Brightness long ago
Red Iron Door
The first commission undertaken by the Master of the Koboldi - the overseer of the College of Engineering created with the assistance, and in honour, of the eternal Adamant - was a door of red iron. Designed by the koboldi, the door will seal Lorenzo's Deep Pockets - the northern sinkhole - preventing the teeming, swarming trogoni that infest those lower levels from pouring out and devastating Hahnmark, Upwold, Temeschwar, and Miaren. The door was completed after the Winter Solstice, but the Master chose not to install it immediately. The door needs to be positioned as far underground as possible, and the deeper one goes into the tunnels beneath the mineworkings overseen by the Delver of the Depths the more dangerous it becomes, and the more doughty adventurers are required to keep the koboldi safe. Adventurers prepared to risk being dismembered by angry trogoni for little more than the experience - and a few sacks full of treasure of course.
When they first warned the Empire of the threat posed by the sinkhole, the koboldi suggested that the danger would peak sometime around the end of the year. During the Summer Solstice, however, the Master of the Koboldi declared their intention to see the door installed before the Autumn Equinox. A call went out to heroes of the Empire to help put the magical seal into place. The priests of Wintermark had already declared the endeavour to be heroic; during the Summer Solstice the voices of the Navarr assembly and those of the assembly of Dawn likewise urged their people to take part in the expedition into the depths of the sinkhole.
As the weather in the world above turned to tempest and storm, the putative adventurers gather in the area around the sinkhole. The koboldi are responsible for the transportation of the red iron door, as well as its installation. The massive structure is less a door and more a mighty seal of metal engraved with dozens of tiny runes. "The hard bit will be stopping the vast swarm of trogoni from gobbling us all up before we can find the right spot to install it!" as the koboldi put it. There is a secondary goal here as well - to get the full benefit of installing the seal the tunnels above it will need to be cleared of trogoni swarms. It will be little comfort to the people of the neighbouring territories if there are sufficient monsters left unsealed to be able to destroy their mines and mana sites after all.
| Citizen | Nation |
|---|---|
| Alba Sepulcre | Dawn |
| Arjhann Griffinsong | Dawn |
| Arlen Foreman-Smith | Dawn |
| Asha | Dawn |
| Avren Leosten | Dawn |
| Barristan Fairweather | Dawn |
| Bedivere Bedrydant | Dawn |
| Bertrand | Dawn |
| Bertrand Gardener | Dawn |
| Cecilia De Gauvain | Dawn |
| D'Eon | Dawn |
| Drake De Coeurdefer | Dawn |
| Eadric | Dawn |
| Eamon | Dawn |
| Eli Setzling | Dawn |
| Guy Grimbold the Elder | Dawn |
| Hugh Farrier | Dawn |
| Jasper Hunter scion De Beaumont | Dawn |
| Kym, Enchanter of the Twisted Rose | Dawn |
| Leon | Dawn |
| Logan Olivia De Havelland of house Cordraco | Dawn |
| Lord Armand Remys | Dawn |
| Lord Edmund the Enchanter of House Torawyr | Dawn |
| Lukan Cooper | Dawn |
| Mal` Lassal Scethos of House Cordraco | Dawn |
| Matilda Thorne | Dawn |
| Panthos Du Froste | Dawn |
| Pelleas Montrose | Dawn |
| Ren Tanner | Dawn |
| Sagramore | Dawn |
| Ser Dindrane | Dawn |
| Tarsus | Dawn |
| Tor Forester | Dawn |
| Tristram | Dawn |
| Cyrus, son of Meremoth | Highguard |
| Tobias Lloriente | Highguard |
| Lleu Tarw | Navarr |
| Aerowen | Navarr |
| Anawyn | Navarr |
| Anthony | Navarr |
| Anwen Stormbroke | Navarr |
| Ash Silverfletch | Navarr |
| Awstin Pinestride | Navarr |
| Balwyn Thornfield | Navarr |
| Beax | Navarr |
| Caedan Dancing Leaf | Navarr |
| Caric Iron Hill | Navarr |
| Clive | Navarr |
| Conan | Navarr |
| Cormac Smokebound | Navarr |
| Cormag Eerielight | Navarr |
| Corrin Ashwood | Navarr |
