D20 SYSTEM✦ Normal

The Ironvein Disappearance

# Dungeon# Investigation# Intrigue

You are summoned to the frontier outpost of Deepspire, where a series of grim kidnappings along the subterranean River Lethe have severed trade with the surface. The victims are taken without a trace, and the only clue is a strange, metallic dust found at the scenes. Your investigation leads you into a hidden conflict between two desperate factions, each claiming the other is responsible, and a secret that could shatter the delicate peace of the Underdark. Veteran players will navigate a web of lies where every choice has a weight, and the line between hero and destroyer is blurred by the shimmering metal of a lost age.

Chronicle Prelude

Deepspire is a rough-hewn trading hub carved into a massive stalagmite, its central chamber lit by phosphorescent fungi. The air is thick with the smell of fungi ale and damp stone. Merchants and duergar refugees whisper about the 'River Snatcher', and a nervous calm hangs over the usually bustling market.

Environmental Traits

The mystery of the missing persons and the dust leads into the heart of the Underdark, toward the ruins of the Old Duergar Kingdom of Khundrukar, where the truth lies entombed in ancient, unstable caverns.

Legendary Archetypes

Rayan

HP:45

STR:16

WIS: 12

CHA:11

Key Factions & Autonomous Nodes (8)

Overseer Grulmak Ironvein
A powerfully built duergar in scarred plate armor, his face a mask of pragmatic determination. He wears the anvil-and-chains insignia of the Ironvein Syndicate proudly. His eyes hold a cold, calculating light, not malice, but the weight of a leader who believes hard choices ensure survival.
High Priestess Skarva of the Shattered Forge
A gaunt duergar female adorned in robes of stitched fungal leather and bone charms. Her eyes burn with fervent zeal, and her skin bears ritual scars in the shape of broken anvils. She moves with a jerky, possessed energy, her voice a hoarse whisper that rises to a shriek when proclaiming prophecy.
Kaelen Brightcoin
A battered and exhausted human merchant, his fine traveling clothes now rags. He is bound in a corner of the Syndicate mines, his face pale with fear and fatigue. Despite his predicament, a spark of desperate intelligence remains in his eyes.
The Sovereign Myconid
A massive, ancient fungal entity towering over the marshes. Its cap is a cathedral of bioluminescent patterns, pulsing with soft light. Countless smaller myconids tend to it like acolytes. It communicates through complex psychic pulses and the release of spore clouds.
The Alloy Guardian
A colossal humanoid construct forged from the same dark, psychically resonant alloy. It lies dormant within the Grand Smeltery, slumped against the central forge. Its form is covered in intricate, dormant runes that begin to glow a malevolent red as intruders approach. It moves with grinding, inexorable force.
Drin Stonehand
A scarred, wiry duergar miner chained to a wall in a secluded Syndicate stockade. His hands are calloused and broken, his eyes haunted. He wears the tattered remains of a Syndicate laborer's tunic.
Torven the Doubtful
A young duergar cultist hiding in the fungal labyrinth, his robes stained with mud and spores. He clutches a torn holy text, his hands trembling. He jumps at every sound, clearly terrified of being found.
Fizzlewick "Fiz" Glimmerstone
A portly, energetic gnome with a magnificent waxed mustache and apron covered in glowing fungal stains. He polishes a tankard behind the bar of the Glimmering Fungus tavern, his large eyes missing nothing.

Chronicle Prelude

Environmental Traits

Legendary Archetypes

✦ Related Cases ✦

The Goblin Plight of Rivervale and the Cryptic Mine

The Adamantine Web: Silence in the Emerald Woods