The Mines of Coliar

There is a contract to bring a supply of animals to the Union of Socialist Conciliar Republics on Coliar. They are to be delivered to the Central Executive Committee of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance for distribution to the constituent republics. Specifically, they are to deliver them to Senior Commissar Schlith Darkscale in the port of call Hisssta.

Plot points/Scenes

Upon approaching Hisssta, a Horn of Long Voicing will sound, informing the party that they must be prepared to present their papers upon docking. When they dock, Senior Commissar Schlith Darkscale will arrive with three other lizardfolk, his deputy and two orderlies. He will ask the party for their paperwork. To successfully fill out the lengthy and complicated paperwork—in triplicate—the party must spend at least 3 hours filling it out and take one level of exhaustion. PCs attempting to fill out the paperwork with an INT score lower than 15 will need to pass a DC16 Con saving throw or take two levels of exhaustion. A lizardfolk PC or animatronic PC does not incur any penalties. Commissar Darkscale will accept the paperwork and then order the cargo removed. In terms of payment, Darkscale will bluntly tell the party that they need to talk to the Central Payments and Reimbursement Office to get paid as he does not have authority to give any renumeration besides republican scrips, which are worthless outside the lizardfolk on Coliar. At the Central Payments and Reimbursement Office, Commissar Slickback will tell the party that they need to fill out Renumeration Paperwork. It will take 3 hours for one player to complete, but reduced by 30 minutes for each player who chooses to help. Any player attempting to fill out the paperwork, unless they are lizardfolk or automatons, suffers one level of exhaustion. PCs attempting to fill out the paperwork with an INT score lower than 15 will need to pass a DC16 Con saving throw or take two levels of exhaustion. Commissar Slickback will accept the paperwork, but inform the party that he does not have the requisite funds to fulfill the renumeration request. He suggests either waiting 6-9 months or talking to the Department of Foreign Numismatic Resources, specifically the Requisition and Redistribution Division. He knows the commissar there who can explain why there is a bottleneck in foreign currency coming to his office. Divisional Commissar Icefang is the head of the Requisition and Redistribution Division at the Department of Foreign Numismatic Resources. He is willing to meet with the party and asks that they submit some paperwork detailing their request for information. It will take 3 hours for one player to complete, but reduced by 30 minutes for each player who chooses to help. Any player attempting to fill out the paperwork, unless they are lizardfolk or automatons, suffers one level of exhaustion. PCs attempting to fill out the paperwork with an INT score lower than 15 will need to pass a DC16 Con saving throw or take two levels of exhaustion. Divisional Commissar Icefang will inform the party, after accepting their paperwork, that he cannot fulfill the request because he is awaiting a disbursement from a gem stone miner—he has an easement where he pays for the privilege to mine the gems—who claims that the gem mine he is trying to collect from is infested with monsters. Icefang put in a request at the Department of Internal Affairs, Environmental Threats and Domestic Disturbance Division, Office of Complex and Tactile Investigations, but has not heard back yet. He expects a response in 3-6 months. Alternatively, he suggests the party go talk to the miner and see if they can persuade him to pay up. Travelling for a few hours, the party come to the mine where a few tents with "House Mourne, INC." A human with a wooden board with papers attached to it. His name is Kolya Kusimich and he is House Mourne's manager for the mine they got rights to on Coliar. He explains that the mine has been overrun by rust monsters that ate the pickaxes and other equipment. He hired some "adventurers who were actually bandits who thought they could take control of the mine themselves, figuring that House Mourne won't be able to expend resources to catch them. They killed or captured miners, including the foreman, who has the deed to the mine which is absolutely necessary to fill out the lizardfolk paperwork. He says he will gladly pay the easement rights if he can just get people into the mine and stop the striking miners. Areas of The Rustmine 1 - Mine Entrance Black smoke rises from behind the closed mine entrance, and gruff, hearty voices can be heard laughing amidst the clatter of dice and mugs. A couple of heads poke themselves over the wall—guards keeping watch. Locked Gate. The wooden gate leading into the main area of the mine entrance is locked (see “General Features”). Encounter: Bandit Camp. A group of ruffians have taken residence outside the mine, and will not allow anyone to enter. However, their leader, Edwyrd Bizana, along with some lieutenants has gone missing within the mine, and so the bandits may be convinced to allow the characters to enter if they promise to bring him back alive, providing they pass a Charisma (Persuasion) check. The bandits are quick to regale the characters with frightening tales—screams, ghosts, the whole gamut of superstition—and are unwilling to enter the mine themselves. The truth is that disease broke out and it was thought to be demonic possession. Alternatively, the characters may pay the bandits gold to enter the mine without a fight. Refer to the table below for more encounter information. 