The Ideocron of the Oracular Somnambulist

 With the end of Month one in sight I've been inspired to push ahead and get week four done as soon as I can. I had a lot of fun coming up with names and tomb dressings for this level. I'd like to dedicate an entire month to the theme later on, but we'll see when I can fit that in. Along side the Fortress's catacombs I also have the Encounter table for this month. With this last bit I will have laid down Month One of my personal Dungeon 23 mega-dungeon! Please keep reading in the days, weeks, and months ahead as I start to delve deeper in the real Crucible of Oxyus! Enjoy the last level of The Fortress of Ytrigall!

Week 4: The Fortress Catacombs

1/22: The Painted Room

The kitchen’s (room 1/3) secret trapdoor allows access to the stairway in this room from above. The walls here are painted plaster, showing nature scenes of the Nogashite heartland on all four walls. Tall pine trees tower amongst the red hills and verdant valleys of Nogash. Herds of wild goats, ibexes, and camels can be spied in the painted backgrounds. There is an ornately-carved marble fountain on the southern wall. It is topped with carved dryads that seem to be spitting a small trickle of cold clean water into a carved shell. Some dusty old crates of putrid flour and worm-ridden hardtack are the only other objects here. The northern wall is pierced by an arched hallway, and the western wall has a panel door that swings open to reveal another staircase. The northern hallway is composed of three ornate stone arches leading a short distance into room 1/23.

1/23: Tomb of the Akrakogi Lords

This burial chamber has been cut from the living rock of the mountain. On the northern wall there are seven niches, six of which are occupied by stone boxes containing the bones of the ancient Akrakogi lords who ruled over the mountain in millenniums past. In the middle of the room is an altar slab of polished obsidian. It rests atop a red marble base carved in the shape of an ancient war chariot. A stairway on the eastern wall leads down.

-The ossuary boxes have a ceramic nameplate affixed to them declaring the name of the lord it contains along with their epithets. There is Djemkash the Unwavering, with an ornate golden bracelet (50 gp) and two falcon-headed funerary jars; Nedjedre the Deep-Minded, with an ornate golden bracelet (50gp) and two falcon-headed funerary jars; Nathphir Elf-Eater, with a circlet of woven strands of gold and silver (150gp), two ceremonial golden armbands (150 gp each) and two falcon-headed funerary jars; Yamatese, the Spear of Justice, with an ornate golden bracelet (50gp) and two falcon-headed funerary jars; Oteplet the Blood Arrow, with a circlet of gold with silver leaves (150 gp), an ornate golden bracelet (50gp), and two falcon-headed funerary jars.

-If the proper ceremony of respect is paid at the altar by a paladin or cleric, then any player in the room at the time will automatically regain 1 hp, up to their maximum.

1/24: The Hallway and Torture Chamber

The stairway from room 1/22 leads down to a 10’ wide hallway that slopes down into darkness. There are loops on the wall every 10’ for torches, but none can be seen. The black and white floor tiles have been laid out in a checkerboard pattern. In the north side of the hallway on the eastern wall is an ornately-carved stone door with a latch on either side of it. Further down the hallway at its northern terminus, two robust stone doors can be found. There is no visible means of entering through them.

-The shiny black floor tiles in the hallway are illusory, concealing pit traps (10’ deep with spikes, 1d8), the eastern door is a one-way door, having no means of opening it on the other side. The righthand latch will open the door; the lefthand one will unlock the double doors at the north end of the hallway, allowing them to be pushed open.

The presence of a large table with long winches and rusted manacles on either end reveals the room at the end of the hall to be some kind of torture chamber. Besides the stretching rack, a long table with rusted torture implements and a rotten chair can also be seen.

-Old human bones can be found in the corners and under the furniture of this room, including two human skulls. A larger-than-human sized stone skull can also be found here. (It is the head of the statue in room 1/26.)

