Skip to main content

Trouble in the Mines

The economy of Larm is based on resource extraction: crops are raised in the fertile river bottom lands; the legendary Iron Pines are harvested from the nearby forest; stocks of wild salmon are caught from the river; and copper ore is mined in the hills north of the village.  There is a natural rhythm to the farming, woodcutting, fishing, and mining operations.  Wealth is extracted from the rich frontier lands, profits are made, and a small tribute is sent back to noble houses in Dolmvay.  This arrangement works for everyone, and until recently there have been few problems.


All that changed when the trouble in the mines began.  Copper mining has slowed in recent months.  As the deposits of ore in the hills closest to Larm have been exhausted, the miners have been forced to push farther north toward the mountains.  Despite early successes, the mining operations soon met with notable setbacks.

Strange "accidents" began to happen.  At first, this was simply equipment that went missing - pick axes and shovels disappearing - but then something started driving off the mules and work horses.

Finally, the cave ins began.  Nine men were lost, buried under a pile of rubble despite all proper safety procedures being followed.  As the rescue crews dug out the victims, they found strange carvings on the nearby tunnel walls.  Written in Dwarven runes, the message read, "Stop digging now."    

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dungeon 24 Project

One room a day, every day, for one year, resulting in a 12-level mega dungeon complex.  This is the Dungeon 24 Project. I want to keep the main page dedicated to world building about Larm.  Going forward, the daily updates for the Dungeon 24 Project can be accessed through the "Dungeon 24" link at the top of the page. Dungeon 24 - Room 32/365 (Level 2, Room 1) Dungeon 24 - Room 31/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 30/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 29/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 28/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 27/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 26/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 25/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 24/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 23/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 22/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 21/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 20/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 19/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 18/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 17/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 16/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 15/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 14/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 13/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 12/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 11/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 10/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 9/365  Dungeon 24 - Room 8/365 Dungeon 24 - Room 7/365 Dung

Encounter - Desecration of the Barrow Tomb, Part 2

In this dungeon, the players will encounter both the surviving human bandits who broke in to raid the barrow tomb and the animalistic Morlocks that dwell in the adjoining subterranean passageways.  The players will have the opportunity to explore the three tombs to get a sense of what's going on before they encounter the survivors.  The encounter can be played out in two ways: 1) with the players realizing the danger and allowing the Morlock in Room 4 to retreat back into its lair; or 2) with the players pursuing the Morlock and its allies, with a final showdown in Room 6. Room #1 - The Tombs Descending down crudely fashioned stone steps made slippery from the leaves that have blown in through the open doorway, you enter a large room with stone tiled flooring and natural earthen walls.  You are underground, in a place that outsiders were never meant to enter.  The desecration and disrespect are apparent immediately.   You see the remains of a campfire, filthy bedrolls, discarded fo

Larm: The Lay of the Land

From the previous post we know that the authors of Labyrinth Lord gave us very little to work with in the published description of our beloved Larm.  We know that it is a farming and mining community.  We know that it is a river community.  And we know that it has a 100-man militia.  This information is enough to get us started, for it implies certain things about our frontier community. First, being some 140 miles (14 hexes) from the grand city of Dolmvay, we know that Larm must be largely self-sufficient.  To feed and support the 1,000 residents, Larm's farmers must be raising both crops and livestock.  Looking at the general terrain, we see that Larm is located in hill country to the east, and river valley to the west.  It is likely that Larm's farmers tend flocks of sheep and cattle, harvesting the wool and leather in addition to the meat of the animals.  In addition, the access to the river suggests that Larm has no shortage of fishermen. Second, from the map we can see a