#63 Crypts & Catacombs

20 Things #63: Crypts & Catacombs. ©Raging Swan Press 2021; Author: Creighton Broadhurst.

## Crypt & Catacomb Dressing

Although crypts, catacombs and sepulchres are common adventuring locales, they differ wildly in theme and style to a normal dungeon. Designed to house the dead, they lack many of the features of a dungeon occupied by living creatures. 

1. Dust and grime lie thick upon the crypt’s paved floor. Dusty cobwebs hang from the ceiling and gently undulate in some subtle, unseen (and barely felt) breeze.
2. Some of the crypt’s paves have shifted and moved, creating areas of difficult terrain. The skeletal remains of a dog, cat or other small animal are curled up on a sarcophagus.
3. Small holes in a wall at floor level show where rats have tunnelled their way into the crypt. Signs of their presence—tiny tracks, droppings and so on—abound.
4. A perceptive character notices scratches on the floor around several sarcophagi, suggesting they have been moved at some point. Hidden niches could lie below the sarcophagi or the scratches could merely have been caused by other adventurers searching for treasure.
5. Strange patterns in the dust on the floor could be indicative of an occasional breeze entering the crypt from some slight crevice. Alternatively, they could provide a clue as to the presence of an undead guardian (or resident).
6. The heavy lids of several of the sarcophagi are not on properly. Was something trying to get out or was someone trying to get in?
7. The corner of a sarcophagus has crumbled away, providing a narrow, shadowed view of what lies within. Perceptive characters realise the crumbled corner is the result of damage. Perhaps the sarcophagus was dropped as it was lifted into place or perhaps a thief smashed their way in.
8. Graffiti records the initials of several folk who have visited the place over the years. Many of the inscriptions are dated, giving a clue to the crypt’s age.
9. Water oozes through cracks in one wall, creating an area of glistening stonework. A shallow puddle of grey water lies at the wall’s base.
10. The corner of a wooden coffin has partially rotted away—water drips from the ceiling directly above the burial niche. Pieces of bone, scraps of fabric and the like have tumbled from the coffin onto the floor.
11. A previous explorer, mourner or worker was trapped in the tomb, and died alone in the dark. Their mouldering corpse slumps against the crypt’s outer door and clatters to the floor when the door is opened.
12. Spiders infest the crypt; curtains of their dusty webs drape from the ceilings and statues, and over some of the sarcophagi. The many tiny spiders dwelling in the crypt are not a threat to explorers, but characters burning the webs away may alert any nearby undead or sentient guardians.

## Sarcophagi Inscriptions
Most sarcophagi will have the name of the person interred within carved upon their lid.

1. Aarto Kallas: One with Death.
2. Ambro Pellervoinen: Stood His Ground. Maintained His Watch.
3. Brusi Kari: Our Torment is Over.
4. Eljas Otra: For Want of a Nail.
5. Heikki Vartia: With Him Died the Music of Love.
6. Ilta Rautia: Here Lies My Love. Disturb Her Not.
7. Kreeta Koveri: Finally, Peace.
8. Lauri Vihas: Thief. Murderer. Husband.
9. Maunu Ampuja: Beloved of My Heart.
10. Miina Joutsi: Death Came Before Her Time. Curse Death.
11. Nonna Repo: Sacrificed All for None.
12. Pertti Urho: He Dabbled in Things He Did Not Understand.
13. Pirkko Hopea: Her Last Great Adventure has Begun.
14. Soini Toiva: Father of Nine. Lord of None.
15. Stiina Kaivattu: Here Lies My Love. Rest Now, Beloved.
16. Ulla Paaso: Taken by the Plague. 
17. Valto Hirvi: Taken from us too Soon. The World is Lessened by his Death.
18. Vilina Arpia: Beloved Mother. Rest in Peace.
19. Unknown Warrior: Thank You.
20. This carving has been deliberately and comprehensively effaced. It is illegible.

## Sarcophagi Graffiti
Coffins and sarcophagi are prime targets for graffiti—whether added by mourners or tomb robbers. This graffiti could be scratched into the stone or wood, or written in chalk or blood. 

1. Finally, I am at Peace.
2. Here rests a bastard.
3. Lies. All lies.
4. Gone. Soon to be forgotten.
5. The world is better for them leaving it.
6. May the Father Forgive Me.
7. Death is too good for him/her.
8. Why?
9. Taken too soon.
10. Do not Disturb the Dead.
11. Beware the Bone Cruncher.
12. Trapped!
13. Not trapped.
14. She/he stole my heart…and my coin.
15. Cursed by the Moon. Blessed by the Sun.
16. Thief. Cheat. Murderer.
17. I told him to duck.
18. What lies within? What made that sound?
19. Poor Berloc.
20. I hope he/she rots.

