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The Eights Facet
Though those that are betrayed
Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor Stands in worse case of woe. - William Shakespeare, Cymbeline This realm reflects Chardath's memory of the night he killed his sister. It is a dreadful place of guilt, blood, and knives. When the characters enter this room, they find a most gruesome sight. The following description should be read aloud to the players:
You have found your way into a large chamber with a low ceiling. The room is made of crude bricks that have shifted with the passage of countless years, giving the place an uneven, unsafe apearance. At the far end of the room sits a stone altar. Ancient and gray, it seems held together by an endless net of cobwebs. On it, the body of a beautiful woman lies motionless. Her throat has been cut; a torrent of blood flows from the wound. A heavy-looking stone sarcophagus, devoid of markings or inscription, lies beside the altar. The top of the casket lies ajar, and the blood streaming from the table pours directly into it.
This scene is a twisted reflection of the night on which Marble died and Kartak was returned to life. (See Chardath's character description in Appendix Two of this book for details.) It is gruesome, to say the least, and gets worse before long. Mood and Atmosphere The Dungeon Master should take care during this scene. RAVENLOFT adventures are not slasher flicks. Stilt, this place and the memory that fashioned it can certainty lend themselves to this interpretation. A skillful Dungeon Master will avoid focusing on the gore in favor of mental terror. Characters who have experienced the events of the adventure Castle Spulzeer should recognize this place as the ceremonial room in which they confronted Chardath, Kartak, and Marble. Anyone who has encountered Marble before ought to recognize the body on the table as hers. Things happen fast in this chamber of horrors. After the heroes have had time to take one action, read the following aloud:
Without warning, the body on the table bolts upright. The frail woman clutches at the wound in here throat. Her efforts to stop the torrent of blood prove futile, however. As her eyes catch sight of you, she staggers off the stone slab and streches an arm toward you. Her mouth opens as if to speak, but utters no sound. Instead, another stream of blood runs through her lips and down her chin. She takes a step forward, staggers, and falls. As her body hits the floor you cannot help but notice that blood is running from her nose and ears as well.
The Dungeon Master may decide that heroes with hemophobia (the fear of blood) must roll fear or horror checks at this moment. Almost certainly, one or more of the heroes try to aid Marble. Nothing that they can do, however, stops the bleeding. No medical care or magical spell provides the least bit of respite from her terrible suffering. Before long, the full importance of this fact becomes apparent. As blood continues to pour from the tormented woman, she ought to lose consciousness and die-but this does not happen. Marble continues to bleed and bleed, never passing out and never dying. The whole while, she is also in a state of absolute panic. She claws at her wounds (or bandages) and thrashes about wildly. She is in extreme pain and terrified beyond belief. Again, however, the heroes can do nothing to stop this. After a short while, the adventurers should realize that she has lost more blood than any human being possibly could have. As soon as one of the heroes notices this point or comments on how much blood has been shed, the Dungeon Master should read the following aloud:
Amid all the confusion and chaos in the place, a second passes before you notice that something has splashed on you check. A moment later, the sensation returns. It's almost as if the first drops of rain were falling to announce a looming storm/ Above you, blood drips between the bricks in the ceiling. Within second, the scattered droplets become a steady drizzle that coats everything in a slick layer of crimson.
At the Dungeon Master's discretion, one or more of the characters may need to roll a horror check as a result of all this blood. Those who already suffer from homophobia may even need to roll a madness check. Strangely, none of the blood ever seems to dry or congeal. It remains fluid and slippery for the duration of the party's time in the facet. Even with blood raining down from the ceiling and a tormented woman thrashing about in agony, someone in the party might investigate the stone slab upon which Marble was lying. Although there is nothing too unusual about the altar itself, something lies on the floor behind it. Although slick with blood, the object appears to be none other than the magical dagger that they are trapped within. As soon as someone touches the dagger, Marble screams. Her unnatural, bone-chilling wail seems unaffected by the blood pouring from her throat and mouth. Depending on the reaction of the players and their characters, the Dungeon Master may require fear checks. A second or so later, Marble falls silent again. Her agonies have come to an end. She is dead. At the same time, however, the character holding the knife falls victim to a horrible magical charm, Each round that he handles the weapon, he must make a saving throw vs. spell. Failure indicates that the character turns the weapon on himself. On that round and each round that follows, he stabs himself. No attack roll is required, but damage from the dagger +2 is calculated normally (including any bonus for a high Strength score). The self-destruction continues until the weapon is removed from the character's hand or he is otherwise incapacitated. The Enchanted Ruby: Closer scrutiny reveals that this weapon is not exactly like the one used to kill Marble so many years ago. The stone set into the hilt is different. While indeed a ruby, it is an eight-sided stone, not a twelve-sided one. This is the enchanted ruby for this facet. Anyone who looks in the sarcophagus discovers that it has filled up with blood. This much can be determined without removing the lid of the stone casket. To learn more, however, a character must push aside the gray stone lid. As soon as the lid is moved even slightly, the pool of crimson liquid within begins to boil and churn. One round later, a blood elemental rises from the sarcophagus and attacks the characters. The statistics of this gruesome creature appear in Appendix Two of this book. Within an hour, the room fills with blood. If the characters do not escape the facet in time, they find themselves in danger of actually drowning in blood. Refer to the rules for drowning as presented in the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide. As soon as the blood elemental rises, the bottom of the now-empty sarcophagus glows. This is the gateway out of this place. It is thus possible to escape from this place even though the elemental has not been destroyed. Unlike the other facets, this one has only a single exit. However, the destination of that exit changes from minute to minute. Each round, the portal in the casket changes color. After it cycles through five colors, it repeats. Characters paying heed to their shepherd rings find that they indicate the colors through which other adventurers passed. The following table indicates the facets to which the conduits lead:
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