Dungeon Master Forum

Hello,

On level 10 in the scorpion room there is a skeleton key hole. I put my skeleton key in it and it opens up to a room with a stairway leading both up and down. It don't seem to lead anywhere but when I walked down I found a scroll saying "The only way out is another way in". The Adventurers Handbook call the stairs "Central Stairway". What is this stairway? What should I do in it?

This stairway is a shortcut between levels.
There is one skeleton lock on each level starting from level 9 (The Rat level) down to level 12.
later you must travel from level 7 to level 13 and the skeleton key stairway then is a quick access.
You can also retreat and rest there, if you go down to where there are still closed parts.(=no monsters around)
I guess you are one key short... so you cannot open up all skeleton locks, but I could be wrong here.

As a sidenote, I now see where Linflas´ quote is coming from!

Actually, the Central Stairwell doesn't stop at level 12 - it does go all the way to the bottom (level 14), but you need a different key to open the bottom bit to get out of the stairwell into the rest of that level. There's also one skeleton key too few so you won't be able to unlock access from every level. But that's alright - just pick a level you don't like very much and skip the lock on that one . I think you can get up from level 9 to 8 from the stairwell if you push a secret button on the wall or something (I think you go up the stairwell from level 9 and the button is there), and you're just around the corner from the way back up to level 7, so getting back there doesn't take too long once you've unlocked the stairwell.
It's also good for backtracking just to level 9 if you need a drink and a snack, it being very close to the Rat Room and a water fountain .

Exactly. Except - the Central Stairway starts on the ghost level, not on the rat level.

In a nutshell, on each level starting with the ghost level, there is a skeleton key (well hidden) and a skeleton / skull lock. The more locks you open, the more you interconnect the dungeon and make your movement faster.

And yes, there's one key too few.

zoom wrote:As a sidenote, I now see where Linflas´ quote is coming from!

Better later than never.

EDIT: Damn, Ameena was faster!

Okay, I see Cool to have this stairways as some levels are a pain to walk back trough.

yeah, it is good dungeon design