Dark Denizens of the Deep Delve

Set Up

This takes place in the Cairn Hills.

• While in the Free City, the PCs are contacted by agents of the Jewelers' and Gemcutters' Guild to investigate the strange goings-on in one of the mines owned by their membership.

• Traveling through the wilderness, the PCs are attacked by a raiding-party of dark elves. If the PCs track the drow back to the lair after the attack, or search the area the following day, they come across what appear to be abandoned mine-workings.

• PCs exploring the Underdark discover the whereabouts of some kind of shrine to an evil elemental lord, guarded by despicably evil beings that revel in the capture and torture of human beings and other surface dwellers. Their directions bring them to some recent mine workings not far from the shrine.

The Lair

The mine is located in the Cairn Hills, not too far from the Free City, although it could just as easily be located near any major city. The mine is exploiting a rich seam of agate and shafts now extend to considerable depths. Recently the miners started excavating a new level (at a depth of some 200 feet from the surface). Their excavations broke into some natural caverns and then the attacks and the disappearances began. The surviving miners have barricaded themselves into the bunkhouse on the surface against the regular nightly attacks of the "earth devils."

The Mine

The mine is located in a deep valley. A cluster of small wooden buildings surrounds the entrance shafts to the mines. These buildings show evidence of recent attacks and are scarred by flame. On closer inspection, smashed and abandoned mining equipment can be seen, and if the PCs approach the bunkhouse, the remaining miners sally forth to welcome their rescuers.

Only some 20 of the original mining force of 80 human, dwarven, and gnomish miners remain, the rest having been either killed, captured, or simply vanished in the mines or subsequent nightly attacks. The few miners that have survived encounters with their assailants report that the attackers are small and dwarflike.

Under no circumstances will any of their number agree to accompany the PCs into the mine, but they will give the PCs directions to the main vertical shafts that lead down to the lower levels.

The Lower Level and the Caverns

Recent excavations by the miners broke into some natural caverns that contained a shrine. This shrine, which is regularly visited by evil denizens of the Underdark, is guarded by a small outpost of dark elves. When the miners broke into their caverns, they attacked the miners, and some were killed, but most were captured. Some of the captured miners are now being used by the drow to collapse the mine-workings on the lower levels to prevent any further transgressions into their domain by the surface dwellers, while the other captives are being held in the caverns until an escort of drow can be organized to take them back to their stronghold in the Underdark.

The PCs first encounter the drow in the tunnels of the lower level. Before the encounter, the PCs should come across several places where the shafts are blocked by recent rock falls. PCs who take care to be silent while exploring the tunnels will hear the sound of picks and hammering up ahead. Down the tunnel, in the dim light of a single guttering torch, the PCs see four shackled and disheveled miners hacking away at the supports that line the tunnel.

At the very edge of the torchlight, beyond the working miners, four dark elves stand guard, two against each wall of the tunnel. The drow are not expecting trouble and are more interested in overseeing the miners than guarding the tunnel. Their carelessness cancels the normal concealment afforded by their cloaks, and the party will see them first.

Because of the light from the torch, the drow's infravision is useless and they will not see the PCs approaching outside the illumination radius of the torch. If the PCs announce their presence, then the drow try to grab the captive miners to use as shields, firing poisoned crossbow bolts from their crossbows at the PCs, and backing off down the tunnel toward the safely of their caverns and comrades.

This area of tunnel is very unstable and spells cast here that cause significant amounts of damage have a chance of precipitating a cave-in. While the DM may wish to use the threat of a cave-in to increase the tension, he should not try to bury the PCs (a collapse here would in flict a mimmum of 12d8 points of damage to the PCs) but should emphasize the groaning and creaking from the pit-props and tell the PCs that a cave-in looks imminent. In this case, the collapse will occur just as the PCs get out of the way.

Drow Guards (4): AC 2 (chain mail and buckler + 1 MV 12: HD 2: hp 12 each: THAC0 18; Dmg 1d8 + 1 (long sword + 1): MR 54%: Int High to Supra-: AL CE; XP 650 each.

Spells: dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire.

