Kingsgrave
Prydein is a land of many kings.
Long ago, the House of Tancred ruled over all as high king. In those storied days, the great lords and their faithful knights were laid to rest within the Kingsgrave, eternal dwelling of a thousand heroes. In those sanctified halls were laid the treasures of the realm's highest houses, watched over evermore by sleepless, undying guardians.
A generation ago, the last High King was murdered. The Crown City burned, and the betrayer, Morgren Witchblood—the High King's own half-brother—fled with his followers into the Kingsgrave's depths. The remnants of the royal knights, scattered and reeling, rallied to pursue, but when they threw wide the barrow gates, the found horror waiting for them. The once-holy halls of the dead lay darkened, their guardians turned against the living, terrors crawling from the shadows to devour those who dared enter. In the end, the survivors were forced to flee the crypts, and Morgren's fate remained undiscovered.
Now, the White Throne of the High kings sits empty. The Kingsgrave lies quiet in its darkness, the dead receiving no pilgrims. Tales spread of foul things creeping from within under cover of night, and of the lost treasures of the kings of old waiting to be reclaimed. Many are the knights, sages, saints, and thieves who have ventured below. Few have returned.
Will you succeed where they have failed?
General Notes
Experience is silver standard (1 sp = 1 XP). Monster hit dice are d6. Morale checks are 2d6 equal to or under a creature's morale score.
Rumors (1d12)
- "The tomb of King Tancred I was moved so many times as the Grave was expanded, it was already lost by the time the place went dark." - T
- "Morgren Witchblood stole the High King's crown when he vanished. That crown has power; whoever finds it would have a worthy claim to the White Throne." - T
- "The kings of old bound a dragon to guard their treasures." - F
- "The Stone Hounds of the Grave can follow a scent trail just like flesh-and-blood dogs." - F
- "The black fire that burns in the tombs is the flame of the dead. Snuff out your other lights, and it'll show you things no living eye can see." - T
- "It's pointless to try and map the Grave—the walls shift when you're not looking." - F
- "The little dog-creatures serve the trees; be careful carrying fire or axes around them." - T
- "Three ogre brothers made homes in the Grave years ago. The only thing they hate more than thieves is each other." - T
- "There's a dwarf who makes his home in the tombs—don't trust him! Everything he sells is garbage." - F
- "The Annwold has its own dangers. If you camp on the surface at night, best take shelter and set a watch." - T
- "If the Green Rot touches you, your only hope is cutting it off right away—'less you've got a wizard on hand to help." - T
- "The Icons of Saints in the Grave still hold power. Chambers they watch over are safe." - T
Monsters and Factions
THE DEAD
The spirits of the knights and kings of old no longer rest easy. Those who defile or rob the tombs may meet wrathful specters or walking corpses hateful of life. Not all the dead are wholly overcome by hate, though; meet the knights of the Grave with honor, and you may win safe passage or even powerful allies.
Specters: vary, immune to physical harm, vulnerable to magic and ghostfire.
Corpses: vary.
STONE GUARDIANS
Watchdogs of stone, large as bears, standing eternal guard over the tombs. Deadly with claws and teeth of flint, very difficult to hurt. When moving, their grinding footfalls are always audible in nearby chambers. They possess an animal cunning, but are not smart, and can be deceived. Though they see and hear excellently, even in pitch darkness, they have no sense of smell, as they do not breathe.
HD 6, AC as leather, claw 1d6/claw 1d6/bite 1d8, morale 12, immune to all weapons except maces, hammers, picks, etc.
SHADOW BEASTS
Living darkness, hungry to devour light and heat. When they attack, they come for light sources first, then body heat. Mindless and hateful, they cannot be bargained with, but they can be drawn off if one is willing to throw away a torch. They cannot enter fully lit rooms.
HD 3, AC unarmored, lifedrain 1d6, morale 12, immune to normal weapons. They always attack light sources first; on a hit to the bearer, torches and candles are extinguished and lanterns are depleted by 1 hour. Only once all lights are extinguished to they start inflicting damage.
GOBLINS
Sometimes, when a village is burnt, children survive. They do not survive unchanged.
The goblins in the Kingsgrave are outsiders, gathered over the years as more sought hiding places from the light and noise of the outside world. They have been conquered and enslaved by the Three Cleavers, who now use them as minions and punching bags. They are hateful and do not speak, but still know fear, and will never fight at a disadvantage.
HD 1-1, wear armor, use weapons, morale 4.
