Do you want to leave this sinister place?
Do you want to examine the grave?
You walk around the grave a few times, taking a good hard look at it, but you can’t see anything unusual. Do you want to open it?
[Hero] barely puts his/her foot on the shovel, when you suddenly hear a male voice shouting behind you:
“In the name of Boron, desist, you god-forsaken grave robbers!” While [Hero] very calmly puts the shovel aside, the Servant of Boron comes running toward you. He’s in quite a state. Obviously, he has been watching you for some time.
As [Hero] tries to turn over the gravestone you suddenly hear a male voice shouting from behind you:
“In the name of Boron, desist, you god-forsaken grave robbers!” While [Hero] placidly turns around, the upset Servant of Boron runs toward you. Obviously, he has observed you for a while.
Well, it’s probably better this way! Not only would you have displeased Boron, but you certainly would have angered the Servant of Boron running toward you. He’s probably been watching you for some time.
You don’t find anything out of the ordinary.
“I’d have to say: This is a grave!” [Hero] summarizes his/her findings.
[Hero] examines the grave mound from all sides with a frustrating deliberateness, after which [Hero] goes down on his/her knees, picks up some of the earth, and rubs it between his/her fingers even more slowly. Finally, [Hero] stands up and turns toward the others: “The grave has not been disturbed!”
Another examination of the dwarven grave doesn’t unearth any further information.
“That’s the grave of a dwarf”, [Hero] exclaims with amazement while he/she points at the huge battle-axe that lies on the grave mound.
“The axe is half overgrown with weeds”, [Hero] is amazed, “Usually the dwarves take everything that isn’t nailed or screwed down.”
Another examination of the grave brings no further information.
When [Hero] tries to examine the grave mound, [Hero] is pushed aside by [Hero]. “That is unusual,” [Hero] murmurs, staring at the plant. “The black lotus normally grows only in swampland!”
An inscription is chiseled in a strongly weathered plaque of marble. You can recognize a few words:
In memory of… victims of the Night of Horrors… Jergan, the magician… brave in fighting… Powers of the Darkness…
[Hero] walks all around the grave mound and picks up some earth from it now and again. [Hero] eyes the plant with some suspicion. It takes quite a while for 1, to reach a decision. “Let’s go,” [Hero] states resolutely. “This grave hasn’t been opened since it was first covered!”
Next to the statue, there’s a small offertory bowl dedicated to the God of the Dead.
Do you:
Make an offering
Fill your purses a bit
Ignore the bowl altogether
Without money, you can’t possibly donate
You have silver pieces.
How much do you want to offer?
May Boron bless you in the future.
The offertory bowl contains coins worth a total of. You take the coins. “I hope that Boron won’t be too upset,” [Hero] says anxiously.
How many times do you want to clean out the offertory bowl?
Boron won’t be pleased with your behavior.
This shrine is dedicated to Boron’s daughter Marbo. There’s another offertory bowl on the altar.
Do you:
Make an offering to Marbo
Clean out the offertory bowl
Ignore the bowl completely
The offertory bowl contains coins worth a total of.
The entrance to the crypt is secured by a massive barred gate. Are you thinking of opening it?
Well, it’s not going to fly open from your (ahem) good looks!
[Hero] fumbles around for quite some time until at last, [Hero] throws his/her arms up in disgust and packs up the lockpicks. “I defy anyone to pick that lock!” [Hero] growls.
[Hero] takes a look at the crowbar, followed by a much longer look at the bars of the gate which are at least twice as thick. When [Hero] hits one of them with the crowbar, it rings out like a bell. “Tempered!” [Hero] comments and puts the crowbar back into his/her pack.
[Hero] stands in front of the gate and waves his/her hands about while murmuring something. The gate is singularly unimpressed and stays locked.
[Hero] shoots the gate a dark look, then [Hero] starts posturing again. A few minutes later [Hero] has to admit defeat: “The crypt is magically sealed, and I can’t break its spell!”
[Hero] discovers a weathered, moss-covered stone sign behind a curtain of plants. Carefully, [Hero] picks the moss from the letters. “Feylamia!” [Hero] deciphers with some effort.
[Hero] gives a soft whistle. When you all turn around to look at [], [Hero] is a bit embarrassed, but only for a short moment. Finally, [Hero] explains: “This is the crypt of an elven vampire! That’s why it’s locked tight like this.”
The gravedigger’s house contains onlu the possessions of the deceased. You find:
The door is locked, and no one answers your knocks. With a short run, [Hero] throws,self against the door which flies into the house with a loud crash. When you charge in, the supposed Servant of Boron is busy getting out from under the smashed door that seems to have hit him at nearly the center of the room. The demon standing next to him, on the other hand, appears to have been missed by the smashed door entirely.
