The Black Vault
I'm thinking of tying this dead god religion in to Mazrikoth somehow. Ideally it would be a religion that was Neutral in some respect so that it could split into a Good and Evil subsect that fought and ground the faith into dust.
Perhaps Mazrikoth was the final high priest of this once-good religion, who lived a life so depraved that he precipitated the religion's downfall from grace.
The priests of the religion, both those who were steadfast and those who had strayed, prayed to their god that Mazrikoth would be forever sealed away from their flock. The Dark Powers heard and granted their wish, taking Mazrikoth into the Land of the Mists.
Unfortunately, they also swallowed the remaining priesthood, leaving their flock behind on the unknown homeworld. The priesthood quickly degenerated into two factions, the good and the evil, while Mazrikoth slowly regained his powers and rose as an ancient dead.
Azalin offered him his protection, and the chance to avenge himself on the recalcitrant priests, and Mazrikoth grudgingly agreed, knowing that he needed all the help he could get. Mazrikoth duly dispatched the remaining priests who opposed him, and brought the religion back under his heel - or what remained of it. (The religion, not the heel. His feet are in excellent condition thanks to the embalming process.)
Slowly the old religion faded from sight and the dead god sent its last servitor - an angelic deva - on a one-way mission to Ravenloft to destroy Mazrikoth.
The deva came across Azalin first, however, and destroyed him in combat. This proved to be a fatal move, as Azalin returned in a matter of days, extremely upset, and took the deva captive. He left the deva in the Black Vault for a while and tasked Mazrikoth with drawing up a false religion to serve as a social control tool.
After a few years, the Eternal Order was born, but Azalin noted with consternation that their priests were praying for spells - and were being granted them. He checked up on the deva and found that she had developed an Atropal Scion in her head which had split her skull open and which now acted as a divine conduit to some power. Perhaps the Atropal Scion was the power itself.
Either way, Azalin put enchantments on the burgeoning god-fetus and sealed it away in the Black Vault alongside its mother. Mazrikoth obliterated all trace of the original god and transferred its defiled artifacts to the Black Vault, where they wait to this day, corrupting those who draw near... while at the same time yearning for the deliverer that can wash away their corruption and restore them to greatness.
Perhaps Mazrikoth was the final high priest of this once-good religion, who lived a life so depraved that he precipitated the religion's downfall from grace.
The priests of the religion, both those who were steadfast and those who had strayed, prayed to their god that Mazrikoth would be forever sealed away from their flock. The Dark Powers heard and granted their wish, taking Mazrikoth into the Land of the Mists.
Unfortunately, they also swallowed the remaining priesthood, leaving their flock behind on the unknown homeworld. The priesthood quickly degenerated into two factions, the good and the evil, while Mazrikoth slowly regained his powers and rose as an ancient dead.
Azalin offered him his protection, and the chance to avenge himself on the recalcitrant priests, and Mazrikoth grudgingly agreed, knowing that he needed all the help he could get. Mazrikoth duly dispatched the remaining priests who opposed him, and brought the religion back under his heel - or what remained of it. (The religion, not the heel. His feet are in excellent condition thanks to the embalming process.)
Slowly the old religion faded from sight and the dead god sent its last servitor - an angelic deva - on a one-way mission to Ravenloft to destroy Mazrikoth.
The deva came across Azalin first, however, and destroyed him in combat. This proved to be a fatal move, as Azalin returned in a matter of days, extremely upset, and took the deva captive. He left the deva in the Black Vault for a while and tasked Mazrikoth with drawing up a false religion to serve as a social control tool.
After a few years, the Eternal Order was born, but Azalin noted with consternation that their priests were praying for spells - and were being granted them. He checked up on the deva and found that she had developed an Atropal Scion in her head which had split her skull open and which now acted as a divine conduit to some power. Perhaps the Atropal Scion was the power itself.
Either way, Azalin put enchantments on the burgeoning god-fetus and sealed it away in the Black Vault alongside its mother. Mazrikoth obliterated all trace of the original god and transferred its defiled artifacts to the Black Vault, where they wait to this day, corrupting those who draw near... while at the same time yearning for the deliverer that can wash away their corruption and restore them to greatness.
Last edited by HuManBing on Tue May 20, 2008 4:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
A G Thing
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1216
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:41 pm
- Gender: Female
- Location: Currently the Frozen Wastes of Mount Pleasant Michigan
This is a Gravity Altered Illusion based topple trap... DC to notice the trap would be 40 and to disarm would actually be dependant on keeping the weight more to the first half while the secret door behind the illusion is taken care of.
Due to the 2nd Dimensionality of the image, I will now say that the roof and walls are shielded by similar illusions to throw off the sense of movement for those on the the altered gravity side of the trap and is confusing to those who fall into it due to the sudden shift in gravity as they appear to be flung into the altered gravity side.
Here is the link to the image below...
http://www.geocities.com/enixine/ToppleTrap.gif
1:Now the party walks down a hallway and they pass through the clear side of the 1st illusion that projects a clear hallway back the way they came for those that look back.
2:Ahead of them is a clear hallway by all appearences so they may be herded by some sort of monster or such, like skeletons with spears and tower shields or perhaps a gelatinous cube that sticks to surfaces and is so large as to fill the hall.
3:Now the topple trap doors first half is completely normal other than being surrounded by illusions.
4:The second half of said trap door however has a gravity shift that attracts things at normal gravity toward it's floor surface area.
5:The open path from the second half is blocked by a secret door DC 35 on the other side of the illusion of a clear hallway.
6:Once more weight is on this second half the trap door swings forward down while those on this second half feel no change in situational conditions.
7:The lesser weight on the first or back section of the trap is flung into the second parts gravitational effect.
8:From here on there is no way back as the gravity has apparently changed for the first or back section so as the characters think they are falling sideways.
9:If the characters continue onward toward what was once a blocked illusion of an open hallway they find that it is now clear but one step after leaving the ledge and they plummet down the (to their eyes at least) hallway!
10:Finally if they delay to long a small antimagic burst timed for 3 rounds after the tip of the trap door negates the altered gravity & illusions for 5 minutes and the characters plummet unless they have some non magical way to secure themselves or fly.
11:The trap automatically resets it's self completely in 10 minutes after activating.
12:What awaits at the bottom is the DM's parogative but it should definitely be nasty or vicious.
I would like to thank HuManBing for putting my image up on his time so that I could link it to the post. So Thank You Very Much!!!
Due to the 2nd Dimensionality of the image, I will now say that the roof and walls are shielded by similar illusions to throw off the sense of movement for those on the the altered gravity side of the trap and is confusing to those who fall into it due to the sudden shift in gravity as they appear to be flung into the altered gravity side.
Here is the link to the image below...
http://www.geocities.com/enixine/ToppleTrap.gif
1:Now the party walks down a hallway and they pass through the clear side of the 1st illusion that projects a clear hallway back the way they came for those that look back.
2:Ahead of them is a clear hallway by all appearences so they may be herded by some sort of monster or such, like skeletons with spears and tower shields or perhaps a gelatinous cube that sticks to surfaces and is so large as to fill the hall.
