A-to-Z Challenge Day 0: Catacomb Entrance

Entry 0 for The Lost Catacombs of Kadmos

You come to the spot marked on the map by the letter "kappa," but see nothing more than pile of rocks set against the hill. You recite the incantation from the map and the stones disappear, revealing a recessed area with what appears to be some sort of door. Above the door is the name ΚΑΔΜΩΣ. Set in the middle the door is a relief sculpture of a face with its mouth open, as if it is trying to speak to you.

Access to the catacomb is gained by speaking into the mouth of the face and spelling Kadmos’s name (as it appears above the tomb entrance) using the Greek names for the letters in his name: kappa, alpha, delta, mu, omega, sigma. Once spoken, the face will “collapse” into the stone of the door, and the door will slide away to the right (facing from outside the catacomb). It will remain open for 1 turn, at the end of which, the stone will slide back into place and the face will return. An identical face is located on the “inside” of the door. Exit is granted by spelling Kadmos’s name backwards using the Greek names for the letters in his name: sigma, omega, mu, delta, alpha kappa.

Any time someone says the name “Kadmos” in the presence of the face on the door (interior or exterior), the face will speak one of the following phrases (roll 1d10):
1. I am Kadmos—father of the alphabet.
2. I am Kadmos—combiner of consonants and vowels.
3. I am Kadmos—brother of Europa.
4. I am Kadmos—brother of Phoenix.
5. I am Kadmos—husband of Harmonia.
6. I am Kadmos—killer of Ares’s dragon.
7. I am Kadmos—founder of Cadmea.
8. I am Kadmos—bewitcher of Typhon.
9. I am Kadmos—teacher of men.
10. I am Kadmos—master of astronomy.