1801 The Lost Mine

Overgrown piles of stone dot the woods, ruined remnants of ancient settlement.

• Terrain: Hilly forest (3), Aldweald
• Lost/encounters: 2-in-6

Blighted Hillside

The path of the Downs Road passes by a half-mile square expanse of sloping hillside forested only by ancient tree stumps and twisted dwarf trees. The place seems forsaken—no bird can be heard and no beast spotted.

Acrid, coppery stench: A metallic odour permeates the air, irritating the throat and leaving a coppery aftertaste.

Mud and coloured pools: Much of the hillside is mud. Pools of water, orange-brown or oxidised green, sit stagnant amongst the tree stumps.

Toxic hazards: The mud and pools are infused with a stew of lead, mercury, sulphur, and arsenic, leached from the discarded tailings of the copper mine destroyed here nearly two millennia ago. Drinking it is lethal.

Exploring: PCs exploring the hillside must Save Versus Doom or suffer 1d4 damage (chemical burns around feet).

Smelting pit: A shallow pit, filled with ancient, toxic-smelling ash and rock, sits at the base of the hill. Characters with a knowledge of mining or alchemy (e.g. some arcane spell-casters) recognise it as a primitive site for extraction of copper from ore.

Mine entrances: There are four mine entrances at various levels of the hillside. All but one are blocked with rubble.

Orsath

A massive, burly, ursine creature, 14′ tall, its fur an alloyed carpet of delicate, glittering copper-infused needles. Its face is all animalistic hatred and agony, its mind completely gone in a fog of arsenic-induced dementia. For more details about this former Wood God, see Orsath, p39.

Large Monstrosity—Animal Int.—Chaotic

Level 15 AC 17 HP 71 Saves D3 R4 H5 B6 S7 Att [2 claws (+10, 2d4 + arsenic haze) and bite (+10, 2d6)] or 3 wall spikes (+10, 1d8, range 20′/40′/60′) Speed 40 Morale 10 XP 3,900

Immunities: Only harmed by magic or magic weapons.

Wall spikes: Orsath’s essence infuses the chamber’s wall and ceiling protuberances through a ghastly alchemical synergy. Instead of attacking with its claws and bite, it can cause 3 of these spikes to detach and hurtle towards the PCs.

Arsenic haze: Save Versus Doom or suffer a –2 penalty to Attack Rolls for 1d6 Rounds.

Treasure: If Orsath is slain, its claws continue to glow. They can be crafted into two weapons (1d8 + arsenic haze). The Drune or other high-Level arcane spell-casters would pay up to 7,000gp for the Wood God’s remains, depending on condition, and 1,000gp for each spike (eight are salvageable).

Into the Mine

The single unblocked mine entrance leads down a tunnel reinforced with wooden beams.

Broken human bones: Shards of bone litter the path, often snapped cleanly with apparently great force.

Mineshaft: After passing several collapsed side tunnels, the passage ends at a downward vertical shaft. An orange glow emanates from its depths. Descent to the base, 90′ down, requires climbing or ropes.

The Bottom Chamber

At the bottom of the shaft, explorers emerge into a high, vaulted chamber, crudely hewn from the earth.

Pulsating walls: The chamber walls are shot through with veins of pure copper, pulsing with bright liquid amber light as if alive.

Tools and bones: Discarded primitive mining tools and broken bones carpet the floor.

Orsath: Looming at the end of the chamber is a hulking, bear-like being with metallic fur: the Wood God once called Orsath. Its arms stretch horizontally to either side of it, fully encrusted in bright blue crystals of copper sulphate, with massive glowing claws pressed flat onto the wall behind it. The creature immediately notices the party; it straightens its arms, shakes off the crystals, and lets out a pain-filled roar as it seeks to annihilate the intruders.

Awful protuberances: Sharp conical things protrude from the ceiling and walls, akin to stalactites, yet blighted with a patchwork of Orsath’s dark brown fur and honey-coloured, crystallised ichor. A terrible fusion of stone and flesh, they glow in unison with the copper veins.