19. Poisonous Amphora

The door that leads to this room is closed and locked. It can be opened with a key found in room 23. Once the PCs enter the room, you can read the following text. This room is fairly small. To your left, light comes out of a small opening on the wall. Glancing around, you see a bunch of old broken crates piled up in the far corner of the room. You also notice what appears to be an amphora, lying sideways. This room looks like an abandoned storage area. Looking through the window will allow the PCs to peek into room 17. When they do so, read the text below. It looks like about fifteen feet below, there is another room, dimly lit by two small braziers. From where you stand, you can see a gigantic banner covering the wall to your right, in front of which a statue of a winged wolf stands, mounted atop a stone altar. You are unsure of what this is, but the impression you get is that this area is some kind of shrine. If there are still barklings in area 17, describe them as silent and praying to the statue, unaware of the PCs observing them from above, unless of course they make noise. The amphora in this room is the only noteworthy item. If picked up, the person holding it will notice it is sealed with a wax lid. Shaking it will produce a clinking noise, as if the receptacle was empty and a tiny object was inside. Roll on the table below to determine what it is. 1d6 Inside the amphora A single copper piece A bronze ring set with an emerald (30 gp) A small rock A small ivory statuette of a whale (5 gp) An ornamental malachite (10 gp) A semiprecious amethyst (50 gp) The amphora contains a powerful and pressurized gaseous poison. If the seal is removed or the amphora damaged in any way, it will release its gas and fill an area equal to 10 cubic feet in less than a second and linger for 1d4 turns. Anyone caught in the cloud will need to save vs. Death Ray or Poison or immediately take 2d6 points of damage. A character caught in the cloud will have to save each round they are engulfed by the gas. Breaking the amphora outside will cause the gas to immediately dissipate though anyone within 5 feet of it when the poisonous gas is first released will have to save vs. Death Ray or Poison or take 2d6 points of damage. The next round, the gas will have evaporated.