Part Two: The Lost Chamber of Gorshss
Finding the Cave
If Gordy has given them directions, the characters can find the cave without issue. It takes 4 hours to travel there on foot, half that on horseback. Without Gordy’s directions, the characters must succeed on a DC13 Wisdom (Survival) check to find the cave. On a failure it takes them twice as long to find the cave.
If Samuel has directed them to the ruins, they find themselves atop the hill above the cave amongst ancient moss covered stone and masonry. They may find the cave nearby with a successful DC13 Wisdom (Survival) or Intelligence (Investigation) check. On a failure, they do not find the cave or any other entrance before nightfall and must make camp and try again the following day.
The Cave
Outside the Cave. Once the party reach the cave, read or paraphrase the following:
Ahead of you, a steep hill of broken rock rises some thirty feet, crowned with a thick tangle of trees. In the rock face a dark cave entrance splits the stone almost to the top of the hill. At its base, the crack is around 10ft wide, narrowing as it gets higher.
Characters with a passive Perception of 15 or higher, or those proficient in Survival will notice signs that the cave is likely home to a large animal.
Entering the Cave. Within the cave, the cracked ceiling is around 10ft high, and due to the angle of the entrance there is very little light at the back of the cave.
Mother Bear. Resting at the back of the cave are three Cave Bears, a mother and her cubs. The mother is extremely protective of her cubs and will first attempt to intimidate anyone who enters the cave with loud, deep growling. Should they continue in, the bears attack, with the cubs copying their mother. The cubs have only 20HP and are Medium sized, but otherwise share the stat block of their mother.
Frenzy. Should a cub be slain before her, the mother bear goes into a Frenzy, gaining an additional claw attack as a bonus action and making all attacks with Advantage. While in a Frenzy, all attacks against her have Advantage.
Accessing the Chamber
Cracks in the wall. Investigating the cave will lead the party to discover the cracks in the wall that Gordy found. These cracks are actually gaps in a pile of rubble and collapsed cave ceiling. Through these cracks they will observe the Chambers beyond. Characters with a passive Perception of 12 or higher will note the glint of metal, should they look through using a suitable light source, such as a torch.
Breaking through. To access the chamber beyond, the party must clear the rubble. To clear a small hole requires a Strength check, DC12; medium hole DC14; large hole DC16.
A medium creature encumbered with armour, weapons and backpack requires a large hole to pass through simply. They can pass through a medium hole with a successful Dexterity check, DC11; small hole DC15. Unencumbered they may pass through a medium hole without a check, as may a small creature encumbered, with other DCs following accordingly.
The Lost Chambers
Light. There is no illumination in the chambers, unless otherwise stated. All descriptive text assumes the characters have a light source or darkvision.
Floors, Ceilings and Walls. Though ruined, ancient and damp, the floors in the chambers are solid and made of flagstones. The ceilings in the rooms and corridors are 8ft high, unless otherwise stated. The walls appeared carved from solid stone, and are gruesomely carved with images of the undead.
Entering the Chambers. When the party enter, read or paraphrase the following:
You enter a stone chamber, with a solid flagstone floor. The walls around you are covered with grotesque carvings of undead creatures and dark rituals. To your left, there is a stone door, bereft of detail. However, at its base lies a skeleton, frozen in form as it claws helplessly at the door. A rusted sword and shield lie with the mouldering bones. Ahead of you, a passage seems to lead on to another chamber.
The Grasping Skeleton. This is the skeleton of Gilda Hammerhall, an adventurer that succumbed to the trap upon the door she lies in front of. Her spirit lingers however, as a Sword Wraith Warrior, and will immediately attack anyone who disturbs her remains, coalescing from the darkness of the chambers, and in doing so Surprising the creature.
Her companion, Ruskar, was also slain and his corpse lies in the Collapsed Stairwell. Ruskar’s spirit (Sword Wraith Warrior wielding a Greatsword) will join Gilda’s in combat at the end of the second round.
Each will speak to the other on their turns, proclaiming themselves to be the one to find the treasure and bring glory to their names.
Both spirits will cease attacking if they can be persuaded the party can give them the glory they seek. However, neither spirit can leave the corridors in which their corpses lie.
Upon Gilda’s corpse remains her rusted longsword and shield. These are ineffective to use in combat and are near worthless due to decades of rust and decay.
The Trapped Door. The door at which Gilda claws remains charged with a deadly arcane trap of Necrotic energy. A character searching for a mundane, mechanical trap will find nothing.
