Cyenannore: Chapter 4 - The Crypt of Mindrek

(Read the previous chapter here.)

System: Tunnels & Trolls
Tools: Wizardawn (While no longer available online, easily usable server files are available for download); Random Encounters, Vol. 2, No. 8 by Epic Werkes; RPGSolo.com

[Scene 1]

“Nothing!  I don’t see any trolls.”

Nen peered from behind a dense copse of bushes at the partially sunken crypt of Mindrek. The ground around the structure was rather uneven, a possible sign of a small earthquake or sinkhole, causing the building to drop several feet into the earth. The portion that still sat above the surface was little more than a marble building about the size of a shed.  It had carvings adorning the walls and eaves that were once highly detailed, but now worn, chipped away, and overgrown with crawling vines and other plants. Only the top three or four feet of the door opening was visible, but any actual door was long removed or destroyed.

“Do you think the acolytes would have lied, do you?” said Sylralei, hinting at sarcasm.

“Perhaps,” the hired elf replied. “There’s a possibility that the family of trolls have since moved on.  But I agree, that’s rather unlikely.  Instead, I would expect they found exploring the tomb more than they were able to handle.”

Still skeptical, Slyralei offered another suggestion. “They probably never even came. They just hung out somewhere for a week or two, had a good time, then made up the whole thing, so the Priests would think they did the best they could.  I mean, aren’t Priests supposed to be super trusting?”

“Understanding, Yes,” Jonik corrected. “But that doesn’t mean they trust blindly. Even so, I don’t think the acolytes just shirked off their responsibility. Their desire to please their god Zeriel, and not to mention the priests, would compel them to complete their task if possible. It was more likely they entered and came across something that was too dangerous or complicated for them to overcome.”

“Why not just tell the truth?” asked Nen.

“Embarrassment.  They were in a holy crypt dedicated to their deity.  Zeriel was supposed to give his acolytes the protection, strength, and courage needed while they were inside to overcome any evil. The acolytes may have felt it was more respectable to say they were prevented from ever entering than admit they were too scared or weak to continue.  If they admitted they were too scared, that would mean that either their faith was weak or Zeriel had abandoned Mindrek’s resting place, neither of which they would want to admit back in Millhelm.”

“So much for relying on your god for strength.” No one acknowledged Sylralei’s snark.

<When the party reached the crypt, I rolled the second die on the rumor table (the first roll was 3). This roll came up 2 for a total of 5, or “Deliberately false”.  This is only my character’s speculation, but my interpretation is that there was never a group or family of trolls living here when prior acolytes came to retrieve the gloves.  Instead, there was some other reason inside the crypt that frightened them off. The story about trolls, however, was more self-respecting or believable than what they actually encountered.  Assuming that is true, that would mean there was a good chance the party would encounter something in the crypt and they would probably come across it sooner than later, so I upped the encounter chance to 1-3 on a d6 until the first encounter.

I devised a small table to determine what creature/monster they would encounter on any positive roll.>

As they approached the sunken tomb, they could see that the ground around the doorway had been excavated enough to allow someone to enter without crawling through on their belly.  The vegetation growing over the ground indicated it wasn’t dug recently, but still thin enough to appear to be only a few months old.

“Perhaps this was dug by the acolytes?” Dalen said.

“Or graverobbers,” Kristopher suggested.

“We just have to see what is inside,” Jonik admitted.

<Did the entire ground shift? 50/50 No, but +Intolerance/Bureaucracy (See Syl’s comments below) Is there signs of excavation inside the tomb?  50/50  No, but +Ambush/Extravagance  (Later)

The map and all the images below came from Epic Werks’  Random Encounters, Vol. 2, No. 8.> 

[Scene 2]

Jonik and Fiddlestix led the way into the crypt, followed by Kris and Dalen, Syl and Nen bringing up the rear. Just inside was a staircase, or what was left of a staircase, leading down. The first twelve or so “steps” were little more than chunks of rubble mixed in with natural dirt and stone.  One of the rocks shifted under Jonik’s foot and he tumbled several feet down the passageway, causing Syl to smirk.. <Jonik failed a L1 DEX SR to not fall and took 3 damage.> The elf stopped at the top of the intact portion of the staircase. At that point, the walls and stairs appeared to be undisturbed. There were no signs of additional excavation, but small scratches and critter trails could be detected. <the “no, but”>

“Only the top portion of the ground must have shifted,” the dwarf Dalen said, examining the walls and stonework. “I wonder if the crypt is located just at the edge of whatever caused the ground to shift.”

