Axeholm
Location Guide
| Magic | Monsters | Groups | People | Races | Things |
A1 - Outer Gauntlet
Area - 15' wide, 60' deep, 10' tall, doors to the south.
Ancient broken ballistas point toward the doors.
Investigation or Sleight of Hand DC10 reveals the ballista were trapped to shoot if the doors opened.
Doors are sealed from the outside.
Breaking down the door attracts wyrmlings to A2 and A3 who breathe on the PCs through the arrowslits.
Storyteller - The doors look like they were broken down with violence and then rebuilt. The stones in the Gauntlet are marked by various forms of dragonbreath, a hint at the building's defenders. Everything is aged, a successful DC12 History or Craft check indicates the confilct happened approximately two centuries ago.
Creature - wyrmlings
A2 - West Bulwark
Area - 20' wide, 65' deep, door to the NW, stairs leading down on the west wall. Arrowslits along east wall and SW west wall.
1d3 wyrmlings will move here if the PCs are noisy opening the door.
The winch to open the portcullis has been destroyed, chopped to bits. Shards of swords litter the ground.
Creature - wyrmlings
A3 - East Bulwark
Area - 20' wide, 65' deep, door to the NE, stairs leading down on the east wall. Arrowslits along west wall and SW east wall.
1d3 wyrmlings will move here if the PCs are noisy opening the door.
Creature - wyrmlings
A4 - Youngling Creshe
Area - 55' wide, 45' long. Doors in N, E, S, W walls.
Open to the upper level.
Pillars are on square diagnally closer to center.
Walls have images of Tiamat leading dragons into battle, five humanoids wearing different chromatic colored dragon masks, and dragons prostating themselves to Tiamat.
Floor is covered in orcish dwarvish, and small(ish) dragon bones.
2d3 animated dragon corpses will rush PCs as they enter, eager to destroy or be destroyed.
Treasure - Collecting fallen dragonscales produces enough for 2 normal shields, which give the bearers Advantage on saves vs. all dragon breath weapon attacks.
A5 - Dwarvish Gathering Hall
Area - 35' wide, 15' long in main area. Corridors to the N, doors to the NW, W, S, and E. Corridor to the N leads to A2.
Full of ruined tables and chairs. Some tables are flipped on their sides and have Orcish arrows imbedded in the wood.
A6 - Kitchen
Area - 10' wide, 20' long. Door N in E wall.
Walls are still caked with spoiled grease. Has large stove for cooking but minimal prep or storage space.
A7 - Couples' Room
Area - 50' wide, 25' - 35' long. Door to the S.
Curtain rods hang from ceiling.
Rotted Curtain remnants twist around Dwarf and Orc bones.
Visible offshore is an island upon which stands a surprisingly complete watchtower. It appears someone has marked the side of the tower with a large X.
7 double bedframesare spaced around the room, look like they would fit in curtain enclosed areas.
Scorch marks on the ceiling, some drape remnants are burned.
Exhortation to breed for the Queen are carved above the door in Dwarvish.
A8 - Privies
Area - 10' wide, 15' long. Door to the E.
Basic board with two holes above buckets. No privacy.
A9 - Dwarvish Nursery and Creche
Area - 20' wide, 25' Two fireplaces on W wall, door to N and SE.
Has cribs and child sized bunk beds.
Only bones here are adult sized. Cribs and bunks mostly intact.
DC 15 Perception finds carved Tiamat with tooth marks in the wood.
A10 - Linen closet, bathtub / laundry
Area - 10' wide, 10' long. Corridor leading S with door at SW end.
Probably the best preserved room in building. Door is intact, no signs of fighting, minimal riffling through the towels and nappies on the shelves.
Secret passage under the tub leading to escape tunnel. Must be sought to be found.
A11 - Inner Gauntlet
Area - 15' wide, 20' long. Double doors N and S, arrow slits (facing inward) on E and W wall.
Walls show acid and lightning strike marks.
Secret passage under the tub leading to escape tunnel. Must be sought to be found.
A12 - W Guard Post
Area - 10' - 20' wide, 15' - 25' long. Door S, arrow slits (facing out) on E.
Has full corpse of Young blue dragon.
