The Bellowsdeep Rescue
The Bellowsdeep Rescue
Read aloud
A fresh notice is pinned outside the Phandalin townmaster's hall: miners have gone missing at Bellowsdeep Mine, and the creek beside it is rising. The mine's investor offers coin for anyone who can bring the crew out alive. A smear of dark stone dust across the bottom of the notice looks almost like a claw mark.
Run the session
Cheat sheet
Objectives
- 1Find a route through the damaged mine.
- 2Find the trapped miners.
- 3Rescue the miners and secure a way out.
- 4Discover the cause of the breach.Optional
The clock
The creek is rising. After each major delay, roll or choose a complication; after three delays, water blocks the easiest route back to the surface and the miners must abandon some equipment to escape.
Scenes
- 0:00The Notice on the Board
- 0:25Tracks in the Lantern Gallery
- 1:10The Barricaded Refuge
- 1:50The Slateback's Lair
Cast
- Halia ThorntonQuestgiver
- Nessa VaneAlly
- The SlatebackAntagonist
- Tovin RuskWitness
The hook
Set the scene
At the edge of Phandalin, the posted notice flaps in the wind as Halia waits beside a loaded supply cart. She explains that the mine's last message mentioned a cave-in, then asks the party to bring back every miner they can. At the mine, the entrance is partly blocked by fresh rubble, and a lantern flickers somewhere below.
How Halia Thornton asks
A public announcement posted outside Phandalin's townmaster's hall offers a rescue payment.
Halia Thornton waits nearby with a map of the upper mine and a supply cart.
Rumours
Scenes
about 3 hours0:00
25 min
socialThe table is here
1. The Notice on the Board
Phandalin townmaster's hall and the road to Bellowsdeep Mine
The party gets the job from the public notice, learns the creek is rising, and receives a rough map of the mine. Halia can point out that the miners' shift bell has not sounded.
NextThe party follows the creek upstream to the mine entrance, where a damaged lantern and fresh claw marks signal that the danger is close.
0:25
45 min
exploration
2. Tracks in the Lantern Gallery
The entrance galleries, where tracks, broken tools, and water levels reveal a route toward the lower works
The party enters the mine, navigates unstable supports, and finds signs that the miners retreated deeper rather than leaving. Stirges may attack when the party disturbs their roost.
The Lantern GalleryNextA miner's chalk arrow leads to a blocked crosscut. Beyond it, muffled voices answer the party's calls.
1:10
40 min
social
3. The Barricaded Refuge
A braced side chamber above the rising waterline, with miners rationing lamp oil and supplies
The party reaches the miners' refuge, where Nessa explains that the creature came from a newly opened chamber. Tovin's evasiveness and the blast marks provide clues to the breach.
NextNessa identifies a raised route toward the surface, but it passes by the creature's chamber. The group must choose whether to confront, distract, or sneak past it.
1:50
60 min
combat
4. The Slateback's Lair
The creature's mineral-lined chamber and the narrow ledge leading to the upper mine
The party chooses how to handle the Slateback, then leads the miners along the raised ledge and back through the galleries. A noisy or delayed escape can trigger a complication from the table.
The Nesting ChamberNextThe party emerges at the mine entrance with the rescued workers. Halia arrives with blankets, supplies, and the promised payment.
Behind it
What people believe
A crew of miners is trapped in Bellowsdeep Mine near Phandalin after a cave-in and a monster attack.
Halia Thornton has posted a public offer for a rescue, and the rising creek threatens to flood the lower galleries. The party must find the missing workers and bring them to safety.
Background
The old Bellowsdeep Mine lies a half-day from Phandalin, where a narrow creek cuts through a ridge.
It supplied iron to local smiths until its lower galleries flooded and the owners abandoned it. A small crew recently reopened the upper works, only to lose contact after a cave-in and a series of enormous claw marks appeared near the entrance.
The stakes
The miners face rising water, unstable tunnels, and a territorial monster.
A delayed rescue may cost lives, while killing the Slateback could make the mine safer in the short term but leaves its young vulnerable and may provoke further trouble.
