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Dungeons
Crypt · Large · Level 5 · Medium

The Buried Pass Fort

Sand whispers down the stair, and bronze doors stand open beneath the dune.
Rooms
20
Foes
34, CR 1 to 5
Traps
7
Treasure
3,075 gp
1234567891011121314151617181920Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Dune Breach

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Captain Orvek, once commander of the fort's weapon detail, now rules the lower halls as a ghoul champion.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    Sand SharkCR 2

    When: Running, fighting, or striking stone in a sand-dusted corridor attracts it after rounds.A sand shark cruises beneath loose sand and erupts at the source of the strongest vibration.
  2. 2

    2× Patrol GhoulsCR 1

    When: A loud door, alarm, or fight draws them from the nearest prison or library wing.A pair of roving ghouls in broken guard armor, searching for intruders and fresh meat.
  3. 3

    1d3× Scavenger ClawCR 1

    When: A character rummaging through wreckage or resting in a corridor disturbs it.A crawling claw scavenges scraps of armor and hides in rubble until something passes.

Rooms

20
1

Dune Breach

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A slumped stairwell descends through a split in the dune, ending at bronze doors half-buried in sand. Bootprints and drag marks lead inward, but none return.

Features

  • Collapsed stair and a narrow opening to the surface
  • Bronze doors bear the worn emblem of a spear crossed with a shovel

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Fort GhoulsCR 1

Ghouls in cracked guard harnesses, drawn by the noise of excavation.Tactics. One clings above the doorway while the other attacks the first creature through; they try to paralyze and drag prey deeper.

Treasure

Bronze Pass Badge25 gp

A tarnished officer's badge, still pinned to a strip of leather.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The secret door north opens with a concealed floor latch; Investigation to find it. Scraping below is a sand shark circling the entrance passage.

1 door: N (secret)

The place

What it is

The buried stronghold of a vanished army lies beneath shifting dunes, its outer halls reopened by explorers and hungry sand sharks.

Atmosphere

Hot sand sifts through cracks in the buried masonry.

The threat

Captain Orvek, once commander of the fort's weapon detail, now rules the lower halls as a ghoul champion.

History

The stronghold was built by the Kethran army to guard a desert pass and hold prisoners captured during the last great war.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The dunes sometimes open into a stairwell, then close again before dawn.
  2. 2A surveyor swears the ghouls wear old uniforms and turn away from the name carved on their own basin.
  3. 3A buried weapon in the fort could break a city wall with one shot, but its firing chamber is missing a piece.
  4. 4People hear something swimming beneath the sand even when they stand on solid rock.
  5. 5The first explorers found a sealed door and heard a captain giving orders behind it.

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Missing ExcavatorsA salvage crew entered the fort three days ago and has not returned. Their foreman was last seen forcing a way into the prison wing, where the ghouls have begun hunting intruders.From: Toma, a blunt-nosed caravan guard waiting at the dune campReward: A share of the salvage claim, plus 150 gp from the crew's worried families
RetrievalThe Engine BelowA border lord wants the siege engine recovered intact, unaware that it may still function. The party must decide whether to retrieve, destroy, or conceal it before rival agents arrive.From: Seshra, a soft-spoken courier carrying the lord's sealed commissionReward: 500 gp and a military pardon for one character
InvestigationNames in the SandA scholar has found a fragment of the fort's battle record and believes it proves the weapon was used to end a massacre. She asks the party to locate the full record in the libraries before looters destroy it.From: Olan Vey, a meticulous historian with ink-stained handsReward: A rare map of the desert pass and 200 gp

Corridors

4

  • Between rooms 1 and 2

    A waist-high stone channel carries trickles of sand toward lower rooms. Fresh furrows show something large has pushed through it recently.

  • Between rooms 6 and 11

    Rusty weapon racks have been swallowed by the wall; their loose spearheads rattle when heavy creatures pass nearby.

  • Between rooms 13 and 18

    A cracked floor drops into a narrow sand-filled fissure. It is passable single file, but loud movement draws attention from below.

  • Between rooms 14 and 19

    A faded mural shows soldiers sealing a door while a many-finned shape circles beneath them. The mural's lower half has been scraped away.

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