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Dungeons
Cave · Massive · Level 20 · Deadly

Orvek's Warning Cave

Blue fungus lights a warning carved into stone, and the water at your feet flows uphill.
Rooms
39
Foes
67, CR 9 to 25
Traps
3
Treasure
377,605 gp
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Warning Stone

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

The thing called the Cave-Speaker is an ancient psychic parasite fused to a living geode in room 32.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    2× Warden cave-stalkersCR 14

    When: The party makes loud noise or rests in an exposed passage.A pair of plated cave predators follow the party by scent and retreat to report if one is badly hurt.
  2. 2

    Name-eater swarmCR 15

    When: A character speaks a prisoner's name near rooms 7 through 12.A hovering cluster of mineral shards and stolen bones that whispers names as it drifts.
  3. 3

    Stone burrowerCR 16

    When: The party crosses a passage without masking its footsteps.A pale burrowing brute that can sense movement through stone and erupts beneath marching characters.

Rooms

39
1

Warning Stone

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A low natural mouth opens into a squared vestibule, with mineral water pooling around a toppled warning stone. Three doors lead inward; the southern lock is newer than the rest.

Features

  • Blue fungus outlines the ceiling
  • Warning stone bears an old miner's handprint

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Cave-stalkersCR 10

Pale cave hunters wearing scraps of warden mail.Tactics. One blocks the entrance while the other circles through the western door.

Treasure

Warden's Map Case75 gp

A leather map case containing a partial map of rooms 1 through 9.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The north and west doors lead toward the guard post and barracks; the locked south door hides the first route toward the shrines.

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

The place

What it is

The cave was carved into a natural limestone maze and later widened into a prison, archive, and shrine.

Atmosphere

Cold, damp air tastes of iron and mineral water.

The threat

The thing called the Cave-Speaker is an ancient psychic parasite fused to a living geode in room 32.

History

The first passages were opened by miners seeking a spring that flowed through the mountain.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1Miners swear the water runs uphill beneath the cave, and that drinking it makes you dream of a crystal heart.
  2. 2The old prison doors have begun opening by themselves, though every key was lost generations ago.
  3. 3A royal delving party found a treasure vault but returned with all their names scratched from their own memories.
  4. 4The mountain sometimes knocks three times from below; locals say the fourth knock means something has found the surface.

Plot hooks

3
InvestigationThe Wells That AnswerA village's wells now repeat the names of its dead. The source is believed to be the uphill-running stream deep in the cave.From: Senn, a village well-keeperReward: A warded silvered shield and the village's recovered water rights
RescueThe Last SurveyA missing company of royal delvers left a map showing a sealed passage near the old prison. Their captain's signet has surfaced in a trader's hands.From: Togir, a royal surveyorReward: A royal writ, rare climbing gear, and a share of the recovered survey
AssassinationA Voice in the King's SleepThe Cave-Speaker has begun appearing in the dreams of a local ruler, who wants it killed quietly before the court learns of the threat.From: Shesh, a sleepless court physicianReward: A substantial purse and one choice of royal relic

Corridors

3

  • Between rooms 1 and 4

    A chain of old bronze bells is wired across a narrow passage; its clapper has been removed, but the wire still carries vibrations to nearby guards.

  • Between rooms 12 and 22

    A waist-high stream runs through a crack in the floor. It flows uphill toward the deeper chambers and carries flecks of black glass.

  • Between rooms 20 and 32

    Human-sized scrape marks score the walls, all pointing toward the boss chamber. Some are fresh and wet.

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