The trap can be identified with an Intelligence (Arcana) check, DC11. A character proficient in Arcana may attempt to disarm it with a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check, DC17. Alternatively it can be dispelled with Dispel Magic.
Should a creature attempt to open the door (it is unlocked) without disarming the trap, they must make a Constitution saving throw, DC15. They take 4d10 Necrotic damage on a failure, half on a success. A character using magic, such as Mage Hand, to open the door, is still targeted by the trap. Once the door has been fully opened, the trap is disarmed.
Empty Sarcophagi. In the chambers there are several sarcophagi. These are decorated even more grossly than the walls of the chambers. The heavy lids require a successful Strength check, DC13, to remove. Inside they are completely empty. A successful Intelligence check, DC10, will confirm no corpses were ever interred in them.
Collapsed Stairwell. At the end of the northward corridor is the remains of a stairwell, apparently leading to a higher level of the dungeon. However the mass of rubble and masonry that has fallen would take many days to properly excavate and clear. Beneath the rubble is the remains of Ruskar, Gilda Hammerhall’s companion.
Ruskar (Sword Wraith Warrior) will attack anyone who disturbs his remains, with Gilda joining the combat as previously described.
Ruskar’s Greatsword +1 is buried with him, conspicuously untarnished despite unknown years. It requires a successful Strength check, DC16, to lift the large rubble atop it to recover it.
Blocked Corridor. Here the ceiling has collapsed, blocking the corridor in both directions.
Haster’s Tomb
Beyond an unlocked rusted metal gate lies Haster’s tomb. When the character enter, read or paraphrase the following:
Through the gate you see a stone chamber quite unlike the others you have passed through. The walls here are clear of foul undead; instead they are smooth but for a large sun motif on the wall behind a marble tomb. The remains of ancient candles and votive offerings lie before it, as if this was once a place of pilgrimage. Upon the top of the tomb is carved the likeness of a young man with long hair, a longsword at one side and a large, scallop shaped lute at the other.
Haster’s Ghost. Haster was the youngest member of the Order of the Holy Fire as mentioned in the Legend. After the battle with Gorshss long ago he left the Order and travelled as a bard, eventually composing the original Legend himself. In later years, Haster was overcome with guilt for his fallen comrades, and so spent the rest of his life a hermit living in the upper chambers. Upon his death he was interred in this tomb and his spirit lingered on as a Ghost.
Should a character examine the tomb or interfere with the offerings or try to contact Haster, he will appear in a mournful spectral form. Far from the young man engraved upon the tomb, Haster’s ghost appears as he did in later life, an elderly, sick man full of guilt and regret.
- Haster will explain that the Legend is true, as he believes Gorshss lives still, sealed below. Before his death he lost hope that his companions survived.
- In the years following his death, those who remembered the sacrifice of the Order came to the Chambers and made the offerings, but no one has visited for a very long time.
- He wishes that Gorshss is destroyed once and for all, but fears anyone should open the chamber lest Gorshss defeats them and is freed to spread his evil on the world once more.
- He will not tell the characters how to open the gate, only admit that he sealed it, saying only that if they can open it then they will be the ones to defeat Gorshss.
- If beseeched for aid, on a successful Charisma (Persuasion) check, DC16, Haster will permit the party to open his tomb. This requires a successful Strength check, DC11. Within, upon Haster’s remains, they find his Fochlucan Bandore.
Subterranean River
An underground river bisects the ancient chambers. Between points A the chamber is high enough to walk through. Between points B it required Medium creatures to crawl. Between points C it required Small creatures to crawl and Medium creatures to squeeze through the small gap, requiring a DC13 Dexterity check. Beyond points C it is impassible without succeeding a DC13 Dexterity check, Medium creatures do so with Disadvantage.
Holy Gate
When the players approach the gate, read or paraphrase the following:
This corridor ends with a small chamber before a large, ornately carved double door. The carvings show a lizard-like humanoid devouring the flesh of countless screaming creatures. The whole door is scorched as is by some mighty blaze, though there are no such burns elsewhere. In contrast to the door are two marble statues stood either side of it, each depicting an angelic figure in flowing robes. One holds its hands out as if to offer or receive a gift, the other smiles serenely with its hands on its heart.
Opening the Gate. To open the gate the characters must solve the riddle on each statue.
Upon the base of the statue with its hands out is carved in Common:
Give my love that which cannot be felt, nor seen, nor smelt, but brings joy and sorrow.
The answer is “Music”, and so some form of music must be performed in front of the statue with its hands on its heart.
