Blackiron Delve
The pickaxes stopped swinging decades ago, but the shadows still dig.
A vertical iron mine carved into the side of a jagged mountain peak. Now abandoned by its dwarven creators, the lower levels are choked with toxic dust and the restless spirits of those who died in the Great Collapse.
The air is cold and carries a metallic tang of iron. A fine, silver-gray dust covers every surface, rising in small clouds with every step. Far below, a rhythmic thumping sound like a distant heartbeat echoes through the shafts.
☠ Threat
Foreman Grumnir, now a Ghost, haunts the lower depths. He is obsessed with finishing the day's quota and commands a small army of 'Dust-Drowned' (Zombies) and Earth Elementals. Grumnir believes any living intruders are lazy workers or rival claim-jumpers who must be put to work or executed for trespassing on clan property.
History
Established two centuries ago by the Iron-Shield Clan, Blackiron Delve was once the region's primary source of high-grade magnetite. Thirty years ago, miners struck a pocket of strange, necrotic quartz that bled a numbing gray mist. Within hours, the mine was evacuated, but the Foreman and his personal guard remained behind to seal the deep shafts. They were never seen alive again, and the mine has been shunned as a haunted grave ever since.
Encounter Table
CRA rusted metal cart that charges down the tracks at high speed.
Zombified dwarves still wearing their leather aprons and hard hats.
A small, jagged pile of animated rock and iron ore.
Rumours & Whispers
The Foreman's ghost still calls out the names of miners every midnight.
A vein of pure silver was found just before the mine was sealed.
The strange dust in the mine can turn a man's lungs to stone if he stays too long.
A local merchant has the original map of the assay office's hidden vault.
The lift was sabotaged from the inside to keep something from getting out.
Quest Hooks
Quest giver: Elara Iron-Shield
The granddaughter of a miner wants the party to retrieve her grandfather's lost wages from the payroll vault.
10% of the recovered gold and a family heirloom.
Quest giver: Mayor Thrum
The local town needs iron ore, but the mine is 'too spooky'. Clear the ghosts so they can reopen it.
Mining rights or a permanent discount at local smiths.
Quest giver: Xandor the Gray
A wizard needs a sample of the 'Necrotic Quartz' found in the deepest sanctum for a ritual.
A choice of three level-2 spell scrolls.
Corridor Notes
Rusted ore tracks that vibrate when something large moves nearby.
Claw marks etched deep into the stone walls, five feet off the ground.
A discarded lunch tin containing a petrified piece of black bread.
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