A-to-Z Challenge Day 12 Mu (Μ): A Miscellany of Medusae

Entry 12 for The Lost Catacombs of Kadmos

You exit the hallway to find a 30' wide by 115' long gallery stretched out before you. The vaulted ceiling goes from about 20' up on the sides to 30' high at the crest of the vault. At the far end of the room is a 10'x10' nook featuring a large stone statue of a medusa. Down each of the long walls are five paintings of medusae executed in various styles. The ten framed pictures are uniform in size and each measures approximately 6' wide by 8' tall.

The paintings are hung simply from the wall using a hook (on the wall) and wire (on the backs of the paintings). Behind each of the paintings is a 5'x5'x5' nook. The nooks marked on the map with an "X" hold the head of a medusa. Anyone looking at one of these nooks (with the head) when the painting is removed must save vs. paralysis or be turned to stone. Since the head is "dead", the snakes are not alive and may not attack. Three of these nooks have a secret door in the back of the nook that accesses a 5' wide by 5' high crawl-way. The trap doors in these crawl-ways (indicated with "T" in a square) are disguised and anyone crossing them directly will fall into a 5' deep spiked pit, sustaining 1d4 points of damage in the process.