![[TBTS-mapcrucibleoftheibex.jpg]] *As the stone platform comes to rest at the bottom of the shaft, a sudden grinding sound leads to the roar of flame as a trail of fire springs to life along the walls, illuminating a vast chamber of opulence. Protruding from the curved north wall is a massive golden statue of a three-eyed ibex’s head, its horns curling up toward the ceiling. A massive stone sarcophagus sits in front of the ibex. A large tapestry embroidered with the image of a goat-headed woman wielding a trident lies draped across the sarcophagus, and vividly painted hieroglyphics inscribed in the sarcophagus peak out from beneath the tapestry. Smaller, undecorated sarcophagi sit on either side of it.* *The east and west wall each hold a tall statue of a goat-headed figure wielding a trident with a basin at its feet. The decadent floor is inlaid with gold and ivory and scattered with valuables, but it is also littered with bones, skulls, and other desiccated remains. The domed ceiling here is painted like the night sky, and the gutter of fire surrounding the perimeter of the room laps at murals depicting ritual sacrifice, avarice, and gods being slain by goat-headed figures.* The truth of Baez’Keph is that, while she was a fair ruler and attempted to be equal with her subjects, she was secretly obsessed with her ascent to godhood. If she hadn’t been outcast, she eventually would have used her divinity to usher her followers into bondage. Echoes of this view of her followers as expendable can be seen subtly throughout her tomb, but nowhere as strongly as in this chamber. Here, hundreds of her followers were sacrificed to power the magic of the tomb. The majority of the victims’ bones were then powdered to create the “sand” in the Trial of the Crocodile, but the rest of their desiccated remains lie scattered here. The sarcophagi flanking Baez’Keph’s hold the remains of her highest and most loyal priests, whose spirits are said to bind the tails streaking behind her comet. **Creatures.** Baez’Keph’s final resting place is guarded by a thread-bound mountain strider bearing her likeness and two shard swarms made up of the rubble and broken bones in the room. The thread-bound construct lies within the tapestry on her sarcophagus and unfurls itself from the tapestry when a creature steps within 10 feet of the sarcophagus or when the shard swarms attack. Each shard swarm lies scattered within 30 feet of one of the statues. When a creature steps within 15 feet of a statue, that shard swarm uses Come Together and Contain to trap the creature, as trained by the thread-bound construct. After one shard swarm attacks, the other attacks with a similar strategy, if possible. **Cultists of Tiberesh.** When the lights appeared, the cultists of Tiberesh scoured the area for clues to the location to Baez’Keph’s true tomb. Their members keep watch on the lights and note who explores them. Each group watching a light has been instructed to follow and observe any promising explorers, remain hidden, and to enter the structure near the light only if the light goes out. The group watching this tomb does just that and arrives in the Crucible of the Ibex on the second round of combat. The number of cultists that appear is equal to the number of characters that entered the tomb. **Environment.** A gutter of magical fire burns along the walls of the room. A successful DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check notes the power of the fire. A creature within 5 feet of a wall can use a bonus action to dip a weapon or piece of ammunition in the flame to imbue the weapon or ammunition with a spark of magic until the start of its next turn. While imbued, the weapon counts as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity to nonmagical attacks and damage. **Treasure.** With 10 minutes of work, the scattered valuables on the floor can be collected and are worth a total of 375 gp. If the characters offer to sell the valuables to the SPRC, they offer 400 gp for the objects, which are culturally and historically significant to the organization’s researchers. The gold and ivory inlaid in the floor is worth a total of 1,000 gp, but it would take several days and require a skilled mason to carefully extract the gold and ivory from the floor without ruining their value. Each statue releases the trident and shield it is holding if fire, the light spell, or a single gold piece is placed in the basin at the statue’s feet. Though of an ancient style, the shields and weapons are standard items of their types, except for one trident, which is a +1 trident. **The Empyrean Trident.** Baez’Keph’s sarcophagus holds her mummy, which wears a death mask of her face in life and still grasps her Empyrean Trident. Outside of the hands of a god-king or god-queen, the Empyrean Trident is a +1 trident. No one is aware of the full extent of the Empyrean’s Trident’s power as Baez’Keph took that knowledge with her to the grave. However, the SPRC knows it has great power that could be ill-used if it ended up in the wrong hands, and Tiberesh’s cultists know its power could help their god-king fully reawaken. Once the trident has been retrieved, the stone platform the characters entered upon will once again move upward and the characters can exit the tomb. **Conversion Note:** This encounter will need to be adjusted for the number of Tiberesh Cultists present.