These are chambers beneath the yard, which can be accessed at three points, each of which gives to a 13 ft. flight of stairs downward. The floors of the lower level are made of stone. Though it's imaginable that there would be windows facing the outside, which is the open sky far above the land's surface, these would be additional places that needed defending; therefore, the walls are solid throughout.
1. Guard’s Lounge. A simple room with nothing more than a table with four chairs. It may be described as completely empty or the DM may wish to describe the table as being rich with claw marks (which I forgot to say when I ran this). The smell should be musty and reminscent of dried fecal matter and faintly stale urine, though the room has not been used for that purpose in perhaps a year.2. Guard’s Barracks. These are the north barracks. There are eleven bunks, three chests and a table and chairs. The chests are locked and contain clothes, blankets, one weapon in each (2 daggers and a hand axe) and small iron coffers that will rattle with coins (not many, perhaps 3-30 s.p. and 1-10 g.p.).
Because of the locks, the harpies have not defiled the contents. The same cannot be said for the bedding and every other surface in the room (with something fresh left in the one corner).
If the party is not careful about checking corners, a harpy in the room will attack the first entrant, attacking from behind. If discovered in the corner it will fly over the top of the bunks (there’s about four feet of space, more than enough) towards the door leading towards the commander’s lounge (see 3, below). It will stand its ground against up to two opponents but will flee against three. The room, however, will not leave much room for manuevering. Note that there is a grey pillar in the middle of the room and that the space between the table and the wall is quite narrow (only two feet).
If the harpy flees, it will rush through the commander’s lounge, the mess, the kitchen and the main tavern, trying to get to the stairwell to the surface (see 6, below).
3. Commander’s Lounge. Similar to the guards’ lounge, this features two chairs (for heart-to-heart chats) and doors that lead into the commander’s quarters, the tavern’s back room and the mess. If the party asks, the door to the commander’s quarters will have the strongest smell, as the carpet inside will retain a stronger odor than the hard floor.
4. Commander’s Quarters. This is a small 6-foot square cubical large enough to contain a posh bed, trunk and (once) fine carpet. This trunk was not locked and though it contains a very excellent scimitar with a jewelled handle, that will appear to be +2 if examined, it is cursed from the harpies desecrating its magic. Along with clothes and blankets found in the truck, a lock box will contain 100 g.p. and double that amount of silver, along with a silver holy symbol with turquoise, worth another 100 g.p. The holy symbol is also cursed, so that a character possessing it will be -1 against all saving throws. The carpet will be rotting and worthless.
5. Back Tavern. The Keep includes a small area for socializing and drinking that is separated into two parts. The back tavern reaches from the commander’s lounge to the corner behind the stairs at 6. The area features a column in the bottom center of the room.
The area will include two zombies that have wandered into this space through open doors and become trapped here. It is probable that the party will dispatch them quickly, unless chance has it the party is surprised, in which case one of the zombies might get a lucky hit. Though below the surface of the yard, these zombies will only have 2 HD.
6. North Stairs. These lead to the north door of the yard (see Yard location "3"). The space is narrow (4 feet) and characters must move single file through this space.
7. Front Tavern. This area features several chairs, tables, a short bar and a tapped barrel. The barrel is dry, as the tap was left open long ago. The tavern is empty, unless the harpy from 2 has successfully fled. If that is the case, then the harpy will be hiding here, either in front of or behind the bar, depending on whether the room is entered from 5 or from 9. If the harpy is hiding in front of the bar, it will attack (surprising 3 in 6) in a way so as to keep the party from pressing forward (so that it will fight only one enemy). If pushed back, it will retreat into the corner and take a position above the barrel, where again it can only be fought in melee by one person at a time (though others can hurl weapons or fire missiles).
8. Storeroom. While the reinforced doors to this room will not bar entrance, they are ‘sticky’ and it will be apparent they haven’t been opened in a long time. The interior is filled with many boxes, crates, trunks and barrels, only marginally soiled. All the barrels have been partially unsealed for years so the contents will be evaporated or unpleasantly flat. There is no edible food here but the trunks do contain many books, pieces of kitchen ware, mugs, pottery jugs, oil lamps, bolts of cloth, small wooden articles, books and tools. One of the large crates does contain 60 bottles of rice wine that have been sealed and are still good. In all, there is probably some 400 g.p. and 2,000 s.p. worth of salvageable goods in the room.
If the party passes through the room, a random member will be attacked by a huge spider. If the combat that follows lasts more than four rounds, another member of the party will be randomly attacked by a spider (or the same person, if they are fighting alone), so long as anyone remains in the room. There are some 15 huge spiders that will attack in this manner. If magic is cast that has a pyrotechnic effect (that is, something that can be visibly seen, including a magic missile), then the sensitive nature of the spiders will be aroused and twelve will swarm the occupants of the room at once.
Once all the huge spiders have been dispatched, the phase spider will suddenly blink in, attack the party member most isolated from the others (roll surprise again). It will remain long enough to allow the party a round, if the party was not surprised, before blinking out again. The spider’s poison works like that of the snake, except that it causes 40 damage over ten rounds (assuming neutralize poison isn’t available) to those failing save. The phase spider will continue to attack until it produces an unconscious victim. If it takes more than half its hit points in damage, it will simply move into phase and remain there (unless it cannot).
9. Passageway. This space serves as access between the kitchen, tavern and storage room. Once upon a time, this was a very busy area. Each time the passage is entered, a wandering monster roll should be made to discover if the party encounters a poisonous snake from the kitchen or a huge spider from the storage room.
