That's So Raven

Field reports from the Lady's chosen.

That's So Raven

Field reports from the Lady's chosen.

Wiki · Place

Tomb of Orcus

Type: Dungeon / Site Region: Mire of Dead Men — confirmed Session 042; the largest hill in the swamp, at the Tomb's ziggurat summit Status (latest): Levels 1–2 traversed; Abyssal portal sealed — Session 048. The portal on Level 2 connecting to the 273rd Layer of the Abyss was sealed by Ser Vindictus on the party's exit from the 273rd layer. Ser Seraphona Shadowbane is stranded on Level 2 with General Zon's summoning circle. Werverender still asleep at the exterior. The Tomb's Level 2 otherwise unexplored — only the summoning chamber and portal passage were seen. First Mentioned: Session 011 (the Yartar chapter's interest, surfacing through Nathaniel's desertion) Location Confirmed: [[Session 042 - [No Recording]|Session 042]] (via Varagamanthir) First Entered: Session 043

Physical Description (Session 043)

Exterior

The Tomb sits atop the largest hill in the Mire of Dead Men. Approach:

  • Water at the base — boats dock here; the lizardfolk would not go further.
  • A cemetery climbing the hill — undead roam it slowly, directionless unless pulled by the Tomb's draw. During the party's approach, the undead ignored them entirely (Pass Without Trace).
  • A ziggurat at the summit — old stone, possibly pre-Orcus. A massive monster skull is strapped to the stonework with ancient leather bindings — a monument converted to Orcus worship a long time ago, not recently.
  • Black tendrils growing from the hillside around the ziggurat — identical to what the party observed beneath the Toke Inn in session 032. The Orcus-substrate connection confirmed.
  • A pit/shaft at the center top of the ziggurat — stairs descend from it into the Tomb proper.
  • Werverender coiled asleep near the ziggurat. Her presence may be amplifying the Tomb's undead draw — bog zombies in groups of 50+ were observed traveling toward the hill overnight.

Interior — Level 1 (Session 043)

The party descended the pit stairs and reached the first level:

  • Entry room: 25×25 feet, stone walls, one door to the right (closed). The door was smeared in dried blood — approximately one to two weeks old, deliberately applied (not splatter). A trap spell had been on this door but was already broken by someone else's passage.
  • Infernal script on the wall, partially covered by the blood smears. AC (Infernal speaker) identified it as a desecration inscription — a Zariel-linked infernal marking of this as an unholy site. Something had subsequently overwritten and crossed out the inscription. Party inference: the Leilon Knights of Vindictus arrived first, tried to consecrate or bind the space in Tyr's/Zariel's name — then something else came through and undid their work.
  • Beyond the door: A short staircase down (5 feet) into a long hallway (40+ feet), turning right. A second doorway to the right in the darkness.
  • The voices: Two voices heard from an indeterminate location in the dark — shifting, predatory, playful:
    • "Who is there? Someone else to play with?"
    • "Come out, come out, wherever you are. Ooh, this is when the fun begins."
    • "What are the rules?" / "You will soon find out. Time for me to hide."
    • Then silence.
  • Junction and grab: The party pressed deeper (down, not right). At a corner, they passed a door that appeared closed but was slightly ajar. An ashen figure — glowing, charred, human-sized, luminous with inner heat — reached through the gap and grabbed Dhuxtyn. (Session 043 ends here; Session 044 opens here.)

Interior — Level 1, Continued (Session 044)

  • Vampire spawn confirmed as Knights of Vindictus. Ubys recognized the shredded tunics on the creatures mid-combat. At least 6 of the 19 Leilon KoV who came to the Tomb are now vampire spawn. They move fast, coordinate by hunger instinct, and use a two-claw-then-bite pattern: claws grapple, bite inflicts necrotic damage that reduces the target's maximum HP while healing the spawn.
  • The altar room (Level 1, left of the junction). Two vampire spawn dragged Crowley into a side room here — pooling water on the floor, an old altar. Contents of the altar room not examined during combat. (Greg: establish what the altar is — original Orcus consecration? KoV Tyr erection? Something older?)
  • The room straight ahead. Dhuxtyn and Lessie were dragged into this room; two separate vampire spawn. The passage beyond it becomes cavernous and narrow — the Tomb goes deeper in that direction.
  • Combat outcome (Session 044). AC went unconscious (recovered by Ubys via Blessing of the Raven Queen teleport). Dhuxtyn went unconscious (recovered by Lessie physically dragging him). KeYs and Falkor both had their maximum HP reduced by 10 via necrotic bites. Turn Undead (Ubys, DC 17) drove five of the six spawn fleeing into the deeper dark. The sixth stopped, said "You cannot stop the hunger. It will find you," and vanished. No kills. The party holds the Level 1 hallway.
  • Radiant damage note. Falkor's breath weapon (radiant) was used; these spawn are not vulnerable to it. The party does not yet know the classical vampire spawn weaknesses.

