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Eine alte unterirdische Ruine der Sahuagin. · Medium · Medium

Heart of the Depths

Beneath the drowned stones, something listens for the sound of breaking chains.
Rooms
8
Foes
22, CR 1/4 to 5
Traps
8
Treasure
4,555 gp
12345678Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. The Drowned Stair

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Varkul, the Drowned Hunger, presses against the failing seal beneath the ruin.

Wandering monsters (1d4)

  1. 1

    2d4× Reef Crawler PackCR 1/2

    When: A character bleeds, falls into water, or disturbs a sealed drain cover.A pack of pale reef predators follows the scent of blood through the flooded passages.
  2. 2

    2× Sahuagin Scout PairCR 1/2

    When: The warning gong in room 2 is struck or a guard escapes combat.Sahuagin scouts carry signal shells and search for intruders who have entered through the Drowned Stair.
  3. 3

    Abyssal EelCR 2

    When: The party spends more than 10 minutes in one flooded corridor.A translucent eel with a skull-like head swims through stone before emerging to bite and vanish again.
  4. 4

    Wandering Drowned AcolyteCR 1

    When: The heroes remove an oath relic from its resting place or speak Varkul's name aloud.A drowned acolyte drifts through the halls, repeating fragments of the original sealing prayer.

Rooms

8
1

The Drowned Stair

2 foes1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A collapsed stairway descends through a cracked sea wall into a half-flooded entry hall. Carved sahuagin faces glare down from the walls, their mouths packed with old coins and fish bones.

Features

  • Collapsed surface stair
  • Knee-deep seawater
  • Three cracked statues holding rusted tridents
  • A ceiling breach showing roots and daylight

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Sahuagin ScavengerCR 1/2

Lean sahuagin scavengers wearing barnacle-studded leather and carrying hooked spears.Tactics. They attack from the water, use the statues as cover, and flee toward room 2 if one is badly wounded. They try to drag fallen characters into deeper water for the blood frenzy of nearby creatures to exploit.

Traps

Bonehook ThresholdDC 13 piercing damage and restrained until freed

A loose floor slab triggers spring-loaded bone hooks from the statue bases. The hooks target the first creature crossing the center of the hall.Disarm. A character can wedge the statue mouths open with thieves' tools or a metal spike, preventing the hooks from firing.

Treasure

Salt-Crest Signet75 gp

A tarnished silver signet ring bearing the crest of a missing coastal noble family.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The entry should establish that the ruin is still connected to the sea. The scavengers have recently moved in and know nothing about the Heart of the Depths.

2 doors: N (archway), W (normal)

The place

What it is

Beneath a drowned coastal ruin lies an ancient sahuagin complex built around a sealed breach to the black ocean beyond the world.

Atmosphere

Cold brine drips from every ceiling seam, carrying the stink of dead fish, wet stone, and old blood.

The threat

Varkul, the Drowned Hunger, presses against the failing seal beneath the ruin.

History

The ruin was raised by the Red-Fin priesthood over a natural shaft that opened into a lightless sea beyond mortal waters.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The old ruins are not empty. Fishermen hear a second heartbeat beneath the waves when they pass the cliffs.
  2. 2A sahuagin queen is gathering warriors to break a prison that has held a sea demon since before the town was founded.
  3. 3Anyone who sleeps near the drowned coast dreams of walking through a door made of teeth.
  4. 4A pearl shrine below the ruins can cure drowning, but only if its guardian accepts a living memory in payment.

Plot hooks

4
InvestigationVoices Beneath the BreakwaterFishing boats have vanished near the old coastal ruins, and survivors claim that something beneath the waves is calling their names.From: Mara Venn, a frightened harbor-masterReward: A waterproof coffer of 250 gp and a favor from the local fishing guild
Relic RecoveryThe Leaking ReliquaryA pearl reliquary stolen from a drowned shrine has begun leaking seawater indoors. Its markings match those found in the ruin.From: Brother Caldus, an anxious tide-priestReward: A pearl ward that grants advantage on one saving throw against a water or aquatic effect
AllianceThe Last Seal-KeeperA sahuagin exile seeks help preventing her former clan from breaking the seal, but she refuses to reveal what she heard in the depths.From: Ssesha Bone-Tide, a wounded sahuagin exileReward: A coral token granting safe passage among one neutral sahuagin tribe
Moral ChoiceThe Heart Must ChooseThe heroes must decide whether to reinforce the prison, redirect its power into a weapon, or risk opening the shaft to learn what lies beyond it.From: An encoded message from the drowned explorer Joren ValeReward: The Drowned Compass, a rare magical compass that points toward the nearest large body of water

Corridors

4

  • Between rooms 1 and 2

    Carved reliefs show sahuagin priests feeding prisoners to a spiral-shaped abyss. Fresh seawater leaks from the reliefs whenever the dungeon hears spoken prayers.

  • Between rooms 2 and 3

    A narrow channel runs beside the corridor, carrying black water toward the depths. Small pale fingers occasionally vanish beneath its surface.

  • Between rooms 3 and 4

    Broken pearl lanterns hang from rusted hooks, each containing a dim glowmote that reacts violently to spilled blood.

  • Between rooms 5 and 8

    The stone floor slopes sharply toward the final chamber, and every footstep echoes as though answered by something far away.

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