| Corwyn Fawnhollow | Navarr |
| Dai | Navarr |
| Daine | Navarr |
| Damarion Greenweald | Navarr |
| Darrach | Navarr |
| Douglas | Navarr |
| Draenog | Navarr |
| Eclipse | Navarr |
| Edric Winterbuilt | Navarr |
| Emrys Deadthorn | Navarr |
| Euan longspear gut | Navarr |
| Farenthar | Navarr |
| Farren Silver Streams | Navarr |
| Gaeorg Brokenbough | Navarr |
| Geraint Broad-Backed | Navarr |
| Gwiddion of the Waystone Path | Navarr |
| Gwilym | Navarr |
| Hamish Thistlebark | Navarr |
| Hanno Iron Hill | Navarr |
| Hen Was Silverthorn | Navarr |
| Jokell | Navarr |
| Karrow Strangers Song | Navarr |
| Kerina | Navarr |
| Koldŷr | Navarr |
| Levin | Navarr |
| Loddlaen Fawn-Hollow | Navarr |
| Lysander | Navarr |
| Maddoc | Navarr |
| Nyle | Navarr |
| Oswyn | Navarr |
| Owain Ironwood | Navarr |
| Pew | Navarr |
| Powell Hoarfrost | Navarr |
| Rallick Oakheart | Navarr |
| Ravik | Navarr |
| Rhisiart Dancewalker | Navarr |
| Rhoswen Lonestrider | Navarr |
| Rhyan | Navarr |
| Rhydderch | Navarr |
| Rhyffyllann Kraken's Crawl | Navarr |
| Rodric Worldscribe | Navarr |
| Ronan | Navarr |
| Seth Blackhawk | Navarr |
| Silk Splinterspear | Navarr |
| Simplicius Founders' Dance | Navarr |
| Sloane the Roamer | Navarr |
| Swilach Feather | Navarr |
| Sylver | Navarr |
| Tomarn | Navarr |
| Tomi | Navarr |
| Torri | Navarr |
| Travid Longest Path | Navarr |
| Vespasian Founders' Dance | Navarr |
| Zarrath | Navarr |
| Carmine de Sarvos "Father" | The League |
| Erikas Van Temeshwar | The League |
| Farq Inghelle | The League |
| Gaspar di Temeschwar | The League |
| Jean Di Sarvos | The League |
| Kostya Von Temeschwari | The League |
| Marcus Derivian di Sarvos | The League |
| Modesto Gouveia di Tassato | The League |
| Otto Freidrich Von Holsberg | The League |
| Sebastian Adolphus von Temeschwar | The League |
| Shauni di Vergo | The League |
| Velar Von Holberg | The League |
| Victor van Holberg | The League |
| Viktor von Temeschwar | The League |
| Elke | The Marches |
| Henry Fysher | The Marches |
| Tod Grouse | The Marches |
| Octavus Lazcaris | Urizen |
| Sulisav Menner | Varushka |
| Aelthrik Dunning | Wintermark |
| Andwyn Dunwolf | Wintermark |
| Baldric Altti | Wintermark |
| Benny | Wintermark |
| Bronn Dunwolf | Wintermark |
| Bruin Dunning | Wintermark |
| Calvayne | Wintermark |
| Cynwulf Ashburh | Wintermark |
| Dagfinn | Wintermark |
| Dægmund Dunning | Wintermark |
| Elfhelm | Wintermark |
| Erlend Gunnulfsson | Wintermark |
| EryWood of Dunning | Wintermark |
| Guthelm | Wintermark |
| Hagen | Wintermark |
| Havi | Wintermark |
| Heærd Beorthbeck | Wintermark |
| Horst Dunning | Wintermark |
| Ivar Dunning | Wintermark |
| Jorma Steelhail | Wintermark |
| Kaisa Denmother | Wintermark |
| Kamarra Dunn | Wintermark |
| Kara | Wintermark |
| Levi "White Fox" Kinnisson | Wintermark |
| Lumi | Wintermark |
| Magn | Wintermark |
| Mertag dunwolf | Wintermark |
| Morcar Sigvardssson | Wintermark |
| Olstan | Wintermark |
| Osswin Dunning | Wintermark |
| Penda Dunning | Wintermark |
| Railo Iron-Heart | Wintermark |
| Raknar | Wintermark |
| Rayner Lurask | Wintermark |
| Rolf Boarson | Wintermark |
| Ryske | Wintermark |
| Sampo Mikkola | Wintermark |
| Seht Ravenson of Dunhearth Hall | Wintermark |
| Solvi | Wintermark |
| Theoderic Ulfarsson | Wintermark |
| Tobrytan Dunning | Wintermark |
| Tostig | Wintermark |
| Ulf DunWolf | Wintermark |
| Umarth Kannask | Wintermark |
| Valdemar Karlsson | Wintermark |
| Vartija | Wintermark |
| Wake Barroth | Wintermark |
In the end, a hundred and seventy independent captains bring their warbands to Lorenzo's Deep Pockets to help get the door to the bottom of the pit - to the great vertical shaft that disappears into the bowels of the earth. There are even two units of shadowy warriors sheathed in magic, raised from the darkness beneath the trees of Wintermark and the Marches - welcome additions to the expedition but the koboldi give them a wide berth nonetheless. The heroes of the Empire create a cordon of steel around the koboldi and their mystic seal, and then the grand expedition descends into the tunnels of the sinkhole.
