The Buried City

History of the City:

Ten thousand years ago the first City of Ptolus was founded. It existed for about six hundred years, and in the last century of its time, the wealthy and powerful of the city became corrupted by evil. Despite the actions of the Knights of the Golden Cross to root out this corruption and save the city, eventually a (somewhat less than sane) nobleman (Lord Vennerist of what is today House Vladaam (then House Velaad) raised a demon or something like it, and another family (led by Lady Iridial of House Ilambra) raised or called something else (perhaps an elemental?) and they fought. Much of the city was destroyed, and what was not was sunk and buried by the creatures in their rage.

Many people were trapped and died in the combat; many others died in the waste left behind. Both monsters brought armies of lesser creatures with them, who were also buried when the city was destroyed. Since that time, some have remained trapped in the pockets of the city that were not destroyed. In turn, they still battle each other when they meet.

The city was located on low rolling grassy plains, far from the coast, and broken only by the river. When the final battle for control of the city began, the three sides (demons, elementals and the Knights) eventually raised power none of them could control. Great rifts opened all around the city, which then sank into the earth, and then the rifts closed. At the time much of the city was simply destroyed, crushed, and buried. In the next centuries, erosion gradually collapsed the walls of the subsidence zone, and carried new earth over the old wound.

The final act of the leader of the Knights of the Golden Cross was to cast an epic spell that bound everyone still alive, outsider and resident alike, to remain within the bounds of the city. Unfortunately, because this curse was cast by a desperate man without forethought nor time to prepare, it was ill-worded at best. Not only was every living thing bound, but the soul of any living thing which died subsequently within the bounds of the city, is caught there. This includes anyone who is killed there today. Everyone who dies within the city will rise as a zombie, skeleton, wraith, specter, ghost, revenant or other form of undead, depending on their state of mind and race. The immortal outsiders, elemental and demon alike, simply find that after being “killed”, they are reformed from their constituent parts within a few days or weeks.

Appearance of Buried Ptolus:

The buried city consists of five specific areas. Once these were major sections of the city, and for whatever reason, they were pushed underground in almost whole sections. Many of them have been dug out by the elementals, demons and undead that now dwell here.

Entering the City:

Accessing the buried city is not hard. It is a well-known area to delvers, but few care to linger, because it is commonly believed that nothing of value is to be found there. After descending the spiral stairs beneath the Clock Tower (40’ down), the adventurer passes through a nearly barren region of caves that drop another 20’ or so, over the course of about 100’ feet progress roughly south. A few random rats, goblins and swarms of centipedes are the only reported inhabitants of these caves.

At last, the rough caves enter a much smoother-floored cavern, approximately 20’ high, 50’ long and 30’ wide. The upper entrance is at the easternmost, narrow end of the cave. A 20’ wide, nearly 20’ high opening in the north wall opens upon region 1 of the buried city, in the western end of the cave. The floor before this cavern, and a spot on each side of the opening, are clearly marked with a Delver's Guild "reserved" symbol, indicating that a particular Delver's Guild Grandmaster Member has staked a claim on this region.  In fact, there are usually two guards on duty here, watching the entrance to the Buried City, ready to warn off adventuring parties. When they are not actually present, they can be found taking a break in the Wayfaring Station across the way.

In the southern wall of the cave, a sturdy stone and metal door has been mounted in a narrow opening. It sports the Delver’s Guild Wayfaring Station insignia, and behind it, a well-stocked, regularly maintained waystation of slightly greater than usual size can be found.

At the far western end of the cave, a tunnel continues downward and onward, twisting its way to the Giant’s Stair and Eternity Cave.

Region 1:

The City Gates – this is the region which connects up to the tunnels that descend from the Clock Tower in Ptolus Today. It is a Noman’s Land, mostly inhabited by the undead gate Captain and his soldiers.

Region 2:

Great Market Square – and surrounding shops, rooftops  and other nearby locales. This area is mostly populated by lower-powered demons, and the occasional elemental incursion.

The great market square is located some hundreds of feet north of the City Gates. It consists of a large open area, once a smooth-cobbled court, now a vast area of broken ground, collapsed walls, pits, vents into what were once the city's sewers, and the completely shattered wreckage of what was once City Hall.

Surrounding the Market Square are a series of two and three story buildings. Many are simple shops with apartments above them, others are larger Inns, small Temples, City buildings, and even a couple of fine city homes. Behind them are a warren of smaller side-streets crammed with smaller shops, warrens of apartments, and collapsed, impenetrable wrecks. Some areas lead into small twisted tunnels and what are now effectively cave systems that were once buildings.

