The Royal Barrows is a mini-dungeon for Original or Basic character levels 1-3. Parties with clerics and/or druids will have an easier time within in the Barrows. The history of the Barrows is described in the entry for hex 1815 of the Northern Marklands wilderness map (here.)
The Barrows include the following features:
Light: There is no light in the Barrows. Sconces and/or torches, if available, are noted in the individual room’s description
Walls: The walls of the barrow are cobbled stone, with some enhancements by Alkastran engineers, especially in the later barrows. Passages are 10 ft. high, while individual rooms may vault up to 15 ft. high.
Doors: Doors are solid oak with iron and bronze banding unless otherwise noted. All doors are stuck.
Barrow of the Prince Encounters (2d6)
2. The possessed leader of the tomb robbers (wight,) wandering the structure (see Room 4.)
3. 1d4 tomb robber zombies – recent victims of King Connel’s shade.
4. 1d8 1st level clerics (acolytes.) 50/50 chance they are Templars of Law seeking to prove themselves by cleansing the Barrows, or followers of Chaos drawn to the evil energies within.
5. 2d6 skeletons – eternal guards of the Barrows, or ancient victims that have joined them in death.
6-8. 1d8 tomb robbers (bandits.) If nine or more have been slain, defeated, or otherwise driven off, there is no encounter thereafter.
9. 2d10 rats, initially attracted by food offerings in the entrance shrine left by the local, superstitious country folk. 2-in-6 chance they’re 3d6 of the giant type instead.
10. 1d10 stirges nesting between the stones above.
11. 1d8 fire beetles. Their glow may appear as eyes staring from the darkness.
12. 1d3 ghouls drawn to the necromantic energies of this place.
Barrow of the Prince Key
Room 1: Entrance and Shrine
Inside the entrance are the remains of a domed room that acts as a shrine. Barbaric elements along the walls are juxtaposed with the high art of sculptors from the southern continent. Images of the Lords of Law: the Dragon Father, the Merciful Mother and the Faithful Son, Mythras, exist side-by-side with Northern runes and symbols that denote the resting place of a brave warrior who has earned their seat in the Cloud Hall among the Giant Lords.
Filthy bedrolls, a small cook fire, and various tools such as shovels, picks, and prybars, are strewn around a small fire with a giant rat on a spit. Its owners are lunging around, alert for any interlopers who might witness their desecration (or disturb their lunch.) This is only a portion of the larger band of tomb robbers (bandits, HP 8, 1, 3, 5, 8) which have ventured into the tomb below. They fight with simple weapons or tools (1d6 damage.)
At the far end of the shrine are the remains of the stone doorway that sealed the entrance to the burial place. The following words can still be read on the remains of the stone seal:
“Here lies King Connel, First of His Name
CUB of the LION
Wise guardian of Alkastra the Jeweled SPEAR
He sits by the side of the LION in MOLNHEIM
To watch for the SNAKES under the Earth”
Room 2: The Wise King’s Works
The walls of this room are carved with bas-reliefs of of King Connel's reign.
There are currently four (4) tomb robbers (bandits, HP 6, 6, 6, 5,) hiding here after their companions met a gruesome end in Room 4. One of them has a bandaged leg from the trap in Room 3. The bandits are frightened and avoid conflict (+1 to reactions.) However, they are still treacherous, and will try to take advantage of the player characters (PCs) if they are able (use them as shields from monsters, steal from/kill weak PCs, etc.)
The three walls of the room, from northeast to southwest, tell the events of King Connel’s life: his miraculous birth to King Cyneric and Queen Beltis after they had lost all hope, followed by his youthful years as a warrior king defending Alkastra from various threats (northwest wall,) his middle years were devoted to the Lords of Law, charitable and public works, and wise rule (northeast wall,) and finally, his expansion of the Cathedral in Alkastra, old age, and eventual passing, ending with the Wise King's funeral pyre (this is a clue to the false tomb in Room 3.)
 |
| Cyneric's heir became very devout in his mid to later years. He was then known as the Wise King. |
Before the center of each story wall is a flagstone markedly different from the others. Standing on it depresses it with an audible click. A character that circumambulates the room in a clockwise fashion, and steps on the flagstones in the correct order: youth > middle age > old age, causes a panel to open on the relief of King Connel's throne on the northeast wall. Inside is a rotting leather satchel with 300 sp and a bronze plaque, about hand sized, with the embossed image of a spear head with bright rays radiating from it. This plaque (Jeweled Spear) is part of the solution to the puzzle in Room 14 in the Barrow of the King.
Room 3: False Tomb
A basalt sarcophagus carved with the image of a resting King Connel dominates the center of this room. An honor guard of ten (10) skeletons in rusted arms and armor, covered in thick cobwebs, stand in alcoves on the northwestern and southeastern walls in five, human-sized alcoves each. None of these skeletons come to life, unless the game master (GM) rolls a random encounter for one or more skeletons while the PCs are in this room. If any skeletons are disturbed or destroyed, and the PCs return to this room a day or more later, they will find the skeletons intact and in their alcoves once again. This effect ends if the PCs save the spirit of King Connel (see Room 4.)
