70 - The Cerise Sanctuary

\*\*DM ONLY\*\* SPOILERS AHEAD

## Lore

The Cerise Sanctuary is a legendary divine site of an ancient god, told in bard songs around the fire. Many believe the tales to simply be myth, but the most learned of scholars will know that the actual site is located in the Scarlet Coast Forest, but the exact location is a closely guarded secret of the leaders of the Order of the Blood Fern. The tales tell of adventurers who seek the sanctuary to conquer their fears and "know thine enemy," but many failed to prove their worth to the celestial guardian who lives within. It is said that untold dangers await those who pursue the knowledge at the heart of the Sanctuary, but for those who succeed, the reward is worth the risk.

### The Reality

The truth is that a female couatl named Manchakuy ("basic emotion induced by a perceived threat" AKA fear in Quechua) was charged with protecting this sanctuary by a forgotten god (if the couatl must refer to Jazirian, she would say the supreme fate). The sanctuary not only provides a safe place of rest and recuperation for those deemed worthy of its use, but also the gift of knowledge. When the Sanctuary is first entered, it is actually a dungeon full of dangers (see below). The adventurers must prove their worth by collecting three potions (whose vials connect to form a single vial such that all three potions may be taken at once) by completing the tasks presented in each of the three wings of the dungeon and use them to conquer the final challenge. Once the adventurers make it into the center, they are deemed worthy and all dangers revert to harmless forms and they have access to the Sanctuary as a haven from then on (even if they leave and come back). If uninitiated beings enter the Sanctuary while worthy people rest there, the worthy cannot be seen or heard (but can be touched) by the newcomers. The Sanctuary presents the dungeon to the uninitiated as normal.

The leaders of the Order of the Blood Fern are worthy of the Sanctuary, but they hardly ever go there or even speak of its existence, even to lower ranking members of the order.

## The Dungeon

[Note I have left out DCs/damage so that it can be scaled to the appropriate level by DM]

### The Entrance

The entrance to the Cerise Sanctuary is hidden in a cliff face in the Scarlet Coast Forest (for example). An illusion maintained by the Order of the Blood Fern (like Mirage Arcane spell) hides the entrance so those who do not know about it, can't find it. The illusion makes it look like the cliff is solid rock with thick bushes near the base to dissuade people from walking right up to the door. If you are looking for it, every time either "cerise" or "sanctuary" are spoken in any language within 300 ft of the entrance, the illusion flickers for a moment (if they are within line of sight, perception check to notice with it being easier the closer they are to it). Once the illusion is noticed, a successful investigation check allows the character to see the door through the illusion. Alerting other party members gives them +4 to their investigation check.

Without the illusion, there is the outline of an eight-foot tall, 4-foot wide arched door with a six inch frame in the side of the cliff face (kind of mines of moria style) with a faded carving of a couatl in the center of the stone door (but so faded it just looks like a snake on first glace. If a subsequent successful high religion check is made, they can notice the wings that are barely visible). The door doesn't have a handle or any other obvious way to open it. The door (and entire cliff face) is magically warded such that no amount of force or magical effect (such as stone shape or passwall) can penetrate it. The stone is 10 ft thick so spells like dimension door can bypass the door, but there is no way to open the door from the other side either. They will just see a smooth stone surface if on the inside. However, around the frame of the door, the striations of the rock spell out a phrase in celestial that can only be detected if the door frame specifically is investigated. The phrase says "**Only those who conquer fear will be found worthy**." Once this phrase has been said aloud, the stone door will magically dissolve, revealing a 10 ft high, 5 ft wide tunnel going south into the cliff. The tunnel is clearly not natural as the walls are almost perfectly smooth. 30 ft from the entrance to the tunnel, the color of the stone changes from natural grey to dark red (the whole interior is made from the same red stone). At the color change, there is a pressure plate that, if activated, will trigger a fiery blast trap (15 ft cube of fire). The trap cannot be disabled, but can be stepped over as the pressure plate is only the width of the tunnel and 3 ft long.

