OUTER WARD LOWER LEVEL 2 ROOM OF THE PIT.

2 ROOM OF THE PIT. The corridor leading to this room slopes down sharply so that the floor of this room is fifteen feet below the floor of Room 1. A dark pit or well is in the center of the room. A bag is suspended by a rope from the ceiling, and the somewhat fresh corpse of a man lies on the ground. The air smells of rotting eggs.

The pit is seven feet in diameter and has a depth of sixty feet, the last twenty of which is full of foul water. Water is not all that is in the pit, a toxic gas emanates from the well and the man, a thief, has succumbed to it. The first round the adventurers spend in the room, they will feel lightheaded. Every round after that they must roll a save vs dragon breath or suffer a point of damage. If they fail a save three times in a row, they have fallen unconscious for 1d6 turns and will continue to take damage automatically.

The bag above the well is fifteen feet above the floor. The rope holding it to the ceiling rafters is quite ordinary. If the adventurers want to retrieve it they will most likely have to avoid having it fall in the pit, which it will do if they simply cut the rope somehow. There are many ways the party could solve this problem (flying, tying together 10' poles, shooting it down with an arrow, etc.) but they all take time. Remember to keep track of the time the party spends in the room and have them make their saving throws. The gas will not start to affect them until they enter the room proper, but the effects will continue until they exit through the secret door returning to Room 1.

The bag holds the following:

• Cat's Eye Ring
• Wand of Metal and Mineral Detection, 27 charges, cherry wood with a steel tip, 16 inches long, command is "hiccius doccius", inscribed on side of wand.
• Potion of Polymorph Self (green, tasteless, and odorless). The potion is in a glass vial and may shatter if not handled properly, such as crashing to the floor (requires a saving throw on Saving Throw Matrix For Magical And Non-Magical Items, AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide page 80).

The thief's corpse has a dagger, fifty feet of rope, thieves' tools, and a pouch holding 17 silver spanners, 15 copper pieces, and a very small opal valued at 30 gold crescents.