1. The Gates of Hell

Stonehell Dungeon is located beneath the foothills of a mountain chain that lies half a day's travel from the nearest large settlement. Its location is well-known to local residents and directions are easily obtained. You take an old military road that splits from the main thoroughfare a few miles outside of town and head west.

The road skirts past a dank marsh from out of which the foothills rise. There are rumours that flooded tunnels beneath this fen connect with the dungeon, but these tales have never been proven. Once past the marsh, the road rises gradually, threading its way through the rocky hills and cliffs that lie at the base of the mountains.

After several miles, the road terminates at the mouth of a narrow box canyon that bisects a high cliff wall. The steep cliffs and the tall mountains beyond the defile loom overhead. Across the mouth of the canyon stands an old curtain wall and gatehouse. These fortifications once barred entrance to the canyon, but the curtain wall has crumbled in places, leaving large gaps that allow easy access into the canyon beyond.

The gatehouse‘s doors lay rotting on the ground before it and its rusty portcullises are as gapped as a codger‘s smile. Those opting for a more direct route can enter the canyon through the gatehouse‘s central passage.


Rumour time - let's see what titbits of gossip and hearsay you've picked up about Stonehell during your preparations. Everyone roll me a d20.

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Day 1, Noon
Druin: 5/5
Gabbro: 7/7
Ricard: 7/7
Swan: 6/6
Tess: 3/3

Gabbro gazes up at the gatehouse. "I wonder if the prisoners themselves built these walls..."

Druin steps forward and examines the crumbling stone work with obvious disgust. Sure, all of this was shoddy work to begin with, but it hurts him to see a structure in such a level of disrepair. "I'd rather enter through the holes in these walls than the gatehouse, seems to obvious a spot to set up an ambush.", he muses aloud

"Yer right at that dwarf," Ricard draws his blade as he skirts the gatehouse in favor of the wall,

"This whole place stinks of bandits..."

Rumour time - let's see what titbits of gossip and hearsay you've picked up about Stonehell during your preparations. Everyone roll me a d20.

Swan mentions, "I think those holes in the look to be a fine entrance to me too. I sure hope we don't go too low here. I don't swim well in plate."

As Tess approaches the infamous Stonehell Dungeon, she racks her brain to see what she recalls about what lurks within...

So, those rumours … the following will have been picked up in town before you ventured forth …

A tavernkeeper tells Swan that he’s heard that a group of enterprising kobolds has set up an underground bazaar in Stonehell offering goods and services for sale.

A travelling merchant, who has clearly overstocked on rope, insists to Ricard that a bottomless chasm exists in Stonehell.

Gabbro hears that sleeping within Stonehell causes insanity. The deliverer of this information gives the impression that they may have spent a night or two in the dungeon themselves.

Of the more outlandish tales, Tess hears stories of an ever-burning skeleton haunting the dungeon’s depths, whilst Druin is reliably informed by an old-timer who wasn’t on his first drink of the day that "spinning the great cube summons a djinn who grants wishes". Exactly what the "great cube" is wasn’t clear.

—

As Druin approaches the stonework of the gatehouse, he sees that much of the outer wall is covered in graffiti. The two great iron-bound doors that once stood at the entrance to the passageway that leads through the gatehouse were battered open long ago; they now lie upon the ground in a state of advanced decay. A cursory inspection of the gatehouse passage, which leads to the canyon beyond, reinforces the dwarf's concerns - it is flanked with arrow slits and there are open murder holes overhead.

The canyon runs away to the west, with the gatehouse and curtain wall running north-south directly in front of you. If you’d like to avoid the gatehouse tunnel, the two navigable holes in the curtain wall are at its northern and southern extremities, where it meets the canyon walls. Will you head towards the northern gap, or the southern one?

---
Day 1, Noon
Druin: 5/5
Gabbro: 7/7
Ricard: 7/7
Swan: 6/6
Tess: 3/3

Swan looks over the gaps in the wall, "Lets check out there. Riches await us." as she points to the northern gap.

Druin shrugs and grunts in agreement, pausing for any other the others to object before following her lead.

