Sepulcher of the Crying Gods

Purpose / Function

World Purpose

To lock away forever the indestructible mummified form of Queen Anushree, whose discovery launched the initial Plague of the Red Tears that decimated the Empire of the Sun (Carolingian).

Story Purpose

To bring into play both the Empire of the Sun and the Empire of the Dawn and hint at historical layers upon layers. It will also turn the unwitting heroes into Patient Zero of the next outbreak of the Plague.

Design

The carved stone archway sealing the sepulcher is 8 feet wide and peaks at 12 feet tall. On the keystone is carved the symbol of the Five Gods. Below it, rudely scratched into the stone are the words: "Plus Jamais." ("Never again.") The stonework, the symbol, and even the words appear to have been in place for hundreds of years. Based on the iron hinge posts on the sides, it appears that doors once closed of the arch, but it is now completely filled with ancient, mortared brick.

Entries

To access the Sepulcher, the PCs must dig away enough dirt from the hillside to expose a large enough section of the wall to break through and slip inside. They may clear the whole archway if they wish, of course, though that will take significantly longer. Note: there is no need to make rolls to break down the wall--the PCs need to get inside, and there is no time cost or danger about doing so.]

Sensory & Appearance

Granny's needle has led you to the bottom of a steep 30' foot hill surmounted by a single enormous tree with leaves bright red like an autumn maple and a light brown trunk with a bark that looks slashed open to reveal bright red beneath. It appears that the earth forming the slope nearest to you has slumped down through erosion and time, and at the top of the slide area, about 20 feet up, it has revealed a pointed peak of carved stone and brickwork set into the side of the hill.

Contents & Furnishings

Behind the wall is a thin, narrow passageway 6 feet wide and twelve feet high with a barrel vault at the top. The floor, walls, and vault are all lined with dusty tan bricks, and stone pilasters flank the corridor in pairs about every twelve feet. There is a lingering smell of some kind of spiced incense in the air, and on the floor, a path of flaking red paint undulates left and right as it retreats into pitch darkness before you.

After 50 feet, there is a short flight of stairs which ascends to a wooden door...which stands slightly ajar.

Special Properties

For those with the ability, the archway is warded against creatures of Darkness.

Alterations

In its initial configuration, the entrance was sealed with two iron-bound wooden doors which closed it up before and after the royal funeral, during which the Queen's body was placed in the false tomb. The hinge posts for these doors are still visible.

Two nights following the funeral, however, the body was secretly moved to its final resting place, and the entrance was bricked up, completed masked with a slope of dirt, and then planted with ivy to hide it forever.

However, time and erosion have made the hillside slump and reveal a part of the top of the brickwork. Granny Gnana discovered this, and began to dig away the dirt to access the Sepulcher, when her digging uncovered the Seal of the Pentatheon, which she was unable to bear. The evidence of her clawing away the earth to expose the Seal is still quite visible.