Can anybody explain stuff about Whitehearth... *spoilers* [Archive] - Wizards Community

Can anybody explain stuff about Whitehearth... *spoilers* [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Raziel_Brokodar
05-09-05, 01:04 PM Can someone explain how those mechanical switch things work... or at least simplify it? :( (those colored things and control panel or whatever)
Raziel_Brokodar
05-09-05, 02:52 PM ok... I got home and got some understanding...

When you place a blue key (for example) in the lock thing, do all the blue areas open?
Raziel_Brokodar
05-09-05, 03:14 PM opps....... :(
there are multiple ones of the same color.... so when one is used, it's used..? or can they be taken out and used to unlock a different one...

(haha, looks like I'll end up answering all my own questions before anybody responds...) :rolleyes:
Docrailgun
05-09-05, 03:25 PM The room in question is a sphere, and it begins with the ladder pointing up at the hole in the ceiling. Putting the properly-colored key in a matching hole rotates the sphee so that the hole in the ceiling is facing that exit. Thus, if the PCs aren't holding onto something, they're going to fall down while the room is moving. Inserting the wrong key does something bad (I forget... I think the sphere turns so that the entrance is facing a pit, likely dumping the PCs into the trap).
There ought to be a control panel on the other side of each side passage which allows the sphere to be rotated back to its mouth, so that people that were originally int he facility could get back out again. I don't think that was in the text of the adventure anywhere, but they must be there.
Can someone explain how those mechanical switch things work... or at least simplify it? :( (those colored things and control panel or whatever)
MBuckalew
05-09-05, 04:47 PM I'm running my players through Whitehearth now. In preparation I compiled all of the Hellcow posts regarding Whitehearth from the FAQ that I could find:

--Q Originally posted by Hanuman47 I have some questions concerning the rotator rooms in the Whitehearth facility in Shadows of the Last War.
1) The rotator rooms are described as spheres approximately 20 feet in diameter. If I am understanding the map correctly, the openings appear to be about 1/3 way up the side. As near as I can tell from the description, there is no floor at this level, so to move from one side of the room to the other, one must climb down to the bottom and up the other side. Is this correct?

A If I'm understanding the question correctly, you are right. The floor/roof of the chamber is grooved and designed to provide good traction.

2) The description says that the control panels are in the center of the rooms. Does this mean they are suspended in the middle somehow? If they're attached to the wall how does the orientation of the diagram make sense when the room rotates to a different position?

The control panels are always directly opposite of the opening to the room. When you climb down into W2, it should be on the floor. Otherwise, it's on the wall across from you. There should be a small arrow or triangle indicating north.

3) Rotator room B has a corridor going away to the northwest and rotator room C has corridors going away to the southwest and southeast, all of which end in dead ends. Are these areas unfinished, collapsed and inaccessible, or do they serve some other purpose?

This areas are inaccessible because you don't have the keycharm needed to open them. These include places like Karizal's workshop, as mentioned in Death at Whitehearth. There may be a lot more to Whitehearth than you see in this adventure; you can always choose to have the party return to Whitehearth with a new keycharm to recover a different item.
___________________

Q Originally posted by Takasi Speaking of Shadows of the Last War, what's up with the glass in Rose Quarry? I may have overlooked this detail in the adventure. How was this area destroyed?

A Read encounter W22 again!

Q Originally Posted by ChronosCrow I just found an inconsitancy in the Shadows of the Last War. I'm sorry if it has already been apporached, but I haven't heard anything about it. On page 30 under 19. Room of Broken Light it says that corridor is accessed by a yellow keycharm. The players, I think, don't even get a yellow keycharm per how this adventure is run I believe. The drawings show that an orange keycharm is used to access that room. Just a small thing, but it had me thinking and searching for it.

A The error is in the desription of room W19. As shown in the image on page 25 (which should be labeled Rotators One, Two, and Three to match W2, W14, and W18), the passage that leads southeast uses an orange keycharm, which the party can acquire in W16. The yellow keycharm leads up to the northeast, to an area that is undefined as it cannot be reached.

