L2-11d. The Quiet Draft — Vent Hub of Measure
The corridor opens into a low ring of tomb bays, each ten feet deep under basalt arches. A faint wind whispers through the stone; dust shines in the air like filings. In the ring’s inner wall, a horned figure of polished black—pitchfork in the left hand, the right arm extended—points down the eastern corridor. In the ring’s four “corners,” hooded statues of knife-bearing figures watch with blank patience. Name-plates green with age line the alcoves; the wind ticks in a measured six.
What this room is
A pressure-balance chamber. The Suel used adjustable keystone vents to still the air in nearby lanes, preventing the Stone Bite floor slits from “breathing” and snapping. It’s half ritual, half engineering: Jascar/Fortubo set, Wee Jas witnesses, Pyremian drafts are tamed.
Layout & features
- Loop of niches: Three-high alcoves (8′×4′×5′) around the ring; most hold Suel priests (arms crossed, ruby wax at the brow).
- Arches every 10 ft: Each arch’s keystone is a louvered stone vent with a tiny six-stud ring set beneath the molding.
- Horned Effigy (inner wall, facing east): Pyremian (Pyremius) ward-effigy (devil-mask, pitchfork). Its right index points into the east lane (the one with active Stone Bite beyond).
- Eight Assassin Statues: Hooded stone figures in the loop’s “corners,” daggers at hips; thin pin-ports hide in their sleeves and mouths.
- On the effigy’s base (horned statue) —
“Six holds; lower the fork—Ruby yields.”
Common gloss: On a six-count, tilt the pitchfork downward; the Ruby (secret) gives way. - On the loop threshold stones (entry lintels) —
“Measure endures; Law bears witness.”
Common gloss: Keep the six-count; Wee Jas (Ruby Law) observes and permits.On the loop threshold stones: “Six holds; law witnesses.”
Behind the Effigy: Secret to the Relic Vault
At-a-glance (DM quick)
- Where: Hidden panel behind the horned effigy in L2-11d.
- What: A 10-ft, narrow stone run that ends at a sealed Suel relic vault door.
- How to open (simple): Press the ruby pip and turn the pitchfork haft downward on a six-count. No vent alignment required.
- Trap (light): Forcing or shouting at the effigy fires one assassin pin and adds +1 Attention.
- Next article: The vault door itself is inert here; its unlocking riddle/defenses will be detailed in the Relic Vault room write-up.
Discovering the secret
Tells: Fine arcs of red grit at the effigy’s base, a hairline seam around the plinth, faint warm draft; incense smoke bends subtly toward the effigy.
Opening the effigy (player-skill, no checks)
- One character places a palm on the ruby pip at the base.
- A second character counts softly to six and, on the sixth beat, rotates the pitchfork haft downward (tines toward the floor).
Result: The effigy slides inward with a low sigh, revealing a 3-ft-wide passage running 10 ft straight ahead.
Fail-forward: Wrenching the effigy or shouting at it triggers a single assassin pin from the nearest hooded statue (ranged +5 to hit, 1d8 piercing, CON 12 or Poisoned until end of next turn) and +1 Attention. Try again after 1 minute.
Stone warms under your palm; the ruby gives off a dull thrum. On the sixth count the pitchfork turns, and the horned figure slides aside. A tight work-stone corridor, dusty and close, waits beyond—ten feet only, ending at a heavy door banded in blue-black steel.
The Relic Vault door (view only here)
- Look: Blue-black steel slab with bronze veins, set in a deep ashlar frame. Small ruby chips pick out Suel line-work.
- Cartouches: Four palm-sized emblems in a diamond around a central ruby boss (you can echo your triad + measure here: Fortubo, Jascar, Wee Jas, Lendor). A small soot-dark Pyre-tongue plate sits off to the side.
- Inscriptions (Old Suloise, readable with your usual aids):
- Lintel: “Measured keeps; witnessed in ruby.”
- Sill: “No hands unbidden.”
- State: Sealed. No external studs/levers in this antechamber. Opening logic is handled in the Relic Vault room article (TBD).
The door drinks the torchlight—a dark mirror traced in bronze. Four small god-glyphs surround a dull ruby boss; the air here is warmer, as if the stone itself remembers a breath.
The Quiet Draft — Vent Hub of Measure by 3orcs
At-a-glance (DM quick)
- Function: Air-balancing hub that hushes Stone Bite floor slits in the adjacent lanes when vents are aligned on a six-count.
- Shape: Circular square loop of niche-crypts with 6-ft arch bays; two corridors enter: from the east and from the south.
- Icons: Inner-wall horned effigy (Pyremian ward) points down the east lane; eight corner hooded assassins (Pyremius aspect) stand in the loop.
- Fail: Misalignments trigger light blade/wind bites and +1 Attention; second fail adds a poison pin volley from an assassin statue (mild).
Exits
- East: back into the maze (next 60 ft of this lane’s Stone Bite is suppressed for 1 hour after success).
- South: returns toward the mid-spine and Hall of Pillars; the first 30 ft of this lane is also quieted for 1 hour.
- Hidden panel behind the horned effigy: A 10-ft, narrow stone run that ends at a sealed Suel relic vault door.
- Loop: The circle itself is a close circuit connecting both corridors; all niches intervisible.
Type
Crypt
Parent Location
Owning Organization
Occupants & patrol logic
- Default: Empty but windy.
- On Attention ≥ 2 or if a pin volley fires: Ruby Work Party arrives in 1d4 rounds from either approach (1 Ruby Ghoul + 2 Ruby Zombies). They try to hold the ring while a zombie guards the effigy.
DM notes (run fast)
- Keep it player-skill: watch the smoke and six-count, not skill checks.
- Let noise and mis-witness drive the Attention clock and pin volley once; don’t over-punish.
- Reward cleverness (cloth in vents, vent rod, mage hand on studs).
- Mark the east lane as HUSHED (1h) on your map when they succeed; it matters when patrols chase or the party retreats.
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