The Tomb of Durun'Gaar let the dead find rest this tomb you must not infest

2 Part 1: The Bleak Spire The adventure begins with the player characters already travelling from the Dwarven stronghold of Dhuratag. They are accompanied by Thulbrek, a young dwarven male. He has hired the player characters to protect him on an expidition. Thulbrek has auburn hair pinned back into a sharp ponytail that sits just between his shoulder blades. His lower face is covered in a red bushy beard that reaches down to the top of his chest. A dwarven warhammer is slung across his shoulders, along with a short bow and quiver. He wears studded leather armour over his travelling clothes. Thulbrek is oddly defensive about being asked where the party are traveling too, and will retort with phrases like 'Well I paid you diddn't I?! Just trust me!' if asked about the destination at all.

The road snakes along the eastern edge of a sparse forest with rolling grassland in every other direction. As the party continues traveling, the road begins to cut into the forest heading in a northern direction. Oddly enough, the further north the party travels, the less noise there seems to be, as if the forest had begun to hold its breath with each step taken. If the party has a druid, ranger, nature cleric or anyone proficient in nature traveling with them then those characters would find that the further north they travel, the less birds and insects seem to be heard and the more flora begins to deteriorate in health, eventually spotting more and more dead plants with each step taken. Eventually the treeline starts to thin out, with more and more withered trees no longer blocking the partys sightlines they can make out a singular mountain in the distance. The grass underneath the partys feet begins to transition to a dark grey dirt as the mountain comes further into view. It's certainly not an inviting sight, as the mountain itself is outlined by the sun sitting directly behind its peak, casting its jagged edges in a dark shadow. The surrounding landscape appears to be barren, with no flora or structures to be seen. As the party breaks through the now straggling treeline Thulbrek reveals that the mountain ahead of them is their destination. 'Up ahead lies the supossed final resting place of king Durun'Gaar. He was a nasty old king, had some obsession with death and necromancy. Ended up killing all his subjects. Look, the reason I diddn't tell you up till now was because I wasn't sure you'd take the job if I told you we where gonna be plundering the tomb of a powerful necromancer! Hey now, don't give me those looks! I paid you well enough diddn't I? besides, not like you have much a choice now right?' After a small rest at the edge of forest, the party continues on again. 'They call this 'The Keening Wastes'' as Thulbrek points to the barren landscape surrounding the jagged spire'. 'Long before King Durun'Gaars time, a massive war took place here, between the first Embiiren Orchish and Dwarven settlers. Some say, if you listen closely enough, you can hear the souls of fallen warriors crying out in anguish. If you ask me, it's probably the wind'. The Keening Wastes As the party starts to cross 'The Keening Wastes', a sense of dread starts to permeate the air. Unlike the forest, absolutely no life can be seen or heard, not even carrion birds, which would be common in barren areas. The sky is instead filled with distant grey clouds. The only sounds that can be heard are the ones the party makes, footsteps, the soft clinking of armour, the faint leathery flap of shoes on dry dirt. After a while, the pure deafening silence begins to take a mental toll on the party. Have the party make wisdom saving throws. 0-5 You can't take this silence anymore and feel the need to scream at the top of your lungs. Everyone else takes 1d4 pyschic damage from the sudden and sharp scream. 6+ No effect. The closer the party gets to the mountain, the more the feeling of dread digs its icy claws into them. Thulbrek presses on with no effect however, stopping only to slap some sense into any party member who says they should turn back. The Spires Shadow After what feels like an eternity, the party eventually makes it to the foot of the spire. The sense of dread that hangs in the air is palpable. Thulbrek tells the party to take a short rest then takes out a small journal. He spends a couple minutes leafing through the pages, mumbling to himself something about a door. A couple more mintues go by before he loudly exlaims 'Ahha! The entrance to the tomb should be this way!'. He gestures over to a small cave opening a few feet from the temporary campsite. 'Now, how many of you remembered to bring a torch?'. If the party brought none with them, Thulbrek sighs and hands them a torch each. If not, he lights his own and motions to continue onward. The cave turns out to be quite shallow, with a bowl like shape to it, almost like it was man-made. Thulbrek traces his torch across the walls until he reaches the very back. His torchlight illuminates some dwarven runes. HERE THE DEAD LIE - HIDDEN FROM YOUR PRYING EYE LET THE DEAD FIND REST - THIS TOMB, YOU MUST NOT INFEST IF ENTER YOU MUST - YOU WILL FIND THE DOOR SURELY TRUSSED SIMPLY CUT THE BONDS - AND THE DOOR RESPONDS (No.1)