### Layout

As the party enters the circular central chamber (60 ft across) from the north, they see a raised dais (10 ft across, raised 3 ft in the air) in the middle of the room wreathed in a wall of fire (like a wall of force that cannot be passed, but made of fire) from floor to ceiling. All of the stone in here is the same deep red as the entry tunnel. Through the flickering flames, they can see a pedestal, but other details are obscured. Directly in front of them (on the north side of the dias) are a set of stone stairs leading up to the dais. If inspected, the stairs have an inscription in celestial that says **"Piety is the irrevocable ward against fear"**. If anyone touches or gets within 5 ft of the wall of fire, they take damage and cannot pass through. The flames cannot be extinguished by any means.

On the east, south, and west sides of the room are tunnels that lead to the three wings of the dungeon. Things in the wings look harmless at first glance (they look the same as they will for the regular sanctuary), but when the sanctuary is presenting the dungeon, things are more hostile/dangerous. Over the east wing entrance is a carving of a tree, over the south wing entrance is a carving of a sword and shield, and over the west wing entrance is a carving of a bed. The wings can be done in any order. The couatl can polymorph and thus follows the progress of the adventurers, judging how well they handle the challenges of the dungeon.

### East Wing: The Natural Retreat

The gravity in the entrance tunnel is reversed (from the central chamber all the way to the natural cavern). A very high perception might notice a small rock sitting on the ceiling instead of the floor, but generally there are no loose objects in the tunnel that they would be able to see (though if they throw something into the tunnel, it will go to the ceiling) The first person to enter the tunnel will "fall" the 10 ft to land on the ceiling (taking the normal 1d6 fall damage). Once a character is aware of the change, a successful acrobatics check can get them into the tunnel without taking damage. Checks must also be made when exiting the tunnel on the other side.

\*Note: the point of this room is the collect the 6 colored prisms (but probably don't tell them that's what they are) and put them in the correct order (rainbow order) at the stone circle on the other side of the room. Each prism is about 5" in any dimension, triangular, and will each deflect light slightly differently.\*

General layout: [Map sent to you via discord] The party finds themselves at one end of a long natural cavern (only place in the sanctuary where the walls aren't perfectly smooth like it has been worked. It is still made of the same red stone though). They are on the entrance platform on the west side. There are stone steps against the north wall that descend 20 ft (lower level of the room) to a hot spring/underground river that wraps around the south and east of the central platform. At the moment, the water looks like it is boiling with a faint fog at the surface of the water. Slightly to the right of the party is a stone bridge (upper level) that crosses the canyon made by the river down below. In the center of the bridge is sitting a red crystal (the only obvious one. Meant to help them figure out what to do). On the central platform, there is a pride rock type rock formation on the south side that ascends 10 ft. The side of the rock is covered in vines. On the north side of the central platform is a field of flowers. There is another stone bridge that leads to the far platform. A line of "trees" (actually treants) sections off the stone circle from the rest of the room. The stone circle consists of a large central flat stone (2 ft high) surrounded by 6 stone pillars (3 ft high) with a triangular shape carved into the top each one (where the prisms will fit). A small beam of light shines out of a hole on the east wall pointing directly above the east-most pillar (so it will hit the prism once it is in place).

\*Note on fire: Fire is forbidden in this wing to protect the plants of the sanctuary. If no fire is attempted for any of the features, then nothing happens and the "tree" line at the far end of the map just seems exactly like trees. If the party attempts to use fire at any point (or really if they mention fire), the middle treant will yell a warning to not use fire in this room. He will immediately go back to looking like a tree, so if nobody is looking that way, they won't know where the voice came from. If they continue, the middle treant will yell again and all four treants will take up an aggressive posture to dissuade them. If they actually use fire, they will need to fight all four treants to get to the stone circle. Otherwise, the treants will let them pass peacefully and will go back to being trees.\*

Info about each prism/feature (as numbered on the map, though they can be collected in any order):