“Why would the church spend all kinds of money to build marvelous crypts, and then let it all fall apart?” Sylralei asked disgustedly. “I thought they were all about helping people.  The cost to build this could have probably gone a long way to helping those living in the slums of the city.”

“Kelseen would be quick to remind you that it is her god, Ilmis, who teaches compassion, not Zeriel,” Dalen said. “The Zeriel church is much more likely to spend their money on gaudy decoration.”

“What do you have against beautiful buildings anyway?” Fiddlestix the leprechaun chimed in.

“Nothing,” Syl answered bluntly. “As long as they’re taken care of.  The church obviously doesn’t care about this place. It’s just a big waste, probably built to make them look more devoted than they actually act.”

“Come on down.  There’s a door down . . . Ahhh!”

The group suddenly looked down the stairs at the sound of Kris’ voice.  No one had noticed that he ventured further down while the rest were distracted by Syl’s rant.  They bounded down the stairs to find Kris swatting his scimitar at a spider about the size of a small dog. Jonik and Dalen joined in and quickly dispatched the creature.

“That thing came out of that crack. Got me good on the leg, but I should be all right.”

<Are there any creatures in the area? (Likely) Yes. (not sure why, at the time, I used the oracle instead of a dice roll to determine any monsters)  I rolled up a single spider of MR50. The group's combat adds alone were enough to kill it, but it did roll 3 sixes which I felt would thematically go to one random character: Kris.>\

At the foot of the stairs stood a four-way intersection.  The south and east directions were block by stone doors with abstract patterns carved in them. To the west, the hall extended another five or six feet before ending in the cave wall which held the crack from which the spider emerged.

Jonik motioned to the south door and Fiddle, following a routine they have perfected over time, examined the lock and delicately searched it for traps. <L2 INT SR 5=21=26 Success!  Is there a trap? (Very Unlikely) No, and . . .>

“It’s clear,” the leprechaun announced. “Not only that, the lock was clearly destroyed. Someone forced their way in.”

“The acolytes?” Kris postulated.

“Doubt it,” Sylralei quipped.  “They probably ran when they saw the spider.”

“Whether they did or not, this mechanism has been broken for a long time,” Fiddlestix said. “I’m sure it was already damaged when they got here.”

Jonik pushed past his partner and opened the door. The room on the other side was decorated by ornate frescoes on the walls. An alcove was cut in one wall and housed a small wax-spotted alter. But the most urgent in the room were five animated skeletons that roamed around aimlessly. <1 in 3 encounter check: 1  Five Skeletons, MR25 Each>

The skeletons were mostly bare, with a few remnants of leather armor or adornments hanging off their bones. A couple held rusted blades.  Fiddlestix, Dalen, and Kris barely had time to enter and pull their weapons before the undead noticed them and turned to attack. Syl flew in, blasting one skeleton with a Take That You Fiend  spell before engaging another with her staff. Nen held back, flinging stones at the bony beings with his sling, a futile exercise as the stones passed harmlessly through their rib cages. Scimitar, axe, and terbutje easily smashed through rusted weapon and bone, dispatching the dead warriors before they could do more and inflict a few small scratches.

<The battle was over in two rounds.  RD1 Skeletons 104-Party 150;  RD2 Skeletons 62-Party 170.  The only hits to the party were two 6’s which went one each to Syl and Dalen.>

“Judging by the decaying packs, pouches, and rusted weapons and trinkets, I think these were the remains of a previous group of wealth seekers,” Dalen said.

“There’s not much here,” Nen added, looking through one of the pouches.