3 The runes are etched very neatly, almost in a very deliberate manner. Directly above and below them is a thin line that runs horizontally with a small V shaped taper at each end. Have the players turn to page: 123 of the PHB (Player's Handbook). Their they will find a Dwarven alphabet. Have them try to decode the puzzle marked No.1 you prepped earlier. If they seem to be struggling, have Thulbrek assist them. The players must 'cut' the two horizontal lines by physically striking them. Once cut, the runes then start to move, seperating slowly, they outline a rectangle with a verical line running through it. It takes several minutes before the runes stop moving, revealing the outline of a doorway. Thulbrek takes a deep breath, places his palms on both sides of the vertical line, and pushes. Part 2: The Dead Stir The door opens silently, kicking up small dust swirls as it moves, revealing a pitch black hallway. Thulbrek steels himself, takes another deep breath and motions the party through the doorway. The hallway is paved with dark black stone that seems to suck the light out of the partys torches. As the party begin to descend down the hallway an alarming boom sounds off behind them. The stone doors have closed. A voice that sounds like sandpaper grating against sandpaper rolls through the darkness. 'HERE THE DEAD LIE - HIDDEN FROM YOUR PRYING EYE LET THE DEAD FIND REST - THIS TOMB, YOU MUST NOT INFEST THESE WORDS WERE NOT HEEDED - A PUNISHMENT IS NEEDED YOUR LIFE IS FORFEIT - I WILL DEFORM IT' Once the word 'deform' is uttered, a dark magic will begin to encircle Thulbrek. A small twister of dark tendrils that seem to wrap him up like a large constrictor snake. This only lasts a couple of seconds before it dissapates, leaving Thulbrek looking very pale and much thinner then before. His now lifeless eyes lock onto the party as he slowly draws his warhammer. Roll for initiative! Amidst the din of combat, the dry deep voice cackles as the party fights against their once companion. Once combat has finished, let the party decide wether or not to press on. Upon death, Thulbrek drops his journal, which the players can use to decipher the dwarven runes mentioned in the Special Rules/Mechanics section. If they choose to try open the door again they will find it sealed shut. The only way out is further downwards it seems. The hallway streches on for another 20 or so feet, the partys footsteps painfully loud in their ears. The air slowly starts to becoming colder and colder the further down the party travels. Giant Spider Ambush Eventually the hallway breaks out into a wide room with large pillars that stretch upto an invisble ceiling. The stonework in this room is in a worse condition than the hallway the party just exited, suggesting that this part of the tomb has been subjected to the elements. Another key thing the party can see is thick grey webbing, covering almost every surface. The webbing along the floor isn't thick enough to impede movement but there isn't a single centimetre of stone showing on the walls or pillars, which are completely covered in thick webbing. Thulbrek Medium humanoid (dwarf), unaligned Armor Class 13 (studded leather armor)

13 (studded leather armor) Hit Points 45

45 Speed 30ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15(+2) 12(+1) 14(+2) 10(+0) 10(+0) 11(+0) Senses passive Perception 10

passive Perception 10 Languages Common, Dwarven

Common, Dwarven Challenge 1 (200 XP) Actions Warhammer Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft. one target. Hit: (1d10 + 2) Bludgeoning damage Giant Spider Ambush Once the party starts to move across the webbing, Giant spiders will begin to stealth towards them. This encounter changes depending on the party size: 5 players: 6 Giant Spiders (easy) 4 players: 5 Giant Spiders (medium) 3 players: 4 Giant Spiders (medium) If the party is dealing with the spiders to easily, consider adding 1-3 spider reinforcements after the second round. The party progress through the room until a spider fails its stealth check, the party spots one ore more of them or the spiders get a suprise round. Roll for initiative!