1. Red prism- on the first stone bridge: This crystal is sitting in the dust in the middle of the bridge. A fairly low perception check will reveal it glinting in the light. Whenever somebody steps onto the bridge, however, arrows will shoot out of the south wall (5 arrow slots at a variety of heights, DEX save for half damage). Every round there is a creature on the bridge, they will shoot again. Wind magic can deflect their path, they will not come out if the holes are somehow blocked, or they can just run across quickly.
2. Blue prism- hot spring and the river: This crystal is sitting at the bottom of the river around the first bend. The hot spring starts about 2 ft deep and then it slopes down so the river is about 5 ft deep where the crystal is. The river continues to get deeper such that it is about 10 ft deep under the tip of pride rock. When the party enters the room, the river is boiling hot so there is a slight fog steaming off the surface. When they go down the stairs, the fog makes the lower level obscured. There is a dial with five colors on it (labeled as a bowl on the map, but I have since change that): red, white, black, blue, and green. The dial is currently set to red, but can be easily turned to a different color. Effects: Red makes the water boiling. The fog makes the area above the water obscured, but you can see under the water. If entered, you take fire damage every round. White will freeze over the lake 1 ft thick. You can see through it and can walk on it but cannot enter (if they try to use fire to melt the ice, see above note on using fire in this room). If it is turned to white while someone is in the river, it will freeze around them and hold them in place and they take cold damage. Black will turn the water to acid. You can sort of see through it, but if entered you will take acid damage every round. Blue will make the water very turbulent. The hot spring section is like a whirlpool and will pull anyone who enters under the water (risk of drowning). If they manage to get into the river (jumping off the central platform), the river flow will pull them away from the hot spring until they hit the grate on the north wall. It will be very very difficult to swim against the current. Green will make the river murky so you can't see through it, but you can move through it without taking damage. Easiest solution is to freeze the river, walk on it until they see where the prism is sitting at the bottom of the lake, then go turn it to green and search that area until they find it. If someone goes around the second corner by pride rock, they can make a perception check to see the yellow prism (see #6).
3. Purple prism- flower field on the central platform: The north side of the central platform is covered in a field of multicolored bulbous flowers that look innocuous from the outside. Once in the field, the flowers release poisonous spores in response to sound. So every time a character speaks or otherwise makes a significant amount of noise while in the field, they must make a CON save or take poison damage and become poisoned (obviously if a player says something their character does and not what their character says, it does not trigger this effect). On a successful save, they take half damage and are not poisoned. The DC and damage should scale with the loudness of the sound (e.g. a whisper only causes a little puff of spores, but a shout could cause a huge cloud). **Every time** a sound is made, more spores are released and the save must be made again. Generally the spores do not have a lasting effect (is somebody walks into the area after spores have been released, they do not have to make a save), but DM's call if the cloud is big enough maybe it will last a round or two. The most obvious solution is to just not talk and to sneak around looking for the crystal hidden in the middle-ish of the field (you can put it anywhere in the field really). Fire will destroy the plants, but see above note on using fire in this room. If the flower is cut off the stem, it will release a high pitched shriek that will cause nearby plants to release spores.
4. Green prism- vine wall on the side of pride rock: The wall of pride rock facing the interior of the platform is covered in thick green vines that will wrap around anything that moves. Like the flowers in #3, they are not malicious, just responding to stimuli. Any movement within a foot of the vines will elicit a response, with faster movement resulting in a stronger reaction. A slow pace (~2 inches per second) results in a gentle touch (e.g. the vines will gentle wrap around a hand/arm, but does not inhibit movement or deal damage). A more normal pace will result in the vines strongly wrapping around the moving limbs/body (Dexterity save to pull back and avoid being grappled). A very fast pace and the vines will lash out and try to constrict (Strength save to avoid being restrained with a higher DC than above). Once grappled or restrained, whenever the character struggles or if someone else tries to free them by attacking or tugging on the vines (which will cause other vines to "attack" them), the trapped character suffers bludgeoning damage from being constricted (more damage the harder they struggle). If the character stops struggling and stays still for a round, the constriction will relax so they will not take damage. If they are motionless for two rounds, they will no longer be grappled/restrained but the vines will still be wrapped around them gently. After three rounds of no movement, the vines will unwrap and will go back to hanging limp from the wall. If at any point during this process somebody moves, the same movement rules from above applies. The crystal is hidden in a small hole in the rock face behind the vines. Fire will destroy the vines, but see above note on using fire in this room.
5. Orange prism- off the pride rock cliff: Off the end of pride rock (15 ft from the top, 15 ft from the river below), the orange crystal is magically suspended in the air. The water below is 10 ft deep so someone can just jump off and try to grab it on the way down (DEX check), cliff jumping style, and they won't take damage unless they really fail their check and hit their face on the water or something. If the river is set to a form that deals damage (see #2), however, they will take that damage. If the river is frozen, they take normal falling damage (30 ft). If someone is down there, they can make a perception check to see the yellow prism underneath the second stone bridge (see #6). If someone spider climbs down the side or pride rock, the crystal will be about 10 ft away from the rock face at that level (because it's like pride rock in the lion king where the rock slopes back underneath the highest point). No trick, just difficult to get to (based on the entrance to Jazirian's realm Uroboros by making a leap of faith off the peak of a mountain).
6. Yellow prism- underneath the second stone bridge: The last crystal is attached to the underside of the second stone bridge. It cannot be seen from the upper level at any point. If someone comes within line of sight (e.g. while getting the blue or orange crystals in 2 or 5), they can make a perception check to see it. No trick, just difficult to get to. If someone goes onto the bridge, however, more arrows will be shot at them (like the first bridge in 1). These arrows come from both the north and south walls (4 from each direction, DEX save for half damage).

