Encounter: The Usorian Forge

At this point in the story, there are a handful of reasons that the party would choose to investigate the Forge. By now, the party will have either received the keys to the Forge from their trip to the Wyverstone Estate, or they'll have received the passphrase from one of the hired thugs. Either of these will grant the party access to the Forge, which will need to be fully explored in order for the party to know how to progress the story, and why they should do so. While in the Forge, the party should aim to do these things in order to get the most out of this encounter:

• Deal with the enemies inside of the Forge that would stand to get in the party's way.
• Learn more about the people disappearing from the Forge.
  • The two enemies in the ore processing room have the most information.
• Take down the barrier separating the Forge's mines from the rest of the Bones.
  • The instructions on how to put up and take down the barrier can be found in any of the instructors' quarters, including the Overseer's rooms. Defeated henchmen may also have information on how to take the barrier down from inside of the Forge.
  • Everything that the party needs to take down the barrier and move forward can be found in the Forge's foundries and infusion workshops.

Plot points/Scenes

Ground Floor

The miniature floating island that serves as an access point to the Usorian Forge comes to a gentle halt. The bridge that had closed up behind you when you made your way onto the ferry opens once more, connecting with a bridge that extends from the solid ground upon which the Forge has been built.
The building looms before you, glittering with glass and bright with pale, clean stone. Only part of the building is visible from where you stand; the mountains rising behind the Forge hide nearly half of the building from the public eye. A second-story balcony trickles with the melody of flowing water, and you can see where students might have once enjoyed the views offered from the balcony. Now, silence blankets the area, reminding you of how empty the Forge is.

If the party uses the passphrase
Silence follows the sound of you knocking on the door. Several moments pass before anything seems to happen, and when it does, you find yourself staring at a strange, hovering device. A small sphere of dark stone is kept in the air by two small wings, made of metal wires and light. It stares at you through the windows set into the doors, and a tinny, mechanical voice calls out to you.
"The Forge is not currently offering tours."

If the party intends to enter the Forge using the keys they received at the Wyverstone Estate, they can do so without harassment or fear of an ambush. Regardless of how the party gains entrance to the Forge, they find that there is no one waiting for them inside. The party can attempt to discern the whereabouts of anyone who might be on the first floor with them (Investigation, DC 15 the most recognizable noise is that of a hammer striking metal, which sounds distant and far as if coming from the opposite side of the building. Beneath that noise, the party is able to make out the sound of a conversation in the office at the left end of the entrance hall.
Said office belongs to the Overseer, and is currently occupied by three men; one of them carries a shield on his back, and the other two men reach for objects that look similar to the dart gun^[1] the party found on the tracker in the Wyverstone Estate. These men cannot be convinced to stand down before combat begins, but they will surrender once they lose half of their HP or more. The man carrying the shield is willing to cooperate with the party, as he has the most information that the party might find valuable.

On the missing people
"W-we're just a stop along the way," he tells you, covering his head with his arms. "We weren't here when the entire Forge was taken, but they had to have been taken through the Bones - it's the only way out of this place that doesn't march people straight through the center of the city. T-that's what we do with the people that get brought to us: we take them to the other side of the barrier in the mines, and wait for someone else to come get them. Someone shows up every two days at sunset and takes whoever happened to be brought here."

On the barrier in the mines
"My guess is they put it up when the place was built - keep the Forge students on one side, and the creatures in the Bones on the other." He wrings his hands nervously. "T-there's a pickaxe - a small one you can hold in one hand. It has to be tapped against some of the Corstones by the barrier - I don't know the sequence, b-but whoever is watching the mines would. There's just... currently no pickaxe to be used."

On the pickaxe
"I've only seen it once or twice - it looks just like a miniature pick. It's... enchanted or something to work with the Corstones in the mine in a certain way. Someone broke the one we were working with, and they're working on making a new one now. I-i don't know much about it - I think someone's upstairs looking for instructions on how to enchant or infuse the damn thing. I'm just here to let people into the Forge - I swear that's all I know."

On other enemies in the Forge
"There are three more in the main foundry." The man points towards the door to the office, where the sound of a hammer striking metal can be heard. "Two downstairs, watching the barrier and sorting through Corstones, and another two upstairs looking for instructions on how to enchant the pickaxe correctly."

