Wyr'palja's mausoleum

Tomb of Wyr'palja. Murals outside. Very steep, narrow stairs to entrance.

Top Level

• Aviary: Glass bird scultptures, animate like obsidian butterflies (but peircing) when anyone enters the space between the steps. Statue and pool filled with coins; might also be a Grimtooth-style "spear dips down into the pool to electrocute anyone messing with the coins" trap to discourage mortals (tomb built by dragon-blooded, after all).
• False Tomb: Find three fire pots, one five colors of jade, one moonsilver and starmetal, one orichalcum. They have faint scents. Rack of potions without labels on the outer aviary well, can match by smell or with serious botantical/alchemy skill. Disks for each circle of magic. When pots filled with correct stuff, and put in correct location, then lit, smoke swirls around white circle. For one hour, those who step on circle are teleported to second level. If mixed wrong, lethal gas. Sarcophagus itself trapped (essence explosion). Meaningful murals on all, including one map of pre-Contaigion Creation (possible hint to Parlainth-type lost cities). Hints on founding of city.

Second Level

Vestibule

Automaton, possibly something like the Feathered Serpent (which would be right in character with Wyr'palja), but more lethal. Maybe two or more. Animates when door opens. Murals with hints.

Hall of Mist

when all in room, door shuts, room fills with mist. Those inside teleported to random locations in room. Pitch dark and filled with mist. Like simulacrums of smoke. Each round, essence darts fly around, dealing damage. Pits as well. Possibly a Cloak of Deadly Automata (guardian) defends the place, scary in the smoke. Basically, best defense is not to enter.

Alchemy Workshop

The Dragon Blooded who built Wyr'palja's tomb constructed two workshops for themselves within, to hide some of her treasure from other terrestrials. One of these was an alchemy workshop which, while a pale shadow of Wyr'palja's real alchemy cathedral, remains an impressive facility.

Salt

This leather bound book, written by hand in High Realm by Wyr'palja in black ink, introduces readers to mortal alchemy, providing step by step instructions to master salt circle alchemy. While most of the book is extremely clear, roughly every tenth page is written in some kind of code, and strange symbols litter the margins throughout the book. Products of this circle are the weakest of potions, but also the easiest to make. This circle focuses on the "three essentials" of alchemy -- salt (the contractive force), sulfur (the expansive force) and quicksilver (the integrative force) -- so is sometimes called "sulfur circle" or "quicksilver circle" alchemy.

Those who follow this book's instructions and make all of its formulae can learn the thaumaturgical science of Alchemy ● without a trainer. This book includes the following formulae:

• Blood-Staunching Compress: Bandages that stop bleeding
• Hallucinogenic woad: Pain killing hallucinogen
• Court poison
• Venom-Allaying Draught (several versions): Allows mortals an automatic roll to resist poisons.
• Wound-Cleansing Unguent: Prevents infection during surgery
• Draught of Blessed Respite: Sleeping potion
• Maiden tea: Contraceptive and abortifacient.
• Philtre of Desire: Improve social interaction with a specific target.

Aether

Similar to Salt, this sharkskin bound book was also written by hand in High Realm by Wyr'palja in silver ink. This volume details the aether circle, a more advanced form of mortal alchemy. Its formulae are more complex, but also more effective. This circle focuses on the "elements" of alchemy: air, earth, fire, water and wood. More coded pages are scattered throughout this volume as well.

Those who follow this book's instructions and make all of its formulae can learn the thaumaturgical science of Alchemy ●● without a trainer. This book includes the following formulae:

• Eagle's Eye Potion: Improve eyesight.
• Final Vengeance: Allows mortals to ignore all wound penalties and succeed at Valor tests.
• Ghost flower: Allows communication with ghosts.
• Ice fern: Dream enhancer, mild divination enhancer.
• Munificent Antivenin: Counteracts poision.
• Seven bounties paste: cures disease.
• Valiant Warrior Formula: Allows an extra to be treated as a normal character.

Gold

The last of Wyr'palja's tomes on mortal alchemy, the gilded pages of this book are bound between gold covers. The gold circle described by herein represents the perfection of mortal alchemy, symbolized by the most perfect of mundane metals. Coded pages appear about twice as often in Gold.

Those who follow this book's instructions and make all of its formulae can learn the thaumaturgical science of Alchemy ●●● without a trainer. This book contain a number of so-called "Heavenly Transmutation Processes" for transmuting mundane materials into more noble, yet still mundane, materials:

• Glass into a transparent material that resists hammer blows.
• Lead into gold
• Raw iron into flawless steel
• Wood into ivory

Alkahest

The universal solvent, described in the book Alkahest.

Berith

The philosophers stone, described in the book Berith.

Celestial Phoenix Cauldrons

These two cauldrons are wide-mouthed orichalcum vessels held up by the undulating coils of a dragon with crimson gems for eyes. The the 2,000+ pound body of each is about a yard across at its widest point, with a two foot wide mouth standing about five feet tall.

These cauldrons can produce alchemical products of up to berith circle alchemy, provided the correct ingredients are added and motes committed. Nearly any alchemical recipe known to the First Age can be produced, but the cauldrons themselves provide no knowledge of these recipes whatsoever, so the user must have a formula to make something.

Instances

A pair of these are held in the vault of the Forgotten Manse.

Game Information

Summary: Large vats that mix potions
Rating: ●●●●
Commitment: 0
Activation: 5
Repair: ●●●
Materials: orichalcum

• Alchemy storage: contains anything DB's didn't understand. Forumlae for tons of stuff. Artifacts.
  • Copies of Salt, Aether, Gold, Alkehest and Berith.
  • Solvent the lunars are after.

Artificing Workshop

Books, tools, artifacts.

• Acid Rainforest: Forest of crystal trees. When far door touched, unless trigger hit, starts rain of acid.

Reality Engine

like Wonderous Globe of Precious Stability, but bigger and draws power from the wyld itself, not a hearthstone. Section of floor hides stairway to lower level.

Lower Level

Lower level has very low ceiling. Must crouch. Each section has an anteroom with possessions valuable to exalt. Filled with automaton assassins.

• Lunar: bird-based lunar. Other loot.
• Solar: spell book w/ celestial and solar spells. Other loot. On the solar side, one chamber holds the real body and the goodies, the others all hold Minions of Deadly Touch, all created by Wyr'palja and made to look exactly like her. All will pretend they were in suspended animation and that they are the real Wyr'palja. These minions also contain pocket of Elsewhere containing Wyr'palja's most prized possessions, which she entrusted to no one.
  • Minion (orichalcum earrings), Wings of the Raptor, Wyr'palja's Spellbook
  • Minion (moonsilver earrings), Wings of the Raptor, Wyr'palja's Workbook
  • Minion (starmetal earrings), Wings of the Raptor, Wyr'palja's Stylebook
  • Minion (jade earrings), Wings of the Raptor, Wyr'palja's Notebook
  • Real body (salt earrings), Wings of the Raptor.

Data

• PDF map
• Adobe Illustrator map