Page 126 - Tomb of Annihilation
P. 126
CHAPTER 5: TOMB OF THE NINE GODS
CERERAK BUILT THE TOMB OF THE NrNE slaves into the death trap to test its efficacy. The arch-
Gods not only to house the remains of Lich turned some of his victims into undead and flesh
Omu's trickster gods, but also to slay inter- golems, then locked them inside the tomb to serve as
lopers. However, few today even know the guardians. Acererak then resumed his wanderings.
tomb exists, and thus it remains an enigma. In Acererak's absence, the tomb snared adventurers
Rare are the tavern tales that lure adventur- from faraway lands and harvested their souls to feed
ers to its gates, and its horrors remain un- the archlich's phylactery, which remained hidden on
documented in the libraries of Candlekeep. another plane. Every few decades, Acererak returned
The reason for this is simple: not one person who has to tinker with his dungeon's traps, add treasure to its
entered the tomb has lived to tell the tale. vaults, and reap a bounty of hoarded souls. His planar
wanderings have influenced the tomb's mishmash of
HISTORY OF THE TOMB architectural styles, and have populated it with strange
and deadly monsters.
As the characters plumb the depths of the Tomb of the
ine Gods, they'll learn snippets of its grisly past
NOURISHING THE ATROPAL
RISE OF T HE TOMB On one of his journeys through the cosmos, Acererak
stumbled upon an atropal (see appendix D). He brought
After Acererak murdered Omu's gods, be enslaved
it to Toril, ensconced it in the cradle of his tomb, and be-
the Omuans and forced them to carve a grand tomb
gan feeding it necromantic energy, hoping to transform
under one of the cliffs surrounding the city. The arch-
it into a deity: one able to claim dominion over death.
lich devised brutal trials for each burial chamber, and
Unleashed on Toril, the newborn death god would glut
sprinkled riddles and illusions throughout to deceive
itself on life until none but the dead walked the world.
intruders. When the building work was done, he fed his
CllAl'Tllll. 5 fOMB 01' THE N!~E GODS
125