3:Now the topple trap doors first half is completely normal other than being surrounded by illusions.
4:The second half of said trap door however has a gravity shift that attracts things at normal gravity toward it's floor surface area.
5:The open path from the second half is blocked by a secret door DC 35 on the other side of the illusion of a clear hallway.
6:Once more weight is on this second half the trap door swings forward down while those on this second half feel no change in situational conditions.
7:The lesser weight on the first or back section of the trap is flung into the second parts gravitational effect.
8:From here on there is no way back as the gravity has apparently changed for the first or back section so as the characters think they are falling sideways.
9:If the characters continue onward toward what was once a blocked illusion of an open hallway they find that it is now clear but one step after leaving the ledge and they plummet down the (to their eyes at least) hallway!
10:Finally if they delay to long a small antimagic burst timed for 3 rounds after the tip of the trap door negates the altered gravity & illusions for 5 minutes and the characters plummet unless they have some non magical way to secure themselves or fly.
11:The trap automatically resets it's self completely in 10 minutes after activating.
12:What awaits at the bottom is the DM's parogative but it should definitely be nasty or vicious.
I would like to thank HuManBing for putting my image up on his time so that I could link it to the post. So Thank You Very Much!!!
"There is only one true answer to any and every question. The rest are just vagaries and obfuscations."
Hey, nice trap! Definitely a good thing 
So the actual trap itself is basically a standard tilting panel trap? It seems that the illusions and gravity spells are just there to provide some further disorientation, right? Or do they serve another purpose?
I'm wondering if the trap functions by turning people 90 degrees downwards without their knowledge. Thus they think they've just continued going down the same corridor, but once they reach the edge of the gravity spell, they'll start falling uncontrollably downwards as normal gravity reasserts itself.
And anybody going back up ("backwards" to their gravity feeling) will find the top of the passage blocked by the reset tilting panel?
I got a load of traps and corridor cards in a recent ebay auction of the old 2nd ed. AD&D collectible cards. Once I'm done with my exams I'll post a few of them up here.
So the actual trap itself is basically a standard tilting panel trap? It seems that the illusions and gravity spells are just there to provide some further disorientation, right? Or do they serve another purpose?
I'm wondering if the trap functions by turning people 90 degrees downwards without their knowledge. Thus they think they've just continued going down the same corridor, but once they reach the edge of the gravity spell, they'll start falling uncontrollably downwards as normal gravity reasserts itself.
And anybody going back up ("backwards" to their gravity feeling) will find the top of the passage blocked by the reset tilting panel?
I got a load of traps and corridor cards in a recent ebay auction of the old 2nd ed. AD&D collectible cards. Once I'm done with my exams I'll post a few of them up here.
-
A G Thing
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 1216
- Joined: Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:41 pm
- Gender: Female
- Location: Currently the Frozen Wastes of Mount Pleasant Michigan
So the actual trap itself is basically a standard tilting panel trap? It seems that the illusions and gravity spells are just there to provide some further disorientation, right? Or do they serve another purpose?
Here's a more detailed explaination of it...
1st: The hall is very confining so natural wings on a medium or larger creature would probably not fit expanded for flight.
2nd: The Gelatinous Cube of sufficent size could be released and given it's adheasive quality forms a suction effect preventing it from falling thus even if they manage to survive until the trap resets the cube should be a deterent for them going back.
3rd: The illusions are to help disorient the party as they do not know what is happening yes. I only made one half of the trap gravity altered however so that those few on the other side when out weighed by the other side are flung at those on the altered gravity side. Since the back half no longer has gravity pulling towards the floor anyone trying to walk back toward the back will find at the middle they are fighting what appears to be some sort of force pulling back at them. The illusions are directionally specific so that the torches on the walls look to be flaming in the correct direction and that no direction can be determined by appearence of the walls. The open hall illusions at the two boarders of the trap are to cover the sudden shift and the change of the hall ahead of them.
Finally is that the antimagic burst negates spells such as fly, feather fall, spider climb, and even the effects of the traps magic causing all magical means of support to fail and the PC's will have to have some other means of gripping the now very smooth surface or plummet into the pit below.
Exactly what I meant to show in the image yes. The floor rotates 90 degrees just as you thought.I'm wondering if the trap functions by turning people 90 degrees downwards without their knowledge. Thus they think they've just continued going down the same corridor, but once they reach the edge of the gravity spell, they'll start falling uncontrollably downwards as normal gravity reasserts itself.
And anybody going back up ("backwards" to their gravity feeling) will find the top of the passage blocked by the reset tilting panel?
Actually it would be the true ceiling of the corridor behind the directional illusion if they manage to fight the true gravity pulling back at them down toward the pit/altered gravity area. If you wish to be truly devious you can have another triggered illusion that makes some effect that appears to force things such as the illusionary torches to act as if they are pulled down the hall.
Cool looking forward to it!I got a load of traps and corridor cards in a recent ebay auction of the old 2nd ed. AD&D collectible cards. Once I'm done with my exams I'll post a few of them up here.
[/quote]"There is only one true answer to any and every question. The rest are just vagaries and obfuscations."
Phirazaldea, the Broken Deliverance
Angel of Decay Large Undead HD 26d12 +29 hp 222 Init +6 Spd 30 fly 50 (poor)
AC 31 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +13 natural, +5 deflection)
Base Atk Grp: +13/+35
Atk: Claw +26 melee (2d6 +13) [Power Attack +21 melee (2d6 +18)]
Full Atk: 2 claws +26 melee (2d6 +13) [Power Attack +21 melee (2d6 +18)], plus 2 wing slams +21 melee (1d6 (1d6 +6) [Power Attack +16 melee (1d6 +11)] plus rotting touch
Space/Reach: 10’/10’
SA: Rotting aura rots creatures on floor within 15’ 5d6 damage (Ref 24 for half) and Will 24 or be nauseated for 1 round (Phirazaldea heals 5 hp if somebody takes damage from this). Rotting Touch Rot for 1d6+6 if hit one foe multiple times in combat round. Heals her 5 hp.
SQ: DR 10/adamantine and magic, darkvision 60’, SR 24, undead traits, Unholy Grace gives Cha bonus to AC, saves.
AL: CE
CR: 16 (base 15, +1 for higher ability scores)
SV F/R/W: 15/19/27
Abilities: Str 37 Dex 18 Con – Int 20 Wis 20 Cha 20
Skills: Bluff 34 (29+5), Concentration 29 (0), Diplomacy 34 (29+5), Hide 33 (29+4), Intimidate 20 (15+5), Knowledge (arcana) 17 (12+5), Listen 34 (29+5), Move Silently 18 (14+4), Search 10 (5+5), Sense Motive 34 (29+5), Spellcraft 17 (12+5), Spot 34 (29+5)
Feats: Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness.
Details: In combat, can have up to 6 attacks of opportunity. If drops an enemy in one attack, can melee attack another immediately. Can trade up to 5 from hit to damage as bonus.
