Delve · p.89 · 3p
Open source p.89Shrine of the Sunken Star
LEVEL 2–5 A shrine deep beneath a dark lake beckons villagers to wade to their watery deaths. To end the shrine’s curse and save the village, the party must contend with aquatic terrors, dark puzzles, and a malevolent spirit.
Shrine of the Sunken Star Click or scan the QR code to access cheat sheets, errata, and other helpful tools for running the dungeon.
DUNGEON OVERVIEW
Themes Aquatic, Horror, Undead Time 2–4 hours
Combat Dangers Puzzles Social
Background
The Star-Chosen Spirit Over a millennia ago, a lone fisher witnessed a star fall into the Lake of Isilhum. To escape the tidal wave of the impact, the fisher dove deep, but what they saw in the depths was no ordinary star. It was a machine, and it called out: “Protect. Sacrifice.”
The Shrine Empowered by the star, the fisher amassed followers to help build a shrine at the bottom of the lake. Unknown to the rest of the world, these acolytes carry on as Fossilized Skeletons, animated by the star’s mysterious magic. Every 707 years the skeletons rise from the lake to purge the area and feed the Star-chosen Spirit – what remains of the fisher – with the blood of the innocent.
Hook
Gone Fishing After three of Isilhum’s fishers have been pulled into Lake Isilhum by undead horrors, Captain Thale of the Fishers’ Guild, a weathered human woman, has posted a notice for aid in nearby towns. She offers 50 gp to anyone who can
The Village Normally, Isilhum is a quaint lake village whose people, led by Captain Thale of the Fishers’ Guild, thrive on the lake’s bounty. The town’s usual charm has been dampened by recent events, however: the past two nights, an eerie gong has sounded from the lake. With each chime, Isilhum’s villagers feel a strange longing to wade beyond the shore. The first night, Sorak, a half-orc fisher, succumbed to its call, swam into the lake, and hasn’t returned. The second night, stony skeletons crawled up from the lake and dragged three fishers from the docks into the dark waters. Unless someone delves into the shrine and ends its curse, the gong will keep chiming and skeletons will keep rising, until not a single living soul remains in Isilhum.
rescue the fishers and put a stop to the lake’s eerie chime. Thale can detail the recent events and lend the party a rowboat. She also convinces the reluctant general store owner, Elara (human Peasant), to offer half-priced goods (Shadowdark RPG, pg. 34).
The Shrine
The shrine’s entrance lies a few hundred yards from Isilhum’s docks, at a depth of 30 feet. General Features
The shrine has these features unless otherwise noted. ► CEILINGS. 5 feet high in tunnels, 10 feet high in chambers. ► DANGER LEVEL. Unsafe. ► DOORS. Closed, hang 5 inches above the floor to allow water to flow beneath. ► FLOODING. Tunnels and areas S2, S4, and S5 are flooded with 2 feet of water. ► ILLUMINATION. Areas S4 and S8 are lit by glowing Lentic Star Swarms. Other areas are dark.
Events
Whenever the party enters a new area, the alien clockwork device chimes and a subliminal tone shudders through the dungeon. Choose or roll a random event: Event 1 Quake. Debris falls on the characters; DC 12 DEX or damage. 2 Sacrifice. The characters are compelled to violence; DC 12 CHA or attack the nearest creature for rounds. 3 Scream. The tone sounds over the dull, distant scream of a taken villager (area S8). 4 Vision. Each character receives the same vision, determined by rolling a (reroll repeat visions): 1. A star crashes into the lake. 2. An eerie clockwork device sinks under water. 3. A robed figure with a golden crown preaches to a crowd on the lake’s shore. 4. Robed people dig in water- logged tunnels. 5. Malnourished people drag bodies through wet tunnels. 6. An otherworldly clockwork device hovers above kneeling skeletons.
S2 T S1 Fossilized Skeletons
S3 Fossilized Skeletons
S
S7
S8 Star-Chosen Spirit Fossilized Skeletons Lentic Star Swarms
S4 Lentic Star Swarms Peasant (Sorak)
S5
S6
Outside the Shrine
A faint blue glow shines from a 5-foot-diameter well in the muddy lakebed. Something is buried near it. The sediment stirs around it.
A calcivore squid causes the stir.
Calcivore Squid Calcivore Squid devouring a bone. It flees if approached, but may return to attack characters who lag behind the rest of the party. ► COMBAT. The squid flees if below 10 HP.
Something ► TREASURE. 2 small flasks; U a creature that drinks one can breathe underwater for 1 hour.
Well Sealed by a shimmering cerulean portal that magically keeps water and sand out but allows creatures to pass through (to area S1).
