GURPS King in Yellow

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The Present of Lucia Delli Santi
Who are you Lucia Delli Santi? A sweet girl, a woman to marry or a whore? Have you made a career with your mental skills or have you used the art of seduction to get where you are? Would your daddy be happy with you or would he deny you and what you have become? You will stop at nothing for a promotion, you will endanger your fellow adventurers in order to kill the scions and, among them, Elena. But before you get to the witch you will have to defeat me, Aurora, and before me you will have to face Malice, Conceit, Deceitfulness.
Lucia is located on a high tower, which communicates with another through a walkway. On the other side of the catwalk, on the twin tower, there is a horrible creature, vaguely like a leopard, with six snakes coming out of his shoulders (it is a Wicked Predator. See Monster Compendium, pag. 468).
If he manages to defeat the beast, and move to the other tower, she will see that this features a trap door that leads downwards. Here the environment is completely in the dark. Lucia hears a noise behind her and sees a huge creature that is a cross between a cockroach and a bird, with sharp blades instead of the front legs (it is a Hook Horror. See Monster Compendium, pag. 278).
Arriving at the bottom of the tower, Lucia is in a large tree-lined garden. Something on the left draws her attention, she turns and sees a little squirrel on a huge tree trunk. The little creature looks sore and in fact has a broken leg. If Lucia approaches she will be able to see that the squirrel is nothing more than a small corpse and that the squeak comes from the trunk. At that point the creature, a Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing (see Monster Compendium, page 474), will hit.
After this experience, the three will appear in a large hall; in the middle of the room, there's a corpse of a man dressed in torn cassock, with crushed skull. All around the walls, the furnshings, the banners make the heroes think that the location is a ruined temple and the the dead man was a monk. With a dull sound the furnshings, the ceiling and the walls crack superficially and join together, assuming a vaguely humanoid shape. The creature is an "Abandoned Temple" (See Monster Compendium, pag. 20).
As soon as the PCs leave this room, a twisted and maimed body is being dropped in front of them. The creature which murdered the man is 21 feet tall, with a bulging, round belly and the head of a grimacing elephant (it is a Behemoth, see Monster Compendium, pag.68). The arena is full of exultant people which appear to rejoice of the man's pain. Upon trumpeting, the creature attacks the heroes fiercely. Once murdered the horror, the people on the bleachers will try to flee chaotically.
Entering any door of the arena, the Heroes will see something disconcerting: the walls of this room are packed with huge tanks. Inside each tank there's a corpse or a carcass of several types of magical beast, preserved by naphtalene. The PCs have the clear perception they are being observed. When the heroes see glass splinters falling down the ceiling, it's too late: a hideous, huge creature swoops in on them. The horror scrabble at the air, in a shambling way. The stench, the view are unbearable. The creature is none other than a mass of corpses which has a form reminiscent of a centipede (see Monster Compendium, pag.93, Centipede-Zombie).
If the heroes defeat the Centipede, appear in an area which appears to be an airstrip for modern airplanes, where there's a wrecked jumbo jet, circled by numerous, terror struck people. Above them, three levitating stone creatures, with a fangs-filled maw. Suddenly, the horrors dive for the wretches, butchering, mutilating and feasting. The heroes have to enter in the wreck to move the mechanism and there they will find the doors for the next rooms. The creatures are "Langoliers" (see Monster Compendium pag 303).
“The lever is very resistant but after some attempts yields. A door opens that leads downward into a disconcerting looking room. It is a classic magical laboratory, with alembics, scrolls and tomes. There's a big difference: it is bottom upward!! The tables, the bookshelves, the furniture are fastened to the ceiling. You, on the contrary, are anchored at the floor. You can see a strange creature walking with its feet fixed on the ceiling, upside down, which in turn looks at you. It is ...... a white rabbit, dressed in a waistcoat and tie, and stands on its hind legs. (Ferryman, see Monster Compendium, pag. 214).” The creature is considered one of the Bride's most trusted servants. In reality he hates her deeply and will do everything in his power to end the life of the Witch and her daughters. Sensing that the heroes may be the key to their freedom, Ferryman will promptly deliver a pair of shears to the heroes and then take them to Aurora, to have her killed.
“These”, Ferryman tells you, “are phasic shears and can cut the fabric with which the Bride weaves reality. Once that fabric is cut, the witch will not be able to bring back the time”.
That said, the Ferryman twirls its staff and carries you in front of Aurora.
You see a large clearing in the middle of what looks like a black forest. it's a new moon night. The only light that allows you to see the surrounding environment comes from the trunk of a huge and twisted tree whose branches are hung some corpses. All around is a real Sabbath. There are only women who mate with each other. One of these is resting against the trunk of the tree, swaying with pelvic movements, as if it were having sex with the trunk itself.
As soon as she sees you, Aurora breaks into a sneer and leaves the trunk. He murmurs a few words and suddenly this starts moving, using the roots like legs. He throws himself at you, trying to crush you with the heavy branches.
The creature is a Gallow Tree (see Monster Compendium, pag. 224). As written in the description of the creature, the only way to kill the tree is to destroy the corpses hanging from the branches.
As if this were not enough Aurora, which is a powerful Octopus Hag (see Monster Compendium, pag. 256), will attack with its own tentacles. The combination of the two attacks will be lethal for almost any group of adventurers ...
If the heroes were able to survive and kill the young witch, they will reappear before the doors of Maria and Elena.