2 thugs, 8 bandits DC 15 150 gp per character 2 - Living Quarters The room is a mess: the bandits have turned over the mining company’s living quarters and made themselves quite at home. There is a dead dwarf woman with age lines and graying hair on the floor. Treasure: Hidden Satchel. A careful search of the room reveals a loose floorboard under the body, beneath which is a private satchel containing the previous foreman's day-today journal, one half of the company’s deed to the mine, and a Small Art Object (25 gp). 3 - Dead-end Adits These tunnels were created during the exploratory phase of the mine’s construction before the proper ingress was found. Aside from some tools lying around, there’s no sign of activity in the area. 4 - Primary Shaft The area near the primary shaft entrance is covered in thick spider webs. The webs covering the shaft itself appear to have been cut recently. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, poised like knives over the earth. Encounter: Crawly Critters. Several of the Rustmine’s denizens have taken up residence in this area, and have returned from the hunt to find their lair disturbed. Any creature entering this area who fails a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check is surprised by the creatures. 8 giant wolf spiders Hazard: Climbing Down. The mine shaft is fifty feet long and five feet wide (wide enough for a single Medium creature). The elevator mechanism that once connected the two floors is broken. Climbing down requires a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. A creature that fails this check falls 25 feet to the level below and lands prone. A creature who fails this check by 10 or more falls 50 feet and lands prone. 5 - Mine Level 2 Entrance The air is heavy with the stench of death and decay. A crackling sound emanates from all around as if the mine itself were sizzling, disintegrating. Hazard: Dead Body - Hallucination Fever. The body of a bandit lies at the bottom of the mineshaft; it seems he fell down during the bandit leader’s exploration of the mine. A cursory inspection of the body reveals that everything metal on his person has rusted. Additionally, any character that physically touches the dead body is infected with hallucination fever upon a failed DC 12 Con save. This disease targets humanoids, although gnomes are strangely immune. While in the grips of this disease, victims frequently succumb to fits of hallucination. Symptoms manifest immediately after infection and include fever and disorientation before the hallucinations begin. The infected creature gains one level of exhaustion that can’t be removed until the disease is cured. Any event that causes the infected creature great stress—including entering combat, taking damage, experiencing fear, or having a nightmare—forces the creature to make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 5 (1d10) psychic damage and experience a hallucination from the following table. 1. You are entranced by a flock of rainbow-colored birds flying through a clear-blue sky. 2.Your mother / parental figure is scolding you for eating all of the sweets in the pantry. 3.You see a tiny man, the size of your thumb, dancing a merry jig on the palm of your hand. 4. You feel as though you are covered in crawling insects. 5.The walls and ceiling seem to be closing in around you. 6. You feel as if you are melting down into a puddle of liquid at your feet. 7. Your weapon has turned into a snake and is coiling around your body. 8. You think that you can shoot beams of magical power from your eyes. 9. You feel as if everyone is suddenly much taller than you. 10. You hear judgmental whispering coming from all around you. 11. You hear beautiful, lively music and feel compelled to dance. 12. You have a philosophic epiphany about the meaning of life, but when you try to explain it or write it down it comes out as gibberish. 13. Everyone around you looks and sounds exactly like you. 14. You are suddenly afraid that your fingernails, toenails, teeth and hair will all start falling out at any moment. 15. You believe that you have ascended into Godhood and expect others to worship you. 16. Your clothes feel hot and itchy and you are compelled to take them off immediately. 17. You have inexplicably fallen deeply in love with a party member or character you normally don’t get along with. 18. You are convinced that gravity has stopped working, and if you don’t anchor yourself you will float away into the sky. 19. You are overcome by the urge to perform improvised poetry for those around you. 20. You experience complete ego-death and curl up into a fetal position on the ground. At the end of each long rest, an infected creature can make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the DC for this save and for the save to avoid an attack of mad laughter drops by 1d6. When the saving throw DC drops to 0, the creature recovers from the disease. A creature that fails three of these saving throws gains a randomly determined form of indefinite madness, as described later in this chapter. Encounter: Rust Monsters. A few rust monsters are happily munching on an iron vein in the southwestern portion of this area. While they’re distracted, they will only attack if provoked. Refer to the table below for more information: 4 rust monsters 6 - Thidrubelle’s Workbench - Inside Like the living quarters upstairs, this area has been thoroughly turned over by the rust monsters and the otyugh. A sturdy oak desk is the only thing left upright. Treasure: Note From Thidrubelle. Pinned to the top of the desk with a rusted dagger is a handwritten note from Thidrubelle. It is written in Dwarvish script. If a character is able to read the note, read the following: They’ve come from below the earth, and we cannot beat them back, but I will not yield this mine to anyone—it is ours by right! I pray that Mother finds the deed before an outsider. I’ve hidden the halves in two different places. Mother, please find them. I trust you’ll know where to look. Your daughter, Thidrubelle 7 - Submerged Adit This tunnel has flooded with briny, foul-smelling water. Several detonative devices have been placed around the water’s edge; all of them appear to have been activated already. Treasure: Thidrubelle’s Lockbox. Any character searching the area who makes a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) sees a lockbox glinting beneath the water. Inside the lockbox is the second half of the mining company’s deed. Hazard: Infected Water - Modified Cackle Fever. Any character that enters the water is infected with a modified form of cackle fever. Refer to area 5 for more information. 