Part Two of a Free DnD One Shot Adventure inspired by the Conan short story, The Tower of the Elephant.
Contents
Part Two: Gardens & Guardians
Friends & Foes Stats
The Tower of the Elephant is surrounded by lush gardens. There are several ways for the players to enter the tower from the gardens, provided they don’t fall prey to the demons that prowl the grounds.
Tower Entrances from the Gardens:
The main entrance
Scaling the tower and entering from the top
A secret entrance in the fountain
Read the Following as the players make their way to the outer wall of the temple: You have entered the part of the city reserved for the temples. They glitter white in the starlight –— snowy marble pillars, golden domes and silver arches, shrines to Arenjun’s bizarre gods. Ahead, looming against the sky, you see the Tower of the Elephant. It is a cylinder, a hundred and fifty feet in height. The summit of the tower is rimmed with what seem like jewels that glimmer in the starlight. The tower stands in the center of a garden of waving exotic trees. A high wall encloses this garden.
1. The Outer Wall
The outerwall is made of smooth limestone with few cracks or handholds. It is 25 feet high. While the top of the wall is wide enough to walk on, guards are conspicuously absent.
Climbing the wall requires a DC 18 Athletics or Acrobatics check.
2. The Gardens
Once players are over the wall, they will find themselves in a lush and meticulously cared for garden. The gardens are patrolled by three Abyssal Lions. These lions were taken from the Southern Plains and raised by Yara from cubs. When the lions reached adulthood, Yara used depraved rituals to possess them with demons who give the lions supernatural powers. They will stalk and kill anyone other than Yara who is in the gardens at night.
If the players do not succeed on a DC 15 stealth role when first entering the gardens, the Lions are already stalking them. They will follow their prey, waiting for an opportune moment to take them by surprise.
3. Taurus the Prince of Thieves
Taurus, the Prince of Thieves is a famous thief that happens to be sneaking into the temple on the same night as the players. If the players explore the gardens and succeed on a DC 15 perception check, they will notice Taurus sneaking about.
Taurus is a friendly NPC and eager to offer help. He has undertaken this adventure as much to bolster his reputation as for riches. He also knows there is more treasure inside then he could ever hope to carry.
If the players attack Taurus, he will fight to defend himself and attempt to escape.
If the players are attacked by the Abyssal Lions before meeting Taurus, he will come to their aid and use his Black Lotus Powder against the lions.
Taurus can provide the following information about the tower:
'Old Yara dwells in the chambers at the top of the tower.’
“The garden's are guarded by demons of shadow and fang. Stay in the light.’
‘My plan is to climb the tower and enter from above so as to avoid the guards and take Yara by surprise, hopefully strangling him before he can cast a spell’
‘The tower contains more treasure than all of us together could hope to carry.’
‘There is only one ground level entrance to the tower and that leads to the watch-chamber, which is manned by a half dozen armed guards. While you might be able to take them, the battle would be sure to rouse Yara and his power is beyond our strength in a fair fight.’
4. The Fountain
As the players sneak through the gardens around the tower, they may come across this fountain. Water cascades out of the trunk of a creature with the body of a man, the head of an elephant, and a wide set of feathered wings sprouting from its back.
If the players examine the fountain, they notice it is much deeper than most fountains.
The fountain is 10 feet deep. Any player that submerges any part of their body in the water must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw. If they fail, their attacks deal half damage and they have disadvantage on strength checks for 10 minutes.
If a player swims to the bottom and succeeds at a DC 13 investigation check, they will notice a hidden trapdoor. Due to the weight of the water, it is extremely difficult to open. A DC 23 strength check is required.
Alternatively, players may discover a concealed lever on the outside of the fountain that drains the water. This requires a DC 16 investigation check. The lever is disguised as the trunk of an elephant on one of the fountain’s many carvings. Once the fountain is drained, the trapdoor can be easily opened to reveal an unlit passageway that leads to the dungeons.
Beware! the Abyssal Lions. If the lions have not attacked yet, they will do so at the fountain and try to use their leap attacks to knock players into the water.
If players enter the secret passage proceed to the Dungeon in Part 3 of the D&D One Shot Adventure the Elephant’s Heart.
5. Climbing the Tower
Once players make their way to the tower, they will discover that the smooth silvery walls offer few foot and hand holds except for an occasional diamond embedded in the metallic surface.
Climbing the tower without a rope is deadly. Using a rope and grappling hook, like the ones Taurus provides, reduces the difficulty.
The players will need to make a Strength (Athletics) check with a DC of 16 to throw the rope and grappling hook the required 150 feet to reach the top of the tower. Once the rope is secured, the players can begin their ascent.
Climbing the tower requires a series of 3 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks.
DC 10 to climb the first 50 feet
DC 12 to climb the next 50 feet
DC 14 to climb the last 50 feet
If a player fails a check, they make no progress. If a player fails a check by 5 or more, they will fall from the tower and suffer appropriate fall damage.
Once the players reach the top of the tower, read the following: As you climb over the rim of the tower's top, you are met with a dazzling display of sparkling jewels. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoises, and moonstones are set thick as stars in shimmering silver along the walls, all gleaming with a million rainbow tints and lights.
The roof of the tower is flat and composed of a dark blue substance, set with gold that catches the starlight, making it look like a wide sapphire flecked with shining gold-dust. Across from where you climbed up, you see a chamber built upon the roof of the tower. It is of the same silvery material as the walls, adorned with designs worked in smaller gems. The door of this chamber is red enameled steel, with its surface cut in scales and crusted with jewels that gleam like ice.
The door is locked and requires a DC 17 dexterity check to pick or a DC 20 strength check to smash. Bashing through the door has a 1 in 4 chance of waking Yara, who will teleport into the treasure room on the next turn.
Once players open the door, proceed to the Treasure Room in Chapter 3 of the D&D One Shot Adventure the Elephant’s Heart.
6. The Watch Chamber
If the players attempt to enter the tower through the main entrance, they will find themselves in the Watch chamber.
If the players decide to take the direct route, proceed to the Watch Chamber in Chapter 3 of the D&D One Shot Adventure the Elephant’s Heart.
Contents
Part Two: Gardens & Guardians
All maps created using Worldographer. According to our research, The Tower of the Elephant is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed. All original content Copyright 2023, Dungeon Matters.
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