NAT-13. Level 2 - Suel Temple Crypts

Beneath the Pyremian arch and its leashed Shadows lies a Suel underhall ordered on Lendor’s six-count and governed by Wee Jas’s Ruby Law—an austere grid of rite-chambers, galleries, and multi-room ossuaries (half ritual spaces, half expansive crypt complex). The level is reached by the Wee Jas stairs or by tumbling through the Final Ember Pit—a 30-ft spiked drop that deposits intruders into the dark crypt trenches where patrols soon investigate.

DM Synopsis (one-page grip)

The second level is a funerary labyrinth where Suel law and craft still govern the dead. Its core grammar is simple and table-fast:

• Cadence > checks. Most doors/tricks answer a six-count and respectful conduct, not die rolls.
• Triad logic. Jascar (stone/guard) + Fortubo (craft/brace) act; Wee Jas (law/witness) confirms.
• Attention clock. Noise, rushing, or desecration raises patrol response from Ruby undead.
• Two networks. A measured crypt grid (north & west) interlocks with a “hot” under-ash cavern network (south & below) that links to the Flame Transept and back toward the Mortuary.

What the players learn by doing

Move with the measure, read the Suel triad cues, and you’re guided through a lawful necropolis; break cadence and the Ruby Mortarch’s servants reassign you to the work detail.

How to run the level (table ops)

• Respect = advantage. Quiet voices, six-count, Old Suloise greetings, washing hands at basins, lighting incense in order—these pacify guardians and unlock social routes.
• Fail-forward. Out-of-sync inputs lock for 1 minute or produce a light hazard (Stone Bite slit: DEX 13, 2d6 slashing) but seldom hard-block progress.
• Two ways around pressure.
• Crypt grid: safer if you keep rites; richer in lore/boons.
• Under-ash caverns: rougher, hotter, connects to L2-09 Flame Transept and back-doors.

Region index (Key Rooms, at-a-glance)

• L2-01. Great Crypt Hall of the Six — Entry puzzle of six rotatable statues judged by the Basin of Moments; opens the northern way when set in measure.
• L2-02. Ruby Jet Gallery (“Measure Sweep”) — Pin-jet floor; correct six-count cadence and weight resolve the gallery.
• L2-03. Mortuary of Ruby Law — First rites hall with Custodian and Ruby Ghouls; myrrh and proper names pacify seals.
• L2-05. Ossuary Stacks — Bone-racks on rails forming ambush lanes and reliquary drawers.
• L2-08. Beltar Pit — Malice-shaft draining into lower caverns; sealed maw hazards.
• L2-09. Flame Transept (Under-Ash Service) — Hot cavern network linking the lift well and back routes to Mortuary.
• L2-10. Antechapel of the Ruby Mortarch — Sigil door and oath-rails; hub toward Wing of Stone and temple proper.
• L2-11. Wing of Stone — “Maze of Ancestors” — Stone-logic trials of Jascar & Fortubo witnessed by Wee Jas; keep lawful cadence to pass.
• L2-15. Crossroads of Witness — Routing hub where measure precedes might.
• L2-16. Great Crypt Hall of the Six — Northern processional with the Gods’ Gate and altar boons (or curses).
• L2-17. Proving Run (“Roll of the Measure”) — Cadence corridor that drills six-beat pacing.
• L2-17a. Ruby Praxis Ring (“Spar Hall”) — Training circle keyed to six-count spar routines.
• L2-18. Great Funerary Temple of the Ruby Law — Principal sanctum and audit court of the crypts.

Hazards, blessings & hallow (quick rules)

• Stone Bite: hair-thin floor slit; if rushed/shouted/forced: DEX 13, 2d6 slashing, Attention +1.
• Incense Bells (Wee Jas): light in order; respectfully speak a short line on a six-count → suppresses corridor hazards for 10 minutes.
• Sanctified Blessings (from L2-16 altars): per-deity 1-hour boons (e.g., Jascar: resist shove/prone; Fortubo: advantage vs. stone traps; Wee Jas: +1 saves vs. necrotic/charm in funerary spaces).
  Curses (only if opposed clergy pray here): mirrored 1-hour penalties (e.g., Raoan zealot suffers disadvantage on checks vs. Jasidan bells until bells are honored). Tune to taste.

Treasure & tools (seeding)

• Oath-nails, mason’s squares, ruby chalk, ledger tablets that cross-reference families (help in 11b/11d).
• Funerary myrrh (treat seals; suppress one zombie for 1 min).
• Tokens & relics: Stonebond token (11b/11c cache), Brace-Hammer, Stole of the Oathbearer, Square of True Line (11a).
• Lore value: family name-plates match bands in Knot of Names; return/replace to earn “forgiveness” on a puzzle once.

Mortarch’s motives & table play

• Wants: lawful quiet across the wing; Pyremian stain excised; Beltar breach sealed; crypt economy restored (zombies haul, ghouls tend, custodians judge).
• Talk first: if PCs keep rites, he offers measured passage or tasks (reseat a brace; return a ledger).
• Bite later: fire on the dead, smashed alcoves, or Pyremius rites = High Contempt; Ruby undead gain advantage to resist Turn for 1 hour and Valdris escalates (edict → stillness → drain).

Hooks & outcomes

• Clean reconsecration: PCs cooperate with Valdris, reseal the Beltar breach, and return heir-tablets → gain safe passage and boons that matter in the main temple to the north.
• Measured theft: PCs take a relic but keep the six → the wing turns wary, not hostile; patrols shadow but don’t strike.
• Open defiance: PCs burn orc corpses, smash alcoves, or invoke Pyremius → the Mortarch wages a cold, grinding war through the maze (you have clocks and patrols to support it).

Pacing advice (for you)

Open with a gentle win (Mortuary rite or Knot of Names) so players internalize cadence > checks. Then offer one tense choice (11c cross vs. under-ash) before you reveal a boss-moment (11a wraith, or the Antechapel). Keep noise meaningful, but never make a single misstep a dead end—this level rewards slow, lawful curiosity and answers measured bravery.