E2 — The Counterweight Gallery
S1-E2 · Basement Area 2 · Map Key
The Counterweight Gallery
A dry gallery overlooks the flood channel. Six pairs of soot-black counterweights hang from the ceiling, each linked to a bell-pull and a chain disappearing into the stone. Dust lies everywhere except around a squat iron chest bolted beneath the western rail.
This is the control room for the basement mechanism. The counterweights preserve the order of the twelve ash-marks, while the gallery’s dry floor gives the party a place to pause, compare notes, and decide whether to split up.
Map key
| Feature | Contents and use |
|---|---|
| Six counterweight pairs | Each pair corresponds to two matching marks. Scratches on the housings show the order in which the pairs were normally released, but the final two housings are obscured by soot. |
| Caller’s bell-pulls | Six short pulls carry sound to different parts of the foundation. A character can use them to relay a mark to S1-E1 or S1-E3 without shouting across the water. |
| Reinforced chest | Bolted beneath the western rail and sealed with a simple iron hasp. It contains six polished smoky quartz gems worth 2 gp each, a silvered gear-pin worth 5 gp, and a folded counterweight diagram naming the first four pairs. |
| Emergency chain | The black chain freezes the flood mechanism for 1 round. Its warning plate says that using it sends a shock through the mansion and alerts the level above. |
| Gallery ledge | The ledge overlooks the channel to S1-E3. A careful search finds old boot scuffs and a dropped child’s brass button, evidence that servants once crossed here during the fire. |
Treasure
Gem cache: Six smoky quartz gems (2 gp each; 12 gp total), one silvered gear-pin (5 gp), and the counterweight diagram. The diagram is a clue, not a consumable, and remains useful if the party leaves and returns.
Route: The east stair drops to S1-E1. The gallery’s south rail overlooks S1-E3, and a narrow service door leads toward S1-E4.
Challenge 3: Read the Old Sequence
Primary CheckSociety, Crafting, or Thievery DC 16.
The counterweights encode the order of the twelve ash-marks. The caller studies their wear, bell-pulls, and chain tension, then relays the next matching pair to the teams in Areas 1 and 3. This challenge ends after 1 success or 1 failure; the emergency stop can freeze the water for 1 round, but using it advances the mansion’s ash-clock.
Critical SuccessThe party reads the sequence perfectly and gains a +1 circumstance bonus to the next alignment check.
SuccessThe party learns the next matching pair and can relay it to the Intake and Sump.
FailureThe caller misreads one mark; the next alignment check is made while the flood pressure worsens.
Critical FailureA bell rings with the wrong pattern and wakes the submerged guardian early. The sequence remains recoverable, but the next alignment failure triggers the threat.