Crimson Sands of Time

<just to be clear, everyone made it. Also, we have a new player joining. You'll meet them in the Doomvault, which you're dropping into right after your done talking wirh this NPC>

Syranna replies "Szazz Tam is legendary for many things. His generosity may not be counted among those. As for your other exploits, Morwena had revealed to me much, enough, I dare say, to allow me a glimmer of hope that you may succeed. Though, if history is any indicator, rhe odds are not in out favor. You see, for centuries, the Doomvault was a legend. Kazit Gul, a Red Wizard who spent his life studying the deadliest dungeons on many worlds, planned it. As a living human and a lich, Gul fashioned the vast complex based on his research. The purpose of the dungeon was to lure explorers to their deaths and harvest their souls to fuel Gul’s phylactery.

As Thay became more hostile to outsiders, fewer people sought the Doomvault. Eventually, unable to fuel his phylactery, Gul became a demilich. Szass Tam discovered the Doomvault and saw the opportunity to rebuild and repurpose it.

The Doomvault is a vast, active complex of laboratories and menageries dedicated to creating the monstrous armies with which the Red Wizards plan to conquer first the North, then all of Faerûn. I was part of the team that originally assembled the Bloodgate Nexus, a series of teleportation circles fueled by elemental nodes that could send a whole army to an enemy's door without warning. When Bloodgate keep fell, most assumed the nexus was destroyed, but as youbw8ll see, it still remains in tact.

You must gain access to the Phylactery Vault deep beneath the dungeon and destroy the phylacteries within the vault.

But, beware, the authark (castellan) of bloodgate keep, Tarul Var’s quarters lie in the Doomvault. Although the lich was defeated, he might have already rematerialized thanks to the power of his phylactery. Protected by his dread warriors, he is a deadly threat.

We will block magical communications to the outside and contain any enemies who escape from the Doomvault. We shall ensure that no one outside the dungeon knows of or reacts to what’s happening until you succeed.

Unfortunately i am not very familiar with the inside of the Doomvault. My position as overseer of the gatehouse has lent only general knowledge of the dungeon. My ignorance is an intentional part of the dungeon’s security structure. If given time, however, I can confirm Doomvault lore that the you may learn.

That said, I do have a map for you."

An object teleports into the gatehouse, with a piece of paper be eath it.  A map of the Doomvault lies beneath a crystal pendant on a bronze chain.

<A note on resting>

<The gatehouse also has a huge physical gate, facing east into Thay just west of Lake Thaylambar. This gate is built into a cliff about 30 miles northwest of Eltabbar and about 30 miles south of Keluthar.>

(this looks awesome!  glad we are getting a new player)

Tetrevess eagerly studies the map, and looks at the Crystal pendant.  “quite interesting..  I suspect filled with all kinds of traps.  We should be well prepared.  where should we start? Is this pendant useful here?”. 

(Oh nice! New player! I would love to meet whoever that is)

Ethan was a little dazes after the teleport occurred. Glad that everyone was able to escape from the chaos after those failures, seeing that even Randy was unable to even solve part of the problem for the entire team. Maybe he should just go back and teach those goons a lesson one day...

However, as soon as the entire team come face to face with his worst nightmare, a red wizard of Thay, a stream of terrible memories from two years ago flood his brain, where he thoughtlessly murdered eight other red wizards on his own after they left his brother, a normal passer-by back then, in a near death condition. It wasn't something that he wanted to relieve especially now, where just meeting even one is enough to leave his mind hanging; He never got over it and is also fearing Randy's safety after that tragic decision.

He has a lot to say, a lot regarding the current situation and what might go wrong against the potential Lich fight. But right now, as the awful recaps flood his brain, all he could do was hang in the back with Randy and shudder tensely in silence. He doesn't know if he should speak his mind, nor does he know if he should apologize for that incident 2 years back...

(Sick) 

sam thinks long and hard about how ever time he’s done an adventure the party never stays the same for to long 

“the vault holds many secrets and power we should be careful moving through it 

(Any chance of a short or long rest before entering the doomvault?)

"Destroying phylacteries shouldn't be taken too lightly, especially phylacteries in Thay."

“Agreed.  Let’s take a rest, if we can.  I’d like to prepare some different spells for this venture.  But we are up for it, it seems.”. 

(housekeeping wuestions-  we are 15th level still? do the red wizards have any items for sale or to loan us?) 

Quote from Brian_Avery >>

(Any chance of a short or long rest before entering the doomvault?)

"Destroying phylacteries shouldn't be taken too lightly, especially phylacteries in Thay."

Syranna's going to say it's imperative you get to it ASAP. I say, consider yourself fully rested, as you're more or less assumed to be at the first drop. Open spoiler: the narrative suggests thus is a fast-pqced assault and like GTA there's a level of heat so long rests will be hard unkess you leave the doomvault. There are a lot of mechanics about travel spells in thus dungeoun. I'll sprinkle them out and keep them all on the campaign page along with the map, as it is rather byzantine. So, to compensate, the designers put in some places that grant long rest effects (think refreshers in mind flayer areas of BG3) but there are ways to exist the dungeoun temporarily (see the note on resting  in my last post).

For now, just take a mechanical long rest, but narratively, skip it.>

"I lead a rebellion against the ruler of if Thay. My life is forfeit: I mean to make every moment count. I won't rest while you assault the Doomvault." Syranna says, She has a sense of righteousness colored by fatalism. Her belief is that death is better than being raised as another of Szass Tam’s undead servants.

