Page 127 - Tomb of Annihilation

To nurture the atropal, Acererak needed an untold
TOMB I N HABITANTS
number of souls. The archlich made a bargain with the
A grim pageant of monstrous residents lurks in the
Sewn Sisters. a coven of night hags feared through-
tomb, waiting to greet visitors.
out the Lower Planes. Seduced by the prospect of a
near-endless supply of souls, the hags joined Acererak
WITHERS AND TI-IE TOMB DWARVES
in his tomb. With their assistance, the archlich crafted
Withers, Acererak's undead custodian, oversees the
the Soulmonger- a necromantic device that could reap
undead maintenance crew that keeps the tomb's traps
the souls of the dying from across Tori! and feed them to
in working order. To assemble that team, Acererak ab-
the atropal. Leaving the Sewn Sisters behind as nurse-
ducted dwarf miners and transformed them into wights
maids, Acererak abandoned his tomb to watch the rise
to exploit their expertise at underground construction.
of the death god from afar.
Withers acts as supervisor for the dwarves and serves
as Acererak's adjunct when the archlich visits the
EXPLORING THE TOMB
tomb. Using his scrying pool at area 25, Withers can
To survive the tomb's horrors, the player characters command Omu's gargoyles and speak to agents on the
must call on every ounce of their cunning and willpower. surface world.
Withers and his crew use the staircase at area 26 to
GENERAL FEATURES roam unseen through the tomb's many levels. When
The following features are common throughout the their work is done, they retreat to their secret headquar-
tomb. Some levels of the tomb have additional features ters on level 2 of the tomb (areas 27 and 28). Withers
that are described at the beginning of their respec- avoids contact with the characters when possible, confi-
tive sections. dent that Acererak's traps will defeat them.
CEILINGS LEGENDARY MONSTERS
Unless specified otherwise, ceilings in the tomb are 8 Two legendary monsters dwell in Acererak's tomb: a
feet high in corridors and 12 feet high in rooms. beholder guarding a treasure vault (area 44) and an
aboleth lurking in an underground lake (area 65). These
CRAWLWAYS creatures can't use lair actions within the tomb, and the
Certain areas of the tomb are accessible only by way of regional effects of each creature's lair are localized to
narrow tunnels. These crawlways are 3 feet high and 2 the levels where they dwell.
feet wide. Despite being the dungeon's creator, Acererak doesn't
count the Tomb of the Nine Gods as his lair. Conse-
LIGHTING
quently, no lair actions or regional effects are ascribed
All areas of the tomb are unlit unless noted otherwise. to the archlich in this adventure.
SECRET DOORS SKELETON KEYS
Most secret doors within the tomb slide open on stone To unlock the final gate to the Soulmonger, the adven-
runners. The handles that unlock them are hidden turers must acquire five skeleton keys- each the carved
within the features of relief carvings along the walls, in- skull of an animated human skeleton that roams the
cluding inside the jaws of many graven skulls. tomb. The characters can capture and control these
A secret door can be spotted by any character within skeletons, or can simply snap a skull off its spine.
5 feet of it who has a passive Wisdom (Perception) score A skeleton key has the statistics of a skeleton, with
of 20 or higher, or with a search and a successful DC 20 these changes:
Wisdom (Perception) check.
The skeleton key ls unaligned.
STAIRCASES • It has a climbing speed of 30 feet and can climb diffi-
cult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, with-
Stairs in the tomb are carved out of the living rock, and
out needing to make an ability check.
each step is topped with a single slab of cut stone. The
• It wields a pair of daggers and can make two melee
skulls and bones of dead Omuans fill niches along the
weapon attacks (+4 to hit) as an action. Each dagger
walls of each staircase. Staircases run 25 feet between
each level of the tomb. attack deals 4 (ld4 + 2) piercing damage on a hit.
When reduced to 0 hit points, a skeleton key falls
TRACKS apart, though its skull and bones remain intact.
Explorers have broken into the tomb recently, and With- • A skeleton key does not trigger any trap placed in a
ers and his tomb dwarves make frequent patrols. Their room or on a door of the tomb.
trails crisscross back and forth, making other creatures
Each skeleton key has a skull that extends into a
in the tomb difficult to track. The freshest tracks belong
carved key-like shape. These shapes match the keyholes
to the skeleton keys (see "Tomb Inhabitants" below). Any
of the skeleton gate in the lair of the Sewn Sisters (area
character who tries to follow a skeleton key's trail can
71). The Skeleton Keys table summarizes the location
do so with a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check, and shape of each key.
finding the way to the nearest unexplored location
Finding a S keleton Key. Each of the first five levels of
marked with a skull symbol on the dungeon map.
the tomb has its own skeleton key. A skeleton key can be
encountered in any of the locations marked with a skull
CHAPTU 5 I TOMB Ol'TIIE NINE CODS
126