Rewards for this encounter^[2]: Dart gun(x2), 150 XP
On the opposite side of the hall, to the right of the entrance, is the infirmary. There is little of interest in this room, save for two cabinets on the side of the room opposite the door. Both of these cabinets are locked, but can be opened by succeeding at a Dexterity check (DC 15). Inside of the first cabinet is a Healer's Kit and Potion of Healing (x3). Inside of the second cabinet is a Herbalism Kit and Antitoxin (x2).
Across from the entrance to the Forge is a courtyard, still open to the sky above. Through the courtyard are the doors to the dining hall, which can also be accessed from the north side of the Forge.

The evidence that dozens of people once met here hasn't been completely erased. Plates caked with dust and dried leftovers litter the tables, and the sharp smell of fermented juice wafts up from a nearby mug. The magic keeping the orbs overhead lit has faded, and the shadows cast by the dim, flickering light give you an eerie idea of what the ghosts of the students might look like, walking the same spaces they did in life.

The dining hall - and the lounge and kitchen attached to either side - is otherwise uninteresting. Evidence of the students' lives remains in some places: a game of cards lies abandoned on the table in the lounge, and salted food still hangs in the kitchen, drying until it's ready to be consumed or stored. It's possible that some of this is due to the men in the Forge, but a successful Investigation check (DC 12) will reveal that some of the furniture around has gone undisturbed long enough for dust to cover everything around. The kitchen is the only relatively clean area, indicating that those in the Forge still use the kitchen to feed themselves, at the very least.
Across from the dining hall, in the northern-most part of the building, is the main foundry.

Stepping into the foundry is nearly akin to stepping into another world entirely. A large pool of water lies between the two doors to the foundry; despite the water constantly falling from a spigot in the wall, the pool never seems to rise. On the other side of the room, a complex-looking contraption sits on a platform above a pool of liquid fire. A substance flows from the pipe in the wall to the first tank of the machine, and though you can't be sure what it is, you can tell that it is clearly not the fire that flows from the machine into the pool beneath it.
Beside the pool of fire is a minecart, filled to the brim with processed ores and active Corstones. The light from the nearby fire catches on the different facets of the crystals, decorating the walls nearby with specks and streaks of different colors. Handcarts have been filled and taken to different parts of the room, carrying the cascading, colorful lights to the other side of the foundry.
Three men stand inside of the foundry, just as you were assured they would be. They seem slightly surprised to see you entering the room, but it only takes them a moment to start reaching for their weapons. The pieces of the project they'd been working on are abandoned - the head of a pickaxe on one of the anvils, and the sturdy piece of wood intended to be the handle of the tool rolls off of a nearby table and onto the floor. None of the men turn towards it, intent, it seems, on dealing with your unexpected presence.

The party can attempt to intimidate the two men wielding daggers in order to keep them from joining the fight (DC 15), but they can't deescalate the situation entirely, no matter how hard they try. If the party succeeds at convincing the two procurers to leave, they have the opportunity to ask them about the tool being crafted. The party doesn't have to pass an additional check to get the information from one of the retreating men.

"You need the pickaxe to open the barrier downstairs," he tells you, trembling with anxiety. "Someone broke the last one, and they must not have a way to open the barrier from the other side, so we had to try and make a new one." He points to the different pieces of the tool. "All that's left is to attach the pick head to the tool rod, and then figure out how to make it work with the Corstones in the mines. There are more of us upstairs, looking for the right way to attune this thing."

Rewards for this encounter: Warhammer, 200 XP

Second Floor

If the party uses the stairs on the west side of the building to ascend to the second floor, then they have the opportunity to hear nearby enemies in the Overseer's rooms to their immediate south. Anyone with a passive Wisdom (Perception) of 12 or higher can make out the sounds of a conversation nearby, consisting of two distinct voices. Those that use the east stairs still have the opportunity to pick up on where the enemies on this floor are. A successful Investigation check (DC 15) reveals to the party that the enemies are on the other side of the building, and that there's more than one voice, but they aren't able to tell much more than that from near the east stairs.

The door leading into the Overseer's office is slightly ajar, allowing you to make out a figure in the room just beyond the door. He stands in front of a desk, rummaging through loose parchment piled up in front of him. If he knows the door is open behind him, he's far too consumed in what he's looking for to pay attention to who might come through it. The continuous flame burning in the fireplace casts the man's shadow on the wall beside him, creating a much larger presence than the man himself imposes.

The party has an opportunity to sneak up on the man in front of the desk (Stealth, DC 15) in order to take him by surprise and get an advantage in the first turn of combat. Failing the check will initiate combat as normal. Further inside of the quarters, through a door that leads to the bedroom proper, is another procurer^[3]. He's close enough to the commotion to hear and investigate it, moving to join the fight during his turn in the second round of combat. Both of these men will surrender when they're reduced to less than half of their HP, and will give the party what information they've managed to find themselves in exchange for their lives.

