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Kobold warren under a mine · Medium · Hard

The Lower Tunnel Warren

A mine cart rocks gently on its rails, though nothing is touching it.
Rooms
13
Foes
23, CR 1/8 to 2
Traps
3
Treasure
209 gp
12345678910111213Entrance
Select a room on the plan to open it.

The party is in

1. Old Loading Bay

Seen

Something wanders by

At a glance

The threat

The Burrow King, an ancient, oversized kobold, rules from the deepest chamber with a stolen eastern coin on a chain at his throat.

Wandering monsters (1d3)

  1. 1

    2-4× Dire RatsCR 1/4

    When: A creature bleeds, or a fight continues loudly for more than three rounds.Lean dire rats with ore dust caked in their fur nose along the rails, snapping at anything wounded or separated from the group.
  2. 2

    2-3× Kobold RunnersCR 1/8

    When: A rail alarm rings or the party spends several minutes in one corridor.Kobold runners carry messages between the guards and the shrine, wearing scraps of mail and carrying slings.
  3. 3

    2× Kobold DiggersCR 1/8

    When: The party moves cautiously and makes no obvious attack; the diggers may talk before fleeing.A pair of kobold diggers push a cart of loose stone, arguing quietly about the Burrow King's bargain.

Rooms

13
1

Old Loading Bay

3 foestreasuresecret

What they see

Read aloud

The old lower tunnel opens into a square loading bay where a collapsed mine cart blocks half the floor. Kobold lookouts watch from gaps in the timber braces, ready to retreat toward the trapped passage.

Features

  • The southern archway leads toward the mine entrance.
  • A locked eastern door is made from a cart bed reinforced with scrap mail.
  • Two western doorways open into the deeper warren.

What the GM knows

Monsters

3× KoboldsCR 1/8

Kobold sentries wear mismatched helmets and carry mining picks sharpened into crude spears.Tactics. They use the cart for cover, then fall back toward while one rings the rail alarm.

Treasure

Shift Foreman's Pouch18 gp and a compass worth 5 gp

A canvas pouch wedged beneath the cart contains coin taken from miners and a small, well-kept compass.
Room secrets · GM only

Notes

The sentries can be bribed or persuaded to let the party pass if the characters mention the prisoners or the ogre's demands. The locked door opens with a Dexterity check using thieves' tools or a key carried by a sentry.

5 doors: S (archway), N (archway), E (locked), W (normal), W (normal)

The place

What it is

The warren sprawls beneath the lower mine tunnel, built from rough caves, abandoned workings, and stolen mining gear.

Atmosphere

Cold drafts carry the smell of wet stone, rat musk, and smoke from buried cookfires.

The threat

The Burrow King, an ancient, oversized kobold, rules from the deepest chamber with a stolen eastern coin on a chain at his throat.

History

The first chambers were cut by Hearthvale miners seeking a seam beneath the lower tunnel.

Rumors

1d4
Roll a rumor

  1. 1The caravan never reached Hearthvale, and miners swear they heard digging beneath the road the night the slope gave way.
  2. 2A kobold king wears a coin from the east and thinks it makes him untouchable.
  3. 3The warren is not united; some of the little miners would rather flee than keep working for the ogre.
  4. 4The lower mine carts sometimes roll uphill by themselves, though the miners insist the rails are level.

Plot hooks

3
Rescue and investigationThe Road Beneath the SlideWith the caravan missing and the winter stores dwindling, Hearthvale's reeve asks the party to reopen the road and discover who caused the slide. Tracks at the quarry point toward the lower mine.From: Hearthvale's reeveReward: A share of the recovered caravan goods and a town-issued uncommon healing charm
NegotiationA Deal in the DarkA captive kobold offers to reveal a safe route to the Burrow King if the party helps free the prisoners and promises not to slaughter the warren. The captive says the King has begun preparing a second collapse.From: A frightened kobold prisonerReward: A hidden cache of mining supplies and the prisoner's help navigating the warren
InvestigationThe Coin's MarkAn eastern coin recovered from the warren bears a mark recognized by a traveling scholar. The scholar believes it can identify the cult's agents, but the coin must be brought back intact.From: A traveling antiquarianReward: Payment for the coin and a lead toward the cult's eastern network

Corridors

3

  • Between and

    A line of tiny bootprints circles a patch of clean dust, then vanishes at a stone seam concealing a crawlspace.

  • Approach to

    A snapped mine rail has been hammered into the wall as a warning bell. Its clapper is a dangling mining pick.

  • Passage between and

    A crude mural shows a huge ogre towering over kneeling kobolds, all beneath a large gold coin.

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