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Maria and the Future
You appear in an area that you know well: Piazza Maggiore in Bologna. Heaven is crimson and an unhealthy light shines through the clouds. Suddenly the sky breaks open and appears what you could call an authentic abomination, so big that it could not contain it in your eyes. The being is composed of many, overexposed hands and from the palm of these comes out a single, reddish, abnormal eye that seems to scrutinize you ".
The creature in heaven is nothing but one of the representations of the King in Yellow, but heroes need not necessarily be said.
"You hear a voice in your heads, a feminine, insinuating and persuasive voice that seems to deride you. -This is your future and the future of the world- says Maria -the King will dominate everything and everyone-". Suddenly from the clouds a swarm of beings falls on you. Before you can see the features of your assailants, a roar of bullets comes down from above, almost investing. Just in time to take cover, when you can see that the creatures are nothing but muscular men with large bat-like wings sprouting from the shoulders and submachine guns in their hands. "The battle with the Airborne Troopers (see Monster Compendium, p. 29) must be excited, being powerful and intelligent creatures, but even more awful is what awaits the PCs when the battle is over.
"Your blows fall on the last of the Troopers when the pupil of the demonic eye turns on fire and breaks open, leaving free a fiery being who in a few seconds is on the ground, with all his implacable hatred and his destructive fury The creature is vaguely humanoid, sprinkled with flames.In his right hand he holds a huge luminescent sword and in his left hand a whip made entirely of flames.The creature is a Balor (see Monster Compendium, page 64), an extremely powerful and dangerous being.
The flames of the battle with the Balor are reduced, until they are completely extinguished. Now you see the shape of a throne, on which sits a woman dressed succinctly. You can see, with disgust, that the throne is made of human skulls. The woman smiles at you. You recognize her as Maria. She looks at you with pride and, coming down from the throne, approaches you. At every single step the woman becomes taller, more massive and her complexion becomes more and more reddish. You see with great surprise that two arms grow on her shoulders, adding to the other two.
"See, my friends" Maria's voice has become metallic, much more rigorous "exposure to my father and lover has had this effect on me. Now, with the great power given to me by the King in Yellow, I will crush your skulls and I will **** in your throats ".
Maria is a cross between a Gamma Horror (see Monster Compendium, pag. 226) and a Watcher at the Edge of Time (see Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1, pag. 34). Its strength and speed will be a challenge for any group, no matter how powerful.
Maria's waist is surrounded by a kind of rope, held like a belt. The rope is none other than the Golden Strand of Elena, donated by the witch to the most powerful daughter.
Once the Golden Strand is stolen, the heroes will be able to get to Elena without having to face the tetramaze (see below) and face the other inhabitants of the Void.
If the heroes were to defeat Mary, they would find themselves in front of the door of the Mater Suspiriorum.

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Finally you see her: the Bride. She is standing suspended in the Void.
You also walk in the Void, but strangely, although there are no borders to any cardinal point, both you and the Witch are at the same level and you can look her directly into eyes.
"You dared to enter my shop, kill my servants and come to my presence, bastards! Damn it! It's time for you to come to know the pain!"
Elena is the most powerful of the Rift Hag. His power goes far beyond man's understanding. Nevertheless, as explained by Einstein found in the territory of Elisabetta, it can be killed.
In addition to the powers of every Rift Hag, Elena has the ability to rewind time when she is killed, three times a day. This, in game terms, allows her to come back to life, at full strength, three times during the fight.
On one thing you need to be sure: even killing her only once will be almost impossible.
There is only one way to prevent Elena from rewinding time: destroying the fabric she is holding with the shears donated by Ferryman.
Moreover, Elena is immune to almost any type of attack, except for those coming from weapons plated, or totally composed, from silver. A weapon, however, can end his life exactly like that of a normal person: the Bodeo donated by Einstein. If Elena were to be hit on the skull or the vital organs by the phasic projectile she would have finished off.

