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• Third Age, Year 1108
• 8 September - Bigby reads Vargnin's journal and learns about Berronar's Pyre

The party will first have to decide whether to snuff the pyre temporarily or permanently. It is about the same amount of effort for each - and they may perform the ritual a second time if they change their mind.

The ritual itself requires time (about an hour) and will require that Bigby and Roderick perform caster level checks against DC18. (1d20+11 for each means that they need to roll a 7 or higher. The probability of both succeeding is therefore 49%). Note: It need not be Bigby and Roderick, however it must be both a divine and an arcane spellcaster.

Once the pyre is down, a breeze will start flowing into the chasm. It will grow in intensity in a very short period of time until there is a steady wind flowing into the Long Deep. This will have no combat effect, but is strong enough to make normal torches difficult to keep lit.

Once the fire is off, the rocks of the tunnel will remain nearly molten for several hours (days?). If they chose to snuff the pyre temporarily, they will not be able to wait it out. The heat in the tunnel will inflict 1d6 damage per minute (no save) as well as requiring a Fort save against DC15 every 5 minutes (see page 303 on the DMG, “Extreme Heat”, second-to-last paragraph under “Heat Dangers”).

Pavo's crystal could be used to easily cool off a small region (only a couple feet) , but it's not practical for long-range cooling unless he activates it (which he does not yet know how to do). However, if water is introduced into the system, it will quickly form into ice - which will cool the rock quite effectively. (Naturally, this presents a new set of problems, but they're a clever bunch).

The tunnel proceeds 108 yards, then turns to the right by about 30 degrees. From there, it goes another 116 yards before reaching the barrier that shields the Long Deep. Only those in the party with detect magic (or equivalent) spells up will notice this, however. If Pavo has his crystal out, he may (with a DC20 Spot check) notice a shift in color deep in the center of the crystal. The center (which is normally clear) will begin glowing a faint red-orange. This is because of the presence of Qo'aycin's fire crystal in the Long Deep.

After the barrier, the tunnel continues for another 610 yards, curving slightly more to the right so that the eventual direction of the tunnel is 90 degrees off from its original direction. During this time, it grows gradually narrower. After about 400 yards, the party will have to crawl, and for the final 50 yards, they will have to remove excess equipment to squeeze through. Characters subject to claustrophobia should make the occasional Will save against DC15 or so…

The floor of the tunnel is jagged and uneven and movement will be slow. Without some kind of magical assistance, the party will cover only about 20 yards per minute. This means the walking part of the trip will take a full half hour. The crawling part will be even slower (~10 yards per minute) and will take another 20 minutes. Figure an hour of travel time plus the time it took them to cool the rocks.

The natural tunnel finally crosses a dwarven-hewn tunnel (though it continues on, it becomes impassable after about 50 yards).

This new tunnel is one of the arms of the Long Deep and is a full thirty feet across and arches from a height of ten feet on the sides to thirty feet in the center. Every fifty yards, there are structural supports built into the walls. The construction is magnificent, but shows signs of earthquake damage (especially where the natural tunnel intersects it). The portions of the dwarven tunnel to the left and right are misaligned by about two feet.

The walls immediately around the intersection of the tunnels are scarred with fire marks. There has been fifty years of flame here - but this is where the flame ended. Careful examination will show that the flame did not exist in the natural tunnel on the other side of the dwarven tunnel.

The air here is almost unbreathable - though “clean” air is flowing in at a fast pace from the tunnel. If the party moves beyond this immediate area, they will notice the lack of good air. The volume of the Long Deep is vast and it will take days(?) for the air pressure to stabilize. Even then, the air will be stuffy and prolonged exposure will deal non-lethal damage. Note: A Water Breathing spell can be used to make the area hospitable.

To the left, the arm travels 689 yards in a straight line and ends in a smooth, curved stone face - magically melded into the surrounding stone. Just beyond this stone is the barrier that seals the Long Deep. At the terminus there is a lot of detritus - which includes 400-year-old bones of both dwarves and orcs. Careful searching (DC20) will reveal that there is ancient fire damage to the walls. This is most likely from Qo'aycin and her fire crystal.

In addition to the earthquake damage, there are spots in the dwarven tunnel where magma has burrowed into the floors and walls. However, these are dormant magma elementals who merged with the stone to conserve their energy. Any magical fire on their surface will awaken them in 1d6 rounds. They vary in size from Small to Large - though most are Medium.

If one is awakened, he will take his first round action to throw a slug (or two) of magma at the nearest dormant friend(s) - which will give him backup in 1d6 rounds. Only the Small elementals are limited to one such “awaken” attack. The Medium and Large versions can wake up two friends at once.

