Recap

This week at Alakazam Comics in Irvine, CA, the Game Show celebrates Glenn’s birthday with pizza, cake, and killing–we continue the slaughter of an evil undead dwarven cult in the Crypt of Talhund. Defeating a mummy and collecting a shield guardian. We return to Phandelver to learn the shard’s evil corruption has spread & then chase off down a long tunnel in pursuit.

Lisa made cookies

Architect’s Tomb

The statue is an old shield guardian bound to the crypt’s architect, who was buried here with several sheaves of his best architectural plans. The corrupted energies unleashed by the mind flayers bound the designs to the corpse of the dwarf, creating a mummy wrapped in architectural plans. If the characters have put the crypt’s haunts to rest (see the “Purifying the Crypt” section), the mummy doesn’t animate and the statue doesn’t move. Otherwise, the mummy pushes off the lid to the sarcophagus and rises to slay intruders, while the shield guardian protects it. The mummy has complete knowledge of the crypt, and might, for example, move through the rotating sanctum (area P14) to intercept characters who flee.

If a character spends an action, invokes the name of Dumathoin, and succeeds on a DC 14 Intelligence (Religion) check, the shield guardian and the mummy stop attacking. The creatures attack the characters again if they reenter the room.

What’s Next?

In the best case scenario, the characters recover all three obelisk fragments and put the dangers in the Starmetal Hills to rest.

Yet there are still leads for the characters to pursue. The characters haven’t found any more missing townspeople. Perhaps more concerning, they’ve learned about the mind flayer fanatics lurking deeper underground in a place called Illithinoch, and the characters now know how to get there.

In any case, the characters’ next step is to return to Phandalin to rest and learn what they can about the mind flayer fanatics.