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The Riddler


Gerardo always loved the role-playing games. He was a nerd, a geek. He was.
Now, Gerardo is the most powerful metahuman in the world. He has the ability to change the surroundings, by altering it at will.
The boy, nineteen years old, is utterly crazy: his love for the RPG's and the black magic fused together when he found an old black-cover book with three yellow marks.
Gerardo, by reading those pages, suffered from terrible pains, and was born the Riddler.
Dying, Gerardo reached Grizzana Morandi, a town in the province of Bologna, and occupied the Castle of Rocchetta, on the hilltop.
With his mere presence, the boy turned the beautiful castle in a hideous dungeon, full of monsters, traps, and above all...... riddles.
The Riddler is a "Master of Creation", a god-like creature. Only the most powerful spell in the book "The King in Yellow" is able to turn a simple teenager in such a creature.

Grizzana Morandi is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Bologna, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Bologna. The town has for long been a popular summer holiday resort, located in the mountains between the valleys of the rivers Reno and Setta.
Originally simply 'Grizzana', the 'Morandi' was, in 1985, added as an honorarium to the Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, who died in 1964. Morandi rarely travelled from his home and studio in Bologna, but visited Grizzana every year from 1913 for a summer holiday period, and many of his landscape paintings are of the town and its immediate surrounds. The town also hosts a centre for documentation about Giorgio Morandi (Centro di documentazione Giorgio Morandi) which has an interesting collection of documents on the painter and local history.

Particularly, the Castle of Rocchetta is a stronghold built in the nineteenth-century. It blends eclettically medieval and moorish styles.
The whole series of buildings that make up the present-day castle is placed on a medieval complex.
A wide stairway leads to the built-up area’s hallway. A huge dragon statue is placed to guard the entry, that brings to a hewn out of rock courtyard. Two caryatid-wise gnomes support the front-door jamb. In the centre of the court there’s a monolith-basin
In the left side, a door brings to a spiral staircase and then to the magnificent portico (Loggia Carolina) in the oriental style. The “Tower Stairway” leads, across a bascule bridge, to a little room, with tiny windows and stalactiform ceiling, that was the bedroom of the Count Cesar Mattei. In front there’s the “Vision Stairway” and beyond the “English Room”, on the major keep.
Close to the “Loggia Carolina” there’re the “White Room” and the “Turkish Room”. After a brief tract of open rock, at the same time crag and balcony, there’s the “Lions Courtyard” and, sideward, a vast choir loft that towers above the Castle church. The mortal remains of Cesare Mattei rest in this place.
Across the Lions Courtyard, one comes in the “War Hall” and then in the “Music Hall”. The itinerary ends up in the “Hall of 90 Madmen”.
Finally, the whole area is encircled by a huge, ghastly park.

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The structure of this castle is intricate, so its depiction will happen in four separate stages.

I- the “public areas”

1. the guardian: wide and twisted entrance steps lead upward, to a huge courtyard. In the middle there's a hideous, big statue representing a red dragon. Since Gerardo has taken over the castle, several incursions by police gunships have been stopped by the statue coming alive.
The monster has destroyed the choppers with its fiery breath and its claws. It is almost invincible. The one and only weak point of the dragon is a stone in the middle of forehead.
2. The entrance: upon destroying the dragon, the heroes see in the distance the door to the castle. The door is enormous and at the sides of it there're two blockhouses each containing a machinegun. Appeared out of thin air, a soldier, with the italian royal uniform, knocks on the door. From within, another man shouts “dodici” (twelve). The soldier answers “sei” (six) and the door opens and he goes in.
Suddenly, arrives another soldier. The sentry inside the complex shouts “otto” (eight) and the soldier answers “quattro” (four). As before, the door opens.
A third person enter the stronghold upon yelling “cinque” (five) to the sentry shouting “dieci” (ten).
A four man approaches the door. From inside, the guard says “quattro” and the man answers “due”. At this point the two machineguns start the engines and riddle the man with bullets.
The correct reply was “sette” (seven). The man approaching the door must state the number of letters of the word representing the value suggested by the sentry.
If the heroes approach the doors, the sentry will shout “due”, they must say “tre” (three).
3. Hallway: there's half a dozen men in fighting trim. The heroes shudder at the sight of these soldiers: they are fuzzy, pointy-eared and tailed humanoids. The sentries have the muzzle of a rat and smell horribly.
The rat-men are armed to the teeth, with machineguns, rifles and sub-machine guns. Their assignment is fighting back a probable police's or army's raid.
If the heroes answered correctly to the aforesaid question, the rat-men merely look askance to them. Otherwise they fight to the death.
4. The courtyard of the cricket-player nursemaid: once the heroes enter the courtyard, they listen to a sweet melody coming from above. The music is “the Musical Box” song by Genesis. The song is reiterated in loop.
On the lawn a young maid is skating. In place of roller-skates, she has two disproportionate wheels. The girls wields a cricket bat, which uses to strike a few balls. Almost immediately, the heroes become conscious that the balls are heads!!!
The nursemaid gets closer, whistling gaily the Genesis tune, and, beaming to the heroes, says: “they failed miserably.... Answer correctly to this simple question, and i will take you to the other rooms. Otherwise, i shall kill you.
What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a head but never weeps?”
The answer is “the river”. If the heroes reply correctly, the nursemaid will escort the them to the Chappel (11), showing them how to awaken the Count Mattei's ghost.
If the protagonists get the answer wrong or if they decide to attack the nursemaid, she fights back with her bat and her magic.
5. The stupid's argument: when the protagonist enter this room they see two wild-eyed men that quarrel in a lively way. Behind them there's a cupboard full of crystal glasses. At the men's feet there are scores of glasses in fragments. The first man says to the latter: “i've told you that it's not possible to drop a glass for one yard without it gets broken.” The other man replies “Ahahahaha, and i've told you that it is possible, billy-goat. You are only too dumb to figure out how.”
The two men wield dangerously large knives. “ehi, friends...... Do you wish give us a display of your cleverness?”
The trick is to drop the glass for more than one yard, so that it can fall for a yard in mid-air without it gets broken.
If the heroes guess the right answer, the men give away a glass full of green, stinking liquid. The fluid, despite its look, is a powerful medicine which can treat even the most serious wounds (3d). There's enough liquid for only one person.
Of course, if the heroes wave, the two men will attack with their knives.