The adventurers easily penetrate the natural caverns beneath the sinkhole. Few trogoni are encountered at this level, and those that do attack are easily dealt with. The caves and tunnels are swept clean of threats, and the wealth of the Delver of the Depths secured, before the expedition pushes down, deeper into the earth.
I Sagua i Ezmara, master of the koboldi, am hereby announcing the installation of the Runic Hearth of Adamant this season. This will ensure the safety of the citizens near to the sinkhole by protecting them from the trogoni. I hope that we will be able to reach the deepest installation site but my priority is their safety.
Sagua i Ezmara, Master of the KoboldiLike Worms in the Earth
Leaving the natural tunnels, the adventurers enter the Terunael mineworkings. These are the first properly worked tunnels they encounter, and this is also where the first major engagements with the trogoni begin. It seems that the koboldi may have underestimated just how many of the creatures there were in the recesses below Lorenzo's Deep Pockets. Among the familiar human-sized creatures with stone-cutting claws, there are a few encounters with things that have never been seen before. They seem to be trogoni, but they are nearly twice the size of the normal version - and twice as ferocious. The presence of magic items seems to drive these beasts into a frenzy - and the red iron door attracts them like flies to a dead dog. These trogoni hulks aren't common but their massive claws tear through armour and shatter shields, weapons, and stone with equal ease.
The Terunael mines are also unstable - time, water, and trogoni have worn away at the walls and supports so that some galleries and tunnels are on the verge of collapse. The torrential rain currently besetting the Empire makes traversing this area even more difficult - water is flowing in places it has not reached before and there is also a threat of sudden flooding as the magical storms rage above ground. Despite all these dangers, there is still a chance to explore and recover some relics of the past. The Navarr in particular are able to find several hitherto undiscovered chambers that provide some insight into what exactly the Terunael were doing so far under the ground on the edge of Miaren.
Halls Far From The Sun
Below the Terunael mineworkings lie the ancient tunnels. While the rain has caused streams and rivers to cascade through some of the halls here they are much sturdier than those of the Terunael mineworkings. Indeed, the runecarved walls seem to resist the claws of the trogoni as well. These tunnels and galleries are built on a much larger scale than the other areas the adventurers have encountered, as if they are intended for creatures larger than the tallest human. This is a mixed blessing - while it allows warbands to maneuver more freely it also allows many more trogoni to attack at once. And attack they do! There are even more beasts here than in the Terunael mineworkings - and many more of the trogoni hulks are encountered as well.
In addition to the trogoni, however, there are additional threats down at this depth. In a few cases, warbands encounter unfamiliar creatures that seem to be living constructions of weirwood, peculiar ceramic, and mithril.. Most of these entities are much larger than a human, and equipped with horrific shattering hammers and scything blades. They lay into adventurers and trogoni with equal dispassion - attempts to communicate with them are unsuccessful - and prove to be very difficult to destroy. In the end it becomes easier to just mark their locations and try and avoid those galleries and tunnels as much as possible.
