Level 1: Crypt of the Squires
Old stonework tunnels, rough by today's standards. Un-mortared blocks, green in places with moss, damp everywhere. Dark, quiet.
This is sort of a "fake" level. There's very little treasure, the place already being mostly looted, but also very little danger. The purposes of this level are: 1) to introduce people totally new to D&D to some of the basic concepts (exploring rooms, navigating, mapping), in case anyone like that is playing; 2) to hint at some of the dangers lying further in (the dead Stone Guardian in 7, the sprung trap in 11); and 3) to build atmosphere and tension. Even though the players are mostly safe on this level (at least during the day), they should never feel safe. This is at least partly a horror game, so play it that way; cultivate a spooky atmosphere, build a sense of dread, lean on the omens in the encounter table to keep the players on edge and let them know that they're not alone here, even if nothing is jumping out at them just yet.
1: Small Tomb
A boxy stone sepulcher against the back wall, open with the lid propped against the side. Old bones within. A shelf set into the wall above holds remains of broken earthen vessels and melted candles. Empty.
2: Small Tomb
Stone sepulcher against the back wall, open, bones inside. Broken pottery on a shelf above. Empty.
In the east wall, a crack has been widened into a narrow squeeze; a few broken and rusted hammers and chisels are scattered on the floor. Anyone wishing to pass through the opening must take off their pack and pass it through separately.
3: Legend Chamber
Wooden door with iron fittings, broken open from without. Inside, a spacious chamber, cold braziers in the corners.
The walls opposite the door bear ancient carvings. In the first (south/left), a youth kneels at the feet of a crowned king, offering up a sword. In the second (middle), the youth is stabbed by a menacing armored warrior while the king stands behind him. In the third (north/right), knights kneel in vigil over the youth's body while the king looks on, head bowed. Learned PCs will recognize the story of Taran, a squire who once saved the life of Tancred I and was rewarded with hero's burial.
Beneath each carving rests a stone altar, all cleared of offerings, covered in melted candle wax.
4: Heir's Tomb
Sepulcher along the south wall, cracked open, bones within. The west wall is a fresco of a young man in a crown presiding over a court of heraldic animals—lions, wolves, bears, and the like.
The fresco is a false wall, plaster a few inches thick. It can be broken through with tools and a turn's work. Behind, stone shelves hold earthen jars full of food and drink (long spoiled), 720 sp, a gold goblet worth 500 sp, and a set of silver armbands adorned with garnets worth 100 sp.
5: Tomb of Taran
Iron door from the south passageway shows evidence of attempts to break it down, scores and dents. Its lock has been damaged from within; it no longer closes properly.
Sepulcher in the center carved with rampant stags, lid pried off, bones within. Cold braziers in the corners. Stone altar on the north wall covered in melted candle wax, more on shelves set into the walls. Earthen vessels fill much of the remaining space, cracked open and emptied.
Narrow squeeze in the west wall leads to 2. It looks to have been made by tools. Packs must be removed and passed through separately.
6: Broken Icon
Statue on the west wall of a robed figure, head broken off, nowhere in sight. Bare stone altar at its feet covered in candle wax. Empty.
Wooden door with iron fittings to the north, broken open from outside. Wooden door with iron fittings to the east, broken open from this side.
7: Fallen Guardian
The southeast corner of this chamber has collapsed, filled with rubble and dirt. Half buried beneath is an old Stone Guardian, one forelimb and part of its head broken off, hindquarters crushed in the collapse. It is dead and inert.
Two skeletons, stripped of possessions, lie nearby, many smashed bones showing injuries. Broken swords and spears lie strewn about the room, long rusted.
Remnants of a wooden door with iron fittings to the north, smashed to splinters from without. Deep claw-marks in the stone floor match the Guardian's remaining visible paw.
8: Grave Goods
Earthen vessels fill this room. Half are smashed open and empty. The rest are emptied less destructively, or hold long-spoiled vittles.
A turn of searching reveals one forgotten treasure in a small, still-intact jar: 32 sp and a silver bowl engraved with roses, worth 50 sp.
Wooden doors with iron fittings north and east, closed, unlocked. Another to the south, smashed to splinters from this side.