Dragon is eternally ravenously hungry, will only attach physically, attempting to swallow PCs whole
Door is magically locked.
Inside walls have deep claw marks where dragon tried to dig its way out.
A13 - E Guard Post
Area - 10' - 20' wide, 15' - 25' long. Door S, arrow slits (facing out) on W.
Has badly damaged corpse of black dragon. Condition too poor to animate, missing head.
1 orc body present, is holding a 2 handed sword and wearing half plate which appears undamaged or tarnished (see treasure).
Skeleton is pitted with acid marks.
Treasure - the 2 handed sword is plain and utilitarian, but heavy and sharp. Half plate is Armor of Acid Resistance.
A14 - Temple, Desecrated
Area - 65' wide, - 20' long. Door N, NNW, NNE, W. passage with stair leading up to SE, dais on S wall up 2 steps. Large fireplace on E wall.
Dais wall held statue of Tiamat and altar.
Statue's heads have been broken off, lay piled in front of altar.
Altar has black dragon head on it.
Very old dwarf on one knee in front of altar, murmering prayers. Mostly wearing beard and dirt. Leaning on a battleaxe of interesting design, blade edges are wavy like flames.
If interrupted angrily announces he is High Priest and King. Insists on being referred to has Her Holy Highness, Gunjold.
Wall W of altar has a mural of Tiamat breathing fire.
Treasure - The Queen's Caress - the axe does 1d10 + an additional 1d10 damage matching a form of dragon breath (once per round then has a 1d4 recharge time). when used axe appearance 'ripples' with differt colors and textures to match breath weapon chosen. Wielding the Caress attracts Dragons' and Cultists' attention.
Creature - If HHH Gunjod is attacked, and obviously undead red dragon Zombie Lord rushes from area A15, shouting "No! His death is mine!" with dwarvish accent. Will attack the party to defend HHH, but will not pursue PCs out of the room.
A15 - Dragon Lair
Area - 25' wide, - 20' long. Door E and S. Alcove NW corner with statue of dwarf. The statue's beard has been roughly chiseled off. If statue is grabbed by the crotch a hole is found which allows access to a pull lever. Activating the lever causes the statue to rise above the floor and move into the room revealing an escape tunnel leading down.
A16 - Destroyed library
Area - 20' wide, - 20' long. Door to the NNE.
Even now room stinks of smoke. Soot covers the walls where they are exposed behind the charred remains of wooden bookshelves.
Ashes cover the floor and fill the large fireplace to the W.
Remnants of books and scrolls on Dragonology and Tiamat can be found. One (Perception DC 20) hints at ceremony to bring Tiamat to the Material Plane.
A17 - Collapsed Hall
Area - 20' wide, - 35' long. Door to the W, corridor to the NNW.
The extraneous tunnels do not exist in this story.
In addition to the orc, dwarf, and animalistic bones, goat and sheep bones are interspersed in the ruins.
Cages along the north wall have rabbit skeletons.
The ceiling has collapsed in this room, and the remainder is unstable.
Partially buried under the rubble is a dog built like Dr. Pacifist. It twitches feebly at you.
A18 - Empty Armory
Area - 15' wide, - 15' long. Door to the N.
Bare weapon racks and armor stands are scattered throughout the room.
A dwarvish body, bearing wounds as if it had been mauled by an animal, lays in the corner holding a broken spear. Nearby a body with rough hair like wolf fur and hands and feet with animalist claws and a mouth with canine teeth.
The dwarvish corpse is wearing a gold pinkie ring with the Axeholm crest carved in raised relief.
A19 - Ruined Royal Shrine
Area - 30' wide, - 20' long. Door to the W.
This room is cold, hovering around freezing. Characters can see their breath and their skin gets goosebumps.
The room was once ornate, but now lies in ruins. The shattered remnants of an icon of Tiamat are strewn across the east side of the room. The western half was full or clerical robe and adornments. These have been piled into a mound and poorly set on fire. Orcish insults to the Mother of Dragons are scrawled across the walls, it looks like in blood.
If the red dragon head is examined (DC15) the mouth can be opened and inside is an amulet bearing chromatic dragon heads in a flat circle. This amulet makes the wearer proficient in Draconic as a spoken and written language.