Moving on from the King's Chamber (where the dragon was), we get to the Queen's Chamber.
This tomb has been desecrated and robbed of all treasures. The Vampire Queen is jealous of any other queen other than herself.
Moving on from the King's Chamber (where the dragon was), we get to the Queen's Chamber.
This tomb has been desecrated and robbed of all treasures. The Vampire Queen is jealous of any other queen other than herself.
This room is directly in line with the corridor the party used to enter the room. The passageway slopes down considerably and goes for nearly 100 feet. The room it opens up into is large.
Inside this room is a large dragon.
This dragon has been down here for centuries and it has grown too large to leave or even fly. It is a Necrotic Dragon. It had been a Red Dragon (and uses those stats) but its exposure to the necromantic magics of this tomb has changed it. Its breath weapon is a gout of black fire that burn cold, but burns all the same.
The local living goblins pay it tribute and the Shadow Elves from above believe it is some sort of dark avatar of long dead gods.
It has maximum HP for a red dragon and three times (x3) the amount of treasure.
It can be harmed with holy water (1d8 per vial) and a light or continual light spell will cause it to hit and save at a -1 penalty.
Continuing counterclockwise to the next crypt brings the party to room 22. This one is dedicated to one of the dwarven princesses.
The party notices many things.
First, there is the ghost of a dwarven princess standing near her damaged sarcophagus. She is very sad and does not speak.
Secondly, the walls are covered with paintings of the pricess' life. She died young and un-married. The painting were of her playing in the (then) nearby fields. Braiding her father's beard, and other scenes of innocence.
Thirdly, the party will also also see that these paintings have all been defaced with graffiti and pornographic imagery.
The princess' ghost cannot be attack of hit. But likewise she can't attack either. She can't find rest because her grave has been disturbed. A cleric can perform the final rights and put her soul to rest, but she won't leave until the vandalism is removed.
Fortunately the graffiti was done by magic (a magic-user or witch can detect this) and so a Dispel Magic will erase it all.
Doing this will allow the princess to move on. She will with a smile and as she departs a previously hidden secret door will open and reveal the Princess' treasure. There are two bags of holding each with 18,700 gp value in jewels and gems. There is a crown worth 1,000 gp and a slim bejewelled sword. Finding these is worth 40,000 XP total.
Moving on to the next room on the left hand side (to the right of Room 20) is another passageway to a crypt. This one has a guest waiting for the party.
In this crypt is a dead dwarf. He is looking at you, but he is dead.
If the party does not attack right away the dwarf, a bhūta, will ask in a dry and dusty voice to ask the party to hold. The dwarf will explain that he is only interested in killing the Vampire Queen, or at least get confirmation that she is dead. If they party lets him pass he will walk by. Give them the same XP as if they had defeated him.
IF they attack, then he will attack back. Nothing will stop his vengeance on the Vampire Queen.
Bhūta (Dwarf)
Armor Class: 4 [15]
Hit Dice: 7+14** (46 hp)
Attacks: 2 claws (1d6+1 x2)
Special: Death Grip, Undead.
THAC0: 11 [+8]
Movement: 120' (40')
Saving Throws: Monster 7
Morale: 12
Alignment: Neutral evil
XP: 1,250 (OSE) 1,100 [9] (S&W) 1,200 (LL)
Number Appearing: 1
Treasure Type: None
When a person is murdered, the spirit sometimes clings to the Material Plane, refusing to accept its mortal death. This spirit, called a bhūta, possesses its original body and seeks out those responsible for its murder. It will never rest until those responsible are sought out and slain.
Since the transformation into unlife is almost instant (occurring within 1-2 hours after death), the bhūta appears as it did in life for about 2 weeks, taking on a more decayed appearance thereafter. Close inspection (spot on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6) reveals slight decay, and the body still shows signs of any trauma suffered prior to death (wounds, disease, burns, or the like), but outwardly, the bhūta for the most part appears as a normal creature of its race. In its undead state, the bhūta sustains itself on a diet of flesh, preferring that of humans and elves. A bhūta that scores two successful claw attacks on an opponent in the same round fastens its hands around its opponent’s throat and deals 1d6+1 damage per round until the hold is broken with a successful attack by the victim.