Region 3:

Ancient Temple – off the Great Market, now controlled by undead. At least one powerful undead cleric resides in this area, leading his followers in a mockery of unlife.

Region 4: 

Ruler’s Palace – once the seat of an ancient nobleman, possibly even the king, this palace and grounds are the best-preserved locale in the dungeon. It has been taken over by elementals, and is ruled by their “king” (some sort of djinn or greater elemental?). Lady Iridial is his undead "bride" and rules at his side. She and her consort struggle to overcome Lord Vennerist and the demons, but can find no way to substantially alter the power balance. She would rather be "fully dead" than here, and anything which might break the curse would be welcomed by her; unless, of course, it left Vennerist in control of the city...

Region 5: Army barracks –

headquarters of the army, this area consisted of barracks, stables, armory, workshops, store-rooms and parade grounds. Now this dangerous, crumbling region houses a small army of devils, led by their powerful, vengeful leader, who hates everyone who might have played a role in trapping him here. Lord Vennerist lingers here, in the form of an undead something or other. He does not rule the demons, but is not dominated by them, either. He still seeks to control their actions, and manipulate the power structure of the city.

Random Encounters:

Random encounters should be rolled for every hour. There is a 1 in 4 chance of an encounter occurring. Encounters may also occur if the PCs make loud noises or otherwise draw attention to themselves, or whenever the DM feels like the situation warrants one. Each region has its own particular random encounter chart. Special encounters listed below may eventually be placed in a specific region.

Special Encounters:

1) The last surviving member of the 11th Noble House of Ptolus (and therefore the lost kingdom of Palastan) can be found in the Buried City. This is House Abbercombe. What is not known to any but a very few of the Nobles is that House Abbercombe is the true Royal House of Palastan. While the last king of Palastan (Rhissathion) was slain upon the Kingstone, his only child (a daughter) was kept safe. She grew up and married into House Abbercombe, and her direct descendants eventually came down to the last Lord Abbercombe, who is now trapped in an immortal golden body, and until recently spent his time wandering through the caverns and tunnels beneath Ptolus. A few months ago, he entered the Buried City, and became fascinated by it. He has been here ever since. Is he aware of the curse, does he want to break it, does he know what breaking it would do? Is he awere of his royal bloodline? Would he make a good King if restored to that position? Can his "immortality" be cured, and would it be a good thing if it could be?

2) The curse which binds all the devils/demons, elementals, and undead to the Buried City can only be undone by finding the (undead) Knight of the Golden Cross who originally cast the spell. He must be found, his willing or unwilling cooperation won, and a way to break the curse must be derived. Once that is done, the leaders of the evil groups (demonic and elemental) must be defeated, so their followers will scatter. The curse wording was such that it caught EVERYTHING that was living in the city at the time, instead of just the elementals and demons, as intended. And it has continued to catch anything that dies in the city. When Lorde Abbercombe was turned to gold by a trap, he "died", and is now trapped, unable to leave the city.

The way to break the curse is to a) gain the permission of the Knight-Captain of the order of the Golden Cross - Sir Bertilak. Once he has decided to allow the curse to be modified, he then explains that the curse itself reflects the laws of the Ancient City of Ptolus - those laws state that anyone who dies within the city is subject to the city's laws. This is to prevent strangers from following odd burial customs, and to minimize the creation of undead. Unfortunately the only way to change the law, is to have the (at least verbal) approval of the Lords of the City. There are two Lords left "alive" in the city today; both are undead;

Specific Locations:

NPCs and Factions:

Adventuring Party:

A strong adventuring party has taken this whole area to be "their turf" (at least as far as the Delver's Guild goes). They are led by a 10th level wizard named Zedacor. Zedacor has just begun to make sense of the curse, having  penetrated to the Temple, and spoken with the undead high priest there. Zedacor is not interested in breaking the curse himself, as he sees the freeing of the devils and elementals to be too great a risk. He is instead interested in Region 4; tales say that the Palace was inhabited by the King's Wizard, a powerful enchanter, whom Zedacor has been investigating for over a decade. Zedacor is searching for any and every piece of information about region 4 that he can find, and would be willing to speak with other adventurers, and trade for anything they find, despite his displeasure at their presence in "his" ruins. He can be found on Queensdays at the Adventurer's Guildhall, interviewing recruits. Zedacor knows who the "gold man" is, but has no interest in him or his fate.

Nathan, Zedacor's Assistant - L9 Expert. Nathan spends about half his time (Airday, Earthday and Queensday) at the Adventurer's Guildhall, setting up interviews or waiting for interviewees for Zedacor. He's an unassuming half-elf in his forties; actually Nathan is a considerable scholar in his own right; his focus is on the history of Ptolus, and now the history of Buried Ptolus.