T15: Common Crypt

The common crypt marks the mouth of the catacomb network that is the public graveyard of Greyhawk. The ground level of the crypt is a vast mausoleum, where the ashes of those who have been cremated can be stored. A wide statrway leads down into the shadowy network of the catacombs, where the vast majority of the city's citizens are eventually buried.

The catacombs are detailed later in Chapter 13. "The Undercity."

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T15: Common Crypt. This enormous mausoleum is the Common Crypt of Greyhawk, where the dead of the city are eventually cremated or buried in underground catacombs. The Common Crypt is operated by the Guild of Embalmers and Gravediggers, which no longer digs graves in this area but instead digs tunnels to expand the already huge network of catacombs below the Old City. The guild does not recommend cremation as a tule, but some religions and mourners are beginning to insist on it to prevent the deceased from being revived as undead.

Old City once had a cemetery within it, but this was dug up long ago to make room for the homes and businesses of the living. Only the Lords’ Tomb in High Quarter (HS) now has actual gravesites in addition to its own catacomb network. The ashes of cremated persons are stored in small urns in the aboveground mausoleum on this site, each jar with a name and a few words inscribed on it. Statues and carved frescoes surround the mausoleum, showing many of the gods of the Flanaess welcoming their deceased followers into their otherworldly folds, Evil gods are specifically excluded, though some people have carved forbidden names on the outside walls anyway.

DM's Notes: Much speculation exists in some circles about the extent of the catacombs below the Old City. The tunnel plans are approved by the Guild of Architects and Stonemasons, but the plans are locked away from public view. It is generally believed that the network of tunnels and vaults extends out to a radius of about 500 feet around the Common Crypt, and down at least two levels (going about 30 feet per level). Only the guild is allowed down in the tunnels, though rumors circulate that there are other entrances to the catacombs.

Cremation is avoided if possible by the guild because the dead of Old City form the main supply of fresh corpses for the guild to sell to necromancers, evil spellcasters and cultists, and others. Only a few bodies are sold in this manner, because the guild places such a high price on them, so there is no army of zombies hiding below the city. However, zombies and skeletons have found homes in a number of places in Old City (and even in New City) in cellars and vaults where they stand guard over the valuables of evil persons.

Unlike the Lords’ Tomb, no major undead are here; the guild destroys undead on sight with a variety of magical items and hired priests. The live encounters here (evil priests and assassins in hiding) are potentially more dangerous. The catacombs are dark, dank, and contain some mechanical and stonework traps to discourage free-roaming adventurers. Some catacombs are said to link up to an old tunnel network used about a decade ago by followers of the vicious Falcon, a creature believed by many to have been a wizard. (She was a wizard / priest spirit naga who founded the Spurned Cult of Iuz; she is believed to have been destroyed in 581 cy.) The tunnels led to secret meeting places below watehouses in the middle of the Old City. (See the adventure WGA1 Falcon’s Revenge.)