I finally have enough free time that I can justify running games again. I decided to try introducing some of my school friends to my pet setting, the Tower Lands. Here's the adventure I ran for them to start things off.
The Silver Chamber
The caves of Roa are the only world you’ve ever known. Stone above, stone below. Humanity numbers five hundred and sixteen souls since Ged and Lani had their baby last week. By glowshroom’s light, you spend your wake-shifts in search of the earth’s bounty: gold and silver, iron and tin, and above all, the Glimmer, that sparkling treasure with its soft green luminescence, every find a blessing.
Under Chief Belar’s watchful eye and the masked gazes of the acolytes, the fruits of your labor are offered up to the gods, carried into the temple and never seen again. The elders speak of a world above where the gods dwell, a place of a thousand colors and a hundred thousand lights, where there are no walls and no ceiling. When someone asks if it really exists, the elders only shrug. All know better than to speak of it in front of the chief, or else earn lashes for turning their thoughts from work.
Three nights ago, a whisper began to circulate. One of the deep teams uncovered something unbelievable: a new tunnel, unknown on any of the maps. Walls not of rock but of metal, gleaming silver, and light, not glowshrooms or even firelight, but a strange pale radiance from some unknown source.
You scarcely dared believe it…but there it is before your eyes. A fissure in the rock, and within, those gleaming silver walls, smoother than those of any cave.
What secrets do they hold?
Who Are You?
You have drab clothes, a small knife, a torch, a piece of flint, and a canteen with three days' supply of water if you ration it (which you always do).
Roll 3d6 for your occupation and other possessions.
3-4. Pool tender. Waterproof waders, net and line, pouch of dried algae (edible, flammable), perpetual pool-stink.
5-6. Shroom farmer. Mud-caked boots, hoe, glowshroom lantern (lasts up to a week if sprinkled with water daily), reek of manure.
7-8. Mol rancher. Tough gloves, burrow-prod (long, sharp), pouch of mol jerky.
9-12. Miner. Dustproof goggles, pickaxe, pouch of assorted shiny pebbles.
13-14. Potter. Dirty smock, coil of strong wire, sack of unfired clay.
15-16. Toolsmith. Fireproof apron, hammer, pouch of sand, no sensitivity to heat.
17. Healer's prentice. Needle, spool of mol-gut, roll of gauze, pouch of medicinal moss.
18. Acolyte initiate. Plain robe, limited literacy.
Why are you here? Choose or roll 1d6, or come up with something else.
1. "I don't want to be, but someone has to keep an eye on these idiots!"
2. "There might be treasure in this place!"
3. "The chief is keeping secrets from us. I will find the truth!"
4. "There might be something down there that could threaten the village!"
5. "I don't belong in this pit. I'm going to the land of the gods, and this must be the way!"
6. "Why not? This is the most exciting thing that's happened in my whole life!"
The Dungeon
1 square = 10 feet. Floors, walls, and ceilings are, unless otherwise specified, of pale worked stone, impossibly smooth and uniform for any tools the player characters are familiar with. Doors are, unless otherwise specified, frosted glass-like material with metal framing, sliding into recesses in the walls, no visible handles. The panes can be cracked, and are breakable with time and loud effort, but don't shatter and fall apart like normal glass. Initially, the facility lacks power: all doors must be noisily wrenched open by hand (provokes encounter check).
X: Collapsible passageways. As lifelong underground dwellers, the PCs can all recognize these immediately. Collapses can be caused easily by damaging the walls with suitable tools.
1. Entrance Chamber
Entry is through a fissure in the ceiling. Floor is of darkly gleaming grey metal tiles, the seams between impossibly thin. Walls are of dark stone shot with veins of the same metal. The ceiling is disorienting to look up at: a velvety black void, appearing endless, dotted with pinpricks of pale, glittering light, dimly illuminating the room.
Open passageway north, dark beyond. Passageway south, descending, collapsed.
2. Great Hall
Cavernous, vaulted ceiling vanishing beyond torchlight. In the center stands a monolith of glossy black stone or crystal, 10 feet high. The right wall is dominated by a window (clear glasslike material, cannot be broken by any tools available to the PCs), looking out into pitch darkness. If light is held up to the window, a huge structure can be glimpsed beyond, bigger than any building in the PCs' village. It's made of some dark grey, matte material, almost like pottery; what can be dimly seen of its form is all sweeping curves. It is a flying craft of the First Ones, once used to transport cargo.
