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120Area 5: The Rising StairOnly one portion of the hill is sloped; the other sidesare veritable cliffs.When the PCs approach the stairs, read:A great stone stair leads up the slope of the hill. The stepsare wide but shallow, and the stone is worn down by theelements. It shouldn’t be too hard a climb, but you wouldn’twant to have to run up or down the stairs.Features of the AreaStair: The stairs are difficult terrain.Steep Slope: The slope is steep enough to requirean Athletics check to traverse. A DC 10 Athleticscheck allows the climber to move up or down, butthe slope is treated as difficult terrain. With a DC 15check, a PC can climb at full speed.Area 6: MausoleumEach of these locations is more or less identical. Themausoleums, which provide cover, are 25 feet highand require a DC 24 Athletics check to climb. You canuse a similar description—modified for size, and withoutthe tactical encounter or the hidden passages—forany of the smaller aboveground tombs in the cemetery.When the PCs approach a mausoleum, read:This structure is among the largest and most ornate of thehouses of the dead in this cemetery. The granite might havebeen whitewashed once, but now it is a sickly gray, pockmarkedby years of exposure and wrapped in strands of ivy.When the PCs first enter a mausoleum, read:Other than being abnormally spacious, this tomb seems likeany other rich person’s final resting place. A granite bierstands before you, bearing atop it an old, worn sarcophagus.These mausoleums are not truly resting places for thehonored dead, but disguised entrances to Tzevokalas’sunderground lair.Perception CheckDC 31: The bier and sarcophagus seem . . . odd.Features of the AreaDoors: The mausoleum’s doors are made of heavystone but are not locked or barred in any way.Illusory Terrain: The bier, the sarcophagus,and the surrounding floor are illusions hiding anentrance to the underground lair; see area 7.Optional: Long Way DownLevel 5 Encounter (XP 1,200)✦ Illusory floor (false-floor pit) (level 15 warder trap)CHAPTER 3 | Dragon LairsConsider running the illusory floor as a pit trap,given how easy it would be for a PC to fall into it accidentally.Use statistics for the basic level 1 false-floorpit (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 87), but with a DC31 Perception check to detect the trap initially (asabove), no means of disabling it, and a 50-foot drop(for 5d10 damage).Area 7: A Hole in the EarthWithin each mausoleum, the illusory terrain hidesa tunnel that drops straight down into the ground.Each passage is more or less identical.When the PCs enter or look down into the passage,read:A wide tunnel winds its way deep into the earth. You seeno convenient means of descending other than climbing orsliding down.The walls here require a DC 20 Athletics check toclimb; though plenty of handholds are available,the earth is soft and crumbles easily. The passage isroughly 30 feet long, opening up into the ceiling ofarea 8, which is 20 feet above the floor.Area 8: Below theSleeping Dead (Level 17)This chamber is Tzevokalas’s inner sanctum, aswell as his means of accessing multiple areas of thecemetery. If you want to make the players nervous,subtly guide them toward wondering: If so much ofthe graveyard is a reflection of the village they thinkthey know so well, what is the underground complexa reflection of?When the PCs enter through one of the passages,read:A series of open caverns fills this area. Roots and bits ofbroken coffins protrude from the ceiling, and small falls ofsoil drop like miniature waterfalls. Several caskets, mostlybroken, lie on the floor, having fallen from the outer walls.The undead that serve Tzevokalas dwell in severalof the exposed coffins. One of the broken coffins is afake, hiding the vampire’s possessions.The PCs trigger the tactical encounter when theyenter area 8.Tactical Encounter: “The Dead Travel Fast,” page124.Treasure: The PCs can locate the hidden compartmentin the fake coffin with a DC 31 Perceptioncheck. The treasure includes a shield of defiance (level18), an orb of indisputable gravity +4, a small diamond,glowing with an inner light, set in a ring of sculptedshadow worth 7,600 gp, and 900 gp.JASON A. ENGLE