So, W19 should say "This corridor, accessed by an orange keycharm..."
___________________

Q Originally Posted by fredramsey I am in the middle of Shadows of the Last War with my group (next session is 2 weeks away), and I still don't understand how the rotator rooms are constructed/work. I'm sorry, but a diagram would have been a big help.

A Hey, no argument here! I'm somewhat at a loss to figure out how to describe them without a diagram.

Let's start with the ones that don't go straight up. What you have is a spherical room that is twelve feet across. All surfaces in the room are grooved and have a rough texture to allow you to easily maintain your footing. While this is not obvious from inside, the walls are five feet thick. On one side of the room, you have a six-foot high opening that leads to a corridor that is five feet in length. Directly across from this opening, you have the panel.

When the rotator room connects with a hallway, it does so as a ramp: you are following the five-foot "hallway" at an angle up or down to reach the section of Whitehearth.

In the case of the room that goes straight up -- and this isn't clearly stated at all -- to begin with, there are rungs carved into the wall of the five-foot "hallway". Then, there is a hinged ladder that falls out from the wall when the chamber is pointed straight up; this falls into grooves in the "floor" when the chamber rotates, and is only released again when the chamber points up.

Where in the sphere does the hole line up with a hallway?

As noted above, the hole never directly lines up with a hallway. If the opening is the hand of a clock, it would be at around 8 or 10 to reach a hallway; the hallway you connect would then also continue to drop down even further for a short distance, so you are still descending or ascending even after you leave the confines of the chamber.

Hopefully this helps somewhat.
---
Celas Evriamytholin
05-09-05, 04:53 PM As are certain aspects of D&D if you dont think like the writer of the adventurer, its a bit hard to understand how certain things work.

The thing with Whitehearth is that you need to improvise a little bit when it comes to the control panels (I'll mention this later).

In a nutshell, Lady Elaydren gives the PC's a blue keycharm that is used to open the second-last hatch in the mineshaft above the Whitehearth facility. The key is to be inserted in the socket and then turned to unlock the hatch. It is assumed the PC's remove the key from the lock before going down, otherwise, they cant get anywhere, short of tearing down the whole sphere, and even there. That opens up the shaft, where the PC's climb down the ladder to Rotator Room One (W2). As the drawings on page 25 of the book depict, when a certain key is inserted in a certain slot, the sphere that the players are in shifts to that location to open up to different corridors (Refer to the map on page 29). For example, in rotator room one, if you put the blue keycharm in the slot to the right, the sphere will rotate to give them passage to the corridor just before room W3. In contrast, if they pull it out of the socket, put it in the one to the left and turn it (in the 'unlocking' motion mentioned above), it will open up to W12. It doesn't really matter how they say they insert it, as long as they do it. Theres no particular way to turn or twist the key, really. Also, they could insert the key in the top left slot to bring them to W8 or the one to the top right to bring them to W4.

From there, depending on where the blue keycharm is inserted, the players can go in four different corridors. There is also a panel in the middle that is also blue, which resets the sphere back to the original spot, facing upwards in the shaft, granting them their way back out.

Inserting two keys at once in any combination amounts to nothing. As in, you cant mix green and blue to make purple (or whatever color it'd give), or some to give the the yellow texture. These two colors are not actually found in the adventure. It is assumed that these corridors have either collapsed or that the keycharms have been lost.

The only trap in the rotators hides in rotator C (W18). It is the exception to the rule of thumb that if you put a certain key in, you go in a certain direction. The exact wording of the sourcebook of SotLW is:

If a character uses an orange keycharm before using a red keycharm, the chamber slowly rotates. The everbright lantern goes out and the room is plunged in darkness. When the chamber finally comes to a stop, the entrance is pointed straight down into a well. Anyone in the chamber must make a DC 7 balance check to keep from sliding through the hole and falling into the water below. ... Until the red keycharm is used to turn off the trap, only the green keycharm slot and the opening to the well can be accessed.