The black stone is home to the guardian daemon that watches over this place. It has lost much of its memory over the ages, and is surviving on dregs of emergency power. If the stone is touched, it will pulse with the familiar blue-green light of Glimmer, and the guardian will awaken, appearing to the PCs' as a hazy, flickering form of light with a vaguely human silhouette. It speaks in the First Speech; though the PCs can't understand it fully, enough of the roots persist in their own language that they can pick out certain general meanings.
The guardian once knew the layout of this place, but time has changed much, and it can no longer sense everything within as it once did. It knows the general layout of rooms 1-9, 16, and 17, but the language barrier makes conveying information to the PCs difficult. It can explain that the PCs' way north is barred, and that it needs the power stone that can be found in the dungeon to open the path, showing them what the stone looks like through an illusory image. If they ask where it is, the daemon will conjure a line of light along the floor that will lead the PCs to the storage room (5) where the stone was once kept. It doesn't know that the fungus goblins have stolen it and taken it to their hoard in room 11. Without power, the guardian can't sense any of the dangers beyond this room. If the PCs ask, it will tell them it can't answer.
Two open passageways west. Door north, a panel of solid aldsteel, gleaming dark grey: without power to the facility, it is sealed and can't be forced open.
3. Fountain Chamber
The center of the room is dominated by a broken meditative fountain, stagnant water pooling around abstract, angular wooden sculpture. Under the water is an ancient gold bracelet set with emeralds, worth 80 Ð.
Doors east and west. Open passageway north. Passageway south, descending, collapsed.
4. Dining Hall
Long tables and benches. Several have been upturned in the corners; a few show signs of damage, cracked by the blows of something strong. The northwest wall has collapsed, cave rubble piled up to the ceiling.
Door east. Open passageways west and south.
5. Storage Room
The door to this room has already been forced open partway, enough for a human to squeeze through slowly. Muddy tracks lead in and out, coming and going from the passageway to the north. The feet are vaguely human-shaped, but small, oddly knobby, and end in clawed digits. These have been left by the fungus goblins.
Metal storage cabinets line the walls and stand in a row in the center of the room. Each door bears a pair of etched symbols in the First Speech (an acolyte initiate can determine that they're just numbers). Most of the cabinets are sealed, but several have been forced open, doors damaged. These are empty. A single cabinet is yet unopened but can be forced. Inside is an aldsteel dagger (+1).
The power stone the guardian daemon seeks was once kept here. The fungus goblins have stolen it and taken it to their lair in room 11.
6-7. Bedchambers
The doors to these identical rooms are made of some opaque, glossy material unknown to the PCs, not metal or ceramic or stone; it is cool to the touch, durable, but breakable with time and effort. Each room houses a space for a bed in a recess against the north wall; the fungus goblins ate the mattresses and linens long ago. In the southwest corner of each is a closet or cubicle big enough for someone to stand in, walls and doors made of the same frosted glass-like material as most of the doors. The insides appear featureless.
8. West Intersection Chamber
The north wall of this chamber has collapsed, revealing living stone. There is nothing of interest in the room itself.
Cave passage north, narrow but traversable. Door west, solid aldsteel, but unsealed and can be opened as normal.
9. Guardian Chamber
A cylindrical pillar of light stands in the center of the room, connecting strange apparatuses of metal and stone in the floor and ceiling. If the guardian soldier has not been encountered yet, there is a 50% chance that it is here, standing within the pillar and gathering power. When it senses someone entering the room, it will activate.
10. Illusory Garden
The southeast part of this room is dominated by a riot of greenery and vibrant flowers, overflowing from planters and pots--all hazy, flickering, and insubstantial. When touched, they shimmer and vanish momentarily before reappearing. The north and west walls have collapsed, revealing living cave stone.
Cave passages southwest and north.
11. Fungus Goblin Den
The south part of this room is completely dominated by an enormous growth of greyish fungus, fruiting bodies protruding in dozens of clusters. The fungus goblins sprout from here; they are the consciousness of the fungal organism, extensions of its will. 4 of them will extrude from the main body when the PCs enter. Partly engulfed by the fungus, heaps of inorganic trash and rubble can be seen, including the telltale glow of several rocks containing Glimmer. Near the center, an especially bright, steady Glimmer-light shines: the power stone sought by the guardian daemon.
The goblins here behave as all their kind: they will fight to the death if the PCs threaten the main fungal body, but be cautious and open to trading Glimmer for food otherwise. They will offer 10 Ð worth of Glimmer per dead skrik in trade, and 30 Ð for a harvest of skrik eggs.
