1. Cave Entrance

This area is outside the cave. From here the cave can be entered by three different entrances (see below). When the PCs get within a half mile of the entrance, read the following boxed text. After hours walking through the woods, you see a thin column of smoke piercing through the trees. Clearly, someone is burning something. You are unsure of who lit the fire, but you are certain that it is close and still burning... At this point, the GM should leave it up to the PCs to either go investigate or retreat back to Péripont. If the players decide to get closer, enough to see the entrances and the rope bridge, read the following boxed text. Getting closer, you hear the sound of falling water. Pushing through, you find yourselves in an area filled with thickets where you manage to hide to observe. Before you, opens a small clearing stuck between the woods and a hill. On the side of the hill facing you, you see an imposing cliff side from which a small waterfall pours into a shallow pond. A gentle snaky stream of water flows from the pond into the woods. You notice a few openings on the cliff side, likely entrances that lead into caves. Piles of tailings, abandoned mining material, and even remains of an old broken cart are scattered in this clearing. A large fire pit burns as two small dog-like humanoids appear busy playing with something on the ground. The noise of falling water resonates on the rock wall, making it hard to hear, but you are convinced that you have found the entrance to a cave. There are two barklings standing guard in this area. If enemies approach, they are ordered to retreat and warn the guards in area 3. The two creatures will not be paying attention to their surroundings and can be easily surprised if the PCs decide to sneak up on them. Their attention will be focused on a game called Fizzle which is played with two 12-sided ivory dice on which the 12 zodiac signs have been carved. Rules for Fizzle are not given and this game’s modalities are left up to the GM to determine. The set of dice is worth 5 gold pieces. 2 Barklings: AC 13 (leather), HD ½ (1d4 hit points), #At 1 bite or 1 dagger, Dam 1d4 bite, 1d4 dagger, Mv 30', Sv NM, ML 7 (9), XP 10 ea. HP One barkling has a belt pouch that contains 13 cp and 10 sp, while the other one has one that holds 12 cp and 14 sp. The second one also wears a crude necklace made out of a string of leather and three bear teeth (worth 2 gp). Both wear barkling sized leather armor. None of the mining material found in this area is still usable and the rubble is mostly composed of residual copper ore and rock that was dug out of the cave. An old broken cart can also be found, but it is missing both its wheels. There are three entrances to the cave that can all be accessed through this area. The first one leads to area 2. The entrance is 6 feet wide and 8 feet high. It is accessible through a small rope bridge that crosses the narrow pond fed by the falling water. Although it is quite old, the bridge still holds. The bridge can be destroyed by cutting its main ropes; doing so takes 1d6 minutes and requires sharp tools or weapons. The second entrance is located to the west and leads to area 8a. When coming from area 1, the PCs will see a small opening on the cliff (5 feet wide and 7 feet high). A small set of stairs leads down into darkness. Finally, the last entrance is located to the east, 15 feet above the ground. It can only be accessed by climbing, either with a special ability or using a rope. It leads to area 24a. The entrance is 5 feet wide and 6 feet high. Accessing it from area 1 will be challenging, but a thief could climb on the rocky surface or an adroit character could use a grappling hook. Exactly how this area is accessed is left to GM interpretation, but it should be the least obvious choice when entering the cave.