1/25: The Great Mausoleum

There is a trapdoor in the temple (room 1/4) that leads to a small spiral staircase that winds its way deep underground until it reaches the mausoleums below. This room has a 50’ tall vaulted ceiling, held aloft by four gold-painted pillars. On the southern wall, seven stone sarcophagi carved in the likenesses of the first seven Nogashite lords of the fortress can be seen. The walls in this room have been painted in elaborate scenes of the Nogashite afterlife, including the field of reeds and the boat of the Sun-God. To the east, a stone door opens to a sloping corridor that leads to room 1/26.

This room has been the warren of the fortress’s kobolds for years. The smell of sweat and kobold funk is truly wretched in here. The sarcophagi have all had their lids pried open and their contents looted. They now house the beds of the kobolds’ babies. There are approximately 2d6+3 Kobolds, plus Bri-Yat here at most times. They tend to avoid rooms 1/28 and 1/27, being that they are still inhabited by the risen dead. The Kobolds know about the trapped hallway and one-way door (1/24) and will attempt to lead invaders to areas where they can best use the dungeon’s traps to their advantage.

The leader (2 HD, chainmail and mace) calls himself Bri-Yat and fancies himself a sort of nobleman to the other Kobolds. He desires to clear out the residence level and move his “subjects” to the top floor. He likes fine wine, music, and having his ego stroked. Bri-Yat is not stupid enough to engage in an all-out fight in room 1/25, not wishing to risk the Kobold young.

1/26: The Statue Room

This room deep underground is tiled with red and gold brickwork on the walls all the way up to the high-gabled ceiling. There are six niches on the southern wall with stone sarcophagi nestled in them. The room is dominated by a large statue of the Akrakogi death god Khull’nekesh, the Ever-Waiting. He appears as a billowing, ragged black cape, and his skeletal hands and grim skull face are the only parts of his body displayed, leaving the impression of a bodiless apparition floating before the party instead of a stone monument. His head, however, is missing. It looks to have been chiseled off. A sickening purplish energy pours from the head stump like some fell witch-light. 

-All but two of the sarcophagi have been ransacked before. The westernmost sarcophagi and the one next to it remain intact. One contains a death mask of gold, ivory, lapis, and ebony in the shape of a smiling king’s face (500 gp). The other contains a similar mask of the same materials (500 gp) and a green glass cup with ornate glass figures of lovers kissing blown onto its surface. When the cup is filled with liquid and held to a light, the light will shine through as though the cup were red glass instead of green. (700 gp).

-The statue is the source of the Zombies that plague the fortress grounds. Until Khull’nekesh’s head has been found (room 1/24) and placed back on his statue, anyone who dies on fortress grounds with their heart still intact will rise 24 hours later as a Zombie.

-There is a loose tile on the eastern wall that can be removed to reveal a latch. The latch opens a secret door, revealing a small passage and an opposite door that leads to room 1/27.

1/27: The King’s Mausoleum

This room can be entered through the staircase hallway in the northern wall. The room is dominated by a massive 12’ stone sarcophagus. The image of a gigantic human warrior with knee-length flowing black hair has been painted expertly on the lid. The walls of this room are carved to show what are assumed to be the accomplishments of the giant warrior who resides here entombed. The scenes show that he enjoyed many victories in his lifetime. Throughout the carvings, the warrior is shown wielding a barbed two-handed sword with a jet black blade. 

-To open the sarcophagus, a player must pass an Open Doors check. If the head of the statue in room 1/26 hasn’t been put back, the warrior will rise and attempt to do battle with whosoever disturbed his rest. If the statue has been restored, then his possessions and withered corpse are all that will be found. Besides his sword, Arkash has 1,000 electrum coins in his sarcophagus with him.

-There is a Secret Door halfway along the western wall. An inspection of the door frame will reveal a button on the bottom right corner that when depressed pops the door open with an audible click, revealing the corridor and opposite door beyond.

Arkash the Slayer

AC Platemail 3 [16], HD 5 (24hp),

Att 1 x Two-Handed Sword, see below(1d10+1),

THAC0 14 [+5], MV 30’ (10’),

SV D10 W11 P12 B13 S14 (5),

ML 12, AL Chaotic, XP 40, NA 0 (0), TT special

Ø  Two-Handed Sword +1, Wounding: The barbed blade of this sword is jet black. After being hit, the target suffers 1 additional point of damage per round (up to a maximum of 10 rounds).

