Sallin’s Delve

An infamous mine said to be rich in ore and gems but subject to strange occurrences.

History

This network of caves was found by Sallin McRigger who hailed from the Ironhammer halls. Tired of working for other people Sallin had set out from home in hopes of finding a site he could work for himself until he could afford to pay others to do the work for him. This seemed like an ideal location, and after working it for a while Sallin returned to the halls to get some help.
Sallin recruited a team by offering them minor shares rather than pay, and soon had them toiling away. Things went well for about a month until a cave-in killed two of the miners. The crew blamed The Groodder and refused to work until Sallin brought in a cleric to get rid of it. Sallin sent the crew home so that he didn't have to feed them while waiting for a cleric.
About a month later Sallin called the crew back to tell them that the mine had been cleansed and their comrades' bodies retrieved. The mine became productive again, but the miners started getting uneasy. Things kept going not exactly wrong, but rather odd. Like a hammer or pick seeming to have moved when only set down moments before, or finding a piece of wood was missing when setting up supports. The miners all decided to ask Sallin to buyback their shares which he readily agreed to.
Not long afterwards Sallin sold the mine for a hefty price, delighted that he hadn't had to share it with the others. To avoid making the sale too well known he then made his way to Khezdur.
it wasn't long before the new owners, the Coppernoses, began getting reports of odd and sometimes even dangerous occurrences. With Sallin unavailable they checked with his former miners who told them about the groodder and Sallin getting rid of it. When the Coppernoses went to the temple to ask why the grooder hadn't been driven out properly they learned that Sallin had never contacted the clerics. The temple dispatched a team to purge the groodder but while conducting the ritual to drive it out they arrived they discovered the incidents were caused by something more sinister.
The mine was haunted by several malevolent spirits that were gradually increasing the severity of their activities. Attempts to communicate with the spirits revealed them to be the miners who had died in the cave-in. However, the clerics were unable to quiet the spirits and the Coppernoses were forced to abandon the mine.
Over the centuries there have been further attempts to exploit the mine by both dwarves and non-dwarves, but the spirits continue to haunt the caves and tunnels. The spirits seem inclined to try to simply scare off each new group that tries to use the mine, but if their warnings are not heeded then they have been known to escalate things further.

This was written for Spooktober 2022 for the Spirit prompt. Other Spooktober articles can be found in the Tremanac Spooktober 2022 page.

Type

Mine

Parent Location

Bolin mountains

Sallin's Crimes

After discovering the spirits the clerics tried to find out why they hadn't moved in. The found that Sallin had tried cutting costs by buying inferior wood that was half rotten for supports and that the cave-in was a result of this. Given he had lied about getting the groodder excised they also found it likely that the bodies of the miners had not been dealt with appropriately.

Sallin's Fate

Although Sallin left for the Magrannor Halls he didn't escape retribution entirely. At the behest of the families of the miners who had died the clerics called down their deity's disfavour upon Sallin, laying the Sigil of Failed Endeavours on him and his descendents. This sigil continues to be passed down in the McRigger family.