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Dungeons
Crypt · Massive · Level 5 · Hard

Kest's Shut Crypt

Blue flames gutter over a plaque whose names have all been scraped away.
Rooms
29
Foes
38, CR 1/4 to 5
Traps
8
Treasure
1,325 gp
1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Threshold Hall

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Odran Kest, a dead warlord bound beneath the hill, is the crypt's central danger.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    Apron GhastCR 1

    When: Every 20 minutes, or after a loud fight in rooms 3, 10, or 14A ghast in a keeper's apron sniffs along the walls, searching for the hidden prison cells.
  2. 2

    2× Bier PortersCR 1/2

    When: When the party rests in a corridor or disturbs a burial nicheTwo skeleton porters carry an empty bier between rooms, stopping to attack anyone who blocks their route.
  3. 3

    Echo ShadeCR 2

    When: After a character speaks a dead person's name aloudA shadow slips along the ceiling, repeating the last words spoken by the party in a dead keeper's voice.

Rooms

29
1

Threshold Hall

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A broad stone vestibule opens beneath the burial hill, its ceiling supported by square pillars carved as folded hands. Dust lies thick except for a line of damp footprints that leads toward the barred inner passages.

Features

  • A cracked funerary plaque names the place only as the Shut Crypt.
  • Two cold braziers flare blue when living creatures cross the threshold.

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× SkeletonsCR 1/4

Skeleton sentries wear rotted tabards bearing the same blank badge.Tactics. They hold the entrance arch and use their bows from behind the pillars, retreating toward room 2 if pressed.

Treasure

Token Purse18 gp

A small purse dropped by an earlier grave robber, containing 18 gp and a silver funeral token.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The five doors are distinct exits, including a narrow eastern arch. Let the party hear faint hammering from the deeper passages after they make noise.

4 doors: N (normal), W (normal), E (secret), N (normal)

The place

What it is

The crypt spreads beneath an old burial hill in successive chambers of tombs, cells, shrines, and sealed archives.

Atmosphere

Cold air carries the smell of wet limestone, old wax, and grave soil.

The threat

Odran Kest, a dead warlord bound beneath the hill, is the crypt's central danger.

History

The crypt was built by the stonewright-priesthood of the buried hill to entomb their own warlord, Odran Kest, after his death brought no end to his command.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1A gravedigger swears the hill knocks from underneath whenever a storm is coming.
  2. 2The old keepers buried themselves alive so their warlord could never climb out.
  3. 3Blue lights have been seen moving between the hill's stones, always on nights when someone dies nearby.
  4. 4A scholar claims the crypt's locked doors were made to keep the living out, not the dead in.

Plot hooks

3
InvestigationFootprints from the HillA village gravekeeper has found fresh footprints leading from the hill to the oldest graves, though none of the dead have been reported missing. The party must find what is calling them before the village cemetery empties.From: Talla, the village gravekeeperReward: A sealed purse of 150 gp and a silvered mace kept by the graveyard watch
RetrievalThe Ring in the CellA family wants a stolen signet returned from the crypt, but the ring is on the finger of one of the volunteer shades. Recovering it peacefully requires learning the vow recorded in the library.From: Borin Vasko, a wary family solicitorReward: The family pays 200 gp and gives the party a map of the crypt's old service passages
DelveThe Vow RestoredA scholar believes the binding rites can be repaired, but needs an intact copy of the funerary ledger from room 13. The party must reach it before Kest's whispers turn the remaining wards against them.From: Edda Kelm, a meticulous antiquarianReward: A scroll of protection from evil and good, plus 250 gp

Corridors

3

  • The corridors between rooms 6, 11, and 12

    A procession of carved mourners points toward the deepest passages; their stone eyes have been scratched out.

  • The junctions near rooms 17, 20, and 21

    Thin black water runs in a channel cut through the floor, carrying scraps of linen toward the lower crypt.

  • The passages around rooms 8, 14, and 25

    A succession of small brass bells hangs above the lintels. Most are silent, but one rings whenever undead pass beneath it.

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