Thordbalmek and the Mines - Beneath Raven Keep, Border Forest, the Dalelands

I do not like dungeon crawls.  I don't.  Go five feet - check for traps - go five more feet - it drives me absolutely bonkers.  That said, every once in awhile, as a Dungeon Master, you find yourself needing to do one for sake of the campaign's story.  I forget what was happening that prompted the creation of Thordbalmek but I do remember that I used the 2nd ed Complete Book of Dwarves extensively to get the job done.

Raven and Ra'ziir, who you may have head mentioned a time or five in the posts for my ongoing campaign, were the only PCs who braved the dwarven outpost beneath the keep.  They were nearly killed by a pair of hammer golems in the entry hall but rallied, drank some potions and pressed on.  The highlight of the adventure (at least for me), came when they reached the mess hall.  By this point, an alarm had been sounded and the defending duergar had assembled in the mess.  Ra'ziir and Raven reached the hall, opened the door, saw dozens of dwarves crouching behind overturned tables with crossbows leveled at them as well as a quarter of strider-mounted cavalry with long, wicked lances.  Ra'zir reacted quickly, cast Cloudkill, and slammed the door.  

(What the players didn't know was that in 2nd ed, Duergar were immune to poison and thus, unharmed by the spell).

After waiting long enough for the magic to have done its work, the adventurers opened the door, only to be bombarded by a volleys of crossbow bolts.  The two elves gritted their teeth and charged into the room, swords in hand and bolstered by the bladesinger's magic and hewed their way through the defenders.

By the time they reached the end of the dungeon, they were well-nigh exhausted but victorious.  A battle with dark elves followed a few days later but by then, the two elves had been reinforced by the rest of the adventuring companions.  They lay claim to the outpost and the mine and even though the keep may have been closed, the mine remains in operation to this day, manned by the followers of Algar Longschnozz.

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Thordbalmek was originally a duergar outpost. It is located roughly three miles upriver from sub-level one of Raven Keep. The party fought against the duergar inhabitants and eventually took possession of the outpost and its mine from the evil dwarves. A group of dwarves from Citadel Adbar have moved into the outpost and they oversee the operations of the mines.

Unless otherwise noted, all ceilings are 15’ high and lighting is provided via mundane means (oil lamps and lanterns, candles, etc). All glyphs (Ref half DC21) are triggered by non-dwarven intruders unless they speak the words “Dumathion protects his secrets”. All mechanical traps have a Search DC20 and Disable Device DC20.

1. Entry Hall: The front door (Steel Door: hardness: 10; Hp: 60; Burst DC28) to the dwarven outpost is protected by a Greater Glyph of Warding. When the door is touched, the glyph is discharged for 10d8 cold damage to all within a 10‘ radius. A thick iron bar helps secure the door (+2 circumstance penalty to Str checks to Burst through).

Aside from the door glyph, there are three traps in the entry hall. The first is an Orc Masher built into the ceiling 30’ beyond the front door. If activated (Dex DC20 avoids), the orc masher swings down and slams into its victim (no attack roll needed) and anyone following less than 5’ behind for 3d6 damage. The second trap is located in the four-way intersection. The first person to enter the intersection has two Explode Stones drop from the ceiling for 5d4 dmg in a 5’ radius (Ref half DC20; +10 2 ranged touch - no save on a direct hit). The last trap is located in front of the door in the south end of the intersecting passageway (Dex DC20 avoids). Another Orc Masher is rigged here (no attack roll needed) and if activated will knock its victim against (and possibly through) the door that leads into the hallway beyond. (3d6 damage for Orc Masher + 1d6 damage from collision with the door).