When the party reaches the far eastern platform (assuming they have not used fire, otherwise they will need to fight the treants ranged or on the second bridge while arrows are shooting at them to enter the far platform), they enter the grove of the stone circle. If the treants are alive, the grove is very quiet and peaceful.

The stone circle: The party sees a stone circle consisting of a large central flat stone (2 ft high, 4 ft wide, would normally be used to sit on for meditation etc) surrounded by 6 stone pillars (3 ft high, 1 ft diameter) with a triangular shape carved into the top of each one (where the prisms will fit). A small beam of light shines out of a hole on the east wall pointing directly above the east-most pillar (so it will hit the prism once it is in place). All crystals will fit in all pillars, but if they are not in the correct order, the light will not be deflected correctly. The red prism goes in the first pillar (eastern most: the one the light beam hits first) and then will deflect the light to the next pillar in a clockwise rotation. The correct order is red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple. If at any point the wrong prism is put in a pillar, the light will not be deflected to the next pillar in the circle, but in a random direction. (Alternatively, if you want to make it harder, don't have the beam always deflect to the next pillar in a clockwise direction. The order would still be the same rainbow order, but in positions 1, 3, 6, 2, 4, 5 or something like that. Where they need to follow where the light is deflecting to know where to place the next crystal. That way they probably couldn't get it by chance). Once they are all in the correct pillars, the light returns to the red crystal to complete the circuit. The light pulses brighter then fades. They party hears a click and a secret compartment opens in the south side of the central stone.

Inside the compartment is a small wooden chest with feathered wings carved on top. The chest is locked (key is located on the ceiling of the secret compartment if anyone reaches their hand to feel in there). Inside the chest is a 4" tall, 1" wide, triangular potion bottle. Two sides are flat with interlocking grooves (it is obviously meant to attach to something. If they attempt to attach it to one or both of the bottles from the other wings, it will fit perfectly). The third side is curved (so from the top the bottle looks like 1/3 of a pie chart) and carries the inscription "**one who fears no arrow carries no armor**" etched into the glass. The bottle contains a very dark green potion that always remains full, even if it is poured out or imbibed. If the bottle is broken by any means, it will reappear in its chest unharmed.

If anyone drinks the potion, their armor or any item that gives bonuses to AC (e.g. ring of protection) seemingly crumbles to sand. They lose all benefits of such items for the duration. If this potion is drunk alone, the effect will last one hour or until the end of a short rest, at which time their items are suddenly returned as they were, as if the effect was just an illusion.

### South Wing: The Training Room

As soon as someone enters the entrance tunnels, gears can be heard turning and a gauntlet-style obstacle course appears (like from First Knight movie: axes swinging back and forth, pillar crushes down from the ceiling, swords poking up from the ground, and a heavy bludgeoning turnstile). Each party member must either use dex(acrobatics) to dodge through on instinct or int(investigation) to use their mind to time it correctly (because let's be honest, that's how we all do it in video games). There are 4 features in all. High checks can get them through all four in one go without taking damage. Medium high will get them through one or two without taking damage. Medium low will get them through one with taking damage. Low checks will result in taking damage and not getting through even one feature. Party members can help each other to give advantage on checks (or can carry/throw someone through with an addition str check etc).

