The Small Lake

Cave wisp clouds (pink and violet, dancing). Rocky shore (slick, luminous cave flowers). Waters (limpid). Stalagmite island (crystal trees). Hexastyle temple (marble, on island).

• Examine waters: Thick with gloaming plants, hidden cave fish. 30% chance per turn of attracting a random cave fish (page 10).
• Swim to island: 2 turns.
• Island trees: Delicate, beautiful. 1d100 ripe gem pommes (luminous as lit match, 10gp each, gather 2d10 per turn).
• Temple of the Earthshaker: Overgrown, open portico supported by piscine caryatids (1,000gp each). Painted marble tympanum frieze of the seven creator beasts (worth 10,000gp to a museum).
• Hollow cella: Earth floor, megalithic walls. Perfectly shaped great rock is a secret door to the hematite ophistodomos.
• Hematite ophistodomos (hidden): 3-tonne steel meteorite (worth 30,000gp to the old faith) on a granite plinth. Handprint melted into the meteorite holds the Soothing Chime. Steep passages, greasy steps, slimy ledges. Crumbled roads, flooded cryptoporticoes.

Initial Exploration

Hanging Forest

Cliffs (festooned, verdant). Creepers (dimly glowing). Heady aroma (mildly intoxicating). Cave flowers (enormous).

• Intoxicating sap: 1 turn to collect a dose. Save vs poison, or as sleep.
• Magical flowers: 1 turn and WIS check to find random magical flower (Small Treasures, page 7).
• Woody raft: 6 turns to chop stalks and creepers to create a simple raft.

Further Exploration

Waterwight Tomb

Catacombs (machine carved). Dripstone (encrusting coffins and walls). 30 coffins (scuffed plastic, preservative fluids). Injector machine (malachite, copper).

• Open coffin: 2-in-3 chance of corpse in finery (100gp), 1-in-3 chance of waterwight (page 11) in armour (100gp). 50% chance disturbing it activates the security golem (as bone golem, can be harmed by mundane attacks, but damage is halved).
• Inspect injector: Malachite knobs and levers worth 500gp (disables machine). INT check: it is a one-way time machine, preserving living people for later reanimation.
• Trigger reanimation: Coffins flushed down secret tunnel (discovered after 2nd watch of exploration) to Underground River (page 14). There three waterwights awaken.

Regional Challenges

6. Hungry cave wisps: Wisp bloom descends. Wait 1 watch for natural die-off, or push through (magical effects negated for a day). 7. Collapsed path: A 30’ gap yawns. Brave cave giant octopus to swim across gap, spend 2d6 turns carefully climbing around, or build an improvised rope bridge. 8. Slab fall: Massive rock triggers large wave. Each PC must save vs paralysis or be swept into the lake. 9. Floating coffins: Quake breaks a natural rock dam. 2d6 waterwights (page 11) in glittery fineries (100gp each) flushed out of their tomb in a side passage. Soothing Chime Adamant triangle in an orichalcum circle in an electrum square. 3 charges.

• Rung when a natural disaster strikes: Delays it by 1d12 turns.
• Rung against a hostile creature: It becomes indifferent and content.

Collapse

1. Lake bed cracks. Water drains out through a crevasse over 1d4 turns. PCs swimming in the lake must succeed at a STR check to avoid being sucked under and drowned. Reveals 1d4 small treasures (page 7) and 2d6 flopping cave fish (page 10). 2. Ominous calm. Cave wisps wink out one by one. +2d6 to collapse checks. 3. A rain of stalactites falls for 1d4 turns (once per turn, random PC must save vs death or be crushed). The ceiling then yawns wide and water from the Great Lake slowly floods the whole region.