4 Giant Spider Large beast, unaligned Armor Class 14

14 Hit Points 26 (4d10 + 4)

26 (4d10 + 4) Speed 30ft., climb 30ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 16 (+4) 12 (+1) 2 (-4) 11 (+0) 4 (-3) Skills Stealth +7

Stealth +7 Vulnerabilities Fire

Fire Senses Blindsight 10ft., darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10

Blindsight 10ft., darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 Challenge 1 (200 XP) Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check. Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web. Web Walking. The spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing. Actions Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 9 (2d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hitpoints, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way. Web (Recharge 5-6) Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained target can make a DC 12 Strength check, bursting the webbing on a success. The webbing can also be attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to fire damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and psychic damage). Gifts Wrapped In Silk The walls and pillars are festooned with silk sacks, presumably containing unfortunate spider victims as you can see the occasional bone sticking out, however, the party can discover hidden magic items! If the party is to make an investigation check on any of the silk sacks consider giving them one of these magic items: Investigation check Magic Item 11+ Blink Dagger 15+ Iron Snake Bands of Binding 17+ Bracers of the Cave Mother 20+ Scarab of Protection 23+ Animated Shield Any rolls lower than 11 will find the party a lump of gold equal to the number rolled in a multiple of 10. Branching Paths The end of the room seems to have been untouched by the spiders, as the stonework is visible beneath the now light webbing. While the setting is grim, and the adrenaline still pumping from the spider ambush, the quality of the visible stonework can't be unappreciated. The bricks seem to have each been hand made as their are traceable swirls and flourishes. The colouring has also shifted to a light grey, rather than the deep black of the entrance hallway. A small wedge has been cut into the wall, with two archways visible. The archways both have dwarven runes etched into the eaves. Using the journal that Thulbrek dropped, the party will be able to use the primer within to read them. Dwarven runes The inscription on the righthand archway reads: "Backwards is forwards" (No.2) The insciption on the lefthand archway reads: "Mind your manners" (No.3) The Right Path As the party pass through the righthand archway and start to descend downwards they get about halfway down before realising that this hallway is just a dead end. When the party reaches the dead end and turns around there is a stone wall, essentially trapping them inside the corridor. The new stone wall has an inscription that reads “Keep your eye on the wall.” If they walk backwards while staring at the stone wall they will walk into the next room. The Left Path As the party pass through the lefthand archway and start to descend downward, they reach a doorway. The door is made of lighter stone than the walls surrounding the party. It has no handle, but a brass bust shaped in the a figure of a dwarf juts out of the stonework. Two fists protude from either side of the bust, one holding a brass knocker, the other balling its fist. If the party attempt to open the door without saying "Please", the bust will give them one warning "Oi! watch your manners!" before punching the closest party member (1d8 damage). The bust will also flip off the party if they try any other way to open the door.

5 A Shocking Trap! After the party has dealt with one of the puzzle halways, they enter a very square looking room. There are 4 metal rods running vertically from the ceiling to the floor in each of the four corners of the room. The party also notices 3 grates on both the east and west side walls. A perception (or passive perception) roll of 8 and above will reveal the room seems damp, almost as if water somehow passes through this room? Whether the party are aware of the trap or not, its trigger has already been activated! Roll iniative! Electricity Trap Trigger: This trap activates if any non dwarven creatures enter the room. Iniative: The trap acts on iniative count 20 and 10. Active elements: Water starts to gush rapidly from the grates on either side of the room. Periodcally, the 4 metal rods surge with electricity. Locked doors (inative 20): The door the party entered into this room through, slams shut and is locked in place by magic. This effect activates only once, the first time the trap is triggered. Flooding room (iniative 20): The room begins to flood from the grates on the walls. On the first turn, the water level is at the partys ankles. Lightning rods (iniative 10): The metal rods surge with electricity, dealing 4d4 lightning damage. Creatures within 5 feet of a rod when it surges take maximum damage. If the rod is submerged, the electricity is conducted through the water. Dynamic elements: The higher the water level becomes, the more movement is restricted and the more potent the surges become. Rising water level: On the second round, the water level rises up the partys knees. On the third round, the water level rises up their waists. On the fourth round the water level rises up their shoulders. On the fith round the water has completely filled the room. Submerged lightning rods: The damage from the lightning rods element increases by 1d4 each round after it activates, to a maxium of 12d4. Countermeasures: There are a few ways that the trap can be overcome. Smash the rods: The lightning rods can be disabled by destroying them (AC 10; 15 hp; resistance to fire, piercing and slashing damage; immune to poison and psychic damage). Destroying a rod decreases the damage of the next surge by 1d4. If all rods are destroyed, the surges stop. Jumping: A creature can anticipate the exact moment the surges happen and attempt to leap out of the water in order not to get zapped. The creature must succeed on a DC 11 Intelligence or Wisdom check to gauge when the next surge will happen, then on iniative count 10 they can use their reaction to attempt to leap out of the water to avoid getting shocked (DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. The DC increases to 20 on the third round and 25 on the fourth. This is no longer an option after the fith round. Open the door: To open the door, the party must decipher the inscription written in dwarvish: 'If high and dry is what thyself seeks, the word freind is what one speaks.' (No.4). Start a 30 second timer, then allow the players to use the Dwarven alphabet, found on page: 123 of the PHB (Player's Handbook), to decipher the inscription. Every attempt uses a full action. Once the word 'friend' is uttered aloud by one of the players, the doors open.

