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Dungeons
Crypt · Medium · Level 3 · Medium

Black Iron Crypt

Beneath the ruined chapel, the dead still guard what should have stayed buried.
Rooms
14
Foes
23, CR 1/4 to 4
Traps
8
Treasure
1,420 gp
1234567891011121314Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Sealed Threshold

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

The tomb is ruled by an embalmed necromancer-lord who has slowly reasserted control over the burial wards, using the prison and shrine halls as a lattice of bindings.

Wandering monsters (1d4)

  1. 1

    Restless GravehandCR 1/2

    When: On loud noise or after a failed stealth attempt in the upper hallsA lone dead laborer with a cracked lantern and dirt-packed boots, wandering in search of unfinished work.
  2. 2

    Bone Beetle SwarmCR 1

    When: When blood is spilled near old burial sites or open sarcophagiA coffin-shaped swarm of bone beetles that spills from wall cracks and under doors.
  3. 3

    Crypt StewardCR 2

    When: When the party tamper with locks, shrines, or sealed vaultsA hooded corpse attendant carrying keys and a censers, often drawn toward locked doors.
  4. 4

    1d2× Mourning WightsCR 1

    When: At low light or when the party pauses for restTwo pale dead children trailing a funeral ribbon, appearing only in the dim corridors between shrine rooms.

Rooms

14
1

Sealed Threshold

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A narrow entry hall with a cracked stone threshold and a dead brazier at its center. The air is still here, but old ward-sigils in the floor suggest the crypt was designed to warn off grave robbers before they ever reached the deeper halls.

Features

  • Collapsed offering table
  • Broken brazier
  • Faded ward sigils
  • Dust-choked entry arch

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Skeleton LaborersCR 1/4

Restless burial attendants with rusted tools and hollow eyes.Tactics. They rush intruders at the threshold, trying to pin foes against the walls before retreating deeper if badly injured.

Treasure

Chapel Incense Burner15 gp

A cracked incense burner stamped with the chapel seal, still worth money to collectors and priests.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

Use this room to set the tone and teach the party that the crypt is active. The south and east passages should feel safer than the north one, which can carry distant scraping from .

5 doors: S (normal), N (locked), E (locked), W (normal), E (normal)

The place

What it is

This old crypt is a half-collapsed burial complex buried beneath a ruined chapel and its surrounding dead.

Atmosphere

Cold air drifts through cracked stone and tastes faintly of mildew, grave dust, and old lamp oil.

The threat

The tomb is ruled by an embalmed necromancer-lord who has slowly reasserted control over the burial wards, using the prison and shrine halls as a lattice of bindings.

History

The crypt was raised by chapel wardens to house a sainted burial line after a plague year, but it was later expanded when a tomb-priest discovered a crown of binding hidden in the deepest vault.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The dead in the old chapel sit up at midnight and point toward the hill, as if warning the living away.
  2. 2A black iron key was buried with the last sexton, and now someone says it has turned up inside a corpse's mouth.
  3. 3Travelers hear chanting under the earth on rain-heavy nights, and the sound stops whenever anyone approaches the ruins.
  4. 4The priest in town refuses to read funerals for anyone who has visited the hill, claiming the crypt marks souls for return.
  5. 5A band of thieves went into the crypt for silver and came out carrying a child-sized coffin they swear was empty.

Plot hooks

4
InvestigationThe Coffins Are EmptyA village gravedigger claims the dead are leaving their coffins with soot on their hands, as though they have been working underground.From: Mira Vale, gravediggerReward: 50 gp and a minor burial charm
RecoveryRestore the SealsThe local priest offers payment to recover a stolen reliquary seal from the lower shrine before the crypt fully wakes.From: Brother HaldenReward: 100 gp and healing services
Lore HuntAncestral DoubtA noble family wants proof that their ancestor was not interred in this crypt after rumors tie their bloodline to the undead here.From: Lady Seris MontReward: 150 gp and a family signet ring
ExplorationThe New DoorMiners report a black iron door beneath the hill that was not there last season, and the earth around it is full of whispering at night.From: Foreman TavinReward: 75 gp and claim on salvage

Corridors

4

  • Upper corridors near and

    Faded funerary murals show a kneeling line of mourners, their faces chiseled away by age or deliberate defacement.

  • Mid-depth passageways between , , and

    Shallow channels run along the floor to carry seepage toward the lower chambers, often slick with algae and black water.

  • Approaches to and

    Broken sconces still hold wax from long-dead vigil candles, and the wax has been layered over by newer, tallow-smelling drippings.

  • Near and

    Cold drafts whistle through mortar gaps around hidden doors, making secret passages easy to miss unless someone pauses to listen.

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