Out where the river broke, the yuccas and the desert oaks, reed boat wrecks on dry river beds, mirages in forty-five degrees.
A one-shot adventure for 4 level 4 characters.
This area was once a lush valley with a life-giving river running through it. A flourishing population enjoyed fresh water, farming, and fishing. But after the cataclysm, the river dried up, depriving the population of their livelihood. People starved to death or migrated away. Many years later, the desert reclaimed most of the houses. All that is left are a few lonely date palms and the necropolis halfway up the valley.
The necropolis is roughly organised into four tiers:
The lowest tier is closest to where the river once ran. This is where the tombs of a few minor nobles, functionaries, or well-to-do merchant families lay, with elaborate multi-room tombs carved into the sandstone rock below. These tombs have all been raided many times over the years, and little of value remains.
Higher up the hill, the second tier consists of several rows of simple crypts where the family can come to honour their dead. The crypts are mainly single rooms carved into the sandstone, but some have a second room carved behind or under the first.
The third tier is near the top of the hill. It is for simple earth burials and is where the poorest people are buried, sometimes with multiple bodies in a single plot if they couldn’t afford their own. Over the years, the whims of the desert winds have blown the sand away and exposed some of these burials so that more than a few sunbleached bones can be seen.
The fourth and final tier is at the top of the hill. Several tall standing stones with stone lintels have been raised for “sky burials”. The stones are tall enough that desert animals can’t reach the bodies, but the desert birds can come to feast on the dead. This practice was not common, but this necropolis was the only place for a long way that followers of this practice could come.
When the valley was still rich and fertile, an order of priests was responsible for the necropolis. They knew the correct rites for all the nearby cultures and religions, and more besides. They were also responsible for the physical upkeep of the necropolis. Now, generations later, the descendants of those priests still fulfil their enduring mission at the necropolis. Clients are now few and far between, but the priests abide, and a handful of them can still be seen sweeping the sand from tombs in a never ending and thankless task.
The Crypt
The Crypt of the Eight Lords was constructed to look like a simple family crypt in the second tier. It sits amongst several similar-looking crypts and is distinguished from the rest only by a small carving of an equilateral triangle pointing down in the corner of the lintel above the door.
The Entrance
This crypt is guarded by five desert priests: three outside sweeping sand from graves, and two inside the first room “resting”.
In addition to being caretakers of the necropolis, these priests are sworn to guard this crypt to prevent anyone from getting in or letting evil out. If anyone approaches the crypt, the priests will casually gather near them while continuing to sweep sand off the monuments. If anyone attempts to enter the tomb, the priests will confront them and block their passage. The two priests inside will move to the entrance. If the players don’t take the hint, the priests will attack. The priest are not evil, but they take their duties seriously. They can be reasoned with, but it had better be a pretty good reason for getting into the crypt.
Room 1
Inside is a simple chapel. This area of the necropolis contains many similar modest chapels. More elaborate structures stand in the more well-to-do sections lower down the necropolis.
A few knickknacks of little value and the burned-out stumps of some candles sit on stone shelves along the walls.
At the back of the chapel, there are stairs leading down.
Room 2
Stairs lead down a narrow passage into a small burial chamber with a simple carved wooden casket. The painted decorations on the casket are faded with age. The wooden lid has been pushed aside, and the casket is obviously empty. Anything inside has long since been looted.
The following inscription is carved into the far wall. It’s written in the ancient dialect of this area and will need to be translated.
In quiet repose
Will seeker be
Through dark embrace
Thy goal will see
If the characters interpret this riddle, they will understand they need to lie down (in quiet repose) in the casket and close the lid (through dark embrace). As soon as it’s dark in the casket, they will be teleported into room 3, where they will appear lying on the wooden slab in the middle of the room. They won’t feel anything from the transport. There are no lights in this room, so they might not even realise they have travelled anywhere.
The casket radiates an aura of Conjuration magic if detected.
Room 3
This is a 35-foot square room. Canopic jars and urns stuffed with coins (platinum, gold, and silver), gems and jewellery are piled up against the walls.
Of course, everything in here is an illusion and will be detected as such if the characters interact with any of the treasure. The canopic jars themselves are real but of little value since they are simply common clay jars.
There is a door frame in the center of the north wall. There’s no door, just a frame. The wall within the door frame is painted to look like the view outside the entrance to the chapel above. The painting shows a lush green valley and a beautiful city with gardens and fountains. A golden handprint is painted in the middle of the doorway.
If anyone places their hand on the handprint, they will be teleported back to Room 1, looking out the front door.
A secret door (DC 13 to spot) in this room opens to a short passage leading to a small room with what looks like a well in the middle of the floor. There is an 80-foot drop to the bottom of the “well”, landing on the floor of Room 4 below.
Room 4
A huge 60-foot radius (120 feet across) domed room has been excavated out of the solid rock underground. The floor is polished stone. Eight doors are spaced equally around the room on the cardinal points (North, North East, East, etc). Two of the doors (North and southwest) are broken, and fragments lie on the floor. It does not take much effort to realise that they appear to have been broken from the inside.
Several bodies are strewn about the domed room. Probably the remains of previous would-be grave robbers. As soon as any of the players touch the floor in the domed room, some of the bodies shudder and twitch. One, a zombie, gets up to attack.
There are four zombies in total. One zombie starts in the first round of the fight, a second zombie staggers to its feet and joins in the second round, a third zombie in the third round, and the fourth and final zombie attacks in the fourth round.
In the first round of combat, a loud booming sound starts. It sounds like something is trying to break down one of the doors. Sounds echo in this domed room, so it would take an exceptionally perceptive person to tell where the booming sound is coming from.
At the start of the second round, one of the Mummy Monks bursts through the East door and joins the attack.
The pounding sound continues.
On the fourth round of combat, the second Mummy Monk breaks out of the South door.
The rooms behind each of the eight doors are the resting places of the Eight Lords. Only 6 of the Lords were ever actually laid to rest here. The West and North West tombs stand empty and contain nothing but dust. History is vague about what happened to the two missing Lords.
From the North, moving clockwise, the crypts contain…
- North. Empty. The door is broken from the inside, and the sarcophagus is open. 50gp within. There’s no sign of what happened to the occupant.
- North East. A mummified, but quite dead, body.
- East. Monk Mummy! What a handful. (Male). 91gp.
- South East. It’s a regular dead mummy. 42gp
- South. Another Monk Mummy! Damn! (Female) 44gp
- South West. Empty. Busted open from the inside. 76gp. There’s no sign of what happened to the occupant.
- West. Empty. Never used.
- North West. Empty and never used.
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