The bhūta’s main objective is revenge on the person that killed it. So long as the bhuta and its killer are on the same plane of existence, it can find its target unerringly.
Room 19 has many small passageways radiating out. They form 8 spokes, with the larger hall as the first. The first passage leads to a small mausoleum.
This is final resting place for four dwarven princes.
There is still some treasure here. A total of 163 gp can be found along an axe +2, +3 vs. Goblins and Orcs.
The end of the hallway (Room 14) opens to a large chamber.
There are floating orbs here and a glowing magical portal. Entering the portal will transport the character to one of the other levels of the dungeon. Roll a 1d12 to determine which one. They appear in Room 1. If characters step through together, then they are all teleported to the same place. Characters that enter separately arrive at different locations.
The orbs just float and give off light as per a light spell. The orbs (15 in total) are worth 150 GP each (normal glass orb with levitate and light spells). They break easy, having only 1 hp and a save of 18.
The room across from the previous on it set up in a similar manner.
This room is empty. There are also no books here.
Going down the hall another 50 feet there is another set of double doors on either side. The doors on the left are locked. As before there are three separate locks that need to be opened in the proper order.
The top, the lower left then the lower right. This can be figured out with divination magic or by making three successful Find Traps rolls. Inside this room is a coffin on a dais. There is a desk and many books about vampires. Inside the coffin there is a vampire chained down with silver chains.
The vampire has been experimented on for centuries. The tomes nearby detail every experiment done. Whoever was doing this was looking for a way to make vampires even more powerful.
This vampire was a failure.
After a few minutes, the vampire will stir and then begin to scream. The vampire begs the party to kill him.
Killing the vampire is not difficult. He is completely immobile, so no rolls to hit are needed, and the vampire only has 6 hp. A wooden stake will end him.
If the vampire is released then he will attack the party for blood.
--
GMs should not grant full XP for killing this vampire. But XP can be given for finding and reading the vampire books.
Moving across the hall opposite of the stairs (and to the left as walking down the hall) there is another door. This one is not locked and is easily opened.
Inside the party will find a horse. This horse is obviously demonic. It is red, has small flames leaping off of it, and its eyes are glowing. It is busy eating the corpse of a long-dead elf.
The horse looks at the party and keeps eating. If the party continues to watch the horse the horse will stop eating and ask if the party wants any of the elf to eat.
The horse is demonic and it doesn't take a "Detect Evil" spell to see that. The horse does not attack but instead it gates out if/when it is attacked in an explosion that does 4d6 hp of damage in fire and concussive blast. Save for half.
--
The horse is here due to the magical flux still effecting this tomb.
Traveling down the Room 14 hallway, there is a secure door on the party's right half way down.
The door is barred with a huge lock in the center and two more auxiliary locks. Three different Open Locks rolls or Knock spells are needed.
Once open there is a wave of necromatic magic that hits the party. They all need to make a saving throw vs. Detah or take 2d6 hp of damage.
This is a stairwell down to Level 10.
Going back to Room 2 and taking the last exit on the right. This leads to a long hallway.
This is a long hall with several alcoves similar to last hallway. This hall is filled 20 Green Slime.
When the party enters this hall they begin to slowly move towards them. They are all on the floor, none are on the ceiling.
Another secret door can be found underneath the fountain-like structure in the middle. There is a 10ft drop down into the center of the room.
This room is filled with the same sorts of snakes that came out of the fountain during the encounter in Room 11.
There are 2d10 snakes in this room. Additionally, there is 3d10 Type U treasure here.
In Room 11 there are three small secret rooms behind the many alcoves. All are covered here.
Each of these rooms are small, 10' x 10' or so. Their function is unclear. They could have been guard rooms, storage rooms or something else.
There are no treasures and no monsters here.
