30 Minute Dungeon Delve 15: Well, Well, Well

Idea: Underground tunnels connected to a well in the woods. The tunnels used to be the hiding spot of some bandits, who eventually left the woods after being driven out of town. Their treasure is left behind, though their traps are still there and some local monsters have taken up residence.

Hook: An old man offers to lead the party to a place with treasure in exchange for some coins. If the offer is taken, he will lead them to the forest and point to an old well, claiming that there is a network of tunnels at the bottom with treasure.

Key:

1. Leaves have fallen into the well, leaving a thick covering on the floor. Worms and other decomposers wriggle in the dead foliage. (A bear trap is hidden under the leaves, rusted with age. If activated it will do damage and has a 3 in 6 chance of infecting the victim with tetanus.)

2. The room is covered in dust-covered cobwebs, and the floor is littered with the corpses of spiders. There is a faint metallic smell in the air. (The cobwebs glow slightly with a violet color, as if from residual magic.)

3. There are some cobweb covered shelves on the wall, mostly full of jars with pickled vegetables in them. In the corner is a chest, coated in a thick layer of dust. (The chest is trapped with a poison needle, but inside is a large quantity of coins. One of the jars on the shelves contains a gem hidden inside it.)

4. A half-human, half-beast creature rummages through some nearby boxes, cursing and grunting. It has curved horns, horse-like ears, sharp teeth, and hooved feet. Its back is to the party. (If the beast-creature notices the party, it will turn around and begin to fire bursts of necrotic energy from its fingertips. The creature was once a human magician named Darla, but was transformed by fey tricksters after she injured one of them. Though she is now in an animal-like and aggressive state, it is possible to surrender and reason with her. Darla lives in these tunnels out of shame and fear of being attacked by the church.)

5. There is a dark hole in the floor, about the width of one’s hand, otherwise the room is completely empty. (If one investigates the hole further, they will eventually hear muttering coming from it. The muttering voice will respond if talked to, eager for company. The voice calls itself Grimdel, and claims to be a lonely dwarf explorer in the depths of the underworld, desperate for companionship. If engaged in conversation and given some food or coin, the voice will be exceedingly grateful, and will send up an enchanted mechanical insect that obeys all commands to the best of its ability. After this, Grimdel will leave, continuing on his adventures.)

6. The room contains a few wooden tables, some barrels, and various tubes and bottles. It appears to have once been a distillery. (Some of the barrels still contain drinkable moonshine, which is also highly flammable.)

7. Roots from a tree writhe and twist around a chest, small human-like mouths dribbling green goo as they do so, whispering in an alien language. (The roots aren’t able to harm anything, and the chest can be removed fairly easily with the use of a hatchet or similar tool, though the roots will scream in agony. Within the chest are a variety of decades old fine clothes, well preserved for their age, and worth a pretty penny to the right buyer.)

8. Bones and bits of fur are carefully arranged in piles, some bones snipped in half. There is a pile of wood and fabric in the corner. (Hiding in the wood and fabric is a scorpion the size of a human being, waiting to strike.)

9. On the floor in piles are the frames of old paintings. Most of the paintings would be of considerable value, but unfortunately after years of neglect they are all practically worthless. (Most of the paintings that are still vaguely intact seem strange, as if painted by something almost human, but not quite. Something about the proportion of faces and the colors employed are wrong, as if the painter only had a vague idea of what a human looked like. The paintings are signed in a runic language, similar but unlike those of ancient human civilizations.)

10. Various vine covered skeletons lie around the room, intact and held together by stems and leaves. Suddenly, with a creaking noise as if a tree is being felled, the skeletons rise to their feet, grabbing clubs made from cast off branches before attacking. (The skeletons will only fight the party as long as they are in the room, since the vines controlling them are not long enough to permit them to leave.)