Possessions: None. Azalin has stripped her of everything of value that she previously owned and redistributed it. Most of it is to be found in the Black Vault under heavy guard, especially her Mace of Disruption.
Appearance: Phirazaldea is a rotted, corrupted angel form that is only barely discernible as female from her tattered vestments. Her body constantly sloughs off bubbling flesh, leaving pools of fetid congealing organic matter on the floor. Her face hangs in tatters around her temples, cheekbones, and jawline, revealing a skull that is hideously deformed. The deforming effect resulted when her braincase begun to conceive Xenoregnus, the Atropal Scion that grew out of the prayers of the Eternal Order. The swelling Atropal Scion flowed around her sinuses and orbital sockets before displacing the bones in the center of her face with its quickening bulk. After a while, the Atropal Scion was dragging her around like a hapless puppet, suspending her from its mass as it ballooned skywards.
When Azalin finally had the Atropal Scion cut from her face, Phirazaldea’s skull had lost the nosepiece and upper jaw, leaving only the outer sockets of her eyes and her lower teeth in place. Her rotting flesh covered some of this up by rejoining over the lost bones, but she speaks near-unintelligibly and the palpitating rot under her empty skin is disgusting to view. (Even seasoned monster hunters will need a Horror check upon seeing this.) When she does speak, it often covers the listener in a spray of ordure and filth issuing from her braincase. Once in a long while, a flicker of light appears in her skull, and a faintly luminous outline of glowing eyes and a once-beautiful face can be seen.
History:
Phirazaldea was once a bright being of good, serving an extraplanar minor deity. However, as the deity’s power waned, her brightness waned also. As the faith’s fortunes had it, their last worshippers were brought into Ravenloft several centuries ago, owing to treacherous conduct by its high priest Mazrikoth. Azalin purged this remnant faith and built the Eternal Order on its foundations. As the deity faded from the realms of mankind, it ordered Phirazaldea to wreak vengeance upon Azalin. Phirazaldea understood this would be a sacrificial mission of retribution – she knew that once she entered Ravenloft, there would be no returning.
Phirazaldea acted quickly upon her arrival in Darkon, surprising even Azalin with the speed of her operations. She defeated his mortal shell and watched him crumble to dust, but then was at a loss as to how to proceed from there. As she vainly sought his phylactery, Azalin returned with an overwhelming force of allies and took her captive after a hopelessly lopsided battle.
Endless torture at Azalin’s hands and later in the bowels of the Black Vault have twisted her mind and body. Instead of a Deva, Phirazaldea now stands as an Angel of Decay, a reflection of the dead god she served and the corruption of the faith. She is somewhat stronger than others of her type, with abilities that are slightly higher and a few skills that remain from her dim memories as an angelic being of light.
Phirazaldea is the mother of Xenoregnus the Unholy Atropal Scion, birthed from her skull in a parody of the Athena myth. If any intruders come, Phirazaldea will fight to the death to keep them away from Xenoregnus. Her bubbling voice spews disjointed fragments of speech, alternately screaming obscenities and vile imprecations, and then murmuring as a mother would to protect her dearest child.
Angel of Decay Large Undead HD 26d12 +29 hp 222 Init +6 Spd 30 fly 50 (poor)
AC 31 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +13 natural, +5 deflection)
Base Atk Grp: +13/+35
Atk: Claw +26 melee (2d6 +13) [Power Attack +21 melee (2d6 +18)]
Full Atk: 2 claws +26 melee (2d6 +13) [Power Attack +21 melee (2d6 +18)], plus 2 wing slams +21 melee (1d6 (1d6 +6) [Power Attack +16 melee (1d6 +11)] plus rotting touch
Space/Reach: 10’/10’
SA: Rotting aura rots creatures on floor within 15’ 5d6 damage (Ref 24 for half) and Will 24 or be nauseated for 1 round (Phirazaldea heals 5 hp if somebody takes damage from this). Rotting Touch Rot for 1d6+6 if hit one foe multiple times in combat round. Heals her 5 hp.
SQ: DR 10/adamantine and magic, darkvision 60’, SR 24, undead traits, Unholy Grace gives Cha bonus to AC, saves.
AL: CE
CR: 16 (base 15, +1 for higher ability scores)
SV F/R/W: 15/19/27
Abilities: Str 37 Dex 18 Con – Int 20 Wis 20 Cha 20
Skills: Bluff 34 (29+5), Concentration 29 (0), Diplomacy 34 (29+5), Hide 33 (29+4), Intimidate 20 (15+5), Knowledge (arcana) 17 (12+5), Listen 34 (29+5), Move Silently 18 (14+4), Search 10 (5+5), Sense Motive 34 (29+5), Spellcraft 17 (12+5), Spot 34 (29+5)
Feats: Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness.
Details: In combat, can have up to 6 attacks of opportunity. If drops an enemy in one attack, can melee attack another immediately. Can trade up to 5 from hit to damage as bonus.
Possessions: None. Azalin has stripped her of everything of value that she previously owned and redistributed it. Most of it is to be found in the Black Vault under heavy guard, especially her Mace of Disruption.
Appearance: Phirazaldea is a rotted, corrupted angel form that is only barely discernible as female from her tattered vestments. Her body constantly sloughs off bubbling flesh, leaving pools of fetid congealing organic matter on the floor. Her face hangs in tatters around her temples, cheekbones, and jawline, revealing a skull that is hideously deformed. The deforming effect resulted when her braincase begun to conceive Xenoregnus, the Atropal Scion that grew out of the prayers of the Eternal Order. The swelling Atropal Scion flowed around her sinuses and orbital sockets before displacing the bones in the center of her face with its quickening bulk. After a while, the Atropal Scion was dragging her around like a hapless puppet, suspending her from its mass as it ballooned skywards.
When Azalin finally had the Atropal Scion cut from her face, Phirazaldea’s skull had lost the nosepiece and upper jaw, leaving only the outer sockets of her eyes and her lower teeth in place. Her rotting flesh covered some of this up by rejoining over the lost bones, but she speaks near-unintelligibly and the palpitating rot under her empty skin is disgusting to view. (Even seasoned monster hunters will need a Horror check upon seeing this.) When she does speak, it often covers the listener in a spray of ordure and filth issuing from her braincase. Once in a long while, a flicker of light appears in her skull, and a faintly luminous outline of glowing eyes and a once-beautiful face can be seen.
History:
Phirazaldea was once a bright being of good, serving an extraplanar minor deity. However, as the deity’s power waned, her brightness waned also. As the faith’s fortunes had it, their last worshippers were brought into Ravenloft several centuries ago, owing to treacherous conduct by its high priest Mazrikoth. Azalin purged this remnant faith and built the Eternal Order on its foundations. As the deity faded from the realms of mankind, it ordered Phirazaldea to wreak vengeance upon Azalin. Phirazaldea understood this would be a sacrificial mission of retribution – she knew that once she entered Ravenloft, there would be no returning.
