The Adventure of the Crumbling Stair
This is an adventure that involves two plot points. First, it is the remains of a fortification underground for one of the most important cities of the Fallen Kingdom (of which the HOS and Condom Tower area are both part). It would be cool if a third plot point could be made connecting the Fallen Kingdom to the Drow kingdom under the earth that was responsible for the Kingdom’s fall.
From the Book of the North: The Crumbling Stair
In all likelihood, a fine mansion once stood here, harkening back to the good times during the years of the Fallen Kingdom. Now, only this marble stair and a moldering foundation remain. A ghost or haunt is said to lurk in the ruins around the stair.
The Hooks
There always has to be a reason for the players to overcome their natural reluctance to risk their lives. The simple knowledge that a dungeon exists is not generally reason enough to intice a party into investigating. In the case of the Crumbling Stain, research will reveal (through fragments by the mage Tzunk found by Dromar in his investigations of the libraries of Waterdeep) that the fabled "Codex of Infinite Planes" lies down the Crumbling Stairs. The dungeon is also where the central area of the Portals or Gates lies. There are 13 gates in the dungeon. 5 are broken and 5 lead to other portals in various ruins remaining from the Fallen Kingdom. The rest lead to other planes; one to Sigil, one to the Abyss and one to Elyssium.
The Original Castle - "Karituk Castle"
This information about the building at the Crumbling Stair is provided hoping that a description of how the building was in it’s heyday will make describing and running this building easier. The description is of the building 350 years ago.
When built, it was considered impossible to overcome in battle. The moat around it, the stone walls around the moat, the strong gate and the 30 Balistas behind the well fortified walls made this a truly secure home.
The moat is fed by a spring in the NE corner. The grading of the land around the castle causes the water to flow toward the drawbridge in the front. There are drains to carry away the water from the well (it is an artesian well).
The outside wall of stone that surrounds the moat is 10’ higher than ground level, an normally 12’ above the surface of the water in the moat. The wall on the inside of the moat is only 4’ high at ground level and 5’ above the moat water.
The moat is only 7’ deep. Caltrops made of cast iron have been sunk into the water to prevent easy floating or placement of siege engines. Hundreds of smaller iron caltrops cover the rest of the bottom of the moat. This makes sinking into the moat dangerous.
The drawbridge pivots to form the bridge across the moat. It is impossible to move without 2 40’x2’ iron rods which fit into brackets along the side of the Drawbridge. One is attached to a horse and provides the leverage needed to swing the bridge out. The other is attached to a lever/weight arraignment to hold the bridge up as it swings over the moat.
The double gate that stretches across the only entrance to the castle is made of alternating 1’ diameter rods of Ivory, Iron, Granite, and Stonewood. These are framed using leather and iron bound willow tree logs. They weigh ˝ ton each. They are opened and closed with a team of horses.
There are murder holes lining the archway that leads from the gate to the inner court.
The court is paved with slate, but the northern portion has been left natural dirt. Here a brilliant colored display of flowers is lovingly tended by generations of gardeners for the pleasure of the lady of the castle.
Although the rooms around the exterior of the castle are drafty, the ones around the center and near the court are not. All the rooms in the two 4 story high towers are very drafty.
The statues along the top of the castle represent the gods Chauntea, Milikki and Sylvanus on the left and Selune, Sune and Llirra.
The Destruction (How it is now!)
The main reason for the attack on this castle was the Codex of Infinate Planes that lies in the 3rd level of the dungeon below the castle. The only way to get to it were to distroy the entire Eastern wall , and castle building. Using a team of 4 Earth Elementals, the stone walls on the E. were weakened ang brought down. Today it lies in rubble with the inner court area exposed. The area around the stair has also been destroyed. The W. portion of the building is relatively undamaged. Although not ruined in the battle the W. buildings have not been maintained for 350 years and have some of the upper level building have fallen in.
The moat filled with mud deep enough to hide the small caltrops and leave the large ones visible. The well still has water coming out, but with the mud and the passage of time, it is only enough water coming out to keep the moat mud in the summer and a stagnant pool that freezes over in the winter.
The mud is 4’ lower than the previous level of the water.
Hubis Hollow (Village)
The first thing anyone going down into the hollow will notice is the smell. It is a very unplesant combination of mink musk, rotting vegatables and rank undergrowth. The bottom of the hollow where the houses are is heavily wooded. All fire wood is brought from outside the hollow. Few or no trees have been cleared as the mink like the shade and having lots of high places to run to.
This tiny village thrives on a single trade. They (yes, almost the whole town) live off raising mink. A 5’ high wall surrounds the hollow. The inside of this stone wall has been plastered and smoothed to such a point that only 1 in 20 mink escape the hollow. To increase the number of mink the small hollow can support, most folk do all they can to provide prey and food for them. They cultivate compost to grow grubs, they gather seeds of all types from the wild plants for a mile around. This food is spread on the ground to attract birds that the mink kill. A third of the cultivated ground is sown with "fox wheat" a weed much loved by the mink. The remainder of the cultivated ground (almost all of the land in the hollow) is fenced in and provides fresh food for the village.
There are 3 artesian wells and a pool that provide lots of water. This water has been purified and has gathered a unique blend of rocks flavor. The water is cold and tastes wonderful. It is also said to have properties of longevity that might be true. It is not unusual to have people live for 120 years. The oldest man in town is 131 years old.
There are 20 buildings. The center building (20) is the common processing area for the mink hides. There is an slaughterhouse, stretching racks and tanning vats.
The people of the town are very surprised to see outsiders. They are very hospitable as long as visitors are just passing through. They are jealous about the mink setup they have, as it is very lucrative. As a result, the people work hard, but live in luxury. Their houses are build of fine wood and most are over 200 years old and as well taken care of now as when they were first built. Everything is spotless. The furniture is expensive, as are the silver ware and fine china they eat off of.
They will cautiously ask about people’s intentions, particularly when the group is large and obviously powerful. Until they get the feel of the visitors, they will try to hide their wealth. Once they trust someone, they roll out the red carpet. Suspicious initially, they will become attentive hosts.
Lately, they are even more cautious and on guard than usual. They have had a few ork visitors from the Castle grounds nearby. So far, there have only been attacks by a few restless orks as most were preparing for the battle at Katina. This will change as the leadership of the Orks has disappeared. They will soon turn to this small town to loot it before returning to their normal scattered homes.
They will tell of the orks and will welcome people willing to go check out the situation.
They know a fair amount about the Castle, but have never been inside. They know nothing of the castles history, but will tell of finding foundations in several places as the current buildings were being built..
They will warn all of the Demon in the Tower as they call the ghost that still guards the castle. Mortikate had banished this ghost to the tower, but that compulsion is gone and the ghost is angry and looking for victims among the orks as well as human visitors.