[OSR Challenge] Mount The Terrace...And Hearken What The Frightful Sounds Convey

Mount The Terrace...And Hearken What The Frightful Sounds Convey: A Get Ready, Get Set, Go! 3.5 Edition adventure set in a Dwarven Stronghold, but easily dropped into any stronghold or similar structure.

Get Ready:

• Hearing rumors of a great treasure, the adventurers travel to the Garduum Hold. What they find is a terrace over a beautiful garden, an odd riddle, and a dangerous secret.

Get Set:

• As the adventurers walk out on the terrace they see a beautiful hedge maze in the midst of a strangely well-kept garden. If they search the terrace they will find a small pillar with a verse etched into a bronze plate set into the pillar. The verse reads as follows:
  Confusion awaits.
  Whispers shout.
  Treasures are yours
  Unless tiny daggers win out.
  The actual treasures are up to the individual DM. They may be important weapons or a pile of gems and jewelry. The treasures are to be found at the center of the hedge maze. Bones of varying ages lie scattered along the grounds of the maze.

Go!:

• The maze itself should be at least 200' by 200' with 10' to 12' tall whispering pines making up the walls. The whispering pines have been groomed so that they grow branches flush with the ground. Between the pines are vampire rose bushes which help keep maze-goers from moving through the walls. In all actuality, the riddle likely will not be that difficult for the adventurers to decipher: “confusion” refers to the maze; the “whispers” refer to the insidious whispering pines; and the “tiny daggers” refer to the deadly thorns on the vampire rose bushes. It is possible that the simplicity of the puzzle will cause some treasure-seekers to plunge recklessly into the maze.
  
  For an added twist, a DM may include a rival adventuring party who enters the maze either just before or just after the players’ party, thus adding a combative and/or time factor into the maze puzzle.

Notable Hazards:

• Whispering Pines: See Dragon Magazine #119 (updated to Third Edition and found in the Creature Catalog.


• Vampire Rose Bushes: See Dungeon Magazine #84, p.84.

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This is the fifteenth of 26 adventures that I will be sharing over the month of September. They are designed for use with edition 3.5 of the world’s most popular fantasy RPG, although they can be easily dropped into any fantasy setting (or modern/sci-fi setting with a little work). These posts are a part of Asshat Paladin’s OSR Short Adventure Challenge , and utilize his Get Ready, Get Set, Go! Format.
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