The door is locked, and no one answers your knocks. With a short run, [Hero] throws,self against the door, which flies into the house with a loud crash. When you charge in, the supposed Servant of Boron is busy getting out from under the smashed door that seems to have hit him at nearly the center of the room. The two demons standing around him, on the other hand, appear to have been missed by the smashed door entirely.
The gravedigger lives here.
You hardly touch the lock when a Servant of Boron appears beside you!
You hardly touch the lock, when a man comes running from next door. He must be the Servant of Boron, like the priestess mentioned.
Eboreus pulls a key from his pocket and opens the door. For one heartbeat there, he doesn’t move a muscle, and then he whirls around screaming and runs away.
For someone who deals with dead bodies every day, you’d expect he’d be a bit less frightened by the skeletons walking toward you…
[Hero] pushes aside![Hero], who was about to examine the lock, and simply forces the door open with his/her body.
In the dark of the interior, something is moving. A few moments later, you see a number of skeletons advancing on you with a stiff-legged gait.
[Hero] simply forces the door open using - body.
In the dark of the interior, something is moving. A few moments later, you see a number of skeletons advancing on you with a stiff-legged gait.
Another examination of the charnel-house doesn’t unearth any further information.
That’s the charnel-house. You won’t find anything else in here, except of old bones.
[Hero] kneels down beside the grave mound, picks up a clod of earth and crumbles it between his/her fingers. [Hero] starts, takes another clod and repeats the exercise. Then, [Hero] takes a deep breath, gets up, and looks at you with a serious expression. “This grave should be the same age as those other two!” [Hero] states and takes a long look at the two neighboring graves. “But the ground is much too loose for that!”
After having made sure you aren’t observed, [Hero] takes a shovel and starts digging into the grave mound. It’s amazingly easy to shift the earth. No deeper than two paces below the surface, [Hero] hits something.
The ground is so loose, you can shift it without tools. Of course, it doesn’t take long at all for the lot of you to look like earth beetles.
Skillfully, [Hero] uncovers some wooden boards that are quite easy to remove. Beneath them, a dark opening becomes visible with a ladder leading down. Going down anyone?
“Do you really want to go down?”, [Hero] asks anxiuosly.
Do you want [Hero] to enter the grave?
It looks like a tree,
it feels like a tree,
it behaves like a tree
… this surely must be a tree!
Do you want to leave the vaults?
The wall here bears a red pentagram. Do you want to examine this “adornment” any closer?
Something must have been mixed in to get this dark hue, but still, the main ingredient of the paint used would have to be blood.
This wall is adorned with an amulet. In contrast to the pentagrams, this symbol hasn’t been painted on the wall, but hung from a nail.
Do you want to take the amulet along?
Using his/her pliers, [Hero] pulls the nail from the wall without damaging the ornament. Beneath it, a large opening becomes visible that might just possibly be a keyhole.
No way! If you want to pull out that nail without damaging the ornament, you need a pair of pliers!
After a short examination, [Hero] puts the black key into the lock and turns it. You hear a soft clicking sound…
As [Hero] tries to examine the wall [Hero] can’t find any resistance - the door is just an illusion!
A most amazing thing about locks - you need a key to open them.
After several failed attempts, [Hero] throws his/her lockpicks to the floor in a fit of anger. “I’m finished,” [Hero] rails. “I just can’t get that blasted lock opened!”
First,![Hero] examines the wall, then![Hero] concentrates. “Are you sure there’s a door there at all?” [Hero] asks finally. “I can’t sense a thing.”
The exit is blocked by a massive barred gate. There’s no way out there, not even with heavy tools!
The coffin is made of stone, extremely massive, and bears an amulet on each corner like the one you took off the door.
[Hero] falls into a trance in front of the sarcophagus. Sweat glistens on his/her brow. You’re just beginning to get nervous when [Hero] starts moving again. [Hero] wipes the sweat from his/her face and takes a deep breath.
“The charms are there to seal the coffin. The magic is… immense.”
You don’t want to take those amulets along, do you?
“You can’t have enough protective amulets, I always say!” Swiftly, you gather all four amulets.
You’re probably going to open the sarcophagus now, aren’t you?
Well, it looks like its hewn from one solid block of stone. There isn’t a seam to be found. You strain to lift the upper part, what you take to be the lid, but without any success. Phew.
The room is furnished as a laboratory. Whoever is conducting their experiments with the dead here - this is where it all happens.
The body on the table is lying there quite still. Normally, that would definitely be expected of it, of course, but around here, there have been sightings of undead. The jars set around the corpse’s head contain various colors and very pungent herb mixtures. Do you want to conduct a closer examination of the body?