At the end of the tunnel is a wide circular room with a red sand fighting pit in the center. A small room on the west side holds racks of training weapons on the walls. A similar room on the east side has practice dummies with targets on their chests and other stuff you would expect in a normal training room. When the whole party enters the main chamber, a portcullis slams down from the ceiling at the end of the tunnel (a la zelda) to trap them in the room. Suddenly some monsters appear (or the practice dummies come to life?) which are almost laughably easy for the party to dispatch. As soon as the last enemy dies, roll initiative again for the next round of monsters. When that initiative comes up next (whether in this round or the subsequent round), the new monsters appear, which are slightly harder than the last. There are 5 rounds of this with each round being harder than the last (the final two rounds should be legitimately difficult). The monsters are essentially illusions so evil creatures that would normally not be allowed to enter the Sanctuary can be used.

Once the final monster is killed, the portcullis retracts into the ceiling and a small secret compartment is revealed on the far (south) side of the room by the floor. Inside is a small, locked stone chest with a snake carved on top (key is located on the ceiling of the secret compartment if anyone reaches their hand to feel in there). Inside the chest is a 4" tall, 1" wide, triangular potion bottle. Two sides are flat with interlocking grooves (it is obviously meant to attach to something. If they attempt to attach it to one or both of the bottles from the other wings, it will fit perfectly). The third side is curved (so from the top the bottle looks like 1/3 of a pie chart) and carries the inscription "**one who fears no flesh carries no sword**" etched into the glass. The bottle contains a bright red potion that always remains full, even if it is poured out or imbibed. If the bottle is broken by any means, it will reappear in its chest unharmed.

If anyone drinks the potion, their strength stat drops by 4 for the duration. If this potion is drunk alone, the effect will last one hour or until the end of a short rest.

### West Wing: The Residence

Near the end of the entrance tunnel, just before entering the living room, there is a glyph on each side of the tunnel wall, 3 ft off the floor. If anything comes between the two glyphs, it triggers a sleep spell centered on the midpoint between the glyphs. The glyphs can be deactivated by a dispel magic or the party can simply crawl underneath of them so nothing gets between the two glyphs.

\*Note: the point of this room is to draw four symbols (representing parenthood, community, peace, and learning) on the easel in the living room. The symbols will be shown to the party in visions if they do the right thing and then FAIL a wisdom saving throw (or they say they don't resist the effect). Anything that doesn't help them accomplish this is actively trying to hurt them, even though at first glance everything looks innocuous (and like a normal residence. Feel free to add more hostile objects if you like). Wisdom saving throws are always for visions. Any other saving throw is for a negative effect. There is a map in the study that will show them the correct things to interact with (if they find it).\*

Living room: The entrance tunnel leads into the east side of the living room, a large square room. There is a fireplace in the center of the west wall with 5 chairs surrounding it in a semi-circle. If the fire is disturbed in any way, a fire snake/salamander/fire elemental (depending on how difficult you want it to be) comes out of the fireplace and attacks the party. All of the chairs except the southern most one (the last one of the semi circle) are mimics. The mimics will not attack until somebody sits in them, at which point they will use their adhesive to grapple the person and then attack. If other mimics are already fighting the party, then the other mimics will join in if they are touched at all. If someone sits in the non-mimic chair, they must make a wisdom saving throw. If they make the saving throw, nothing happens. If they FAIL (or otherwise indicate they are not resisting the effect), that person will receive a disorienting vision of light through smoke that then solidifies into a symbol of a circle with five evenly spaced dots on it (community). In the northeast corner of the room is an easel and charcoal. If anything besides the symbols are written/drawn on it, it will disappear in a second. If one of the symbols is written on it, it will stay for a round and then fade if another symbol is not drawn. There is something hanging on the center of the south wall that might be a painting or a glyph. If somebody investigates or attempts to read the glyph, they must make a charisma saving throw or be affected by the hopelessness effect of the symbol spell (it only affects the target creature, not AOE. There is no indication to other creatures that a magical effect was triggered besides the behavior change of the character). There is a door in the northwest corner (north wall) leading to the bedroom, a door in the southwest corner (south wall) leading to the dining room, and a door in the southeast corner (south wall) leading to the study.

