A Beautiful Mine

Outside the Blue Clam, you see two bundled-up humanoids talking to one another. When they see you, one waves to you in a friendly manner, then says, "You seem entirely too prepared for trouble. Are you here about the mine?" The town speaker, Oarus Masthew explains that a group of kobolds crept into the mine a few days ago, entering from the surface and forcing the miners to abandon their jobs. No one was killed, but the kobolds are too dangerous for the miners to deal with. He also reveals that a human miner went missing a few days before the kobolds showed up, prompting other miners to fear that a monster must have crawled up from the Underdark. Oarus thinks it's possible that the miner fell down the central shaft, which is deep enough that his body would never be found. The entrance to the mine is in the woods northeast of town. When they arrive, the area around the opening appears devoid of life: The entrance to the gem mine is an open tunnel in a hillside. Empty carts are parked near the entrance, next to which a crude wooden sign has been propped up. Written on the sign in charcoal are the words "Kobolds only!" in Common. However...the mine is empty. Except for a Grell that swoops down. And attaches to heads...gleefully. The party finds very little, except for a skull embedded in the wall is that of a mind flayer that came up from the Underdark thousands of years ago. How it became lodged in the stone is anyone's guess. Vaede concludes that it came from a mind flayer. Dain attempts to pry the skull from the stone and causes it to shatter and fall away, revealing a crystal shard where the illithid's brain would have been. Vaede decides to try and attune to the shard...and becomes a drunkard. The party returns to Oarus and let's him know that the mine is empty. He thanks the party for it's time, but offers no reward.

Completion Date
December 4th 2022

Plot type

Too late...

Parent Plot

Rime of the Frostmaiden

Related Characters