OGRES
Muscle cords thicker than greed. Take up all you possess, and carry it with you. See what you desire, and come to possess it. This is but one of the paths a man may walk to leave humanity behind.
The Three Cleavers are brothers, once leaders of a band of brigands, already well on their way to becoming ogres when they set out to pillage the Kingsgrave. When they encountered the goblins who had made their homes in the tombs, they saw an opportunity. Their old followers soon became food for their new. Now, the brothers feast upon the spoils of their new servants' nighttime pillaging of the nearby villages, plotting against the surface and each other in equal measure.
Daz, Youngest Cleaver: HD 4, AC as mail, big axe 1d8/big axe 1d8, morale 6.
Targo, Second Cleaver: HD 4, AC as mail, great maul 1d12 (+2 to hit vs. mail and plate), morale 7.
Mikkel, Eldest Cleaver: HD 5, AC as mail and shield, giantish sword 2d6, morale 8.
Giantish Sword (see &&&&&& Treasure):
Too big.
The hands of captives worked the smaller details into the blade, the guard, the handle. Between scenes of captivity are pleas for release, longings for death—too fine for giant eyes to see. Such miserable prayers only accumulate power as they are denied.
Deals 2d6 damage. Subtracts 2 to hit. Cannot be swung by a mortal, unless swung at one who denies others freedom.
Such an immense weapon ensures attention from all quarters. Any who recognize it for a giant blade will urge you to bury it, fearing a return.
KOBOLDS
They are born of the Great Trees from human blood to be servants and caretakers, to go places and do things trees are too large and slow for. Trees have long memories. Even now, after generations in human reckoning, they recall how the axe-bearers and fire-bringers carved away at the roots to build this place, and they are angry.
They are clever, cautious but tenacious, fighting a long war with the Grave's guardians and the goblin soldiers of the Cleavers. They do not despise all humans; those who show no reverence for the Grave, who are willing to scatter the treasures of the old kings to the winds and see their tombs ground to dust beneath the mother roots, may earn valuable allies. Anger them, and they will turn the tunnels into a hell of traps.
HD 1-1, wear armor, use weapons, morale 5.
RUST MONSTERS
Skittering things the size of large dogs, waving antennae like ferns. They eat iron, the touch of those antennae causing it to rust and crumble. To all else, they are harmless unless threatened.
HD 2, AC as leather, bite 1d4 or destroy 1 random metal item (magic items 10% per plus or 1-in-4 to resist), morale 7.
SWORD EATERS
Rust monsters that grow accustomed to a diet of arms and armor inherit the killing instinct of their food. Half again as high as a man, encrusted in steel produced from within. They crave battle, but they know honor in their animal way, and they will respect a fair duel.
HD 5, AC as plate, blade 1d8/blade 1d8, morale 10.
Corrosive bile - uses action, all in melee save or metal equipment loses 1d3 durability (magic items 10% per plus or 1-in-4 to resist).
Extrude sword - uses action, produces any magic blade it has eaten from within its body, replaces 1 blade attack.
GREEN ROT
A living plague infesting certain deep crypts, devouring all that lives or ever did. All it takes becomes more of it. What it cannot consume, it turns to its own purposes with horrifying adaptability.
Green slime: HD 3, AC unarmored, no damage, on hit organic targets dissolve into green slime in 1d4 minutes. Cutting off an affected limb halts the effect. Immune to normal weapons.
Rotwalker: HD 3†, wears armor, uses weapons or green slime touch.
(†: monstrous HD, ignores all damage less than 6, dies after a number of 6+ damage hits equal to its HD. See Monsters &.)
GNOLLS
Men cursed to beasthood, the heirs of long-fallen House Dunlain of Hound Hall. They hunger endlessly, all humanity long erased.
HD 5†, AC leather, claw 1d6/claw 1d6/bite 1d8, morale 9. Contact with their blood spreads the curse on a failed save.
SHACKLED KNIGHTS
The faithful vassals of House Dunlain, bound eternally in blessed armor to seal the curse, willing exiles in the crypts. They hunt their fallen brethren who have escaped their bonds, fearless of their own deaths, for they have been dead long already. Other interlopers will be aided in leaving the Grave promptly and undisturbed; those who resist are warned that they can easily become more prey.
HD 4†, AC plate, use weapons, morale 12.
NIGHT GASTS
Shadows that swallow enough light become something that light can no longer kill.
