E1 — The Ash Intake
S1-E1 · Basement Area 1 · Map Key
The Ash Intake
A round cistern occupies the chamber. Twelve iron wheels ring its rim, each stamped with a different ash-mark. Water pushes through the lowest gate and rushes toward the central channel. Along the south wall, a waterlogged wooden gate sags on iron straps, its seams dark with seepage.
This room is the intake and first readable part of the basement machine. The wheels are arranged as six matched pairs; each turned wheel sends a dark ripple downstream toward S1-E3.
Map key
| Feature | Contents and use |
|---|---|
| Twelve ash-wheels | Six matched pairs stamped with the same symbols used on the basin-stones in S1-E3. The wheels are stiff but intact; their markings are the first clear clue to the basement’s sequence. |
| Intake gate | A low iron gate admits water from a buried channel. Its brass inspection plate is engraved with the phrase “what enters must be named.” |
| Wooden gate | A swollen, iron-banded gate bars a maintenance access along the south wall. It can be opened with time and leverage, but forcing it makes a heavy crack that carries through the foundation. Beyond it are old service marks and a dry route back toward S1-E2. |
| Ripple channel | When a wheel is turned, its mark travels through the water as a brief gray shimmer. The ripple can be seen from S1-E3 and gives the party a way to coordinate the two rooms. |
| Maintenance niche | Behind a removable grate are an oil flask, a brass wheel-pin, and a soot-stained maintenance card showing that the intake was serviced from S1-E2. |
Route: The north passage leads to S1-E2. The spillway descends toward S1-E3; the party can move between those rooms while the mechanism remains active.
S1-E1 — Ash Intake Challenge: Read and Turn the Wheels
Primary CheckPerception or Crafting DC 16 to identify a matched pair; Thievery or Athletics DC 16 to turn the wheel.
The party reads the ash-marks stamped around the cistern, identifies which two wheels form a pair, and turns the matching intake wheel against the flood. Each successful turn sends the correct mark downstream toward S1-E3 — The Twelvefold Sump and reveals the next pair. Achieve 2 successes before 2 failures. After each failure, the water rises one step; at 2 failures, the intake floods and the party spends 1 round clearing the channel before continuing.
Critical SuccessThe wheel locks cleanly. Count 2 successes, reveal the next mark, and the operator avoids the surge.
SuccessThe correct mark travels toward S1-E3 — The Twelvefold Sump and the next pair becomes visible.
FailureThe wrong mark floods the channel and raises the water one step. Count 1 failure.
Critical FailureThe wheel jams and sprays the operator with scalding ash-water. Count 1 failure and increase the water level immediately.