Encounters
2The Lantern Gallery
Combat
A narrow mine gallery with timber supports, hanging lantern hooks, scattered ore carts, and a steep drainage ditch.
Foes
2 cave stirges, using the standard stirge statistics
ComplicationUnstable timber supports can be braced, toppled to block a passage, or damaged by a hard impact. A collapse separates the group or complicates the escape but should not instantly bury a character.
ScalingFor a level 2 party, use one stirge or have the second flee after taking damage. For a larger or level 4 party, use three stirges. Avoid adding extra foes if the party has already spent significant resources.
The Nesting Chamber
Combat or bypass
A broad cavern split by a mineral shelf, with a shallow flooded channel, loose shale, and a narrow raised ledge leading toward the miners' refuge.
Foes
The Slateback, a custom cave predator using the statistics of a cave bear
ComplicationThe Slateback fights defensively and tries to drive intruders away from its nest. Breaking or crossing the nest chamber's brittle mineral shelf risks a localized rockslide. Characters can use noise, food, or a clear escape route to distract it instead of fighting.
ScalingFor a level 2 party, use the custom Slateback with reduced hit points and have it retreat once bloodied. For levels 3 to 4, use the cave bear statistics without adjustment. If the party is already depleted, the Slateback may be distracted by the miners' food stores rather than fight to the finish.
Cast
4Halia Thornton
QuestgiverQuestgiver, mine investor
WantsWants the trapped miners rescued and fears the mine will be lost to a disaster that could have been prevented.
“Please, bring them back. I can pay for the rescue, but I cannot replace the people down there.”
Nessa Vane
Ally, trapped shift forewoman
WantsWants to keep the surviving miners calm and find a route out before the mine floods further.
“We can still get out if we keep the lanterns lit and the water below our knees.”
The Slateback
Antagonist, territorial cave-dwelling monster
WantsWants to drive intruders away from its nest and protect its young, though it can be distracted or avoided.
“No more shouting. It hears the stone carry your voice.”
Tovin Rusk
Witness, trapped miner and amateur prospector
WantsWants to hide that his unauthorized blasting opened a crack into the creature's nesting chamber.
“I was only trying to keep the supports from falling. Then the thing came through the wall.”
How it ends
Rewards
Items
A potion of healing from the mine's emergency stores, if the party saves the supplies.
A silvered miner's pickhead, a keepsake that can be fitted to a suitable weapon or tool.
On a win
The surviving miners reach the surface, where Halia arranges medical care and pays the agreed reward.
If the party dealt with the Slateback without killing it, the miners can mark a safe route around its chamber. If they uncovered Tovin's blasting, Halia must decide whether to punish him or treat the breach as a shared failure.
What it leaves open
If it fails
- The party does not reach the trapped crew before the water rises or the creature blocks the route.
- The miners escape through the upper works but the Slateback remains in the mine, making future work dangerous and leaving Halia unable to reopen it.
- The group ignores the forewoman's warning, loses time to repeated collapses, or abandons miners during the escape.
- One or more miners are injured or separated, requiring rescue and care after the adventure. Halia pays only part of the promised reward and the miners' families blame the party.
- The party exposes the hidden chamber but neither secures a safe route nor resolves the creature's presence.
- Tovin's reckless blasting becomes public, damaging trust between the miners and the mine's investors. The Slateback's nest remains a threat near the mine.
Complications (d6)
- 1A ceiling beam snaps. Each nearby character must move clear or make an appropriate check to avoid being knocked prone and taking minor falling-debris damage.
- 2A lantern is struck from its hook and goes out, leaving one section in darkness until someone spends time relighting it or provides another light source.
- 3A sudden surge of creek water reaches the tunnel. The party must secure loose gear or risk having small items swept into a lower passage.
- 4A frightened miner bolts into a side tunnel. Reaching them costs time and may draw the Slateback's attention.
- 5A loose ore cart rolls down the sloped track. Characters must jump aside, stop it, or redirect it before it crashes into the miners' barricade.
- 6The Slateback scrapes its claws along the stone nearby. The noise gives the party a brief warning, but the monster is now closing in.
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