D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

L T h e Su n d i a l
After walking up the entrance path into the maze,
this is the first area the characters arrive at, entering
along pathway E.
You've entered an intersection where eight paths converge
symmetrically. You can see Xonthal’s Tower dead ahead
above the hedge wall, but the way the paths curve, there's
no telling which one might lead to it.
A sundial stands in the center o f the intersection, the
shadow from its gnomon pointing straight toward the
tower— which is highly odd, because the sun isn't behind
you. Your shadows point in the proper direction. Only the
sundial's shadow points ahead.
The sundial is anchored to the ground and cannot be
moved or shifted. The eight paths leading out of this
area are identical. If the characters try to make any
identifying marks on the ground or leave items in this
area, the marks and items are gone the next time they
arrive here. The adventurers shouldn’t know whether
they’re coming back to the same spot each time or
whether more than one identical sundial intersection
exists in the maze.
The sundial’s shadow indicates the correct path. If
the characters follow one of the paths not indicated
by the sundial, it leads them to one of the other areas
of the maze (your choice). There is no turning back
from a wrong path. Once the last character has gone
out of sight of the sundial (15 feet along the curving
path), reversing direction delivers all characters to
the same area they would have reached if they’d kept
going forward.
If the characters take the correct path, they return
to area 1 after 2d6 rounds. Each time they return, the
sundial points toward a different path, in the order
presented below. However, each time the characters
enter this area after the first, the gnomon casts more
than one shadow. The adventurers must deduce the
correct path from among multiple shadows, but those
solutions aren’t obvious or even fair. Xonthal was trying
to keep enemies and curiosity-seekers out—not just to
present them with an enjoyable mental challenge.
S u n d i a l S h a d o w s
Sundial Shadows Point At Correct Path
1 A A
2 A, C B
3 A, D, F E
4 B, D, F, H Sundial
5 A -H Edge o f hedge
into the gnomon and the sundial shows no shadow at
all. The correct path in this case is the sundial itself.
A character who jumps or climbs onto the sundial is
drawn into its stone surface, then is suddenly dropped
out of the sky to land harmlessly around sundial 5.
The fifth sundial casts eight shadows that point at
every possible pathway. No path is the right one. To
correctly bisect the shadows, characters must move
between the paths, straight into the end of any hedge. As
soon as a character steps, runs, or dives headlong into a
hedge, he or she emerges safely at the foot of the tower.
Each time the characters choose a wrong path,
they emerge at one of the other maze areas described
below, which you can use in any order you like. If the
characters make the wrong choice more than six times,
you can reuse areas, create new ones of your own, or let
the characters wander down a path much longer than
usual before encountering the sundial again.
Characters always return to the same sundial puzzle
they most recently departed (sundial 1 through 5), so
that they do not need to retrace their steps from the very
beginning after each wrong turn. However, they have
no way to tell whether they have returned to the same
specific sundial, as noted above.
C o m p l e t i n g t h e M a z e
When the characters complete the maze by successfully
entering the hedge at the fifth sundial, they emerge
within sight of a teleportation circle at the foot of the
tower. The body of a dead cultist lies sprawled on the
ground (the one Iskander threw off the balcony earlier).
Behind them, the characters see a straight path that
leads directly to the sundial intersection. Another path
extends thirty yards beyond the sundial, ending at the
exit to the village.
A few seconds after the first character steps onto the
circle, all creatures in the circle are teleported to area
8 of the tower. Alternatively, the characters can walk
out of the garden from the foot of the tower without any
detours or difficulties. However, any gems they collected
in the maze (see below) w ill mysteriously vanish from
their possession.
Splitting th e Party
Some parties are going to try splitting up in the hope of
outwitting the maze. No matter how the characters attempt
to do so, however, they always wind up back together.
If groups take separate paths, they meet at the same
destination. If one character stays at the sundial while others
take a path, that path leads back to the sundial where the
character is waiting. Moreover, that character swears that
the others have been gone for ld6 hours— long enough
to gain the benefit o f a short rest (though taking a long
rest is impossible in the maze). As usual, any identifying
marks made in the area vanish during those hours without
anyone noticing.
The first three sundials are straightforward, even if
the solutions are not always obvious.
The fourth sundial casts four shadows in an “X ”
shape. As the characters examine them, the shadows
start slowly rotating around the face of the sundial,
spinning faster and becoming shorter until they shrink