Cultural

inhabitants for food, materials, and rumors. If the characters seek goods here in the halls, he can make the deal happen.

Adventure Hooks. If the PCs did not agree to Halston’s initial terms or off ers or catch his attempted enchantment, the merchant pays a cohort to poison a portion of the food supplies with dark toxin in an attempt to re-corner the market.

Area 22: Firewood Hoarder Camp

In recent days, before the arrival of the frost giant at the gate, Jorgen and his group of 10 heartless, hardened loyalists braved the harsh winter on the slopes to collect what little fi rewood was available at this altitude. Th e lumber is priceless since the elementals left the forges and the chimneys that radiated their warmth went cold. A single day’s worth costs 500 gp. Due to their forays into the lower halls to collect small fl ammable scraps for inventory, many refugees are openly hostile toward the fi rewood hoarders. Th ey suspect their young sorcerer set the elementals of the lower hold free, shutting off the warm chimneys and increasing the demand for fuel.

Jorgen Stravbard (unaligned male dwarf fi ghter 4). A grizzled old miner, whose cries of “Well, ye curs be durned”

from behind his hired guards and roaring fi replace echo through the halls with each freezing settler seeking warmth.

Five human thugs (unaligned male and female warrior 3) rotate guard duty to protect the merchant’s inventory, and another four scoundrels (unaligned male human rogue 1), led by a young sorcerer named Vanessi (unaligned female human sorcerer 4) round out the camp. Th ese scoundrels are Jorgen’s gatherers, who sneak away late at night to explore the deeper halls for more fuel. Th ese trips serve a double purpose, as Vanessi and her four devotees are Mammonite cultists who disrupted the elemental wards at the suggestion of a mysterious lurker known as the Journeyman

(see chapter 2).

Adventure Hooks. Aft er the crash, the characters see Vanessi beguile one of the crewmembers of the Manticore with a spell to sell her boss the left over supply crates. Th e potential source of free fi rewood from the crash signals the beginning of the end of Jorgen’s profi table enterprise here in the halls.

Encountering Jorgen near his camp, the PCs may make DC 20 Perception checks to note that the dwarf tries to hide his secret passion—embroidering in needlepoint. Jorgen is quick to succumb to blackmail, lest his secret be revealed.

In return for their discretion, he can confi rm that Vanessi met with someone known only as the Journeyman, and the elemental wards broke shortly thereaft er.

Area 23: Kobolds (The Knucklebone)

Just as the human miners came to the Golden Citadel seeking aid, so too did some fi ve dozen kobolds. Initially turned out by the dwarves, the kobolds nevertheless worked their way inside the citadel. Once they established a foothold, the tide of tiny, ankle-biting refugees was unstoppable. Led by Old Ossa, the “Squinting King,” the kobolds wasted no time setting up a camp for the harlots, drunkards, and parasites that followed at a bar known as the Knucklebone.

Aft er weaseling their way into the dwarven halls, Old Ossa and his gang swift ly installed themselves in the crumbling remains of the airship-mooring tower. Using spare parts for silverware, propellers for benches, cut gasbags for tablecloths, and patch planks for tables and bars, they set up a makeshift tavern off ering the very worst kind of cheap liquor, harlots of various races, and entertainments such as dire weasel fi ghts, dogmole baiting, and bare-knuckle boxing.

Although loathed by the dwarves, Ossa’s people held their own and the result has been quite popular, especially for those with gold to spend and a taste for gambling or violence. At all hours, a motley assemblage of tomb robbers, black marketers, drunkards, and fools congregate in the smoky haze of the Knucklebone, and roguish adventurers looking for contacts inevitably fi nd themselves at Old Ossa’s door. If the PCs need a guard to look the other way, a smuggled forsaken artifact, or just some decent food, Ossa can supply it or else knows someone who can.

Old Ossa, the Squinting King (evil male kobold rogue 6).

King Ossa, also known as Old Ossa, is determined to keep the halls entertained. Hobbling and hoary, the Squinting King still maintains a gambler’s love of life. His eyes glitter at any opportunity for profi t or mischief and he can rarely resist a bet. Physically, he’s an unimpressive, stooped, and venerable kobold with a severe squint, but what he lacks in appearance he makes up in bombastic bravado. Verbose and creatively abusive, Ossa’s mocking tones are unmistakable.

