Crypt of Illriggers

Description

The onyx steps descend into catacombs containing the remains of Illrigers who died fighting at Zariel’s side. Their restless spirits yearn for peace yet are doomed to haunt this place until once more called to arms.   Dozens of dead knights kneel before the monoliths, their foreheads resting on the pommels of their swords. The knights’ armor serves as caskets for their bones, yet their corpses stay upright as though in prayer.  

C1. Sealed Gates

  The doors do not have visible handles, locks, or bolts, and they are magically locked, hardened, and enchanted to resist magic. Any spell cast to unlock, damage, or re-mold the doors automatically fails. Characters can use dimension door or similar magic to get past the doors. They can also slip through the cracks between the doors if they have the magic to do so (such as the gaseous form spell). Otherwise, they’ll need the speak the pass phrase “For Glory” to proceed any farther.   If a character speaks the pass phrase aloud within 10 feet of the doors, the doors slowly grind open. The doors close on their own after 1 hour unless they are held or wedged open.  

C2. Funerary Chambers

There are several funerary chambers in the catacombs.     If a character says respectful words over the urns or disturb them in any way, three ghosts of Zariel’s knights arise from their remains. The ghosts solemnly reveal the following information:  

• The knights fought and died alongside the ange Zariel before she became an archdevil.
• Zariel’s crusade, unlike Freya's crusade, ended in failure. Most of their generals fell.
• One of Zariel’s generals, Olanthius, killed himself rather than embrace tyranny. Zariel raised him as an Illriger, a hellknight to ensure his loyalty.
• The knights’ souls are cursed to remain here. They yearn for the afterlife, but the oath they swore to Zariel binds them to her service. They beg the characters to help them find rest.

  If the characters promise to help the ghosts achieve their final rest, the ghosts provide the following additional information:  

• Olanthius despises Zariel but is supernaturally bound to her service. The ghosts suggest there is still good in him.
• Olanthius keeps quarters here in the catacombs. His rooms may contain evidence of his humanity that the characters can use to appeal to him.
• Once summoned, the ghosts remain by their urns until the characters leave the catacombs or free their souls. If a character defiles any remains, the ghosts use their Possession powers to drive the trespassers from the catacombs.

 

C3. Knights’ Caskets

  Each of these corridors contains six caskets arranged in stacked pairs.   Being entombed in Ira has corrupted the spirits of these knights. Each casket contains a single wraith magically held at bay by the rose laid on the casket. If a character removes a rose from a casket, the flower immediately withers and dies, and the wraith arises from the casket to attack any living creature or fiend that it sees. A wraith can’t touch any of the roses on the other caskets.  

C4. Warlocks’ Tomb

  Zariel’s warlocks helped build the Crypt of the Illrigers to gain infernal power in their mortal world. When they died, their cursed bodies were dragged into Ira to guard the tomb for eternity. Eight mummies now lurk inside this chamber and guard the path to the memorial steles. If the undead hear the characters elsewhere in the catacombs, they hide inside the large urn to the west. When the characters enter, they try to creep out silently and ambush them.   Treasure. One of the mummies carries a wand of secrets, and another wears a necklace of fireballs. If the characters defeat the undead, they can claim these items for themselves.  

C5. Memorial Steles

  Characters who use detect magic or similar magic to examine the steles discern a strong aura of necromantic magic emanating from the engraved names.   While the steles remain empowered, necrotic energy lashes out at anyone who touches them. A creature touching a stele must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the soulbound parchments in both ritual rooms (area C6) are destroyed, the steles deactivate. The characters can then free the warriors’ souls by striking their names from the stone. As the names are removed, the knights’ ghosts fade from view with gasps of relief. If all the names are struck from the stele, each character gains the benefit of a bless spell that lasts for 24 hours.  

C6. Ritual Rooms

These two rooms are hidden behind secret doors. Characters with passive Wisdom (Perception) scores of 15 or higher spot a secret door within 5 feet of them. Otherwise, a secret door can be found by a character who examines the surrounding wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check.   These rooms are magically shielded against undead creatures, such that undead can’t enter either room or even perceive its presence. Each ritual room appears to contain nothing more than ankle-deep mist. However, any character who explores a ritual room disturbs the mist enough to see features hidden underneath it:     The papers name every warrior interned in this place. Any character who has seen the steles in area C5 can, with a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Arcana) check, discern the papers’ purpose: they bind the warriors’ souls to the steles and compel them to serve Zariel in undeath by the terms of their original oath to her. By destroying the papers, the characters deactivate the memorial steles and can release the knights’ souls from servitude (see area C5 for details).  

C7. Olanthius’s Retreat

This room is hidden behind a secret door. Characters with passive Wisdom (Perception) scores of 15 or higher spot the secret door once they get within 5 feet of it. Otherwise, it can be found by a character who examines the surrounding wall and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check. If the characters open the secret door, read the following boxed text to the players:     The journals belong to Olanthius the death knight and are written in Common. Characters who spend a short rest poring over the journals learn the following information:  

• Olanthius never recovered from Zariel’s relation with Asmodeus and subsequent transformation into a devil. He blames himself for not seeing warning signs of Zariel’s fall from grace early on.
• Olanthius took his life rather than face damnation, but he was transformed into an undead illriger by Zariel to serve her forevermore.
• Olanthius describes Haruman, his one-time comrade in arms, as a heartless man bereft of compassion — now a devil bent on punishing anyone who stands in Zariel’s way.
• Olanthius mourns the deaths of his fallen warriors and feels powerless to help them.

 

Olanthius Returns

If the characters desecrate any of the tombs or disturb the journals in area C7, Olanthius the illriger returns to the crypt on a chariot pulled by two gorgons. Olanthius is bound to protect the crypt and can be summoned from anywhere in Ira to fulfill his duties. He descends below ground to hunt down intruders and interrogate them, leaving the gorgons and chariot outside.   As Olanthius moves through the catacombs, he compels any ghosts he encounters to fight at his side. Any ghosts that the characters summoned from the urns in the funerary chambers (area C2) transform into specters under Olanthius’s command and join him on his hunt.   Characters who parley with Olanthius can gain a valuable ally in the fight against Zariel. To stand any chance of swaying the death knight to their cause, the characters must have read his journals and learned of his hatred for Zariel. Otherwise, he tries to annihilate them for their impudence.