Under the Mortuary
Overview
This is a small encounter that can be inserted into a full length campaign as needed. It includes an NPC, a monster, a map, and provides some plausible background information. As usual, the DM may need to do some work to blend this into an enjoyable experience for their players.
This content is intended for 3rd level characters.
Background
Torgal Cinderdoom is the sole mortician at a funerary home known as The Soul's Relief. It has been Torgal's life work to prepare the dead for their afterlife. His work is methodical and precise, and most patrons share praises of his discretion and delicacy in handling these difficult situations.
Torgal himself is an aging individual. His better years are behind him and he finds his work becoming more difficult. He's had apprentices come and go, but none have measured up to his standards yet. He now finds himself turning towards darker possibilities for finding an assistant to allow him to continue his work.
It is risky, but Torgal has decided that he will build himself an assistant. A true golem crafted by wizards or other arcanists would be exorbitant to commission. The materials alone would be more than he could hope to afford, but Torgal has become fixated on the idea and he has a whole host of parts at his disposal.
He's sought after the information on how to construct his new "apprentice," and has received guidance from followers of the Dead Three. Although his creation has been completed, it is unfortunately a bit less stable than he anticipated...
Torgal Cinderdoom
Torgal is an aging human. His skin is sickly and pallid and his face is gaunt. His eyes are still sharp and there is a wiry strength to him. He's balding, but what scraggly hair remains looks oily and is messily pushed towards the back of his head. He has a calm demeanor, is soft spoken, and takes pride in his work.
This pride is what is pushing Torgal to create his ghastly assistant. Torgal hopes that this creation will be able to elevate his mortuary practice to meet his own standards.
The Soul's Relief
This is the funerary home that Torgal operates. Its reputation is admirable, but the building is simple and unobtrusive. The interior is clearly for sales pitches as it is filled with urns of varying sizes, sketches of mausoleums, and different materials with which coffins may be made.
From this interior, there is a door frame which leads to a back room. Black curtains obscure the view into the back room where Torgal prepares the deceased. An entrance to Torgal's cellar, where his darker work takes place, can be found here. See below for the map of Torgal's cellar.
Plot Hooks
Here are some ideas on how Torgal may be introduced to your party.
- Murders have been happening periodically. The governance in the area has tasked Torgal with preparing the victims for funerals. He may be able to provide clues to the cause of death.
- The Soul's Relief has become a blossoming urban legend after a growing number of rumors that some bodies were cremated instead of prepared for a coffin.
- Torgal's "assistant" left the premises unattended a few times leaving a trail of gruesome viscera behind. The trail started in a back alley, but it ended back at The Soul's Relief.
- A party seeking funerary services will hear strong praise of The Soul's Relief. A visit to Torgal's funeral home has the building unlocked and a mutilated corpse is on a table in the back room. The cellar doors are open as well.
Notable conditions
Unless otherwise stated, this location is entirely in darkness. There are sconces along the walls with unlit torches that have clearly been used. There's a chill in the air which increases with proximity to Area 3.
Area 1 - The Meltwater Pool
Stairs lead from the mortuary down into darkness. The ground here is covered in a shallow pool of clear freshwater. Melting ice in the freezer (see Area 3) has slowly rolled its way down to this small foyer which is the lowest point in the complex.
Alternatives
This is a good place to alter players first impressions of this location, or to connect it to a larger world. Cold meltwater will probably be surprising to find in this setting, but you might also consider these options:
- Sewage water - This area was built too close to sewage pipes and, under heavy rains, this area takes some of the overflow.
- Maintenance tunnel - There's no water here, but the eastern and western walls are not here. Instead, more tunnel continues as far as the eye can see. Who can say where those tunnels may lead?
- Black ice - Nearly impossible to see in darkness. A paranoid Torgal may pour water here and ensure the freezer affects this area to create a rudimentary alarm system. His hope is that if someone falls, they will cry out giving him time to prepare. Players must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw to catch themselves from falling while crossing this ice or take 1d6 bludgeoning damage. The sconces in the room can be used as handles to automatically save.
