Lost Turismond

I am going to detail an adventure I wrote in the early eighties for Basic D&D. I wrote Lost Turismond for a Basic D&D campaign at about level 2-5. I often borrowed from published adventures but at the time I wrote Lost Turismond I did not have a lot of published modules. It is entirely original from the standpoint that I was not borrowing from modules but the theme and setting is as old as Tolkien.

Lost Turismond is a classic Dwarven mine where they dug to deep into the depths and releases something evil. The mine was abandoned (lost) and recovered by the wilderness. The adventure begins as a standard dwarven mine dungeon but then the bottom of the mine opens into an underground world inspired by “At the Earth’s Core” and similar works.

Up first is the ruins and the mountain itself. I used Blender to render the mountain image.

Mount Turismond with the Dwarf Mine in its lee

LOST TURISMOND PART ONE

Background

Lost Turismond is the name of a legendary Dwarven mine in the Wilderlands abandoned over 500 years ago. The location is not lost, it rests beneath Mount Turismond which is a tall peak that can be seen for miles. Something terrible was unearthed at Turismond. The dwarves marched away without explanation and have never returned. Stories are told of adventurers who have ventured to the mines over the centuries in search of gold. Most of the stories end with no word heard from the adventurers ever again. Some stories tell of hordes of goblins chasing adventurers back to civilized lands.

The Ruins of Turismond

The ruins of the village of Turismond are located in a bowl-shaped valley in the shadow of the mountain. An impressive stone stair cuts the side of the mountain turning once before arriving at a platform and entrance into the mines. High above the ruins of the village to the south are the ruins of a watchtower (not shown on map).

There is a wyvern that has nested in the tower. During the day it flies the thermals looking for prey. Unattended horses or mules will attract its attention to attack.

Wyvern (1): AC 3, HD 7, hp 40, MV 90’, Fly 240’, AT 1 bite/1 sting, Dmg 2-16/1-6+poison, SA F4, AL C.

Turismond Map 1: Ruin Level

(1). Gateway to Turismond

Two stone posts mark the entrance to the ruins of the town. Most of the buildings are little more than an outline with some scattered stones. Five buildings still have low walls. The streets are made of well-fitted stones which are still intact.

(2). Goblins

This building has four intact walls. Facing the street are two window openings and a doorway. Hidden in this ruin is a scouting party of five goblins. They will attack small groups of adventurers (less than their own number). The attack will be with their bows. They will flee if more than two of their number are killed. If any goblin escapes, he will head directly to the goblin tribe lair and will come back with a war party of 30 goblins in 1 day.

Goblins (5): AC 6, HD 1-1, hp 7,7,6,3,4, MV 60’, AT 1 arrow, Dmg 1d6, SA NM, ML 7, AL C. Note that they attack at -1 in daylight and have infravision to 90’ at night.

(3). Ruined buildings

A pair of ruined buildings looking onto the central square. They each have four low walls remaining. There is the remains of a campfire in the center of one of the ruins. The fire looks like it was put out years ago.

(4). Central Square

The center of the town has a circular stone platform 4 feet high with steps leading up to the surface. The platform is 30 feet in diameter. In the center of the platform is a defaced statue of a dwarf holding a warhammer. The dwarf’s head is missing and his fingers have been chipped off. The name carved beneath the statue has been defaced but it is possible to make out the name Tho--m Br-adsto--.

(5). Wolves

This building has three intact walls and a fourth leaning inward creating a sheltered area that is overgrown with brambles. Four wolves have made a den in the brambles and will attack any adventurers who enter the building. One of the wolves is actually a werewolf.

Werewolf (1): AC 5, HD 4, hp 24, MV 180’, AT 1 bite, Dmg 2-8, SA F4, ML 8, AL C. If a werewolf is hit by wolfsbane if save vs. Poison or run away in fear. Horses can smell the werewolf if they get within 30 feet and will react in fear. Human characters that lose more than half of their hit points to a werewolf bite will become a werewolf in 2-24 days. The disease kills non-human characters.  This werewolf will howl when it attacks summoning an additional 2 wolves that will arrive in 1d4 rounds.

Wolves (3-5): AC 7, HD 2+2, hp 16, 14, 13, 16, 12, MV 180’, AT 1 bite, Dmg 1-6, SA F1, ML 8, AL N.  If their werewolf leader is killed the wolves will flee.

(6). Barricaded Ruin

This building is the most intact in the ruined town. It has four walls each 8-10 feet tall. Pine trees have been cut and used to barricade the 4 window openings. Pine branches also cover the corners of the buildings to provide dry shelter. The doorway is partially barricaded but the tree trunks have been hacked apart. Inside the ruin is a crumpled corpse leaning up against a wall. The corpse wears the remnants of chainmail and leather clothing. The corpse has been reduced to a skeleton but it is apparent it was a dwarf. The dwarf has been dead for no more than a year. There is nothing of value on the dwarf. Three arrows protrude from his ribcage. An open pack lies nearby that has been ripped open. Inside are some clothes and a waterlogged journal with careful writing in dwarvish.

The journal belongs to Grousin Ingot. He proclaims to be the descendent of the dwarven clan that mined Turismond. It was his dream to reopen the mine and bring dwarves back to the valley. He felt that as long as the kept to the upper levels they would not risk awakening the “slumbering evil” below in the dark. Near the end of the journal he recounts that he has finally broken through to the mineshaft but that he has seen goblins amongst the ruins of the town.

(7). The Great Stair

A wide stone platform is the starting point of a magnificent stone staircase ascending up the side of the mountain. The staircase ascends 300 feet on 600 evenly crafted stone steps that curve once before entering a stone building well up the mountainside. Stone walls that are still intact for the most part and rise 3 feet are on either side of the steps.

Characters on the stairs are exposed to attacks from the goblin archers or the hungry wyvern.

(8). The Entrance to the Mine

The stairs end at a stone building built into the sheer rockside of the mountain. From the platform it is possible to see far out over the wilderness spotting any approaching goblins or other hazards. Inside the entrance is a short hall to a 30 foot square room. Raised portcullis are above the entrance to the room. They are rusted in place in the up position. In the room there is a lot of mining equipment, lanterns, pickaxes, shovels and wheelbarrows. The wheelbarrows are clearly old but they have been recently maintained. The mining implements are fairly new. The lanterns still have oil in them.

(9). Collapsed Hallway

The room leads into a collapsed hallway. The hall has been recently excavated but it still quite narrow and low (5 feet wide, 4 feet high). A dwarf who examines the excavation closely can discover that it was deliberately collapsed in the distant past and only recently excavated.

(10). Rubble

This chamber is full of heaps of rubble and a broken wheelbarrow. It looks like the excavated rock from the corridor was dumped here.

(11). The Dwarven Marvel

A stone archway leads into a circular room with a strange suspended floor. Just outside the stone archway is an iron bar attached to an iron box. The bar is in the up position and looks as though it could be rotated down. The floor in this chamber is made of thick, oak boards. The boards are bolted to two iron bars that cross the floor one to the north and one to the south. The bars each have 2 heavy chains attached that ascend up through holes in the stone ceiling 20 feet above the floor. If characters step on the platform it will creak alarmingly and sway slightly. It sounds like there is a hollow space below the floor.

The platform is a dwarven marvel. A lift that took dwarven miners down into the mines. Pulling the bar down releases the mechanism and the platform will immediately begin descending at the rate of 5 feet 10 seconds. The platform will slowly pick up speed until it is dropping at an alarming 5 feet per second. There is no way to stop the lift’s descent (on this level) unless one character remains behind and raises the lever.