Gingerly, [Hero] touches the sign on the body’s forehead and starts pulling on its skin with the tips of his/her fingers. Suddenly, [Hero]’s holding it aloft, without the body showing any change. For a moment, [Hero] hesitates, then [Hero] pulls the “skin” over his/her head with a determined gesture.
whose
which
In shock and horror, you stare at [Hero], as [Hero] seems to have the dead man’s head on his/her shoulders all of a sudden. The strange skin totally changed * appearance. But in contrast to a mask, the face appears very much alive.
After a short look-around, [Hero] locates a reflective surface to take a look at,self. Shocked, [Hero] stares at the dead man’s head, which appears to be sitting on * shoulders now, and quite alive at that.
There’s an alchemistic experiment set out on the table. It appears to be coming to a close. Next to it, you see a parchment scroll, possibly containing instructions. Do you want to pick up the scroll?
The slimy green mass in the crucible has become quite viscous by now. You might try to shape it into small balls. How about it?
Expertly, [Hero] transfers the boiling mass to an empty container. It takes some time for the slime to cool down enough so [Hero] can shape it without burning his/her hands, but in the end, [Hero] holds a small green ball - that’s all [Hero] had material for.
“And you’re supposed to eat… that?”![Hero] asks in disgust.
When [Hero] enters the pentagram, things start to get blurry in front of % eyes. The candles give off a narcotic scent, and even though [Hero] starts running like crazy, [Hero] doesn’t make it out of the pentagram.
The faster [Hero] runs, the further the edges of the pentagram seem to recede. The symbol keeps on growing, and the floor beneath his/her feet grows ever softer, until [Hero] feels as though wading through an ocean of blood.
Suddenly, [Hero] feels a hand closing on his/her arm and pulling, upwards. Bewildered, [Hero] stares at![Hero]. “You stepped into the pentagram and dropped like a Maraskanian sack of rice!” laughs![Hero].
[Hero] is tired enough to just drop. Every step takes an effort. The walls have disappeared, and a dull red glow engulfs the horizon. At some point in time, [Hero] notices [Hero] is lying in the red fluid, but before [Hero] can get up again, everything turns black.
Do you want to extinguish the candles?
Without any haste, [Hero] takes each candle and grinds its wick into the floor, but [Hero] is careful to stay outside the pentagram the whole time.
When [Hero] enters the pentagram, nothing happens.
The golem behind the door seems to have been waiting for you. In any case, it attacks the moment you enter.
Several bodies have been dumped in a pile here. Despite a very low temperature, and the fact that all the bodies appear to have been embalmed, there’s an awful stink in this room. Are you going to take the time to examine the bodies?
Not exactly a pleasant job, this… You note that the bodies appear to have been somehow preserved. When [Hero] pulls one of the corpses aside, a dark opening underneath is uncovered. Something is moving in there, too. [Hero] jumps back in horror when four ghouls, who had been hiding in the hole, come crawling out.
The bodies in this pile are definitely much less well preserved than those next door. They’re a much more animated bunch, though: three of the dead get up and attack you.
In this corner, you come across a pile of mostly bare bones with, here and there, a scrap of clothing. As you get closer, things happen. Five skeletons rise from the floor and attack.
This room is guarded by a golem… that immediately attacks.
The dead in here have been laid out in an orderly line. They have been embalmed with some extremely pungent ointment, and look as if they were just asleep. Do you care to take a closer look?
Wrinkling his/her nose, [Hero] takes a few careful steps closer to the bodies. Suddenly, % eyes widen, and [Hero] pulls one of the corpses from the line.
[Hero] stares at the body. “If this is the Servant of Boron, then who did we talk to before?”
You find nothing unusual.
Looks like someone has robbed some warrior graves for this collection of bones. You notice various weapons and pieces of armor. When you step closer, the bones start to move. Three skeletons rise and attack you.
These dead were covered in bandages before they were buried. “Mummies!” whispers [Hero].
Almost, as if they’d heard,, the mummies start to move and attack.
The bookcase contains tomes and scrolls of mostly necromantic contents. “Blasphemous insults to Boron! Away with this filth!” curses [Hero].
![Hero] has already lit a torch when [Hero] is suddenly startled. [Hero] puts the torch in a holder on the wall and takes a closer look at the writings.
![Hero] throws a lighted torch into the bookcase. The parchment goes up in flames immediately. Only minutes later, all that’s left of the entire bookcase is a small pile of ashes.
You can check the bed as much as you want, but it doesn’t do you any good.
This would be the bathroom. The latrine is covered, keeping the stench somewhat in check.