"We were looking for instructions on how to make the pickaxe work with the Corstones to bring the barrier in the mines down." He points to the pile of papers on the desk. "We already found the order that the Corstones need to be struck in. I think I might have just found what needs to be done to make the tool work like it should, but..."
He gestures towards the door, and then towards you, as if it's your fault that he wasn't able to follow through with reading what he'd found.

Rewards for this encounter^[4]: 100 XP
There are several pieces of loose parchment on the desk, but a successful Investigation check (DC 12) quickly reveals which are relevant and which are not. Among the pieces of parchment is a sketch of a cave wall - rather, the sketch seems to be of an opening in the cave, and the walls that surround it. Several rough marks that look as if they're meant to be Corstones have been marked on the drawing, and several are circled and numbered. The Corstones seem to be lightly shaded, which seems to be the only color on the otherwise plain parchment. Another sheet of parchment lies buried beneath the pile, and contains a very specific set of instructions on how to attune the pickaxe to the magic that controls the barrier.

When the axe is ready to be attuned:

1. Using Corstones from the same class as those found in the barrier's lowering sequence, grind the Corstones into a fine powder
2. Take the pickaxe to where the water runs purest and bathe it in the fresh water
3. Coat the pickaxe in the Corstone dust
4. Set the dust by baking the sword in a flame that doesn't burn hot
5. While the axe sits over the flame, it must be attuned to the same school of magic that the first Corstone in the lowering sequence belongs to. Casting any cantrip of that school on or within five feet of the axe will attune it properly.

Reward: 25 XP
A successful Arcana check (DC 12) reminds the spellcasters among the party that Corstones are often identified by their color, with each separate school of magic being represented by its own uniquely colored Corstone.
Successfully following the instructions can be accomplished one of two ways, depending on whether the party has a spellcaster with the correct cantrips. Parties who don't have such a resource available to them are forced to find another way to cast the spell. After searching through the desk in the Overseer's office (Investigation, DC 15), the party finds an appropriate scroll that they can use to attune the pickaxe to the correct school of magic. Parties that contain a spellcaster with the appropriate type of cantrip known or prepared only need to successfully cast the spell per the spell's success requirements. If the spell requires the target to make a check, then consider the axe to have +0 to any Ability save and roll a d20 as normal.
Reward: 50 XP
The party is able to find the instructions to lowering the barrier in any of the instructors' rooms by passing the same Investigation check in the location of their choosing. The instructions on how to enchant the pickaxe to work can only be found in the Overseers' office.
The party is free to explore the rest of the floor, but there's little else of interest to be found. They may express interest in the dormitories to the north; while nothing inside of the rooms themselves seems interesting or relevant, there is a grand timepiece in the common area between the two dormitories. A large hourglass floats between several metal discs, all which rotate to show the position of the sun and moon in the sky as the hourglass turns. In front of the timepiece is a message board, but there doesn't seem to be anything there except for a handful of 'lost item' notices.

Basement

The majority of the basement of the Forge is irrelevant to the party's investigation; they'll find little of interest in most areas of the basement (unless, perhaps, you have Triton or water Genasi among your party - they may be interested in the pool).
The north side of the building is where the party will find most of what they need to progress. To the right of the doors leading to the mines is the ore processing area, where two men are currently operating the large machine that seems to be processing ores and Corstones into their purest raw form. The noise of the machine gives the party an opportunity to take the enemies in the room by surprise (DC 15). If the check fails, then combat is initiated as normal. Neither the man carrying the shield nor the man equipped with a dagger^[5] will stand down before the fight begins, regardless of how the party tries to persuade or intimidate them. The procurer will surrender first, doing so the moment he reaches less than half of his HP. The hired muscle with the shield won't surrender until he's reached less than 10 HP, but he will answer anything the party has to ask him without requiring a check once he reaches less than half of his HP, or after the procurer surrenders (whichever comes first).

On the machine
"That thing? I-it just makes the ores workable and grinds the Corstones down so they can be used in the infusion labs." The man holds up his hands. "That's what we were doing - grinding up the crystals so that they can fix the axe upstairs."

On the barrier
"You need the axe - you have to tap the Corstones near the barrier in a certain order with it to take the barrier down, and do the same in reverse to put it back up again. I-i'll show you, if you want - there's a diagram somewhere upstairs."

