Level 6 - Seylon's Suite

Updated

This level of the tower was Seylon's personal chambers in the tower. Inside this level there is a Time-Preservation Field: Food/wine here remain pristine; if removed from this level, rots in 1 minute. Short rests taken here feel "timeless" (short rests fully heal the player without spending hit dice).

Rooms

Study

A cool, blue-tinged light filters through tall windows. Three desks sag under avalanches of notes—ink-blots, crossed-out formulae, half-sketched constellations.

An oval blue rug centers the room and a circular glass table sits atop it like a lens on an eye.
In the corner, a stone statue of a scholar wears a crooked purple hat and cradles an open book of poetry.

In the study, scribblings on notes are uninteresting.

Poetry Tome: Open on a verse about the cruelty of young death. Reading it aloud wakes the statue:

“Too soon the stars grow tired,
too soon the bloom turns gray.
The child's laugh is swallowed,
the dawn forgets her play.

Cruel is youth's unkindness,
the theft of mortal breath.
Crueler still the silence
that lingers after death.

I would turn the clocks to cinders,
unmake the carefree sky,
if only I could somehow break the wretched hand of time

The Statue (guide, not a fight—unless provoked)

  • Wakes line: “Cruelty of young death… and cruelty of time that hoards what it took.”
  • If asked for help and a PC places Lyra's Wake (the ring) on the glass table, the statue bows and shares a calm hint:
    • “Three paths, three coordinates: Align them, and the door will obey.”
  • If attacked: Treat as Animated Statue (AC 16, HP 45, slam +5 for 1d8+3). When reduced to 0 HP, it collapses and reveals a crystal lens (see item).

What the Hidden Texts Say (under the lens)

  • Desk A (Star-Maps): “Sky-Coordinate: AURORA” (a stylized snowflake-glyph) + note: “For Hollow spiders, chase the dawn.”
  • Desk B (Runic Geography): “Earth-Coordinate: FANG” (a fang-shaped rune) + sketch of icy webs.
  • Desk C (Soulwork Notes): “Heart-Coordinate: HOLLOW” (a hollow ring sigil) + the line “She laughed at the frost.”

These three are the portal runes for Icespider Hollow (see Portal Room).

Clue Trail: If the players miss the table trick, the statue will “clear its throat” and angle its open book so light hits the table—granting advantage on the next Investigation check to solve the lens puzzle.

Bedroom

The next room is Seylon's bedroom. Inside the bedroom there is a chest with special items in it. The chest is magically locked. There is also a leaky pensive which will show memories of Lyra. There is a crystal ball emitting a loud noise and a spiral. If a player touches the ball, they must make a DC 15 saving throw or be stunned staring into it. Unable to willingly let go of the ball (should make this an item). Getting within 6 inches of the ball triggers the hypnotic effect, so even if you pick it up with something else, it causes the effect. There is a rack of wine with 12 bottles of Mirto's Coastal Red. Remarkably (presumably magically) preserved. There is a giant dragon head above a cupboard (sock drawer). Next to the dragon's head is a wall with a secret door. If the chest moves at all the dragon breathes fire to damage everyone in a cone in front of it (Burning Hands). There are some envelopes and messages lying around. Minor notes from random people - nothing of import.

The chest can only be opened with the key found in the Hidden Library

Leaky Pensive

The silver surface ripples like breath across water. As you lean closer, the reflection trembles—then deepens into color, light, and scent. A warm breeze, the smell of parchment and rosemary, and a child’s laughter spill into the air.

You stand in a sunlit courtyard, impossibly bright compared to the chill of the tower. Ivy curls up the stone walls, and chalk drawings sprawl across the flagstones—constellations in crooked lines, joined by little stars and smiling moons.

A man kneels beside a young girl, perhaps nine. His robes are plain but clean, sleeves rolled to the elbow. He watches her with the distracted tenderness of someone who has forgotten what it means to rest.

Girl: (beaming) “This one’s The Sleepy Snake! See? He’s curled around the moon!”
Man: (chuckling softly) “A fine serpent indeed. But you’ve forgotten his eye.”
Girl: “No! The moon is his eye. He’s dreaming. When he wakes, he’ll open it and the stars will shine again.”
Man: “You have an answer for everything, Lyra.”
(she grins in response, proud and unblinking)

He conjures a faint shimmer from his wand—lines of silver light tracing over the chalk in a gentle pulse. The courtyard fills with reflected stars. Lyra gasps, delighted.

Lyra: “Make it stay forever!”
Man: (hesitant) “Forever is a heavy word, little one.”
Lyra: “Then make it almost forever.”

He smiles faintly, lifts his wand, and whispers a word the air seems to resist. The glowing lines flare brighter, freezing in place like etched starlight.
Then—
—a cough. Small, sharp. Lyra’s chalk drops from her hand. She presses a sleeve to her mouth, and a bright red bloom stains the fabric.

The man freezes. His wand lowers. For a heartbeat, even the silver lines stop glowing.

The scene shatters.

The light fades to gray. The courtyard is the same, but years have passed. The drawings are weathered ghosts of their former selves. The man kneels alone where she once sat, tracing the cracked lines with a trembling hand.

Man (hoarse whisper): “Almost forever… I can do better. Time will not take her.”

The sound fractures, like glass breaking underwater.

Portal Room

There is a secret portal room in the center of this level that will transport people to random locations outside of Hogwarts. Each time the portal is used, its magic is drained and cannot be used for another week:

TODO: Add mechanic to tune the portal so they can control where it goes?

Kitchen

This is the room that leads to the next level. All the food is real and nourishes them, but if they try to take it to another level it rots immediately. It's like this level in the tower is preserved by time (that's how the wine is preserved). A small herb garden grows wild along one wall. The plants try to entangle people who get too close. Many of the books in here are standard recipe books. Some are potion books. There is a magical bookshelf of glowing tomes. The shelf is enchanted so that he books disappear as soon as you touch them (no solution to this, kind of a red herring).

Door to Next Level

A stone door with a riddle written on it that fire reveals: