Hi Everybody,
Exploring Kal-Arath - Episode 5 - Going Deeper in The Mine
Mal-Shui (PC) - Str = 1, Tou = 2, Agi = 1, Int = -1, Pre = 1.
Male Human. Age = 24. Brown eyes and hair, 6'1" tall. Hp = 6 out of 7. Xp=0.
Equipment
Longsword, (Att +1, Dam +1), Staff, Dagger.
7 1/2 days' rations in a sack.Tarnak Berries (Sc=3), Waterskin. Tinder and flint.
Rough blue tunic, an animal fur cloak. Terradon Tooth necklace with Tribal Totem carving.
Eggshell cooking bowl. 2 Torches unlit, 1 just lit.
In pouch - Gold Coins = 1. Silver Coins = 10.
Threads
1) Scaleel or Goritan Village Member, 2) Wizard - Jis-Kel, 3) Treasure seekers,
4) Khainar Yak Folk, 5) Yamil-Torl.
Yamil-Torl - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.
Male Human. Age =34. Green eyes, Black hair. 5'11" tall
Hp. = 4 out of 6. Xp=0.
Equipment
Sling, Staff, Club, (Att+0, Damage d6/disadvantage).Rough clothes. Bronze helmet.
Silver Coins in pouch = 15.
Threads
1) Previous Tribe members.
Continuation of day 2. At the four-way crossroads. - Halfway through their second torch. Yamil picks up a rock, "Let's mark the junctions we have gone down with signs on the walls and sticks on the floor, an arrow to signal which way we get out. off to one side, so we do not knock them unintentionally."
Mal agrees, "I like that, so even if the torch goes out, we are not stuck." he adds," We turn back when we light the third torch, regardless of where we are. So then, Left?" Yamil turns to the left tunnel wall and puts two lines on it, "Two vertical lines, so not a random mark that the miners would have made, also, it is fresh and sharp. Four stones in a square on the floor, too."
Mal nodded.
The shaft continued for about 15 feet, then turned to the left, and then another twenty feet to a dead end.
"The seam must have run out." They walked back to the main shaft, and Yamil put a row of pebbles across the entrance. "Blocked and done. Do the other side passage or the main one?"
(? 1-3 Main, 4-6 Side =2)
"Carry on down the middle hole, we don't know in what order that they were dug"
They marked the tunnel and proceeded onwards, with occasional coughs to cover the silence. There were soot marks on the rough-hewn ceiling, leading them to think this was a frequently used passageway. It bent here and there but gradually swung to the left. Another chamber appeared.
(? 1-3 Still a mine, 4-6 Something else =4? 1-3 Dungeon 4-6 Lair = 5)
The blackness gradually lifts, and we see scattered tables and chairs with a big boulder on the left side wall.. The oval room has three new exits again, left, right and straight ahead.
(NPC roll = Historian).
Suddenly, a voice rings out from the left passage, "Don't hurt me, don't hurt me."
"Show yourself", demands Mal, in a piercing voice, with his sword at the ready.
"What are you doing here?" asks Yamil,
"My name is Burvin Charank, a historian of Kar'Eldani, I am on my way to Thraz, but I lost my way in the hills. I was picking Tarnak berries when I saw your friend coming along the track. I saw the entrance just as you must have done. I felt my way along the tunnels, but I got lost in the dark, and I did not want to die in here."
(?Lair Occupied = 1 Empty / abandoned).
There is an old nest in one of the corners, with some gnawed bones. An old wheelbarrow has been used as a nest by something smallish, like a cat or goat.
"Who else is with you?" growled Yamil, "Truthfully now, I can smell lies like flies love the Pit".
"No, no, I am travelling alone. I swear on the Shadow of Dorgan the Mighty. Patron of Travellers."
He showed us his necklace from the Deity Wars.
"His aid and blessing were the only reasons I am here today, among the living. Many times our compound was attacked, but we were able to fend them off and survive."
Burvin Charank - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.
Male Human. Age =31. Blue eyes, Black hair. 5'6" tall. Necklace from the Deity Wars.
Hp. = 6 out of 6. Xp=0. Dagger. Hiking gear. Rations =3, Tarnak Berries, R=4. Silver Coins =6.
Yamil decided, "Now that you are here, you can be useful by carrying the torch. DON'T drop it, understand? Keep a firm grip, "Burvin nodded in agreement. Yamil passed him the torch. Barvin held it out in front of him at an angle.
(? Random Air Clock roll 20=5).
Mal suggested, "We may as well do this tunnel he came out of next." They introduced themselves as they went along the passageway. Yamil prodding in front of Burvin with the staff.
This passage was only 30 feet long before it expanded into another oval chamber, The torch flickered and was slightly brighter. "There must be an air shaft somewhere."
In the far wall was a narrower opening, the width of a pick swing, which followed a crack in the rock. Rough foot holes were carved for better grip as the hole went upwards.
Putting the torch in there showed a speck of light twenty feet up.
"We should be able to clear it," declared Yamil, "I'll go up".
"Not with your leg, I'll do it."
He dropped his pack and the spare torches, took the spear and started upward, feeling with his hands and feet as he went.