Tetrevess takes a deep breath, and quickly casts his preparatory spells: Mage Armor, False Life (4th level), Telekinetic Bond and Warer Breathing rituals (these last two affecting the entire party).

.  He slings his back on his back, shakes his staff in one hand, and checks his pouches.   “Ok… ready, I think.”

"Travel throughout the Doomvault is complicated. It is designed as such. Magic crystals called glyph keys, when attuned to a zone, allow access to that zone’s gates.

Magic secures the dungeon. No spell or trait allows anyone to evade the dungeon’s security. For instance, a wizard might use a dimension door spell to teleport from one part of a zone to another, but no spell permits teleportation out of the zone in which the spell was cast. Similarly, a wizard might cast a passwall spell to burrow from one area to another. If the tunnel would pass from one zone to another, circumventing security, then the tunnel ends halfway between the origin point and the possible exit point. In any case, the caster knows why the spell didn’t work as intended. Further, an incorporeal or ethereal creature can’t pass between zones.

A detect magic spell can’t penetrate the structure of the Doomvault to sense the dimensional barriers."

Syranna describes the use of glyph keys, including how to transfer attunements. She also describes contact stones and how the characters can use them to contact her directly.

"Through contact stones, one can also gain glyph key attunements for the zone in which the contact stone is situated. I am able to provide you with one glyph key."

(The crystal in the chain that was on top of the map)

<Glyph Keys.

A magic crystal pendant on a bronze chain, a glyph key allows creatures to manipulate a handful of specific magic gates within the Doomvault. A glyph key is attuned to a zone or zones, allowing manipulation of gates within the attuned areas. 

Touching a glyph key provides a telepathic sense of the name of its attuned zone or zones. Thus, when you find glyph keys, they know which zones the keys are for.

A glyph key can hold multiple attunements, and attunements can be passed from one key to another. Only one attunement can be passed at a time. To pass an attunement, one creature must hold the originating key and another creature must hold the target key. The keys must touch. Then, as an action, the creature holding the originating key must make a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check. If the check succeeds, each key shares the chosen attunement. If the check fails, the attunement remains in the originating key and each key’s holder takes 2 (1d4) force damage. Also, if the check fails by 5 or more, the originating key is destroyed.>

Note about the gatehouse:

The gatehouse contains several permanent teleportation circles. Syranna can key these circles to any entry point. Further, any creature that possesses a glyph key can use a black gate to teleport from the Doomvault to a permanent teleportation circle in the gatehouse.

* I randomly picked the first one, but you shoukd know yoi can enter by any if them.  

_The idea here is to collect a few things, keys, of a kind, (which you don't really know yet,) in order to access the phylactery vault.  That's your goal. I thought it was important to tell you this as players so you're not trying to follow a linear path or expecting story beats or anything. You've got to explore and if it makes sense, flee or avoid things. You should be trying ro figure out how to access the vault, collecting lore and 'keys' and such. Also, to be totally transparent, you're slightly iverlevelled for thjs, which works well because you k ow I like to throw in monsters that don't appear in the original modules, and this ine is a real kitchen sink of a fun house dungeoun, so you coukd really bump into anything.>

<sorry fir all thise dungeon-soecific rukes. It's more things I have to know than you, just play as normal but this shoukd keep you from trying to teleport through walls that won't work on, etc. (Hopefully)

When everyone has consented to aiding the effort to overthrow Szazz Tam and destroy his phylactery, Syranna informs you of her intent to send you into the Doomvault.  The twleportation is ordinary enough, nothing new to any of you.

When you arrive inside the dungeon, you see Dead and blackened thorny vines covering the walls and floor, which are peppered with small, circular holes the size of a human fist. A detect magic spell cast on this area reveals an aura of transmutation magic around each hole, hinting at the presence of a magical effect.

In the northeast corner is a black gate, through which you emege.

Seven zombies and two wights are focused on the doors to the south and the west.

https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/V64TuMcUPJi8/TheAridCatch

<I'm assuming you all still look like thayans, which an actual long rest might have undone, but we didn't do that, we just set your stats to match a long rest. So, you look like Thayans, just as you did at the wedding.>

The zombies and wights are all standing motionless.

What do you do? 

To clarify a point if it was missed above, teleportation works within these broad regions, but not between them, so you could dimension door to an adjacent room, but not through to the next zone. Same works with burrowing or passwall or anything else. These wards are insurmountable. There's even a narrative reason for it, but that's secret lore...

Mostly I just want you to be aware that you can DD and misty step *within the zone 

(* - edited)

(rhis is great! will be a bit slow posting this weekend traveling) 

(ooc: thanx for the clarification... that will help casters and races that have limited teleport-like effects or abilities. Doe the 3rd level spell Blink also work since you can't do anything on the ethereal plane and you come back at the beginning of your next turn?)

<Found it>

Dimensional Barriers

Magic secures the dungeon. No spell or trait allows anyone to evade the dungeon’s security. For instance, a wizard might use a dimension door spell to teleport from one part of a zone to another, but no spell permits teleportation out of the zone in which the spell was cast. Similarly, a wizard might cast a passwall spell to burrow from one area to another. If the tunnel would pass from one zone to another, circumventing security, then the tunnel ends halfway between the origin point and the possible exit point. In any case, the caster knows why the spell didn’t work as intended. Further, an incorporeal or ethereal creature can’t pass between zones.