Lakebed Widely spaced dunes cover the soft lakebed; created by the periodic chiming that sounds from the sacrificial chamber (area S8). ► EXAMINE. The dunes form U concentric rings centered around a point about 100 feet south of the well, as if something beneath there is causing quakes or vibrations.
No extracted maps for this adventure — the map is in the source book: Open source p.89
Rooms (9)
S1 Entrance Shaft p.93
A humid, 30-foot vertical shaft sealed from the lakewater above. Slimy handholds mark the way to a flooded tunnel below.
Handholds Slippery (DC 12 STR to climb or fall 20 feet). The tenth handhold from the top is a Shocking Handle (Tier 1). A creature that passes its check to let go of the handle or that is forcefully pulled free from it must pass a DC 12 DEX check or fall 20 feet.
Calcivore Squid The Calcivore Squid that lurks near the magical well entrance can burrow through the soft sediment to access flooded chambers (areas S4, S5, and S8).
S2 Foyer p.94
This domed chamber’s floor is flooded with two feet of water. A door to the south bears blood smears and a bas-relief of a robed figure. It is flanked on either side by stone skeletons partially embedded in the walls. A small crawlway tunnel emits a pale, pulsing yellow light and echoing grunts.
Both the blood on the door and the grunts from the crawlway belong to Sorak (see area S4). DC 12 WIS recognizes the sound as a man fighting for his life.
Skeletons 2 Fossilized Skeletons embedded in the wall break free and attack any who touch the door. ► COMBAT. The skeletons fight until slain. Defeated characters are dragged to area S8.
Door The relief depicts the star-chosen fisher: a robed and crowned human with seven-pointed halo. ► EXAMINE. The blood on the U door is a few days old.
Crawlway 2-foot-diameter, flooded tunnel (to area S4).
S3 Ossuary p.94
This rectangular chamber contains twenty burial niches stacked two-high, littered with shells and fossilized bones. A blood trail stretches to the far wall, which bears a bas-relief of a robed figure raising its arms to a seven-pointed star.
Fossilized skeletons rest in the niches (DC 12 DEX to move through without disturbing).
Burial niches Hold 6 Fossilized Skeletons; they attack if disturbed (DC 18 DEX to stealthily loot a niche). ► COMBAT. The skeletons fight until slain. Defeated characters are dragged to area S8. ► TREASURE. pearls (5 gp U each) in each niche.
Blood Trail Stops by the south wall (left U by villagers dragged through the secret door, see Bas-relief). It is only a few days old.
Bas-relief Depicts the star-chosen and followers, praising the star. The star’s points have blood smears. ► EXAMINE. The star’s points U are buttons; if all seven are pressed simultaneously, a door opens in the wall (to area S7).
S4 Star Cavern p.95
This flooded cavern has natural pillars. A flooded crawlway and a wider tunnel lead out from it. A male half-orc battles a swarm of glowing starfish in its center.
Half-Orc & Starfish Peasant (Sorak) is fighting 2 Lentic Star Swarms. The swarm attacked after being startled by the party’s arrival in area S2. ► COMBAT. If the party doesn’t help him, Sorak dies 5 rounds after they arrive in area S2. The swarms attack until slain, but won’t leave the chamber.
Sorak’s Story Sorak is a half-orc fisherman who, usually, has a sunny disposition. Two nights ago, he heeded the chime’s call and swam down to the shrine. When he grabbed the shocking handle in area S1, he fell down, awoke from his stupor, was frightened by the skeletons in S2, and fled to area S4 where he has been hiding since. What Now? Assuming the party doesn’t ask for his help, Sorak recounts his experience before leaving the way he came. Unless slain, the Calcivore Squid lurking outside kills him as he exits.
S5 Puzzle Door p.95
Glass-like crystals cover the walls of this cave. At the far end is a peculiar door with a mechanism of sprockets, chains, gears, and seven tiny metal plates set in a circle. A green gem in the door’s keystone emits a thin beam of light across the mechanism to the floor.
Lumenite crystals trigger if light is brought into the cave. The door opens when its mechanism is used to form a seven-pointed star.
Door Magically sealed, impervious to damage. The mechanism’s plates can be rotated to reflect the keystone’s beam. Turning them so they reflect the beam to form a seven-pointed star opens the door for 1 minute. With each attempt to adjust the plates, a character must pass a DC 12 DEX or accidentally trigger the lumenite with the beam of light (see Crystals). ► TREASURE. Emerald (25 gp); dims if removed from the door.
Crystals Lumenite (Tier 1); triggers if exposed to a tiny amount of light, causing a blinding flash of light.
S6 Supplication Chamber p.96
This chamber’s walls are engraved with stars and hold four niches: two empty, two filled by golden, crown-like sprockets. A door bars the passage to the west.
Door Locked (DC 18 DEX to unlock). Also opens if a fossilized skeleton or a creature wearing a Crown of Buoyancy (see Niches) approaches. Leads to area S7.
