Room 17 – A sinner’s tomb (Kris Hulsen "The Forsaken One")
Door: A heavy stone slab is set in front of an entrance blocking the way into the room beyond. It requires a DC 24 Strength check to move and is locked. (Strength DC 28 to break; Hardness 8; hp 60; Unlock DC 30)
As you continue down the hallway the floor is filled with a thick brown gas that flows over the stones beneath your feet. A few meters ahead a huge stone slab seems to block the way into a room to your left. As you approach the thick and foul smelling brown gas trickles from under the stone slab into the hallway.
With a loud grinding sound the stone slab is pushed aside and from behind it a wave of brown gas flows over you. The room beyond is conceiled in a brown mist.
Features: Conceiled in the mist the northern, southern and eastern wall are lined with elaborately decorated colums. The coloms depict all kinds of laughing people pointing at the western wall. A sarcophagus occupies a central location against the western wall, lid thrown off, flanked on each side by a statue depicting a laughing jackal-creature.
Encounter (EL 4): Now imprisoned and bearing the curse of undeath, Nyovne is a former rogue, and a charming one at that. So charming that even though she was a female human she still was one of the suitors of Toth's wife... She was heartbroken when Toth took her beloved and she set out to break into his tomb and destroy his body and take his gifts ment for the afterlife so he would remain in the afterlife with a mutilated body and no posessions which he treasured in life as revenge.
But before she reached the final chamber she was lured into a devious trap by Yinepu, the Awakened Jackal Cleric. The battle was fierce but when Yinepu stepped back Nyovne fell into the soul trap Yinepu had prepared and was stuck down by the Curse of the Pharao. Nyovne found her soul stuck in her now decaying body, feeling her strengh drain away, mind go numb and her beauty peel away as her skin fell off. The last thing she saw with her almost powerless body was Yinepu sealing her into a tomb with a great stone slab and the last thing she heard was that her beloved wasn't dead. But that her soul was locked just a few yards away from Nyove. Both doomed to rot and scream forever in this forsaken crypt, bound to be lost and forgotten forever... Two lovers, cursed, doomed and withering undead souls forever kept just a few feet from each other. Never to be found..
Tactics: Trapped here ages ago as a last twist of fate by Toth Nekamek, Nyovne isn’t really in the condition for a heavy fight nor is she feeling like it. This and the fact that her cursed robe has dulled her mind causes her initial attitude to be indifferent to any who enter her tomb. Waiting in the mist she will hold her attack and wait for the intruders to come into view. If they aren’t immediately hostile or Nyovne draws initiative she will attempt to parley with them. She will try to convince them of her plight and that she wants to exact some kind of revenge on the one entombed here and rescue the remains of her beloved to properly bury them so her soul may finally find rest in the afterlife. If the adventurers agree to accept her aid and help her out she will share some details about traps in the dungeon and reveal some information about the puzzle trap that guards the final door that grants entrance to Toth Nekamek’s tomb.
Because the curse on her robe dulls her mind, Nyovne won’t use the mist to her maximum advantage. Robbed of all her strength and wits she hides in the mist untill someone comes into her sight. If the intruder bares any marks of Toth Nekamek or his evil jackal god she will attack immediately hitting them once and then retreating into the mist. There she will try to move around the room towards the exit in an attempt to escape. If the exit is blocked she will focus all her attacks on the one blocking the exit in an attempt to get out. If she gets out of her tomb she will flee the crypt as fast as she can.
If her attackers are otherwise immediatly hostile she will defend herself for three rounds while trying to parley with them. This in an attempt to convince them that she can help them gain acces to the final chamber containing the tomb of Toth Nekamek and that this cannot be done without her knowledge. If her attackers agree to give her a chance and have Nyovne accompagny them to Toth Nekamek’s tomb she won’t share any details with them. If her “rescuers” turn hostile again she will attempt to escape the tomb.
Nyovne Sindweller, advanced intelligent black skelleton (former human female) Rog 5: CR 4; medium undead; HD 5d12 plus 5d6; hp 51; Init +4; Spd 15 ft.; AC 14 (+5 natural, +4 chain shirt, -5 bracers of defenselessness), touch 5, flat-footed 14; Base Atk +5; Grp +2; Atk Masterwork Cold Iron Spiked Chain +7 melee (2d4 -3 plus aging, 20/x2) or claw +5 melee (1d4-3 plus aging); Full Atk Masterwork Cold Iron Spiked Chain +7 (2d4 -3 plus aging, 20/x2) or 2 claws +5 melee (1d4-3 plus aging); Space/Reach 5 ft./10 ft.; SA Aging, Sneak attack +3d6; SQ half damage from slashing or piercing, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to cold and electricity, undead traits, uncanny dodge, trapsense +1, evasion, trapfinding; AL CG; SV Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +5; Str 4, Dex 11, Con --, Int 5, Wis 10, Cha 16.
