Sunday, August 25, 2024

The Tomb of Ahkmosa and The Warren

Two Grail Tomb adventure locations.


The Tomb of Ahkmosa

In the far southwestern reaches of the Vespermark, the grasslands give way to an expanse of harsh desert and badlands called the Ash Barrens. The shifting sands of the Ash Barrens are dotted with an untold number of pyramids that are the burial sites for Vlaak nobles and members of the priestly caste. The largest of these pyramids is the resting place of Ahkmosa, a high priest of the Vlaakish cult of Dracula. 

    • Hidden with the pyramid’s internal maze is Ahkmosa’s gilded sarcophagus and the stone coffins of his immediate family, trusted retainers, and pets.

    • Desert nomads native to the region attempt to warn off any would-be trespassers who wish the breach the interiors of Ahkmosa’s pyramid, for a fearsome curse is said to descend on any who dare to rob his grave. 

    • The pyramid is also protected by both cunning mechanical and arcane traps—one of the traps will awaken Ahkmosa from his otherwise eternal slumber if triggered.

    • Once awakened, Ahkmosa will stalk the land as a mummy in search of his favorite concubine, whom he believes has been reincarnated as an innocent youth.


The Warren

A Grail Tomb beneath the streets of Creedhall has become the underground lair of a menagerie of bestial experiments who have escaped the laboratories of Creedhall University. These piteous humanoid creatures—which include scientifically and magically engineered mouselings and ratlings, as well as undefinable mongrels—have taken shelter within the Grail Tomb, renaming it “the Warren.”

    • Most of the creatures who dwell in the Warren merely want to avoid the people who populate the world above; they venture to the surface after nightfall to steal food and quickly return to their haven.

    • Reports of strange beastfolk prowling the town have so far been largely dismissed as the fevered imaginings of drunken students.

    • A vocal, and violent, minority within the Warren wish to strike back against the world that cruelly experimented upon them; they regard their feckless creators as monsters who must be punished, if not exterminated, for their hideous misdeeds.