E6 — The Ember Chapel – The Lost Mansions of House Vhalek: Ash, Glass, and Thorn (imported)

S1-E6 · Basement Area 6 · Map Key

The Ember Chapel

A low chapel opens around a stone basin filled with gray ash. Copper candles stand in rows along the walls, each wick burning with a tiny ember instead of a flame. The benches face the basin, but every carved figure has turned its head toward the sealed passage leading deeper into the mansion.

The chapel was used for household ash rites and remembrance. Its rituals are practical as well as devotional: names were spoken here before dangerous work began, and a small amount of ash was carried to the furnace as an offering.

Map key

Feature	Contents and use
Ember basin	A character who places a pinch of ash into the basin sees a brief image of the last person who carried it there: a worker moving toward the furnace with a covered lantern.
Copper candles	Six candles remain lit. Extinguishing one silences the corresponding memorial name; lighting an unlit socket causes a distant bell to answer.
Memorial wall	The names of servants and family members are carved in two columns. Several names were scratched out and replaced with the same ember-shaped mark found in S1-E4.
Offering shelf	Contains a silver ash spoon, a bundle of prayer cord, and a sealed vial of clean water useful for treating ash-choked eyes.
Turned statues	The statues point toward the lower engine. Their bases conceal no secret door, but their orientation confirms the chapel’s ritual connection to S1-E9.

Choice: A respectful rite gives the party a calm moment and a clear vision; disturbing the basin makes the chapel’s embers flare and increases the mansion’s attention.

Encounter node

Crossing the chapel

Use the existing Magical Lava Moat Crossing node for the moat’s damage, rescue procedure, Lava Otter ×2 behavior, and first-level difficulty. The attached map shows the four crossings.

Treasure node

Reaching the center

Once the party reaches the central basin, use the existing The Ember Chapel Treasury node for the cache and its clue. Keep the reward details in that node only.

Unresolved connection

The open fire portal

Behind the central altar, a vertical seam of orange light hangs in the air like a door left ajar. Through it lies the Plane of Fire. The portal seems open rather than safely controlled; it is a visible hook, not an automatic forced transition.

Magical Lava Moat Crossing

Primary checksAcrobatics or Athletics DC 19 to cross by the stone bridges; Arcana or Nature DC 17 to read the moat’s pulsing safe intervals.

The lava is magical rather than ordinary fire. It flows in a square moat around the central chapel, leaving four narrow stone crossings. Each crossing is safe only while its ember-sigils pulse in sequence. The two Lava Otters use the moat freely and attack anyone who disturbs their territory.

SuccessThe party crosses and reaches the central chapel without losing treasure access.

FailureThe character slips or mistimes the crossing, taking 2d6 fire damage and drawing the Lava Otter ×2’s attention; the route remains open.

Critical failureThe character falls into the moat, takes 4d6 fire damage, falls prone, and is pulled toward a crossing by the next ember pulse; rescue is possible.

GM note — if a character falls into the lava:

Brief contact: Resolve the failure or critical failure damage already listed above: 2d6 fire on a failure or 4d6 fire on a critical failure. Treat this as a brief brush with the magical moat if the character can reach a crossing immediately.
Full immersion: If a character is submerged or ends a turn in the lava, apply 16d6 fire damage at the end of each round. This uses the low end of the Remaster’s massive environmental damage category for lava immersion. The otters ignore this damage.
Getting out: A falling character can use Grab an Edge as a reaction (Acrobatics or Reflex against DC 19, the crossing DC). On a success, they stop at the ledge; on a critical success, they also reduce any fall damage by treating the fall as 30 feet shorter. From the ledge, Climb with Athletics DC 19 to reach a stone crossing. If they are already in the moat, allow one action for Athletics DC 19 to reach the nearest ledge; success moves them 5 feet, critical success moves them 10 feet, failure makes no progress, and critical failure deals another 2d6 fire damage.
Getting aid: A helper on solid ground can spend an action preparing a rope, pole, shield, or handhold and use the Aid reaction on the victim’s next check. Use the normal Aid DC 15; success grants +1, critical success +2, and critical failure –1. A second helper can repeat this only when their preparation is meaningfully different.
Recovery: If the victim reaches 0 HP, use the normal dying rules. An adjacent ally can use Administer First Aid to stabilize them, then drag or carry them clear. Once safe, Treat Wounds and ordinary healing work normally. Never remove the crossing or the treasure because of a failed rescue—the danger should create urgency, not a dead end.

S1-E6 · Center Chapel · Treasure

The Ember Chapel Treasury

Behind the central basin, a stone reliquary opens when the last ember-sigil is touched. Inside, old household wealth has been wrapped in oilskin and sealed against the mansion’s ash.

Cache: 120 gp in mixed Nidalese coin, three fire opals worth 25 gp each, and two moderate healing potions.

Non-consumable reward: See the Sapling Shield (Minor) · Item 3 in the Treasure folder.