5. The Caretaker's Chapel (Patrik "Conaill" D'haeseleer)
Door: The 15' tall heavy black oaken door is decorated with the symbols of the god of death and destruction. The door is unlocked and opens outwards.
As you open the door, you are faced with the inky blackness of a heavy velvet curtain. You hear a voice rhythmically reciting a long series of names, cut short by the creaking of the heavy door. Behind the curtain lies a square chapel decked out in black and deep dark red velvet that muffles all sound. The east and west walls contains murals glorifying Death and Destruction in all their aspects. Seated at a table in the center of the room is a hooded figure. As he looks up at you, you can make out a wrinkled human face. A black-bound ledger lies opened in front of him by the light of a single sputtering tallow candle on top of a skull.
"What are you doing here! This is no place for the living... get out!"
Traps: none
Features: Behind the heavy velvet curtains, the north and south walls are lined with bookshelves filled with black bound ledgers. The murals on the East and West wall are quite vivid and gruesome. Anyone closely examining them for a significant period of time (such as by taking 20 on a Search check) needs to make a Will save DC 20 or become Nauseated for 1d6 rounds.
Encounter: The creaking door and the heavy curtain behind it should typically prevent a surprise attack (no "you open the door, I'll shoot anything behind it"). The Caretaker will not initiate combat unless he notices the party has desecrated the temple (e.g. if the party is carrying any objects from Merodak's Burial Chamber, or the Shrine of the Asphyxiating God).
The Caretaker is not keen to initiate hostilities, but he cannot condone the party's presence in the Burial Chamber or the Shrine. Unless of course, they are willing to "receive the Gift of my Lord"... he has a black sickle lying on the table for any volunteers. The party may be able to convince him to let them pass through towards Damnation's domain. They may also be able to get some information from him - for a price. Acceptable trades might involve the body of a fallen comrade, or an item made out of dragon bone and inscribed with the name of the dragon.
The Caretaker, Half-Fiend Human Clr3: Medium Outsider (native) CR 4; HD 3d8+9; hp 26; Init +4; Speed 30ft, fly 30 ft (6 squares); AC 15 (+4 dex, +1 natural); Base attack +2; Grapple +4; Attack bite +4 melee (1d6+2); Full Attack bite +4 melee (1d6+2) and 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+2); Space/Reach 5 ft./5 ft.; SA Smite good, smite, death touch; SQ Darkvision 60', immunity to poison, resistance to acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, and fire 10, DR 5/magic, SR 13; AL Lawful Evil; Saves Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +4; Str 14, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 15
Skills and Feats: Concentration +8, Hide +5, Knowledge (Religion) +6, Move Silently +7; Improved turning, Flyby Attack, Multiattack
Spell-Like Abilities: Darkness 3/day, Desecrate 1/day; CL 3.
Spells prepared: 4 x 0th: Detect Magic, Guidance, Purify Food and Drink, Resistance; 3+1 x 1st: Bane, Protection from Good, Sanctuary, Cause Fear (Death domain); 1+1 x 2nd: Spiritual Weapon, Death Knell (Death domain)
Smite Good (Su): Once per day the creature can make a normal melee attack to deal extra damage equal to its HD against a good foe.
Smite (Su): Destruction domain granted power: You gain the smite power, the supernatural ability to make a single melee attack with a +4 bonus on attack rolls and a bonus on damage rolls equal to your cleric level (if you hit). You must declare the smite before making the attack. This ability is usable once per day.
Death Touch (Su): Death domain granted power: You may use a death touch once per day. Your death touch is a supernatural ability that produces a death effect. You must succeed on a melee touch attack against a living creature (using the rules for touch spells). When you touch, roll 1d6 per cleric level you possess. If the total at least equals the creature’s current hit points, it dies (no save).
Tactics: If possible, the Caretaker will cast Sanctuary on himself and try to negotiate with the intruders. If that fails, he will cast Darkness and attack using his natural weapons. If he feels cornered he will fly up out of melee reach to the ceiling of the room, grab a crossbow and bolts hidden on top of one of the bookcases, and try to fly through the high doorway out into Merodak's Burial Chamber. There he can take advantage of the 60' ceilings and pillars to hide behind. He can use Flyby Attack to fire his crossbow while flying from behind one pillar to another. The Caretaker may also call upon the help of any remaining undead in the Burial Chamber or adjoining rooms, using turning checks to bolster them or command the lower-HD ones, and possibly casting Desecrate to strengthen them. As a last resort, if the party has opened the sarcophagus but not yet discovered the compartment underneath, the Caretaker may take advantage of the hidden mace and bracers of armor to repel the invaders.
Posessions: 2 potions of Cure Light Wounds, scroll of Animate Dead, scroll of Restoration
If the party desecrates the Burial Chamber or the Shrine of the Asphyxiating God but bypasses the Chapel of the Caretaker, he may attack them from the rear in the hall of the Heroes of Durlath Hill. Finally, if the party leaves the dungeon midway, the Caretaker may "restock" the dungeon, possibly using his scroll of Animate Dead.
The Caretaker has paid the ultimate sacrifice for his religion: he has given up his own mortality to tend to and remember the dead. As part of a demonic pact, this acolyte of Merodak gained the half-fiend template (including horns and bat wings). He does not sleep, does not age, and spends all his days and nights reciting the Ledgers of the Dead. The most gruesome side effect of the pact, is that the Caretaker also became
immortal! He cannot die, but he doesn't regenerate either, and can be reduced to quivering pieces of non-dead goo... When his hitpoints drop below zero, he can only take free actions. Below -10, he can only be healed through the use of a Regenerate, Wish or Miracle. Below -50 he is reduced to the "quivering goo" stage with no distinguishable body parts. He can only be killed at this stage through the use of a Wish or Miracle.
Other Features: A crossbow and bolts are hidden on top of one of the bookcases. The majority of books are Ledgers of the Dead, containing pages upon pages of names of victims of the cult, including graphic details of their death and sometimes decomposition. There is also a small number of history books and religious scriptures (Search DC 15), an undecipherable volume in the same language as the inscriptions on the cylinders in Damnation's Domain (DC 17), a cursed Vacuous Grimoire titled "Treatise on the Deterrence and Destruction of the Unliving" (DC 17), and a family history of the noble benefactors of the sect buried in room #9 (DC 20, potentially very embarrassing for the still-living members of the family!)
Notes: The Caretaker receives occasional meals prepared by Cookie in room #7. He's not picky... that's why he has Purify Food and Drink prepared.
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