Study: The study is a square room on the south side of the living room, entered from the southeast door of the living room. The south wall of this room is covered in bookshelves. Notably, there are 16 tomes right in the middle, each with a symbol of one of the outer planes (as shown on pg 303 of the players handbook). If someone opens the one labeled with the symbol of Mount Celestia (triangle with a horizontal line through it), they must make a wisdom saving throw. If they make the saving throw, nothing happens. If they FAIL (or otherwise indicate they are not resisting the effect), that person will receive a disorienting vision of light through smoke that then solidifies into an infinity sign symbol (learning). If someone opens any of the other books, they must make an intelligence saving throw or take psychic damage and immediately drop the book, which closes itself again. There is a desk against the north wall with some sort of picture hanging over it. The desk has nothing on it, but there is a drawer on the right side that can be opened freely. Inside is [add some useful trinket that they can get after finishing the dungeon]. When someone tries to pick up said item, it sets off a bear trap that attempts to smash their hand (dex save to avoid being caught). Regardless of whether they save or not, the item gets damaged in the trap (it will be back, intact, once they are found worthy). There looks like there should be another drawer beneath the top one, but it appears as just solid wood. If someone investigates the picture (well enough), they will see that it is a crude map of the residence wing (outline of the rooms). In the northern most room (bedroom), there are five rectangles (representing the beds) and the second from the right is colored red. In the central room (living room) there are 5 squares in a semi-circle (representing the chairs) with the southern most one colored red. In the southeast room (study) there is the symbol of Mount Celestia in red. In the southwest room (dining room) there is a drawing of an olive branch (you don't have to tell them that's what it is) with fruit on it in red.

Dining room: The dining room is a square room on the south side of the living room, entered from the southwest door of the living room. The main feature of this room is a long table overflowing with delicious looking (and smelling) food of all kinds. All sorts of fruit, bread, cheeses, roasted meats, etc. If someone eats an olive (in a bowl, not on the branch), they must make a wisdom saving throw. If they make the saving throw, nothing happens. If they FAIL (or otherwise indicate they are not resisting the effect), that person will receive a disorienting vision of light through smoke that then solidifies into an arrow broken in half (peace). If someone takes a bite of anything else on the table, they must make a constitution saving throw or take poison damage and be poisoned. On a successful save, they take half as much damage and are not poisoned. There is also a tapestry of a naga guardian hung on the eastern wall. If someone investigates the tapestry, they must make a charisma saving throw or become the victim of a divine word spell (except if they have 20 or fewer hit points, they are only knocked unconscious, not killed, instantly).

Bedroom: Entering from the northwest door of the living room, the party sees a long rectangular room (stretches the entire width of the living room) with 5 beds containing plush red sheets. If someone lies on the bed second from the right, they must make a wisdom saving throw. If they make the saving throw, nothing happens. If they FAIL (or otherwise indicate they are not resisting the effect), that person will receive a disorienting vision of light through smoke that then solidifies into a symbol of an inverted triangle (fertility/parenthood). If someone lies on any other bed, they must make a strength saving throw or have the bedsheets tightly wrap around them, at which point they are essentially the victim of a rug of smothering (main difference is the saving throw instead of making the bed roll to attack). There is also an ornate mirror hanging on the west wall. If someone looks at themselves in the mirror, they must make a charisma saving throw or their soul is sucked into the mirror as if it were the container of a magic jar spell (as if they are the victim, not the caster, of the spell). Meanwhile, the spirit previously occupying the mirror inhabits the character's body. The spirit is of a benevolent (human?) wizard named Tadao. He is lonely and just wants friends to talk to. If the party befriends and entertains him, they may be able to persuade him to go back into the mirror peacefully. If they are hostile towards him, he will fight them. If they kill their friend's body, the spirits will be switched back, but the party member will be unconscious. If they break the mirror, the spirits will be switched back, but Tadao will be very sad. If they ask him how to solve the puzzle of the residence wing, he will brush off the question and just quote Jazirian ("Virtue untested is merely innocence." or "Failure is an essential learning experience that forms the building blocks of endurance." or something else that fits). If they part on good terms, the party can go back and talk to Tadao once they are found worthy (he will no longer try to possess them).