There are also unliving spirits down here - shadowy figures with glowing eyes that emerge suddenly from the darkness, passing through adventuring bands and sapping their strength from them before returning to rake at the living with freezing claws. They rarely attack for more than a few moments before disappearing into the shadows again - but those subject to their depredations find themselves weakened and fatigued and at risk of becoming easy prey for the trogoni.
Then there are the magical traps. Some of the runes carved into the wall appear to be imbued with malign enchantments that greatly amplify their effectiveness and attack anyone who gets too close to them. The Winterfolk among the adventurers agree that while some of these are legitimate traps - intentionally created to manifest dangerous magics - others are coincidental or accidental. Among the worst are the Mawrig runes which, when combined with Verys and Hirmok and linked by bands of ilium and mithril, can unleash thundering detonations that not only fling anyone nearby against the walls, floor, and ceiling with crushing force, but also serve as a dinner gong for the trogoni who come rushing toward the source of the noise. There are more insidious traps - areas warded with Kyrop that sap the strength of human, orc, and trogoni alike or places where the Rune of Ending causes debilitating curses that make the life-essence flicker like a guttering candle.
This section of the underworld is also much more extensive than the tunnels above - and some of the explorers believe that the passages and chambers extend far beyond Lorzeno's Deep Pockets toward the mountains of Hahnmark. The general consensus among the Winterfolk is that these are all signs of trollworkings - but some of the best preserved and most extensive ever encountered.
A Maze of Twisted Passages, All Alike
Finally, the expedition fights its way down into the trogoni burrows and encounters an apparently limitless number of frenzied, magic-hungry beasts. In addition to the typical trogoni, and the trogoni hulks, there are creatures that defy easy classification. They all seem to be trogoni but some possess terrible powers of their own. One particular breed seems to have relatively weak claws, but is able to release booming exhalations of force that not only repel their enemies but attract nearby trogoni. Another breed, smaller than the others, has venomous raking claws that cause living flesh to momentarily take on the properties of soft stone - completely immobilising their target but leaving them horrifically aware of everything happening around them. Most who encounter this venom recover quickly, but in a few cases there are horrible lingering effects that see the body slowly hardening into immobile stone. Luckily the physicks among the adventurers are able to treat this sickness with Marrowort and Imperial Roseweald but some adventurers come dangerously close to being transformed into "living statues", suffocating as a vice of stone closes around their lungs.
The fighting at this level is almost nonstop. There seems to be no end to the trogoni - and no end to the variations. Just as an adventurer assumes they have seen everything the unspeakable depths have to throw at them word comes of some new horror. A slow-moving trogoni that makes stone and earth run like mud, slowing and trapping bands of adventurers so the swarm can outmaneuver them. Aquatic trogoni that seethe and boil from lakes and waterways, using their submarine mobility to outflank the air-breathing invaders by squirming through narrow waterfilled tunnels. A terrible, gangly trogoni beast with a single eye that unleashes bursts of agonising light so bright that it stuns anyone exposed to it.
In the end though, there are so many brave adventurers that the red iron door reaches the very bottom of the tunnels beneath the sinkhole. Here the trogoni are like a sea of claws and mandibles, a limitless tide that seems to have no end. The great shaft - the vertical tunnel that drops down, down, down into the earth - is reached in a massive vaulted cavern so far beneath the surface that even the idea of open skies and fresh air seems like a distant memory. As the koboldi struggle to get the seal into place something else begins to rise up the shaft, something immense - a trogoni of such overwhelming size that the mere sight of it threatens to turn the bowels of the most courageous adventurer to water. The roar of the thing's approach mixes with the chittering of the trogoni hordes, and the high pitched piping squeals of the koboldi as they hurry to place the seal over the top of the shaft.
At the last possible moment, the slab of metal is dropped into place, and the koboldi... do whatever it is they need to do to activate it. The runes on its surface begin to glow with a pale crimson light that casts dancing shadows all around. There is a single high-pitched musical note, like a single harp string being plucked... and the trogoni scatter. They flee back into their dark burrows. A ragged cheer goes up from the assembled heroes.
