Shadowdim 22: The Sun-Pendant
Ask the Oracle: Do the heroes make it to the Well without mishap or encounter? Answer: Yes
As the party reaches the precipice of the Screaming Well, the acoustic vibration is so intense that your skin feels like it is crawling. The air is thick with the scent of wet stone and something sweet—like rotting nectar.
The heroes have stepped on the narrow stone ledge surrounding the central Sluice Gate, and are moving along it, when suddenly Aele cries out in alarm. Before Cabe or Dorn can react, Aele has been hauled three feet into the air by a cave fisher. This is the surprise round.
The “Screaming” wind of the well swallows Aele’s cry of alarm almost instantly, but the visual is unmistakable. One moment Aele is testing the footing with his staff; the next, a shimmering, translucent filament has whipped around his torso, jerking him upward with terrifying force.
The Surprise Round: The Hook is Set
The Attack: One of the Cave Fishers on the ceiling (40 feet up) has successfully “hooked” Aele.
The Pull: Aele is currently 3 feet in the air, dangling over the narrow ledge. The filament is incredibly sticky and strong, pulling him toward the serrated mandibles of the predator above.
The Status: Aele is Restrained and being reeled in.
Dorn and Cabe must succeed at a DC 15 Reflex check or else one of them is snared by the second cave fisher’s filament:
Dorn’s Dexterity Check
Difficulty: High (Slick terrain + heavy plate).
Roll: 15 + 2 (Dex) = 17.
Result: Success. Dorn feels the sticky thread brush against his pauldron, but he pivots with martial grace, the filament sliding off his obsidian armor without gaining a purchase. He plants his boots firmly in the slime, Swift gleaming in his hand.
Cabe’s Dexterity Check
Difficulty: Standard.
Roll: 19 + 2 (Dex) = 21.
Result: Success. Cabe drops into a low crouch, the filament passing harmlessly through the space where his head was a split second before. He is already reaching for an arrow from the Sun-Scribed Quiver.
Round 1 Begins
The “Scream” of the well is deafening, but the Blood-Bond between the three allows for a silent, instinctual coordination.
As Cabe knocks an arrow and prepares to fire at the cave fisher that is hauling up Aele, Dorn retrieves his silk rope and begins tying it into a loop with a slip knot. “Aele, listen: I’m going to throw this up to you. You need to put both legs through the loop and then pull it tight.” Aele is now eight feet above Dorn. Dorn and Aele each need to succeed at a DC 9 Dexterity check in order for Aele to be able to secure the rope around himself.
The “Screaming” wind of the well threatens to carry Dorn’s words away, but the urgency in his voice cuts through. Dorn works with the practiced speed of a veteran, the 45 ft silk rope coiling through his fingers into a wide slipknot. Above him, Aele is being jerked higher into the dark, now eight feet above the ledge and ascending toward the clicking mandibles.
Dorn braces his boots against the fungal slime and heaves the loop upward.<br>
DC: 9<br>
Roll: 11 + 2 (Dex) = 13.<br>
Result: Success. The silk rope sails true, the loop opening perfectly as it passes Aele’s flailing legs.
Aele’s Catch
Aele, though spinning and restrained by the sticky filament, sees the rope arrive.
He must time his movements perfectly to step into the loop while the Fisher reels him in.
DC: 9
Roll: 15 + 2 (Dex) = 17.
Result: Success. Aele hooks his boots through the silk circle and
pulls it tight against his thighs. He is now anchored to Dorn’s
massive strength.
Cave Fisher #1 feels the sudden resistance. It clicks its mandibles in frustration, its leathery body straining against the ceiling as it tries to haul up both Aele and the anchored Dorn. Because Dorn is a Level 4 Fighter (The Bastion) with a 16 Constitution and 18 Strength, he acts as a human anchor. Aele’s ascent stops abruptly.
With Aele stabilized, Cabe has the opening he needs. He draws an arrow from the Sun-Scribed Quiver, and it ignites into a brilliant white flame. He aims for the bloated, sack-like body of Fisher #1.
Attack Roll: 17 + 6 = 23 to hit
Damage: 1d8 (Longbow) + 1d6 (Fire) = 11 Damage.
Result: The flaming arrow buries itself in the creature's
underside. The Fisher lets out a silent, vibrating hiss as
the Beast-Grease on the ceiling nearby begins to sizzle.
Aele adds a blast of radiant energy to the fiery arrow damage Cabe has already inflicted on Cave Fisher #1, killing it. As Aele’s radiant blast liquefies the creature’s core, the tension in the filament suddenly vanishes. The sticky silk snaps like a rubber band, and Aele plummets.