Ossa’s goals are to keep his business running and the halls stable and secure. He forged a formidable position in the underbelly of the halls and is not about to give it up to dwarves, forsaken, or Mammon himself. Despite the worsening situation, it’s become a point of pride for Old Ossa to leave only of his own volition and with bulging sacks of loot. Th is defi ant attitude and drive for order is slowly turning him into a fi gure of authority among the refugees. He is earning their genuine respect and, in return, developing a paternal (if abusive) relationship toward his fellow squatters.

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground chapter

one

36

Lazy Toe-Belcher (evil male kobold rogue 4). Kicked out of Zobeck for his incessant need to construct annoying traps throughout the kobold ghetto, this talented kobold tinkerer joined the gold rush to fi nd some shiny coin. He brought along his 16 off spring, and along the way, he is training his fl edgling swarm the fi ne art of trap-building, which they practice all over the halls—much to everyone’s annoyance.

Dalm Grendshood (unaligned male dwarf). Former Brewmaster in the halls, Dalm is now grudgingly partnered with the Knucklebone. He desperately seeks out any travelers who might spare some grain or hops, so he can continue his brewing duties. Dalm maintains a healthy colony of yeast but knows his future batches are doomed to fail without much-needed grain. Some customers claim Dalm hoards his ales and demand they be served, but Dalm retorts that they are not yet properly aged.

Adventure Hook. Captain Clovis calls on the characters to investigate the airship-mooring tower to gather supplies and spare parts in a vain attempt to repair the Manticore and rescue as many refugees as possible. Unfortunately, most of the spare propellers, boilers, and steerage fi ns were dismantled and converted into bar furniture, fi ght cages, stills, and dancing poles for the kobold entertainment.

Clovis’s anger needs tempering, and any negotiations for the return of these vital supplies must be handled gingerly.

Areas 25: Starving Masses Camps

Th ese unfortunates either depleted their fortunes buying the dwindling fi rewood and food at hugely infl ated prices from the Mammonites or never struck it rich to begin with. Making up the majority of the settlement, these people all relate the same sad tale of moving their families to the mountains in hopes of fi nding a new, fruitful life in the shadow of Mount Rygar. With the onset of winter, they discovered the worst qualities of human and dwarf.

Th e starving masses number just over 100, although there were twice that in recent weeks. While all of this camp is starving, few of them are sick due to their lack of orichalcum, although they are forced to camp next to the quarantine camp of the ill.

Adventure Hook. If the PCs investigate Albricius’s former lodging, they discover more of the rubbings that match engravings, parts, and gears of Rabscuttle’s body almost perfectly. Scrawled on these parchments, in Common, are the messages “Th ey put it inside him, hidden in plain sight.

Th e answer is the gears!” and “Tears of the Maiden will wash away the greed! Th e mountain cannot be cured of the curse it caught!”

Area 26: Quarantined Sick Camp

Gold fever took hold of these unfortunate souls, and no one yet realizes that the corrupt gold is the cause. Many of

those present in this foul-smelling camp were once part of the upper echelon of the settlers, but due to their illness, their peers abandoned them completely. More go missing from this camp every day as they succumb to the goldveined curse and, under the sway of Mammon, sneak into the lower halls at night. Some three dozen beds make up this camp, all of which hold sickly folk in various advanced stages of the illness. Both these unfortunates and the starving are tended with care by Father Jappe and his acolytes.

Father Jappe (lawful good male human cleric 7), Brother Yensal (lawful good male human cleric 5), and Brother Haywood (lawful good male human cleric 5). Th ese priests of the Golden Goddess Lada bear a heavy burden because they are the only ones who minister to the sick and keep the gold fever at bay. Th ey spend what coin they have to cast Travelers’ Feast, which is hardly enough to sustain every parishioner in their fl ock. When they can, they briefl y open up a small soup kitchen for the less fortunate. Even then, they cannot possibly meet the demand of their hungry charges.

Lisbet (good female gnome). Lisbet is a lovely gnome with a gift for animal training. Father Jappe cares for her in exchange for the protection her guard animals provide. She leads a small pack of loyal dogmoles; a dire weasel; and her pet boar, Figgillin. Th e intimidating pack keeps thugs away, so only those in the greatest need are given the charity of Lada. Dishonest interlopers looking for a free meal long ago learned not to try to take advantage of the clerics’ generosity.

Adventure Hooks. Both of Father Jappe’s acolytes go missing and he suspects Halston’s guards are the guilty culprits. Halston has long wanted to shut down Jappe’s weekly charity meals, and the absence of the brothers’

Travelers’ Feast rituals puts a great strain on the poor, who must instead negotiate with the merchants for food.

