Phantom Nirvana: A Dungeons & Dragons Podcast · Phantom Nirvana

S2 Ep10 - Beneath the Sanguine pool

·47 min·3 clips

A 35-foot drop leads to a massive underground cavern with a glowing lake and a brass ziggurat.

1. Phantom Nirvana: A Dungeons & Dragons Podcast turns from the Sanguine Pool to a hidden cavern beneath it. 2. The party includes Queen Rihanna of the Undying Light, Marcus Burkhead, Axel Johnson, Joshua Ames, Sam Campbell, and Mallory Reed, with Phil serving as the Dungeon Master. 3. The episode asks how the group can reach the underground lake, survive the Tabaxi territory, and negotiate for the key to Kalamesh. 4. Mal uses a mage hand, a rope, and a hook to lift the pool’s plug when the first attempt fails because the hand cannot pull more than 10 pounds. 5. The red water drains away, the sand slurps toward the center, and a circular opening appears at the bottom of the pool. 6. A perception check reveals a huge underground cavern with dripping water, a moist smell, stalagmites, and a lake about 35 feet below the opening. 7. Axel turns into a spider so he can explore the cavern ceiling and help secure the rope. 8. The cavern contains dark tunnels, schools of fish, and a brass ziggurat with gears, torches, and mechanical sounds. 9. The party rigs a rope to a stalagmite and uses different approaches to descend, including a spear, a harpoon-like hook, Misty Step, and a harness. 10. Rihanna brings four guards, including Hilroy, Mikael, Glenn, and Sonora, to the underground site. 11. Ak Olkuz, a Tabaxi guard in piecemeal gold armor, confronts the party at the ziggurat entrance and demands their business. 12. Ak Yamanel identifies himself as the leader and says the Tabaxi guard the ziggurat and the secret it contains. 13. He offers the key to Kalamesh if the party helps unlock the final wing of the ziggurat and recover the triangular jewel. 14. Marcus says the group is in danger and that getting home is the only way to stop the attacks. 15. Rihanna describes the curse on her people, the loss of their home, and the risk that the Undying Light will go extinct without the second key. 16. Mal investigates a crate of glass orbs filled with glowing green liquid that resemble oversized alchemist fire. 17. The party walks through traps, bloodied bodies, and a brass chamber with six square sections and script above three locked doors. 18. Ak Yamanel says only six people can enter the chamber, and the others must leave before the gate can be opened. 19. The tone is cautious and tense, with dungeon exploration, bargaining, and puzzle-solving driving the scene. 20. Listeners who like D&D negotiation scenes and trapped-temple mysteries will get the most from it. 21. Listeners who want a self-contained combat episode may skip it.

As heard by us

A tense crawl where table banter keeps the danger human.

Beneath the Sanguine Pool drops the party into a desert problem space built around a spectral mage hand, a stubborn plug, and more rope work than anyone likely wanted.

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Why you'd press play

You want a strange pool, a rope plan, and an Infernal riddle.

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