Paths of the Doomed

The Paths of the Doomed was a dangerous labyrinthine cave system located in the deepest parts under the ancient Citadel in Thaymount.

"Many years ago, a successful group ventured into the bowels of the Citadel and discovered a near-endless series of subterranean tunnels and caverns. The area came to be known as the Paths of the Doomed and there are supposed to be horrendous creatures that inhabit those tunnels."

- Naglatha, the Black Flame

Description
The Paths were ancient, dangerous, and confusing to most.

Entrances
The Paths of the Doomed had several access points from within the Citadel. The main entrance was just past the Citadel gates, in the stronghold's twelve-sided room. Each side was a doorway, each marked with a different arcane rune. The rune of the labyrinth opened the way into the Paths of the Doomed. To gain entrance, one had to trace the symbol and say the command word "Thola Vos" which caused the door to disappear, allowing the passage. Another entry of note was located just beyond the Citadel's main banquet hall, often used by Szass Tam to host Zulkir and Tharchion meetings. Said chamber descended low into the beeper levels of the structure and, eventually, reached the Paths of the Doomed.

When entered from the 12-sided room, the first chamber of the Paths of the Doomed was known as the Main Hall. Just like the other  side of the entry door, the Main Hall's door was decorated with the same labyrinth rune. The command word that reopened the door was dahlal. The Main Hall was a long room covered in pristine marble with pale green columns of stone on its sides and a wagon vault ceiling. The chamber's floors were obsidian black and the room was lit with magical sources of light. The room ended with a ceiling-high double doors that led to the Hall of Statues. That hall was similar to the Main Hall but with matted black statues places between the many columns. The tall statues depicted the Citadel's original highly advanced lizardfolk creators. The black alloy the statues were made out of was virtually indestructible and proved to be too heavy to move. The Hall of Statues ended in a similar double door to the ones found in the Main Hall and led to the Guardian Hall. The Guardian Hall was a comparatively smaller chamber carved out of gray stone. This room served as the guard post for the Chambers of the Earth that laid beyond the door. The room was always guarded by a robed baneguard who collected a passage payment of one single gold coin.

The Chambers of Earth
The Chambers of Earth were separated from the Guardian Hall by a door and a short hallway. The main triangular shaped room was known as the Stone Chamber. All the rooms inside the Chambers of Earth were of similar shape and carved out of indescript grey stone with walls being covered in countless arcane runes. The rooms in the Chambers of Earth were all doorless and not lit, giving them sinister claustrophobic feel, sure to affect any of the creatures not used to the life underground. The first room, the Stone Chamber held three guardian stone golems, each in the triangle room's corners. Past he Stone Chamber were the Copper Chamber to the left from the entrance and the Iron Chamber to the right.

The Copper Chamber was plated in green oxidized copper and led directly to the Gold Chamber but was blocked by a metal column made of copper and covered in unknown arcane script. The column left only a small opening not more than wide. Some old legends of the Paths of the Doomed held the solution to the impassible situation. The column could be removed with the incantation "sholik'na", triggering the old mechanisms that lowered the obstruction out of the way. The mechanism's locked panel could be found to the lest of the wall.

The Gold Chamber was plastered in gold, driving figuratively mad any creature prone to avarice. The room was enchanted with powerful magic that attempted to absorb any instantly kill any one and anything attempting to chip or scrape gold off the chamber's walls.

The Iron Chamber had three iron golems guarding it and asking the same questions asked in the Stone Chamber. The room held a chest with a ruby, an emerald, and a diamond, all part of the Chambers of Earth defensive puzzles.

Past the Iron Chamber laid the Gem Chamber guarded by three more golems: an emerald golem, a ruby golem, and a diamond golem. Each golem stood behind a manger filled with corresponding gemstones. In order to successfully pass through the room, one needed to deposit a ruby, an emerald, and a diamond into the mangers. If the deposit was not done or the passing creatures attempted to steal the gems, the golems attacked.

Beyond the Gem and Gold Chambers, the Chambers of Water laid behind the converging halls.