Each guard has a hand crossbow with poisoned darts (THAC0 19; Dmg 1d3, plus save vs. poison at - 4 or be rendered comatose for 2d4 hours).

Note: This information should also be used for any other drow guards encountered inside the complex; statistics are not repeated in every place where more guards are mentioned.

If the guards escape, they will flee down the tunnel to warn and reinforce their comrades in Area 1.

Terrain: Hills

Total Party Levels: 30 (Average 5th)

Total gp: 4,700

Monster XP: 13,150

Area 1: The mine tunnel enters a natural cavern here. Several large boulders have been arrayed around a cleft in the rock that leads into the drow cavems. Two drow guards have assumed a defensive position behind these boulders (if any guards escape from the encounter above, they join these two and summon the cleric from Area 3 and the four drow from Area 2).

These guards are alert, attacking first using their crossbows and trying to keep the PCs at a distance. If not already alerted, the four drow from Area 2 arrive to support them two rounds after the PCs attack, and the cleric from Area 3 arrives one round later.

Area 2: This cavern serves as the general livmg quarters for the drow in the mine. Unless alerted by combat in Area 1 or by the guards from the first encounter, there are four drow in this cavern.

Area 3: This cavern has been closed off from the rest of the complex by a crudely fitted wooden door. The chamber beyond is the room of a female dark elf cleric. who is here unless alerted by combat in Areas 1 or 2.

Drow Cleric: AC 0 (chain mail + 2 and Dex 17 MV 12; HD 5: hp 20; THAC0 17; Dmg 1d6 +2 (mace + 1 MR 60%; Int Very: AL CE; XP 4.000.

Spells (innate): dancing lights, darkness. faerie fire, detect magic, know alignment, levitate, clairvoyance, detect lie, dispel magic, suggestion.

Spells (priest): curse, darkness, cure light wounds ( x 2), protection from good. chant, hold person, resist fire, silence 15' radius. slow poison, pyrotechnics. She also has a ring of spell storing with a wall of fire in it.

The cleric will use her spells for her personal protection and assistance in combat, not to aid her fellow dark elves. lf all looks lost, the cleric casts wall of fire in an attempt to save her own skin (she is not concemed about the captives or the guards). She then flees back to the drow stronghold in the Underdark.

The group's treasure is stored in a locked chest. The chest contains 250 pp. 500 gp, 10 gems (2 x 500 gp, 6 x 100 gp, and 2 x 50 gp), potions of diminution and poison. a scroll of protection from gas, a wand of metal and mineral detection (30 charges), and a stone of controlling earth elementals.

Area 4: This narrow cavern is lit by lines of candles running along the cavern walls. Chunks of quartz stud the ceiling and walls of the cavern and reflect the candlelight. This cavern is used as a shrine to elemental earth forces by the drow. There is a large, crude statue of a humanoid shape-actually an earth elemental that has been imprisoned here and left with orders to attack any non-drow intruders.

Earth elemental: AC 2: MV 6; HD 8; hp 40: THAC0 12; #AT 1; Dmg 4d8; SD +2 or better weapon to hit; Int Low; AL N; SZ L; XP 2,000.

The altar of this shrine is strewn with a small pile of raw gemstones-offerings left there by brave (or foolhardy) pilgrims who have traveled the Underdark to worship at this shrine. These gemstones are in a crude state but still have a value of 1,500 gp (but worth ten times this amount if cut and polished).

Area 5: Twenty of the captured miners are kept shackled in this cavern until the drow can take them back to their stronghold deep in the Underdark. They are guarded by a single elderly drow (statistics as for guards. except for AC 5, hp 8). This elf may not be equal to the fitter and more agile warrior guards, but he is cunning. If he hears the PCs approaching down the tunnel, he hides out of sight by the tunnel entrance and calls to the PCs to halt and go back before he starts killing the captives.

Alternatively, if the DM wishes to expand the adventure, the captive miners may have already been taken into the Underdark (the tracks of their shuffling feet are clearly visible in the sandy floor of the caverns). The elderly drow is still here and still tries to dupe the PCs into backing off by threatening the nonexistent captives while he makes good his escape. The PCs must then mount an expedition into the Underdark to retrieve the captives and maybe even discover the drow's stronghold.