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Crypt · Medium · Medium

The Bell-Vine Crypt

The first thing you hear is a tiny bell ringing somewhere beyond the stone.
Rooms
12
Foes
17, CR 1/4 to 3
Traps
3
Treasure
677 gp
123456789101112Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Root-Cleft Vestibule

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Odran, the last keeper, was buried standing in his armor with instructions to protect the family records and prevent anyone from disturbing the dead.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    1d4× Bell-ringersCR 1/4

    When: A loud impact, a ringing bell, or a failed attempt to force a locked door draws them within rounds from or .A pair of dusty skeletons carrying broken lantern poles patrol the familiar upper passages.
  2. 2

    Drain crawlerCR 1/2

    When: Blood spilled in a corridor or a trap triggered in or attracts it within minutes.A pale ghoul in a funeral veil crawls along the drainage channels, its fingers clicking against the stone.
  3. 3

    Basin pilgrimCR 1

    When: Removing an offering from or , or disturbing the blue lamps, draws it from the nearest chapel within minutes.A skeletal acolyte carrying a cracked bowl walks between the shrines as if collecting offerings.

Rooms

12
1

Root-Cleft Vestibule

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A squat stone vestibule opens beneath a broken lintel. Roots have split the outer steps, and several interior doors lead in different directions; faint blue light leaks from the passage toward the chapels.

Features

  • Broken lintel carved with a vine motif
  • Iron lamp burning with blue flame
  • Eight doorways, including two concealed behind fitted stone panels

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Crypt skeletonsCR 1/4

Dust-caked skeletons wear old household livery and carry rusted short spears.Tactics. They block the nearest exit and focus attacks on anyone carrying a lit flame or touching a door.

Treasure

Funeral silver18 gp

A purse of old silver coins tucked beneath the hollow step.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The secret doors toward rooms 2 and 4 have no visible handles. A character who examines the vine carvings notices that one leaf is carved upside down, marking the panel to .

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

The place

What it is

This compact family crypt was built around a web of chapels, reading rooms, and burial chambers.

Atmosphere

Cold air carries candle soot, wet limestone, and the sour smell of sealed bones.

The threat

Odran, the last keeper, was buried standing in his armor with instructions to protect the family records and prevent anyone from disturbing the dead.

History

The crypt was built by the Vey family, local stonecutters who prospered from quarrying the ridge.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1A blue lamp burns under the ridge, though the old crypt has no keeper.
  2. 2The Vey family recorded the dead twice, once in ink and once in stone.
  3. 3Something in the lower chambers rings the funeral bells when a door is opened.
  4. 4A hidden chapel can be found by following the pale roots through the entrance wall.

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Missing LedgerA local mason's child has vanished after entering the crypt to retrieve a family ledger. Their footprints lead through the library doors, but no one has seen them return.From: Toma, a quarry worker with a chipped stone chiselReward: A purse of 60 gp and the child's family signet, worth another 25 gp
InvestigationThe Fever RecordA fever has returned to the nearby settlement, and an old account claims the Vey household discovered a treatment. The relevant notes may be in either library, but the lower crypt has begun to stir.From: Ona, the settlement's round-faced herbalistReward: A healer's kit, 40 gp, and a vial of restorative tincture
TreasureThe Mask with Two NamesA collector wants a carved funerary mask from , but the mask bears the name of a person whose grave is empty. The collector has concealed this detail from the party.From: Barek, a traveling dealer in antiquitiesReward: 100 gp, with an additional favor from the collector if the empty grave is investigated

Corridors

4

  • Between and

    A line of tiny bronze bells hangs across the passage. Most are silent, but one rings when a living creature passes, audible in rooms 0 through 3.

  • Corridor connecting and

    A shallow channel carries black water toward the lower rooms. The water occasionally runs uphill for a few seconds, then stops.

  • Outside

    Scratched tally marks cover the stone beside a low arch. They count backward from forty-seven and end abruptly at the locked entrance to .

  • Passage near

    A dead climbing vine has forced its roots between the blocks. Its papery leaves whisper against the stone though no air moves.

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