Ø  Undead: Makes no noise until he attacks. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (i.e. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells (e.g., Charm, Hold, Sleep).

1/28: The Maiden’s Hall

This part of the catacombs is old, and the slender stone coffins that fill the burial niches on the eastern wall have been misconstrued over the years as the resting places of the first lords’ wives, causing the name of this room to appear as Maiden’s Hall on some maps. The coffins here are not true sarcophagi, nor are they like the stone ossuaries in tomb of the Akrakogi lords. The coffins are made of thinner, lighter sandstone. These boxes hold the cremated remains of some distant dynasty, now long forgotten. There is a small stone plinth in the southwestern corner of the room with the statue of a faithful watchman standing atop it. There are 1d8 Skeletons milling about this room. Besides the hallway entrance on the western wall, this room can be accessed by the staircase in the southern corner which descends to room 1/27.

-The statue is made of tiger’s-eye jade of blazing orange. It is in fact an elaborate oil lamp, with a hole in its helmet that drains into an oil reservoir in its torso. The watchman’s lantern has a hole for the wick to be placed, snaking down through the statue’s arm (1,000 gp).

-The names of the people buried in the niches have long since been wiped away by time. The coffins’ contents are but ash and burned bits of bone. 

I have written up two monsters that appear on the encounter table below but are not easily found in OSR bestiaries. Please enjoy.

Giant Cockroach

AC 4 [15], HD 2 (9hp), Att 1 x bite (1d4),

THAC0 18 [+1], MV 60’ (20’),

SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (2),

ML 5, AL Neutral, XP 25, NA 2d6 (1d8), TT None

Ø  Hiss: if attacked or frightened, hiss to warn others. 2-in-6 chance per round of attracting wandering monsters.

Melted Cultists

AC 8 [11], HD 1 (5hp), Att 1 x sacrificial dagger (1d4), or special attack,

THAC0 19 [0], MV 50’ (25’),

SV D12 W13 P14 B15 S15 (1),

ML 8, AL Chaotic, XP 15, NA 2d6 (1d6), TT R

Ø  Special Attack: Each Cultist has a randomly assigned mutation (roll1d4); 1. Spit acid in a straight line 10’ long (1d6). 2. Horrible, melted calluses cover their body (+2 to AC). 3. Extra fingers and a third arm allow the cultist to grapple a foe on a successful attack. 4. A wretched smell (unable to cast or concentrate on spells within 10’ of this Cultist).

Ø  The Cultists appear melted and warped by some unknown magics. On closer inspection, the cultist’s skin is almost reptilian in its appearance.  Each carries a carved orange tigers-eye-jade amulet in the shape of a blazing goat’s eye and wields a sacrificial copper dagger. 

Roll 1d12 to find out what is encountered and 1d4 to see what is happening when it is encountered.