Phirazaldea acted quickly upon her arrival in Darkon, surprising even Azalin with the speed of her operations. She defeated his mortal shell and watched him crumble to dust, but then was at a loss as to how to proceed from there. As she vainly sought his phylactery, Azalin returned with an overwhelming force of allies and took her captive after a hopelessly lopsided battle.
Endless torture at Azalin’s hands and later in the bowels of the Black Vault have twisted her mind and body. Instead of a Deva, Phirazaldea now stands as an Angel of Decay, a reflection of the dead god she served and the corruption of the faith. She is somewhat stronger than others of her type, with abilities that are slightly higher and a few skills that remain from her dim memories as an angelic being of light.
Phirazaldea is the mother of Xenoregnus the Unholy Atropal Scion, birthed from her skull in a parody of the Athena myth. If any intruders come, Phirazaldea will fight to the death to keep them away from Xenoregnus. Her bubbling voice spews disjointed fragments of speech, alternately screaming obscenities and vile imprecations, and then murmuring as a mother would to protect her dearest child.
Last edited by HuManBing on Fri May 09, 2008 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Xenoregnus, The God That Never Was
Large Undead Unholy Scion Atropal Scion HD 27d12 hp 172 Init +6 Spd fly 40’ (good) AC 28 (+3 Dex, +8 natural, +3 to natural from size, -1 from size, +7 unholy grace) t 19 f 25.
Base Atk: 12 (13 from HD, -1 from size) Grapple: 21
Atk: melee (3d6+10) (2d6 for size, boosted to 3d6 for Imp Nat Atk feat) (evil weapon, +2d6 vs. good)
Full Atk: melee (3d6+10) (evil weapon, +2d6 vs. good)
Space/Reach: 10’/10’
SA: Death gaze kills foes in 60’ who fail Fort 30 (10 + 1/2xHD, + Cha mod) save, turning them into wights in 24 hours. Negative energy aura gives +4 turn resist and 5 fast healing to undead in 60’. Live foes in 60’ get 2 negative levels. Spell-like abilities: (CL 9th, save DC 30 Cha-based) [Atropal Scion] 3/day: animate dead, create undead, cone of cold (DC 30) desecrate, dispel magic, invisibility, plane shift, speak with dead, teleport. [Unholy Scion] 3/day: Prot. from good, Charm Person, Major image, Poison, True seeing, Unholy aura – 1/day: Desecrate, Enervation, Dominate person, Baleful polymorph, Animate Dead, Harm, Gate (Abyss), Polymorph any object.
SQ: DR 15/adamantine, DR 10/good and magic, darkvision 60’, fast healing 12, rebuke undead 8/day (+5, 2d6+32, 27th), undead traits, unholy grace. Immune to poisons, mind-affecting magics, cold, electricity, critical hits, stunning, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects. Can see living creatures as if it gave off illumination to 60’.
AL: CE
SV: F/R/W: 18/20/30 (9/9/15 base, –/2/6 abilities, 7/7/7 unholy grace, 2/2/2 feats)
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 17 Con – Int 22 Wis 24 Cha 24
Skills (as undead: (4+6) x 30 = 300): [I'll do this bit later. 300 skill points is a lot.]
Feats (10): Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Lifesense, Hover, Quicken Turning, Improved Natural Attack (touch), Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Flyby Attack.
Details: Xenoregnus looks like a dead, floating fetus roughly the size of a grizzly bear.
CR: 20 (11 base +4 from HD, +1 from size increase, +1 from better ability scores, +3 from unholy scion template).
Xenoregnus’ origins are as grotesque as they are divine. When a forgotten religion was destroyed to make way for the Eternal Order, the combined prayers of the faithful created a seed of divine hatred in the brain of Phirazaldea, one-time avatar of a dead god. The seed grew, bloated with Phirazaldea’s prayers for vengeance and the fervent prayers of supplication from the Eternal Order clerics. By the time Azalin checked back on Phirazaldea, Xenoregnus was about the size of an adolescent child, and had grown too large for her head to contain it, gorging out from her facial orifices like a fleshy balloon. It was stronger than most Atropal Scions, too, as a result of its titanic birthing struggles – it already dragged Phirazaldea along like a hapless trapped bird as it floated about the bottommost levels of the Black Vault.
Azalin separated the two, and spent considerable time fruitlessly interrogating Xenoregnus, before finally locking the two outsiders away. Time passed, and Azalin cautiously reinforced their crypt and put it distant from the rest of the Black Vault. As the years passed, Azalin noticed that Xenoregnus was gaining power at a prodigious rate. He eventually deduced that the Atropal Scion was absorbing the prayers of the Eternal Order, and would continue to grow more and more powerful. Azalin sent construct servitors and special servants armed with spells to subdue the Atropal Scion, and then used a very powerful Wish to seal it in a fitful slumber. His servants toiled for some time to reinforce the containing chambers of Xenoregnus’ rest, while Phirazaldea screamed and tore her hair over her child.
Now lying in a state of catatonia, Xenoregnus hears the prayers of the Eternal Order and continues to grow, today so powerful that even Azalin himself prefers to stay away. (To give a sense of scale, under normal conditions, Xenoregnus would have a better-than-50% chance of rebuking or commanding Azalin as a cleric commands undead – and Xenoregnus can do this as a free action. Azalin’s darklord power of commanding all undead in Darkon is the only thing that prevents this from happening.)
Azalin reinforced the border-dimensional crypt that contained Xenoregnus, and also isolated this crypt dimensionally away from the rest of the complex, fearing (with some justification) that the Dark Powers might some day make Xenoregnus a darklord in its own right.
Xenoregnus currently remains unmoving as long as Phirazaldea continues to sing to it, maintaining the bonds that keep it catatonic. In times of danger, Xenoregnus is a terrible foe. Azalin has put a few failsafe devices that will activate in times of emergency to sever the ties between the Black Vault and the crypt, and to forever flush Xenoregnus and his dark mother into the Border Ethereal.
Azalin would prefer to lose these two and whatever knowledge he might glean from them, rather than have them attempt escape into his realm.
Large Undead Unholy Scion Atropal Scion HD 27d12 hp 172 Init +6 Spd fly 40’ (good) AC 28 (+3 Dex, +8 natural, +3 to natural from size, -1 from size, +7 unholy grace) t 19 f 25.
Base Atk: 12 (13 from HD, -1 from size) Grapple: 21
Atk: melee (3d6+10) (2d6 for size, boosted to 3d6 for Imp Nat Atk feat) (evil weapon, +2d6 vs. good)
Full Atk: melee (3d6+10) (evil weapon, +2d6 vs. good)
Space/Reach: 10’/10’
SA: Death gaze kills foes in 60’ who fail Fort 30 (10 + 1/2xHD, + Cha mod) save, turning them into wights in 24 hours. Negative energy aura gives +4 turn resist and 5 fast healing to undead in 60’. Live foes in 60’ get 2 negative levels. Spell-like abilities: (CL 9th, save DC 30 Cha-based) [Atropal Scion] 3/day: animate dead, create undead, cone of cold (DC 30) desecrate, dispel magic, invisibility, plane shift, speak with dead, teleport. [Unholy Scion] 3/day: Prot. from good, Charm Person, Major image, Poison, True seeing, Unholy aura – 1/day: Desecrate, Enervation, Dominate person, Baleful polymorph, Animate Dead, Harm, Gate (Abyss), Polymorph any object.