Area 2 - Torgal's Study
This room is a comfortable study that Torgal uses for his morbid extracurricular activities. There are bookshelves filled with medical encyclopedias, religious lore on gods of death, and arcane tomes about creating golems. There are poster size images depicting the human body hung along the walls -- skeletal structures, musculatures, vascular systems, organs. There is a shelf along the southern wall which has been partially filled with morbid displays.
| Morbid Medical Oddities |
|---|
| Jar of two eyeballs. Labelled as coming from a single person, each eye is a different color. |
| A single mummified hand. |
| An entire intestinal tract. |
| Left hemisphere of a brain. |
| A perfectly cleaned skull. The interior has been silvered. |
| Enclosed terrarium with a left foot now teeming with maggots. |
| Extracted varicose veins are hung like garland with a heart on a tripod stand as the centerpiece. |
| Hands cut at the wrist are cupped palms upward. In the palms are dried eyes, ears, tongue, nose. |
On Torgal's desk are research notes. He's methodically recorded his approach to creating a flesh golem. There are records of whose bodies are used, what their backgrounds were, what body parts were used. It includes what kind of materials were used as stitching or glue, what distance between stitches he tried, and how long the resulting creations lasted. It also records when he was first successful, how long the creation lasted, and whether it was obedient or exhibited strange behavior.
If there are documents tying Torgal to larger events, this is a great place for players to find them. A DC 14 Intelligence (Investigation) check will reveal all of the noteworthy documents. However, even on a failure, you may want to share some subset of information.
Area 3 - The Corpse Freezer
The door to this room is closed, but not locked. In fact, there are no locks, latches, or any metal on this door at all as these mechanisms would conduct cold better and make the door a less effective insulator. The centerpiece inside is a pool of ice about 10 ft. in diameter. Embedded just below the surface of the ice is an aquamarine gemstone about the size of an apple. Corpses are strung up around the room and many have been here long enough to have ice crystals forming on them. The ropes and chains attaching them to the ceiling are similarly frozen which makes for an eerie stillness in the room. It takes only a day for a new body to reach this state.
The gemstone in the ice pool is what powers this freezer. While encased fully in ice, the gemstone is dormant. As the temperature in the room rises, the ice will melt, and the gemstone is exposed. When half of the gemstone is encased in ice and half of the gemstone is covered in water, the enchantment on the gemstone triggers and releases a burst of cold until it is encased in ice once more. This happens about once an hour. A successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check will reveal this information. Anyone within the room when the enchantment triggers must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, they take 2d6 cold damage or half as much on a success.
The gemstone can be removed from the fountain and used as a Frost Touch Gemstone (refer to end of document for details). The safest and most reliable approach will be to use a tool to chisel away the ice as the mixture of ice and water is what triggers the enchantment. However, a character may choose to try to pry it out while the water has melted and it is only partially encased in ice. In this case, the character attempting must succeed on a DC 15 Strength check. On a success, the gemstone comes loose, but the enchantment's condition is met as the stone is removed and will therefore trigger.
Area 4 - The Operating Room
This is where Torgal's theories and research have been put into practice. The door is slightly ajar and torch light slips into the hallway. There are three torches on the walls here and a small table with scalpels, forceps, bandages, needles, threads, and other surgical equipment to be found on it.
Dominating the room, however, is a heavy stone slab with a humanoid figure sitting upright. Stitching connects its patchwork skin together. Its eyes stare blankly, but it has been commanded to attack anyone entering the room other than Torgal. There are two small canisters which each have a tube connected into the Decaying Flesh Golem. One tube is inserted into the flesh within the armpit and the other is jammed into the abdomen on the opposite side.
As the golem stands up to attack, both of these tubes rip out of the creature and a faint, yellow gas can be seen leaking from the tube as well as the holes from which they fell.
Combat
The stat block for the Decaying Flesh Golem is provided below. It is designed to feel like a boss fight that has two stages. The second stage is intended to feel like the creature itself has weakened, but the damage exposes those nearby to that same yellow gas that was coming from the canisters' hoses.
The golem will usually attack the nearest creature. If there are several targets, it will generally not attack the same target twice in a row.
For an optional explosive experience, you may want to describe that the cannister's gas is continuing to build in this room. When the golem goes berserk, if it randomly selects an object to attack, you may choose to have it knock a torch out of a sconce. The accumulated gas catches and combusts. All creatures within this room, including the golem, must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw taking 4d6 fire damage on a failure, or half as much on a success. Remember that the golem has the Aversion to Fire trait.