Encounter type:	What are they doing?
11. 1d6 Kobolds	Playing dice and drinking.
12. 1d6 Kobolds	Trying to set up a tripwire.
13. 1d6 Kobolds	Roasting a tasty human leg.
14. 1d6 Kobolds	Engaging in an insult contest.
21. 2d4 Kobolds	Divvying up 4d6 silver coins.
22. 2d4 Kobolds	Pulling stones out of the floor and walls to set up a pressure-plate trigger-trap.
23. 2d4 Kobolds	Jumping and dancing around a dog’s skull with gold coins placed in its eye sockets.
24. 2d4 Kobolds	Attending a wrestling exhibition between two human-sized Kobolds. (2 HD, 1d8 or grappled.)
31. An Adventuring party consisting of one Elf, two Brigands, one Dwarf, and a well-armored War Dog.	Arguing quietly over the validity of their map.
32. An Adventuring party consisting of one Elf, two Brigands, one Dwarf, and a well-armored War Dog.	Playing dice while the Dwarf feeds he War Dog.
33. An Adventuring party consisting of one Elf, two Brigands, one Dwarf, and a well-armored War Dog.	Huddled in a circle discussing how best to open a simple looking chest.
34. An Adventuring party consisting of one Elf, two Brigands, one Dwarf, and a well-armored War Dog.	Drinking from an ancient vintage and tearfully remembering a fallen comrade.
41. A Ghost trapped in a magic circle (3-in-6 of being Chaotic, otherwise Neutral).	Wailing mournfully and flying around in a circle.
42. A Ghost trapped in a magic circle (3-in-6 of being Chaotic, otherwise Neutral).	Babbling to themselves and pawing at the barrier.
43. A Ghost trapped in a magic circle (3-in-6 of being Chaotic, otherwise Neutral).	Screaming in pain and anger then throwing themselves at the barrier.
44. A Ghost trapped in a magic circle (3-in-6 of being Chaotic, otherwise Neutral).	Absentmindedly singing to themselves as they tear the flesh from the face of the corpse of a Melted Cultist.
51. 1d4 Giant Cockroaches	Searching for wood to build nests with.
52. 1d4 Giant Cockroaches	Feeding a Kobold corpse to their young. (1d6 Juvenile Giant Cockroaches; 1/2 HD, 1d4 x bite, Tiny)
53. 1d4 Giant Cockroaches	Nesting inside the corpses of five weeks-dead adventurers.
54. 1d4 Giant Cockroaches	Hissing and writhing in an orgiastic mating ball.
61. 2d4 Giant Cockroaches	Feasting on the innards of five mangled Kobold bodies.
62. 2d4 Giant Cockroaches	Feeding a Kobold corpse to their young. (1d6 Juvenile Giant Cockroaches; 1/2 HD, 1d4 x bite, Tiny)
63. 2d4 Giant Cockroaches	Moving their leathery foot-long eggs to another brood site.
64. 2d4 Giant Cockroaches	All the roaches are dead, recently being hacked to pieces. The smell is ungodly.
71. 1d10 Giant Cockroaches	Searching for wood to build nests with.
72. 1d10 Giant Cockroaches	Feeding a Kobold corpse to their young. (1d6 Juvenile Giant Cockroaches; 1/2 HD, 1d4 x bite, Tiny)
73. 1d10 Giant Cockroaches	Hissing and writhing in an orgiastic mating ball.
74. 1d10 Giant Cockroaches	All the roaches are dead, recently being hacked to pieces. The smell is ungodly.
81. 1d6 Spitting Cobras	Wound up into a tight ball for warmth.
82. 1d6 Spitting Cobras	Infesting the corpse of a recently dead Melted Cultist, seeking out any remaining warmth.
83. 1d6 Spitting Cobras	Trying to explore a hole in the wall.
84. 1d6 Spitting Cobras	Crawling into the scene through windows and arrow loops.
91. 1d4 Zombies	Listlessly walking into the same wall repeatedly.
92. 1d4 Zombies	Fighting over the body of a dead Wolf.
93. 1d4 Zombies	Greedily ripping apart the body of a Halfling to consume it.
94. 1d4 Zombies	Badly grunting to the melody of an old folk tune.
101. 1d8 Zombies	Stumbling around in pairs in some undead parody of a dance.
102. 1d8 Zombies	Opening and closing doors.
103. 1d8 Zombies	Slowly chasing a Giant Centipede around the room.
104. 1d8 Zombies	Badly grunting the melody of an old folk tune.
111. 1d4 Centipedes	Crawling up the walls.
112. 1d4 Centipedes	Running in a loop around a dead Spitting Cobra.
113. 1d4 Centipedes	Feasting on the corpse of a Kobold.
114. 1d4 Centipedes	Drinking from a sludgy puddle in the corner.
121. 1d6 Melted Cultists	Writing blasphemous runes over a doorway with bone chalk.
122. 1d6 Melted Cultists	Taking lots to see who must report to the Hierophant (see Month 2’s dungeon).
123. 1d6 Melted Cultists	Drinking and complaining about the hardships of their life.
124. 1d6 Melted Cultists	Huddled next to a magic circle chanting in a foreign tongue.