SQ: DR 15/adamantine, DR 10/good and magic, darkvision 60’, fast healing 12, rebuke undead 8/day (+5, 2d6+32, 27th), undead traits, unholy grace. Immune to poisons, mind-affecting magics, cold, electricity, critical hits, stunning, sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects. Can see living creatures as if it gave off illumination to 60’.
AL: CE
SV: F/R/W: 18/20/30 (9/9/15 base, –/2/6 abilities, 7/7/7 unholy grace, 2/2/2 feats)
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 17 Con – Int 22 Wis 24 Cha 24
Skills (as undead: (4+6) x 30 = 300): [I'll do this bit later. 300 skill points is a lot.]
Feats (10): Improved Initiative, Improved Toughness, Lifesense, Hover, Quicken Turning, Improved Natural Attack (touch), Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Flyby Attack.
Details: Xenoregnus looks like a dead, floating fetus roughly the size of a grizzly bear.
CR: 20 (11 base +4 from HD, +1 from size increase, +1 from better ability scores, +3 from unholy scion template).
Xenoregnus’ origins are as grotesque as they are divine. When a forgotten religion was destroyed to make way for the Eternal Order, the combined prayers of the faithful created a seed of divine hatred in the brain of Phirazaldea, one-time avatar of a dead god. The seed grew, bloated with Phirazaldea’s prayers for vengeance and the fervent prayers of supplication from the Eternal Order clerics. By the time Azalin checked back on Phirazaldea, Xenoregnus was about the size of an adolescent child, and had grown too large for her head to contain it, gorging out from her facial orifices like a fleshy balloon. It was stronger than most Atropal Scions, too, as a result of its titanic birthing struggles – it already dragged Phirazaldea along like a hapless trapped bird as it floated about the bottommost levels of the Black Vault.
Azalin separated the two, and spent considerable time fruitlessly interrogating Xenoregnus, before finally locking the two outsiders away. Time passed, and Azalin cautiously reinforced their crypt and put it distant from the rest of the Black Vault. As the years passed, Azalin noticed that Xenoregnus was gaining power at a prodigious rate. He eventually deduced that the Atropal Scion was absorbing the prayers of the Eternal Order, and would continue to grow more and more powerful. Azalin sent construct servitors and special servants armed with spells to subdue the Atropal Scion, and then used a very powerful Wish to seal it in a fitful slumber. His servants toiled for some time to reinforce the containing chambers of Xenoregnus’ rest, while Phirazaldea screamed and tore her hair over her child.
Now lying in a state of catatonia, Xenoregnus hears the prayers of the Eternal Order and continues to grow, today so powerful that even Azalin himself prefers to stay away. (To give a sense of scale, under normal conditions, Xenoregnus would have a better-than-50% chance of rebuking or commanding Azalin as a cleric commands undead – and Xenoregnus can do this as a free action. Azalin’s darklord power of commanding all undead in Darkon is the only thing that prevents this from happening.)
Azalin reinforced the border-dimensional crypt that contained Xenoregnus, and also isolated this crypt dimensionally away from the rest of the complex, fearing (with some justification) that the Dark Powers might some day make Xenoregnus a darklord in its own right.
Xenoregnus currently remains unmoving as long as Phirazaldea continues to sing to it, maintaining the bonds that keep it catatonic. In times of danger, Xenoregnus is a terrible foe. Azalin has put a few failsafe devices that will activate in times of emergency to sever the ties between the Black Vault and the crypt, and to forever flush Xenoregnus and his dark mother into the Border Ethereal.
Azalin would prefer to lose these two and whatever knowledge he might glean from them, rather than have them attempt escape into his realm.
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NykylaiHellray
- Evil Genius
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:32 am
Note: with a certain amount of defiant resolve, I have decided the rest of my contributions will continue to be for v3.5 and I will not be updating to 4E. The Black Vault is no exception to this.
Blessed Sluice of Deliverance
Azalin has many tricks and traps to snare the unwary living creatures that wander into the Vault. However, undead intruders could be equally dangerous, all the more so because they are immune to many of the organic measures of dealing with living intruders (suffocation, starvation, exhaustion) and also because of various supernatural abilities. Politically, Azalin did not trust his Kargat enough to believe they would never try to betray him, and he didn't want the stockpile of items in the Black Vault going to a pretender to his throne.
Such paranoia paid off. When the Requiem hit Il Aluk, the Black Vault largely became inaccessible to Azalin, and the main type of intruder by definition became undead servants in Death's service, instead of the living adventurers in Van Richten's party. Now that Death has unwittingly rebuilt the Grim Fastness on top of the very entrance to the Black Vault, it may only be a matter of time before its agents find the spell warded entrance. Azalin had the wisdom to leave most of the dangerous artifacts deep below ground, where they can do no harm. Death, being the lunatic that it is, may have no such qualms if it believes it can use them against Azalin.
Most undead are immune to poisons, mind-affecting traps, and energy types (especially cold and electricity). Worse still, not a few can fly, and these flying undead are among the most skillful flyers around, with Perfect flight, meaning that they are unhampered by things like strong winds or odd angles. Incorporeal creatures can even disappear into solid objects like walls, provided they keep in contact with at least one surface. They cannot do the same with force effects.
Azalin found a few artifacts of the Wardkeeper's faith (see the Mazrikoth thread) to be too powerful for him to truly corrupt. These items he locked away in the Black Vault to use as weapons against intruding undead, preferring to make use of them rather than destroy them. One such artifact was the holy sepulcher of High Priest Moren, who was buried within it and thus it remained free of the shame and dishonor that the church later fell into. The sepulcher purifies and enchants water to become holy water when evil beings are nearby.
This trap requires a fairly large space to operate, and ideally it should be enclosed and watertight. The Elevator could be a good example of this as it's enclosed and apparently is quite suitable for bringing matter in and out of existence. It also has a very large number of spells already cast on it as it's a heavily magical device.
The trap has two parts, depending on which type of hostile undead is prevalent.
Phase One - Corporeal: Azalin recognized that corporeal undead are vulnerable to the disintegrate spell. Undead are usually immune to Fort-based spells, unless they also affect objects. Disintegrate is one such spell. The first part of the trap immediately puts down Walls of Force on every internal surface in the elevator. Then the floor opens to a disintegration chamber, which usually takes care of most skeletal-based undead. The chamber remains open (and disintegrating occupants) for two rounds, then closes. It continues to disintegrate until nothing is left in the chamber. A few corporeal undead can fly, which means they'll be immune until phase two.
There are various channels leading to a pool of underground water that is fed by aquifers. This pool rests physically separate from the Vault complex, so it does not risk flooding it. Amidst an ornate shrine to the dead god of the Wardkeeper faith, the pool surrounds and laps gently at a massive stone sarcophagus, housing the bones of Moren, the last virtuous High Priest the faith knew. The water is made holy by the presence of the sarcophagus, and various channels divert it to inert Teleportation circles leading to the Elevator.
