Crypts of House Monder
Background
Lord Cyne Monder’s ring should lead the characters to the Monder family crypts that house the cremated remains of members of the noble clan, as well as the secret family vaults of the House Monder behind ingenious dwarven traps.
Lord Monder’s ring contains a vital clue engraved inside its back - the number sequence 2-4-2, marking the order of the right doors through the vaults. The numbers correspond to the correct doors in areas 5, 7, and 8, counted in a clockwise direction from the entrance to these rooms, not counting the door where one enters the room.
Unknown to the characters, a doppelganger from the Golden Masks, Djaharons, had infiltrated the ranks of the Lord Monder as a Knight of the Crown and has learned of the vaults by using its Read Thoughts ability on Cyne Monder before he fell to the werehellhounds, minutes before the characters arrive at the Scene. Djaharons quickly retreated and changed shape into a werehellhound to easily escape the burning Lucky Leap and immediately inform the criminal organization about the vault.
Thus, the Golden Masks are the first to the Scene, led by none other than Yhlsaby, the lamia matron of the Loud and Lusty Brothel and captain of the criminal organization. The greedy criminals found the secret door to the vaults but couldn’t resist opening the sarcophagus of Lord Gronjyph Monder in the Hall of the First (area 2), and as a result, the first lord of the Monder clan has risen as a ghost. The gang then fled into the vaults but has only partially infiltrated the deeper chambers, with a few of their members already falling to the deadly traps. So they are cautious to advance further. They are betting on the fact that the vault contains vast riches and will consider a joint operation with the characters if the encounter doesn’t lead to bloodshed.
Environment
The crypt of House Monder is located in the Noble’s Rest (Onadbyr location 30.) cemetery in the High District and is just one of many similar structures in the area. The building resembles a squat fortress carved from marble with a bluish tint. The edifice is decorated in dwarven style with four statues of dwarven warriors standing guard in alcoves on the facade. A single chimney protrudes from the roof of the building.
All rooms have ceilings that are 20 feet high, and continual flames are placed on the ceilings to light most rooms, where indicated on the map. While the outer chambers are inlaid with bluish marble, the hidden chambers of the vault reveal the original stone blocks used in building the structure.
Doors. Doors in the vaults in areas 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are made of marble that is 1 foot in thickness, with elaborate opening mechanisms consisting of circular valves on plates that can be turned. A successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) skill check reveals the correct valve settings to open the doors, which are locked by default and automatically locked when shut. It requires a successful DC 20 Dexterity ability check with thieves’ tools to open the locks on the doors. All doors have AC 17, 40 hit points, a damage threshold of 10, and immunity to poison, psychic, piercing, and slashing damage. The marble slabs can be forced open with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) skill check and can be held open with the same skill check every round.
Corridor Traps. The two stairways in areas 4 and 6 and the corridor in area 8 are trapped. The corridor traps can be deactivated by pressing tiny buttons interwoven into the intricately carved decorations on the inner sides of the archways at the entries to the stairs or the corridor. Pressing the button deactivates the trap for ten minutes. It requires a successful DC 25 Wisdom (Perception) skill check to notice the tiny circular buttons. The traps can be detected with a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Investigation) skill check. They can be jammed or disabled with a successful DC 20 Dexterity ability check with thieves’ tools, rendering them inoperable.
Crypts of House Monder is a D&D 5e compatible original dungeon from Crown of the Oathbreaker.
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