Tomb of the Black King

I don't know what's down there, and I don't want to know. If you go down there you're not coming back out.

— Grenk, Wilderness Guide

The land of Helenic is full of lost tombs, destroyed temples, and other ruins which adventurers assume would be easy to plunder. This could not be further from the truth, especially in the case of the 'Tomb of the Black King'. An ancient king of the pre-Rhyliss age, King Dormandred the Black was a tiefling who studied arcane magic with an eye towards bindings and wardings. When it came time to bury his body, it had been determined to take no risks and bury absolutely everything - and everyone - in his household lest any lingering demonic presences be missed. The massive underground vault was prepared with great care, not only to give the lord a decent burial site but also to prevent anything which might be buried there from escaping. To this end, the four apprentices who served under King Dormandred spent weeks setting warding spells into the very stonework such to keep wayward spirits from either entering or leaving the tomb.

As the tomb was finished, the deepest chamber became a home to a massive sarcophagus. Chiseled from a block of black marble, the sarcophagus was technically empty - at least with physical mass. However, trapped inside the 'empty' space was the essence of a demon King Dormandred had studied specifically in order to track down and confine. Two other chambers were likewise constructed, where similar bound entities were trapped within, the apprentices taking extra care to layer protections with every step of the way. Reportedly there were other entities trapped within the tomb, though the four were suspiciously cautious about speaking of such beings. "You can't quite be sure which entities which are bound within are... fully bound, as opposed to bound and aware of the surroundings."

Once the construction was complete, the new King had ascended the throne and decreed the apprentices were to be sealed within the outer chambers - and all records of the tomb's existence were to be erased. It was a forbidden topic to bring up, and as such only oblique references were left behind concerning its contents and location. It didn't help much, as in more recent decades adventurers have located the Tomb of the Black King and penetrated into the outer chambers. According to records kept by adventuring guilds, the innermost reaches remain untouched - but not for lack of trying. They simply are far better defended than anticipated.

Type

Underground / Subterranean