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Deep dungeon that goes to the underdark. The party is locating and escorting a supplier who has yet to return back with supplies to make important enchanted oil and wicks for lanterns that are designed to keep beasts off the streets at night. Without this supplier and supplies, less light for the town spells certain disaster for its citizens. · Medium · Medium

The Lampwarden Descent

The lamps were meant to keep the dark outside, but the dark came down the intake shaft.
Rooms
7
Foes
17, CR 1/4 to 4
Traps
5
Treasure
858 gp
1234567Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Ruined Intake Shaft

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

A disciplined underdark holdfast has seized the old intake tunnels and is using them to hide supply theft, moving the missing lantern goods deeper while their overseer, a chitin-armored tunnel commander, prepares to choke the surface town's light by cutting off the enchanted oil.

Wandering monsters (1d4)

  1. 1

    1d6× Tunnel ratsCR 1/2

    When: Noise near open crates or lingering in the shafts too longHungry vermin drawn to spilled oil and food scraps.
  2. 2

    1d4× Underdark sentriesCR 1

    When: Failure to stay quiet in the checkpoint and loading hallsPatrolling sentries checking the old routes and listening for intruders.
  3. 3

    1d2× Cave stalkersCR 2

    When: After a loud fight or if the party lights multiple firesPack-hunters from below that follow the smell of blood, smoke, and lamp fuel.
  4. 4

    2d4× Rust gnawersCR 1/4

    When: Leaving gear in corridor alcoves or resting in the storeroomsA skittering scavenger that steals tools, keys, and small metal objects from unattended packs.

Rooms

7
1

Ruined Intake Shaft

2 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

The entrance shaft is cracked open from above, with rubble piled around a bent winch and a dead hoist line hanging into darkness. Fresh tracks, dragged crates, and a smear of lantern oil show that the caravan entered recently, and a faint draft carries a muffled clank from deeper within.

Features

  • Broken winch platform
  • Dragged crate marks
  • Loose ceiling rubble
  • Old dwarf survey sigils

What the GM knows

Monsters

2× Tunnel ratsCR 1/4

Lean tunnel rats feeding on spilled grain and oil-soaked cordage.Tactics. They dart from rubble pockets, trying to distract and harry anyone examining the tracks.

Treasure

Lantern hook5 gp

A dented lantern hook stamped with a dwarf workshop mark and still usable.

Rope seals10 gp

A wax packet of intact rope seals from the caravan ledger crate.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

This is the obvious entry and should feel exposed but not lethal. Let the party immediately see the caravan trail and the first hint that the goods were moved inward on purpose.

3 doors: N (normal), E (secret), W (normal)

The place

What it is

This ruined intake complex once moved lamp oil, wicks, and ritual freight from the surface to deeper workings below.

Atmosphere

Cold air breathes up from the shaft like a cellar grave.

The threat

A disciplined underdark holdfast has seized the old intake tunnels and is using them to hide supply theft, moving the missing lantern goods deeper while their overseer, a chitin-armored tunnel commander, prepares to choke the surface town's light by cutting off the enchanted oil.

History

Long ago, sturdy miners and dwarf haulers carved this intake line to move lantern oil, lamp wicks, and shrine goods from a surface depot down to deeper vaults.

Rumors

1d5
Roll a rumor

  1. 1Old tunnel workers say the intake shafts were swallowed by something that learned to speak in dwarf codes.
  2. 2A lantern-smith swears the missing supplier was seen alive, riding a cart deeper underground with his hands bound.
  3. 3People near the mine claim the dark beasts avoid lit streets only when the enchanted oil is fresh, and that someone's stealing the supply on purpose.
  4. 4A retired foreman says the old loading rails have a hidden branch that was never on the public maps.
  5. 5There is a whisper that the underdark buyers pay extra for wicks treated with shrine ash.

Plot hooks

4
rescueFind the Missing SupplierThe town's night lanterns are failing faster than expected, and a supplier caravan carrying enchanted oil and special wicks has not returned.From: Mara Vell, lantern-smith of the town wardReward: 200 gp and a cache of lantern oil vials
recoveryReopen the Old RouteA mine foreman recognizes the intake tunnel entrance in an old survey map and begs the party to investigate before the light shortage becomes a panic.From: Foreman Dask IronbrowReward: Access to dwarf-made tools and a 150 gp bonus
defenseHold the Night LineStrange beasts have begun testing the streets at night, as if they are waiting for the last ward-lanterns to fail.From: Captain Elira DawnwatchReward: City favor and a defensive blessing
investigationExpose the TheftA rival trader offers a reward for proof of who hijacked the shipment, insisting the cargo contains more than oil and wicks.From: Tovin Grell, suspicious quartermasterReward: 250 gp and a contact in the trade guild

Corridors

4

  • Between and

    Old loading rails run along the floor, broken in places where carts were dragged instead of rolled.

  • Between and

    Watch niches with cracked arrow slits overlook the main passage, each one stained by soot from failed lanterns.

  • Secret side passage near

    A narrow maintenance crawl slants under a collapsed wall and bypasses the checkpoint toward the storerooms.

  • Deeper corridors near and

    Pale fungus grows in strips along the lower stones, giving off a dim blue-green glow and a bitter smell.

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