Darkearth Mine

Established around a plentiful source of iron and copper within the Wasted cliff , the Darkearth Mine was one of Tana's Empire most productive mining operations. Workers toil away within the mines beneath the jagged plains, or work the smelters that litter the courtyard, preparing to send their goods to Windrin or farther into the west of Nicodranas.

An empty wooden minecart sits on tracks, squeaking as it rolls slightly in the humid breeze. The tracks quickly disappear into a dark opening carved into the base of the cliff. A closer at the cart reveals large claw marks gouged into its sides.

Type

Mine

Description

General features

Darkearth Mine has the following features:
Ceilings. Most ceilings are about 10 feet high, except for the ceiling in area H5.
Light. None of the mine’s locations are lit unless otherwise indicated.
Wailing Wind. The structure of the mine and the elevation difference between its shafts funnels a strong wind through the tunnels. Gusts of air hiss and howl, imposing disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing.

H1: Mine Entrance

The mine’s entrance leads into a large cavern supported by wooden beams. At the chamber’s center, a derelict wooden elevator rattles in the wind that rushes from the depths of a crumbling mineshaft.

Loose planks cover the entrance to the mine. The stone of the mine entrance cavern is crumbling badly, but a character who has the Stonecunning trait or who succeeds on a DC 16 Intelligence (Nature) check can tell the cavern is in no immediate danger of collapsing.
Elevator. The elevator is rusted in place, and the shaft it once traversed is depicted as shaded spaces on map 4.1. A character who examines it and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check recognizes that the elevator will collapse under any significant weight. If 100 pounds or more is placed on the elevator platform, it collapses. Any creature standing on the platform at the time drops 100 feet into area H5, taking 35 (10d6) bludgeoning damage from the fall.
Hidden Entrance. The miners sealed a tunnel leading to the mine’s lower levels on the northwest wall after they discovered the diablos' lair. With a successful DC 12 Wisdom (Perception) check, a character perceives a section of the wall rattling in the wind, discovering a wooden door that was hidden behind a pile of rocks.

H2: Mine's protection

A makeshift wooden door blocks the entrance to this chamber.
Passwall Trap. A 5th-level glyph of warding holding a passwall spell is inscribed on the floor in front of the door. Characters can spot the glyph with a successful DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check. If someone opens the door from h2 then stand on the glyph, the glyph triggers and casts its spell on the floor around it, opening a pit into area H3. Each creature standing in the shaded spaces in front of the door on map 4.1 falls 30 feet into area H3 and takes 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage. The glyph’s effects can be avoided by opening the door from the exterior side, which prevents the spell from being triggered as it was designed to keep creature within the cave.

H3: Corpse Disposal

The stench here is horrendous. Hundreds of humanoid and animal bones fill the chamber in charnel heaps.
A ghoul festing on the leftovers from the diablos' prey live here and two ochre jellies feed on the remains and are dissolving meals deep under piles of bones. They emerge, oozing up through the bones, as soon as they sense movement.

H4: Quarters

This cave used to be the a shelter for miner, with desks, lockers and chest to stock their equipments or change before digging deeper into the mine.
Treasure. items left by the miners before they left the mine are spread through the room: 2,500 cp, 950 sp, and jewelry and other trinkets worth 90 gp and a periapt of health.

H5: Wailing Cavern

The wailing wind that gusts intermittently through the mine rises to a continuous howl in this cavern. The elevator shaft in area H1 ends in this cavern’s ceiling, and the elevator cage might have crashed to the floor below if the characters tried to use it.
This sizable cavern’s ceiling is thirty feet high, and claw marks gouge its walls. A diablos is here, sleeping in his lair.

H6: Burrow Tunnel

Claw marks gouge the stone walls of this long, straight tunnel. A breeze flows from that darkness. This tunnel runs south. THe diablos lairing in this mine travel this passage to move in and out of the mine without attracting attention.

Map

History

As profitable as the mine was, the dangerous land reminded the empire of its nature, the worker dug right into a Diablos lair. The creature wreaking havoc in the mine, and killed countless workers. The diablos was the reason for the relative tranquility of the region despite its presence in the wasted cliff, and now the miners served as his new food as the monster is now used to the smell of humanoid.