When the Elevator senses a large concentration of undead (as per Detect Undead), and when the weight of the undead is not proportional to the strength of the undead aura, that is a sign that many of them are either flying, or incorporeal. This will cause the Elevator to immediately activate the Teleportation Circles in the faraway holy pool, and suppress the permanent Dimension Lock at a room above the Elevator. This teleportation delivers puncheons of holy water to the Vault, ready to cascade down into the Elevator, filling the Elevator in a single round.
The round after the Disintegration Chamber closes, the Elevator uses spell turrets to cast multiple Forcecage spells, selecting the permeable version (with barred walls). These will immobilize flyers, even incorporeal ones, provided they are size S or larger. (Incorporeal creatures are not able to pass through force effects.)
The round after the Forcecages are in place, the ceiling opens up and the holy water is dumped into the elevator. Holy water, though not magical, does affect incorporeal undead 50% of the time, and with the undead trapped in permeable Forcecages, they will almost assuredly take damage. The Elevator keeps the Forcecages and holy water in place as long as needed until the detected hostile undead are all eliminated.
Once that is achieved, the floor opens again and the water drains into the disintegration chamber and is destroyed there, restoring the Elevator to its original state.
This setup is clearly also very dangerous to living creatures as well, because being held underwater for any long period of time will be fatal, even if it's holy water.
What about constructs? - Most constructs are vulnerable to disintegrations, but this trap does require them to fall into the chamber below. Some constructs may be able to fly, and Azalin worked in one quirky system to take care of constructs that could fly. The Elevator has several Ice Storm and Cone of Cold turrets that it could use in an emergency to freeze the water solid. This will trap even flying constructs, and they will then fall into the disintegration chamber in the ice too. The ice may not harm them, but that doesn't matter. It serves to immobilize them for the entire ice block to fall into the Disintegration Chamber.
The Elevator is required for travel between most levels of the Vault (especially the ones that are completely separate from the main complex under Il Aluk) and it is one of the most aggressive mechanisms in the Vault's security. The outside is largely impervious to damage, teleportation, and scrying effects. So assuming Death does somehow manage to assemble a team of humans, undead, spirits, and constructs, the party will enter the Elevator, the doors will shut behind them, and an ominous series of magical sounds of destruction, water running, and maybe Ice Storms can be heard.
Then after a suitable pause there will be a second sluicing sound and more destruction, and then finally the Elevator will open again to reveal an empty interior, with no sign of the previous strike team.
Blessed Sluice of Deliverance
Azalin has many tricks and traps to snare the unwary living creatures that wander into the Vault. However, undead intruders could be equally dangerous, all the more so because they are immune to many of the organic measures of dealing with living intruders (suffocation, starvation, exhaustion) and also because of various supernatural abilities. Politically, Azalin did not trust his Kargat enough to believe they would never try to betray him, and he didn't want the stockpile of items in the Black Vault going to a pretender to his throne.
Such paranoia paid off. When the Requiem hit Il Aluk, the Black Vault largely became inaccessible to Azalin, and the main type of intruder by definition became undead servants in Death's service, instead of the living adventurers in Van Richten's party. Now that Death has unwittingly rebuilt the Grim Fastness on top of the very entrance to the Black Vault, it may only be a matter of time before its agents find the spell warded entrance. Azalin had the wisdom to leave most of the dangerous artifacts deep below ground, where they can do no harm. Death, being the lunatic that it is, may have no such qualms if it believes it can use them against Azalin.
Most undead are immune to poisons, mind-affecting traps, and energy types (especially cold and electricity). Worse still, not a few can fly, and these flying undead are among the most skillful flyers around, with Perfect flight, meaning that they are unhampered by things like strong winds or odd angles. Incorporeal creatures can even disappear into solid objects like walls, provided they keep in contact with at least one surface. They cannot do the same with force effects.
Azalin found a few artifacts of the Wardkeeper's faith (see the Mazrikoth thread) to be too powerful for him to truly corrupt. These items he locked away in the Black Vault to use as weapons against intruding undead, preferring to make use of them rather than destroy them. One such artifact was the holy sepulcher of High Priest Moren, who was buried within it and thus it remained free of the shame and dishonor that the church later fell into. The sepulcher purifies and enchants water to become holy water when evil beings are nearby.
This trap requires a fairly large space to operate, and ideally it should be enclosed and watertight. The Elevator could be a good example of this as it's enclosed and apparently is quite suitable for bringing matter in and out of existence. It also has a very large number of spells already cast on it as it's a heavily magical device.
The trap has two parts, depending on which type of hostile undead is prevalent.
Phase One - Corporeal: Azalin recognized that corporeal undead are vulnerable to the disintegrate spell. Undead are usually immune to Fort-based spells, unless they also affect objects. Disintegrate is one such spell. The first part of the trap immediately puts down Walls of Force on every internal surface in the elevator. Then the floor opens to a disintegration chamber, which usually takes care of most skeletal-based undead. The chamber remains open (and disintegrating occupants) for two rounds, then closes. It continues to disintegrate until nothing is left in the chamber. A few corporeal undead can fly, which means they'll be immune until phase two.
Phase Two - Incorporeal and Flying: Most spirit-type undead are incorporeal and can fly. In addition, some corporeal undead can also fly, such as vampires. Azalin prepared a trap to make things difficult for them too.Disintegration Chamber: This is a chamber that can activate to annihilate anything inside it. A creature placed in the chamber can make a Fort save (DC 19) to avoid being disintegrated. If the saving throw is successful the creature takes 5d6 points of damage. If this damage is enough to bring the creature to 0 hit points or less, it is disintegrated. The trap activates whenever something falls into it, and inflicts the same effect on all occupants each round. Note that this does not bypass the 50% miss chance for incorporeal creatures.
There are various channels leading to a pool of underground water that is fed by aquifers. This pool rests physically separate from the Vault complex, so it does not risk flooding it. Amidst an ornate shrine to the dead god of the Wardkeeper faith, the pool surrounds and laps gently at a massive stone sarcophagus, housing the bones of Moren, the last virtuous High Priest the faith knew. The water is made holy by the presence of the sarcophagus, and various channels divert it to inert Teleportation circles leading to the Elevator.
When the Elevator senses a large concentration of undead (as per Detect Undead), and when the weight of the undead is not proportional to the strength of the undead aura, that is a sign that many of them are either flying, or incorporeal. This will cause the Elevator to immediately activate the Teleportation Circles in the faraway holy pool, and suppress the permanent Dimension Lock at a room above the Elevator. This teleportation delivers puncheons of holy water to the Vault, ready to cascade down into the Elevator, filling the Elevator in a single round.
The round after the Disintegration Chamber closes, the Elevator uses spell turrets to cast multiple Forcecage spells, selecting the permeable version (with barred walls). These will immobilize flyers, even incorporeal ones, provided they are size S or larger. (Incorporeal creatures are not able to pass through force effects.)