## Crypt & Catacomb Features
Designed to house the dead, crypts and catacombs often include many religious features as well as decorations dealing with death and the afterlife. 

1. The crypt’s arched ceiling features many small one-foot -square tiles. Each is brightly coloured and depicts stylised scenes of the world.
2. Each of this crypt's sarcophagi stand upon one-foot high stone plinths. The name of the interred is carved onto each plinth’s riser.
3. The crypt has a wooden floor, and was built over a natural cave. If the crypt is particularly old, the wood could be brittle and rotten. Incautious adventurers could step through the floor and plummet into the pit.
4. As #3 above, but deep heaps of bones fill the pit. These break the adventurers’ fall to some extent, but some could animate to attack those falling into their midst. The shades and haunts of the deceased could also linger in the mass grave.
5. Deep niches carved into the crypt’s walls hold stacked arrays of bones. The bones are wired and glued together and form a macabre display; some such sculptures are shaped in the sigil of the god of death; disturbing them would be blasphemy.
6. A small shrine pierces one wall. A low altar, covered in mouldering offerings, burnt-down candles and the like, fills much of the niche. Faded paintings of an idealised afterlife adorn the niche’s walls.
7. The crypt is virtually air-tight. Thus, when the characters first open its door the crypt the air is musty and foul-smelling. It takes an hour or so, once the crypt is opened, for the smell to dissipate.
8. A great chandelier crafted from bones held together with cunningly threaded wires hangs from the ceiling of each room. A hanging chain can be used to lower and raise each chandelier, but doing so makes a loud noise—which may alert any lurking undead to the presence of intruders (and their next meal).
9. Each chamber has an ornate archway leading into it, and each archway has prayers carved into its face. The prayers speak of death and eternal rest. Several inscriptions tell of the curses that will befall those disturbing the crypt.
10. Graven images of the god of death and his servants adorn many of the walls in a macabre display of the afterworld. In many of the images, the dead are shown kneeling for judgement before the god.
11. Wrought iron torch sconces, shaped like skeletal arms emerging from the walls, are set through the crypt. Several hold partially burnt torches. Soot stains the wall behind and ceiling above the sconces.
12. Rusty black iron gates protect each burial chamber from casual invasion. The gates squeal loudly, when opened. Several are stuck shut, but none are locked.
13. The ceilings in the crypt are vaulted, and sound carries oddly through the chambers. Echoes are weird, and seem to continue for longer than they should.
14. Once brightly coloured tiles decorate the floor. Many in the central parts of chambers and corridors are now cracked, chipped or broken. Pictures on the floor tiles include stylised animals, coats or arms and the like.
15. Hideously macabre statues of over-sized skeletal warriors stand watch over each chamber and corridor junction. The skeletons stand on plinths in small niches and have the aspect of guardians.
16. The crypt is either old or badly built. The stones comprising its ceiling sometimes groan as they shift slightly under the pressure of the surrounding earth, stone or sand. Dust, grit and gravel lie thickly, in places.
17. The crypt’s ceiling is particularly low—deliberately so to give those entering the place a sense of claustrophobia. Some of the archways are so low, human-sized explorers must crawl through them.
18. The crypt’s ceilings are double the normal height. Short sets of stairs made of bones lead up to each burial niche. Some chambers feature two levels of burial niches.
19. A subterranean river has broken through into the crypt. Dark, chill water fills the crypt to a depth of four-feet. When it rains above, the crypt quickly fills with water.
20. The crypt was built in this location because here the barriers between the Material and Shadow planes are particularly weak. Weak negative energy seeps into the crypt. This is not enough to animate the dead resting within but now and then a skeleton quivers or judders. Shadows also gather thickly in the crypt; mundane light sources and magical lights of lower than 3rd-level only throw light half as far as normal.

## The Interred
Few crypts are without “residents”. Some do not rest quietly.

### Aake Vilja
N male human ghost

Detecting Aake’s Presence: A faint, confused muttering reaches the characters’ ears before Aake materialises.

The transparent figure of a middle-aged man wearing homespun peasant garb slowly emerges from the distant shadows. The man is muttering and rubbing his head.