2. Passageway: This is a 50’ long passageway with two doors in both its west and east walls.

a. Grolim Toothgnasher’s Quarters: Entered through the last door in the east wall, this 20’ x 25’ room is furnished with a single bed, desk and chair (both made of stout oak), and a standing double locker. The locker is equipped with a good quality lock (Open Lock DC30). The left-hand side of the locker contains an armor stand and a small rack for weapons. The right hand side contains three drawers filled with simple but elegant clothing, a shelf with several stone slabs and a chisel and hammer, and a portrait of a female dwarf and two young dwarves. A small plain coffer holds the money that Grolim has saved from his salary. A secret door (Search DC20) in the northwest corner leads into the armory (2c) and is opened from this side by twisting a ball atop one of the bedposts.

b. Grolim’s Mess: This 20’ x 20’ room is furnished with a single dining table and chair. Several candle stubs sit upon the table and smell faintly of spearmint.

c. Armory: The armory is normally entered via the first door in the east wall of the passageway. However two secret doors, one from Grolim’s quarters and the other from the miners’ barracks lead into here as well. However, neither secret door may be opened from inside the armory. The main door to this room is trapped. Anyone attempting to pick the lock (Open Lock DC30) without removing traps first is struck with a poisoned needle (+8 ranged, 1 plus Giant Wasp poison, DC18, 1d6 Dex/1d6 Dex).

Once inside, a 20’ x 25’ room filled with shelves is found. The shelves are labeled to show what should be on them (platemail, chainmail, medium shields, heavy crossbows, light crossbows, warhammers, battle-axes, shortswords and military forks).

d. Briefing Room: This chamber is located directly across from the armory. This is where Grolim hands out watch and mining assignments to Algar’s clansmen. This room is furnished with sixteen chairs and a desk atop a low dais.

3. Guards’ Mess: Entered through the northernmost door in the entry chamber, the mess is a 30’ x 40’ room with 5 steps leading down to a table surrounded by chairs carved of petrified mushroom stalks. To the west of the door, a ramp leads up and along the west wall and around to the north wall forming a balcony that overlooks the dining area. Various banners hang from this balcony that over the sunken area and two vats of a mushroom and moss beer jut out from alcoves in the west wall. Two doors are located in the north wall atop the balcony.

3a. Guards’ Quarters: Five sturdy sets of low bunk beds line the walls of this room. Armor racks stand at the foot of each bed. Leather straps hang above each bed, either on the ceiling or the bottom of each upper bunk and are used for hanging weapons within easy reach. Two footlockers are found beneath each set of bunk beds.

3b. Pantry and Storage: The storage chamber holds food, dinnerware, clean linen and other items used all over the outpost. Tools and barrels of lamp oil, wheelbarrow parts and other mining equipment are also kept within this chamber.

4. Boatwright‘s Workroom: This 20’ x 40’ room contains lumber, woodworking tools and equipment that is used to maintain the boats that Thordbalmek’s dwarves use to transport gold from the mines to Raven Keep.

5. Passageway: This 50’ long passageway forms a “T” intersection. Twenty feet into the passage is a door on both the north and south walls (into areas 6 & 7). A spear trap is set into the ceiling between the two doors and is activated by a pressure release switch in the floor. This trap’s arming/disarming mechanism is located inside the miners’ barracks. If triggered, two spears attached to counterweights are fired from the ceiling (+12 2 Spears; 1d8/x3). The spears are barbed and will stick into the target (Str check DC15 to escape, escape causes 1d3 dmg). The counterweights then retract the spear-lines and pull the victim from the floor to hang impaled in the center of the passage. Two doors in the east wall of the north and south branch of the “T” lead into the dining hall.

6. Miners’/Smiths’ Barracks: Sixty dwarves live in this large, open bay barracks. Aside from multiple bunk beds lining the walls, there are three large tables with four chairs each and a locker that holds games of chance and other diversions. A secret door in the west wall (Search DC20) leads into the armory and is opened by pressing “triggers” located in each corner of the door in a counter-clockwise fashion and then pushing on the center of the door itself. Each dwarf has varying personal gear stowed in footlockers beneath each bunk bed.

7. Forge: This is where gold from the mines is melted down and made into ingots (100 gp trade bars). Also, a complete set of blacksmithing tools is available for making repairs to armor and weapons.

