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Dungeons
Mine · Medium · Level 2 · Hard

Blue Iron Mine

Blue light pulses between the floorstones, and every pick blow earns a second knock from below.
Rooms
13
Foes
14, CR 1/4 to 1
Traps
6
Treasure
1,230 gp
12345678910111213Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Loading Hall

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

Grubnak, a goblin boss, has claimed the lowest galleries and wears a crude crown of blue iron.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    2× Tunnel RunnersCR 1/4

    When: A loud fight, a ringing alarm, or a failed attempt to hide tracks in a goblin-held corridor draws them within rounds.A pair of goblin tunnel runners with shortbows and soot-darkened faces, carrying messages between the barracks and the upper rooms.
  2. 2

    1d4× Mine RatCR 1/4

    When: The party rests near the damp drains or leaves food unattended.A hungry cave rat, bloated on spoiled stores and bold enough to gnaw through a boot while its prey sleeps.
  3. 3

    Powder MinderCR 1/2

    When: The party disturbs the ore chute or makes repeated noise near .A goblin foreman in a patchwork apron carries a handaxe and a pouch of blasting powder. He is looking for Grubnak and assumes strangers are rival scavengers.

Rooms

13
1

Loading Hall

treasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A broad loading chamber opens beneath a timber lintel bearing the faded words SLATEHOOK COMPANY. Three ordinary doors lead toward the old workings, while a locked southern door is bound in iron; the floor is tracked with fresh goblin prints and old ore dust.

Features

  • A cracked company sign hangs above the entry passage.
  • A dead lantern still contains a usable flask of lamp oil.
  • The southern door has a simple iron lock.

What the GM knows

Treasure

Slatehook Pay Ledger15 gp

A company pay ledger in a tin tube lists the names of the last miners and mentions 'the ringing seam.'
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The doors lead to rooms 1 through 4. The locked southern door opens toward the sealed lower haulage route; its key is carried by the goblin sentry in .

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

The place

What it is

The old mine descends through cramped galleries, drowned cuts, and a chain of rooms carved around a rich seam of blue iron.

Atmosphere

Cold air carries wet slate, old lamp oil, and a faint copper tang.

The threat

Grubnak, a goblin boss, has claimed the lowest galleries and wears a crude crown of blue iron.

History

The mine was opened by the Slatehook Company, a small guild of miners who followed a blue iron seam beneath the hills.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1A hired team went down to reopen the mine, but their lanterns were seen moving below after the crew had supposedly left.
  2. 2The goblins will not enter the old lamp shrine, even when wounded or pursued.
  3. 3A smith paid well for a thumb-sized piece of blue iron, then spent a week hearing knocks from inside his forge.
  4. 4The mine's southern door is locked from the inside, and the key was last worn by a goblin chief.
  5. 5Some say the old company buried its wages underground, though the miners' ledger mentions a reserve rather than a payday.

Plot hooks

3
RescueThe Missing SurveyorsA prospector's survey crew entered the mine to reclaim its claim-stakes and has not returned. Their employer wants proof of what happened, and one surveyor may still be alive in the prison room.From: Hettie Parn, a practical claim clerk whose brother joined the survey crewReward: A purse of 50 gp, plus the crew's recovered survey tools
InvestigationOre in the MarketBlue iron has appeared in a nearby smith's shipment, though no legal mine has produced it for years. The smith fears the goblins are already selling ore and asks the party to find the source.From: Boro Vask, a broad-shouldered village smithReward: A repaired weapon or armor piece and 40 gp
ContainmentThe Bell BelowThe mine's old warning bell rang underground during a storm. A local elder believes the buried seam is waking and hires the party to silence whatever is making the sound.From: Sella, keeper of the village watch ledgerReward: A rare blue-iron charm worth 75 gp if brought back intact

Corridors

3

  • Between and

    A rusted ore cart sits derailed across the narrow track. Its load is mostly slate, but shifting it reveals a goblin slingstone cache beneath.

  • The junction outside

    Fresh claw marks and tiny bootprints cross older miner's chalk arrows. The newest prints turn toward .

  • Between and the lower workings

    A cracked ventilation shaft breathes warm air in short pulses. Voices carry through it from , though words are hard to distinguish.

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