The Chambers of Water
Just like the rooms in the Chambers of Earth, all rooms in the Chambers of Water had the same shape, square in this case. The chambers were created using aquatically-hued blue-veined marble and were deeper than the Chambers' of Earth rooms. The Water part of the dungeon was appropriately filled with murky water. The main square room was the biggest in size and was referred to as the Green Chamber, filled with about of water. The Green Chamber's two exits, to the Blue Chambers and the Aqua Chambers, were guarded by caustic aballins who rose out of the water and waited to hear who the visitors served.

The Blue Chambers were the two rooms to left behind a hallway passage. The hallway that led to the first room abruptly ended with a drop down into the pool of warm water. The waters were filled with hungry sharks in the first Blue Chamber, and a giant octopus in the second. In order to avoid the watery death, the passersby needed to chant the command word "thralliq" which summoned a transparent bubble that carried the visitors over the perilous pools. These two chambers connected to the High Chamber I of the Chambers of Air.

To the right off the Green Chamber laid tow Aqua Chambers that eventually reached the High Chamber II of the Chambers of Air. The entrance to the Aqua Chambers was at the top of the two completely submerged deep pools with exits at the very bottoms of each of the two rooms. Additionally, the second Aqua Chamber was separated by a long ascending submerged hallway from the Air elemental chambers. The safe traversal can be done via the command word "ekkala" inside a bubble, similar to one found in the Blue Chambers. The rooms, however were fiercely guarded by aquatic yugoloths, namely, two hydroloths in the first chamber, and a piscoloth in the second.

Defenses
The part of the Paths of the Doomed designed to lead to the Citadel's heart and hide various chambers of value was designed to confuse and protect against intruders. Very few knew of the ways, shortcuts, and protections against the dangers of the Paths. These protected areas of the Paths were divided into for elemental regions, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire, all converging on the Devouring Portal. Each elemental region was filled with guardians and traps so dangerous, that Szass Tam himself worried don't for possible trespassers.

The Guardian Hall was defended by eleven baneguards and five direguards who were hidden from sight but attacked anyone whoo refused to pay the toll or attacked the hooded door sentry.

The Chambers of Earth held guardian stone and iron golems of Thayan creation that questioned the passersby of whom they serve (Szass Tam), what gods they serve (Cyric or other evil deities), and why they were there. The golems waited for all three answers and attacked if the answers were incorrect. Fearsome gem golems guarded a room deeper into the Chambers of Earth.

The Gold Chamber in the Chambers of the Earth was enchanted with a deadly magic that punished anyone trying to steal the room's gold. The room attempted to absorb the transgressor and it was complete within two to eight minutes, and pulling the victim out of the wall's grasp was not an easy task. The creature that was completely absorbed by the wall was turned into gold and could not be rescued by any means but the wish spell.

In the Chambers of Water acidic aballin served the similar purpose to the previous rooms' golems, they would attack anyone attempting to proceed forward without declaring their servitude to Tam. As well as submerged chambers guarded by aquatic yugoloths.

History
Many years prior to1368 DR, a group of adventurers found a way into the Paths of the Doomed and discovered not just thee tunnels and elemental chambers that served at the access point to the Citadel's heart, but also the expansive wild and dangerous winding tunnels, and almost infinite subterranean caves. The adventurers managed to map the paths. Later, the maps found their way into the possessions of the Zulkir of Necromancy of Thay.

Several years prior to 1368 DR, Szass Tam took control of the Thaymount region and the Citadel, turning it into the seat of his power. The lich survived the dangers of the Paths of the Doomed, reaching the Devouring Portal and aging access to the citadel's hart, where he subsequently performed the ritual of twin burnings, trapping the demon lord Eltab on the Thakorsil's Seat.

Rumors & Legends
The stories and rumors about the Paths of the Doomed were many and most originated from the group of adventurers who mapped the tunnels and told the stories of the forbidden magics, gemmed walls, and monstrous creatures.

Inhabitants
The part of the Paths of the Doomed that stood between the Citadel's inner chambers and potential invaders were guarded by various creatures of mundane and magical origins such as baneguards, direguards, stone, iron, ruby, emerald, diamond golems, aballins, sharks, giant octopus, yugoloths,

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Runes of Chaos
 * Novels
 * The Crimson Gold


 * The Mage in the Iron Mask