(D: Agi roll 6,3 +1=10 Success) = He got to the top and gradually widened the hole by prodding it with the staff, where a rock had partially blocked it. With a shove, it was out of the way. Mal sucked in lungfuls of pure clean air, feeling the hot, stale air and smoke moving past him. He poked his head out of the hole, but could only see grass around him. He carefully made his way back down.
(D: Agi roll?Adv 4,6 +1=11 Success) = He was pleased at how well the air was moving up and out.
Even so, the torch was looking much dimmer. "We need to get out while the tunnels suck in good air. We can come back in the morning when we are rested."
They lit the last torch and made their way out.
 |
| Hilside Entrance |
Mine Map 2.
"I would be able to make the hole at the top wider if we needed to", mused Mal around the campfire."It would be easier to do from the outside if they left a pick somewhere we can find it. We may have to make a new handle for it."
Yamil will stand the first watch, then Mal.
Mal and Burvin settle down to sleep.
(Mal gains 1 Xp. Heals 1 Hp.)
(Yamil tries to heal his leg, fails on a 1 and 1+Pre =3 Fail. Use Fate Point =2 Still Fail).
(Roll 2 - A night encounter).
A voice in the night, "Hello, the camp, may we approach?"
Yamil nudged Mal awake with his foot and threw another couple of small logs on the fire from the pile drying next to it, sending glowing embers upwards, "Who is it that approaches?"
"We are weary travellers like yourselves."
"Come and be welcome",
A few moments later, into the firelight stepped three men, the wet leaves had muffled their approach, wearing in part hiking garb, part warrior gear, carrying spears on their backs, their clothes still bloodied from the fight they had just had, swords in scabards, with their hands empty of anything.
The tallest of them spoke first, "I am Ref Sodrav, Tan Muen and Cazen Goorte." They each nodded at their name.
"I am Yamil-Tori, Mal-Shui and sleepy head there, is Burven Charnak. What brings you to the high forest in the dead of night?"
"We are trophy hunters, after gouls or giants and such monsters. Or we were, until we actually found a ghoul, and it killed three of our party before we could escape its clutches and run into the night."
They huddled around the fire. "We made sure it was not following us before descending the mountain. That is why we have not made camp sooner. We happened to smell your smoke on the breeze, luckily for us. We have food to share".
"Then eat, by all means," Said Mel, sitting up from his bedroll, where he had hidden his sword, ready if needed.
They grabbed about in their supplies, and they were soon sizzling morsels of dried beef over the fire on sticks.
Ref said sadly while the food was cooking over the glowing embers and flames, "We overestimated our strength and underestimated the ghoul's. We thought that with the six of us, it would be a simple task to dispatch it. The folly of youth."
Yamil replied, "Ya. Wise words are usually learned by a hard lesson. 'Tis often the way of the world."
They gathered more wood and moss and prepared bedding around the fire, which had extra logs added to it. They were exhausted. and soon asleep, but tossing and turning from uneasy dreams, while Mal kept the second watch.
(No encounters on the second watch).
Mal-Shui (PC) - Str = 1, Tou = 2, Agi = 1, Int = -1, Pre = 1. Fate Point =1.
Male Human. Age = 24. Brown eyes and hair, 6'1" tall. Hp = 7 out of 7. Xp=1.
Equipment
Longsword, (Att +1, Dam +1), Staff, Dagger.
5 1/2 days' rations in a sack.Tarnak Berries R=1 (Sc=3), Waterskin. Tinder and flint.
Rough blue tunic, an animal fur cloak. Terradon Tooth necklace with Tribal Totem carving.
Eggshell cooking bowl. 2 Torches unlit, 1 just lit.
In pouch - Gold Coins = 1. Silver Coins = 10.
Threads
1) Scaleel or Goritan Village Member, 2) Wizard - Jis-Kel, 3) Khainar Yak Folk,
4) Ref Sodrav, Tan Muen and Cazen Goorte.
Yamil-Torl - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1.Fate Point =1.
Male Human. Age =34. Green eyes, Black hair. 5'11" tall.
Rations = 0. Hp. = 4 out of 6. Xp=0.
Equipment
Sling, Staff, Club, (Att+0, Damage d6/disadvantage).Rough clothes. Bronze helmet.
Silver Coins in pouch = 15.
Burvin Charank - Str = 1, Tou = 1, Agi = -1, Int = 2, Presence = 1. Fate Point =1.
Male Human. Age =31. Blue eyes, Black hair. 5'6" tall. Deep sleeper. Necklace from the Deity Wars.
Hp. = 6 out of 6. Xp=0. Dagger. Notebook, Padded ink, quills. Hiking gear - Hand axe.
Rations =2, Tarnak Berries, R=4. Silver Coins =6.
Ref Sodrav, Tan Muen and Cazen Goorte
End Of Part 5.
Regards all,
Ivor Cogdell
Kal-Arath (C) Copyright 2023 Castle Grief. Permission to copy for personal use.
Exploring Kal-Arath (C) Copyright 2026 Ivor Cogdell.
Map 1a and Mine Maps 1 and 2 Artwork (C) Copyright 2026 Ivor Cogdell.
I am using "Wilderness Encounters" from drivethruRPG.com. No copyright visible.
100 Items Found In An Abandoned Mine From (C) Copyright: the GM Mastery list.
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