jdnd/sections/summaries/03-The Museum of Orethys - The Bottom Floors of the Museum.md

Summary: The Bottom Floors of the Museum

Overview

The bottom floors (6th floor down to ground floor) of Orethys's demiplane museum contain exhibits frozen in stasis. PCs materialize on the 5th floor near the Tavern. The Dreaming Ghost is essential—ensure PCs encounter him.

Key Locations & Exhibits

6th Floor: Harpy Eyrie

A floating island spanning the entire floor. Harpies attack climbers unless they wear monk robes from Guest Services. Blocks upward travel until PCs obtain levitation/flying means and protective gear (robe + willpower potion).

5th Floor: Tavern of the South Gate

NPC: Kellia Meeks (bartender)

• Offers free first drink to "first-timers"
• Knowledgeable about plane shift and sending spells
• Resets completely when PCs leave and return, demonstrating stasis
• Mental block prevents acknowledging she's trapped; stabilization iron fixes this
• Contains rope and supplies in storeroom

NPC: Bart Wyntell

• Can drink unlimited alcohol, never passes out
• Challenges PCs to drinking contests (5gp bet minimum)
• Also resets (becomes dry/sober again)

DM Note: Spent gold resets back to where PCs first arrived. Coins can be identified by their minting marks.

5th Floor: Golden Goats

Goats with golden hair from Mount Olympus. Fighting them yields ~100gp of hair that vanishes after 1-2 hours. Key info: Items from exhibits cannot be removed from demiplane, even with plane shift.

4th Floor: Library of Dame Kenere

NPC: Nolan Levant (butler)

• Blocks entry unless PCs claim to be from "Shiny Stone Publishing"
• PCs must look professional (not armed), convince him of appointment
• Can be killed (respawns in 15 min, attacks on sight, 3HP dagger attacks)
• Deception DC is high but can retry infinitely due to stasis

Contents:

• Abyssal recipe books (survival guides)
• "An Index of the Spells of the Multiverse" — describes all known spells including sending and plane shift
• Dame Kenere herself wasn't captured (still alive, 101 years old); can be contacted via sending later

4th Floor: Breakneck Chariot

NPCs: Viggart (ranger), Althune (passenger), 24 quicklings

Quicklings enslaved to pull racing chariot. They attempt to ram PCs to steal daggers/shortswords and cut themselves free.

Combat mechanics:

• DEX save DC13 to avoid being rammed (D4 damage if fail)
• Quicklings steal small sharp weapons from holsters or dropped weapons
• Armed quicklings cut themselves/others free, then attack Viggart
• If successful, quicklings will escape exhibit (unusual—they overcome mental block)

Loot: 150 feet of rope (choke-rope system), shed supplies

3rd Floor: Claren's Tapestries

NPC: Claren Lusk (elderly elf weaver)

Magical tapestries create immersive illusions. Staring at tapestry transports viewer into woven world. Items removed from tapestries become phantasms lasting 6 hours to 3 days.

Available tapestries:

• Log cabin on hill with seagulls
• Well in forest clearing
• Apple orchard with equipment
• Rocky shore with waves
• Forest canopy view with butterflies

NPC: Algion (aarakocra merchant)

• Mesmerized by butterfly tapestry
• Can fly, potentially helpful for upward travel
• Mental block prevents leaving exhibit
• Needs stabilization iron + potion of willpower to join party
• Not a combatant

3rd Floor: Wasted Wino

NPC: Rixmort (green slaad bartender)

Makes "artisan cocktails" by randomly mixing ingredients and secretly spitting in them. Slaad chaos essence creates random-effect potions. Identify only reveals "potion with random effect" because effect isn't determined until drunk.

Terrible at conversation—constantly goes on tangents with confusing pronouns. No real quest utility beyond entertainment.

3rd Floor: Orb Conclave

Beholder-kin consisting of 11 hovering eyes (1 large, 10 small) with no body. From icy tundra.

Behavior:

• Stares impassively, no response to communication
• Attacks if touched or damaged
• Each small eye has 5 HP (color-coded by ray type), large eye has 50 HP
• Eyes can spread out independently when attacked
• Doesn't hold grudges (due to nature, not just stasis)
• Flees if losing, scattering in all directions

Tactical info:

• Fires 3 rays per turn (standard beholder abilities)
• If defeated/damaged, teaches PCs about respawning mechanics

2nd Floor: Dreaming Ghost

NPC: Johann — CRITICAL NPC

Made fey bargain: can explore others' dreams but cannot enter waking world. Physical body in stasis but mind roams multiverse.

