Picking up directly after the last session…
Continuing their exploration of the lower level, the party encountered a Berbalang in the crypts, but found nothing significant anywhere else. They expected to find an entrance to the mines (which they assumed to be below), but a thorough search of all three levels revealed nothing.
Zim casts an Object Reading ritual on a recently-forged ingot of platinum that the party discovered. He saw a Dwarven Forger in a naturally-lit cave using alchemical and/or magical means to refine ore into metal. Behind him was what appeared to be a (possibly inactive) gate set in the stone of the wall.
The only other thing he learned about the ingot was that the ore was carried up from below in a bucket held by a Troglodyte pulling himself up on some kind of platform.
With that new information in hand, the party makes a second and third pass searching the entire fortress. In the end, they realize that there are marks and tracks indicating activity between a group of prison cells and the upper levels.
When they can still find no secret door, Zim casts another Object Reading ritual on the porcullis leading into the suspect cell. He focuses on the original construction and learns that there was once a mine shaft where the floor now sits. In addition, he sees a Dwarf use some kind of signet ring to activate a magically secreted trap door.
When a Knock ritual fails to open the trap door, the party decides to wait for someone to open the door for them. After an extended rest, a Troglodyte Curse Chanter opens the door from below and walks into a well-planned trap set by the party. They retrieve a Dwarven signet ring from him and descend into the mines…
At the bottom of an 80-foot shaft, they find yet another Dwarven-built defense position. This one involved a lowered portcullis and a poisoned dart trap, with a contingent of Troglodytes beyond. Using ore carts as cover, Oin moves up to the portcullis (accidentally triggering the dart trap). It is at this point that Zim realizes that the signet ring (carried by Oin) should be able to open the portcullis. After a couple of false starts, Oin touches the ring to the bars of the portcullis and it opens. The party storms in and makes quick work of the Troglodytes.
Beyond the Troglodytes, ancient mine shafts extend off in three directions.
To Be Continued…
This adventure comes from Dungeon Magazine issue #159 (pages 56-93).
To make this encounter more level-appropriate, I changed the Lesser Berbalang to a Berbalang (MM1). However, even with that change, this encounter presented little real threat. The close quarters prevented the duplicates from effectively flanking – and the loss of hit points from the various powers make the creature's life too short.
Note: In between these encounters, the module included another encounter which I skipped: “Foiled Ambush”. It assumed the party would rest in area 19 (which did not seem at all reasonable to my players) and its only real purpose (helping the party discover the secret entrance to the mines) was easily revealed another way. I also eliminated the “Bird Man” subplot entirely.
I added an extra Troglodyte Impaler, and extra Troglodyte Mauler, and three extra Troglodyte Spear Warriors to this encounter. The Trap presented a real annoyance – but the Troglodytes were not very effective overall. The party earned a milestone for these two encounters…
| # | Challenge | Type | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berbalang | Solo Skirmisher/10 | 2500 |
| 6 | Troglodyte Spear Warriors | Minion/12 | 175 |
| 3 | Troglodyte Impalers | Artillery/7 | 300 |
| 2 | Troglodyte Maulers | Soldier/6 | 250 |
| 1 | Poisoned Dart Wall Trap | Blaster/6 | 250 |
| Total XP | 5,200 | ||
| (5 PCs)1) | 1,040 | ||