L2-02. Ruby Jet Gallery - Measure Sweep

What clever players can notice

(no rolls required)

• Six everywhere: every sixth tile bears a notch; tiny ruby pips repeat every six feet along the baseboards.
• Jet geometry: the hairline floor slits form overlapping chevrons that would spray in six fans; scorch freckles on the walls prove it.
• Cadence echoes: soft stone “tick” if someone taps the wall in a steady six-count; nothing on a five or seven.

How to pass without rolling

• The hush and the mercy: A creature near the turn whispers, on a calm six-count, “Lendor’s mercy…” and keeps that breath-soft cadence while the party advances. While the whisper continues (and no one breaks into a run), the jets remain suppressed for 1 minute.
• The stepping stones: If characters step only on the notched tiles (every 6th), they are always standing on a “safe” manifold seam when/if the system cycles.
• Wedging the manifold: Players who wedge slits with thin metal, bone, or ruby chalk at the six chevron hubs can disable a fan bank without a check—if they describe it and spend a few rounds doing the work.

If you want to use checks as helpers, not gates

• Thieves’ tools can speed wedging: 3 successes before 2 failures (DC 13) disables a bank in 1 round; a failure takes 1d3 rounds and risks a sputter (see hazards).
• Religion/History can shrink risk: a correct observation about the six-count or icon order buys the group one free mistake (first sputter doesn’t fire).

Hazard: Ruby Jets (environmental trap)

• Trigger: loud noise, sprinting, or touching the end door without suppression; or a failed wedge attempt.
• Effect (when active): each round, the corridor cycles one of six fan zones (DM: sweep left→right→left…). Creatures in the active zone make a DC 13 DEX save or take 7 (2d6) fire + 4 (1d8) necrotic; half on success. A creature prone takes the damage with advantage on the save (hugging the floor helps).
• Suppress: continuous six-count whisper of “Lendor’s mercy” within 10 ft of the turn; silence or counterspell also pauses jets for 1 minute.
• Disable: wedging all six hubs (takes time) or opening the far door using the proper rite (below) shuts the cycle off.

Boxed outcomes

• Suppressed successfully

Your whisper fills the stone with a quiet pulse—one, two, three, four, five, six. The ruby pips dim and the tiny floor slits go still as you pass.

• Sputter (minor misstep)

A red breath coughs from the floor—hot enough to sting—then dies. The six ruby pips flicker impatiently.

• Full cycle hits

A fan of red heat knifes along the floor, rolling smoke and cinder across your legs. Stone hisses; iron nails pop.

• System disabled

Six faint clicks answer your work. The corridor exhales—then goes perfectly still.

L2-02b. The Elaborate Suel Metal Door

(“Ruby Absolution”)

A double slab of blue-black steel banded with bronze; a small ruby skull sigil over the seam. The jambs hide receding bolt-racks; the threshold carries Suel glyphs meaning “washed,” “named,” “kept.”

Lore-first solution (no roll)

This is a Wee Jas funerary seal. It opens for those who:

1. Keep the Measure (the corridor’s six-count already passed),
2. Observe the wash (hands cleansed), and
3. Speak the name (announce the deceased entering for rites).

What players can do

• Find a small wash-niche: a bronze ewer and stone basin are recessed just before the door, capped with black wax. Pour clean water (or a vial of holy water) over hands while keeping a silent six-count (“Ruby’s Law is silence between beats”).
• Then, place both palms on the door seam and formally name one dead (real or symbolic), e.g., “We commend Name to Ruby Law.”
• The ruby skull glows; inner bolts retreat; the jets shut down.

If they ignore the rite (trap)

• Touching the door while the jets aren’t suppressed triggers Glyph of Ravaging Breath: each creature in the last 10 ft of corridor DC 13 CON save or 9 (2d8) necrotic + 9 (2d8) thunder, pushed 5 ft back; success halves and no push. The door remains locked.
• Forcing the door without the wash triggers Ruby Judgment: the skull spits a narrow beam; the toucher makes DC 14 CHA save or is frightened of the door for 1 minute (disadvantage to try again). A drop of holy water splashed on the skull ends the effect.

Boxed outcomes

• Rite observed — door opens

A ten-foot stone corridor stretches west from the Ruby Door, its floor a tight grid of gray tiles. Hair-fine slits pock the grout lines; tiny ruby chips gleam at regular intervals. Twenty feet on, the passage turns right and runs another twenty feet to a severe metal door rimmed in red. The air smells faintly of hot iron and old incense.

• Ignored/mocked — backlash

Water runs from your fingers and patters on stone. You press both palms to the seam and speak the name. The ruby skull warms; iron bolts withdraw with a dry rake; the slabs part a hand’s breadth and stop, awaiting a respectful pull.

• Partial rite (washed but unnamed)

The skull hardens to a cold, perfect ruby. A breath like a tomb erupts from the seam—heatless and hateful—hurling grit down the hall as the door stays shut.