Into the Tomb Lands, Interstitial A: The Long Quiet (Patreon)

"Into the Tomb Lands" is a #Dungeon23 project I launched on Jan 1st, 2023. What is #Dungeon23? Well, let me link to this excellent article about it on IO9. Each level exists in a rules-agnostic, first-draft form.

You can find an updated Index with all the levels available to date here.

The Long Quiet

Background

Long ago when Level 1: The Tomb of the Guardian was constructed and burial rites prepared for its occupant, a temple to the concept of Death itself was built under it. Accessed by a waterway to ensure everyone approaching the tomb from below was properly cleansed, the temple served as a staging ground for the dozens of mummer elves (see Level 1, Area 24) who dressed the tombs and interred the departed. because such work was carried out in silence, the small settlement because known as The Long Quiet.

But that was thousands of years ago. Now just one family of mummer elves, the Cae (which include Caelyndron and Celyndra from Level 1, Area 24) still cares for the Tomb of the Guardian, and they normally just check it periodically. They spend the rest of their time fishing raw materials out of the River Dōrophoreō, and crafting goods to trade with annual visits from merchant mummer elves who bring a skiff up the river from a city deeper in the Tomb Lands.

1. The EntranceThe River Dōrophoreō flows down from the Tomb of the Guardian (area 9) to enter the Memorial Grotto. From Area 9 it's a 60-foot climb down a wet waterfall within a slick stone chute. This is a Nearly Impossible task if attempted without custom gear and/or magic, but is actually a Simple task if performed with a Shaft Rig (Level 1, Area 26) after being shown how to use it.

After the 60-foot waterfall, the River Dōrophoreō runs another 250 feet through a natural 6-to-8-foot-diameter channel. It is swift but not overpowering, and there is always at least a foot of air at the top of the channel.

1a. The Craft HallThis area is a large natural cavern, lit by a small grove of giant mushrooms that sit at a bend in the river. It has numerous rugs laid out in comfortable sitting areas, each set up with a kind of craft (mostly alchemical/herbal, food preparation, pottery, and weaving). This is where the Cae family gathers to use their Stiltz power to mold anything of value into other kinds of consumables and trade goods.

This is normally where Caesylia, the Matriarch of the Cae family, is found. As a young girl she helped inter the Guardian of the Tomb, though she is now a wisened old woman who cannot remember anything from more than a century ago with any clarity. But she has seen adventurers before, back before the Tomb Lands sank, and sees them as honored guests to be treated well, as long as they behave themselves. Left to her own devices, she spins straw into golden thread on a rug in the corner. If any PC takes an interest and is polite and deferential, when they leave she provides them with a golden lining for a cape or coat they were wearing, allowing them to gain a small bonus on attempts to Intimidate or Demoralize others.

Also present is Caelyndron and Celyndra's father (and Caesylia's great-grandson), Celvildar. A Death Seer, Celvidar is in tune with the "Strange Aeon," a specific concept of what may (or may not) ay at the bottom of the Tomb Lands. He recently had a vision of something breaking lose far down in the Tomb Lands, which he calls a Rogue Death, and which may threaten all of reality. he send Caelyndron and Celyndra to ask the Guardian of the Tomb for aid and, upon learning the Guardian won't help, is convinced only the PCs can find and stop the Rogue Death.

1b. The Old Temple. Only Celvildar goes into the Old Temple anymore, But the stairs up and clean, and the oil laps well-tended. Any PC who wishes, Celvildar will take to see where once Death itself was present.

1c. The Hall of Respose. This is where Celvildar worships the Strange Aeon, and had his vision of the Rogue Death. There are four statues in the room, and while all 4 are always present, each time PCs go in they are in a different order (with a different statue in the central spot, taking a larger form).

The statues are:

A man with a raven head (which itself has an eyepatch), a raven-feather cloak, and a spear.

A cloak in the form of a humanoid woman, but with nothing but the cloak visible. With a scythe.

A man with a thick, curled beard sitting on a throne, holding a massive stone column as a club and scepter.

A woman with long, straight hair, pointed ears, fangs, and eight arms, each holding a different style of dagger.

