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Dungeons
Ruins · Large · Level 11 · Medium

Varda's Works

Blue lamps kindle beneath the lintel, and a brass eye turns to follow you.
Rooms
24
Foes
33, CR 2 to 11
Traps
24
Treasure
3,500 gp
123456789101112131415161718192021222324Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. The Broken Threshold

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

The central guardian, the Brass Warden, is a stone-and-brass sentinel built to protect Varda's engine.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    1d4× Scrap mitesCR 4

    When: A loud metallic impact or a character dropping metal equipment in a corridor.A cluster of small brass scavengers races along the wall, drawn by loose metal and the sound of tools.
  2. 2

    Hall rollerCR 5

    When: The party rests in a corridor or triggers an alarm.A stone patrol construct rolls through the halls on a single central wheel, leaving fresh grooves in the dust.
  3. 3

    Lamp bearerCR 6

    When: A tablet is removed from a library or a shrine alarm sounds.Two jointed brass arms carry a lantern between them, searching doorways for unauthorized readers.

Rooms

24
1

The Broken Threshold

1 foe1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A cracked lintel frames the original entry, its worn inscription still promising safe passage. Blue lamps ignite one by one as visitors cross the threshold, and a brass eye in the ceiling follows them.

Features

  • A fallen relief depicts workers delivering a faceted copper core.
  • Two exits are locked from this side; their old keyholes are disguised as rivets.

What the GM knows

Monsters

Entry sentinelCR 5

A stone sentinel shaped like a kneeling laborer stands beneath the lintel.Tactics. It gives one warning in an ancient language, then blocks the narrowest exit and attacks whoever tries to pass.

Traps

Falling GateDC 15 bludgeoning

A flagstone near the entrance releases a stone portcullis from the ceiling, dividing the room.Disarm. A Dexterity check using thieves' tools wedges the release; the mechanism can also be jammed with an iron bar.

Treasure

Maintenance token25 gp

A brass token stamped with a worker's mark; it opens several ordinary maintenance panels.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The sentinel does not pursue beyond room 0. A character who speaks calmly and offers a tool can delay its attack for one round.

4 doors: E (normal), W (normal), N (normal), S (normal)

The place

What it is

The ruins are the buried remains of an ancient workshop-temple where stone and brass constructs were built to preserve a vanished settlement.

Atmosphere

Cold stone sweats mineral water.

The threat

The central guardian, the Brass Warden, is a stone-and-brass sentinel built to protect Varda's engine.

History

Engineer Oskel Varda built this complex beneath a settlement whose name has since vanished from maps.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1People say blue lights move beneath the old hill whenever the village bell rings.
  2. 2A scavenger claims the stone guards are only dangerous when they hear iron strike stone.
  3. 3An old account says the ruins belonged to an engineer who built machines to outlast a siege.
  4. 4The warm water in the western well began after someone carried a brass gear out of the ruins.

Plot hooks

3
InvestigationThe Warm WellA village well has begun producing warm water that tastes of metal. A surveyor believes the flow comes from the old works and asks the party to shut down whatever is pumping below.From: Halla, a practical village well-keeperReward: A deed to a small parcel of reclaimed farmland and 500 gp
RescueThe Last SignalA merchant's missing expedition entered the ruins seeking antique tools. Their last signal came from the prison wing, where a surviving captive may know a safe route to the engine.From: Tervo, the expedition's worried quartermasterReward: A choice of uncommon artisan's tools or 400 gp
Moral choiceA Better OrderA local magistrate wants the Brass Warden destroyed before scavengers awaken it. The magistrate will pay for proof, but an old inscription suggests the construct might be given a new command instead.From: Kaisa, a stern magistrate's clerkReward: 600 gp and official salvage rights

Corridors

4

  • Between rooms 1 and 5

    A waist-high brass rail runs along the wall, interrupted by numbered sockets. Pressing a socket makes a distant mechanism answer with three clicks.

  • Between rooms 2 and 9

    Thin grooves in the floor carry water toward the deeper halls. At intervals, tiny stone figures bend over them as if listening.

  • Between rooms 7 and 18

    A ceiling of fitted stone bears shallow reliefs of workers carrying components toward the heart of the complex. One figure has been carefully chiseled away.

  • Approach to room 21

    A concealed pressure plate releases a loud, measured bell tone when stepped on. The tone carries through the ruins and draws patrols.

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