How to contact:

• Wake him (he vanishes)
• Next time that PC sleeps, Johann visits their dream
• Creates lucid dreams for clear communication

Abilities:

• Can deliver messages through dreams (alternative to sending)
• Recipient must be someone who pays attention to dreams (priests, soothsayers, fortune-tellers)
• Reports success/failure of message delivery in subsequent dreams

DM Note: Ensure PCs befriend Johann—needed for later chapters. Make him friendly, outgoing, slightly nosy.

2nd Floor: Reggie's Boots

NPC: Reggie Drum (4th level fighter, fae-blooded shoemaker)

Makes enchanted boots. All boots prevent leg fatigue. Has major magic boots for sale:

• Boots of Levitation (4000gp) — QUEST ITEM for climbing museum
• Boots of Speed (4000gp)
• Boots of Elvenkind (2500gp)
• Boots of Striding and Springing (5000gp)

The Problem: PCs can't afford boots. Reggie refuses gems ("bring me gold"). Stealing is necessary and morally acceptable (items respawn).

The Heist:

• Magic boots hidden under floorboards beneath cabinet
• Can spy through windows to see hiding spot
• Reggie wears Boots of Kicking and Jumping (bonus action kick 1D6, bonus action dodge/disengage/dash with doubled jump)
• Can kill him (tough fight) or find way to make him nap
• Items won't be visible until hiding spot is discovered

1st Floor: Tiny Men

Primitive hunter-gatherers less than 2 inches tall, living in caves behind 3-inch wooden doors hidden in rocks. Not important to main quest.

Significance: Island is only 10 feet diameter, positioned 30 feet below Reggie's island. Requires creative rope-work to reach (rope must hang underneath large island to avoid mist). Teaches problem-solving.

Bottom Floor: Guest Services

Main Hall:

• Dining hall with buffet (self-replenishing)
• Bedrooms with self-making beds
• Clean restrooms (auto-cleaning)
• 10-foot painting of Orethys (aarakocra creator)

Featured Exhibits Room: Contains two pedestals near entrance:

1. Guidebook pedestal — Infinite guidebooks available (stasis respawn)
2. Stabilization iron — Brands items with glyph, extending their lifespan from 1-2 hours to 3-4 days. Glyphed coins are suspicious to merchants.

Two showrooms:

• "Monsters of Divine Beauty" — Info on Harpy Eyrie, Golden Goats, Medusa's Visage. Contains chest with monk robes and willpower potion for harpy exhibit.
• "Innately Magical Craftspeople" — Info on Claren's Tapestries, Reggie's Boots, Wasted Wino.

Locked closet ("caretakers only"): Contains the Capture Device on pedestal. Doesn't work inside museum yet.

Long Rest Trigger: Sleeping here causes Deck Dreams — telepathic visions of other people who drew from Deck of Many Things. Provides campaign foreshadowing.

Core Mechanics

Stasis Effect

• NPCs reset to original state when PCs leave and return
• NPCs don't remember previous interactions
• Damage, physical changes, consumed items all reset
• Most NPCs have mental blocks against acknowledging anything wrong
• Stabilization iron + potion of willpower can overcome blocks

Item Persistence

• Items from exhibits vanish after 1-2 hours
• Stabilization iron extends to 3-4 days but adds visible glyph
• Items cannot leave demiplane via plane shift
• PC's own gold resets back to spawn point (Tavern area)

Death & Respawning

PCs who die in museum respawn at Tavern of the South Gate. Death is not permanent here.

Critical Path Items

1. Guidebook — from Guest Services pedestal
2. Stabilization iron — from Guest Services pedestal
3. Boots of Levitation — must be stolen from Reggie (needed to ascend museum)
4. Monk robe + willpower potion — from Guest Services chest (needed for harpies)
5. Rope — from Tavern storeroom or chariot exhibit
6. Johann's help — for message delivery (alternative to sending)

Important NPCs for Later

• Kellia Meeks — Make PCs care about her; knowledge of escape spells
• Johann — Essential ally for dream communication
• Algion — Can assist with flying/rope placement if stabilized
• Dame Kenere — Still alive outside museum, can be contacted for rescue

DM Notes

• Must ensure PCs meet Johann/Dreaming Ghost
• Let PCs experiment extensively with stasis at Tavern
• Stealing from Reggie is necessary—reassure players it's not immoral
• Orethys was aarakocra (explains floating islands, assumes guests can fly)
• Next step after guidebook: talk to Diometron (next chapter)