If the PCs ask about the power stone, the goblins will offer it in exchange for the PCs disabling the guardian soldier. If the PCs obtain the power stone and offer it to the guardian daemon, it will restore limited power to the facility: all doors, including the sealed one north from the great hall (2) into the east intersection chamber (16), will open automatically and soundlessly whenever someone approaches them.
Cave passages north and northwest. Flowing water audible to the north.
12. Underground Stream
This cave opens onto the slick, rocky bank of a dark stream, flowing from and disappearing into submerged tunnels. The fungus goblins catch cave fish here.
Cave passage south.
13. Cave Chamber
A small chamber formed in living rock. Nothing of interest within.
Cave passages southwest, northwest, and west. Familiar chittering and clicking of skriks audible to the west.
14. Glimmer Vein
An open seam of rock shining with Glimmer-light protrudes from the wall of this chamber. With suitable tools, a total of 200 Ð worth of Glimmer can be mined, 10 Ð per turn per person working. The noise provokes an encounter check every turn.
15. Skrik Hive
The walls of this chamber are honeycombed with tunnels too small for a human to squeeze through. Piles of gooey eggs sit against stalagmites. 1d6+2 skriks are here protecting the nest; they will threaten any who enter, and fight viciously if any eggs are threatened. There are enough eggs to trade 4 helpings to the fungus goblins at 30 Ð each if all are gathered.
16. East Intersection Chamber
A connective room. Nothing of interest within.
Double doors west. Solid aldsteel door south. Stairs ascending east.
17. Watch Post
A desk stands in the northwest corner with a chair behind it, upholstered in some unfamiliar black cloth or hide. It is supremely comfortable. Small wheels on the legs allow the chair to move with ease.
A set of metal cabinets hangs in the southwest. They open automatically if power has been restored. Within are two elixirs of Cure Moderate Wounds (syringes), a vessel of Fog Cloud (grenade), and an enchanted shirt of armor (light armor +1, non-encumbering).
18. Inner Sanctuary
The door at the top of the stairs is made of the same dark grey, matte material as the structure visible through the window in the great hall (2). It is slightly rough and cool to the touch; when touched, it automatically opens, hinging outward with a soft hiss. Beyond is a narrow passage, the walls of an unknown glossy material, the floor tiled in dark grey metal. The door to the south is sealed.
To the north is a chamber dominated by three heavy chairs attached to the floor, facing away from the entryway. Shutters of metal cover windows to the north; below is a curved table, its top an array of dark mirrors. This is the bridge of the ancient flying craft glimpsed through the great hall window.
In the center chair sits Chief Belar, a lit glowshroom lantern by his side. He comes and goes to this place through another path known only to him, which leads through the sealed door opposite this room--he knows the command phrase in the First Speech that will open it. As soon as anyone enters, he will leap up and demand furiously to know how they got into this place. He is horrified and enraged to see anyone from the village here: tending to this holy temple is his duty as chief, and the slaves in his charge are not worthy to lay eyes on it. He ordered everyone in the village to stay away from the mysterious chamber, and the PCs have defied him. They must all die.
The chief is a bully, and like all bullies, he is a coward at heart. He doesn't expect the PCs to seriously resist him, and can be dispatched without much trouble once he shows his true colors. He has a sword, the badge of the chief's office, the only such weapon known to the PCs. He wears a gold torc worth 50 Ð.
If the chief is killed, a light will begin to flash from a small mirror set in the armrest of the chair he was in. If anyone touches it, the flying craft will awaken.
Encounters
1-in-3 every turn outside rooms 1-2 and 16-18.
1. 1d4 skriks hunting rodents.
2. 1d4 fungus goblins hiding from the guardian soldier.
3. 1d4 fungus goblins with an injured skrik backed into a corner.
4-5. Sounds of the guardian soldier from a random adjacent room--clank, scraaaaape, clank, scraaaape, like someone wearing metal boots walking with a slow, dragging limp.
6. The guardian soldier.
Skriks
Four-legged arthropodal predators the size of dogs, well-known and feared by the people of Roa. They hunt in groups, feeding on rodents and opportunistically on humans who get separated in the tunnels.
HD 1-1, AC leather, bite 1d4 and save vs. paralysis or immobilized 1d4 hours, morale 7.
