Crypt of the Hellriders
The dead trees are about 100 feet away as the party approaches. Each member of the party is attacked by a swarm of infernal vultures, just before they enter the depression.
Dozens of dead knights kneel before the monoliths, their foreheads resting on the pommels of their swords. The knights’ armor serves as caskets for their bones, yet their corpses stay upright as though in prayer. Each knight wears the faded regalia of Elturel.
Specters emerge from the smog to swarm the party, sapping their life force.
The onyx steps descend into catacombs containing the remains of Hellriders who died fighting at Zariel’s side. Their restless spirits yearn for peace yet are doomed to haunt this place until once more called to arms.
Vestibule
Descend staircase into 15' x 15' vestibule. Set scene: black stone with white mortar that faintly glows. Air is still and even cool. Arms of Elturel carved into the doors. Infernal inscription: "These are the paths of the dead." Doors swing open with a touch.
DC 24 Wis save for any creature not undead or a construct. Failure results in wasting curse. "Feel a chill." Gain vulnerability to necrotic damage if not immune. Inflicting radiant damage suffers half themselves. Each hour, gain 1 level of exhaustion. Cannot regain hit points while cursed. Remove curse or equivalent will end the curse. Any creature that dies under the curse comes back as a specter.
Corridor of Triumph
Beyond hall, pass through a 15' wide hall, 60' long, lit by torches flickering with green, spectral flames that cast only dim light. Reliefs showing Hellriders fleeing and dying line the walls.
Antechamber
20' deep, 90' feet wide, ghostly green torches. Three exits. Reliefs depict Zariel's fall and Olanthius being revived as a death knight. Seven dessicated corpses float suspended along the walls. Remains of those who died from the curse. Corpses issue an unearthly moan that inflicts 22 (4d10) psychic and 22 (4d10) necrotic damage. DC 18 Wis save for half damage. Corpses are incorporeal and immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, also poison, psychic, and necrotic. Any amount of damage destroys them, but they later reform.
Funerary Chambers
Beyond the antechamber are 9 funerary chambers. Inscriptions on walls read "Fealty beyond death." Each 30 x 30 feet, joined in a 3 x 3 grid by 10' long halls. Torches on walls, but unlit. Urns of ashes and some ossuraries. Breaching the middle row calls out the soldiers of Olanthius' army. The torches flare alight, then the urns shatter and the bones rise, coalescing into the spectral shapes of cloaked soldiers formed of ash and bone. They do not attack, merely watch as the party proceeds. If addressed, they respond as one: "Fealty beyond death." Their voices sound distant and have a hollow quality, but strong and forceful.
Tomb of Glory
Chambers lead to Officers' Tomb, 20' deep by 90' wide. Inscriptions on walls read "Undying duty." Torches light as an armed wraith (bladegheist mini) rises from each of the 6 sarcophagi. The wraiths will converse with the party, but under no circumstances will they allow the party entry into Olanthius' private chambers. If the party fights and defeats the officers, they reform in 1 day.
Sanctum
Past the tomb is Olanthius' sanctum. He knows when it is breached and can teleport back at any time. After a short exploration, he arrives and teleports everyone back to his elite troops (the kneeling armor soldiers). They are bound in armor of infernal iron, their long dead skeletons trapped within. PCs need to get through to him and convince him of their sincerity. If they succeed, he takes them back to his chambers to talk. He reveals that the corrupted grove is visible from Haruman's Hill.
Volcanic Smog
Within the acrid smog emitted by the volcanic vent, visibility is reduced to 10 feet. A strong wind can disperse the smog while it blows. The smog will return one round after the wind ceases. If it stopped due to a creature's action, such as ending concentration on a spell, or losing concentration due to damage from an attack, the smog returns at the end of the same turn where the wind ceased, one round later.
Any creature that breathes and starts its turn within the smog must succeed on a DC 18 Con save to avoid the poisoned condition. While poisoned, a creature that tries to speak must succeed on a DC 18 Con save, otherwise the speech is lost to choking and coughing. A creature that breathes and spends its entire turn in the smog takes 11 (2d10) acid damage at the end of its turn. A successful DC 18 Con save reduces the damage by half. A creature holding its breath automatically succeeds on saving throws caused by the smog, but only if it starts holding its breath in clean air. A creature engaged in combat can only hold its breath for half the usual duration.
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