Going back to Room 2, and moving on down the gallery there are the larger exits to the left and to the right. Taking the left leads to a long hallway.
The room is a large, circular chamber with a high ceiling. The walls are made of smooth, polished stone, and the floor is covered in a thick layer of dust. There is a single door in the far wall and a large fountain-like structure in the center of the floor. There are alcoves in the walls with gargoyles in the recesses.
The traps in the room are all triggered by pressure plates. The first trap is located by the doorway. If a creature steps on the pressure plate, dart traps will fire (from the gargoyle's mouths), dealing 1d6 damage, save vs Poison or take another 1d8 points of damage. The second trap is located in the center of the room. If a creature steps on the pressure plate, a pit trap will open, dropping the creature 10 feet to the ground below (1d6 hp damage). The third trap is located under the fountain. If the trapdoor is opened, a swarm of poisonous snakes will pour out.
Ten (10) snakes come out from under the fountain. These snakes are blind and are the same color as the stone. They use the same stats as Giant Rattlers.
There is a cache of gold, 105 gp, hidden under the fountain.
Moving to the right there is another room, similar to room 9.
This room was also a research library. The books here have been destroyed by water and fire. All are beyond saving.
On the back wall of Room 8 there are two small rooms. To the left (perspective of the entrance) is door to room 9.
This room is a small research library. The light inside is magical (no fire near these books). Most of the books are treatises on magical animals and monsters. Anyone spending an hour or more reading through these books will gain 10 XP. Spending a week with the entire collection would grant 1000 XP.
There are a few books on the Gravlok Ka Varnash, including how it came to have that name; a powerful wizard had cast read thoughts on it and it scrambled his mind so completely that this was all he could say.
There is no way to transfer all these books, there are too many. But It is possible to spend some time reading here.
There is nothing here about the Vampire Queen save for books sing her praises or talk about how brutal she is with her enemies.
At the end of the hall of Room 7 is a large circular chamber. There is a large dark, circular pit in the center of the room.
The floor of the ring slopes down and the center ring rises up four feet from the floor.
There is ancient writing on the surface of the center ring. The words, if anyone can speak Draconic, tell of an ancient creature, the Gravlok Ka Varnash.
The pit can be opened and the creature released if the rituals are followed on the side of the pit.
Gravlok Ka Varnash
Armor Class: 5 [14]
Hit Dice: 13 (8hp per HD)
Attacks: 12 × tentacle (2d6 each) + poison
THAC0: 10 [+9]
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws: D4 W5 P6 B6 S8 (13)
Morale: 12
Alignment: Chaotic
XP: 1,200
Number Appearing 1 (1)
Treasure Type: Nil
This creature is a mass of writhing tentacles. Each tentacle can attack on its own and hit a separate target. Doing 8 hp worth of damage destroys a tentacle.
The creature is immune to mind affecting magics like sleep, charm, hold, and ESP.
The wizards here had been studying the creature until it ate too many apprentices.
Going back to Room 2, and taking the first exit on the right leads to another long hallway.
This hallway is long and magical lights spring to life as the party walks by.
There are many open rooms to both sides of the hall, eight (8) on each side. The rooms are about 40' by 40' each. Whatever these rooms were in the past they are empty and long since looted and destroyed.
There are some rats of the normal sorts and large spiders, but there is a distinct lack of any animal life here.
The end of this hallway is open with an eerie glow.
The double doors are locked and magicked. To open a thief will need to pass a successful open locks roll and a dispel magic or knock spell must be employed.
Inside is a treasure store of magic items. The number of magic items remaining is determined by 2d6+1.
Use Table X to determine the sort of magic items found.
This Gallery has four major exists, two on the right and two on the left. Taking the first on the left takes the party down a slightly down-sloping hall.
This long hallway has many magical sigils that glow every 10 feet on the ceiling. Stepping into the light of a sigil has a random effect.
The following effects occur unless the character makes a save vs. Spells. Roll a 1d20 for the effects of each sigil. There are 10 total sigils.
A successful save means nothing happens, positive or negative.
This hall ends in a large double door.