
Through half his paces, man had stepped
Till from the barrel, bullet left.”
In this room, other than the first and last row, the floor is metal, the usual floor was stone. If on their turn, anybody walks more than half of their maximum movement speed, then the floor becomes electrocuted, with everyone taking 1d6+1 lightning damage.
They then enter the third room, where they see large glass tiles which form an odd shaped path, over a lake of bloodthirsty piranhas. The text on the wall reads:
“The cheater’s bullet missed its mark!
and fear shot straight through the rat’s heart
For this is the duelers law;
strike once, strike fast, then strike no more.
And ensure you leave no soul still standing,
if to snake is what you’re planning.
And for each soul you wish to duel,
only one bullet, allows the rules”
In this puzzle, to open the door on the other side, you must step on every tile only once, and you must step on EVERY tile. When a tile is stepped on, the glass cracks down the middle. If stepped on again, the glass shatters, and you fall into the lake of piranas, taking 1d4 piercing damage for every tile swam through, including the one you fall in. On either side of this puzzle is a bell. When rung, it resets the puzzle to it’s original state.
Next up, is a hallway with a door on either side, and a sign detailing which door leads to where. The sign pointing right (east) says it leads to a storeroom. This will have a much harder puzzle than anything previously, including a new mechanic(s) where you can pickup a tile and place it down somewhere else. This will grant them access to the storeroom, with a +1 shortsword, a +1 longsword, and 4 scrolls of misty step. The punishment for failing this puzzle is only falling down a few feet, and having to climb up a ladder back to the start.