The Ruins of Shar-lin Part 2

Once inside, the hall runs beyond the light of the torch.  It is a stone hallway with large stones perfectly fitted together. Pictures of women and men studying books, walking in gardens, and practicing magic are etched into the walls and painted, covered with a fine film of dust, as if no one has walked the halls in centuries.  The floor is covered in tile mosaics of random, beautiful patterns.  The hall slowly slopes downward, but how far it goes or how steep it gets is unknown from the doorway.

For the GM.  The whole complex is protected by stone guardians the size of human, dressed in fancy armor and carrying swords. Treat the swords and armor as magic and you can adjust their pluses as needed.  As long as the party doesn't try to take anything they will not activate in the area they are in.  They are spaced with at least one in each major room, and then randomly placed in niches in the hallways.  You can stick them in as needed.  This hallway runs for about 50 feet, slowly sloping downward and ending in a "T", where the end of the hall stops at a balcony over looking an open room below that also runs upward, though it's hard to tell how many levels.  (You, will know, it is 3 levels higher and two levels down from where they stand on the balcony.)  The hallway runs right and left, curving around the center room, with other rooms branching off from there.

Expanded Timeline For After Chaos (AC) Part 94

Year 94 AC

This is the year of the Gathering.  The city is huge and a permanent gathering grounds is made.  A council for the Gathering, with representatives from all the major, and some minor, cities of Ariella meet to discuss treaties and other important matters.  Ariellen delegations also come and negotiate trade treaties, as do the dwarves.  A huge wedding for the leaders of Lakeshire is held and remembered for years.

The Tombs of House Karoon

House Karoon was sundered in the time of the Chosen, but even before it fell, Karoon had huge tombs with beautiful decorations which were the talk of all Tridon.  They usually have an above ground component with underground components as well.  They are usually made of stone, (since wood is so rare out in Karoon), and carved with fanciful animals and scenes.  By the time of the High King's Sword, (about 3000 years after Karoon's fall), the outer parts of the tombs are destroyed by wind or looters, but most of the underground tombs remain intact.

Tomorrow: Details of plans for underground parts of the tombs.

Dungeon at Small Creek Part XXII

This small village in the middle of a cave system has an interesting history.  Originally, the village's cavern was used by rogue elves to come to the surface and hunt and gather for a few weeks then return to their haunts underground.  When the village of Small Creek came in, the camp fell into disuse because the rogue elves didn't want to deal with the humans.  When the Wizard came and made his stronghold, the rogue elves approached him and began trade.  But when the Wizard fell to House Merryweather, all sorts started using the camp again, though using other surface to cavern tunnels then the one used by the Wizard.  Now all sorts live and work here, mining in nearby caverns and tunnels, farming mushrooms for trade along with the ore.  The community is fairly well run and cohesive, though these people are still a bunch of rogues who just happen to have a common goal.  They are bound together by the leader of this small village named Darkstone.

Tomorrow: Darkstone

Dungeon at Small Creek Part XVII

After the spiders are taken care of, the party can move down the tunnel for another hundred feet or so before it branches in a north branch and a southeast branch.  Today we'll talk about the north branch.  This winds north for a good fifty feet and opens up into a cavern.  It looks as if, at one time, there was a small pond in the middle of the cavern, but has long since dried up.  There are stalactites and stalagmites through out the room, making it hard to see across the cavern from edge to edge.  The roof is about twenty feet in the air, and with regular light sources a person can not see all across the cavern.

A DC of 25 will allow a person to notice light at the far side of the cavern.  (+5 if they are not standing in their own light circle.)  On the far side of the cavern is an outpost of Drow, (or the equivalent in your campaign), who need to make perception checks to make sure they are not surprised by the party.  In my world I don't have Drow, so these would be rogue elves who do not adhere to rules of society, but I know a lot of people prefer Drow as bad guys.  Make the Drow party a challenge for your party.  I would give them levels and make sure their numbers are a good challenge.

There is the standard treasure, there is a map of the tunnels with cryptic marks on the map, (they mark where the "Drow" camps are), and a note that states they are to wait for reinforcements to attack the nearby House and capture one of the royal family.  There is also camp supplies that can be plundered.

Tunnels of Carown Part X

The cavern this last tunnel leads to is huge.  With a torch there is no way to see all the way across the cavern.  The walls are worked in areas of this almost round room.  In other areas, it is just a natural cavern.  The floor has mosaic tile here and there, but a lot of it's broken and no where near any other.  There appears to be writing on the tiles, but in an ancient language and there are hardly two words strung together. (This should be some ancient language in your campaign with a hard DC and very rare that anyone knows it.  This is a good place to fill in the history of the tunnels or to throw in a bone for your next adventure.)   The walls have alcoves here and there, with reliefs of warriors and dragons and other mystical creatures carved right into the walls.  The sounds of bats can be heard along with a raspy breathing, as if the whole cavern is breathing.  There are racks of weapons and chests of equipment here and there.

This room was the sparing room and meeting room for an ancient sect of warriors who fought demons.  In this room the party should find a demon appropriate for their level and his peons, (if appropriate for your campaign).  There are also a lot of dead adventurers in this room, so this is a place for good treasure placement.

Tunnels of Carown Part VI

After the bat cavern, is a long stretch of winding tunnel. The walls in this area are smooth in spots and rough in others.  The height varies from further then a person can reach up and touch to a low height that some humans would have to stoop.  There are some bats in here, but not many.  It winds back and forth, always going downward.  Water flows here and there, moss growing randomly along the walls and floor. The only tricky part is a few pit traps that may or may not actually work.  (25% fail rate of the traps.)  These are 30 foot pits and of the three only one has spikes at the bottom.  The DC on these should be moderate for the first, easy for the second two.