1202 Mound of the Willing Sacrifice

A bewildering expanse of thorn trees, chest-high reeds, and stinking pools. Sound here is painfully amplified.

• Terrain: Swamp (4), Fever Marsh
• Lost/encounters: 3-in-6. Encounters are 1-in-6 likely to be with the Willing Sacrifice.
• ### The Mound
• A burial mound sits in the centre of a drier patch of the otherwise waterlogged swamp. The reeds of the patch are

plastered flat, pointing away from the mound.

Appearance: The mound is 60′ in diameter and composed of dirt and stone. Hanging moss dapples its surface in drooping, forlorn patches. It has a single stone entrance, above which is carved the snarling visage of a bear—PCs versed in Wood God lore recognise it as that of Orsath (p39), the ancient guardian of the dead. The entrance is extremely narrow and requires characters to turn side-on to enter the Reception Chamber.

History: The mound is one of several created by prehistoric inhabitants of the Table Downs (see also hexes 1101 and 1201). This one was the resting place of a tribe member buried alive as a willing sacrifice in the ritual that entombed Kul, a wicked and dangerous priestess, in the mound in hex 1201. Over the millennia, Kul’s evil infected the sacrifice, whose reanimated corpse now roams the hex in search of mortal victims.

Reception Chamber

The mound entrance leads to a reception chamber with walls of stone. The chamber takes up one half of the mound.

Fresh corpses: Sprawled about the chamber are six human bodies, only a few days dead. Their faces are rictus masks of agony, and their hands are clutched to their ears, in which dried blood is pooled. Lying among the corpses are shovels, picks, and provisioned backpacks. (This is the group sent by the expedition in hex 1201.)

Wall carvings: The stone walls are carved with a sequence of images. The first depicts a priestess, bedecked in a robe and wicker crown, reaching up to the sky, surrounded by blood-red whirlwinds. The second shows figures clad in loincloths burying her beneath a mound amid a series of concentric ridges (hex 1201). The third shows a bear- masked woman sacrificed, her blood dripping down to seal the priestess beneath the mound.

Burial chamber door: The entrance to the burial chamber is open, a tall and heavy stone lying on the ground beside it.

Burial Chamber

The burial chamber takes up the other half of the mound.

Scratched walls: The chamber walls appear to have been scratched deeply and repeatedly, over a very long time.

Pit: At the far end of the chamber is a pit, 8′ in diameter and 40′ deep, surrounded by piles of loose dirt. At the bottom are four sealed earthen jars, each containing a different carved amber totem (1,000gp each).

Entering the pit: Once a PC reaches the pit bottom, the Willing Sacrifice returns to the mound and attacks.

The Willing Sacrifice

A grave-blackened corpse clad in filthy ornamental robes, striding with swift preternatural grace, reeking of befouled earth. While her limbs are sinuous and lithe, her stomach is a distended bulge, and a sickly turquoise glow emanates from within it. Strapped onto her face is a cracked, wooden bear-face mask.

Medium Undead—Semi-Intelligent—Chaotic

Level 7 AC 16 HP 37 Saves D8 R9 H10 B11 S12 Att Claw (+6, 1d8) or shriek (2d6) Speed 40 Morale 10 XP 1,080

Undead: Silent before attacking. Immune to biological effects (e.g. disease, poison) and mind-affecting spells (e.g. Vapours of Dream, Paralysation, Dominate).

Immunities: Only harmed by magic, silver weapons, or magic weapons.

Shriek (thrice a day): A horrendously piercing shriek over a 30′ long cone, toppling unsecured objects and inflicting 2d6 damage on living creatures (Save Versus Hold for half damage; those with ear protection or deafness automatically succeed).