HD 6†, AC as leather, lifedrain 1d10, morale 9. Immune to normal weapons. Automatically snuff out all light sources nearby (save by bearer resists) and regain 1 HD per light devoured.
THE PALE WRAITH
A regal figure in kingly garb, aged but unbent. He guards the holiest of the tombs and their treasures. None who have incurred his wrath have yet escaped.
HD 8, AC mail, spectral sword 1d8 (ignores non-magic armor), morale 12. Immune to normal weapons. Can teleport at will within the dungeon.
Level 0: The Annwold
Ancient forest, trees standing strong and thick, screening sightlines. Animals abound as you set out, but as you approach the site of the mausoleum after about half a day's march, eerie silence descends. The old path leads west.
1: Ritual Baths
A stone building being reclaimed by ivy, holes in the tiled roof. Inside, a broken fountain and two deep baths, filled with brackish water and dead leaves. At the bottom of the left bath lies an emerald-in-silver necklace worth 80 sp.
2: Cursed Tomb
An octagonal stone building with a domed roof, intact. Doors of iron wrought with old magical sigils, more carved into the archway and around the walls. Numerous recognizable symbols of warning and forbiddance.
The door is sealed by powerful magic; it will not open until the spell is undone. Anyone touching it before then saves or suffers a powerful curse, referee's choice. Inside the tomb lies something powerful and dangerous, if the PCs can find a way in. Perhaps the answer lies somewhere below....
3: Entrance Hall
The roof of the great mausoleum stands 40' at its highest, the stone collapsed in numerous places. Great double gates of wood with iron fittings have fallen and decayed. A stone step leads up to the open doorway; open windows in the front of the building admit more light within.
Old tapestries line the walls, worn and faded beyond recognition. Melted candle wax coats a shelf of stone beneath.
Archway to the west, further inside.
4: Mausoleum Main Chamber
Soaring grandeur strewn with leaves and fallen masonry. Melted candles everywhere. Ahead, and altar of plain stone, bare. Beyond, stairs lead down into darkness.
Tancred I stands in stone 30' high at the far end, regal and bearded, sword and spear in hand. Remnants of a great stained glass, only a few panes remaining, cast him in green and gold from behind. Between the pillars, the Knights of the Ring, legendary companions of His Grace, stand vigil in smaller stone likeness, armed and armored but with faces recognizable.
Closed wooden door north. Open doorway south, another wooden door fallen off its hinges. Collapsed part of the north wall leads outside.
5: Gravetenders' Rectory
Two narrow beds, moldered linens. Wardrobe, emptied except for an old tinder-box in the drawer, damp and useless. A small table, two chairs, one broken. Small fireplace, ashes long cold.
Open doorways north and south, both wooden doors fallen off their hinges.
6: Icon of Saints
A stone altar before a statue of Saint Dinah, a martyr, smiling serenely. High windows admit slanting light, too small to fit through. All in this room who do not actively spurn the Faith feel deep calm and safety. Holy power still protects this place, one of a few left within the Grave; as long as it remains consecrated, no monster can enter. The party may rest here safely.
7: Tunnel Entrance
A well-hidden cave opening within the undergrowth (treat as secret door to find). Leads down to Cleavertown on Level 3. The goblins come and go through here on their nighttime raids; inspection reveals recent tracks in the dirt, like bare children's feet if children's toes had ragged claws.
8: Surface Root Gate
An ancient Great Tree, far older than Prydein, towers above. At its immense roots, a hollow large enough to squeeze into; within, warmth, humidity, an orange glow. The sapwood stands exposed behind a web of minor roots, wet to the touch. Water the roots with human blood—the sacrifice must die—and the small roots will retract, allowing you to press yourself inside the sapwood, jelly-like around you. Those who enter will be carried down to Roothome on Level 4, where the tree's kobold servants dwell.
Encounters - Day
None.
Encounters - Night
- Wolves, 1d6 (HD 1, AC as leather, bite 1d6, morale 7).
- Goblins, 2d6 (HD 1-1, AC leather, big knife 1d6, morale 4).
- Kobolds, 2d4 (HD 1-1, AC leather, spear 1d6, morale 5).
- Skeletal knights, 2d4 (HD 1†, AC leather and shield, spear 1d6 or sword 1d8, morale 7).
- Shadow beast (HD 3, AC unarmored, lifedrain 1d6, immune to normal weapons, eats lights first, morale 12).
- Spectral knight (HD 4, AC mail and shield, sword 1d8, immune to normal weapons, morale 8).
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