Encounter

The Hall of Blades

Puzzle

Area O2 — The Hall of Blades

A vast circular chamber, sixty feet across. Thousands of rusted swords are buried point-down in the stone floor, forming a dense forest of steel. At the center, a raised platform holds a single pristine blade — a crusader's longsword that still gleams. The exit to the north is sealed by a wall of force.

The Puzzle: The swords are arranged in a pattern. Close inspection (Perception DC 18 or Religion DC 16) reveals they form the Spiral of Pharasma — but the spiral is broken at seven points where blades are missing or misplaced.

To open the path, the party must:

  1. Identify the seven broken points (Investigation/Perception).
  2. Replace the missing blades with swords from the surrounding field (seven correct blades; wrong blades trigger a trap).
  3. Turn the central crusader's blade to complete the spiral.

Trap: Each wrong blade placed triggers a Blade Storm in a 15-foot cone (attack +14, 2d8+4 slashing, DC 20 Reflex for half). The trap resets after 1 minute.

Reward: Completing the puzzle opens the northern door and reveals the crusader's blade is a +1 striking longsword with the ghost touch property.