Echo Crypt
The dwur of Karakast have inhabited the northern mountains of the Abbor-Alz for centuries. Yet those wild and rugged peaks have been hewn by other hands for countless years before the great sires of the dwur first laid steel to stone. Though those ancient delvers are long since gone to dust, they have left testaments to their toil in the living granite.[1]
Once such place is Echo Crypt a vast labyrinth of tunnels and passages laying in a narrow canyon between Karakast and Maure Castle, close to the border between the Domain of Greyhawk and the Duchy of Urnst. Its original builders are unknown, even to the long-yeared dwur, though their sagas speak of it as a place of dread even in the elder days when the heroes of Karakast roamed far and wrought mighty deeds.[1]
"This series of catacombs stretches some six miles below the mountains of the Abbor-Alz, and is fiendishly hard to explore. Much of its length comprises tunnels a halfling can barely squeeze through. Burial chambers with fine treasures have been looted in its upper length, and there are surely more to be found; however, the crypts have a bizarre magical feature that deters most explorers. Simply, the sound of voices here takes on amplified magical form and returns to assault those breaking the silence. The effects of shout, silence 15’ radius and even power word spells beset those who speak even a syllable within the crypt complex. Thus, for obvious reasons, wizards and priests avoid the crypts like the plague. Since there are many mindless undead things in the lowest catacombs, their presence is sorely missed by explorers. Great cave lizards, semi-transparent ropers, gelatinous cubes, and other monsters are known to lurk in the farthest recesses. However, the rumored recovery of a rod of beguiling from Echo Crypt as recently as Ready’reat, 583 CY, ensures that the foolhardy continue to enter the place."[2]
Yet explorers and adventurers continue to make the arduous journey though the Cairn Hills to face the magical silence and stygian darkness in hopes for finding treasures from the past, fueled by rumors the crypts were used as a burial site by the Maure, specifically a coven of necromancers known as the Archons of the Ruby Sorceress.[1]
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ a b c Broadhurst, Creighton; Paul Looby. Mysterious Places: Echo Crypt. Wizards.com. WotC, February 27, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2016. Retrieved on 21 November 2024.
- ↑ From the Ashes (1992), p.29, Campaign Book.
Bibliography
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Echo Crypt | Place | From the Ashes: Campaign Book | 29 | |
| Echo Crypt | Place | The Adventure Begins | 8 | |
| Echo Crypt | Place | LT1 The Star Cairns | IC |