10. Kitchen. A cramped space with rotted food that has become so dessicated that it no longer carries a strong odor. The sacks and stores in crates will be moldy and past any value. The tables, stools and single purple-covered chairs will be soiled and ruined. The stoves have pipes that will send smoke up through the rampart wall towards the outside Keep wall.
If the party tarries in the kitchen for more than five rounds, they will draw attention from three poisonous snakes that will emerge from the drain in front of the cutting table next to the two stoves. These will slither under tables and stoves, making them difficult to attack – presume that each round it may be impossible to reach 1-3 snakes to attack them, while the snakes will still be quite capable of slithering out to attack the party.
11. Mess. This is the dining area for guards and the commander. The shorter benches are easily stepped onto in combat. Fighting from atop a bench will increase a character’s to hit by +1 while defending from atop a table will increase a character’s armor class by 1. This is helpful as the mess contains seven zombies.
Like the zombies in the back tavern (see 5, above), these will have 2 HD and have been trapped by the doors being closed. The harpy from 2 is able to rush fairly easily through the room without beign attacked by the zombies partly because it knows what’s here and has had plenty of practice dodging zombies.
12. Back Passage. This is an empty passage with only a stool at the end nearest to the Magician’s rooms (see 13, below). The passage was originally built to carry meals from the kitchen to the Lord’s chamber. There are four dead bodies of zombies in this room that have been ripped asunder by harpies, so that they are nothing but piles of mold and yellow plant-flesh. The door that separates this passage from 13 is reinforced, but a thief listening at the door will hear the shuffling zombies beyond.
If the harpy flees, it will rush through the commander’s lounge, the mess, the kitchen and the main tavern, trying to get to the stairwell to the surface (see 6, below).
3. Commander’s Lounge. Similar to the guards’ lounge, this features two chairs (for heart-to-heart chats) and doors that lead into the commander’s quarters, the tavern’s back room and the mess. If the party asks, the door to the commander’s quarters will have the strongest smell, as the carpet inside will retain a stronger odor than the hard floor.
5. Back Tavern. The Keep includes a small area for socializing and drinking that is separated into two parts. The back tavern reaches from the commander’s lounge to the corner behind the stairs at 6. The area features a column in the bottom center of the room.
The area will include two zombies that have wandered into this space through open doors and become trapped here. It is probable that the party will dispatch them quickly, unless chance has it the party is surprised, in which case one of the zombies might get a lucky hit. Though below the surface of the yard, these zombies will only have 2 HD.
6. North Stairs. These lead to the north door of the yard (see Yard location "3"). The space is narrow (4 feet) and characters must move single file through this space.
7. Front Tavern. This area features several chairs, tables, a short bar and a tapped barrel. The barrel is dry, as the tap was left open long ago. The tavern is empty, unless the harpy from 2 has successfully fled. If that is the case, then the harpy will be hiding here, either in front of or behind the bar, depending on whether the room is entered from 5 or from 9. If the harpy is hiding in front of the bar, it will attack (surprising 3 in 6) in a way so as to keep the party from pressing forward (so that it will fight only one enemy). If pushed back, it will retreat into the corner and take a position above the barrel, where again it can only be fought in melee by one person at a time (though others can hurl weapons or fire missiles).
If the party passes through the room, a random member will be attacked by a huge spider. If the combat that follows lasts more than four rounds, another member of the party will be randomly attacked by a spider (or the same person, if they are fighting alone), so long as anyone remains in the room. There are some 15 huge spiders that will attack in this manner. If magic is cast that has a pyrotechnic effect (that is, something that can be visibly seen, including a magic missile), then the sensitive nature of the spiders will be aroused and twelve will swarm the occupants of the room at once.
Once all the huge spiders have been dispatched, the phase spider will suddenly blink in, attack the party member most isolated from the others (roll surprise again). It will remain long enough to allow the party a round, if the party was not surprised, before blinking out again. The spider’s poison works like that of the snake, except that it causes 40 damage over ten rounds (assuming neutralize poison isn’t available) to those failing save. The phase spider will continue to attack until it produces an unconscious victim. If it takes more than half its hit points in damage, it will simply move into phase and remain there (unless it cannot).
10. Kitchen. A cramped space with rotted food that has become so dessicated that it no longer carries a strong odor. The sacks and stores in crates will be moldy and past any value. The tables, stools and single purple-covered chairs will be soiled and ruined. The stoves have pipes that will send smoke up through the rampart wall towards the outside Keep wall.
If the party tarries in the kitchen for more than five rounds, they will draw attention from three poisonous snakes that will emerge from the drain in front of the cutting table next to the two stoves. These will slither under tables and stoves, making them difficult to attack – presume that each round it may be impossible to reach 1-3 snakes to attack them, while the snakes will still be quite capable of slithering out to attack the party.
11. Mess. This is the dining area for guards and the commander. The shorter benches are easily stepped onto in combat. Fighting from atop a bench will increase a character’s to hit by +1 while defending from atop a table will increase a character’s armor class by 1. This is helpful as the mess contains seven zombies.
12. Back Passage. This is an empty passage with only a stool at the end nearest to the Magician’s rooms (see 13, below). The passage was originally built to carry meals from the kitchen to the Lord’s chamber. There are four dead bodies of zombies in this room that have been ripped asunder by harpies, so that they are nothing but piles of mold and yellow plant-flesh. The door that separates this passage from 13 is reinforced, but a thief listening at the door will hear the shuffling zombies beyond.
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