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Perception CheckDC 37: A thin seam runs along the edge of the platformthat serves as the ziggurat’s highest point.Features of the AreaFalling Sand: Anyone standing in the cascade issubject to the following attack every round: +29 vs.Fortitude; on a hit a character is knocked prone andimmobilized (save ends, must save before standingfrom prone); a prone character in the cascade is subjectto suffocation (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 159).The area is difficult terrain.Ledges: Each ledge of the ziggurat is 10 feetabove the next. Climbing from one ledge to the nextrequires a DC 20 Athletics check.Sand Patches: These squares are difficult terrain.Secret Door: The entirety of area 1 is a secretdoor that opens upward at an angle to prevent thefalling sand from entering. This leads to another verticalpassage that descends to area 7.Area 2: Sand SluiceThree conduits channel the bulk of the sand to andthrough grates that lie beneath bas-reliefs on thewalls.If the PCs examine the channels, read:Features of the AreaBas-Reliefs: In the center of each wall standsan exquisite 20-foot bas-relief carving of a dragon(marked on the map as “a,” “b,” “c,” and “d”). Beneatheach carving sits a large bronze grate through whichthe flowing sand disappears. Where it goes, onlyUrum-Shar or the gods can say.Sand Patches: These squares are difficult terrain.Statues: The statues (marked on the map as “e”)are of dragon-headed humanoids with halberds.They stand 60 feet tall and require a DC 20 Athleticscheck to climb. The fallen statue (marked “f”) is 15feet high.Area 4: DescentThese stairs lead not to the dragon’s lair but to agauntlet of death traps.When the PCs look or begin down the stairs,read:These steep steps lead down not merely to the floor, butthrough it, eventually ending at a set of massive doubledoors.Each stair is 1 foot deep and 1 foot high. From thisside, the double doors can be opened without a check.THE TOMB OF URUM-SHARThe sand rushes down these spillways in raging torrents.The channels continue along the floor beyond the ziggurat,carrying the sand toward strange brass figures on the cavern’sfar walls.Features of the AreaFalling Sand: Anyone caught in a channel issubject to the following attack every round: +29 vs.Fortitude; on a hit a character is knocked prone andimmobilized (save ends, must save before standingfrom prone), and slid 4 squares down the slopetoward the bas-reliefs marked “a,” “b,” or “d.” A pronecharacter in the rushing sand is subject to suffocation(Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 159). A character whoreaches a bas-relief no longer slides but takes a –2penalty to the saving throw to end the immobilizedcondition. The area is difficult terrain.Area 3: The Plains of StoneThe great cavern contains more than just theziggurat.When the PCs examine the room, read:The floor is made of reflective black stone that is as darkas obsidian and as hard as granite. No seams are visiblebetween the floor and the stone ziggurat.Area 5: The Murderous Depths(Level 27)These stairs, and the chamber beyond, are nearly asdeadly as Urum-Shar.When the PCs enter the stairwell on the otherside of the double doors, read:The stairs descend into a seemingly infinite darkness. Oneither side, statues glare down at you like angry deities.Some are dragons, coiled around great stone pillars, andothers resemble the dragon-headed humanoids you sawin the chamber upstairs. You can see nothing but darknessbeyond the statues.When the PCs can see the area at the bottom ofthe stairs, read:At the base of the stairs, an array of pillars surrounds adusty shrine. Staring from within the altar are half a dozendraconic skulls, crudely mortared into place.The tactical encounter begins when the PCs triggerany of the traps.Tactical Encounter: “Stairway to Hell,” page 146.The statues along the stairs sit on featurelesspillars that rise from the floor to the level of the staircase,forming pedestals.CHAPTER 3 | Dragon Lairs143