Forge. Crackling flames fill a stone forge that protrudes
from the north wall. An iron anvil squats in front of
the forge (which is similar to the one in area 16a).
Smiths. Two sweaty, female duergar are fashioning
an iron javelin. Both are unarmored, wearing leather
aprons and gloves. One of them wears tinted iron gog-
gles as she ha mmers the javelin into shape_ The other.
has an iron eye patch and uses tongs to hold the metal
in place as it's struck.
Iron. The floor is covered with small stacks of iron bars
and loose piles of scrap iron.
The duergar, Falthra and Helgra, craft weapons here.
Years ago, a flying piece of molten iron put out Helgra's
right eye; an iron eye patch bolted to her skull covers the
empty eye socket.
Without their armor, Falthra and Helgra have AC 10.
They keep their war picks and javelins close by, but fight
only in self-def ense. Visitors who trouble them are told
to seek out Rojkarn lronhead, the captain of the guard.
"He wears a big helmet," one says with a sneer. The
other can provide directions to area 6c, where Rojkarn's
office is located.
Treasure. Sixty iron bars are stacked on the floor.
Each bar is worth 1 gp and weighs 10 pounds.
17D. EASTERN SMITHY
This room is identical to area 17c except that the two
unarmored duergar working here are males named
Forn and Wulluk, and they're fashioning shields and
bits of scale mail instead of weapons. Forn is fat and
lazy, Wulluk old and cantankerous. They grate on each
other's nerves and constantly put each other down. They
otherwise behave similarly to the duergar in area 17c.17 E. ARMORY
Stone pegs in the walls display six dwarf-sized suits of
scale mail, ten helmets, ten shields, thirteen war picks,
and thirty javelins, all fashioned from iron.17F. EQUIPMENT STORAGE
The walls of this 10-foot-high room are lined with low
s tone shelves that hold worn mining picks and ham-
mers. Rusty iron buckets, helmets, and shovels hang
from stone pegs above the shelves.- IRON MINE
The duergar mine these tunnels for iron ore, which is
taken to areas 16 a and 16b to be smelted. The operation
runs smoothly because of the merciless oversight of
Stalagma Steelshadow, Valtagar's wife.
The area is filled with the sounds of hammers and
picks striking stone. The ceiling is roughly 10 feet high
throughout.
18A. OLD SCAFFOLDING
A mine track passes through this cave, which is filled
with torn-down iron scaffolding. Duergar miners can
be heard to the west (area 18b) and the south (areas
18 c and 18d).18B. DUERGAR MINERS
Seven duergar- three males named Greorx, Hwahl,
and Uzwurn, and four females named Awmok, Nezza,
Proxna, and Warda-mine iron ore here. Eager for any
distraction, the miners attack intruders on sight. Given
the noise that echoes throughout the tunnels, the sound
of clashing steel is unlikely to be noticed by the duergar
in areas 18c and 18d. Magical explosions or other un-
usual sounds do draw their attention, though.18C. A MINER DISTURBANCE
Eleven duergar work here. Three of the workers are
enlarged female duergar (Brakka, Koria, and Zagra)
who use picks to break up a vein of iron ore that runs
through the ceiling. Six normal-sized males (Hax,
Mruuzdain, Oznur, Ramdrax, Tarnvur, and Yarox) work
on expanding the cavern northward, while two nor-
mal-sized females (Nura and Speleosa) use hammers
and spikes to separate iron from loose chunks of rock.
If the miners notice the party, they attack, letting their
enlarged allies barrel in first.18D. OVERSEER
This section of the mine has been depleted of mithral
a nd iron ore. It contains the following:
Stalagma. Stalagma Steelshadow, a female adult steel
dragon in duergar form, is mounted on a gorgon near
the bend in the mine track. (If Valtagar Steelshadow
escaped from area 15 , he is riding behind Stalagma
on the gorgon.)
Xorn. Three xorn under Stalagma's command are gath-
ered around a broken mine cart filled with coins.
Stalagma is Valtagar Steelshadow's beloved mate,
and only Valtagar knows that his wife is a dragon in dis-
guise. In her true form, Stalagma looks like a slender,
30-foot-long dragon with shiny steel-gray scales cov-
ering her body, steely talons, and blade-like horns that
sweep back from her narrow head. She has the statistics
of an adult silver dragon, with these changes:- Stalagma is lawful evil.
- While in duergar form, she has the Duergar Resil-
ience and Sunlight Sensitivity traits of a duergar, as
well as its Enlarge and Invisibility action options. In
this form, s he wields a glaive and can use her action to
attack with it three times (+13 to hit), dealing 13 (ldlO
- s lashing damage on a hit, or 19 (2d10 + 8) slash-
ing damage in her enlarged duergar form.
- s lashing damage on a hit, or 19 (2d10 + 8) slash-
- Instead of Cold Breath, she breathes acid in a^60 -foot-
long, 5-foot-wide line. The breath weapon deals acid
damage instead of cold damage. - She speaks Draconic, Dwarvish, and Terran.
Stalagma is as miserable and conniving as any duer-
gar. She raised the gorgon, and it allows no one except
her to ride it. The beast is smart enough to obey Stalag-
ma's verbal commands, and it's strong enough to bear
her weight while she's in her enlarged duergar form.
Stalagma attacks any non-duergar who aren't under
her husband's protection. If additional reinforcements
are needed, Stalagma bellows, "To arms!" in Dwarvish.
Her booming voice causes the duergar in areas 18b and
18c to stop working and converge on her location with
LEVEL 21 I TERMINUS LEVEL