9: Small Tomb
Open sepulcher, bones within, skull missing. Broken pottery and melted candles on a shelf above.
2 giant centipedes hunt for rodents.
Giant Centipede: HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4 and save vs. poison or be incapacitated with pain and nausea for 1d4 hours, morale 5.
10: Squire's Tomb
Stone sepulcher on the west wall, open, bones within. Earthen vessels fill most of the space, many broken, most empty, some holding long-spoiled food and drink. A turn's searching reveals one small jar holding well-aged mead, still good, enough for 3 draughts.
11: Relic Vault
Iron door, once locked but no longer. Inside, earthen vessels and iron chests fill most of the room, all emptied; this place has been thoroughly looted.
In the center, upon a low dais, a stone altar holds a rack that looks like it once held a sword, scepter, or some such thing, now nowhere to be seen. In front of the altar, an old skeleton in rotted gambeson stands impaled from below on a rusted spear emerging from a hole in the floor. Examining the altar and rack will reveal that the rack rests on a pressure plate, which has been lifted.
12: Small Tomb
Wooden door with iron fittings, broken open from the outside. Open sepulcher holding bones. Empty.
13: Small Tomb
Open sepulcher holding bones. On the west wall, a half-life-size statue of a knight standing vigil, sword pointed down, set in a niche. If his head is tipped forward, carving and niche slide down into the floor, opening the narrow portal into 14.
Squeaking and skittering, as if of rodents, audible to the east.
14: Student's Tomb
Child-size stone sepulcher, closed. Inside, the bones of a youth. On a shelf above, two ivory cases worth 10 sp each hold 1st-level spell scrolls (determine randomly).
A statue of a dragon emerges from the west wall, wings spread and mouth open, overlooking the grave. The scroll cases rest on a pressure plate; if either is moved, the flame trap in the carving activates. On 5-in-6, the ignition mechanism fails from lack of maintenance, and the dragon merely spits a gout of black oil. On 1-in-6, it blasts flames; all in the room take 2d8 damage, save vs. dragon breath for half.
15: Small Tomb
Open sepulcher, bones within. On a shelf above, an open iron lockbox. Empty.
16: Small Tomb
Open sepulcher, bones within. Empty.
Squeaking and skittering audible to the east.
17: Grave Goods
Earthen vessels, broken or holding spoiled vittles, emptied wooden and iron chests. 5 R.O.U.S.es gnaw on spoiled meat from a large upended jar.
Rodents of Unusual Size: HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4, morale 6.
Wooden door with iron fittings south, closed, unlocked.
18: Chamber of Names
Torch brackets ring this circular chamber, empty. The walls are carved with hundreds of names. A character learned in noble lineages who spends a turn studying them will realize they are all of highborn youths taken before their time—scions who died in infancy or childhood, squires who fell serving their lieges before they could earn their own honors.
Wooden doors with iron fittings north and south. Spiral stairs lead down into darkness.
Encounters - Day
- Voices from ahead, murmuring in conversation/laughing/singing/weeping. No one there....
- The door behind you creaks/slams shut/swings open.
- A chill wind blows, extinguishing candles automatically and torches on 50%.
- Eyes in the dark beyond your light, shining catlike. They vanish around a corner before you get a good look....
- Rodents of unusual size, 2d4. HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4, morale 6.
- Giant centipedes, 1d4. HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4 and save vs. poison or be incapacitated with pain and nausea for 1d4 hours, morale 5.
Encounters - Night
- Goblins, 2d4. HD 1-1, AC leather, big knife 1d6, morale 4.
- Kobolds, 2d4. HD 1-1, AC leather, spear 1d6, morale 5.
- Rodents of unusual size, 2d4. HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4, morale 6.
- Giant centipedes, 1d4. HD 0, AC unarmored, bite 1d4 and save vs. poison or be incapacitated with pain and nausea for 1d4 hours, morale 5.
- Skeletal knights, 1d4. HD 1†, AC leather and shield, spear 1d6 or sword 1d8, morale 7.
- Shadow beasts, 1d3. HD 3, AC unarmored, lifedrain 1d6, immune to normal weapons, eat lights, morale 12.
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