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Dungeons
Ruins · Small · Level 5 · Medium

Warden Station 3

A numbered stone arch drips onto a dry basin, while green light stains the steps below.
Rooms
6
Foes
5, CR 1/8 to 5
Traps
1
Treasure
95 gp
123456Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Numbered Vestibule

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

A rootbound guardian, a shambling mass of bark and stone, remains in the lower ward chamber.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    Giant centipedeCR 1/4

    When: A creature leaves food scraps or disturbs a damp crack in a corridor; it may be avoided with quiet movement or bait.A giant centipede follows the warm water channels, its feelers testing the stones ahead.
  2. 2

    1d4× Twig blightsCR 1/4

    When: Loud noise or an open flame draws them from the nearest root-filled passage; they retreat from fire.A pair of twig blights skitter through root cracks, carrying scraps of faded warding cloth.
  3. 3

    Swarm of ratsCR 1/2

    When: The party spills food, makes sustained noise, or blocks the drain; smoke and light can drive the swarm away.A swarm of rats noses along the water channel, their fur slick with mineral grit.

Rooms

6
1

Numbered Vestibule

treasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

A slanted stair descends through the sanctuary's collapsed root cellar into a square vestibule. The carved number 3 remains above the outer arch, and a dry stone basin catches drops from the ceiling; a locked door leads north to the library while a disguised panel opens west into the common room.

Features

  • The outer stair is the clear entrance and can be climbed back to the abandoned sanctuary.
  • A locked northern door has an old iron keyhole; the lock can be picked or forced.
  • The western secret panel can be found by noticing that the floor's carved fox trail stops at the wall.

What the GM knows

Treasure

Warden's entry cache10 gp

A small cache of dry tinder, a brass fox token stamped 3, and two stoppered flasks of clean water remain in a niche behind the basin.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The party can retreat to the surface by the entrance stair. The fox token in the corridor fits a shallow impression near the secret panel, though it is not required to open it.

2 doors: E (locked), E (secret)

The place

What it is

Beneath an abandoned forest warden sanctuary, six cramped rooms preserve the remains of a modest watch post and its old root-ward.

Atmosphere

The air smells of wet leaf mold, lamp oil, and cold stone.

The threat

A rootbound guardian, a shambling mass of bark and stone, remains in the lower ward chamber.

History

The sanctuary was built by a small company of forest wardens who needed a dry place to record patrols and protect a spring that fed the surrounding groves.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1A bitter taste in the village spring is said to come from a buried warden's cistern.
  2. 2Travelers claim a green light appears beneath the abandoned sanctuary whenever the forest is thirsty.
  3. 3A missing patrol's whistle can supposedly quiet the thing guarding the old water source.
  4. 4One local insists the warden station had a second exit into the hillside, though nobody has found it.

Plot hooks

3
InvestigationBitter WaterThe village's spring has begun to taste bitter, and its water carries flecks of the same blue-green pigment found in the ruin. The party is asked to trace the contamination and stop it at its source.From: A village well-keeperReward: A modest purse, free lodging, and a healer's supply of antitoxin
RescueThe Missing PatrolA surveyor's surviving map marks Station 3 as the last place a missing warden was seen. The map's margin says that the lower gate was sealed from within.From: A local map sellerReward: A silvered short sword and the right to keep recovered records
Moral choiceThe Wardstone OfferA collector wants the sanctuary's intact warding stone, but removing it may weaken the spring's protection. The party must decide whether to retrieve it, repair it, or refuse the offer.From: A traveling antiquities buyerReward: A choice of uncommon potion or a fair payment in coin

Corridors

3

  • Passage between and

    A line of carved arrows points toward the sanctuary, but newer scratches redirect one arrow toward the hidden eastern passage. Following the scratches leads to the secret door from to .

  • Passage between and

    A narrow channel carries clear water downhill. Tiny flakes of blue-green paint collect in its bends, matching the marks on the sanctuary's old warding stones.

  • Passage between and

    A low root has split the floor; a boot-sized brass token is wedged beneath it, stamped with the number 3 and the image of a fox.

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