The round after the Forcecages are in place, the ceiling opens up and the holy water is dumped into the elevator. Holy water, though not magical, does affect incorporeal undead 50% of the time, and with the undead trapped in permeable Forcecages, they will almost assuredly take damage. The Elevator keeps the Forcecages and holy water in place as long as needed until the detected hostile undead are all eliminated.
Once that is achieved, the floor opens again and the water drains into the disintegration chamber and is destroyed there, restoring the Elevator to its original state.
This setup is clearly also very dangerous to living creatures as well, because being held underwater for any long period of time will be fatal, even if it's holy water.
What about constructs? - Most constructs are vulnerable to disintegrations, but this trap does require them to fall into the chamber below. Some constructs may be able to fly, and Azalin worked in one quirky system to take care of constructs that could fly. The Elevator has several Ice Storm and Cone of Cold turrets that it could use in an emergency to freeze the water solid. This will trap even flying constructs, and they will then fall into the disintegration chamber in the ice too. The ice may not harm them, but that doesn't matter. It serves to immobilize them for the entire ice block to fall into the Disintegration Chamber.
The Elevator is required for travel between most levels of the Vault (especially the ones that are completely separate from the main complex under Il Aluk) and it is one of the most aggressive mechanisms in the Vault's security. The outside is largely impervious to damage, teleportation, and scrying effects. So assuming Death does somehow manage to assemble a team of humans, undead, spirits, and constructs, the party will enter the Elevator, the doors will shut behind them, and an ominous series of magical sounds of destruction, water running, and maybe Ice Storms can be heard.
Then after a suitable pause there will be a second sluicing sound and more destruction, and then finally the Elevator will open again to reveal an empty interior, with no sign of the previous strike team.
The Wardkeeper: The god of protection of the city (LN) on a forgotten homeworld. Split into two factions, the Almsgivers (LG) who focussed on civic works and charity, and the Powerbrokers (LE) who focussed on expanding political influence and corrupting nobles.elliott20 wrote:one of the things we need to do before this is to figure out what the old religion was like. Maybe at least pick out the deity and the deity portfolio
Domains: Community (Spell Compendium), Pact (SC), Protection, Law. Almsgivers add Family (SC) and Good. Powerbrokers add any sin domain (Pride, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Greed) OR Nobility (all SC), and Evil OR Glory.
The Fallen One: The remnant of the Wardkeeper after it entered Ravenloft. Manifests primarily in a bleeding statue some 15' high.
Domains: Darkness, Purification, Suffering (all SC), Healing, Death.
I was wondering about how to map this out. Then I found this nifty mapmaking program by Jai that uses the Dungeon Tiles. I may try using this. I'd really like to get this whole Black Vault project over and done with this summer.
So I'm thinking about how to incorporate the outcome of the Van Richten raid into the design of the dungeon.
How about making an upper level filled with stuff that Azalin considered expendable, and then making that somewhat more accessible? It would allow Azalin to get to those things more easily, but would also mean that ambitious do-gooders like VR would more likely destroy that vault and think that they had finished for good.
Azalin would probably leave the items most dangerous to living creatures and humans in the Firmament level (the name I'm giving the least important vault level) as those are of little threat to him. Plus if he needed them, it would be easier to get ahold of them than having to go through the drudgery of opening and then resealing the main vault levels.
How about making an upper level filled with stuff that Azalin considered expendable, and then making that somewhat more accessible? It would allow Azalin to get to those things more easily, but would also mean that ambitious do-gooders like VR would more likely destroy that vault and think that they had finished for good.
Azalin would probably leave the items most dangerous to living creatures and humans in the Firmament level (the name I'm giving the least important vault level) as those are of little threat to him. Plus if he needed them, it would be easier to get ahold of them than having to go through the drudgery of opening and then resealing the main vault levels.
Re: The Black Vault
I'm trawling through old 3rd ed. and other dungeons to see what cool ideas I can stea-... er, adapt for the Black Vault.
Logistics of collecting undead raw materials
The Sinister Spire (WotC, 3.5E) has a fairly deep body-disposal chute that falls several tens of feet and then opens into a salt water pool. There is a grate over the very bottom. Anything that doesn't fall through is teleported to a looting/preparation area after ten minutes of contact.
This could feature in the Firmament levels of the Black Vault, especially where undead are the guardians. Whatever force or undead master is animating them, they would need some way of collecting corpses, and if the dungeon's design funnels intruders to a popular killing zone, the teleportation grate could help deliver the corpses to where they can be reanimated to further pad out the ranks of guardians.
Teleportation portal requiring special item
Also from the Sinister Spire: a crackling electric arc is constantly leaping between two poles. Normally, anything caught in between takes a fair amount of damage. But if they are carrying a special "key" item, the arcs are repulsed to the top and to the bottom, creating a portal in between and allowing safe passage.
Logistics of collecting undead raw materials
The Sinister Spire (WotC, 3.5E) has a fairly deep body-disposal chute that falls several tens of feet and then opens into a salt water pool. There is a grate over the very bottom. Anything that doesn't fall through is teleported to a looting/preparation area after ten minutes of contact.
This could feature in the Firmament levels of the Black Vault, especially where undead are the guardians. Whatever force or undead master is animating them, they would need some way of collecting corpses, and if the dungeon's design funnels intruders to a popular killing zone, the teleportation grate could help deliver the corpses to where they can be reanimated to further pad out the ranks of guardians.
Teleportation portal requiring special item
Also from the Sinister Spire: a crackling electric arc is constantly leaping between two poles. Normally, anything caught in between takes a fair amount of damage. But if they are carrying a special "key" item, the arcs are repulsed to the top and to the bottom, creating a portal in between and allowing safe passage.
Re: The Black Vault
Ancient advisers
Embalmed corpses or other remains can still be useful advisers with magic to speak with the dead. Such advisers might be kept at a fairly early, easily-accessible level of the Black Vault, so that Azalin and other outsiders can access them easily. For intruders, these remains might serve as a reminder of Azalin's power, especially if they represent non-human powerful monsters, such as rakshasa, mind flayers, dragons, beholders, and the like.
Petrification torment
Those whom Azalin would rather imprison and forget about forever could be petrified. This eliminates them as a flight risk, but means they could still be revived with counter-petrification spells if needed in future. Some people who really deserve harsh punishment might have some of their bodies left unpetrified, which means they might be withered desiccated husks of limbs. Or, if Azalin wanted to really torment them, he could leave some preserving magic on the unpetrified limbs, so they never rot. This would leave the victim with a tantalizing fraction of their normal sensory input over the decades and centuries of imprisonment in the Vault.
Embalmed corpses or other remains can still be useful advisers with magic to speak with the dead. Such advisers might be kept at a fairly early, easily-accessible level of the Black Vault, so that Azalin and other outsiders can access them easily. For intruders, these remains might serve as a reminder of Azalin's power, especially if they represent non-human powerful monsters, such as rakshasa, mind flayers, dragons, beholders, and the like.
