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FIVE GOLDEN RINGS encounter.




The Red Pear Tree.


The encounter below is written as the eighth floor of a dungeon within a towering, direfly infested tree bearing vile, red fruit the size of boulders. This is written as a Waning Princes scenario. This is written as a hard to dangerous encounter for level 10-11 player characters.


 Encounter


A central staircase spirals down to the floor below. The room’s wall is covered in thick blood-honey amber riddled with vibrant, pulsing veins. A circle of hand statuettes crafted from blood-amber surround the staircase at a distance of 10 feet. Lengths of adamantine chain coils from the base of each statuette’s pedestal to one of 10 corpses suspended in the hardened amber. On the north side of the room is an adamantine door. The door doesn’t appear to be locked or trapped. However, when the handle is tried it doesn’t open and the room’s puzzle activates.


At the start of each turn, a wash of necromantic energy washes through the room dealing 2d8 necrotic damage for each ring-bound corpse (one-to-five) active at the start of that turn. To deactivate a ring-bound corpse the golden ring matching to that corpse must be slipped onto the statuette linked to that corpse by a chain. (See below.) Once there are no ring-bound corpses active at the start of a turn a teleportation circle activates at the south side of the room, allowing movement to the next level.


There are five ring-bound corpses trapped in amber and five red herring corpses. Each corpse of either type is missing its right hand. Arrange the corpses below as desired.


The Ring-Bound Corpses.


Hell-Envoy Corpse. Requires the golden ring etched with nine skulls to deactivate. A skeleton with a few scraps of flesh remaining but no lower jaw. It wears a crimson shawl.


Heaven-Sent Corpse. Requires the golden ring etched with seven skulls to deactivate. A skeleton with not flesh remaining. It wears tattered blue pants.


Elemental-Bound Corpse. Requires the golden ring etched with four skulls to deactivate. A skeleton with mummified skin covering its chest and left arm. It wears a leather chest harness.


Arcane-Fool Corpse. Requires the golden ring etched with eight skulls to deactivate. A skeleton with visible, mummified organs. It wears an open purple robe.


Death-Tyrant Corpse. Requires the golden ring etched with three skulls to deactivate. A bandage-wrapped mummy. It wears a black cloak.


The Red Herring Corpses.


Faux Hell-Envoy corpse. A skeleton with a few scraps of flesh remaining as well as a single eye. It wears a crimson cowl.


Faux Heaven-Sent Corpse. A skeleton with not flesh remaining, its left hand holds a dagger. It wears a frayed blue kilt.


Faux Elemental-Bound Corpse. A skeleton with mummified skin covering its chest and right arm. It wears a leather sword belt and scabbard.


Faux Arcane-Fool Corpse. A skeleton with visible, mummified organs. It wears an open purple doublet.


Faux Death-Tyrant Corpse. A bandage-wrapped mummy. It wears black boots.


Treasure:


The five golen rings gathered in previous levels of the Red Pear Tree are lost, as removing even one of them deactivates the teleportation circle out of the room and the ring-bound corpses start doing damage again. However, the party lives and can move on in the dungeon. That's a win, right?

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