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6. The dining room: a brilliant light comes from the skylight, illuminating the people at the table. They have a foxlike face and eat voraciously. They are prettily dressed but on their clothes there're several crimson stains. If the heroes approach them, they can listen to the men and the woman talking about politics. After a very little, the PC's will figure out that the table companions aren't really liberals.... The PC's have the creeps when see that the dishes are actually small human organs: ears, eyes, noses, etc.
As they're talking, their face undergo a transformation, becoming alike hyena's. It's only then that the hyena-men notice the PCs. They will not attack straight away, but put a few questions to the PCs to test their political disposition. If it is obvious that the heroes don't like the extreme Right , the hiena-men will tear to pieces them, otherwise they will let go the PCs.
7. Flamingo's Room: a magnificent expanse of water appears to the PCs when they enter the room. Three beautiful flamingos clean their feathers in the pool, staring at the heroes. They have red eyes and wicked stare. On the left wall there's the inscription: “the three flamingos belong to either the yellow tribe or the violet tribe. The members of the yellow tribe lie on all occasions while the members of the violet tribe tell always the truth. Only a member of the violet tribe will bring to the salvation while the member of the yellow tribe will bring to the destruction”
The PCs have three choices: to let the flamingos go, running through the expanse of water; to attack without distinction the flamingos; to talk to flamingos, asking their tribe.
In the first possibility, the PCs may go beyond the room safely. If the heroes attack the flamingos, one of them will turn into a Manticore (Monster Compendium p. 321) and will fight back the heroes.
If the PCs ask the birds their tribe, one of them will answer in a unknown tongue. The second flamingo will say: “it said to be a yellow one”. The third flamingo will yell “you lied”. The PCs have to figure out which flamingo is a violet flamingo (that will bring to the salvation) and which flamingo is a yellow flamingo (that will bring to destruction).
The first bird and the third one are of course a violet flamingos: they tell always the truth. Actually, the first bird for sure answered “i'm a violet one”. If it is a violet one, it answered this way because it tells always the truth. If it is a yellow one, it answered to be a violet one because it lies on all occasions. The second bird lied for sure when it said the first flamingo is a yellow one. The third bird, by stating the second flamingo lies, says the truth and it is therefore a violet flamingo.
If the heroes drop the hint that they figured out the solution, the first and the third bird turn into two gryphons, carrying the PCs to the second stage, room X. Otherwise, the yellow bird will turn into a Manticore and will attack the PCs.
8. Hall of 90 Madmen: it is a round, huge room, splendidly furnished. Along the wall there're 90 skulls hanging from the ceiling with golden thread. On the forehead of each skull there's a number, from 1 to 90. In the middle of the hall, an armored skeleton is resting on a silver throne. In the right hand it holds a long sword and in the left one it holds a scroll. If the PCs approach the skeleton, they can read on the scroll: “i spent 1/4 of my life as a kid, 1/5 as a young man, 1/3 as an adult and 13 years as an elderly man. How many years i lived?”
The correct answer is “60”. The unknow is the lifespan of the dead warrior, so
x = 1/4x + 1/5x + 1/3 x + 13
x = x (1/4 + 1/5 +1/3) + 13
13 = x (1 - 1/4 - 1/5 - 1/3)
13/(60 - 47) /60 = x
60x = 13/13/60
x = 60
If the PCs pull or destroy the sixtieth skull, will come down from the ceiling a ladder that will bring to the attic (IX room). If the PCs pull another skull, will open a trapdoor that will bring downwards. Under this room there's a extremely cruel critter: Bloodbeast (see Monster Compendium pag. 81)
9. The Attic: a room wrapped in darkness looms ahead the PCs. Only a beam of light from the ceiling cuts a swath in the area (about 3 hexes across). On the floor, just in the middle of the area lit up by the beam, there's a golden key. It lies on a greenish puddle.
The room is the lair of a “Pendulum Ghoul” (see Creatures of the Night, 2, pag. 8). The key is one of the four keys that will unlock the “Gerardo Tower” (see below). The pool is made of the Ghoul's goo (see description of the critter) and as soon as the heroes will get stuck by the goo, the Ghoul will attack.

