Thunderspire Labyrinth
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| Code | 217417400 |
|---|---|
| Rules required | 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons |
| Character levels | 4-6 |
| Campaign setting | The D&D World |
| Authors | Mike Mearls, Richard Baker |
| First published | July 15, 2008 |
| Linked modules | |
| H1-H3 | |
Thunderspire Labyrinth is the second in the three part series of adventures introducing the new 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons World, a loosely connected and open-ended setting designed, as part of the new game, to allow modules and player created materials to be seamlessly integrated into a single, largely unmapped fantasy world. The adventure, written by Mike Mearls and Richard Baker was published in 2008 by Wizards of the Coast, as a sequel to the adventure "Keep on the Shadowfell." Both are set in a region of the world called the Nentir Vale, the details of which are given in the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. The adventure is designed for 4th level characters. It contains two softcover booklets and a poster sized page map for use in miniatures play. The first booklet contains background information on the Thunderspire Labyrinth area, various subterranian areas to explore, and a keyed map to the underground trade city, The Seven Pillared Hall along with a guide to the local residents. It also includes an overview of the adventure as well as several tips on how to get the characters involved in the game.
Synopsis
Thunderspire Labyrinth is the second part of a three adventure series and follows up on a clue received in Keep on the Shadowfell, an invitation to the villain from an organization called the Bloodreavers, to buy any potential slaves for sale in an underground black market.
The characters' investigation to break up the slavery ring leads to the buyers, a group of duergar known as Clan Grimmerzhul. From there they discover a connection with a group of fiend-tainted gnolls and their leader, a renegade wizard named Paldemar, with designs on conquest of the Nentir Vale.
Plot
The adventure is designed to be very open ended, to allow characters to explore and investigate the Labyrinth in whatever way they decide. From the entrance they descend into The Seven Pillared Hall, part of what was once a tyrannical minotaur city called Saruun Khel, which has now been cleared and reclaimed as a trading post between races from the surface world and the mysterious and dangerous denizens of the deep Underdark world below. The peace is enforced by a group of wizards known as the Mages of Saruun, who enforce their rule by way of harsh lethal punishments against those who threaten the peace. The cavernous vault the city occupies contains a halfling inn, several trade houses, and a number of unoccupied chambers known as the Pigeonholes, that visitors are freely allowed to use as flophouses.
The first leg of the adventure involves rescuing a number of locals from nearby villages who have been bound into slavery by the goblinoids of the Bloodreavers. The characters must explore their way to an area known as the Chamber of Eyes and fight their way through a number of goblins and hobgoblins until they challenge their leader, a hobgoblin chief named Krand. They fight a couple of duergar from Clan Grimmerzhul (a powerful faction within the Hall) and find a note from their leader to Krand finalizing the arrangements for payment for the last shipment of slaves. The slaver ring broken, the characters must assault the fortifications of Clan Grimmerzhul to rescue the slaves.
The characters investigate the location of the Clan fortress, a gorge-spanning citadel called the Horned Hold, fighting duergar and their orc slaves from one installation, across a drawbridge over a vast chasm, and into another fortification on the other side. All but two of the captives are here in the slave pens. The last two have been sold to a group of gnolls known as the Blackfangs. Finally they take on Murkelmor, the duergar champion of Horned Hold, a maul-wielding paladin of Asmodeus.
As the characters return to the Hall, they are met by a kobold courier with a message from a defector from the evil organization sponsoring the duergar, who would like to meet. It's a trap, and the characters are beset by an ambush party of tieflings and a giant animated bronze minotaur statue. From there the adventurers make their way to the Well of Demons, hot on the trail of the gnolls and the last of the human captives. Unfortunately in order to enter the Well, they have to undertake a scavenger hunt to collect four keys used to open the magically sealed door. They fight gnolls, demons and tieflings and following the advice gleaned from the spirits of dead adventurers along the way, make their way into the sacrificial chamber to stop the last captives from being slain on an altar to the gnolls' demonic patron Yeenoghu.
From here the characters discover the connection between the gnoll cultists and Paldemar, a devotee of Vecna (lich-god of secrets and undeath). All of the various troubles of the Hall are being coodinated by him to destabilize the Mages of Saruun, until Paldemar can unlock the secret of controlling all of the massive bronze guardian statues that patrol the Hall. His plan is to use them in a coordinated attack on the city, and then move in with his magic to destroy the council of mages and dominate the Seven Pillared Hall--from there to launch an assault on the entire Nentir Vale. His ultimate objective is to sieze the ultimate power of the Pyramid of Shadows (the subject of the next adventure module). They must confront an aspect of Vecna and satisfy it's desires for knowledge in order to gain entry into Paldemar's Tower Without Doors. From there the fight their way past fanged, mutated goblinoids called norkers and Vecna-corrupted cultists called enigmas. On the third floor of the tower they face their final fight against Paldemar in the chapel of Vecna.
Aftermath
If the characters disrupt Paldemar's plans, they gain the gratitude of the Mages of Saruun, who aid them in locating the Pyramid of Shadows and offer them a reward for bringing back its secrets.
References
- Richard Baker and Mike Mearls. Thunderspire Labyrinth (Wizards of the Coast, 2008).