Ebondeath's Mausoleum

“Ebondeath’s Mausoleum” is balanced for characters of 12th level.

Location Overview

Over a thousand years ago, the black dragon Chardansearavitriol, commonly known as Ebondeath, settled in the Mere of Dead Men, making his lair in the ruined citadel of Uthtower. Ebondeath became a dracolich and was worshiped by the Cult of the Dragon until the death god Myrkul’s influence waned across Faerûn and the dragon’s bones turned to dust.

With Myrkul’s return to the pantheon, his worshipers have quested across the seas to rekindle Ebondeath’s spirit. Led by the death priest Ularan Mortus, they unearthed the dragon’s mausoleum and awakened its slumbering soul, binding it to the unwilling body of the ancient green dragon Claugiyliamatar. Ularan Mortus hoped to use the dragon to capture the ruinstone, an artifact of great power. While they remain on the Sword Coast, Ularan Mortus and his cultists have claimed Ebondeath’s mausoleum as their headquarters in the area.

Following the “Leilon Besieged” quest, Ebondeath returns to the mausoleum: either in spirit form without the artifact, or in Claugiyliamatar’s body if it succeeded in stealing the ruinstone. In response, Lord Protector Neverember of Neverwinter offers the characters a purse of 8,000 gp to end the threat posed by the dragon.

Quest Goals

To succeed in this quest, the characters must break into the mausoleum and destroy Ebondeath’s malevolent spirit.

Travel to the Tomb

Once the party agrees to the contract, sages from Candlekeep send a messenger (via teleportation) with written directions to Ebondeath’s Mausoleum. The mausoleum lies under the Uthtower, an ancient keep swallowed by the mere. Trekking on foot into the salt marshes is arduous work, with or without a barge, and the journey takes well over a day.

Due to the recent proliferation (and likely destruction) of a great deal of undead from this region, the characters are likely to simply have a miserable day trudging through the muck. However, if you so wish, feel free to through in an encounter or two with undead that are fleeing the site of the battle at Leilon.

Arrival

Uthtower is buried deep beneath the bog. Using undead as laborers, Ularan Mortus excavated a deep shaft into the mud, shored up with wooden beams. Crude iron rungs were hammered into the walls of this pit, providing access to the entry hall of the catacombs (area area E1). On the surface, the entrance looks like nothing more than a timber latrine sitting in the middle of nowhere. The shaft inside descends 120 feet to the catacombs below.

Characters who search the surface area and succeed on a DC 18 Intelligence (Nature or Investigation) check discern that a nearby saltwater lake has been recently disturbed: mud is splattered around the shore as though a wave of water was violently displaced here. The lake is very deep and connects via a murky underwater tunnel to the pool in area area E8 of the mausoleum below. The dragon uses this route to enter and exit its lair.

Mausoleum Features

Ebondeath’s mausoleum has the following general features.

Lighting: Unless noted otherwise, the mausoleum is completely unlit and pitch dark. Adventurers require darkvision or their own light sources to see in here.

Construction: Ceilings, walls, and floors throughout the mausoleum are made from worked stone lined with granite flagstones. Ceilings are 30 feet high inside rooms and 20 feet high inside corridors.

Doors: Doors inside the mausoleum are 12 feet high and crafted of ebony engraved with images of death. Doors are unlocked but heavy, requiring a successful DC 12 Strength check to open. Unless otherwise noted, the doors groan loudly when opened.

Rubble: Large sections of the tomb have collapsed over the centuries. Areas of loose rubble count as difficult terrain and grant half cover to creatures hiding there.

Wards. The mausoleum is under the permanent effect of a forbiddance spell that is set to damage any fey creatures that enter. When a fey creature enters the mausoleum for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, the creature takes 5d10 necrotic damage.

Mausoleum Locations

The following locations are keyed to the map of Ebondeath’s Mausoleum:

E1. Entry Hall

Read the following boxed text aloud when the characters descend the shaft into this area:

The shaft descends into a worked stone hallway. One end of the hall has collapsed, and the other terminates in a pair of giant ebony doors. A thin layer of mist swirls over the floor and the air is unnaturally cold. As you step onto the flagstones, a voice from nowhere whispers:

“Who is dead but cannot die, the Lord of Bones, whose embrace is patient but sure?”

A detect magic spell reveals that the voice is an illusion. Characters who succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence (Religion) check recognize the “Lord of Bones” as one of the ancient titles given to Myrkul, god of the dead. If a character says this name aloud, the door at the end of the hallway silently opens.

E2. Cultist Camp

This chamber was once a storeroom but is now used as a camp for Ularan Mortus’s cultists. Bedrolls are laid over the floor and a fire burns in a brazier in the center of the room. There is one necromancer in here, plus one ghast and one priest for every character in the party, including sidekicks.

The characters surprise the cultists if they sneak up on them after silently opening the door from area E1. If combat ensues here, any monsters present in areas E3 and E4 are alerted to the battle and arrive after 1d4 + 1 rounds. The cultists in area E5 remain where they are but begin their summoning chant.

Treasure. The cultists carry 170 gp and 105 ep in loose coins, as well as five Potion of Healing.