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10. The Chapel Stairway: an ample staircase, leading upward, entirely shrouded in cobwebs. Tiny, hideous, black spiders climb up from the cracks of the marble floor. At the end of the stairway, a huge, humanoid creature, partly concealed by the spiderwebs, waits for passers-by. The horror is an “Araknor” (see Monster Compendium pag. 44). The creature at first will let the man-eater spiders attack the PCs. When the PCs will be worn out, the Araknor will strike with its claws, nagigata and maul.
11. The Chapel: arches and pillars multiply in this vast and dark hall, and the wooden ceiling overhangs a black pulpit decorated with obscene yellow signs. On the pulpit side there is the writing “Rest in Peace, Count Mattei, until the pendulum clock will decide, within seven minutes, when you wake up. Those who read these words will not know when you rise again till the same minute of your rebirth. Only if the readers will guess when you awake, you won't kill them”. Suddenly, The PCs hear the mighty stroke of the clock behind the pulpit....
The correct answer is “The Count can awake in any one of the seven minutes”. The reasoning is somewhat intricate: the rebirth cannot happen the last minute, otherwise, when will come the sixth minute without the Count awaking, the readers will figure out that the waking up will happen in the next minute. It cannot be the sixth minute, otherwise in the previous minute the heroes will figure out that the awakening will happen in the sixth one. One rules out the sixth minute, too. And so on till the first minute, but, because the writing on the pulpit establishes it isn't possible to figure out in advance when the Count will rise again. It will be necessary to rule out the first minute, too. The only possible outcome is that Mattei won't wake up within seven minutes. Now the PCs think the Count will not rise again, he can rise from the dead in any one of the seven minutes.
If the PC, within 30 seconds, not figure out the solution, Mattei comes out of the grave and attacks them. He is a “Blindwraith” (see Monster Compendium, pag. 79). If the heroes slay the Count, on his corpse they will find a silver key that will unlock the Gerardo Tower (see below).
If they answer rightly, only a hand of the Count will come out of the grave with the key.

II- the Sancta Sanctorum

1. The courtyard of the cricket-player nursemaid: see above. This section is shared between the first and the second path. Of course, if the PCs return here after completing the first path, they won't run into the nurse again.
2. Entrance hall: a medium-sized, dimly-lit hall. The curtains and the furnishings cast disturbing shadows on the walls. In this room, too, the danger lies in ambush: the room is the lair of two “Shadow Warrior” (see Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 3, pag. 21). They attack in concert and give no respite to intruders.
3. Heraldic spiral staircase: on the door that open to stairwell there's the writing: “be careful with what you see, it can look like a thing and to be another one”. If the heroes cross the threshold, they can see a wide spiral staircase that leads upwards. The PCs hear moaning from above. By ascending the stairs, they see three women in tears, chained against the wall. “i'm a woman” says the first person “the others are two monsters”.
“I am the woman” says the second person. The third woman says : “only one of three of us tell the truth”.
Only the third woman is truly a woman. The others are “Clay Faces” (see Monster Compendium, pag. 109). The PCs can distinguish them because if the third woman lies, her statement should be untrue, so there are two possibility: or the other two women both tell the truth or both lie. The first event can't happen as the statements of the two women are conflicting each other, so the first two women lie and, as a result, only the third woman is a true woman. If, on the contrary, the third woman tell the truth, she's the only one between the three to tell the truth: none of the other two is a true woman.
When discovered, the two Clay-Faces will attack the PCs but won't be able to lay an ambush. Otherwise, they will attack deviously at the first opportunity.