Part 3: Evil Awoken Once the party successfully opens the door, a flash of bright light blasts from the door, and with an audible pop the water completely dissappears! A flight of steps leading down now faces the party, its stonework even more immaculate then the previous rooms. The air becomes ever colder with every step taken and the only sounds that can be heard is that of the partys footsteps. The stairs end in another short hallway that breaks away into a rectangular room. Sconces on the walls burst into flame with the partys entrance, revealing 5 lines of stone coffins, with 3 particularly more elaborate coffins on a raised platform towards the end of the room. The voice once heard when Thulbrek attacked the party, once again rolls through the cold tomb: 'Your king commands your deaths. Rise Nurek, Emris and Bashinok, bring the wrath of the king down upon these obtruders!'. The familiar tendrils of darkness now snake through the room and upto the 3 raised stone coffins. They begin to rattle, creating an awful racket. It all comes to a sudden stop as the darkness receeds. A small of moment of silence passes before three figures begin to pull themselves out of their coffins; A large minotaur, his jaw all but decayed and ribcage exposed, wielding a great axe; a medium sized githyanki, his right eye socket comepletely eaten away, wielding a longsword; a small goblin, missing his ears and nose, wielding a knife and blowgun. Roll for iniative!

6 Emris, The undead Minotaur Large undead monstrosity, neutral evil Armor Class 14

14 Hit Points 76 (9d10 + 27)

76 (9d10 + 27) Speed 40ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 11 (+0) 16 (+3) 6 (-2) 16 (+3) 9 (-1) Saving Throws Str +6

Str +6 Damage Immunities Poison

Poison Condition Immunities Poisoned

Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 17

Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 17 Languages Common, Dwarvish

Common, Dwarvish Challenge 3 (700 XP) The Unholy Brothers Three. If Nurek or Bashinok takes damage within 5 ft of Emris, he can use his reaction to knock the attacker prone and 10ft away. If either Nurek or Bashinok die, Emris rolls advantage on all melee weapon attacks made. Charge. If Emris moves atleast 10 feet straight towards a target and then hits with a gore attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 9 (2d8) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 14 strength saving throw or be pushed up to 10ft away and knocked prone. Actions Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d12 + 4) slashing damage. Gore. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage. Nurek, The undead Githyanki Medium undead humanoid (gith), neutral evil Armor Class 17

17 Hit Points 49 (9d8 + 9)

49 (9d8 + 9) Speed 30ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 13 (+1) 13 (+1) 10 (+0) Saving Throws Int +3, Wis +3

Int +3, Wis +3 Damage Immunities Poison

Poison Condition Immunities Poisoned

Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 11

Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 11 Languages Common, Dwarvish

Common, Dwarvish Challenge 3 (700 XP) The Unholy Brothers Three. If Emris or Bashinok are the target of a melee weapon attack and Nurek is within 5 feet of them, he can use his reaction to attempt to interpose his sword between the target and the attacker. The target gains +3 to their AC for that attack only. Actions Multiattack. Nurek makes two Githyanki longsword attacks. Githyanki Longsword. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw, taking 7 (2d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Bashinok, The undead Goblin Small undead humanoid (goblinoid), neutral evil Armor Class 17

17 Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12)

39 (6d8 + 12) Speed 30ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 14 (+2) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 12 (+1) 10 (+0) 13 (+1) Saving Throws Dex +4

Dex +4 Damage Immunities Poison

Poison Condition Immunities Poisoned

Poisoned Senses Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10

Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 10 Languages Common, Dwarvish

Common, Dwarvish Challenge 3 (700 XP) The Unholy Brothers Three. Bashinok can deal an extra 10 (3d6) damage to a creature he hits with a melee weapon attack once per turn if that creature is within 5 feet of either Emris or Nurek. Actions Multiattack Bashinok makes two attacks with either his dagger or dartgun. Goblin Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. Goblin Dartgun. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 25/100 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on all saving throws until the end of its next turn.

