MAUSOLEUM OF THE MAKSED M*SSIAH

Monster stats and loot not mentioned because that’s not very interesting to me right this second.

Veins of the beast filled with red-black smoke

Blissful darkness, blissful darkness

She broke the spire, and wore the golden mantle

Is now when we must awaken, oh lady of silk and roses?

Shall our brother rise from the ash, shall we take our place among the stars?

THE MAUSOLEUM

The heroes are approached by Terraphina Zolgeist, one of the world’s leading “liberation archeologists''. She happened upon a massive creature (land: hermit crab, water: squid, air: cicada) that was carrying a crumbling stone monastery on its back. She tried to explore, but was stopped by golden-masked corpses. “May you, brave heroes, succeed where I have failed?”

1 THERE’S A CRACK IN THE WALL

• In the middle of this room, face-down, is a withered and burnt corpse wearing an abstract bronze mask

• The corpse is human-shaped, but clearly no longer human- the bones have shifted, the muscles torn, the swin warped

• This is a MASK HUSK, laying in wait

• HUSKS are demonic souls bound to masks, if someone puts the mask on, the mask can puppet their body

• The inhabitants of the Mausoleum treat the HUSKS as holy

• If the HUSK is disturbed, it leaps up with unnatural speed and attacks

• There’s a large crack in the far wall

• Every round of combat, another burnt HUSK emerges from the rift until it is plugged or 20 HUSKS have emerged

• If you’re feeling evil, the HUSKS surround a very valuable piece of LOOT

2 THE OBELISK ATHENEUM

• Five obelisks covered in unintelligible heretical scratchings stand in this room; four upright, one fallen.

• Each also bears a large heading in a readable yet archaic tongue

• Clear demonstration of two or more of these tenants convinces any inhabitant of one’s loyalty to Ieru

C	GENESIS	Bloomed have we from the lotus of Lady Ieru Blessed and terrible be her silken name
NE	INITIATION	The soul made pure by burning anointment (see room 3) The flesh made pure by enveiled silence (no skin can show)
NW	SACRAMENTS	Our eyes are the sacred blooms of our skulls, windows to eternity Grove should not meet grove, but keep in chthonic kingdom
SE	HERESIES	The sun’s burning kiss may not preside in the lotus’s sanctum (no fire) Iron nails in leather cloth kept pure (All metal weapons scabbarded)
SW	PROPHECY (shattered)	The masked m*ssiah will speak in heresies They wish to drink in the flow of Ieru’s golden blood

• Lurking in the rubble is a KEEPER HUSK

• In addition to all the normal nasty abilities and traits of a HUSK, this one can resonate one obelisk of its choice on its turn.

• Those near a resonating obelisk take some STRESS and go deaf for an hour as whispers from beyond reality plague their ears.

• This whispering audibly contains the appropriate couplet for the obelisk

3 THE WHEEL OF FAITH

• In the center of this room surrounded by a rock circle is a 8-foot-tall prayer wheel, attached to which are two gem-encrusted morningstars

• Anyone without strong belief standing in the circle stone activates the wheel, which begins to violently spin and (hopefully) decapitate the nullifidian

• Thus, inside the circle are many pulverized skeletons clutching prayer beads and dented metallic masks

• d6 of these are HUSKS lying in perfect camouflage

• There’s also probably LOOT or something

• In the corner of the room lies a golden pot of gently bubbling oil

• Spilling this oil on oneself causes burning, with large quantities causing scarring and deformity

• If one bathes their face in this holy oil and disfigures themself, they are effectively considered a worshiper of Ieru no matter what

• All other worshippers fervently wish for them to wear a mask, and will provide one (or something akin to it) as a substitute at every opportunity

• The M*SSIAH (see room 6) begins here. If someone enters, they will try and push as many people as possible into the circle, then make a dash for room 6

4 SARCOPHAGUS SOUP

• A massive stone pot dominates the center of this dusty chamber

• An open grate at the base of the pot, near the floor, shows much ash and bones

• The melted golden mask hints that the pot should be heated by burning the flesh of the faithful