E3. Wine Cellar

Small, round peg holes on the walls are all that remain of the wine racks that once lined this cellar. The cultists use this space to house their mindless dead. There is one greater zombie in here per character in the party, including sidekicks.

Secret Door

The secret door in here leads to area E6 and can be uncovered with a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check. To pop it open, a character must twist a torch bracket on the wall.

E4. High Priest’s Chamber

This chamber is used by Ularan Mortus and contains his backpack, bedroll, and a casket of treasures. Two giants' skulls are mounted to the wall. If Ularan Mortus survived the “Leilon Besieged” quest, he is present here. Ularan Mortus has the statistics of a war priest. If Ebondeath recovered the ruinstone from Leilon, Ularan Mortus wields it in battle here (see the “Using the Ruinstone” sidebar).

Treasure

The death priest’s backpack contains 700 gp, 35 pp, eyes of minute seeing, and the following spell scrolls: raise dead, forbiddance, and holy aura.

Using the Ruinstone

Once per day as a bonus action, a villain can activate the ruinstone to undo one deed they have performed. The possibilities here are broad, but in combat it’s simplest to allow them the opportunity to “rewind” one action and take it again, or to reroll a failed saving throw (if it can still take actions). . Each use of the artifact has a terrible side effect: someone known to the wielder is also erased from reality. After the villain uses the ruinstone, roll a d20: on a 5-20, one of their allies disintegrates, on an 1-4, one of the player characters disintegrates. If a creature bound its soul to the ruinstone in the “Thalivar’s Beacon” quest, the artifact explodes when used and the creature who is bound to it disintegrates.

E5. Ritual Room

These ancient barracks have been cleared for use as a ritual room. A huge circle of ash has been laid out over the floor, surrounding a skull design painted in human blood. Around the circle, the cultists of Myrkul kneel in prayer for guidance from their god.There is one cult fanatic here for every character in the party, including sidekicks. Cultists who detect trouble nearby chant to their god for aid. If at least one cultist chants for three rounds, a bone devil appears in the circle to serve the cult.

Secret Door

The secret door in here leads to area E6 and can be uncovered with a DC 12 Intelligence (Perception) check. Characters who succeed on this check notice muddy scrapes on the floor beneath the concealed door.

E6. Halls of the Fiend

The hallways are haunted by the grotesque vestige of Ebondeath’s first high priest. This creature squirms along the passages and can be encountered anywhere in the area or in the nearby Vaults of the Uthlords (area E7). The vestige appears as a bloated, drowned death knight with horribly long arms. Its Longsword attack is replaced with the following attack:

Ghoulish Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4 + 5) slashing damage, plus 18 (4d8) necrotic damage. If the target is a creature other than an undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

E7. Vaults of the Uthlords

Each of these burial chambers houses the remains of a different noble family of Uthtower. Their bones are interred inside niches in the walls, which are 3 feet wide, 3 feet high, 9 feet deep, and stacked three high along the walls.

When characters who aren’t devoted followers of Myrkul enter these chambers, the heaped bones begin to quietly stir. Characters who succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check notice the bone piles shifting. If a character disturbs the bones or returns to the same room, the bones arise from their niches and form skeletal swarms. Each burial chamber contains two Skeletal Swarm per character in the party, including sidekicks.

E8. Crypt of the First Royals

If the characters approach this area from the west, read the following boxed text aloud:

Graven steps ascend into a wide, octagonal chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling. The mosaic floor is littered with rubble, and a pool of murky water floods the far side of the chamber. Strange fungi cling to the moist walls.

To the north, an arched hallway plunges into the dark. As you approach, a hollow voice booms from beyond: “Who dares disturb the rest of Chardansearavitriol the Ebondeath?”

The characters now face Ebondeath. If the dragon fled Leilon in spirit form (see the “Leilon Besieged” quest), the party faces a spectral version of the dragon. This has the statistics a ghost, with the following important modifications:

• It has AC 15 and 225 hit points.
• The saving throw DC to resist its Possession power is now DC 20. When it possesses a creature, it gains access to their knowledge, class features, and proficiencies.
• Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the dragon fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.

Ebondeath uses its possession ability to jump between party members and turn them against each other. It fights to the end to protect its resting place.

If Ebondeath left the “Leilon Besieged” quest in Claugiyliamatar body, the party is now in trouble. Ebondeath has the statistics of Claugiyliamatar, except his breath weapon deals necrotic damage instead of poison damage due to Ebondeath’s possession. If the characters slay the dragon, they must then also face the ghost within!

E9. Ebondeath’s Lair

This ruined burial hall contains a heap of treasures that Cult of Myrkul have left as offerings to the dragon.

Treasure

The treasures gathered here comprise 14,000 gp, 1,750 pp, ten jet gemstones worth 100 gp each, two Potion of Supreme Healing, a potion of storm giant strength, and a circlet of blasting.

Conclusion

Characters who destroy Ebondeath’s spirit can report their success to the authorities in Neverwinter, who award them a purse of 8,000 gp. If this is the final quest, their adventure ends here (see “Ending the Adventure” for more information).