Niches ► TREASURE. The sprockets are 2 golden Crowns of Buoyancy.
Solving the Puzzles To get to the shrine’s sacrificial chamber (area S8), the party must solve either the puzzle in area S3 or area S5. If they can’t figure out what they’re supposed to do, a patrol of Fossilized Skeletons may come through from area S8, attacking the party on sight – but leaving the doors open behind them.
S7 Engraved Tunnel p.96
This tunnel is sculpted with elaborate bas-reliefs. It has doors at both ends and to the east.
Bas-reliefs The bas-reliefs depict the ancient history of the star, lake, and druid; the druid and his acolytes succumbing to undeath; and the star’s true form: an alien clockwork device (see Background, pg. 89).
Doors Locked (DC 18 DEX to unlock); open if a fossilized skeleton or a creature wearing a Crown of Buoyancy approaches.
S6
S7
Fossilized Skeletons S8
Lentic Star Swarms (Ceiling) Star-Chosen Spirit
S8 Sacrificial Chamber p.97
The domed ceiling of this cavern is dimly lit by glowing starfish. The cavern is flooded with 10 feet of water, except for a round, stone platform in the center. Skeletons kneel on the platform next to several unconscious humanoids. A gyroscopic device of gears and rings hovers in the air between them. Suddenly, a tone rings loud and clear and the device rises, pulling an unconscious victim with it. Blood flows from the lifeless form toward the device, and a spectral figure forms around it. The skeletons stand.
Battle breaks out as the party enters. The star-chosen spirit floods the chamber if dropped below half HP.
Spectral Figure & Skeletons Star-chosen Spirit, 3 Fossilized Skeletons. ► COMBAT. The undead fight until destroyed. Any Fossilized Skeletons still in areas S2 and S3 arrive after 3 rounds to join the battle. When the spirit drops below half HP, it misfires a ray at the ceiling, flooding the chamber (see Ceiling). When it drops to 0 HP, the skeletons crumble (see Developments, pg. 97).
Glowing Starfish 4 Lentic Star Swarms cling to the ceiling, filling the chamber with dim light. They fight only in self- defense and drop into the water if damaged, extinguishing their light.
Unconscious Humanoids 3 Peasants. Can be roused to join the fight (DC 15 CHA).
Ceiling 20 feet above the platform and water. If the spirit misfires a ray at the ceiling, it opens a 2-foot- diameter hole, large enough for characters to fit through, and the shrine begins to flood:
• 1 Round. Platform is 1 foot under water.
• 2 Rounds. Platform and all rooms are 5 feet under water. All tunnels are fully flooded.
• 3 Rounds. Platform and area S1 is 10 feet under water. All other areas are fully flooded.
• 4 Rounds. Shrine is fully flooded. Party can swim out through the hole in the ceiling.
Opportunistic Squid The Calcivore Squid (see Outside the Shrine) may already be here or enter if the dungeon floods, but these options are best if the party already encountered it.
Conclusion Shrine of the Sunken Star: Conclusion p.98
Developments
Escaping the Shrine If the sacrificial chamber (area S8) floods, the party must quickly get themselves and the hostages out of the temple and swim 30 feet up to the lake’s surface. An unconscious villager quickly dies if left underwater. If it isn’t dead, the Calcivore Squid (see Outside the Shrine) may chase and harass the party all the way to the lake’s surface, looking for stragglers to devour.
Ending the Ancient Curse If the Star-chosen Spirit is reduced to 0 HP, the mystical device within it shatters. The curse is ended, the eerie chime will sound no more, and the Fossilized Skeletons crumble to dust, ending the threat to Isilhum.
Rewards Regardless of whether Isilhum’s problems are fixed permanently or temporarily, the villagers are happy that the immediate threat is over and the eerie chiming has stopped. Captain Thale gives the party their reward. The villagers also reward the party with an extra 10 gp for each hostage they’ve rescued. If all were saved, the villagers also give them a pair of Bracers of Utility.
Difficulty
The shrine is suitable for level 2 adventurers (Total Party Level 7–10). You can adjust its difficulty to higher level parties by making the following cumulative changes.
Level 3 (TPL 11–14)
• 4 Fossilized Skeletons in S2
• 4 Lentic Star Swarms in S4
• Star-chosen Spirit has 1 Boss Action
Level 4 (TPL 15–18)
• 8 Fossilized Skeletons in S3
• 4 Fossilized Skeletons in S8
• Star-chosen Spirit has 3 Boss Actions
Level 5 (Tpl 19–22)
• 2 Calcivore Squids outside shrine
• 10 Fossilized Skeletons in S3
• Traps and hazards are Tier 2
• Star-chosen Spirit has 42 HP