Dwarven Underworks Excavation Site Free Multi-Level 40×30 Battlemap & Adventure

Some Things are Best Left Buried

While traveling through the countryside, you come across what appears to be a makeshift village consisting of tents and other improvised shelters. There’s a general buzz of activity here, with lots of people equipped for work. Shovels, pickaxes and barrows are dotted around the place, hinting at some sort of excavation taking place.

One of the people working in the camp notices you and heads in your direction. She’s a small woman wearing a big floppy hat to shield her from the sun, a white shirt and practical trousers that are covered in dirt.

“Hello there!” she calls, waving at you as she approaches. “Lovely day for a bit of exploration, don’t you think? I’m Bethany Ross, lending my expertise in engineering to this band of explorers today.”

Should you inquire as to what they’re up to out here in the middle of nowhere, Bethany is happy to explain. “One of the farmers who owns this area wants to dig a new dam right here, and lo and behold, he strikes some sort of structure beneath the surface.

He poked around for a while before figuring he’d better get an expert in to take a look. And here I am! It’s quite a find he’s stumbled upon. Do you have any interest in archeological finds? Fascinating subject. You can come and take a look if you wish.”

Should you agree to go and have a look, she guides you over to the camp. Just beyond it lies a great hole dug in the ground, leading to a tunnel that is clearly made of well-crafted stone.

“It’s dwarven in origin,” Bethany explains, “unmistakable. The strange thing is, I never knew there was a dwarven tunnel system this far from the mountains. From what I’ve seen, it’s rather old, so it probably pre-dates any current settlements by a considerable amount of time.

“Then there’s the question of why they were here. Perhaps they found some undiscovered vein of riches? That’s generally why mines are dug so that’s the most likely reason. We’re still piecing things —”

She’s interrupted by a scream coming from the tunnel entrance! Bethany, along with several other people, rush over, and should you follow, you see two men emerging from the tunnel, leaning on each other for support and sporting a number of dreadful wounds.

“Jack, what happened?” Bethany asks while others tend to the injured.

“Something down there ambushed us,” the man named Jack gasped. “Something moving around in the darkness…” his voice trails off, but before he passes out, he says more. “The others! Ambushed… cut off from escape… must help…”

“Damnation, our people are in there,” Bethany mutters as the two injured men are taken away for further treatment. Bethany grabs a pickaxe and turns to you. “Judging from your attire, you seem to be an experienced adventurer. We need to rescue the remainder of the team, and most of us aren’t warriors. Please help us!”

Should you agree to assist, Bethany nods in appreciation and leads you to the tunnel entrance. Lanterns have been placed at regular intervals, lighting your way into the depths of the earth.

Soon, you arrive at a large chamber with columns roughly carved out of the earth. Water from an underground stream pools here, running into the surrounding rock walls.

“This was the first site we uncovered,” Bethany explains in a hushed voice. “The team was working further in, so we have to keep going.” Should you follow, Bethany will lead you through an ancient stone door, and through another small passage until you reach a square room with tables and a rusty steel grate in the middle of the floor.

“It’s just beyond here,” Bethany says, urging you on. You pass through another door into a larger chamber containing three large brass faces molded into the stone. There, on the other side of the room near the faces you see five wounded people trying to fend off an attack by a horde of ravening dwarven zombies!

“We have to help them!” Bethany shouts, rushing in to swing her pickaxe at one of the rotting flesh monsters. They turn to attack, and spot you there too! Should you manage to fight your way through the horde, you reach the team, who are still very much alive.

“They seem to be able to move, so let’s get them out of here first,” Bethany advises. She drops her pickaxe and helps the most wounded to walk, while you defend the group. You make it back to the room with the floor grate, but find that the rusty metal has given way, and more zombies are rising into the room from below!

“These must be the remains of the dwarven diggers who came here long ago!” Bethany cries. “You have to get us out of here or we may join their ranks!”

Should you manage to fight your way through the mob, you rush back to the larger, water-filled chamber to find a bunch of zombies have risen from the waters and merged together to form a lumbering giant of limbs and rotting flesh! It hunches over, unable to stand straight with the low ceiling, but comes at you anyway!

Should you defeat the zombie giant, you manage to get the rest of the team to safety outside. Bethany struggles to catch her breath, and orders the entrance be sealed, lest the horde within finds their way out.

“We’ll find a way to safely investigate the site later, but for now, we need to tend to our injured. Thank you so much for your assistance! Here, have some gold for your troubles, and also I want to give you this.” She offers you an amulet that was hanging around her neck. “It has some obscure magic that grants you a little extra luck, and I think it saved me more than once in there. May it bring you good fortune!

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