Aake died so suddenly and unexpectedly he doesn’t understand he is dead. He is desperate for companionship and news, and doesn’t understand if the characters draw weapons, cast spells and so on. Aake is a simple peasant and has no real understanding of his undeath. He defends himself, if attacked.

Personality: Aake is confused and frightened. He has been alone for a long time and the solitude is driving him slowly mad. Aake is still—just—rational, however. 

Mannerism: Aake is given to muttering and rubbing his head with his hands. He also sometimes quietly sobs to himself.

Rest to Rest: The characters must convince Aake he is dead and not just trapped in a tomb. They can do this by finding his remains and reading the inscription on his coffin or sarcophagus, or by coming up with some other clever method.

### Kaija Tuntia
LE female human ghost wizard 12

Detecting Kaija’s Presence: The stench of burnt flesh and the heady, exotic smell of spell components fills the air moments before Kaija appears.

This imperious, transparent woman wears scorched and rent wizard’s robes covered in blood. 

Kaija so very nearly discovered the secret of immortal lichdom before her untimely death at the hands of a group of powerful do-gooders. Such was her lust for life, however, that she survived her death and rose in an immortal, but unsuitable, form.

Personality: Kaija rages at her untimely death and greatly desires to complete her research. While she “lives” as a ghost, she cannot carry out any of the essential magical research she so craves and enjoys. She must understand all magic. 

Mannerism: Kaija has a piercing unblinking gaze and a mouth twisted into a scornful grimace.

Rest to Rest: Kaija has not intention of going quietly into the endless night. Only the utter destruction of her physical remains will suffice to banish her to death’s realm.

Hook: Kaija wants to complete her arcane research—and transformation into a lich. To this end, she attempts to possess any wizardly types she encounters with the goal of using their body to complete her work. If she succeeds, she creates a deadly form of new undead—a ghost lich.

### Suni Keiho
N male human ghost

Detecting Suni’s Presence: A whispering reaches the characters’ ears as Suni manifests. As the whispering grows louder, they can make out the words, “The door, the door. Why did it close?”

The transparent figure of a thin man wearing leather armour appears in front of you.

Grave robbing can be a tricky business—just ask Suni. The thief attempted to rob this crypt decades ago and was caught by his own stupidity; when he entered the tomb, he forgot to wedge the door open. It closed while he was inside, consigning him to a long, slow death. Now, he is surrounded by all that he sought to steal—but cannot touch any of it.

Personality: Depressed and resigned to his fate, Suni has spent years berating himself for his stupid, fatal mistake. Despite his fate, he’s friendly and tries to recruit the party to his tomb looting cause. 
	
Suni loves animals and tries to pet any familiars or animal companions with the party—probably with disastrous consequences for all involved.

Mannerism: Suni has a disquieting way of trying to caressing or fondle anything valuable in sight. Of course, he can’t actually touch anything and this drives him into a deep depression.

Rest to Rest: Suni still wants to loot the tomb. Helping him loot the graves and burying his remains with the loot enables him—wealthy at last—to pass onto his eternal rest.

### Vappu Miela
CE female human ghast

Detecting Vappu’s Presence: Vappu’s terrible stench betrays her presence. She dresses in a mishmash of clothes looted from the dead, and pretends to be one of the interred—lying perfectly still in her favourite coffin or sarcophagus.

A horribly shrivelled woman lies in state in this open sarcophagus. She wears a strange mishmash of clothes. The stench of death and decay hangs heavily in the air.

Executed for cannibalism and other terrible, depraved acts, Vappu was destined for an unmarked grave until her influential, disbelieving family intervened. With lavish bribes and a dash of blackmail they had her interred here. They had no idea she would return from the dead to haunt the crypt.

Personality: Depraved and utterly without morals, scruples or conscience Vappu is a “perfect” ghast. She exists to feed. 

Mannerism: Vappu licks her lips lasciviously when she is about to “dine” and howls with joy when she tastes fresh meat.

Hook: Vappu yet wears her family signet ring. Her family would pay much to regain it—and more to hush up the horror of Vappu’s existence.

## Sarcophagi Dressing
Adventurers are often keen to discover what lies in a sarcophagus. Along with the remains of the dead, the characters may discover much of note in a sarcophagus.