Dorn sees the dead weight drop and jams his obsidian-shod heels into a crack in the stone ledge, wrapping the silk rope twice around his bicep. Aele falls only a short distance, but the sudden jerk of his weight (plus his equipment) combined with the slippery grease on the ledge makes this a critical moment.
Strength/Stability Check (Dorn): 18 + 3 (Str) = 21.
Result: Success.
Dorn doesn’t budge. He stands like a pillar of Arden Vul itself. The rope goes taut with a sharp thwack, and Aele is caught safely in the slipknot just inches above the ledge. Dorn gives a sharp heave, pulling Aele onto the solid stone.
Seeing its mate obliterated and its prey “anchored” by the metal-clad giant, the second Fisher abandons its cautious strategy. It lets go of the ceiling with all six legs, intending to crush Cabe under its leathery bulk.
Cabe watches the shadow grow larger on the floor. He doesn’t move. He waits until the creature is mid-air—the “Eye of the Storm” moment.Attack Roll: 15 + 6 = 21 to hit.Damage (No Str): 1d8 (Longbow) + 1d6 (Fire) = 12 Damage. That’s 23 total this combat. The creature lands hard where Cabe stood a moment earlier. Before it can recover, Dorn has stabbed it with Swift, slaying it!
The two leathery carcasses now lay steaming on the grease-slicked ledge. The fire from Cabe’s arrows is slowly being smothered by the damp, fungal slime, but the “Screaming” of the air through the well’s acoustic holes remains a constant, bone-shaking whistle.
Dorn is standing over the second Fisher, cleaning the ichor from Swift’s blade. Aele is finally untangling his legs from the silk rope and the sticky remnants of the first Fisher’s line.
Now that the cave fishers are taken care of, Dorn quickly finds the hidden, lead-lined compartment (a “False Bottom”) built into the rim of the central Sluice Gate. The schematic indicated that the stone plate covering the compartment only moves when specific pressure is applied to the rim—a classic piece of Thothian hidden engineering.
The “Copper Trunk” is not a chest, but a heavy, ornate key made of oxidized copper, curved to resemble an elephant’s trunk.
Dorn is currently holding the key while Aele finishes untangling himself from the silk rope. The “trunk” of the key is etched with microscopic Thothian glyphs that seem to shimmer as the vibration of the Screaming Well passes through them. According to the Goblins, this key is the only thing that can “put the eyes to sleep” on the Great Valve leading into the Vault of the Elephant. Dorn hands the key over to Aele for magical inspection.
With the Copper Trunk secured and the Cave Fishers dead, the party follows Pips the Goblin through a narrow, dry conduit at the base of the well. The whistling “scream” of the air fades behind you, replaced by a rhythmic, heavy thumping sound—like the beating of a massive, metallic heart.
The tunnel opens into a wide, circular chamber made of polished basalt. In the center stands the Great Valve: a massive, bronze-and-iron door shaped like a three-dimensional mandala. At its center is an embossed, stylized face of an elephant with ivory tusks.
Just as the Goblins warned, two large, crystalline orbs are set into the wall on either side of the door. As you enter, the crystals pulse with a deep crimson light and swivel toward you—The Eyes.
The Goblins dive for cover. “Don’t let them look! If they see you, the heat-fire comes!” Beneath the elephant’s trunk on the door, there is a curved keyhole that matches your key perfectly.
Dorn steps forward, the Copper Trunk held out. He uses his Aegis to shield himself and Aele from the gaze of the “Eyes.”
Dorn thrusts the Copper Trunk into the keyhole and gives it a heavy, 180-degree turn. A deep, musical chime echoes through the chamber. The crimson light in the crystals fades to a soft, dormant amber. The “Eyes” tilt downward, as if falling asleep.
With a series of heavy mechanical clicks and the hiss of escaping steam, the mandala-door begins to rotate and retract.
The door slides open to reveal a chamber filled with a soft, golden bioluminescence. This is no mere storehouse; it is a Thothian Reliquary.
Racks of silver-bound scrolls line the walls, and at the center of the room stands a life-sized statue of an elephant carved from a single block of translucent jade. Around its neck hangs a heavy, golden chain with a pendant that glows with a rhythmic, solar light.
Aele’s Detect Magic goes into overdrive, here, and he quickly dials it back. The room is a concentrated well of Abjuration and Transmutation energy. He notices a series of small, mummified remains at the base of the statue—not humans or goblins, but small, feline-like creatures, perhaps the original guardians. He points this out to his companions.