Once the party knows all four symbols, they must draw them on the easel in the northeast corner of the living room. If anything besides the symbols are written/drawn on the easel, it will disappear in a second. If one of the symbols is written on it, it will stay for a round and then fade if another symbol is not drawn. Once all four are drawn, they will all glow and pulse brighter together and then disappear as the party hears a click from the study. A secret compartment is revealed in the desk, where it looked like a second drawer should be.

Inside of the secret compartment is a small, locked metal chest with a carving of a circle (closer inspection may reveal that it is actually an ouroboros) (key is located on the ceiling of the secret compartment if anyone reaches their hand to feel in there). Inside the chest is a 4" tall, 1" wide, triangular potion bottle. Two sides are flat with interlocking grooves (it is obviously meant to attach to something. If they attempt to attach it to one or both of the bottles from the other wings, it will fit perfectly). The third side is curved (so from the top the bottle looks like 1/3 of a pie chart) and carries the inscription "**one who fears no thought carries no conviction**" etched into the glass. The bottle contains a navy blue potion that always remains full, even if it is poured out or imbibed. If the bottle is broken by any means, it will reappear in its chest unharmed.

If anyone drinks the potion, they have a -2 to intelligence, wisdom, and charisma ability checks and saving throws for the duration. If this potion is drunk alone, the effect will last for one hour or until the end of a short rest.

### Central Dais: Final Test

Once the three potion bottles are put together, they form a perfectly cylindrical bottle that can be drunk all at once as a singular cerise potion [RGB 222, 49, 99- the three colors of the potions. haha]. Once all three are drunk simultaneously, the potions do not refill and the effects (-4 to STR stat, crumbing armor/AC objects, -2 to INT, WIS, CHR ability checks and saving throws) are permanent until the completion of the final test. To pass the test, the person who imbibed the potions must calmly walk up the steps and into the fire. If they try to run, jump, have their companions help them in any way, be aggressive towards the fire, etc they will take damage and will not be able to pass through the wall. They must completely surrender and accept their fate to pass. Reminder: if inspected, the stairs have an inscription in celestial that says **"Piety is the irrevocable ward against fear"**.

## The Sanctuary

After one party member finishes the final test, the fire wall is sucked up into a single sphere (1 ft diameter) that comes to rest on top of the pedestal. All traps disappear, any object that was hostile towards the party now welcomes them as worthy. All negative effects from the potions are now gone and, in addition, the person who passed the final test gets permanent advantage on saving throws versus becoming frightened.

Manchakuy appears to the party in human form wearing multi-colored robes that hint at her natural feathered wings. She normally does not reveal her true nature. She comments on their success and may or may not use her magic to heal, remove poisoned effects, etc. She will also explain that they are now worthy of the sanctuary and all that entails. etc.

Once the fire wall is gone, the words of Jazirian are revealed to be carved on the outside of the dais (though he/she is not named). They are written in celestial and will only be noticed if/when someone goes to those sides (since presumably they will be on the north side of the dais by the stairs). On the west side: "Virtue untested is merely innocence. Good must be tempered by temptation in order to become as steel." On the south side: "Death is with us always, but each death is a rebirth. Failure is an essential learning experience that forms the building blocks of endurance." On the east side: "All lives flow into one another, as all streams and winds. Life is a cycle, as is all reality."

The training room is now just a training room and can be used to practice the fighting or arcane arts. The natural retreat is now full of harmless plants, hot spring, and a stone circle/temple. The color dial on the hotspring now controls the temperature of the water from ice bath (like for recovering from sports) to hot tub temperature. The residence is a comfortable place to relax, eat, and recover. If parted on good terms, Tadao would love to chat with the party. The object in the top drawer of the study desk is now intact, they can use books in the study for research, etc etc. Everything is innocuous and inviting now.