The sarcophagus is trapped. A small, dried blood stain on one side serves as a clue. Attempting to pry open the lid causes small spears to thrust out in all four directions. PCs in the way must save against magic wands or suffer 1d6+1 damage. The sarcophagus is filled with nothing but plain sand and the trap’s mechanism beneath it, covered by a weight-sensitive panel. The mechanism resets by itself.
Two of the skeleton's alcoves on the southeastern wall have secret doors behind them. One leads to a hallway, while the other leads to the actual tomb (Room 4.)
Room 4: King Connel’s Tomb
The secret door to this hallway prior to this room closes behind the PCs unless they hold or spike it in place. This chamber is mostly plain save for a central plinth with a stone urn at the center and a faded fresco on the southeastern wall.
Around the plinth are the bodies of three (3) of the tomb robbers. A robed figure kneels before the fresco muttering as in prayer. When player characters (PCs) arrive, the figure rises and turns to reveal a sallow face crisscrossed with black veins and staring with white, pupilless eyes that burn with hatred for the living. The bodies of the tomb robbers also rise as zombies (HP 11, 6, 2.)
The robed figure was a sorcerer and leader of the tomb robbers, who is now possessed by the corrupted shade of King Connel. This has turned him into a wight (HP 14.)
 |
| The tomb robbers encountered more than they bargained for. Now they belong to the Barrows. |
Killing the leader-turned-wight causes King Connel’s shade to visibly return to the urn, but anyone opening it later must save against spells or lose a level of experience as if struck by a wight. This process continues every round the victim holds the urn until the individual succeeds at their save or is killed. If killed, the character then becomes possessed by King Connel’s shade as a wight.
The shade can also be returned to the urn by a cleric who successfully turns the wight followed by a short ritual of exorcism, which takes one turn (a cleric would know this, but the GM should allow for the player come up with the idea first.) This saves the life of the possessed individual (but any draining of levels remains.)
To permanently undo the corruption of King Connel's shade, a cleric must reconsecrate both the urn and chamber (again, the GM should allow for a cleric player to come up with the idea.)
Inside the urn are King Connel’s ashes. He chose to honor his father by being burned in a pyre in the manner of Northmen instead of buried whole (as shown on the relief wall in Room 2.) Within the ashes is a hand-sized, bronze plaque with the embossed image of a small lion’s head with a halo instead of a mane (Lion Cub.) This plaque is required to solve the puzzle in Room 14 of the Barrow of the King.
Should the PCs save the possessed sorcerer, he is somewhat grateful and introduces himself as Drauzhim of Khargas. Because he has lost much of his power (previously a 4th-level magic-user, now 1st,) he will be cautious and helpful with the PCs, until he finds a chance to get the upper hand on them, and take any treasures found in the Barrows (especially magical ones.)
The fresco itself depicts King Connel sitting in what is recognizable to Northmen as the Giant Lord’s Cloud Hall, but the Giant Lords above him are depicted like the Lords of Law in what would be considered heresy to clerics of both cultures: Woaden as Bhaal’mut the Dragon Father (with a draconic head,) Dorna as the Merciful Mother, and Thyrn as Mythras the Faithful Son.
King Connel tried to reconcile his faith in the Lords of Law with the religion of his Northern heritage, and theorized that the Giant Lords were in truth aspects of the Lords of Law. This small, heretical sect disappeared after the Wise King's passing, but it may have planted the seed for the small, but growing number of conversions among the Northmen many years later.
The fresco wall, which can be recognized by a dwarf as a newer construction from the rest of the barrow (though still old,) is easily destroyed with appropriate tools within one turn, revealing a passageway beyond.
Room 5: Treasure Room and Entrance to the Barrow of the Queen
This room is a rotund shrine much like the one at the entrance, but dedicated to Queen Beltis instead. Painted images on the walls depict both valkyries on one side and amazons astride pegasii on the other in silent vigil of this sacred place. Alcoves contain melted candles and various treasures - old offerings and grave goods: 4,000 cp, two azurites (10 gp each,) a garnet (100 gp,) two yellow topazes (500 gp each), a copper necklace with blue topaz beads and a central onyx (500 gp) and long, gold tassel earrings with small moonstones and inlaid, lapiz lazuli runes (800 gp.)
A sealed, stone doorway opposite the entrance is carved with the following words:
“Here lies Queen Beltis
Fierce LIONESS to the LION
She sits with her CUB and LION in MOLNHEIM
Protective Mother of the Jeweled SPEAR
Warding against the SNAKES under the Earth”
The stone doorway can be broken open with tools in 1d4+1 turns. A set of stone stairs leads to the Barrow of the Queen beyond.
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
No comments:
Post a Comment