The Handmaidens’ Chamber
RoomDCC 74 · p.7
Open source p.7Area 1-3 – The Handmaidens’ Chamber
The chamber is occupied by four beds made up with lavish pillows and heavy embroidered blankets. A simple iron coffer stands at the head of each bed. The chamber is unadorned, save for twelve polished silver plaques hanging on the walls.
This chamber is home to the handmaidens of Máni, nuns in service of the high priestess. The handmaidens are found in area 1-9 during the night, retiring to 1-3 to sleep during the day.
Each coffer contains a handmaiden’s effects. There is little of worth here, the handmaidens having given their material wealth over to the abbotess. The coffers are unlocked. In each the PCs find a simple white tunic, a black scapular, and a black habit. Beneath the clothing, PCs discover a whetstone, a vial of weapon oil, candles wrapped in wax paper, cones of incense, and ep.
Given that there are only four handmaidens in the entire temple, disguising oneself as a nun is a challenge. The PCs will attract the attention of the other handmaidens and Mánistales any time there are more than four nuns in one place.
The silver plaques depict the twelve icons of Máni: the Ice Moon, Hunger Moon, Crow Moon, Hare’s Moon, Planting Moon, Mead Moon, Thunder Moon, Dog Moon, Barley Moon, Blood Moon, Frost Moon, and the Long Night’s Moon. Clerics and scribes will immediately recognize the references, and, by studying the placement of the plaques in the chamber, will be able to infer that the present phase is the Hunger Moon. PCs inspecting the Hunger Moon plaque find it depicts a waxing gibbous moon rising behind a hanging gibbet. Atop the gibbet sits a two-headed crow.
Each plaque is worth 50 gp to collectors of esoteric oddities. If the plaques are melted down to conceal their origins, the raw metal is worth a mere 5 gp per plaque.