8 - Rustmine Cavern #1 The mine tunnels splinter off in multiple directions. This deep in the mine, that sizzling sound seems to be more everpresent, and the earth has become jagged and treacherous. Hazard: Pocketed Earth. Large holes have opened up in the earth in this area. In combat, whenever a humanoid creature attempts to move farther than 10 feet in a turn, they must pass a DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or take 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage and fall prone. Encounter (Adventure Level 3 & 5): Rust Monsters. If running this module at Adventure Level 3 or 5, a number of rust monsters are happily munching on an iron vein in this area. While they’re distracted, they will only attack if provoked. Refer to the table below for more information: 5 rust monsters Bridge. A narrow bridge connects this area to area 9. It is fifteen feet long and five feet wide (wide enough for Medium-sized creatures to move single- file across). 9 - Rustmine Cavern #2 The air here leaves the taste of iron in one’s mouth; the cavern walls are stained with clay-colored rust. Though this area appears to be quiet, the sound of those deep-earth monstrosities shuffling about echoes to the south. Hazard: Encroaching Rust. Treat this area as having an aura with the same effect as a rust monster’s Rust Metal feature, except the deterioration of nonmagical metal objects occurs once per five minutes spent in the area as opposed to on contact. A character with proficiency in medium or heavy armor notices the effects after one minute within the area. 10 - Rustmine Cavern #3 At the southern end of this area is a yawning black pit, around which the rusting monsters gather. This is obviously the entrance from whence they came. It may be possible to close the proverbial door once and for all. Hazard: Encroaching Rust. Treat this area as having an aura with the same effect as a rust monster’s Rust Metal feature, except the deterioration of nonmagical metal objects occurs once per five minutes spent in the area as opposed to on contact. A character with proficiency in medium or heavy armor notices the effects after one minute within the area. Hazard: Dead Bodies - Modified Cackle Fever. Scattered throughout the area are three bodies: two humans belonging to the bandit camp outside (the leader being one of them) and a single female dwarf (Thidrubelle). Everything on their person has been completely rusted, and they’ve suffered grievous wounds. Any character that touches a body is infected with a modified form of cackle fever. Refer to area 5 for more information. Encounter: Rust Monsters. A few rust monsters are happily munching on an iron vein in this area. While they’re distracted, they will only attack if provoked or if the characters begin to damage the cave structure. Refer to the table below for more information: 2 rust monsters, 1 feral rust monster Squash ‘Em, Mash “Em, Stick ‘Em in a Pit. Once the area is collapsed by destroying the cave structure, all monsters in the area are defeated. Additionally, the aura effects in areas 8 and 9 dissipate, allowing the characters to explore the mine rust-free. Obstacle: Close the Rust Monster Entrance. To close the pit from further rust monster intrusion, the characters must cause enough damage to the surrounding cave structure in the area using a combination of magic, items, weapons, and abilities: ▶ The cave has AC 15 (damage threshold 5). ▶ Dwarves or other humanoid creatures familiar with underground environments may reroll their damage dice. ▶ Nonmagical, edged weapons (blades) that hit the walls are subject to the Rust Metal trait. ▶ Additionally, so long as the characters remain engaged in combat in this area, one or more rust monsters will emerge from the pit once every two combat rounds. ▶ Once the door is shut, the area collapses in on itself, and the characters must make one final 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check to escape unscathed or take bludgeoning damage described on the table below. After the players emerge from the mine with the deed, Kolya will be grateful. He will give the party a small chest of gold and a valise of documents after Kolya fills out the paperwork with the information on the deed. Taking this chest back to Commissar Icefang will make him thank the party for clearing up the issue and he will ask them to wait while he fills out the required paperwork. He hands the party another small chest and a packet of documents for Commissar Slickback. Taking these to Commissar Slickback will make him thank the party and ask them to wait while he fills out some paperwork. When he is done, he will give the party the chest and another packet to take to Commissar Darkscale. Taking it to Commissar Darkscale will result him performing the same actions as his superior. He then gives the party the chest. It contains the Slow Eye and 1,000 gp.

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