Dorn nods. He spots a secondary vault door at the back of the room, sealed with a physical lever-lock that bears the mark of the Magistrate. “Are you still wearing the magistrate’s ring, Aele? Check out the vault at the back...”
Dorn moves with the silent weight of a predator, his eyes scanning for the tell-tale signs of pressure plates, tripwires, or “murder holes.”
He checks the stone molding around the silver-bound scrolls. He finds no poison needles, but he does notice that the scroll racks are counter-weighted. Removing a scroll without replacing its weight might trigger a mechanical alarm.
Dorn reaches the back of the room. The lever-lock is purely mechanical—a masterwork of Thothian smithing. It isn’t trapped, but it is dead-bolted from the other side.
Dorn nudges one of the feline remains with his boot. They aren’t just mummies; they are Construct-Husks. If the vault were breached violently, these “Cat-Golems” would likely have been the last line of defense. They appear deactivated... for now.
As Cabe stands guard by the Goblins, Aele notices something unique on the Jade Elephant’s pedestal. There is an inscription in Old Thothian that matches the script on the schematic:
“To the Brothers of the Deep: The trunk gives way to the sun, and the sun illuminates the path to the Magistrate’s Mirror.”
Dorn looms over the two goblins, his shadow swallowing them whole. He slowly uncoils the silk rope from their wrists. “If you touch so much as a speck of dust without being told,” he says, his voice like grinding stones, “I’ll use this rope to hang you from the elephant’s tusks.”
Pips and his companion nod so vigorously their oversized ears flap. They immediately begin scurrying along the floor, sniffing the corners and peering into the shadows, keeping their hands tucked tightly into their armpits to show they are obeying Aele’s command.
Aele stands by the central pedestal, his silver-bound staff humming with the residual magic of the room. He looks down at Pips. “What do you mean by ‘is it the real green-stone?’”
Pips stops and looks up at the massive jade elephant. “The Ruin-Walkers... they talk,” he whispers, glancing toward the sealed bronze door. “They say the Great King of the Pits has a ‘False Elephant.’ A fake one made of painted glass. He uses it to trick the ‘Surface-Loords’ who come looking for loot. The fake one is filled with Violet-Gas—the kind that makes your lungs turn into spiders.”
He points a trembling finger at the statue’s translucent flank. “But this... this has the glow. The fake one is dark inside. This is the Heart-Jade. The Ruin-Walkers say if you chip off a piece the size of a tooth, you can buy a life-tribute from the Beast-Kings.”
While Aele questions the goblins, Dorn and Cabe watch them work. The goblins’ keen, low-light vision and height (or lack thereof) allow them to see things the heroes might miss from five feet up.
Pips lets out a low whistle near the base of the Jade Elephant. “Look, Look! The Big-Man’s feet!” He points to a series of grooves in the floor around the pedestal. They aren’t decorative; they are track-rails.
The entire Jade Elephant is designed to slide. If pushed or pulled correctly, it likely reveals a staircase or a hidden chute beneath the pedestal.
The other goblin is sniffing the bottom of the silver scroll racks. “Smells like... dry air and old meat,” he mutters. He finds a small brass lever hidden in the scroll-rack’s shadow. It’s disguised as a decorative bolt.
Dorn says, “Cabe, come look at this.” He points out the sun-pendant hanging from the jade elephant’s trunk. “How much do you think the gold pendant weighs? A pound? Two? We need to prepare a bag of coins whose weight is as close to the pendant’s as we can estimate. We’re going to stretch the coin bag’s draw string so that it can easily be looped over the trunk. You and I are going to coordinate our efforts. The instant you allow the coin bag’s weight to hang from the trunk, I’m going to remove the pendant. Aele, step way back and ready your connection to Thoth.”
Dorn’s tactical mind immediately identifies the “Indiana Jones” style pressure trap. The heroes move into a synchronized formation around the Jade Elephant, the golden bioluminescence reflecting off Dorn’s obsidian plate and Cabe’s focused eyes.
Cabe steps close, squinting at the pendant. It is thick, solid gold, roughly the size of a man’s palm, with a heavy-link chain. “Gold is heavier than it looks, Dorn,” Cabe whispers. “With the chain, I’d wager it’s nearly two pounds.”
Dorn nods and pulls out his leather coin purse. He quickly counts out roughly 100 Gold Pieces (which weigh approximately two pounds in standard Thothian measure) and cinches the drawstring. He stretches the loop wide, testing the tension.