Around the intersection, there are a total of 31 holes, 15 of which are empty (though none were in direct contact with the flames). On average, the holes are spaced about every ten feet, with about half on the floor and half in the walls. Some of the holes are empty because the elementals move around often. It is not an indication that there are more elementals in the area. Since these elementals do not have the Earth elemental's “Earth Glide” ability, they must create these holes by melting the stone. This takes time (several minutes) and destroys the stone. The party may find evidence of this kind of damage littered throughout the Long Deep…

Since the elementals can flow and move as an amorphous blob, the visible portion of their holes is not necessarily an indication of their size. To determine the size of a random elemental, roll 1d6: 1-2=Small, 3-5=Medium, and 6=Large.

Here are the stats for the Magma Elementals:

                Small          Medium         Large

HD ………. 4d8+12 (30) 8d8+32 (68) 16d8+80 (152) Init …….. +7 +8 +10 AC ………. 18 (+1/+1/+6) 19 (+0/+2/+7) 20 (-1/+3/+8) (Size/Dex/Natural) Base Attack . +3 +6 +12 / Grapple … +6 +15 +26 Attack …… Slam +6 Slam +10 Slam +18

            or  Ranged +4      Ranged +8      Ranged +15

Full Attack . Slam +6 2 Slams +10 2 Slams +18

            or  Ranged +4      2 Ranged +8    2 Ranged +15

Damage …… 1d6+3 + extra 2d6+4 + extra 2d8+6 + extra Space/Reach . 5/5 5/5 10/10 Damage Red .. 5/- 5/- 5/- Saves: Fort . +5 +7 +12

        Ref ..  +5             +8             +14
        Will .  +1             +2             +16

Abil: Str .. 16 (+3) 19 (+4) 23 (+6)

        Dex ..  12 (+1)        14 (+2)        16 (+3)
        Con ..  15 (+2)        18 (+4)        20 (+5)
        Int ..   4 (-3)         6 (-2)         6 (-2)
        Wis ..  11 (+0)        11 (+0)        11 (+0)
        Cha ..  11 (+0)        11 (+0)        11 (+0)

Skills …… +3/+4 +5/+6 +11/+12 (Listen/Spot) Challenge … CR 4 CR 6 CR 8

Common to all sizes:

    Speed: 30 feet (moves by flowing and starts fires where it moves)
    Feats: Improved Initiative (+4), Cleave, Power Attack
    Special Attacks: Earth mastery (as Earth Elemental), Pyroclastic attack
    Special Qualities: Darkvision, Elemental, Immune to Fire, Vulnerable to Cold

The pyroclastic attack:

    Any successful hit (melee or ranged) deals an additional 1d6 fire damage
    to the target.  This damage is caused by sticky magma that adheres to the
    victim and will continue to cause 1d6 damage per round for three more
    rounds (4d6 fire damage total).  The victim may expend a move action to
    remove the sticky goo (and stop further damage), but if they use their
    bare hands, they will take 1d6 more fire damage.

    If the attack misses the target's armor class, but hits their "touch" AC,
    then the fire damage is inflicted on their armor.  Consult the tables on
    page 166 of the PHB to determine whether this is a problem or not.

    The ranged version of this attack has a range increment of 20'

To the right of the intersection, the dwarven tunnel travels 735 yards before it reaches a defense complex. The 30' corridor narrows to 15' and is blocked by a series of staggered defense walls - with arrow slits. Beyond these walls is a large complex with rooms that once houses dozens of dwarven guards. These spots exist in all eight arms of the Long Deep (and were also at the entrances). They have not been (intelligently) manned for 400 years, of course, but they have been frequented by the elementals and other fire creatures over the last four centuries.

The corridor extends in a straight line out of this defense complex in two directions. However, the two directions are about 120 degrees off from each other. Thus, the complex appears on a map as a bulging joint of a long limb. The dwarves of Kalin were in love with the spider motif of the Long Deep, so they came to call these areas “joints”. This slang term has survived to this day and is still used in Clangdun, though it is used to refer to common intersections.

In this first joint (see map), there is a Cinder Swarm (MM III, page 29)

If the party makes it this far, I'm in trouble - as I haven't readied further plans. If need be, toss a few more elementals to slow them down…

IX. Challenges Overcome: (six players participated)

6 Traversing the tunnel CR 5 413 413 7 Magma elementals CR 5 413 481 1 Cinder Swarm CR 13 6,600 1,100

                                          1,994 Total
                                          2,000 Rounded

Note: Because the party fled the Magma Elementals using (primarily) the Wind Walk spell, I reduced their challenge rating from 6 to 5. However, I included a CR5 for using the same spell to get through the tunnel (which I hadn't expected).

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