Encounter 3: At the Mine

Another day of travelling brings you deeper into the Cairn Hills. On several occasions the road wound past pyramid shapes in the hillside that were obviously long ago looted cairns. As late afternoon approaches, the enormous quartz boulder Auldon indicated on his map appears ahead beside the road. Two miles further south you find the deserted remains of a mine. As you approach the site you can see a dilapidated barn opposite an opening in the hillside. Rising up from blackened earth on the other side of the barn are two chimneys. Several young trees sprout from the remains of what might have once been a small bunkhouse.   The boulder is heavily veined with granite and has no value other than to serve as a fairly unique landmark. Close investigation of the mine reveals:   A rough eight-foot hole disappears into the hillside, with two rusted rails protruding like a bent metal tongue. Several long abandoned cooking pits litter the area, including one with a old brass kettle, suspended from an iron tripod.   Should the PCs choose to investigate the interior of the mine, they find piles of rubble, slag, abandoned or broken mining tools, and several hundred yards of rough-hewn tunnel. There is nothing here of any value. Discourage the PCs from wasting a lot of time here. Closer investigation of the chimneys reveals:   The pair of stone chimneys has clearly not been used in decades. From the anvil set in a nearby stump, several short metal rods, and the rotted leather remains of a bellows it is apparent that area once served a forge for the mine. The other chimney stands near the center of a rectangle of charred timbers. The faint outline of a path leads to the closed rear doors of the barn.   If the PCs enter the barn from the bunkhouse side, reverse this description. Closer investigation of the barn reveals:   On a flat spot about two hundred feet from the mouth of the mine stands a broken down barn. One door still hangs from its upper hinge. The other lies in the opening to the barn like a collapsed drawbridge. Through the broken door you can see several fallen beams lying among what appear to be stalls. Upon entering the barn you see that a matching pair of doors still stand at the rear of the structure. The interior is well lighted by gaps in the roof. There is a large open area at the front of the barn with six draft horse sized stalls taking up the back half of the building. The remains of what once was a ladder leads up to an unstable-looking hayloft. Scattered about the open area are rough made picks and shovels, as well as some rotted rope and a badly dented metal cart that is missing one wheel. Stale straw covers the floor of the entire structure and a thick layer of dust rests on every surface and hangs in the air. Protruding from a beam in the first stall to your left is a wellmade knife thrust through a yellowed and brittle piece of parchment.     On the parchment is a single sentence written in common that says: 

• "The trap door is in the floor of the first stall on the left."
• The floor of the stall is covered with straw. 
• If the PCs move the straw they will see obvious signs of someone attempting to dig through the floor with a pick. 
• Once located, to open the trapdoor the PCs must pry up the granite slab by making a strength check. 
• When the slab has been lifted to a vertical position it will allow the PCs to get into a ten-foot deep pit, but further movement is blocked by the bottom half of the slab. After entering the pit, the PCs can let the slab fall back into its original position, which will clear the bottom portion of the slab from the tunnel. Reference DM Map #2.