Mausoleum

D10: Mausoleums for a Fantasy Graveyard

Mausoleum
Some artwork © Dean Spencer, used with permission, all rights reserved

Mausoleums are buildings found in graveyards that are used to house the dead above ground. In a fantasy setting, they may also have odd features, or be larger or deeper.

  1. A small moat runs around the mausoleum, filled with stagnant-looking water covered here and there with a green scum. A small, permanent stone bridge leads over the moat to the mausoleum’s doors.
  2. From the outside, the mausoleum looks to be a large one, but opening the doors will reveal it is surprisingly small inside. The doors, and the walls, are unusually thick, making the interior much smaller than would be expected.
  3. Initially, nothing looks odd or unusual about this mausoleum, at least until the stone that was used to construct it are examined. The stone is not native to the region and can be identified as having come from many hundreds of miles away.
  4. Matching bronze doors with engraved scenes of battle lead into this elegant stone mausoleum. On each side of the door is a bronze sconce that is kept magically alight.
  5. Shadows look to be thicker around this mausoleum, and it seems enswathed in them even on the brightest of days. Inside, it’s even darker and light sources seem diminished.
  6. The mausoleum glows at night and appears to be richly created and it dominates the area of the cemetery. Investigation will reveal that this is all an illusion intended to enhance a plain, rather small, building.
  7. The mausoleum is hard to find, as it is within a copse of trees and is moreover completely covered in vines, making it almost impossible to notice from outside the copse. Investigating the trees and vines will show that they have been deliberately grown to hide the building from view.
  8. The mausoleum is missing its roof and the stones of the walls bear the soot marks of fire damage. In places, the stones have melted, suggesting that the fire was not mundane in origin. The interior of the mausoleum is an empty, charred mess.
  9. The most noteworthy part of this mausoleum is the door. It is a huge, circular slab of stone that rolls aside to gain access. The stone is carefully balanced that, when the locks keeping it in place are removed, it rolls easily with the slightest push.
  10. This mausoleum is larger than it initially appears from outside. When entered, it can be seen that, along with the aboveground chamber, stairs lead down into a crypt that is about double the size.

100 Graves and Grave Markers for a Fantasy Graveyard is a useful accompaniment to this.

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