Pargenter's Mine

This well-hidden, deep mine is home to a clan of some 40 gnomes. They feign a lazy and idle nature, and the dwarves of Greysmere and Karakast regard them as indolent and useless, as do most other gnomes. The reality of things is very different.

The gnomes here mine a vein of unique ore-a copperlike metal that is greatly prized for use in magical items such as swords, rings, braziers, and suchlike. The metal bears a strange enchantment that protects items composed of at least 5% of it. Siich items add +2 to their saving throws against special attack forms (Dungeon Masters Guide, Table 29). This bonus is addi- tional to any others that apply.

The gnomes protect their secret most carefully, having excavated a tunnel nearly 20 miles northward so thev can emerge iust south of Ryell Pass at a secret entrance hidden with hallucinatory terrain. From there, small groups travel to Greyhawk to sell their refined metal to the Guild of Wizardr, which does not reveal the secret of its origin.

DMs Note: A handful of wizards and sages speculate that there is an almost continuous, very deep vein of mysterious magic that runs from this mine, up to and along Ryell Pass, and up toward Janaquil Valley and on to Sourlode (where its effects are more malign). If this is true, other manifestations might be found in hidden cairns and caves along this vein. DMs may wish to invent such locations and effects, taking into account what happens at these other sites.