“Who, or whatever killed them must have taken anything valuable,” Jonik said. <Is there anything worthwhile in the adventurer’s packs? (Unlikely) No, and . . .  Event: Change Weather (To be saved for later)>

While they examined the skeleton’s belongings, Kris looked around the chamber. Besides the two columns supporting the ceiling and the altar in the alcove, the north and south wall were adorned each with a large fresco. The south wall featured a middle-aged man dressed in priestly robes. He was being addressed by a strange creature that floated several feet in the air.  The creature was dressed in robes similar to the priest’s and its face resembled the man’s.  The bottom half of the creature was cloudy and not well-defined, but appeared to have the shape of a large winged bird, such as an eagle.  Kris thought the priest might be Mindrek, but had no idea about the other figure.

The outlaw turned to the north wall to see the same two figures.  In this image, however, Mindrek stands behind a table, his hands molding a lump of clay on its surface. Watching over his shoulder is the same creature, except that the bottom half of its body was more representative of the rear and legs of a deer or gazelle.

“Is that Mindrek?” Kristopher asks, aware of Dalen standing next to him.

“I would assume so. I’m obviously not familiar with the priest, but this is his crypt.”

“And what is that creature?”

“I believe that is Zeriel, the Deity of Creativity.”

“Why does he look like Mindrek? And why do his legs change? Do they not know what he looks like?”

“From what I’ve learned from reading various church texts, Zeriel being the God over creativity, is himself creative in nature.  There is much written about how he is ever-changing, always taking on the appearance of whoever is standing the closest to him. As for his lower half, it also changes from one type of animal to another.”

<I’m planning on exploring the religious system of Barisea later in this adventure, but since I felt that two of this world's gods resembled a human man and woman, I wanted the third, Zeriel, to be something else.  I used the Age of Fable’s Creature Appearance table to figure this out. Using several rolls, I came up with a creature whose top half took on the appearance of whoever was standing closest at the time and a bottom half that was a plume of smoke. I interpreted this last bit to mean that it was always changing and never the same.

INT SR check to see if anyone was familiar with the purpose of the altar.  L3 for Kris, Syl, and Nen.  An easier L2 for Fiddle, Jonik, and Dalen, as they might have some previous knowledge about the purposes of crypts.  Jonik is the only success.>

“This must have been the preparation chamber,” Jonik said while he examined the wax spotted altar. “Acolytes and other visitors to the crypt would take time at this altar to prepare and purify themselves before continuing further.  They would burn candles and pray to Zeriel, as well as send up honors to Mindrek, believing the priest was watching them from the hereafter.”

To the left of the door they came through was another closed stone door. Again, Fiddlestix examined it before Jonik entered to be sure there were no traps. <L2 INT SR for traps. Fiddle rolls 44 indicating she will detect any traps if they exist.  Do they? (Unlikely) No>

Assuming the builders of the crypt were mainly concerned about protecting the way into the crypt and not impeding movement once the crypt has been entered, I will determine that none of the doors further on are trapped unless something happens (i.e. random event) that would indicate otherwise.

Additionally, the first group the church sent probably encountered either the skeletons or the spider, so from here on out, the chance for a random encounter will drop back to 1-in-6.>

[Scene 3]

The door opened onto a short hallway that ran north to south.  After about five feet in either direction, the hall turned to the east.  Just south of the doorway stood a carved marble pedestal that was topped with a dry, dusty basin. Jonik explained that this was probably used for ritual cleansing before entering the actual burial room.

<No wandering monsters and I randomly rolled to head south.  Is the door locked? (Unlikely) No, and . . .>

Just around the south corner, easily visible from the door the group just came through, was another doorway partially blocked by the remains of a bashed and broken stone door.

“It looks like someone has also been through here,” Fiddlestix said.

“You mean you don’t think the door just fell apart by itself?” Nen ribbed the leprechaun in reply to her stating the obvious.

“No. They usually don’t do that,” she replied matter-of-factly, unaware of Nen’s sarcasm.  The halfling rolled his eyes.

The hallway split once again, one branch continuing straight east, the other south. Jonik and Fiddlestix led the way east.  The passage made several right-hand turns until it met back up with its original starting point at the damaged door.

“What do you think the purpose of this hallway is?” Kristopher asked Jonik. “It seems rather pointless.”

“That it does, which suggests there must be something more.”

Before Jonik had finished his answer, the others had begun backtracking and checking the walls for any hidden buttons, handholds, or anything else that might reveal a secret opening. After some searching, Fiddlestix called out as she pressed a portion of the wall, revealing an opening to the space that lay within the hallway's perimeter.

