L2-11a. Oath of the First Stones

A slow, colder tick of stone begins counting the room in sixes.

Who is interred here

Kharzen Jas’Kendar of House Veyras, First Oathbearer of Jascar
High priest-engineer who laid the temple’s first braces and composed the First Stones oath-verse used by all builders after him. He died sealing a collapse during a quake, pulling neophytes beyond a falling span and pressing the studs himself in the last beat. The funerary order placed him with the tools of office and swore his tomb would only open “when measure returns.”

• Appearance (in death): A stern Suel patriarch in preserved blue-gray vestments edged in bronze, a ruby-set torque at the throat, hair bound in a square-cut fillet.
• Now: His spirit has soured into a wraith anchored to duty, but he isn’t mindless. He judges first, strikes second.

Thematic salute (social key, no rolls)

A short inscription circles the threshold on the floor:
“Stone holds; hand heeds; law witnesses.”
If any creature pauses on the threshold and presses the six studs set in the jamb in cadence while facing the dais, Kharzen manifests calmly and will speak before violence. Entering at a run, prying alcoves, or mocking rites wakes him hostile.

Kharzen speaks (read this once on first breach)

Room features

• Alcove banks: 8 ft × 4 ft × 5 ft niches, three high on the long walls (lower tiers hold common priests; upper tiers—oath-masters). Many have intact ruby wax dots at the brow. A few lower niches are empty (left for growth).
• Oath-anvil (dais): Solid iron block (150 lb) on a basalt plinth. A bronze drawer beneath contains folded vellum with Kharzen’s oath-verse and a maplet of the Wing of Stone in his day (pre-collapses).
• Builder’s case (glass): Contains Kharzen’s tools of office (see Treasure). The case opens if a creature speaks the oath-verse on a soft six-count while touching the anvil; otherwise DC 15 Thieves’ Tools (forcing it is loud; +1 Attention).
• Ruby witness sigil: Set above the door; flashes once when any funerary seal is broken in here (alerts the Mortarch’s patrol net).

The occupant (use Wraith; add the following)

Kharzen, Wraith of the First Stones

• Anchor of Stone. While in this room or its threshold, Kharzen has advantage on saves vs. Turn Undead and creatures within 20 ft can’t be pushed or pulled unless they choose to be.
• Brace the Span (Recharge 5–6). As an action, spectral braces surge from the floor; each hostile creature of Kharzen’s choice in a 15-ft cone must succeed on a DC 15 Str save or be restrained until the end of its next turn.
• Temperament. Respects measured voices, Old Suloise, and acts of bracing/repair. Hates pillage, fire magic used on the dead, and smashing alcoves.

Tactics. Opens with Brace the Span to fix intruders in place, then Life Drain on the loudest or most destructive. If bloodied while anyone is performing the oath-verse or resetting a brace, he falls back to the dais to parley once.

Diplomacy outcomes

• Respect kept (oath saluted; no desecration): Kharzen offers one boon: the party may take one of his three relics or he will mark a safe lane on your map (advantage vs. Stone Bite for the next hour in L2-11).
• Measured penitence (after a scuffle): If the party ceases hostilities and re-seats any shifted stone (DC 10 group Strength over 3 beats), he allows them to depart with one minor tool and no pursuit.
• Fail & flee: If intruders flee while making noise, Kharzen tolls the ruby witness (Attention +1) and will not speak again this day.

Treasure (his vestments & tools)

All items are Suel craft with Jascar/Fortubo motifs.

• Stole of the Oathbearer (wondrous, uncommon; attunement cleric/paladin) — While you remain stationary on your turn, you gain +1 AC and advantage on checks to brace, shove, or resist being moved. 1/day you may cast command (DC 13) using the stole as a focus.
• Brace-Hammer of Golbi (warhammer +1; uncommon) — Deals an extra +2 damage to objects and stone constructs/doors. Once per short rest as a bonus action, declare Brace for 1 minute: you have advantage on Strength saves and can’t be unwillingly moved.
• Square of True Line (wondrous, uncommon) — While held, you have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks to detect shifts, secret seams, and traps in masonry. As an action, you can mark a 10-ft line; for 1 minute, that line is difficult terrain to hostile creatures (spectral braces snag ankles).
• Vestments & Jewelry. Blue-gray priestly robes with bronze seams (25 gp), ruby-set torque (150 gp), and a ledger tablet naming Veyras family lines (clue hooks for 11b/11d).

(If you granted the boon, let them claim one relic without a fight; otherwise these are won by force or clever negotiation.)

Secrets & clues

• Oath-verse (vellum): “Stone holds, hand heeds; on the sixth beat the law witnesses.” Reciting it near any oath-stud grants advantage to press sequences for 10 minutes.
• Maplet: A schematic of the Wing of Stone before the 11e collapse—shows an old service slit that can bypass to 11f if shored.
• Name-plates: Three upper niches bear Veyras names that appear on tablets in 11b; returning a plate to its slot in 11b will unlock that chamber’s reliquary niche without hazard.