1. The interred is pinned to the bottom of the sarcophagus by a steel spike driven through their chest.
2. Faint scratch marks on the underside of the sarcophagus’s lid suggest (horrifyingly) its occupant was not dead when they were placed within.
3. The remains in this sarcophagus are nothing but mouldering bone and scraps of fabric. A cloud of dust shoots from the sarcophagus, when the lid is pushed aside.
4. This sarcophagus contains two corpses not one. The two are piled one atop another. The uppermost body is obviously newer than the other and has a plain iron dagger shoved through its back. A rust-red stain coats the older remains and bottom of the sarcophagus.
5. A graven prayer speaking of eternal rest and the afterlife decorates the underside of the sarcophagus’s lid. The words are picked out with silver, and sparkle invitingly in the party’s lights. Alternatively, or additionally, the prayer could contain mystical wards preventing a dead body rising as an undead. Removing the silver destroys the ward—potentially triggering the deceased’s revival.
6. This sarcophagus does not hold a body. Strangely, only a mouldering set of clothes lie in the sarcophagus suggesting a body once lay here.
7. Thick, springy black mould grows over the sarcophagus’s lid, partly effacing any inscriptions or other decorations thereon. Perceptive characters spot twelve tiny holes—reminiscent of air holes—piercing the sarcophagus’s lid. The holes are not wide enough to see what lies within.
8. This ebon sarcophagus is overly wide and heavy. Its sides and lid are two-foot thick. The lid is incredibly difficult to shift. The sarcophagus is crafted from loadstone and is magnetic. Characters wearing metal armour or carrying large metal weapons feel the sarcophagus's insistent tug first.
9. The deceased had a glass eye. It stares sightlessly from the mouldering corpse and glints obviously in the party’s light. 
10. The skeletal remains of a cat or small dog—a beloved pet—lie curled up at the deceased’s feet. If the deceased animates because of the party’s investigations, the pet also animates.
11. For some reason, a dozen rats were interred with the deceased. The rats flensed the corpse before turning on each other. The inside of the sarcophagus is a charnel house—a jumble of bones and ancient, dried bloodstains tell of the rats’ fate.
12. The deceased lies on a sumptuous velvet pillow and mattress. The inside of the sarcophagus features now faded but once beautifully painted wooden panels depicting key—or perhaps idealised—moments from the deceased’s life.

## Grave Goods
Few of the interred are buried without a grave good or two, personal trinkets or other minor treasures avaricious adventurers may liberate as they explore a tomb. Depending on the crypt’s age, many of these grave goods—clothes, food offerings and the like—could be mouldering and rotten. Others items, such as gems, jewellery and weapons, will remain in saleable condition.

1. The interred wears two small gold rings each worth 20 gp, on its left hand.
2. A plain silver dagger rests in a mouldering leather scabbard upon the deceased’s breast. The dagger is plain and severe and remains wickedly sharp. The sun god’s sigil adorns the dagger’s pommel.
3. At first glance, this sarcophagus holds nothing of value. A perceptive character, however, spots a platinum earring lying amid the dust behind the interred’s head. The earring is in the shape of a graceful dolphin and worth 25 gp.
4. The interred clutches a mouldering diary—or perhaps spellbook—to their chest. The book has a plain red dusty cover. Slight indentations in the cover show where its owner has clutched it tightly. Time has rendered the book illegible.
5. The deceased wears a dusty, but otherwise in good condition, fur coat. The fur is from a black bear, and is deep and warming. Three cleverly hidden internal pockets enable the wearer to conceal three pouch’s worth of objects with virtually no chance of detection.
6. The deceased wears a boxy platinum signet ring. It bears the distinctive sigil of an intricately graven rearing swan.
7. The deceased clutches a platinum coin in each clenched fist. Two more platinum coins are wedged into its eye sockets.
8. The deceased wears a large gold and silver holy or unholy symbol around their neck on a plain leather thong. The thong is brittle and snaps if disturbed. The symbol is dusty, and in need of a clean, but worth twice as much as normal.
9. A steel shield, decorated with the family’s coat of arms, lies at the deceased’s feet. A longsword, or other appropriate weapon, lies next to the body and also bears the same heraldic device.
10. A half-dozen dusty glass bottles—holding wine, brandy or other strong alcoholic drink—are arranged around the corpse. The bottles’ contents may—or may not—have succumbed to time’s onslaught.
11. The corpse wears mouldering clothes of fine cut and make. The clothes are worthless, but their buttons are solid gold, and worth 1 gp each.
12. A large picture locket hangs around the deceased’s neck. The clasp is stiff with age. The lockets contains a faded picture of the deceased’s love and a scrap of yellowed paper. A foul prayer of shocking blasphemy is scrawled on the paper.

Choose values for items on the above list to suit your game.