<Since this is an odd configuration for no reason at all, I’ll consider the idea for a secret door rather obvious and have everyone make  L1 INT SR to consider looking for one.  Anyone who succeeded will try to make a L2 INT or LCK SR (whichever is higher) in order to find it. Everyone but Kris thinks to look for a secret door.  Jonik and Fiddlextix will immediately find it due to their LCK (45), but I did roll for each character to determine how many adventure points they receive.

What is in this room? RPG Solo CD: Wildly/Faded  What is its purpose?  CQ: Abandon/Disruption>

Fiddlestix cast Will-O-Wisp to light up the room more brightly than the group’s lanterns. Before them were arranged all kinds of art, the room’s secrecy preserving them from any potential tomb robbers. However, they were clearly not made by skilled artisans.  Instead, they appeared to be the work of a child or children.  Most were paintings or charcoal drawings on parchment, but there were some sculptures and other trinkets scattered throughout. Despite being undisturbed, the material was low quality and showed a lot of wear.  Many of the paintings were faded, some crumbling or eaten by bugs at the edges.  Wooden items were rotting and everything was covered with dust or cobwebs.

<Everyone needed to make a L3 INT SR to determine if they knew, or could figure out, what this room was for. Dalen would use his Literary Knowledge skill (bonus +4). Nen could use his Puzzles skill (+1, why not). The only character who succeeded was Jonik, of course.  He seems to know a lot about crypts and/or religious practices.

How does Jonik know about this room? 1: Past experience  2: Told by the priest  3: Jonik had researched crypts and religious practices  4: Just a really, really good guess.  Roll: 1 He knows from past experience.
Everything else I determined about this room I will explain after the narrative.>

“This must be the crypt’s Ward,” Jonik stated.

“The what?” Kris asked.

“The Ward.  A room of protection.  In the Zeriel religion, they believe that artwork created to honor the god has about it a ring of protection.  The younger the artist, or to put it another way, the more innocent, the greater the protection.  When Zeriel’s followers built a crypt they would include rooms filled with such works of art, mostly done by children, in order to form a bubble of protection over the crypt and keep away all types of evil.”

“How do you know this?” Kris inquired further.

“From when I used to work for the Church of Ilmis.”

“Ugh, I knew you were no good,” Sylralie expressed, thinking about Kelseen and her annoying obsession with the Goddess of Life.

“I said I worked for them, not worshiped with them,” Jonik explained. “When I was just starting out in this line work, before I met Fiddlestix, one way to get practice and experience was to join one of the Ilmisian Assistance Teams.  The church’s goal was to offer help where needed, and many tasks were assigned to the Assistance Teams. The local Zeriel Church hired one of these teams to help maintain one of its crypts. Nothing big, just head in once every few months to repair any damage or clear out vermin that may have taken up residence within its walls.”

“Looks like they could have used one of those teams here,” Syl said.

“Our guide on one of those trips took us into the Protection Room.  He explained what it was and how they were hidden in secret rooms to keep them from being disturbed from anyone who might enter, including those who were rightfully there. Really fascinating stuff.”

Dalen listened intently and jotted some notes to add to his journal when they got back on the road.

“I doubt any of this has any real value beyond its religious aspects,” Kris commented.

“Even so, I don’t think the priests would appreciate us desecrating the crypt’s protection,” considered Jonik.

“But you said we could take what we want?” a confused Nen asked.

Fiddlestix quickly answered the halfling.  “Any treasure out in the open, that’s fair game.  As far as we know, grave robbers stole them . . . that is basically what you are. Right?” She cast a cheeky look at Nen who returned it with a threatening glare of his own. “But taking away the crypt’s protection, especially when it was specifically hidden to keep it secure?  Now you’re messing with the power of the god itself.”

Sylralie harrumphed as all turned to leave the room.

<Is it common for this exhibit to be in a secret location? (50/50) Yes

Wandering monster checks on both the art room and the hallway around it were negative.

Also, there is a secret door in the hallway that branches north and south (you probably saw it on the map).  I did ask the oracle if anyone had thought to look for a secret door (unlikely) and the answer was no.>


(Read the next chapter here.)
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John 19:38-40