Petrification torment
Those whom Azalin would rather imprison and forget about forever could be petrified. This eliminates them as a flight risk, but means they could still be revived with counter-petrification spells if needed in future. Some people who really deserve harsh punishment might have some of their bodies left unpetrified, which means they might be withered desiccated husks of limbs. Or, if Azalin wanted to really torment them, he could leave some preserving magic on the unpetrified limbs, so they never rot. This would leave the victim with a tantalizing fraction of their normal sensory input over the decades and centuries of imprisonment in the Vault.
Re: The Black Vault
Orrery Misdirection
Van Richten's group mentions in Forged of Darkness that the main entrance to the Black Vault featured a meteoritic iron gate, inset with an orrery (or astronomical model) that represented various moons, stars, and planets of the Oerth system. These had to be arranged in a particular order or the gate won't open. Van Richten and his group evidently found the correct alignment, and the gate opened for them.
Here is an idea to further deepen the potential of the gate. The orrery idea is fantastic - it serves as a poignant reminder that Azalin's rule once crossed the gulf of dimensions, and the lich lord is truly a long way from home. It also presents a tricky conundrum for parties: how do they figure out the correct alignment? Oerth's astronomical alignments are probably not detectable unless the party has very strong magic - you certainly can't see them visually from anywhere in Ravenloft's skies.
Van Richten and his crew probably used a much more simple method to open the gate: study the mechanisms, cogs, and tumblers in order to figure out which alignments result in "unlocking" positions. Through this, they probably found the correct alignments, set them all, and then opened the door through purely physical means. This would be a bit like putting a stethoscope up against the vault door and carefully listening for anomalies in the gear noises as you rotate them through methodically.
What if...
Say the orrery has two functions. One function is to open the gate to the Firmanent levels of the Black Vault. This is a purely mechanical function, and a sufficiently skilled (and patient) lockpick or safe cracker could probably unlock it given a long enough period of time. Van Richten did this, then got access to the Firmament levels, and looted or destroyed various artifacts, and left.
Say the orrery also has a second, purely magical function, which is triggered by a completely separate arrangement of the astronomical bodies and which cannot be detected mechanically, and which does not affect the actual gate to the Firmament at all. The orrery's second function is to arrange the directions of isolated teleportation voids installed in the bedrock beneath Il Aluk. Each element in the orrery (planets, stars, moons, etc.) each affect one teleportation void. If the celestial bodies are aligned with a significant Oerth arrangement (say, the arrangement at the time Azalin left Greyhawk forever), then each of the teleportation voids will correctly align with each other, so teleporting yourself, say, along bearing 273° exactly one league from the orrery itself, will cause you to land on a teleporter Azalin placed there centuries earlier. This will then activate, and it will pinball from one teleportation void to the next with unerring accuracy, eventually culminating in a final jump to the Shifter levels of the Black Vault (where the really dangerous things are kept).
Getting any of the orrery elements wrong means the individual teleportation voids will be pointing in the incorrect directions or will project you the wrong distances when you initiate the sequence. You'll either go nowhere at all, or you'll end up teleported into a nonfunctional claustrophobic void excavated significant distance below the surface with no air supply and no easy way to dig yourself up, or worse still at some point the teleporter will ping-pong you too far or in the wrong direction and you'll die instantly as you materialize in solid bedrock.
The most insidious feature of the orrery mechanism's second function is that it gives no indication whatsoever that a second function has been triggered. The second correct arrangement seems and sounds just like any other random configuration - it's up to the user to set the orrery, and then take a leap of faith by teleporting himself into apparently-solid bedrock.
This ulterior function means busybodies like Van Richten can exploit the Firmanent levels by opening the obvious door using the mechanism, without ever realizing that the mechanism has an arcane function that allows access to the Shifter levels. And that suits Azalin just fine. The surest way to get a buglar to go home is to let him believe he's found all the good loot already.
Van Richten's group mentions in Forged of Darkness that the main entrance to the Black Vault featured a meteoritic iron gate, inset with an orrery (or astronomical model) that represented various moons, stars, and planets of the Oerth system. These had to be arranged in a particular order or the gate won't open. Van Richten and his group evidently found the correct alignment, and the gate opened for them.
Here is an idea to further deepen the potential of the gate. The orrery idea is fantastic - it serves as a poignant reminder that Azalin's rule once crossed the gulf of dimensions, and the lich lord is truly a long way from home. It also presents a tricky conundrum for parties: how do they figure out the correct alignment? Oerth's astronomical alignments are probably not detectable unless the party has very strong magic - you certainly can't see them visually from anywhere in Ravenloft's skies.
Van Richten and his crew probably used a much more simple method to open the gate: study the mechanisms, cogs, and tumblers in order to figure out which alignments result in "unlocking" positions. Through this, they probably found the correct alignments, set them all, and then opened the door through purely physical means. This would be a bit like putting a stethoscope up against the vault door and carefully listening for anomalies in the gear noises as you rotate them through methodically.
What if...
Say the orrery has two functions. One function is to open the gate to the Firmanent levels of the Black Vault. This is a purely mechanical function, and a sufficiently skilled (and patient) lockpick or safe cracker could probably unlock it given a long enough period of time. Van Richten did this, then got access to the Firmament levels, and looted or destroyed various artifacts, and left.
Say the orrery also has a second, purely magical function, which is triggered by a completely separate arrangement of the astronomical bodies and which cannot be detected mechanically, and which does not affect the actual gate to the Firmament at all. The orrery's second function is to arrange the directions of isolated teleportation voids installed in the bedrock beneath Il Aluk. Each element in the orrery (planets, stars, moons, etc.) each affect one teleportation void. If the celestial bodies are aligned with a significant Oerth arrangement (say, the arrangement at the time Azalin left Greyhawk forever), then each of the teleportation voids will correctly align with each other, so teleporting yourself, say, along bearing 273° exactly one league from the orrery itself, will cause you to land on a teleporter Azalin placed there centuries earlier. This will then activate, and it will pinball from one teleportation void to the next with unerring accuracy, eventually culminating in a final jump to the Shifter levels of the Black Vault (where the really dangerous things are kept).
Getting any of the orrery elements wrong means the individual teleportation voids will be pointing in the incorrect directions or will project you the wrong distances when you initiate the sequence. You'll either go nowhere at all, or you'll end up teleported into a nonfunctional claustrophobic void excavated significant distance below the surface with no air supply and no easy way to dig yourself up, or worse still at some point the teleporter will ping-pong you too far or in the wrong direction and you'll die instantly as you materialize in solid bedrock.
The most insidious feature of the orrery mechanism's second function is that it gives no indication whatsoever that a second function has been triggered. The second correct arrangement seems and sounds just like any other random configuration - it's up to the user to set the orrery, and then take a leap of faith by teleporting himself into apparently-solid bedrock.
This ulterior function means busybodies like Van Richten can exploit the Firmanent levels by opening the obvious door using the mechanism, without ever realizing that the mechanism has an arcane function that allows access to the Shifter levels. And that suits Azalin just fine. The surest way to get a buglar to go home is to let him believe he's found all the good loot already.