The way we reasoned it is that they need to insert the red keycharm first, and then, leaving that one in, insert the orange keycharm to finally lead them to W21.

That said, all keys are re-useable and are worth about 100 gp each if I am not mistaken, if sold to Elaydren later, since they are somewhat like relics of the past. If you have any other questions, or if I have been unclear, feel free to ask.
Raziel_Brokodar
05-09-05, 06:03 PM If you have any other questions, or if I have been unclear, feel free to ask.
uhhh.............. :eek:

sure... I'll look at it until my head hurts... then when I've recovered, I'll look again... that's some wacky stuff...

I guess missed the circle part, that's why I found it confusing... I guess... :rolleyes:

Someone said something about being on the ladder? :confused:
So you're hanging off the ladder while doing this, when a corridor opens, you climb down?

Does the sphere have a bottom??? Even if it doesn't... I'll pretend that it does and when this well thing occurs, I'll just say a trap in the floor opens...

(yeah... I'll save this page... hahaha)
Celas Evriamytholin
05-10-05, 10:04 AM Someone said something about being on the ladder?
So you're hanging off the ladder while doing this, when a corridor opens, you climb down?

Naw. When the PC's get close to the cavern, thats where Garrow sends his vulture zombie / pet of his to attack them (which does very little but distract them temporarily). After which, they enter a small cavern of sorts that has about 5 different rooms with a hatch in each. The initial position of the sphere is pointed upwards, so that when they unlock and open the right hatch, they can just climb down the ladder into the sphere. The sphere is a 10x10 room, if I recall correctly. It does indeed have a bottom. Its just like any other room, except that it is spherical in shape.

The ladder itself is, I guess, bolted to the shaft that is going down the into the sphere. Its just to allow them access and to save some headaches on going in and out of the complex.

If the right keycharm is inserted in the right slot, the sphere will basically rotate to point in a different direction. In Rotator C, where the trap is located, it points them downwards, into the trap.

