Character Level: 6-7

Synopsis

The party is sent to find lost mines by a wealthy dwarf, Bram Ironfell. It seems the mines are linked to Sarshan in some way. The party travels to the Thornwaste, and is attacked by a rival dwarf clan en route.  They reach a village being terrorised by gnolls led by the Warden, whom in turn works for the Queen of the Drylands. Tracking back the party find the queen's HQ to be the Karak Lode, the fortified mine occupied by monsterous forces. Finding their way to the lower levels the party finds the queen, who guards a portal to the Elemental Chaos.

Locations

• Overlook
• The Thornwaste: sandy windswept wilderness
• Dunesend:
• Mines of Karak

NPCs

• Kalad - the paladin rescued in the Monastery of the Shattered Chain, now a sergeant in the City Watch
• Bram Ironfell - Elsir Consortium member, has ancestral ties to the Karak Lode
• Mag Blackthorn - ranger and servant of the Ghostlord
• unnamed dwarf from Clan Hammerfist - rival clan to the Ironfells
• Darkus Comahni - the smith in Dunesend
• Lotho Elberesk - owner of the Dunesend Caravansary
• Old Bede - elderly halfling baker in Dunesend
• Fawma Bruth - aging priestess of Melora in Dunesend
• The Warden - demonic gnoll cohort of Queen Shephatiah
• The Birdman - an enigmatic figure found in the Karak Lode
• Queen Shephatiah - guardian naga that has taken over the rift in the Karak Lode, guards the entrance to the Elemental Chaos within the dwarven hold

Thoughts

This module is less closely tied in to the ongoing story than previous installments. It would be possible to subtantially rewrite or even remove this module without any great impact on the adventure path. This also seems to be getting flagged as one of the weaker modules, with a particularly "on rails" feel, and some rather forced or weak plot points.

Idea

Plot enhancement that worked well for my group:

I found a very good reason for this adventure. Ask yourself a question: who rented all those warehouses in Overlook on behalf of Modra and /or Sarshan? Who owns these warehouses? When my players started to investigate they quickly found out that a shady underworld character (in my game an old tiefling named Shariq, think a fantasy style Mafia boss) brokered the deal between Sarshan and the Elsir Consortium.  When they didn't stop investigating, someone within the Elsir Consortium (you may take a guess who this could be) killed Shariq in a most demonstrative, messy way. Just as my group figures out that something is wrong with the E.C. they get an invitation from Bram Ironfell (presented with a very stylish letter bearing a very stylish "Elsir Consortium" logo on top). Now they are sure that one of the main reasons to send them on this mission is to have them out of the way while the E.C. is tying up some loose ends of their dealings with Sarshan...  but having no evidence, what else can they do?

Continuity Notes

• Bram Ironfell becomes an important character later in the AP (especially in the Throne of the Stone-Skinned King). If you do intend to rewrite this module, ensure that Bram retains the role of paymaster, or that the PCs meet/interact with him at some other time.
• While it has not been confirmed, The Birdman is assumed to be a very powerful figure (almost certainly Bahamut), so his inclusion, as nonsensical as it seems, might be warranted.
• This runs the risk of being contradicted by as-yet-unpublished quests, but revealing that the platinum for the ceremonial sword (Amyria) was mined here would help to tie it into the overall adventure path.