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Kobold warren under a mine · Medium · Hard

Hearthvale Lower Tunnel

Tin chimes tick above a barricade of mine carts, and warm smoke leaks from the stone.
Rooms
2
Foes
7, CR 1/8 to 2
Traps
2
Treasure
149 gp
123Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Chime Barricade

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

The Burrow King, a huge, scarred kobold who wears an eastern coin on a chain, rules this warren from the old tool room.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    Dire RatCR 1/8

    When: A loud alarm, spilled food, or a sudden fire draws it from a crack in the wall.A lean dire rat with a torn ear and a length of chain caught around its hind leg. It flees if badly wounded, but bites anyone who corners it.
  2. 2

    2× Kobold RunnersCR 1/8

    When: The party lingers noisily in the passage or triggers the chimes.Two kobold runners carry messages and loose eastern coins in a leather pouch. They know the side passages but avoid a stand-up fight.
  3. 3

    1d2× Dire RatsCR 1/8

    When: The ore cart is moved or a wounded creature bleeds in the passage.A pair of dire rats, swollen from eating mine refuse, creep along the timber braces. Their claws scrape loudly on stone before they emerge.

Rooms

2
1

Chime Barricade

4 foes1 traptreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

This square landing was once the lower mine's tool store; kobolds have raised a crooked barricade from a mine cart and timber props. A little cookfire smokes beneath the far wall, and every third chime on the cart is tied to a concealed snare.

Features

  • A battered mine cart blocks half the entrance to the passage east.
  • A soot-black cookfire sits in a shallow pit, with a pot of rat bones and turnip skins.
  • Tin chimes and scraps of mail hang from the roof beams as a crude alarm.

What the GM knows

Monsters

4× KoboldsCR 1/8

These wary kobolds wear scraps of miner's leather and scavenged mail. One carries a shortbow; the others have spears and know the traps in this room.Tactics. The sentries ring the chimes if surprised, then use the cart for cover and throw spears from behind it. One tries to retreat toward to warn the Burrow King rather than fight to the death.

Traps

Tool-Handle SnareDC 13 piercing damage

A loop of wire hidden under loose quarry dust catches an ankle and jerks the victim into a cluster of sharpened tool handles. The tin chimes ring loudly when it triggers.Disarm. A character who spots the wire can pin it with a tool or cut it with thieves' tools and a successful Dexterity check.

Treasure

Sentries' Pay18 sp and 9 gp

A small pouch of mixed mine scrip and copper pieces, stolen from abandoned lockers.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

A successful Wisdom (Animal Handling) or Charisma (Persuasion) check, paired with a promise to protect the warren's young, can make one sentry disclose that the Burrow King fears the ogre more than the townsfolk. The kobolds will not surrender while the alarm is sounding.

2 doors: S (normal), N (normal)

The place

What it is

Beneath Hearthvale's lower mine tunnel, kobolds have converted abandoned workings into a cramped, defended warren.

Atmosphere

Cold, close air carries the smell of wet stone, rat musk, and smoky cooking grease.

The threat

The Burrow King, a huge, scarred kobold who wears an eastern coin on a chain, rules this warren from the old tool room.

History

Miners first opened these caves beneath Hearthvale's quarry, then abandoned the lower tunnel after a brace failure killed three workers.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The rockslide came from below, and the quarry dogs howled before the road gave way.
  2. 2A kobold wearing a silver coin has been seen near the lower mine, but some of the little folk would rather bargain than fight.
  3. 3A giant's footprints appeared beside the mine's collapsed workings after the caravan went missing.
  4. 4The old lower tunnel is full of tin chimes. If they ring, the whole warren knows you're there.

Plot hooks

3
Rescue and investigationThe Road Under the SlideThe missing supply caravan is trapped behind a deliberately undermined rockslide. The party must learn whether the kobolds can reveal a safe route through the lower workings before Hearthvale's stores run out.From: A Hearthvale quartermaster, desperate to stretch the town's last flour and lamp oilReward: A share of the recovered caravan goods and a practical map of the mine
NegotiationA Deal in the DarkA kobold dissenter offers to guide the party to the Burrow King if they promise safe passage for the warren's young and workers. The bargain could turn a fight into a parley, but the ogre's threats complicate any truce.From: A nervous kobold sentry from the entrance chamberReward: The kobolds' hidden stores of mining tools and a chance to gain an ally
InvestigationSunburst PaymentThe eastern coin is evidence of a wider scheme. Hearthvale's reeve wants the party to capture the Burrow King alive and discover who is paying for the digging.From: Hearthvale's reeveReward: An uncommon weapon or armor piece recovered from the abandoned mine stores

Corridors

2

  • The narrow passage between and

    A mine cart has been turned into a barricade, its wheels wired with tin chimes. Kobolds can hear anyone who shoves it aside.

  • Along the warren passage

    Fresh scrape marks cross old miner's bootprints, and small clawed feet have tracked pale quarry dust toward the boss chamber.

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