On the missing Forge students
The man peers warily out of the room and towards the entrance to the mine. He points towards the doors with a shaking finger as he brings his attention fully back to you.
"All I know is that they get brought down here, and handed off through there. I don't think they stay in the Bones - that would be suicide. It's never the same person that comes to get anyone, so there has to be somewhere on the other side of one of those tunnels, I guess. It can't be too far, either, I suppose - no one is ever tired or winded when they arrive, and they don't look like they've been caught by any of the dead machines on their way."

On next meeting
"Tomorrow at sunset." The man frowns, and looks over at the machine behind him. "If we can get the axe working, anyway. I don't think they have a way of opening the barrier from the other side. I guess that makes sense, if you were trying to keep things out." He pauses for a moment, and then shakes his head. "I wouldn't wait, if it's that important to you. Surely someone you've let go has told someone what's happened - whoever is going through this much trouble wouldn't be stupid enough to send someone to the Forge, if they knew you were coming this way... In fact, I would have started moving people again, if I knew someone was figuring out how I was smuggling them out of the Forge. After that, it's only a matter of time until you figure out where they were being smuggled to."

Rewards for this encounter^[6]: Shield +1, 150 XP
At this point, the party has what they need to progress. The players are able to correctly identify which Corstones within the mineshaft to strike in order to lower the barrier; if they didn't bring the parchment with them, they will have to pass an Investigation check (DC 15) in order to remember the correct sequence. If they fail the check, they will have to return for the parchment before they can attempt to lower the barrier again.
If the party disregards the most recent advice they received, and they decide to wait for someone to come to the barrier from within the Bones, they will find themselves waiting well past the time the contact was due at the barrier.

Stat blocks used in this scene

Heavy Muscle

Medium humanoid (any race, Any Non-lawful

Armor Class 14 (shield)

Hit Points 33

Speed: 30 ft

STR

13
( +1 )

DEX

12
( +1 )

CON

12
( +1 )

INT

10
( +0 )

WIS

11
( +0 )

CHA

10
( +0 )

Skills Perception +2

Damage Resistances Bludgeoning

Senses Passive Percption 12

Languages Common

Challenge Rating 1/2

Description

These men are hired for their brawn, and it shows. Most of the heavy muscle is tall and thick, with arms large enough to easily hold warhammers. These men are sent out to deal with problems that might require more strength, or even to pick up a target that a tracker has previously found.

Actions

Warhammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) bludgeoning damage.

Procurer

Medium humanoid (any race, Any Non-lawful

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 27

Speed: 30 ft

STR

10
( +0 )

DEX

15
( +2 )

CON

10
( +0 )

INT

12
( +1 )

WIS

14
( +2 )

CHA

16
( +3 )

Skills Deception +5
Insight +4
  Investigation +5
  Perception +6
Persuasion +5
Sleight of Hand +4
  Stealth +4

Senses Passive Perception 16

Challenge Rating 1/4

Description

Procurers have been called by less favorable names in the past, such as 'thieves' or 'robbers' or 'bandits'. Having figured out how to market their skills, and whom to advertise them to, such people have now taken to calling themselves procurers, as if there is anything legitimate about what they do for a living.

Sneak Attack (1/Turn). The procurer deals an extra 6 (2d6) damage when it hits a target with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally of the procurer that isn't incapacitated and the procurer doesn't have disadvantage on the attack roll.

Actions

Dagger. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage

Tracker

Medium humanoid (any race, Any Non-lawful

Armor Class 12 (leather armor)

Hit Points 11

Speed: 30 ft

STR

11
( +0 )

DEX

12
( +1 )

CON

12
( +1 )

INT

10
( +0 )

WIS

10
( +0 )

CHA

10
( +0 )

Senses Passive Perception 10

Languages Common

Challenge Rating 1/8

Description

Trackers are hired when a target is particularly difficult to find - what the target is, of course, determines what kind of tracker one might be looking to work with. Some trackers hunt artifacts while others hunt game, and some still will hunt whatever the client asks for, as long as the money is right.

Actions

Dart Gun. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, range 20 ft./60 ft., one target. Hit: 3 (1d4 + 1) piercing damage.

Balancing encounters for 5

[1] One (1) heavy muscle and two (2) procurers
[2] Rewards: Dagger (x2), 200 XP
[3] Three (3) procurers
[4] Rewards: 150 XP
[5] Two (2) heavy muscle
[6] Rewards: Shield +1, 200 XP

Plot type

Encounter