Upon the base of the statue with its hands on its heart is carved in Common:
Give my love that which cleanses and brings joy, gifts light and destroys.
The answer is “Fire” and so some form of fire, magical or otherwise must be ignited within the open palms of the other statue.
The Gate Opens. Once both riddles are solved, read or paraphrase the following:
There is a sudden loud crack, as the great door shifts. Charred flakes fall to the floor as with an unsettling creak the door swings open, revealing a stairway beyond as a rush of foul air laden with malevolence assails you.
The Chamber of Gorshss
Light. The huge altar in the Chamber glows with a soft red light, illuminating the altar itself in dim light.
Floors, Ceilings and Walls. The floor in the Chamber is completely covered in a deep layer of bones. This area counts as difficult terrain, however Gorshss and his Servants are able to move freely. The ceilings are 20ft high, and the walls are carved stone, decorated as above.
At the bottom of the curved stairs is the Chamber of Gorshss, when the characters enter read or paraphrase the following:
At the base of the stars is a large chamber with a cavernous ceiling, far bigger than any you have been through so far. A large altar dominates the chamber to your right, and it glows with a soft, pulsing red light. The floor before you is completely covered in innumerable bones of all manner of species, animal and humanoid. More skeletons line the grotesquely carved walls in chains. To your left, upon a row of stone sarcophagi are four corpses, wrapped like mummies.
Gorshss. Gorshss lies in starved slumber upon the bones in front of the altar. While he does so he is indistinguishable from the bones and is considered hidden, unless a character succeeds on a Wisdom (Perception) check, DC17.
Once all characters walk upon the bones of his lair, Gorshss will rise. He will initially be curious about the party, noting their strange clothes, manners and tongue, and guessing that many years have passed in his confinement.
Realising the party must have opened the Gate to reach him, he will offer them the reward of his forgotten treasures in exchange for him leaving this place. If they accept, he opens the secret door to his treasures and escapes while they investigate, ready to wreak havoc upon the world once more!
Should the characters refuse his offer, he will instead attack, intent on feasting on their flesh and adding them to his army of the dead.
Once all four of the Fallen Order have been defeated, or he reaches 20% of his HP total, Gorshss will attempt to flee out of the chamber.
The Spirits of the Fallen Order. The four corpses on the sarcophagi are the four lost members of the Order of Holy Fire. If Gorshss raises a member of the Order, they rise as a Revenant. They wield their magic items in combat, but drop them on death.
As an action, a character may cut open the wrappings and reveal the corpse inside and whatever magic item they have been buried with. These items are: Longsword of Righteous Flame, Shield of Radiance, Wand of Holy Fire and the Helm of Hope. Should a character wield or don one of these items, either after one of the Order has been defeated or unwrapping the corpse, the spirit of the item owner will speak to the character, directing them to use the item to defeat Gorshss. The character is automatically attuned to the item. Passing the item to another character repeats this process.
Heart of the Fallen Order. Gorshss continues to draw strength from the hearts of the Fallen Order. Each heart is placed in a bowl at a corner of the altar, slowly beating despite it’s desiccated state. As an action, a creature within 5ft may remove a heart from the bowl, after which it automatically shrivels to dust reducing Gorshss’ Regeneration, in addition the member of the Fallen Order to whom it belongs gains vulnerability to all forms of damage, losing all resistances and immunities. However, that member of the Order immediately rises and swears vengeance against the creature who destroyed its heart.
Gorshss Servant. Gorshss is able to summon skeletal minions from the piles of bones that attempt to pin down his enemies so that he can defeat them from afar, or ensure that a member of the Fallen Order can have its vengeance of whoever destroyed their heart.
The Hidden Treasures of Gorshss
Secret Door. Gorshss’ treasure is hidden behind a secret door. To find the door requires an appropriate skill check, DC15. Once found, it is unlocked and easily opened.
Gorshss’ Treasure. Gorshss treasure is a Treasure Horde CR5-10 as per the DMG. You may roll on the table or use the suggested treasure below:
- 6d6 x 100gp
- 2d4 x 100gp of precious gems
- 1 Rare magic item and 1 Uncommon magic item or
- 3 Uncommon magic items
Ending the Adventure
Once Gorshss is defeated the party can return to Haster and Gilda and Ruskar if appropriate, and give their spirits peace and rest. From there they are able to return to their patron for their reward, no doubt stopping by Eversbridge to tell Estain, Gordy and Samuel about their adventure!