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Necropolis, undead, summoning, cult · Medium · Medium

The Pilgrim Crypts

The dead were meant to rest here, but the cult has taught the tombs to breathe again.
Rooms
7
Foes
14, CR 1/4 to 4
Traps
6
Treasure
695 gp
1234567Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Ashen Threshold

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

A necromantic cult called the Pale Choir has occupied the outer tombs and is feeding the floor's death-energy into a sealed ritual chamber deeper in the necropolis.

Wandering monsters (1d4)

  1. 1

    1d2× Shambling MournersCR 1/2

    When: After loud combat, loud spells, or any open flame carried through a corridorA single corpse in funeral wrappings, drawn by candlelight and motion.
  2. 2

    1d2× Pale Choir PatrolCR 1

    When: When the party lingers in a room for too long or forces a door openA pair of pale cult sentries carrying hooked blades and incense braziers.
  3. 3

    Ossuary HoundCR 2

    When: Near the secret crawlspace or after disturbing a sealed sarcophagusA malformed skeleton assembled from multiple burial remains and bound with black thread.
  4. 4

    1 swarm× Funerary MothsCR 1/4

    When: When hidden passages are searched or treasure is openedA drifting cloud of grave moths that extinguish candles and reveal fresh blood scent.

Rooms

7
1

Ashen Threshold

2 foes1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A pillared entry hall opens under a cracked funerary dome, its floor scattered with ash, old petals, and recent boot prints. Fresh candles burn beside ancient bone niches, and a painted warning has been half-scrubbed off the wall, as if someone expected visitors but feared what followed them.

Features

  • Cracked dome with falling dust
  • Ancestor niches lined with candles
  • Half-erased cult warning sigil
  • Straight corridor visible deeper inside

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Crypt ServitorsCR 1/4

Embalmed corpses animated by scraps of burial magic, wearing torn wrappings and iron toe-tags.Tactics. They shamble forward to block the main corridor while one tries to grapple and hold intruders in the candlelight.

Traps

Ash Breath WardDC 13 necrotic

Stepping across the ash-strewn center disturbs a weak ward that exhales corpse-cold vapor.Disarm. Scrape away the chalk line and burn the candle cluster in a controlled flame.

Treasure

Ward-Token25 gp

A silver-plated burial coin engraved with a warden's oath, useful as a holy focus or sale item.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

This is the obvious entrance and should teach that the dungeon narrows toward the center. Let the players see the deeper halls from here through broken arches or a grate.

2 doors: N (locked), S (locked)

The place

What it is

This outer funerary level is still structurally sound, but every chamber feels violated and watched.

Atmosphere

Cold incense hangs in the air and never quite clears, even in open chambers.

The threat

A necromantic cult called the Pale Choir has occupied the outer tombs and is feeding the floor's death-energy into a sealed ritual chamber deeper in the necropolis.

History

The necropolis was first built as a civic barrow for oathbound wardens, priest-librarians, and soldiers who swore to guard the city after death.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The old tombs have started burning candles by themselves every night.
  2. 2People say the dead are being carried into the necropolis, but no one sees them carried back out.
  3. 3A masked priest in black ash bought every funeral charm in town, then vanished.
  4. 4There is a hidden passage in the crypts that lets cultists move beneath the city walls.
  5. 5A warden's ghost was heard begging someone to seal the lower chamber before the singing began.

Plot hooks

3
RecoveryMissing ProcessionsA local funerary guild hires the party to recover stolen relics and determine why burial processions have gone missing near the necropolis.From: Mara Vell, guild embalmerReward: 250 gp and access to the guild's healing supplies
ExorcismThe Dead Will Not Stay QuietA haunted priest claims the outer crypts are leaking souls into the streets at night and begs the party to break the cult's hold.From: Brother Halden, trembling temple acolyteReward: Blessed weapons or a cleric's favor
ExplorationName the FallenAn antiquarian offers payment for proof of the original tomb wardens' fate and any intact burial inscriptions from the first level.From: Ilyra Quen, tomb historianReward: 300 gp and a rare necropolis map fragment

Corridors

4

  • Between the entrance hall and the central crypts

    Narrow hallways slope inward with waist-high ancestor niches on both sides, many stuffed with fresh candles burned down over ancient bones.

  • The junction leading toward the deeper level

    Chalk summoning circles and hurried ward-scratches overlap old funerary prayers, suggesting the cult mapped its rites on top of burial law.

  • The long corridor past the guard rooms

    Broken funerary masks are nailed to the walls as crude markers, some facing outward like warnings and others inward like guides.

  • Near the side passage to the secret door

    A hidden crawlspace behind a collapsed offering shelf is lined with dust and drag marks, just wide enough for a determined intruder or a fleeing cultist.

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