Aviontix Tombs
In the land of Aviontix there are ruins. A lot of ruins. There are many sand buried cities, king's tombs (They were a very religious people, focused upon their leaving to the afterlife), and huge statuary. However, Aviontix was a kingdom so long ago, that everything has been looted. (Figure there has been a whole historical epoch or two since then) There might be a hidden tomb or something somewhere in the lands, but it is unlikely. This does not stop people from selling maps to them all the time.
The Aviontix believed in the eventual reincarnation of the body. It was mummified in a special way to make sure that after it was interned, the spirit bird of the individual - his soul, would fly from this realm. If the spirit bird returned, it might need of its body, so the dried remains had to be preserved. This is all interpretation, as the Aviontix fell to sickness and civil war long before any other intelligent beings walked their lands. So while they have lefts us books and murals with an elaborate writing, very little is known about what they do think.
One Elven source has this prophecy attributed to the Aviontix: "In the days of the final dawn, all good people would come to roost in the lands, to live in a paradise reborn and defend it from the last night." It stands to reason it was the duty of all good people to leave bodies behind so they would eventually live in the paradise reborn. Of course, they would need things when they returned, so they would be buried with money, tools, clothing, and comfort items.
So everyone has a large tomb. The business of death would have been a big one in this land.
An Aviontix tomb will be a large affair. Lesser peoples will have family tombs, while nobles will have huge building sized tombs. It will be made of large stone blocks, crafted with such care that a piece of parchment does not fit between them. How these blocks were transported from quarries so far away is a mystery (magic?).
The entries will be blocked off of course, to prevent robberies. Those with time and tools could eventually dig their way through the rocks. Thus traps were employed. Later cultures who have records of the various Aviontix tombs and ruins they explored (plundered), denoted hundreds of cunning traps that will be triggered entering into the tomb, but will not activate upon exit (usually with the pull of a lever or two in the main crypt). Crushing traps (that eventually reset), pit traps, flying spike traps, dart traps, flesh scarab traps, animated statues, tiny alchemically created defenders, elemental bird spirits that attack after a sconce is lit, and hundreds more.
The difference between Aviontix traps and most other peoples traps is that they were defeatable by solving a puzzle. Some of these puzzles were word/ poetry puzzles (which are undecipherable now), number puzzles, image puzzles, shapes in a pattern, and even musical puzzles. Things scattered in the tomb had to be retrieved to deactivate the trap (which would be set off if you pass a certain area) were common. (Taking the blue hexagonal tile and replacing the red one, and red to blue would deactivate a trap), or tiles had to be moved about (in sliding tracks or spun in place), or organs played. It was a battle of wits between the designer and the thief. The Aviontix must have admired cunning over strength or dexterity, because solving the puzzle gives you the prize. (Another competing theory is that people/ priests might have to enter tombs to do things for the dead, so the temple might of had the combinations to each tomb.)
After a gauntlet of traps, there will be either an apartment (where the risen might live for a while) or a storage area (with materials that might still be good after all this time). Then there will be another gauntlet of traps, and either an apartment or a crypt for pets or servants. There would be another gauntlet of traps, and the true crypt.
Larger noble tombs will have a variety of branches to confuse intruders, all with traps and mock storage and lesser crypts. These false branches will lead to traps of ugly death (those Grimetooth would be proud of), as anyone who was supposed to be there, would not of taken the odd branch.
All the best things will be entombed in a sarcophagus with the dead. Opening the final trap of the sarcophagus is normally a life and death proposition, so great care should be taken.
(Many crypts have the main crypt hidden behind a false crypt. So people will loot the false crypt, and leave the real crypt alone).
Nobles will often have undead servants with them, to take care of interlopers. In fact, many spirit birds return when crypts are disturbed, animating a very peeved off undead creature of great wrathful power when the sarcophagus is opened.
Now most Aviontix tombs have been long looted. Yet, there is always hope that somewhere one will be left undisturbed with its great wealth and powerful magic items intact.
Remember those that die in these tombs should go to Merideth, The City of the Dead. There they will wait for a time before being "called" by their Deity, if their deity is inclined. If applicable and the GM wants to run it, if the dead are to be resurrected, their soul must be rescued from Merideth first.
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? Responses (7)
I like it. Tombs of the Indiana Jones type.
Very good dungeon template. I like the way the backstory fits it so well. 5/5
Edit - I was going over the rest of the dungeons, and came upon one by Strolen that would be very well suited to these tombs.
http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=729
A very good description of a pretty standard egyptian pyramid with minor changes.
Actually not pyramids. Those have long since been broken into and down. More akin to those tombs found in The Valley of the Kings. In actually, they more resemble the Mayan tombs in type and function.
The texts indicates we should remember that those who die in these tombs go to Merideth. Why would I remember that when this fact was not mentioned in the text until that point. It would be better to me for the text to indicate that those who die here have their souls sent to Merideth, and explain why. I would not make the assumption that the reader will have read all of the Aviontix before reading this sub, and this appears to be a major fact.
I had to do some searching to find out what Merideth is - the first occurance should be linked to improve readability, or even adding the phrase ("the Aviontix City of the Dead"), etc.
On a minor note - there are a few typos here - Gauntlet,greath,etc, and Larger has an extra capitalization.
On the plus side, it is interesting that an avian race would have tombs in the ground - it is contrary to ones expectations and provides a reason for what otherwise would be bizarre traps.
The texts indicates we should remember that those who die in these tombs go to Merideth. Why would I remember that when this fact was not mentioned in the text until that point.
This is because all the Aviontix submissions are part of a coherient set. They all require each other to be properly used.
I do apologize, I thought Merideth had been linked and that this submission was spell corrected. I would of sworn on my sould I had spell corrected it (after I released the sub). But you are more than right, it needed it. That has been corrected. The link is also in place.
On the plus side, it is interesting that an avian race would have tombs in the ground - it is contrary to ones expectations and provides a reason for what otherwise would be bizarre traps.
The Aviontix are humans. They are not bird people. Their concept of spirit is that of things of the air, thus their gods are represented by birds. Like the Egyptians that had Bird Gods (among others) and Mammoth Tombs, the Aviontix build big and worshiped the Gods from the Air.
K, I stand corrected - need to read more of the other subs. I was just going through the dungeons :)