Interior — Level 1, Resolved (Session 045)

  • All six vampire spawn killed. The party pressed the Turn Undead advantage and finished the combat over ~10 more rounds. Named dead (from tunic identification): Jorven "Stonejaw" Halvek, Thoren Blackvale, Durn Hollowcrest, Ivena Duskmoor, Rowan Vexlar, Malrik Tenebran. All were rank-and-file Leilon KoV; none were party-known individuals.
  • Kill methods confirmed: Ubys's Armor of Agathys (cold retaliation) killed one; KeYs killed two with Sir Titus's Holy Avenger (the blade "responded eagerly" to undead targets); Crowley killed one via Dimension Door ambush (Cape of the Mountebank); remaining two by combined party damage. Radiant damage from the Holy Avenger (+2d6 vs. undead) was effective; Falkor's radiant breath was not.
  • The water room. The waist-deep chamber at the back of Level 1 — connected to the altar room via the passage the turned spawn fled through — contained the KoV camp. The water is stagnant, not running (confirmed; running water is a vampire weakness; this does not apply). The room holds: the altar (still uninspected), the KoV provisions (bedrolls, gear, food), and the stairs descending to Level 2.
  • KoV camp provisions. Items recovered: Cloak of Vigil (charcoal-gray; cold-resistant; silver eye clasp; lean-to function), Shield of Edicts (heavy kite shield; three Vindictus pillars; portable shrine), and a journal naming Ser Draven Ravenspire and Ser Seraphona Shadowbane as the commanders who led the chapter in. Full inventory listed in <a href="/wiki/knights-of-vindictus-camp-inventory-pdf" class="wikilink">Knights_of_Vindictus_Camp_Inventory.pdf</a> — not yet fully integrated.
  • Commanders unaccounted for. Nineteen Leilon KoV entered; six killed on Level 1; thirteen remain unaccounted for, including Ravenspire and Shadowbane. They are presumably somewhere below — turned, killed by something worse, or (unlikely) still alive.
  • The altar. Still uninspected. Located in the water room at the Level 1 back. (Greg: establish what this altar is — Orcus-original? KoV consecration attempt? Something older? Key question before the party examines it.)
  • Stairs to Level 2. Found at the base of the water room, descending into darkness. The party has not descended as of Session 045 close.

Interior — Level 2 (Session 046, partial recon by AC)

AC descended alone after five hellhounds entered the Tomb, dragged all six vampire spawn corpses down the stairs, and retreated below. He went invisible, rolled a Nat 20 stealth (28 total), and followed.

  • Base of the stairs: A long central hallway extends forward. A passage branches to the left immediately at the base of the stairs. A closed door stands to the right of the junction.
  • The hellhounds turned right approximately 50 feet down, at a corner. AC followed.
  • The summoning circle room: A large chamber beyond the right turn, accessible via a short connecting passage. At center: a full devil-invocation summoning circle glowing purple-red — pentagram, inscriptions, properly arrayed. A pit fiend stands within the circle in projection (a collect-call binding; he is not physically present). Outside the circle: Ser Seraphona Shadowbane, in KoV garb, operating the array. The hellhounds delivered the six corpses here for the pit fiend's inspection.
  • A portal is referenced in the pit fiend's conversation as being "down the hall" — the exact passage is unknown, but the portal leads to the 273rd layer of the Abyss, where Ser Vindictus is held.
  • Level 2's full layout beyond these observations is unknown. The party has not descended as of Session 046 close.

Status (updated Session 046): Level 1 fully cleared; Level 2 partially reconnoitered by AC. The party holds Level 1 and knows Level 2 contains a devil-summoning operation, a Zarielian knight-commander, and a portal to the Abyss.

Session 048 — Portal Sealed

The party passed through Level 2 via the Abyssal portal to the 273rd Layer of the Abyss, completed their mission at the Prison of Ser Vindictus, and were transported out by Ser Vindictus directly. As they exited, the portal was sealed shut — Vindictus appears to have closed it as part of the transport. Ser Seraphona Shadowbane was on Level 2 at the time and is now stranded with no access to the portal passage. The Level 2 summoning circle (General Zon's) was intact and operational when the party passed through; its current state is unknown.

What the Party Knows

  • The Yartar chapter of the Knights of Vindictus (the second-chapter KoV the party encountered on the cliffs in session 025) suspected the Leilon chapter of looking for the Tomb of Orcus. They sent Nathaniel in to confirm. (Confirmed via KoV journals, session 027.)
  • The Leilon chapter does, in fact, believe the Tomb of Orcus holds the Angel Ser Vindictus — an angel of Tyr the order is named for. (Their doctrine, recorded across multiple Leilon journals.)
  • The Mephisto Twins' auction features lots that are near or atop the Tomb's outer ring:
  • The Mephistos' bard-song at the coast house: "Ser Vindictus, an angel of Tyr, descended into the Temple of Orcus." (Heard in passing, session 024.)
  • The party has not entered the Tomb as of session 027. They have heard about it from three independent sources.
  • Session 034 — closer. The Heiress wanted Sir Gertz at the auction specifically because he carries the Knights of Vindictus' directions to the Tomb under compulsion. Sir Gertz is now in the party's hands (post-switch, post-combat). The compulsion has not yet broken, but the directions are recoverable once it does. And Greyden the Shadowvar identified the Heiress's medallion as the binding-key that holds Ser Vindictus inside the Tomb's prison-cell. Two halves — directions and key — are together in the party's pocket (modulo the medallion-recovery flag — Greg, see Heiress's Medallion).