7 The Bone King Another grand staircase leading down confronts the party. The descent down is marked by sconces on the walls, flaring to life with fires that produce no heat. The stairs lead down into a rectangular room that has a slight recess built into the floor, like an ankle pool. The floor is comepletely littered with bones. Up towards the back of the room, bones seem to have been piled up to form a large mound. Upon that mound is a makeshift throne with a figure sitting upon it. The voice once again rings out: 'Tell me, in your culture, is it wise to disobey a direct order from your king?'. Durun'Gaars head lifts up. 'I ordered you to die, and peasants must obey their king! Your souls are forfeit!'. A dark green flame bursts into light from Durun'Gaars open hand. Roll for iniative! Durun'Gaar is dressed in old time eaten robes. His face lightly obscured by his hood. The visible skin on his face and hands is a withered grey/white. The lower left hand side of his face has completely rotted away, revealing the bottom of his eye and the majority of his jaw. The eye being bloodshot red from the constant irritation. A suprisngly cute button nose sits squarely in the middle of his face. A bushy unkempt grey beard encircles his chin, until the point it reaches the exposed jaw, from which it stops. His true size masked by the flowing robes covering his hunched figure.

If any player characters have died during this adventure, they now ressurect under Durun'Gaars control as mentioned in the Special Rules/Mechanics section. It is only fitting that Durun'Gaar start combat with some minions aswell! Skeletons equal to amount of party members plus one, animate from the bone pile he sits upon to join the fray. These particular skeletons use the regular stats of a normal skeleton but have only 1 Hit Point (minions). Durun'Gaar, The Bone King Medium undead humanoid (dwarf), lawful evil Armor Class 14

14 Hit Points 70

70 Speed 25ft. STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 15 (+2) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 16 (+3) Saving throws Int +8, Wis +8, Cha +6

Int +8, Wis +8, Cha +6 Senses Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 20

Darkvision 60ft., passive Perception 20 Languages Common, Dwarvish, telepathy 80ft

Common, Dwarvish, telepathy 80ft Challenge 6 (2,300 XP) Spellcasting. Durun'Gaar is a 6th level caster. His spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following spells prepared: 1st level (4 slots): sleep, venomous ray, wrath, cause fear, bane, healing word, inflict wounds, command, false life, ray of sickness 2nd level (3 slots): blood boiling, withering ray, silence, hold person, blindness/deafness, ray of enfeeblement 3rd level (3 slots): nothing prepared Turn Immunity. Durun'Gaar is immune to effects that turn undead. Reaper. Death Bolt can target two creatures if they are within range and within 5 feet of each other. Mind Invader. Any spell cast by Durun'Gaar that deals damage to a creature, deals an additional 2 (1d4) points of psychic damage. Touch of Death. When Durun'Gaar hits a creature with a melee weapon attack, he can use Touch of Death to deal an additional 8 points of necrotic damage to the target. Actions Scratch. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) slashing damage. Death Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 120ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d10) necrotic damage. Legendary Actions Durun'Gaar can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. Durun'Gaar regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn. Restless Dead. Durun'Gaar summons 3 skeletons from a pile of bones within 30ft. Roll iniative for these skeletons as a group. Durun'Gaar cannot use Restless Dead if the number of previously summoned skeletons equals more than 2. Bone Armour (Costs 2 actions). Durun'Gaar whips bones, within 30ft of himself, into the air. The bones then swirl around him, giving him a +3 to his AC. If Durun'Gaar is attacked and hit 3 times with ranged/melee attacks or once with a bludgeoning weapon, the effect cancels. Bone Rattler. If any creature is standing on a pile of bones, Durun'Gaar can cause the bones underneath to shift and churn. The creature must succeed on DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.