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4. Carolingian loggia: this magnificent room hides a terrible and insidious trap. Ornaments apart, the room is a standard dungeon room with doors in the east and west walls. In the north wall, there is a small niche with a lantern flickering in it. The south wall contains a much larger niche which is home to a chest. The floor is covered by the Carolingian Carpet, an abstract melange of metal, cloth, leather, and perhaps a bone fragment or two. The ceiling is placed on a time delay as soon as a door is opened. After two minutes have passed, the ceiling will begin to come down and the air pressure will cause both doors to shut. The air pressure in the now closed room will increase as the ceiling drops to where the air pressure will let it. Ears will pop, and the new level of the ceiling will probably be noticed. If either of the doors is opened, the air in the room can escape, and the delvers will become the new additons to the Carolingian Carpet. If either the chest or the lamp is moved, a slow leak will develop and the roof will sink towards the floor. Once the ceiling has gotten low enough, the doors cannot be opened, and neither door is strong enough to hold the ceiling up. The most sinister aspect of this trap is that one or two people could save themselves by standing in the alcoves. What a fight there ought to be for that place of honor.
There's another way to exit from this room: by opening the chest, the heroes can see 11 amphoras and a few dozen marbles. In the first amphora there's nothing. In the second one there's one marble, and then again in the third amphora. In the fourth one there are two marbles and in the fifth one there are three. In the sixth, seventh and eighth amphora there are five, eight and thirteen marbles. In the ninth amphora there's twenty-one marbles and in the tenth one, thirty-four. In the end, in the last amphora, there's nothing.
The PCs have to put in the last amphora 55 marbles: each number is the sum of the two previous numbers.
One must keep in mind that the PCs have just 20 seconds to solve the riddle.
5. The white room: in the middle of this small room there is a tall, ivory white, statue. The walls of this room are totally white, too, and the statue passes unobserved.
The statue is an animate creature: the Sensitive Statue of Cotillac (see Monster Compendium, pag. 394). When the PCs enter the room, they feel funny and begin to lose their senses (see creature's description). If the heroes manage to defeat the creature, they can find in the room three powerful lozenges that cure the worst wounds (4d).
6. The drawbridge: an ample spiral staircase leads to a ruined drawbridge. The bridge is severed in the middle. Between the two parts of the structure there's a gap of several yards. Rolled at any one of the beams below there's a huge Anaconda (see Monster Compendium, pag. 32). As soon as the PCs try to leap beyond the gap, they will be attacked by the beast beneath the structure, going towards certain death.
Whoever arrives onto the bridge can see, on the doorway above them, a kind of giant lens reflecting the light from above. Beside the lens there is a lever controlling the angle of refraction. There's also a sequence of numbers: 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63 and a blank slide rule. The PCs should realize to have to solve the numerical riddle to go beyond the gap. The solution is very simple (127) and when the lens is positioned, jumping will be relatively sure because the beast below will be blinded by the reflection.
7. The bedroom of the Count' mother: this wide room with no frills is cast in semi-darkness. The dim light of the fireplace illuminate an huge, rough figure in a corner of the room. The creature speaks in a gargling voice when proceed slowly to the PCs. This horror is a Womb Man (see Monster Compendium, pag. 476). It will try to catch the PCs and to force them into its belly.
As well as the mothers give birth to human beings, the Womb Men destroy them. Inside the creature's belly the heroes can see remnants of other persons.
8. The portico and the purple staircase: upon entering this room, the PCs can see four shady characters. The creatures resemble human but have gray skin and eyes that are lustrous black orbs, like a raven’s. The shadows around them seem to deepen as they move. They wear loose dark garments, with complex but subtle designs. Hair is worn long, elaborately shaved, styled, and braided. The creatures have patterns of tattoos and scarifications, as well as many piercings. They are Shadar-Kai (see Monster Compendium, pag. 398).
They handle with nonchalance polished, deadly-looking guns and look askance at the heroes. Then they burst out laughing. 'And so you are those who caused so many problems, tonight.... i'm impressed“ say the Shadar-kai who seems the boss. ' we are the children of the Count. We don't like at all you try to destroy the castle of our father and its current owner. We would like kill you, but our master is a very fanatic for riddles.... He forces us to propose the following riddle. If you want my opinion, this is ********, but...... the arenas of Byzantium take in a race of chariot. How many chariots are ready to be off if all the chariots save two are red, all save two are blue and all save two are black?“ If the heroes within thirty seconds doesn't answer 'three“, the Shadar-kai won't hesitate to assault the PCs with such a fierceness that the heroes shall have to fall back to the purple staircase and here will begin the real problems. The girders, the steps, the banisters wriggle snap and break off, enveloping the PCs and taking an humanoid form. The creature is a Abandoned Temple (see Monster Compendium pag. 20).

