D&D 5E - The Rise of Tiamat

2. C h u u l P o o l
Filling the center of this eighty-foot-square courtyard is
a circular pool o f water sixty feet across. The water is
dark and murky, reducing visibility to about one foot. A
garnet gemstone hovers one foot above the center o f the
pool. Another path leaves the area through the hedge
wall on the far side o f the pool, directly opposite where
you entered.
Four chuuls dwell in this dark water. They stay hidden
as long as the characters remain in the courtyard, but
attack any creature that enters the pool or touches
the gem. Attacking chuuls try to paralyze characters,
then drag or throw them into the 50-foot-deep pool to
drown them. They are fascinated by magic, though, and
if any magic item is dropped into the pool, the chuuls
are distracted for 5 rounds. They won’t attack during
that time, and if they were already attacking, they
stop and dive to the bottom of the pool to inspect their
new treasure.
If the characters attempt to leave the area without
retrieving the garnet, both paths curve away and bring
them back here after a short walk. If the characters
leave any marks, items, or companions behind in this
area, all the same conditions apply here as in area 1.
If the garnet is carried out of this area, either path
leads the characters back to the sundial.
T r e a s u r e
The bottom of the pool holds the treasure that’s been
dropped in by various visitors: six potions o f healing,
one potion o f growth, one potion o f fire breath, a wand
o f fear (3 charges), three +1 daggers, a driftglobe, and an
elemental gem (clear sapphire/air elemental).
3. C y c l o p e s ’ Pa s t u r e
When the cyclopes are within 20 feet of the
characters, the one that lost the game scoops up a
small boulder from the ground and gestures toward the
party. He then looks downfield and heaves the boulder
100 feet, where it bounces and rolls another 20 feet.
Both cyclopes then turn and look at the characters
expectantly.
The boulders at this end of the field are all at least 2
feet in diameter and weigh 500 pounds or more.
The cyclopes speak only Giant. If any character
addresses them in that language, they ignore any
questions but explain the rules of their game: the
characters’ boulder must fly farther than the cyclops’s.
How the characters accomplish this is unimportant
to the cyclopes, but the boulder can’t be dragged or
carried—it must fly at least part of the distance.
The characters can beat this challenge in several
ways. The most straightforward solution is to reduce the
boulder with an enlarge/reduce spell, then use the same
spell to enlarge a strong character to throw it. Other
solutions might involve casting levitate on the rock and
giving it a push, digging a trench for the rock to roll
down the length of the field, or propelling it with magic
in some other way. The cyclopes w ill accept any solution
the characters attempt, as long as it propels the stone
farther than the cyclops did.
Each cyclops defends itself if attacked, and killing
them changes nothing. The characters still need to
propel a stone farther than the cyclops did to get back to
the sundial.
When the characters beat the challenge, the stone
that the cyclops threw splits in half, revealing a topaz
gemstone inside. If the topaz is carried out of this area,
either path leads the characters back to the sundial.
If the characters attempt to leave the area without
winning the contest, both paths curve away and bring
them back here after a short walk. If the characters
leave any marks, items, or companions behind in this
area, all the same conditions apply here as in area 1.
You emerge from the path into an area far larger than
any open area you expected to encounter in the maze
garden. This rectangular space must be ninety feet
across, with its far side almost 150 feet away. It looks like
a boulder-strewn pasture, with a large pond to one side
and a fenced vegetable garden and oversized cottage on
the other. Sheep graze in the pasture, tended by a pair of
cyclopes, but none o f them are moving. They all appear
frozen in time.
As soon as any character advances into the area, the
creatures here spring to life, with the sheep grazing
and the cyclopes chatting idly with each other. When
the cyclopes notice the characters, they exchange a few
unheard words, then play some sort of game analogous
to rock/paper/scissors. One loses, and both cyclopes
approach the characters. They don’t appear to be
carrying weapons.
4. C a r n i v o r o u s G a r d e n
Ahead, you see a bubbling fountain filling the pathway.
Large bright flowers grow in the hedges on both sides of
the fountain, each blossom shimmering in the light. The
air smells particularly fresh and sweet here.
A large flower grows on each northern and southern
side of each square on the map except the square with
the fountain. As the characters get closer, they can
see that the shimmering of the flowers comes from a
large pearl set into each one. However, if any of these
carnivorous flowers is attacked, or if a character tries to
remove a pearl from a flower, all twelve flowers attack
any enemy they can reach. Use the statistics of an
otyugh to represent each flower, except they have speed
0, and they have the plant type.
Once a flower is killed, its pearl can be removed. If
a pearl is carried out of this area, either path leads the
characters back to the sundial.