Introduction
- See my review of the adventure here.
- Find the web supplement here.
- This guide will be in four parts. This section will cover the Call to Action and entering the mine, followed by posts for the three wings of the dungeon.
Call to Action
This is how I changed the Call to Action. Telegraph to your characters that it's meant to be a strong start to introduce a recurring villain, and admit that you are railroading them for the sake of the story. If they really resist, have the other mine managers, Allustan, or some other ally of the party step in and get them released. That NPC can then relate the information below if needed.
At the end of The Whispering Cairn, as the characters exit the cave, they are arrested by Sheriff Cubbins and a dozen guardsmen for breaking into the observatory and stealing from Filge. Once in jail, Balabar Smenk comes visiting. After threatening the characters a bit, he tells them the following:
- Ragnolin Dourstone is in league with a religious cult operating out of a temple beneath his mine.
- He was introduced to the cult leaders by Ragnolin to procure supplies for the cultists, but he thinks the cultists are bad for business and are responsible for the undead appearing in town.
- Additionally, he says the cultists double-crossed him and killed one of his top men.
- He’ll see to the characters’ release if they go to the mine, get past the miners, and find an elevator on the lowest level that will take them to the temple.
- He thinks there are multiple evil gods involved. Hextor is the only one he is certain is involved.
- If the characters clear the temple, he will clear their names, and maybe even have more work for them later. If not…he swings a noose about.
- The characters have one week before Smenk believes the cultists are planning some foul ritual - they must stop them before then.
An Alternate Path
The adventure assumes you will sneak into or otherwise infiltrate the mine. However, its also reasonable for the characters to visit Ragnolin and determine he is under some sort of mind control. Clerics from the churches of Wee Jas or St. Cuthbert could help the characters break the mind control, offering another potential path into the mine.
The Mine
- The miners are some of the most down on their luck people in Diamond Lake, including criminals serving hard labor.
- Ragnolin pays his guards a high wage so they will strongly police his poorly paid miners
- Guards
- There are a total of 24 guards, all of them thugs.
- Daytime guards are humans, nighttime dwarves.
- Two sets of four guards walk the mine perimeter.
- A full loop takes one hour.
- Two more guards at the gate, and two in the watchtower.
- Four of the guards are cultists of Hextor who run to the mine in the event of trouble.
- The guards are hard to bribe; each one requires a 50 gp bribe to get advantage on DC 18 Charisma (Persuasion) checks.
- The miners
- 40 total
- Miners work sunrise to sunset
- Miners easy to bribe - 1 sp gives advantage on DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion) checks
- Miners can easily be convinced to mess with the guards for the PCs if bribed with 1 gp or more.
- Miners scatter at the first sign of trouble.
- The Foremen
- 3 humans
- Gerald runs the office and administration
- Lordren has a limp and commands the camp
- Carr is his assistant with a lazy eye
- Ragnolin is usually at the mine for 2-4 hours in the middle of the day
- 3 humans
- Elevator
- Characters can hear about the location of the newly installed elevator from anyone friendly in the camp.
- Someone must be outside the elevator cart to operate the elevator. Miners mill nearby, but no one is assigned to operate it.
Sample Guards
1. Jorek “Ironhand” Malven
- Race/Role: Dwarf thug (night shift perimeter guard)
- Appearance: Thick-set with a broken nose and scarred knuckles. Keeps his helmet polished like it’s the only pride he has.
- Personality: Gruff and humorless; loves reminding miners he makes three times their wage.
- Hook: Secretly one of the Hextor cultists; if trouble flares, he drops the guard act and fights with religious zeal.
2. Taren Hollis
- Race/Role: Human thug (daytime gate guard)
- Appearance: Sun-reddened skin, missing two front teeth, always chewing a reed.
- Personality: Lazy but loyal to coin. Won’t risk his steady pay for bribes unless it’s very lucrative (50 gp minimum).
- Hook: Likes to gamble after shifts—if the PCs learn his debts, they might use that leverage.
3. “Watchtower” Kurn
- Race/Role: Dwarf thug (nighttime watchtower guard)
- Appearance: Wears an eyepatch (lost the eye to shrapnel in a cave-in) and claims he can see better without it.
- Personality: Paranoid, constantly scanning the shadows. Obsessed with discipline and barking at the miners for fun.
- Hook: Not a cultist himself, but loyal to those who are. Will run for reinforcements quickly if the alarm is raised.
Sample Miners
1. Daven Rill
- Race/Role: Human miner (serving hard labor for theft)
- Appearance: Gaunt with hollow cheeks and a permanent cough. Shackled around one ankle during shifts.
- Personality: Bitter, defeated, but quick to take a coin.
- Hook: Could be convinced to sabotage equipment for the PCs—he’s already got nothing to lose.
2. “Weasel” Corbin
- Race/Role: Human miner (volunteer, desperate for work)
- Appearance: Lank hair, darting eyes, twitchy hands.
- Personality: Nervous, eager to please, but will run at the first sign of a fight.
- Hook: Knows the patrol patterns inside and out, and will share them for a single silver.
3. Maela Junn
- Race/Role: Half-elf miner (former petty thief)
- Appearance: Wiry, arms covered in soot, wears a torn green scarf as her last keepsake.
- Personality: Sarcastic, distrustful of authority, but sympathetic to outsiders.
- Hook: If bribed, she’ll create a distraction to draw the guards off—but she’ll expect the PCs to cover her escape if things go south.
Next time, we will sover The Dark Cathedral, Temple to Hextor.
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