Fungus Goblins
The fungus goblins are outgrowths of the large fungal organism that dominates room 11. They are a hive mind, with no names or individual identities. There are exactly eight of them; when one dies, the main fungus simply regrows it over several days and sends it out again as needed. They seek food, preferring meat but eating anything organic; when one has eaten its fill, it returns to the main fungus and is reabsorbed. They can speak well enough to communicate what they want, and will invite strangers who don't seem like easy prey to come to their lair and trade food for shiny things they've collected (like Glimmer rocks).
They hate and fear the guardian soldier, which is always trying to exterminate them. They have tried many times to destroy it, but have only succeeded in damaging its leg, slowing it. Anyone who can disable it permanently will earn their undying friendship.
HD 1-1, AC unarmored, bite 1d4, morale 6 (12 when defending the central fungal body).
Guardian Soldier
A construct of the First Ones, used to protect their sanctuaries. Its form is humanlike, plated in aldsteel, with spindly limbs, clawed digits, and no visible head. Under its armor, its limbs are moved by a tissue of matte grey fibers, tough to cut and surprisingly heavy. This particular soldier is damaged; its left leg no longer functions, and it can move only at a limp, usually trudging along at a slow patrolling pace and capable of reaching only a fast walking speed when it detects a threat. It no longer differentiates between guests and intruders: anyone it encounters will be warned in the First Speech to leave at once, and then attacked without hesitation if they do not comply.
HD 3, AC plate, blade 1d6, morale 12.
If the flying craft is awakened...
The floor beneath you shudders. Suddenly, before you, the metal panels on the wall slide away, revealing windows looking out into darkness. Behind you, you hear the soft hiss of the door into this chamber swinging shut. The vibration beneath your feet continues to build, and suddenly you feel that you're moving forward, slowly at first, then with growing speed. Then, the forward motion becomes up, your stomachs flip as you begin to ascend, and the darkness outside the windows is replaced with a new view: a vast expanse of deep, velvety blue, studded with pinpricks of pale, sparkling light, like the ceiling of the silver chamber you descended into.
The shuddering of the floor becomes so great that you're forced to take the seats or brace against the walls to avoid falling over. You feel as if you're moving at incredible speed, faster than ever in your lives. You're not sure how long it goes on--an hour, perhaps two. Then, the shuddering becomes a jolt, threatening to throw you off your feet even with support. A high, sharp sound begins to ring out, nearly deafening you. The forward motion becomes downward, you cling to whatever you can reach, then a CRASH--and blackness takes you.
You awaken sore and battered, but alive. The windows are once again blocked--this time by soil, seeming to have buried them. Picking yourselves up, you venture back out of the room. The door where you entered stands half bent off its hinges now, and from the opening streams light--gentle and golden, unlike even anything you've seen since you left your homes just hours ago.
You wrench the door open far enough to crawl out, and feel something you've never felt: air moving against your face. You look up...and have to fight down dizziness.
No walls. No ceiling. All around, a vast expanse, so far away your mind can't grasp it, painted in colors you've never imagined--gold, pink, orange, blue. Far in that great distance, a sliver of bright golden light appears, coming up over...you don't know what, for you've never known the word "horizon."
Behind you, the great grey structure of swooping curves sits broken and half-buried. Past that, a line of immense rocks, large enough to almost make you dizzy again, seems to scrape the endless expanse of color. You turn away, and are met with a strangely familiar sight: a plume of grey smoke rising in the distance. Hearth-smoke.
You have no idea where you are. Only that you're far from home.
What do you do?
Play Report
Justin the potter, Xerxes the smith, Yuri the 'shroom farmer, and Tree the miner sneak out of the village during sleeping hours. Reaching the fissure, they find it as described: strange, pale light shining up from a chamber with a floor of gleaming silver (1). Yuri descends first, glowshroom lantern lighting the rest of the party's way. Intrigued by the strange construction of the chamber, the four spend a few minutes investigating the materials. Tree and Xerxes try to pry up one of the floor tiles, but can't get knifeblades into the incredibly fine seams between or damage them at all with Tree's pickaxe. Justin tries to get at one of the pinpricks of light in the ceiling and finds the black material flaking off into powder, taking the lights with it.
Yuri leads the way into the great hall (2). After investigating the window and seeing the great structure outside, they go to examine the monolith, Yuri in particular searching for words to try and read. When Justin tries to climb the monolith, his touch awakens it and summons the guardian daemon, which greets them. Justin asks it where they can find treasure to bring to the chief; it tells them, as well as they can understand, that it lacks power and needs the power stone to open their way, illuminating the path to the storage room (5) where it thinks the stone still is (not knowing the fungus goblins stole it long ago). The four decide to follow its advice.