• Below the heavy stone lid is a stagnant, goopy brown stew

• If it is eaten as it stands, it tastes most foul and incurs the most sadistically horrible effect you the DM can imagine

• If reheated appropriately and eaten, it grants a quirky boon of the DM’s choice for an hour, as well as making the consumer appear to be an adherent of Ieru (see room 3’s oil)

• Two sarcophagi lie on either side of the massive pot

• The MUMMIES clad in priest fineries inside are missing more organs and digits than usual

• The missing chunks are, unsurprisingly, in the stew

• Taking another chunk off the mummies and putting it into the stewpot extends the duration of the effect drastically

• They appear to be mundane preserved corpses unless disturbed, in which case they rise in tandem and attack

5 THE HORTICULTUARY

• Verdant plants of all types coat the walls and clump in the center of this room

• White lotus-bearing vines seem to be everywhere

• These are the ARMS OF IERU, naturally they are animate and try to strangle any non-faithful who come near them

• There’s also d4 HUSKS hiding in wait in the foliage

• A massive mass of bulbous, winding flesh is in the center of the room

• This is the brain of the mausoleum-bearing creature

• If you find a way to control it or manipulate it appropriately, you control the mausoleum’s path

• It exudes a low-grade psychic force field

• It’s impervious to non-critical direct damage

• It’s harmed as a giant clump of brain normally would be by indirect effects

6 ALTAR AND STASIS

• Two flights of stairs lead up to a massive sculpture-bearing platform

• The sculpture is of an androgynous, faceless, four-armed figure clad in brilliantly-sculpted robes sitting cross-legged atop an open lotus flower

• This is an effigy of one of Ieru’s forms

• In front of her are a pile of offerings; rusted coins, rotten fruits, withered flowers

• Place a new offering and the LOTUS-EATERS will not see you as a threat

• In front of the platform is a large basin filled with the ash of many years of incense

• Silently lurking below the surface is an INCENSE WIGHT that springs and attacks when disturbed

• There’s also probably LOOT in the basin or something

• Around the room are evenly-spaced upright coffins with glass panes looking in to resplendent masked figures

• These are stasis chambers, each containing LOTUS-EATERS OF IERU, the remnants of the original clergy

• One chamber opens per round, spitting out a discombobulated LOTUS-EATER

• In all likelihood, the M*SSIAH is upon the altar, waiting to ambush the heroes upon their arrival

• Strange… it looks like the M*SSIAH is using arcane and not divine magic...

• By default, this is actually Terraphina Zolgeist in disguise (“and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling heroes!”), but you can substitute in any campaign villain who would impersonate a religious figure for monetary gain

Images precipitated from the void of google. Except for the map, which was taken straight from my DM notebook. (Realistically, that notebook page and the table of obelisk couplets would be all I’d need to run this dungeon- I’m a pretty visual thinker, and I do monsters and loot basically on the fly.

NULLIFIDIAN

I recently relearned this word and thought it delightful, so here it is as a GLoG microclass. Intended for settings where goddamn everyone is walking around in some stupid colorful mask and spouting incoherent gibberish.

“But what of those who do not bear the weight of G*d on their backs, and shoulder instead the hellfire-scorched spectacles of heathenry?” And thus said the Word Above, “they have been made in your darkened image, so that you may turn them to the burning light, and their sins be absolved with yours.” The disciple said to the Word, “but if they do not enter the light as I have?” And the Word replied, “if your light shines so dim and false, does its glow truly warm your soul?”

A DIVINE DOUBT. [Template] times per day, you can harbor such strong doubts about the potency of a clerical power you see happening that it simply fails to work.

B RESCIND AFTERLIFE. You do not fear H*ll, for there is only blackness. None may read your emotions or your mind, as they are byproducts of the soul, and you forfeited that long ago. If you die, you can never return.

C ENLIGHTENMENT. Once a day, you can change one person’s mind about one thing. Each time you do, you pay a terrible price ironically appropriate to what you have convinced them of.

D OVERMAN. Choose one divine entity. With a year of campaigning, you can erase their mainstream worship, effectively killing them (at least for a time).