Any clearer, mate? :)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Raziel_Brokodar 05-09-05, 01:04 PM	Can someone explain how those mechanical switch things work... or at least simplify it? :( (those colored things and control panel or whatever)
Raziel_Brokodar 05-09-05, 02:52 PM	ok... I got home and got some understanding... When you place a blue key (for example) in the lock thing, do all the blue areas open?
Raziel_Brokodar 05-09-05, 03:14 PM	opps....... :( there are multiple ones of the same color.... so when one is used, it's used..? or can they be taken out and used to unlock a different one... (haha, looks like I'll end up answering all my own questions before anybody responds...) :rolleyes:
Docrailgun 05-09-05, 03:25 PM	The room in question is a sphere, and it begins with the ladder pointing up at the hole in the ceiling. Putting the properly-colored key in a matching hole rotates the sphee so that the hole in the ceiling is facing that exit. Thus, if the PCs aren't holding onto something, they're going to fall down while the room is moving. Inserting the wrong key does something bad (I forget... I think the sphere turns so that the entrance is facing a pit, likely dumping the PCs into the trap). There ought to be a control panel on the other side of each side passage which allows the sphere to be rotated back to its mouth, so that people that were originally int he facility could get back out again. I don't think that was in the text of the adventure anywhere, but they must be there. Can someone explain how those mechanical switch things work... or at least simplify it? :( (those colored things and control panel or whatever)
MBuckalew 05-09-05, 04:47 PM	I'm running my players through Whitehearth now. In preparation I compiled all of the Hellcow posts regarding Whitehearth from the FAQ that I could find: --Q Originally posted by Hanuman47 I have some questions concerning the rotator rooms in the Whitehearth facility in Shadows of the Last War. 1) The rotator rooms are described as spheres approximately 20 feet in diameter. If I am understanding the map correctly, the openings appear to be about 1/3 way up the side. As near as I can tell from the description, there is no floor at this level, so to move from one side of the room to the other, one must climb down to the bottom and up the other side. Is this correct? A If I'm understanding the question correctly, you are right. The floor/roof of the chamber is grooved and designed to provide good traction. 2) The description says that the control panels are in the center of the rooms. Does this mean they are suspended in the middle somehow? If they're attached to the wall how does the orientation of the diagram make sense when the room rotates to a different position? The control panels are always directly opposite of the opening to the room. When you climb down into W2, it should be on the floor. Otherwise, it's on the wall across from you. There should be a small arrow or triangle indicating north. 3) Rotator room B has a corridor going away to the northwest and rotator room C has corridors going away to the southwest and southeast, all of which end in dead ends. Are these areas unfinished, collapsed and inaccessible, or do they serve some other purpose? This areas are inaccessible because you don't have the keycharm needed to open them. These include places like Karizal's workshop, as mentioned in Death at Whitehearth. There may be a lot more to Whitehearth than you see in this adventure; you can always choose to have the party return to Whitehearth with a new keycharm to recover a different item. ___________________ Q Originally posted by Takasi Speaking of Shadows of the Last War, what's up with the glass in Rose Quarry? I may have overlooked this detail in the adventure. How was this area destroyed? A Read encounter W22 again! Q Originally Posted by ChronosCrow I just found an inconsitancy in the Shadows of the Last War. I'm sorry if it has already been apporached, but I haven't heard anything about it. On page 30 under 19. Room of Broken Light it says that corridor is accessed by a yellow keycharm. The players, I think, don't even get a yellow keycharm per how this adventure is run I believe. The drawings show that an orange keycharm is used to access that room. Just a small thing, but it had me thinking and searching for it. A The error is in the desription of room W19. As shown in the image on page 25 (which should be labeled Rotators One, Two, and Three to match W2, W14, and W18), the passage that leads southeast uses an orange keycharm, which the party can acquire in W16. The yellow keycharm leads up to the northeast, to an area that is undefined as it cannot be reached. So, W19 should say "This corridor, accessed by an orange keycharm..." ___________________ Q Originally Posted by fredramsey I am in the middle of Shadows of the Last War with my group (next session is 2 weeks away), and I still don't understand how the rotator rooms are constructed/work. I'm sorry, but a diagram would have been a big help. A Hey, no argument here! I'm somewhat at a loss to figure out how to describe them without a diagram. Let's start with the ones that don't go straight up. What you have is a spherical room that is twelve feet across. All surfaces in the room are grooved and have a rough texture to allow you to easily maintain your footing. While this is not obvious from inside, the walls are five feet thick. On one side of the room, you have a six-foot high opening that leads to a corridor that is five feet in length. Directly across from this opening, you have the panel. When the rotator room connects with a hallway, it does so as a ramp: you are following the five-foot "hallway" at an angle up or down to reach the section of Whitehearth. In the case of the room that goes straight up -- and this isn't clearly stated at all -- to begin with, there are rungs carved into the wall of the five-foot "hallway". Then, there is a hinged ladder that falls out from the wall when the chamber is pointed straight up; this falls into grooves in the "floor" when the chamber rotates, and is only released again when the chamber points up. Where in the sphere does the hole line up with a hallway? As noted above, the hole never directly lines up with a hallway. If the opening is the hand of a clock, it would be at around 8 or 10 to reach a hallway; the hallway you connect would then also continue to drop down even further for a short distance, so you are still descending or ascending even after you leave the confines of the chamber. Hopefully this helps somewhat. ---