Figuring out how to wrench open the unpowered doors, the party enters the pool chamber (3). While they debate whether to keep following the daemon's path or go elsewhere, Yuri investigates north to the dining hall (4).
At this point, I remember I should be rolling for random encounters, but forget that there should only be a 1-in-3 chance of one each roll and just go straight to rolling for one on the table. I get 4, 1d4 (3) fungus goblins hiding from the guardian soldier.
Yuri spies gleaming eyes darting behind an upturned table, and warns the others that they're not alone. Justin, not the least bit worried, refuses to lower his voice as he suggests they keep following the daemon's guidance; the others agree. Breaching the west door from (3), they spy fungus goblin tracks entering and leaving the storage room (5). Unbeknownst to the party, the three fungus goblins follow, staying out of sight.
Tree decides to try breaking the glassy material with the butt of his knife. He manages to crack it, but makes quite a loud noise.
Random encounter roll, again forgetting to first check if an encounter actually happens and just rolling to see what it is. 5, footsteps of the guardian soldier coming down the north hallway.
Justin immediately hails whoever approaches, asking if they're also friend of Chief Belar. The ref facepalms.
The guardian soldier comes into the lanternlight. It immediately warns them that this place is forbidden and commands them to leave. The party doesn't seem to take the hint, so it begins advancing. Tree, feeling bold, decides to try and collapse the passageway at the weak spot to crush the thing. Being an experienced miner, he rolls with expertise and succeeds handily. The guardian soldier is crushed in the cave-in, easily disabled.
Tree decides to try and break off one of its arms to take along; Justin agrees to help. While they work at that, Xerxes heads into the storage room (5) and spends a turn searching the lockers.
Yuri, keeping watch while the others loot, spies fungus goblin eyes peering around the doorway from the pool room (3). He calls out to whoever's there. The ref forgets that reaction rolls are a thing, so the goblins ask for meat, offering a Glimmer chunk in trade. Yuri, knowing the party doesn't have any meat to offer, tries to stall for time, when Justin gets the bright idea to cut off some of the guardian soldier's artificial muscle and try to pass that off long enough to fool the goblins. Yuri hands it over; when the goblins recognize it for what it is, they rejoice, hailing the party as dear friends for destroying their great enemy. Handing them the Glimmer rock, the say it's not thanks enough and dart off to go retrieve the power stone, returning with it in short order. They tell the party to come back any time to share meat and fish before the groups part ways. (The ref silently marvels at how well that somehow went.)
Before the party heads back to bring the power stone to the daemon, Xerxes goes to finish searching the storage room (5). He's quite pleased to find the aldsteel dagger. The party is interested in the markings, apparently letters, on each of the locker doors, though no one can read them. Justin, however, gets the bright idea to use some of his clay to take an impression of the etchings for later. The ref is quietly impressed at the inventive use of such a niche item.
The four navigate back to the great hall (2) without incident. When the guardian daemon reappears, they hand over the power stone; the monolith pulses with light, and the north door shimmers with the same radiance as it unlocks with the facility's awakening. Bidding the daemon farewell, the party proceeds north into the intersection chamber (16). In another stroke of good judgment, they decide to check out the watch post (17) before heading up the stairs. Xerxes lays claim to the enchanted armor vest within; Justin takes the healing elixirs, and Tree ends up with the fog vessel.
Now well-armed, the party heads up the stairs. The door opens at their touch, and they proceed within to encounter the chief. He demands to know how they got in here, furious at being disobeyed--he gave direct orders for no one to go near this place. While Justin kowtows and begs forgiveness, Tree asks the chief what he's doing here; that's enough to set the chief off, and he draws his blade on them.
As Justin pleads for them to be spared, the others fight back. In the melee (during which the ref forgets his own combat rules multiple times), Yuri tries to sweep the chief's legs with his hoe to bring him down, but he's too slow, and falls with a sword through his neck. Xerxes, enraged, raises his hammer, and in another moment, the chief lies dead, skull caved in.
As Yuri's blood pools on the silvery floor, Xerxes takes up the chief's sword. He turns to the other survivors.
"I AM THE CHIEF NOW!"
Justin bows. He takes the gold torc from around Belar's neck, and places it on Xerxes'.
From the chief's seat, the light begins to blink. Xerxes sits, touching the mirror. The launch sequence commences.
As the sun rises over the wreckage of the crash, Chief Xerxes and his faithful followers Justin and Tree set off toward the plume of hearth-smoke, into lands unknown.