Languages: Common, Celestial, Abyssal
Skills: Bluff +17, Listen +8, Spot +8, Search +5, Disable Device +5, Open Lock +8, Sense Motive +13, Sleight of hand +8, Gather Information +11, Disguise +15, Intimidate +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse, Exotic weapon proficiency (Spiked Chain), Weapon Focus (Spiked Chain), Negotiator
Possessions: Chain Shirt, Masterwork Cold Iron Spiked Chain,
Golden Ring of clumsiness, Gold Nugget of weight, Golden Bracers of defenselessness, Leather Gloves of fumbling, Exquisite Robe of powerlessness, Golden Amulet of inescapable location, Ceramic Ram figurine, Alabaster Cat figurine, Sandstone Hippo figurine.
Aging (Su): Nyovne's touch disrupts most living tissue. Whenever she successfully strikes an aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, outsider, plant, or vermin with a claw or melee weapon attack, the creature struck must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or immediately age 1d10 years. The save DC is Charisma based.
Undead Traits: Nyovne is immune to mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless it also works on objects or is harmless. She is not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage to her physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or death from massive damage. She cannot be raised, and resurrection works only if she is willing.
Ceramic Ram figurine: A tiny ram formed from ceramic with a circular base one inch in diameter. The word “Sera” is etched on the base and it appears that it was made to attach to something.
Alabaster Cat figurine: A tiny cat chiseled from alabaster with a circular base one inch in diameter. The word “Ama” is etched on the base and it appears that it was made to attach to something.
Sandstone Hippo figurine: A tiny hippo carved from sandstone with a circular base one inch in diameter. The word “Nehes” is etched on the base and it appears that it was made to attach to something.
Golden Amulet of Inescapable Location: This device is typically worn on a chain or as a brooch. It appears, to magical analysis, to prevent location, scrying or detection or influence by detect thoughts or telepathy. It seems to be an amulet of proof against detection and location. Actually, the amulet gives the wearer a –10 penalty on all saves against divination spells.
Moderate abjuration; CL 10th; Create Wondrous Item, bestow curse; Price 1,000 gp.
Golden Bracers of Defenselessness: These appear to be bracers of armor +5 and actually serve as such until the wearer is attacked in anger by an enemy with a Challenge Rating equal to or greater than her level. At that moment and thereafter, the bracers cause a –5 penalty to AC. Once their curse is activated, bracers of defenselessness can be removed only by means of a remove curse spell.
Moderate conjuration; CL 16th; Create Wondrous Item, mage armor, bestow curse; Price 1,200 gp.
Leather Gloves of Fumbling: These gauntlets may be of supple leather or heavy protective material suitable for use with armor. In the former instance, they appear to be gloves of Dexterity. In the latter case, they appear to be gauntlets of ogre power. The gauntlets perform according to every test as if they were gloves of Dexterity or gauntlets of ogre power until the wearer finds herself under attack or in a life-and-death situation. At that time, the curse is activated. The wearer becomes fumble-fingered, with a 50% chance each round of dropping anything held in either hand. The gauntlets also lower Dexterity by 2 points. Once the curse is activated, the gloves can be removed only by means of a remove curse spell, a wish, or a miracle.
Moderate transmutation; CL 7th; Create Wondrous Item, bestow curse; Price 1,300 gp.
Gold Nugget of Weight (Loadstone): This golden nugget appears to be a shining, rock of pure gold worth 800 gold pieces. It reduces the possessor’s base land speed to one-half of normal. Once picked up, the stone cannot be disposed of by any nonmagical means—if it is thrown away or smashed, it reappears somewhere on his person. If a remove curse spell is cast upon a loadstone, the item may be discarded normally and no longer haunts the individual.
Faint transmutation; CL 5th; Create Wondrous Item, slow; Price 1,000 gp.
Exquisite Robe of Powerlessness: A robe of powerlessness appears to be a magic robe of another sort. As soon as a character dons this garment, she takes a –10 penalty to Strength and Intelligence, forgetting spells and magic knowledge accordingly. The robe can be removed easily, but in order to restore mind and body, the character must receive a remove curse spell followed by heal.
Moderate transmutation; CL 13th; Create Wondrous Item, bestow curse, permanency; Price 5,500 gp.
Golden Ring of Clumsiness: This ring operates exactly like a ring of feather falling. However, it also makes the wearer clumsy. She takes a –4 penalty to Dexterity and has a 20% chance of spell failure when trying to cast any arcane spell that has a somatic component. (This chance of spell failure stacks with other arcane spell failure chances.)
Strong transmutation; CL 15th; Forge Ring, feather fall, bestow curse; Price 500 gp.
Note Nyovne could function as a narrator for the tomb's history. Might be interesting and add flavor to the dungeon.