There are also numerous plaques on the wall which show small icons of other gods and concepts of death. Celvildar explains that the statutes and plaques change over the centuries, though none of the images sown here exactly match any deity of death the PCs are familiar with. 

Any PC that casts a divination spell in the Hall or Repose gets a sensation of some vast, hollow, deadly thing rising up from behind a cracked barrier, its long shadow clutching to consume all of reality and snuff it out. This is the vision Celvildar has had about the Rogue Death.

1d. The Crevace. When the Tomb Land rose up some days ago, after Celvildar had his vision of the escaping rogue Death, the Long Quiet shook and a massive crack appeared in the Hall of Repose, linking it by a natural stairwell to the Main Hall. Celvildar walked this path once, but none of the Cae have traveled it since. There's nothing extraordinary about it, but it is a quiet place PCs can go to talk without anyone from the Cae family overhearing them.

2. The Cae Quarters

This is where the Cae family gather when they choose to sleep. They follow a 24-hour cycle timed by the level of the River Dōrophoreō, which runs a few inches higher and a bit faster twice per day.

The chamber is normally dark and quiet, with the large mound of rock in the center of the room serving as seating system and storage, as anything the Cae wish to have easy access to is simply laid on a rug somewhere on the pile.

2a. The Privacy Alcove

Although no one in the Cae family is currently dwelling with a spouse or lover, when there are couples living here, they can take turns sleeping on the far side of the rock pile in the Quarters, which is called the Privacy Alcove.

2b. Sleep Quarters

Normally, everyone in the Cae family gathers here to sleep on thick piles of rugs, wearing sleeping robes. They do not bother to set guards -- no one has brought trouble here in centuries.

3. The Commons

When not sleeping, crafting, or worshipping, the Cae family gathers in the Commons. Additional members of the family are:

Caeseril - A mature mummer elf who married into the family, but is now a widow. She has traveled the River Dōrophoreō, originally coming from the Free City of Flotsam, and warns that while there are cities and settlements to be found along its banks, trying to go far along the river without a Skystone (a magic rock that shows what the sky would look like at that moment, if you could see it) is foolhardy. She knows there were Skystones in some of the False Tombs of the Deep Drop (see Level 2), and likely still are, but can't say exactly where.

She is also the best fisher of offering gifts from the river, and can easily feed and supply a group of up to a dozen people from her fishing skills.

Celeril -- Caeseril's younger brother, who came to the Long Quiet with her. He is bored of this place and has tried to return to Flotsam many times, but the river merchants refuse to take him without payment he lacks, and  his efforts to travel the river on his own have always resulted in him returning to the Long Quiet, after weeks of being lost.

Cadella - The younger sister of Caelyndron and Celyndra, just old enough to be considered a young adult. Yearns to see more of the Tomb Lands. An expert climber and user of Shaft Rigs.

Calencath- Younger brother of Caelyndron, Celyndra, and Cadella, just slightly younger than Cadella. An expert scribe, sketch artist, and cartographer. Has no real interest in leaving the Long Quiet, but is easily motivated by anyone praising or showing interest in him.

3a. The Fishing Pool

The waters of the River Dōrophoreō slowly swirl around this pool, and efforts to fish minor offering gifts out of the mystic waters go more quickly here.

3b. The Open

When a member of the Cae family wants to be someplace other than a close, tight cavern, they visit the Open. Glowing lichen shows that this area is one end of an enormous cavern, hundreds of feet to a side and with a crystal-studded ceiling more than a hundred feet up. The branch of the River Dōrophoreō that goes through the Long Quiet meanders out into the cavern of the Open, where it joins dozens of other branches (sometimes spinning into roundabouts and crossways that are ample proof the mystic river doesn't follow the rules of typical waterflow), and separates out again to disappear into a dozen watery cave exits.

3c. Boat Landing

Though the Cae family doesn't risk going far along the mystic River Dōrophoreō, they do sometimes move casually within the Open by boat, and have three well-kept boats here for that purpose. There is a 2-person rowboat, a larger 8-person rowboat, and a 10-ft.-by-10-ft. flat raft that can only be used when the river swells considerably.