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Dungeons
Crypt · Medium · Medium

The Ashen Crypt

Blue fire marks the road where the dead still wait for their king.
Rooms
3
Foes
6, CR 1/2 to 3
Traps
3
Treasure
1,375 gp
123Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. The Receiving Hall

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Odran Vale, the Wight-King, has awakened in the sealed tomb beyond the entrance chamber.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    1d4× Lantern-Bearer SkeletonCR 1/2

    When: Appears after the party makes loud noise or leaves a room without closing its door properly.A skeleton pilgrim carrying a cracked lantern and a bundle of grave candles.
  2. 2

    1d2× Gravewater GhoulCR 1

    When: Emerges from a flooded wall niche when the party spends more than ten minutes searching.A corpse swollen with black gravewater, dragging a length of funeral chain.
  3. 3

    1d6× Pilgrim's HandsCR 2

    When: They attack anyone carrying the Crown of the Last Pilgrim or removing silver nails from the skull niches.A cluster of severed hands animated by the shrine's corrupted magic, crawling across walls and ceilings.

Rooms

3
1

The Receiving Hall

2 foes1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A low rectangular chamber of cracked flagstones serves as the crypt's original receiving hall. The normal door to the south opens toward Odran's tomb, while a nearly invisible western seam conceals the route to the shrine in .

Features

  • Three empty stone biers covered in gray dust
  • Blue witchfire burning in four wall sconces
  • A funerary mural depicting the Ashen Pilgrims
  • A normal southern door and a secret western door

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Ashen SkeletonCR 1/2

Former grave attendants wrapped in rotting gray robes, with coins hammered over their eyes.Tactics. They rise when the central bier is disturbed, pinning intruders between the two doors while one attempts to block the secret exit. They retreat toward if reduced to half their number, alerting the boss if possible.

Traps

The Unquiet BreathDC 13 necrotic damage and the frightened condition until the end of the target's next turn

If the central bier is opened without first speaking a prayer of peaceful passage, the corpse inside exhales a cloud of grave-cold mist.Disarm. A character can disable the trap with a Religion check or by placing a silver coin on the corpse's tongue before opening the bier.

Treasure

Pilgrim's Offering45 gp and useful ritual supplies

A funeral coffer contains 45 gp in old silver coins, three black candles, and a polished silver coin required to open the secret door.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

Characters who search the mural or inspect the western wall can find the secret door with a successful Investigation check. The door opens silently only if a silver coin is placed in the mouth of the central skull.

2 doors: E (normal), W (normal)

The place

What it is

The crypt lies beneath a collapsed hill shrine, its burial halls still sealed by black iron and old priestly wards.

Atmosphere

Cold, stale air presses through the crypt, carrying the smells of wet stone, old incense, and disturbed earth.

The threat

Odran Vale, the Wight-King, has awakened in the sealed tomb beyond the entrance chamber.

History

The crypt was built three centuries ago by the Ashen Pilgrims, a funerary order that guarded the dead of the surrounding villages.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1Blue flames have appeared above the burial hill, and anyone who follows them hears a dead relative calling from underground.
  2. 2The old crypt holds a crown that can make its wearer command every corpse in the valley.
  3. 3A noble ancestor was buried with a ring that proves the family once betrayed the Ashen Pilgrims.
  4. 4The village priest says the dead are restless because someone has reopened a sealed shrine.
  5. 5No grave robber has ever found the crypt's inner tomb, though several have returned without their memories.

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Missing Under the HillSeveral villagers have vanished after following blue lights into the old burial hill. Their families believe the missing people are still alive somewhere beneath the stones.From: Mara Pell, a village undertaker who has lost her apprentice.Reward: A pouch of 75 gp, free burial services for the party, and a silver warding nail that grants advantage on one save against undead magic.
RetrievalThe Ring of ValeA noble family hires the characters to recover a signet ring buried with an ancestor in the crypt. The ring is now worn by Odran Vale and is tied to the Wight-King's remaining humanity.From: Ser Caldus Vey, an embarrassed heir desperate to avoid scandal.Reward: 150 gp and a favor from the Vey household.
PurificationThe Broken PassageA local priest has learned that the hidden shrine can either be purified or destroyed, but needs witnesses capable of surviving the crypt's guardians.From: Sister Elira, a priest of a death-and-rebirth deity.Reward: A blessed vial of holy water, one scroll of lesser restoration, and religious sanctuary in the region.

Corridors

3

  • The corridor immediately beyond the normal door from toward .

    Shallow niches line the connecting passage, each holding a skull with a silver nail driven through its brow. Removing a nail causes the skull to whisper the name of the last person who touched it.

  • The western wall of the entrance chamber and the passage leading toward .

    Thin black roots push through cracks in the masonry and twitch whenever living creatures pass. They are harmless, but their movement can be heard from either adjacent room.

  • The floor and lower walls between and .

    A faded funeral procession is painted along the stone, showing mourners entering the crypt and never emerging. The final figure in the mural wears a crown matching the boss's burial mask.

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