Resolution
There are plenty of ways this may resolve, but Torgal is not a fighter. Below are some ideas on what could happen, but be ready to be flexible!
- Torgal is killed at the hands of the adventurers for his foul deeds. The town mournfully lays the dead that were used in the experiments to rest.
- Torgal is repentant and vows to never go this path again. Flip a coin to decide whether he keeps his promise.
- Torgal escapes to create bigger and badder creations. Now, his goal is merely to ensure that the party's beautiful bodies find some use...
- Torgal thanks the party for their help in dealing with the problem he created. He offers his services as thanks, but steadfastly refuses to stop his experiments.
- Torgal continues his experiments in secret. Soon, there are reports of a golem in every home. What could go wrong?
Decaying Flesh Golem
Medium construct, neutral
- Armor Class 9
- Hit Points 47 (6d8 + 20)
- Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 9 (-1) 18 (+4) 6 (-2) 10 (+0) 5 (-3)
- Damage Resistances Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks that aren't Adamantine
- Damage Immunities Lightning, Poison
- Condition Immunities Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned
- Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
- Languages Understands the languages of its creator but can't speak
- Challenge 3 (700 XP)
Paragon Fortitude. The Decaying Flesh Golem has two pools of hit points, each of which is tracked separately. All damage and healing must be completely applied only to one pool of hit points. One pool of hit points must be completely reduced to zero hit points before any damage is applied to another pool. When a pool of hit points is reduced to zero, all ongoing conditions and effects affecting the creature end immediately. After a pool of hit points has been reduced to zero, it cannot receive any healing until after a long rest. If all pools of hit points have been reduced to zero hit points, the creature is killed.
Paragon Exhaustion. The Decaying Flesh Golem gains one complete turn in each combat round, including one reaction between each turn, for each pool of hit points it has above zero. When a pool of hit points has been reduced to zero, the creature loses one turn each round thereafter.
Berserk. Whenever the golem starts its turn with only one pool of hit points remaining, the golem goes berserk. On each of its turns while berserk, the golem attacks a random creature or object it can see which is near enough to move to and attack. Once the golem goes berserk, it continues to do so until it is destroyed or regains all its hit points.
The golem's creator, if within 60 feet of the berserk golem, can try to calm it by speaking firmly and persuasively. The golem must be able to hear its creator, who must take an action to make a DC 15 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If the check succeeds, the golem ceases being berserk. If it takes damage while still at 40 hit points or fewer, the golem might go berserk again.
Poisonous Bloat. The Decaying Flesh Golem is filled with a toxic gas. While the Decaying Flesh Golem has more than one hit pool remaining, whenever it takes slashing damage, some of this gas escapes. Any creature within 5 ft. must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 poison damage.
On initiative count 20, if the Decaying Flesh Golem has only one pool of hit points remaining, any creature within 10 ft. must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 poison damage.
Aversion of Fire. If the golem takes fire damage, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its next turn.
Immutable Form. The golem is immune to any spell or effect that would alter its form.
Lightning Absorption. Whenever the golem is subjected to lightning damage, it takes no damage and instead regains a number of hit points equal to the lightning damage dealt.
Actions
Multiattack. The golem makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (1d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Frost Touch Gemstone
Wondrous Item, uncommon
Credit: Christine C. Hill, IG @checkchill
This aquamarine gemstone has been enchanted with magical properties that allow it to send out a concentrated blast of cold.
While holding this gemstone, you can use an action to cast the Burning Hands spell from it at first level. The spell has these modifications:
- The spell does ice damage instead of fire damage.
- Creatures within the spell's cone must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw instead of a Dexterity saving throw.
- The ice freezes any objects that aren't being worn or carried. It also extinguishes small, non-magical flames.
Once used in this way, the gemstone can not be used again until the next dawn.
Alternatively, a creature may use their action to throw the Frost Touch Gemstone up to 30 ft. Upon impact, the Frost Touch Gemstone shatters resulting in the effects of a third level Fireball. The spell has these modifications:
- The spell does ice damage instead of fire damage.
- Each creature within the radius of the spell must succeed on a Constitution saving throw instead of a Dexterity saving throw.
- The ice freezes any objects that aren't being worn or carried. It also extinguishes small, non-magical flames.
When used in this way, the gemstone's shattered shards become non-magical.
Living References
The monster and magical item contained here can be found on D&D Beyond. Links are below: