L2-11e. Conscription Bench — Mortarch Work-Altar

What this room is

The Mortarch’s muster desk: corpses are tagged, tallied, and scheduled for animation and assignment (bearer, guard, scout). It’s the paper trail that proves his “levy” of the dead.

Layout & features

• Broken sealed door (south wall): Suel bar-lattice torn outward; red wax fragments and the Mortarch’s sigil impressed in the seal.
• Conscription Bench (center): 8′ stone altar with wrist/ankle clamps and a recessed drain. Along the rim: tiny six-stud rings (release), a ruby witness pip, and the inscription in Old Suloise: “Law counts; flesh obeys.”
• Tag tray (west): Bronze tray of toe-tags (thin red copper) stamped with Valdris Jasildane the Ruby Mortarch’s sigil and short codes: B (Bearer), G (Guard), S (Scout), X (Experimental). A steel scratch-awl and sealing wax sit beside it.
• Muster slate (north): Hanging slate with chalk columns labeled LEVY / HOUR / DETAIL; all tallies marked in groups of six.
• Ledger locker (east, knee-high): Short, lockable stone niche (simple internal catch) holding folded wax tablets, ledger sticks (carved bone), and a wrapped charter rod.
• Bone-sled & rails (north-west): Low wooden sled on bronze floor rails with a leather drag-strap.
• Candles & myrrh: Two stoppered vials of funerary myrrh; four half-burned black candles.

The bench & its “logic”

• Releasing the clamps (player-skill): Press the six studs clockwise while a second creature keeps a soft six-count; on the sixth beat, each clamp springs open with a polite click. (Doing it out of count forces a STR 13 check per shackle to pry, or Thieves’ Tools DC 12.)
• Witnessing or halting the shift: Touch the ruby pip and speak any respectful funerary line on a six-count to close the shift: the bench locks idle for 1 hour (no attendants will animate here during that hour). Desecration or loud mockery causes the clamps to slam shut (see Trap).

Bodies on the bench (rescueable)

• Orc Warrior (dead): Fresh Howling Moon Clan corpse, toe-tag B-33/6. Wax dot has set; nothing to save.
• Ancient Suel Priest: One of the ancient Suel Priests harvested from the crypts to be animated into a Ruby Zombie.
• If the party leaves them: When the work party arrives, they will animate the orc and finish the human/gnome within 3 rounds unless stopped.

Traps & fail-forward

• Stillness Clamp (bench defense): Touch the rim mockingly (shouting, banging steel) or yank a bound limb → the bench bites: STR save DC 13 or Restrained as stone clamps snap shut (escape as STR 13 or Thieves’ Tools DC 12 on a turn).
• Resin puff (mild): Forcing a clamp without count releases a myrrh-resin puff: CON DC 12 or Poisoned until end of next turn (flavor dizziness).
• Noise: A clamp slam or shattered lock is +1 Attention.

Proof of the Mortarch’s musters (what to seize)

• Wax tablets (ledger): Lists levy counts by hour and assignment; includes marks for 11b/11c/11d lanes and “Under-Ash” details. Shows that six bodies per week are the target.
• Bone ledger sticks: Carved with Suel family names and detachment glyphs; breaking one invalidates that muster (Mortarch must recount).
• Charter rod: Short iron rod wrapped in vellum with a red seal; reads: “By Ruby Law, Valdris Jasildane levies the silent for temple defense until the Measure be restored.” (Perfect evidence to present to Veluna/Verbobonc authorities—or to parley with Valdris.)

Interactions

• Wee Jas observance: If the party witnesses and leaves the bench clean, a Ruby Custodian arriving later will not pursue (it treats the room as “closed”).
• Parley leverage: Presenting the charter rod to the Mortarch grants advantage on a single Persuasion check to negotiate cease-use of this room, or to redirect his muster toward a mutual enemy (e.g., orcs).

Treasure & tools

• Funerary myrrh (2 vials): As holy water vs. undead for 1 minute when smeared on a weapon (your Mortuary rule).
• Toe-tags (12) and the scratch-awl (useful for forging or voiding tags).
• Ruby chalk (1 use) in the ledger locker.
• 1 Stonebond token wedged under the bench lip (Perception DC 12).

Boxed outcomes

• Bench released cleanly (six-count): One… two… three… four… five… six—and the stone unclenches like a held breath.
• Clamp bite (trap): The altar snaps shut with a stony crack; grit sprays your hands as the wrist-irons lock tight.
• Rescue succeeds: Color returns to the victim’s lips as the wax dot is wiped away; their eyes flicker open to the measured tick of the room.