Celas Evriamytholin 05-09-05, 04:53 PM	As are certain aspects of D&D if you dont think like the writer of the adventurer, its a bit hard to understand how certain things work. The thing with Whitehearth is that you need to improvise a little bit when it comes to the control panels (I'll mention this later). In a nutshell, Lady Elaydren gives the PC's a blue keycharm that is used to open the second-last hatch in the mineshaft above the Whitehearth facility. The key is to be inserted in the socket and then turned to unlock the hatch. It is assumed the PC's remove the key from the lock before going down, otherwise, they cant get anywhere, short of tearing down the whole sphere, and even there. That opens up the shaft, where the PC's climb down the ladder to Rotator Room One (W2). As the drawings on page 25 of the book depict, when a certain key is inserted in a certain slot, the sphere that the players are in shifts to that location to open up to different corridors (Refer to the map on page 29). For example, in rotator room one, if you put the blue keycharm in the slot to the right, the sphere will rotate to give them passage to the corridor just before room W3. In contrast, if they pull it out of the socket, put it in the one to the left and turn it (in the 'unlocking' motion mentioned above), it will open up to W12. It doesn't really matter how they say they insert it, as long as they do it. Theres no particular way to turn or twist the key, really. Also, they could insert the key in the top left slot to bring them to W8 or the one to the top right to bring them to W4. From there, depending on where the blue keycharm is inserted, the players can go in four different corridors. There is also a panel in the middle that is also blue, which resets the sphere back to the original spot, facing upwards in the shaft, granting them their way back out. Inserting two keys at once in any combination amounts to nothing. As in, you cant mix green and blue to make purple (or whatever color it'd give), or some to give the the yellow texture. These two colors are not actually found in the adventure. It is assumed that these corridors have either collapsed or that the keycharms have been lost. The only trap in the rotators hides in rotator C (W18). It is the exception to the rule of thumb that if you put a certain key in, you go in a certain direction. The exact wording of the sourcebook of SotLW is: If a character uses an orange keycharm before using a red keycharm, the chamber slowly rotates. The everbright lantern goes out and the room is plunged in darkness. When the chamber finally comes to a stop, the entrance is pointed straight down into a well. Anyone in the chamber must make a DC 7 balance check to keep from sliding through the hole and falling into the water below. ... Until the red keycharm is used to turn off the trap, only the green keycharm slot and the opening to the well can be accessed. The way we reasoned it is that they need to insert the red keycharm first, and then, leaving that one in, insert the orange keycharm to finally lead them to W21. That said, all keys are re-useable and are worth about 100 gp each if I am not mistaken, if sold to Elaydren later, since they are somewhat like relics of the past. If you have any other questions, or if I have been unclear, feel free to ask.
Raziel_Brokodar 05-09-05, 06:03 PM	If you have any other questions, or if I have been unclear, feel free to ask. uhhh.............. :eek: sure... I'll look at it until my head hurts... then when I've recovered, I'll look again... that's some wacky stuff... I guess missed the circle part, that's why I found it confusing... I guess... :rolleyes: Someone said something about being on the ladder? :confused: So you're hanging off the ladder while doing this, when a corridor opens, you climb down? Does the sphere have a bottom??? Even if it doesn't... I'll pretend that it does and when this well thing occurs, I'll just say a trap in the floor opens... (yeah... I'll save this page... hahaha)
Celas Evriamytholin 05-10-05, 10:04 AM	Someone said something about being on the ladder? So you're hanging off the ladder while doing this, when a corridor opens, you climb down? Naw. When the PC's get close to the cavern, thats where Garrow sends his vulture zombie / pet of his to attack them (which does very little but distract them temporarily). After which, they enter a small cavern of sorts that has about 5 different rooms with a hatch in each. The initial position of the sphere is pointed upwards, so that when they unlock and open the right hatch, they can just climb down the ladder into the sphere. The sphere is a 10x10 room, if I recall correctly. It does indeed have a bottom. Its just like any other room, except that it is spherical in shape. The ladder itself is, I guess, bolted to the shaft that is going down the into the sphere. Its just to allow them access and to save some headaches on going in and out of the complex. If the right keycharm is inserted in the right slot, the sphere will basically rotate to point in a different direction. In Rotator C, where the trap is located, it points them downwards, into the trap. Any clearer, mate? :)