L5. Stahlmast's Workroom

From the inclined passage leading to this rectangular cavern, you see a heavy lantern hanging from the ceiling, shedding bright light. A long table in the cavern is covered in large sheets of parchment, books, inkwells, and charcoal, and numerous notes are spiked to the stone walls.

Most of the notes here read like mad scrawls mixed with engineering designs. Sketches of the layout of Hupperdook and the mountaintop are seen, as well as what looks like the designs for Explosive Seeds (see the “Alchemical Items” sidebar) and a diagram of how the seeds can be surgically implanted into creatures. Another note details the process by which sharks are to be placed into the waterfall lake in Silver Falls Grove. One strange design shows what appears to be some kind of clockwork-powered armor.

Vox Seeker

Clinging to the underside of the table is a Vox Seeker. There is a 25 percent chance that the automaton is wound up when discovered, allowing it to attack for up to 5 minutes.

Dastardly Deeds

A character who studies the notes and diagrams can determine that Stahlmast plans to set powerful explosives across the mountainside in a way that will bury most of Hupperdook in a landslide, even as it leaves his lair intact. Bringing these designs to Watchmaster Bram Gulchswattle earns the characters an additional reward (see “Concluding the Adventure” at the end of this adventure).

Secret Door

Any character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 17 or higher, or who succeeds on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check, notices a thin slab of rock that hides a hidden passageway. This passage leads into Stahlmast's bedroom in area L18.

Parent Plot

3. Stahlmast’s Lair