The trogoni are not gone - they and any number of other horrors still remain in the deep places beneath the sinkhole - but the threat of a great host of them rising up to attack the surface is gone for good. The koboldi announce that there is probably time for a little bit of rest and maybe even a celebration, before the arduous trek back to the surface can begin. In the manner of their kind, they actually begin to raise stone tables from the raw rock of the cavern, breaking out metal flasks of strong liquor that they have apparently carried with them all the way from the surface. There, in the light of the glowing seal, and illuminated by lightstones and oil lamps, a makeshift banquet is held. It doesn't last long - the trogoni are already beginning to creep back - but it is a chance for everyone to catch their breath, to share stories of their exploits so far, and to prepare themselves to return to the surface. Those who fought their way down here are likely never to forget it - the Deepest Feast ever held in the Empire.
We won't be providing any additional information about the mysteries of the underworld - beyond what is delivered to the Advisor on the Vallorn or used in the Runegrott Runeforge - such things are mysteries for a reason. The Department of Historical Research has already sent an expedition into the tunnels under the sinkhole and there is no possibility that they might find anything further if ordered back here.
You are free to speculate about the strange mysteries of the deeps as much as you like. The Explore the Depths action won't provide additional briefing material - it's an opportunity to get specific rewards for independent action and to create roleplaying opportunities as you boast about your "dungeon delving," not a way to dig into ancient secrets. There might be new plots involving Lorenzo's Deep Pockets in the future, but for now the threat presented by the site has been dealt with and there is nothing further that can be discovered here by any means (which includes ritual scrying or speaking to eternals).Game Information
The expedition into the depths is a resounding success. The threat of the trogoni is decisively dealt with. Over the next few weeks, the koboldi share the principles behind their warding door with anyone who wishes to learn - meaning that similar seals can be installed in mines and mana sites across the Empire, greatly reducing the threat of the trogoni. The Delver of the Depths will benefit greatly from access to the lower tunnels - the civil service are preparing details of opportunities to allow them to harvest orichalcum, mithril, and crystal mana from the deeper regions beneath the sinkhole.
Being a complete success, the expedition also secures significant treasure for those who took part. In addition to the expected rewards, every unit that took part receives 3 ingots each of orichalcum, weltsilver, and tempest jade, and 2 crystal mana.
A shared bounty of 20 wains of mithril is also discovered, distributed at random among all those who took part in the expedition. Ten units chosen at random receive a ring of ilium, recovered from somewhere in the trogoni burrows. These rewards have been greatly increased thanks to the recklessly adventurous inspiration of the knights of Dawn who took part in the expedition.
A new independent action called Explore the Depths is now available to military units from Wintermark, the League, the Marches, Navarr, and Dawn - allowing them to explore the tunnels and recover metals and crystal mana instead of the normal production. Other nations' military units can also take this action, but will do so much less effectively.
With the support of the Navarr assembly, and thanks to the expedition reaching the Terunael mineworkings, a short report about what the ancestors of the Navarr were doing here has been prepared and will be delivered to the Advisor on the Vallorn
Likewise, the Winterfolk have benefitted from the opportunity to explore the ancient tunnels - when the runegrott runeforge is completed there will be additional opportunities relating to it, gleaned from the runic secrets teased from the ruins of the past.
Finally, the glorious troubadours, knights, and yeofolk of Dawn have thrown their support behind this adventure into the deepest depths of the earth. Even though they do not border the sinkhole, they can take the "explore the depths" action as freely as the Marchers or Wintermark can.
Participation
Obviously, if your military unit (or forest) took part in the expedition to the depths, you are free to make up heroic stories of your encounters with the trogoni, their twisted deep-earth cousins, and the tricks and traps you have encountered deep beneath the earth. Even though there was an overwhelming force of Imperial heroes assigned to the action, it was still an arduous odyssey into places entirely alien to the Empire and there were a lot of trogoni - enough to devastate the regions around the sinkhole if they had poured out and seriously threaten an entire territory if they had not been sealed away.