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9. Vision room: ample, red curtains hang down the ceiling, touching the marble floor. A graceful tune spreads into the air, deriving from a lyre played by a young maid. In the room there are nine maids, two per corner, and a mistress in the middle. The woman starts to talk and exhorts the adventurers to approach her.
Everything in the room is an illusion, casted by a powerful "Disarming Beauty", (see Monster Compendium, pag. 161). This horror will try immediately to kill the adventurers with its magic and fangs. Upon the attack of the giant arachnid, the room will turn out to be a filthy place, full of cobweb and carcasses.
10. English Room: 'good evening, my friends“ someone says behind an ample armchair-back. A cloud of smoke rises into the air. The voice is ringing and gladdened, nearly sardonic. The armchair spins round and reveals a slender, good-looking figure. The woman has thick, blonde hair, blue eyes and a radiant smile. She wears a leather armor and wield a long saber. She has on a pendant, looking like a key....... 'the only thing my Master hates more than stupidity is cowardice. One of you must confront me in single, hand-to-hand combat. Only if you defeat me i will give you this key.“ If the heroes do what the woman demands, one of them will be confronted with a powerful enemy. She is a 'Sword Spirit“ (see Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 1, pag. 29) and will attack to kill. If the PCs cheat, a formidable sniper will shoot from the park (several hundreads of yards away) and will try to kill the PCs through the windows. The sniper is a 'Cyborg Ape“ (see Monster Compendium, pag. 122).
Only by killing the woman the heroes will recover the bronze key.

III- Entertaining rooms

1. The noble stairway: when the heroes enter this room can see a man dressed in rags whining while other two men kick him. The men are very well dressed, wrapped up in clothes that remind venetian costumes. If the PCs decide to intervene, by attacking the two assailants, they will find that these are negligible enemies. Upon rescuing the victim, a spring's din heralds the start of huge problems: a scythe goes off from the man's back and tries to decapitate the first PC who approach the 'victim“.
The creature is a 'Spring Undead“ (see Monster Compendium, pag. 419). If the heroes defeat the critter, they will be attacked by clouds of arrows from the upper room.
2. The turkish room: before they enter this room, already on the stairway, while they are pelted with arrows, the PCs can see a panel where there're the writings: 'there's only one true sentence in this panel; there's is only one untrue sentence in this panel; there'are only two true sentences in this panel; there're only two untrue sentences in this panel“.
After a few seconds, a feverish voice yells: 'How many true sentences are there?, HOW MANY TRUE SENTENCES ARE THERE?“
This question is insoluble. Actually, different answers are possible: none; only one, the first; two, the last two.
In a crazy world as that of Gerardo, a man, or a creature, can go mad just to find no answer to a logical question. If the PCs guess the answer, they can try to placate the sniper. The critter is an 'Arrow Demon“ (see Monster Compendium, pag. 46). He is an arduous enemy, because he shoots three arrows a sencond and is utterly crazy. He is dressed in Turkish costumes and uses two powerful compound bows.
3. The hanging garden: suddenly, the sky darkens... A huge shadow, that seems to appear out of thin air, covers up the sun. It is an 'Hellshrike“ (see Monster Compendium, pag. 272) that hurl itself upon the PCs. The circumstances are very unfavorable, since the wall walk of the garden is very narrow and is close to a cliff falling sheer to a rocky valley. On the wall walk, there's a menacing-looking chain gun. Above the gun there's a control panel with digits from 0 to 9 and the button „enter“. On the panel there's a leaflet that says: „enter three numbers: their product is 36, the sum of the three numbers is 13 and the lesser number is very low.“
Only by entering the exact numbers the heroes will operate the chain gun. The numbers are „6“, „6“, „1“. To solve the riddle, it needs to be arranged a simple equation where x+y+z=13 and x*y*z=36; besides, seeing that the lesser number is very low, and being impossible for it to be 0, one of the numbers must be 1. This riddle is fairly simple, but one must rembember that the heroes are being harassed by a huge critter. The Hellshrike is a powerful creature, and the only way the PCs can hope to defeat this horror is operating the chain gun.
4. The lion garden: a huge square garden full of ornamental hedges appears before the PCs. In the middle of the garden there is a high altar and on it a massive lion intent on eating a corpse. The lion has red mane and fierce eyes. A crimson writing on the path for the garden says: „the Nemean Lion has been soaked, with a axillary sling, in liquid of immortality.“ The PCs should figure out that the only way to kill the Lion is strike it at the armpits. The battle is even more harsh since from the portico above the square, there's a fearsome War Centaur (see Monster Compendium pag. 461) that will fire on the PCs from above. The Nemean Lion is a Dire Lion (see Monster Compendium pag. 153) with new powerful abilities.