Riot! Upset over the rumors of desecration of the dead or unfair food distribution, the weak, poor, and starving take up simple arms (36 unaligned male and female humans). Th ey attempt to seize enough food for themselves from Halston and the Mammonites.

Area 27: Struck-It-Rich Camp

Th is once well-to-do faction set up a prosperous camp within the halls, but with so much hoarded wealth, gold fever took hold of this group faster than any other did, drastically reducing their numbers. Th eir camp is now a fetid wasteland that is an obscene refl ection of the opulence they once aff orded themselves only days before.

Th e group consists of only 20 humans of all ages and backgrounds, all depleting fortunes that could buy them palatial estates in Zobeck on meager supplies and vital necessities. Due to their affl iction, many believe that greed and selfi shness are the real cause of the illness.

Fiver Hazelwood (good male human). An interesting character among this faction is a fresh-faced young orphan by the name of Fiver Hazelwood. Th is lovable scamp has endeared himself to these refugees with his cute hijinks and charming nature, and everyone makes sure he gets the best possible care and morsels of food. Th e “child,” however, has everyone fooled—his real name is Mardibiddle Schumeli (good male gnome bard 4), a rather clever gnome who is using his hat of disguise to pass himself off as a human orphan.

Teskallarin (unaligned male human Shaman 4). With his wild stare, unkempt attire, and grubby nails, Teskallarin.

He spends more time ranting and raving from his primitive lectern against the rampant greed consuming the settlement than he does helping those in need. Spittle fl ies as he races through the camps, raising his bony hands to the sky and deploring the “plague of greed” gripping the settlement.

Adventure Hooks. Th e kobolds discover Mardibiddle’s ruse when a playful child of Lazy Toe-Belcher inadvertently removes his hat of disguise. Th e PCs may choose to protect the gnome from an enraged rabble determined to get its revenge on the “orphan” who took advantage of their generosity for the last several weeks.

Area 29: Dwarf Miners (Griffon Barding and Tack Warehouse)

For now, the dwarves remain largely out of sight, isolated in the lower halls with only the most tenuous control of their ancestral holdings. Many have succumbed to the greed of Mammon and gold fever, fracturing the original population.

Th e murder of the Many-Bearded Elder brought further chaos to the miners, who have since had to deal with the increased exodus, the loss of control of Heartsblood Forge to a growing faction of cultists, and the bizarre appearance of the forsaken—an aggressive, mutated race that strikes an uncomfortable chord of familiarity. Th e remaining dwarves who have not succumbed to greed and temptation number less than 100 and many of those joined the mining camps.

Th e dwarves are currently led by the Silent Masters of the Illuminated Brotherhood, who are usually dismissed as rumors of the more conspiratorially minded. Since the death of the elder, the leaders cut off the dwarven habitations from contact with the refugees. Th ey hope to consolidate power internally before moving on to developing a plan to deal with the refugees and gold fever. As a result, the rampant infl ation in the upper chambers goes unchecked, while the political shift ing in the dwarf-controlled lower halls forces many dwarven Mammonites into the open. When dwarven leadership forced their hand, the Mammonites took control of the Heartsblood Forge by force.

Th e dwarven camps are currently accessible only through a heavily guarded stairwell in area 29 of the upper halls, and

the guards, led by Varden Redfel (unaligned male dwarf fi ghter 5), allow no one to pass for any reason. Th e former dignitary suites on the second level house 50 dwarves, with another 50 stationed near the Heartsblood Forge, where they fi ght sporadic battles to reclaim the territory controlled by the traitorous Mammonites.

Adventure Hook. In an attempt to control their

stronghold, an armed retinue of 12 dwarves (unaligned male and female fi ghter 4) led by Silent Master Bradobaraxas arrive in the Great Hall and attempt to put a stop to the food hoarding immediately. Outnumbered by the merchants and their guards, the dwarves retreat under fi re unless the PCs intervene to see justice brought to the Infl ationists.

Rabscuttle

Partially constructed from corrupt gold ore, the already eccentric Rabscuttle slides further into dementia and insanity, although many of his insane insights are based on memories and nuggets of truth. Attempt to work in all of the following events over the course of the fi rst few days aft er the PCs arrive at the citadel. Try to make these events seem as innocuous as possible, giving them no greater or lesser attention than any other roleplaying encounter. Roll randomly for the order in which they occur or present them in any order you think best.

Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground chapter

one

38