DRAFT: More material for That Ancient Serpent
CRYPT OF THE GORGON
The gorgon Evryali, Mother of Serpents, from whom the draconic plague arose — the first dragon was born of her blood, as Pegasus was from Medusa — is buried in a series of chambers far beneath the streets of the Iron Bourse, formerly her home plane of Samnis (see Dark Heart), in the center of what was once the Colosseum Unyielding, the greatest of all ancient arenas.
The simple crypt has no guards and no traps. Its protections are simple: few believe it exists, even fewer know where to begin looking for it, and the crypt is buried beneath an immense mound of gold and treasure.
The “Guilded Earth,” as the treasure is known, comes from a small tax on all transactions that occur within the Bourse, collected by the merchant houses. This is brought down using chutes and dumbwaiters and heaped upon the existing pile, which has grown to fill the entire colosseum.
So far, any freebooters who have come in search of the crypt have been distracted by the immense wealth, leaving with their pockets full and their interest in the crypt forgotten. They are easy prey for the expert thieves and assassins of the Bourse once they return to the surface, who are happy to take out such threats as a favor to the merchant lords and ladies, keeping the treasure for themselves…
…after paying, of course — as everyone does — a small tax to ensure the gorgon stays buried.