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5. Music hall: a lot of people crowds under a wooden stage box in a lightsome room. On the box there's a well dressed man wielding a violin. The man curtseys and starts to play. A poignant tune pours out of the instrument and the crowd become ecstatic, start to weep, then to laugh. The women tear their hair out, the men masturbate. The tune continues, get louder and acuter. The people now dribbles and starts to attack each other. It seems entirely an orgiastic rite. As soon as a person notices the PCs, the mob turns against them, harassing with punches, kicks and bites.
Meanwhile, the Devil's Violinist (see Monster Compendium, pag. 147) changes... He turns into an horned shaggy monster, that attack the PCs with its cloven hooves, its long horns and tail.
6. Green hall: they say that the green is the color of the hope. Never ever such statement is most wrong, at least in this room. A unbearable warmth and the luxuriant vegetation foresee bad encounters. Suddenly, the heroes can hear a series of dull thuds coming in the distance. The tree bend down to the ground when the gargantuan creature approaches the newcomers. It is a „Giant Ape“ (see Dungeon Fantasy Monster 1, pag. 16). It's impossible, the heroes cannot give up thinking, that this room, this castle may contain a so huge creature.
Actually, it's impossible and thus it's an optical illusion. The beast should be a huge gorilla 40 feet tall, and there is no room enough ample and sturdy to feature the „King of all Apes“.
Really, the monster is a little monkey, made gigantic by magnifying glass. The problem is that the illusion is so realistic that if the monkey/ape attacks and kills the heroes, the heroes themselves are hurt and killed. The only way to prevent this is firmly believing they have to deal with an illusion. The players, following a few tips, should lay emphasis on this so that the PCs can tell the reality from the illusion.
7. The cabinet: „the Walkyrie Ride“ tune permeates the whole room that is large, with a plank bed in the middle. On the table, a mutilated corpse. On a few hooks, other bodies, decapitated, injured. In a corner, a fenced area full of pigs which are feasting. In the room the stink is unbearable. Close by the plank bed there's an inflated, humanoid horror, with a meat cleaver. Its grin reveals sharp fangs and smells of decay.
Another shady customer is in the room, wearing a stomacher and an half mask. He is blood-stained, too, and seems a caricature of a surgeon. They lean over a twisted body.
At the end of the loathsome chamber there is an elevator and to the right of the elevator, a door. However dangerous the „Doctor Ics“ (see Monster Compendium, pag. 174) and the „Butcher“ (see Monster Compendium pag. 87) may be, the true hazard is the elevator. It is a trap which capitalizes on the propensity of a delver to lock himself into a box and then try to punch his way out. The elevator is air-tight and operates on a simple cable and pulley system operated from above. Occasionally, however, the elevator gets stuck between floors. Filling the elevator shaft is chlorine gas. It's not odorless, it's not colorless; it is extremly hard on the respiratory system of those foolish enough to inhale it. Since the elevator is air-tight, the delvers will not find out about the chlorine until they breech the top or sides of the elevator when it gets stuck. Having a magically produced voice urge "Please stay where you are; help will arrive within the hour" is one sure way to get the delvers to crack the elevator in an effort to escape.
8. Library: the place is huge or perhaps not: the library of the Count is subdivided in more or less narrow rooms, each whose has a capital letter and a button on the architrave. When enter this room, the PCs see the writing that says "We are very little creatures; all of us have different features. One of us in glass is set; one of us you'll find in jet. Another you may see in tin, and a fourth is boxed within. If the fifth you should pursue, it can never fly from you. What are we?“
Several monsters wander around, fighting between them or attacking the PCs. It is a proper maze, full of traps.
There's a only one escape route: pushing in sequence the button of the vowels, a, e, i, o, u. This is the answer to the above mentioned riddle. If the heroes do that, in the room „u“ will open a trapdoor that will lead to the Red Room.
Among the monsters that haunt this place might be: Annihilator, Assassin, Athach, Atomic Marine, Basilisko, Bestial Guardian, Bugbear, Catoblepas, Chaos Beast, Choker, Clawer, Coterus, Defiler, Demon Sorcerer, Dire Bear, Dire Rat, Dire Tiger, Disintegration Sphere, Displacer Beast, Double Scorpion, Dream Warrior, Ettercap, Ettin, Flagellator, Gnoll, Gug, Hook Horror, Hooked, Horror, Kaliban, Kalisan, Licker, Many-In-One, Minotaur, Norse Spirit, Ogre Magi, Praying Horror, Red Cap, Scorpion Man, Snake Man, Toxifier, Vertigo, Vibro, Wicked Predator
Every three or four rooms, should be a trap. The GMs are incited to glance through the very funny handbook Grimtooth's „Traps Too“ and loot it!