Aele retreats toward the entrance, his back to the bronze door. He grips the Staff of the Silver Tongue with both hands, his breath rhythmic as he prepares a surge of Thothian energy to shield his friends if the “Cat-Golems” awaken, or if his companions trigger a trap.
Cabe holds the weighted coin bag just above the elephant’s trunk. Dorn reaches out, his fingers hovering millimeters away from the golden chain.
Because of their Blood-Bond, they don’t need to count aloud. They feel the twitch of each other’s muscles. This requires a coordinated Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.
Dorn needs to lift the pendant without jarring the statue.
Cabe needs to drop the bag’s weight onto the trunk at the exact millisecond the pendant’s weight leaves it.
The Rolls:
Dorn: 16 + 2 = 18
Cabe: 17 + 2 = 19
Result: CRITICAL SUCCESS.
I can’t believe how lucky the last several d20 rolls have been!
The transition is seamless. For a heartbeat, the Jade Elephant remains perfectly still. There is a faint click from within the pedestal—a mechanical locking pin sensing the weight—but because the coin bag is the correct mass, the pin resets.
Dorn slowly pulls the golden chain away. The room remains silent. The “Cat-Golems” stay slumped in their mummified repose. The Golden Sun-Pendant is now in Dorn’s possession. As he holds it, the solar light within the gold flares brightly. Aele, watching from the door, notices that the light from the pendant is now casting a long, sharp shadow from the Jade Elephant’s trunk... and that shadow is pointing directly at a specific tile on the floor near the Secondary Door.
The shadow isn’t just dark; it seems to “sink” into the floor, revealing a hidden key-slot in the basalt tile that was invisible under the normal golden glow of the room.
Aele approaches the shadow-delineated tile with his Golden Stylus in hand, kneeling to inspect the aperture. The “Screaming” of the pipes outside is a distant memory here, replaced by the heavy, expectant silence of the vault. The slot is circular, but with a deep, curving groove that mirrors the exact arc of an elephant’s trunk.
Aele holds the copper key up for comparison. The thickness and the curve are a perfect match. The microscopic Thothian glyphs on the key align with similar carvings inside the rim of the floor slot. This is clearly the primary mechanical interface.
Looking at the base of the pendant, Aele notices a small, hexagonal protrusion. It doesn’t fit the main slot, but there is a secondary indentation right at the “eye” of the trunk-shaped slot.
Aele prays briefly to Thoth for protection, then gestures for Dorn to bring the items closer. “It’s a dual-lock system,” he whispers, his voice echoing softly. “The Copper Trunk provides the physical leverage to move the mechanism, but the Sun-Pendant acts as the magical ‘spark’ or authentication. Without both, we likely only trigger half the movement—or worse, a fail-safe.”
“Based on the inscription—’The trunk gives way to the sun, and the sun illuminates the path’—the sequence seems clear: insert the Copper Trunk into the curved groove. Place the Sun-Pendant into the hexagonal “Eye” of the slot. Turn the Trunk while the Pendant is illuminated. Anyone disagree or see something I’m missing?”
Aele passes for ten heartbeats. He can feel through the party’s shared blood-link that his companions are ready and supporting him with their thoughts and energy.
“The slot is located on the floor near the Secondary Door (the one dead-bolted from the other side). Activating this mechanism will likely slide the Jade Elephant along its track-rails, potentially opening the path to the Magistrate’s Mirror or unsealing that rear door. Be ready.”
Aele yields the trunk to Dorn’s experienced thief’s hands. The wizard-priest focuses his effort on keeping the connection between pendant and lock ‘solid’. Cabe feels Aele as he’s about to commit. “Here goes nothing...” the blood-binder says with gallows humor.
The tension in the vault is thick enough to choke on. Dorn, leveraging his 5th-level Thief expertise, handles the Copper Trunk not as a fighter, but as a master of tumblers and pins. He can feel the ancient Thothian clockwork beneath the basalt tile—it is cold, heavy, and hungry for the right sequence.
Aele kneels opposite Dorn, his hands steady as he presses the Sun-Pendant into the hexagonal “eye” of the slot. The golden solar light flares, bleeding into the copper key and turning the oxidized green to a shimmering, molten bronze.
Through the Blood-Bond, Cabe feels the surge of Aele’s focus—a sharp, disciplined spike of mental energy. Cabe’s gallows humor draws a ghost of a smirk from Dorn, though the big man’s eyes never leave the keyhole.
Dorn applies a slow, constant pressure. Click... clack... THOOM. The floor doesn’t just open; it vibrates with a low-frequency hum that makes the party’s teeth ache. The Jade Elephant begins to move...