8a. Dining Hall: Three massive tables run east to west in this massive 90’ x 60’ chamber. A door in the south wall leads into the kitchen and a stairway against the north wall leads up to the chapel above. There is enough room in this massive chamber for every dwarf in the outpost and many allies from Raven Keep to dine here with room to spare. Another door in the east wall leads into the audience chamber beyond.

8b. Chapel: The stairway against the north wall of the dining hall lead up to this chamber. This 90’ long x 70’ wide chamber has 10 granite pews separated by an aisle that leads up to the pulpit area atop a raised dais. A stone carving a Dumathion’s holy symbol adorns the south wall.

9. Kitchen: Through the south door in the dining hall opens a 30’ x 30’ kitchen. The kitchen has two fireplaces (which vent out to the underground river’s cave), two large tables and a long counter filled with numerous drawers and cupboards. A trapdoor in the floor leads down into a large (15’ long x 30’ wide) pantry (not shown on map).

10. Audience Hall: This massive 100’ x 90’ chamber has its 30’ high ceiling supported by eight marble pillars. The pillars are carved and sculpted with images of dwarves battling various Underdark creatures and trading finished products with other underground races. A basalt throne sits upon a raised platform at the east end of the room and is the key to a secret door (Search DC25) behind it. Turning the throne 45 degrees to the right causes the door to open. A lever inside the secret door closes the secret door from the other side. The door is protected by a Greater Glyph of Warding that causes 10d8 electrical damage in a 10’ radius.

The audience hall serves a gathering place and is most often used to celebrate the various dwarven religious holidays and trading festivals.

11. Passageway: A narrow 10’ long tunnel behind the secret door of the Audience Hall leads to the center of this 70’ long passageway. A door stands at each end of this hall (and both are warded). The southern door leads into the vault’s antechamber while the door to the north opens into the chamber of rooms set aside for Algar. The southern door is protected with another Glyph that causes blindness (Will save to negate) and a masterful quality lock (Open Lock DC40). The door is thick and is reinforced with mithral banding (Mithral Door: hardness: 15; Hp: 90).

The door to Algar’s suite is also protected with a Greater Glyph that entraps intruders with a Hold Person spell (Will save to negate).

12. Vault Antechamber: Immediately beyond the door to the antechamber is a ceiling-mounted orc masher which is set off when the door is opened (Disable Device DC20) that strikes its victim (no attack roll needed) for 3d6 damage. Another trap lies just past the orc masher, just in the 10’ section of floor in front of the second door. Anyone stepping into this 10’ square causes 4 Explode Stones to drop from the recess the orc masher is mounted in. A latch inside the recess disarms this trap. The explode stones each cause 5d4 damage in a 5’ radius (Ref half DC20; +10 4 ranged touch - no save on a direct hit). The last trap in this 20’ x 20’ chamber is on the vault door itself; another Glyph of Warding that causes 10d8 fire damage in a 10’ radius.

13. Vault: The dwarven vault is a 50’ diameter circle with the highest point of its domed ceiling rising 25’ from the floor. Shelves line the walls of this room and are laden with chests. Each chest contains finished fifteen ingots of gold awaiting transport to Raven Keep.

14. Study: Beyond the door at the north end of the passageway is a private study. This spacious lounge has two stuffed chairs placed in front of a fireplace. A trophy case against the west wall is filled with stuffed Underdark creatures. A 30’ long hallway begins in the center of the north wall and ends with two doors at its far end.

15. Private Bath: This 20’ x 15’ room has fresh water heated and piped in from the forge and drained back to the underground river. Various towels, toiletries, and a bathrobe are found here.

16. Private Chambers: This is where Algar goes to escape the confines of Raven Keep. This massive chamber holds nothing more than a double bed and several chests-of-drawers against the north wall. Algar, when in Thordbalmek prefers to live simply and has refused to furnish this chamber anymore that he already has.