Before crossing beyond the wall he'll want to inspect the entry for any obvious signs of frequent use--heavier graffiti or trampled plants, etc., but they've got to start at one end or the other and North seems an auspicious direction.

Ricard follows Swan's lead and clambers up towards the Northern gap. Fearing not just traps and ambush but also structural instabilities, the warrior pauses before the hole to throw a few large pieces of loose mortar at the rubble around the breach as well as through it. He listens for the sounds that arise from his prodding...

Tess follows the rest of The Hellions to the North. Her mouth feels dry and she can hear her heart pound away in her chest.

Well...here goes nothing. Tess old girl, what are you thinking? You should of stayed in town where the pickins were easy and far less dangerous.

Despite her reservations she feels the twinge of excitement of what could be if she makes it out alive with a small fortune.

She readies her sling in anticipation of an ambush.

You make your way along the outside of the gatehouse to the northern breach. There are obvious signs of recent passage in the nearby mud, but the coast seems clear. You carefully traverse the rubble and step into the canyon beyond.

Nestled between limestone walls that rise 200' into the air, the canyon is a natural defile averaging 150' in width and narrowing as it extends to the west. The floor of the canyon is a grassy meadow, interrupted by upward-jutting spurs of rock and small stands of trees. The sound of falling water carries from the west.

A number of cave mouths are visible in the walls of the canyon: some natural, some man-made. Within the canyon are several ruined buildings, their tumbled stone walls and rotted timbers overgrown with weeds and covered with drifts of fallen leaves. Due to time and exposure to the elements, the original purpose of these buildings is impossible to discern.

I won’t usually share maps but, for this overground area, it’s the best way of giving you a clear overview of your surroundings. The gatehouse is on the eastern edge of the map. You entered the canyon through the northern breach (A). Point (B) marks the graffiti-strewn outer walls. Point (C) is the gatehouse tunnel. Points (G) are open entrances to the gatehouse that you can see. The ruined buildings are numbered (6-9). At point (F), a rabbit sits motionless atop a tree stump, watching you.



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Day 1, Noon
Druin: 5/5
Gabbro: 7/7
Ricard: 7/7
Swan: 6/6
Tess: 3/3

As the group approaches the northern breach, Tess notices the graffiti on the walls. Can she tell what any of them say?

At a quick glance, the messages seem to be written in a variety of languages, and time and the elements have made many of them difficult to discern. It will take a turn of careful examination to decipher anything legible from amongst the dense scribblings. Do you want to spend that time?

---
Day 1, Noon
Druin: 5/5
Gabbro: 7/7
Ricard: 7/7
Swan: 6/6
Tess: 3/3

Druin will keep his back to the northern canyon wall and stop a short distance into the breach. He focuses his attention between the closest of the buildings and the open northern entrance to the gatehouse to see if anything reacts to their approach.

Swan doesn't pay the graffiti on the walls really any attention. She isn't all that keen on reading either.

Ricard moves through the breach with his sword and shield at the ready. He cautiously moves towards the nearest ruined building and motions the party to follow.

"We should clear these buildings first, make sure no surprises await us within."

Gabbro stops just 10' past the breach, his sling ready, and listens carefully as he scans the area.
How loud is the waterfall in the canyon? Can he hear anything else?
Looking at the trees he can see (west past building 6, southwest by building 6, and south past the rabbit), how tall are they and how much foliage? Are they stunted and leafless, or tall and full of leaves that could hide observers?
How tall are the ruined buildings (6, 7, 9), and how intact are the walls? Are there cracks and breaks in the wall (or windows) enough that something could be watching and/or aiming bows at us? Can we see the 20' cave opening to the southwest, or is the view blocked by ruin 7?
Looking at the ground-level cave opening south of the rabbit, does it appear natural or man-made?
After looking for a long minute, Gabbro will share his observations quietly to the other Hellions. "What do you think? Where should we start? I think the caves will have the most treasure, but I don't know how I feel about leaving these buildings unexplored before we turn our backs on them..."

Well plated Swan says, "This place has been home to many others, we aren't going to find anything out here but trouble. I'm sure anything around this entrance isn't likely to bother us. Let's not fool with it too much. Not looking for trouble here. Further on there is treasures."