Siff Duthar's abandoned research facility

Siff Duthar's abandoned research facility is located down the left passage of the subterranean tunnels under the Evening Nip in Zadash. It once belonged to a necromancer by the name of Siff Duthar.

River Entrance
Members of the Gentleman's troupe located the entrance to the facility on the north side of the riverbank, which they later collapsed into a rock slide. The Mighty Nein further excavated this rock slide.

The walls of the tunnel are smooth, compared to the rougher natural mineral surrounding them. The 10 foot passage opens into the center of a spiral staircase.

Spiral Staircase
The staircase is illuminated by the purple light of an enchanted crystal placed within a wrought iron cage in a corner. The eight to ten foot wide staircase continues 40 feet downward and 60 feet upward from the entry point.

Downstairs
At the bottom of the stone staircase is a small, dark, antechamber, 15 feet long and five feet wide, that leads into a narrow (four or five foot wide) hallway.

Hallway
There are about ten holes in the walls of the hallway, and the floor is trapped with pressure plates that, when triggered by weight, cause a metal bolt to be fired from one of the holes in the wall. The plates are rigged to slowly reset after triggering, and there is a threshold to the weight. Frumpkin was able to traverse them without issue. At the end of this hallway is a large octagonal chamber.

Octagonal Chamber
The chamber is a 30 foot radius octagon with a domed ceiling. On each of the domes segments is a painted symbol representing one of the eight schools of magic. It appears to be a dead end, with no exits other than the hallway by which it is entered. A blue, ten-foot wide square stone pillar with a curved base, extending about ten feet from the ceiling, floats within the chamber.

In the center of this room is a triangular raised platform one foot tall with two and a half foot long sides On the platform is a series of half-inch thick carved symbols and a half-inch wide, foot-and-a-half deep round hole in the center. When the siphon rod is inserted into the hole and spells from the indicated schools of magic are cast, the arcane energy is siphoned into the rod, causing a false wall on the opposite end of the hallway to rotate open. On the other side of the false wall is a research chamber. A spell from an incorrect school of magic cast in the room will cause the pillar to release a creature.



Research Chamber
The research chamber smells of burnt hair and decay. There is a damaged teleportation circle in the center of the room. To the right and left are pillars, and against the wall, behind the pillars, are unlit braziers. In the back of the room is a candelabra with mostly melted candles,, two tables with chairs, and mostly empty a bookcase.

Above the bookcase was a six-foot-long greatsword with a wide blade and a gold hilt bolted to wall.

There are smaller rounded oblong chambers on the right and left of the main research chamber. At each of these rounded edges of these chambers is a rusted iron cage with a domed top containing a clay urn in the center of these cages. The urns are full of ashes as well as burnt and tattered clothing. Above these urns, attached to the top of the cages, are chain nooses.

The tables next to the bookcase contain writing utensils, quills, and an inkwell. Underneath one of the tables was a book that appeared to have been burnt on one corner. This was Siff Duthar's journal, written in Draconic..

Behind the heavy bookcase is a small secret room containing a large, squat, dull grey urn, about a foot and a half wide. This large urn, while intact, served as the conduit that Siff Duthar was bound to and from which he could continually re-spawn when killed.

Baroque Chamber
Upstairs there is a 30-foot high square baroque-style chamber supported by pillars. It was originally 80 feet long, but about 30 feet of the back wall had collapsed inward, causing the room to tilt to the left slightly. The floor of this chamber is marble in a checkerboard tile. The walls have pillars carved in relief, with notches for art pieces.

There are two alcoves on each side of the chamber containing red clay urns, and a matching urn suspended from a chain hanging from the ceiling. These urns contain ashes and would continually re-spawn will-o'-wisps until they were destroyed. The lower half of each urn had a metal-lined bottom, the inside of which had a very faint carvings matching the symbols of the octagonal chamber. When these bowls were heated, the symbols for enchantment, transmutation, and illusion lit up.

Located in the center of the chamber, at the edge of the wall collapse, there is a finely carved relief that resembles a robed figure with two heads, and a torso split between male and female sides. The heads had similar hairstyles and features, and circular holes for eyes. They appeared to be looking towards the ceiling. When a coin was inserted in the eye holes the relief opened in half, uncovering a 30-foot deep pit beneath the floor. The bottom of this pit contained about 40 corpses, most of which were charred remains. In the pit, the Mighty Nein found, along with a small amount of coin and jewelry, a Potion of Necrotic Resistance.

Siphon Rod
The top of the brass siphon rod from the octagonal chamber below emerges into the baroque chamber and is mostly buried by the collapsed wall.



While attempting to discern the nature of the octagonal room, Mollymauk placed the metallic bowls that had been the bottoms of the clay urns found in the previous chamber onto the triangular pedestal. Believing that the symbols found on the pedestal represented variations of those of the Divination, Evocation, and Necromancy symbols on the ceiling, Jester cast Toll the Dead towards one of the bowls. When the spell was released the necromantic energy of the spell was siphoned into the lightning rod on top of the staff. It caused the room to shake and the large square pillar suspended in the center of the room to release a Gelatinous Cube down into the room before closing.

After defeating the cube, the party decided it would be best to first test out their spells' effects on the bowls outside of the chamber so that the magic had a chance to affect them, but nothing happened. Caleb reached the conclusion that fire might reveal something, and through spells and torches they set the bowls on fire, revealing symbols for enchantment, transmutation, and illusion. When spells matching these schools were simultaneously cast in the chamber, they were siphoned into the rod, causing a wall to rotate on the opposite side of the room and revealing the hall to the research chamber.



The party found a greatsword mounted above the far bookcase, and a burned book containing Siff Duthar's somewhat deranged thoughts. Soon afterwards, the chamber became noticeably colder, as the dark shadowy form of Siff Duthar emerged in the center of the room, accompanied by the flickering light of will-o'-wisps emerging out of the urns.

The party, after failing to converse with Siff Duthar, was attacked by him as well as four will-o'-wisps. The party defeated Siff and were able to destroy the urn conduits of the wisps. Their victory was short-lived, as the party realized that Siff had emerged through the back bookcase of the room, and seeing similarities to the way the wisps had re-spawned, they pulled down the bookcase. Through a small break in the wall behind it, Molly stabbed through into a small burial chamber. When they broke Siff's large urn, he dissipated with a expression of sadness.

After taking a short rest, Nott, greased up in oil, squeezed through the small gap into this room, landing directly into the ashes of Siff's broken urn. She explored the room, which contained two large decorative vases with gold scrolling as well as a small trapped box on either side of the room which released a poisonous powder when opened.

The first of these boxes contained sets of gold and silver rings and jewelry, including bracelets. The second box contained a partially-burned dark black cloth ceremonial chest mantle with gray stripes along the sides and red embroidered designs that wove out of the neck and down the back. The front of the mantle held a chest pouch containing dried blood.

The party dug out the gap, widening the hole enough to bring out the items within. Making a final sweep of the room, Beau found a book buried within the ashes of one of the braziers and found that it contained arcane script and elements similar to the domed room. She gave it to Caleb. Caleb identified the greatsword as The Magician's Judge.

The Mighty Nein then divided the jewelry they had found and discussed what they would keep and what they would give to The Gentleman. They made their way back to the entrance. While Yasha, Caleb, and Nott stayed behind to rest, the rest of the party took their boat and went off to explore the right passage of the subterranean river.