The Forgotten Vault

Some long lost secrets should forever remain in the dark.

by Camron Brooks
 The Forgotten Vault
T
he Forgotten Vault is a side quest which is
playable in a situation where there are a few
players missing. The beginning and end of this
adventure are in the same place and can be
started from any location. The adventure
difficulty is tuned to a three-character party of
3rd level. Any of the encounters can be altered
to add or take away difficulty. Printable maps are at the end of
the document to use with miniatures for this adventure.
The vault is of gnomish design. There is no light source
and the height of the rooms is six foot. The webbing found in
the vault stays moist and fire will only burn the parts of the
webbing that the flame touches. If a player chooses to hack
their way through the webs to a chamber, this will alert any
spiders on the other side.
The Hook
The adventurers are approached by Minci Cobblestone.
She is an elderly gnome lady who is looking to hire the party
for their services. She has found a key that belonged to her
husband, Horkas Cobblestone, and explains it opens a rift to
his gem crafting workshop. The husband was a renowned
jeweler, who lost his love of the craft and suddenly
disappeared. She recently found the key in a hiding spot in
their home and is willing to pay someone to explore the vault
for clues about what happened to her husband. As payment
she is willing to give half of all treasure recovered in the vault
to anyone that is willing to help.
If the players agree to the terms, they are led to an alley by
Minci where she opens a spectral door with her husband's
key.4 The players are invited to enter into the vault.
1
The Unknown
The vault was home to a major jeweler studio owned by
Horkas Cobblestone. 'Cobblestone Jewelry' manufactured
extravagantly crafted items primarily sold to the wealthy and
master artificers for use in the creation of magical items.
Unknown to anyone not working in the vault, the highest
quality items were made by a gnome by the name of Farpos
Gimmerock. The sudden disappearance of Farpos began the
downfall of Cobblestone Jewelry. Farpos was betrayed and
poisoned by Horkas resulting in his death and his corpse now
resides as a zombie locked in the barracks of the vault.
Horkas fell madly in love with Minci, originally the fiancée
of Farpos. After Farpos' disappearance, Horkas was free to
comfort Minci in her time of need and they eventually
married. The jewelry studio, no longer able to make items of
higher quality due to the lack of Farpos' expertise, was not
able to continue its role.
Regardless, Horkas kept living the same lavish lifestyle by
selling his diminishing stock of items and materials and
eventually went broke. In time, the grief and stress caught up
with him and he ended his life at his own desk in the vault
over 60 years ago.
If the players return the note found on the desk of Horkas,
it reveals to Minci the fate of her first husband. If she is
shown the ring found on the zombie, she tells the party that it
belonged to Farpos.
The Conclusion
If uncovering the mystery and the players are honest with
the widow, she offers to sell the key and the vault to the
players. If the truth is kept from her or undiscovered, she will
spend the remainder of her life waiting for her husband to
return.
The key to the vault can be pulled out of any pocket at will
once attuned to the owner. To access to the vault, the key
needs to be pushed into an open space at keyhole height from
the ground.
The Vault

2
 The Receiving Room
The players enter the vault into a room (marked with a
circle and star) covered in thick webbing. A strong musky
smell fills the room and there is total silence. Access tunnels
lead off to other chambers containing several spiders that
remain unaware of the players presence. The occupants of
each chamber remain dormant unless disturbed by the party.
If at any point the spiders become aware of the of the players,
they will approach from the closest direction.
A : 2 Giant Spiders
B : 1 Giant Spiders
C : A cabinet on the wall of the room that houses a collection
of eight clockwork toys. These toys are made of fine metal
and are embossed with gems valued at 100 gp each. This
cabinet has unbroken glass panels and is locked (DC 12).
Making noises opening the cabinet will disturb the dormant
spiders.
D : 2 Giant Spiders
E : 1 Giant Spider
3
The Office
The hallway leaving the main work area is covered in thick
webbing that covers the front of the barely visible door
leading to room B.
A : 2 Giant Spiders
B : In the center of the room is a large desk with a small
skeleton in the chair who’s body has draped over and onto the
desk. The skeleton is still wearing clothing and has been
undisturbed for a very long time. The walls of the room have
tall bookshelves filled with various books, maps, and
schematics. Hung on the walls are large paintings of hillside
landscapes. A sizable pile of brass objects lay in a pile in front
of the desk. Laying on the desk in front of the skeleton is an
empty vial laying on its side.
The skeleton on the desk is the owner of the mine, Horkas
Cobblestone. He committed suicide and left a note that
remains under his corpse. In addition to the note, there is a
wedding ring that is still around his bony finger valued at 300
gp.
The note is written in gnomish and reads: "I can no longer
live with the guilt. I am sorry for everything. I was such a
fool."
The only books of interest are a first edition of 'Gnomish
Fairy Tales' unedited, worth 450 gp, and a book which is a
ledger featuring the location of gem mines, listing some
forgotten mines. Contents of the office appear to have
remained untouched and left in the same condition from long
ago.
The Living Area C : All four bedrooms have an identical layout. Three of the
rooms are unsettling, quiet and clean. The small bed has its
mattress rolled in a tight bundle sitting on the end.
The door to the northeast room is noticeably different. In
addition to the door lock, this door has an additional lock that
has been added to the door frame and a soft scratching noise
can be heard as the players get closer to this door. Something
keeps raking against the door in an unending chaotic pattern.
The lock on this door can be opened with two successful
checks. The first one (DC 10) for the door, and the second
one (DC 12) for the extra lock. As the door opens, the players
see a zombie gnome chained to the wall. Everything in the
room has been ruined by the random thrashing of the
occupant over the years in his vain attempts to escape. On
the finger of the zombie there is a uniquely designed wedding
ring valued at 1000 gp.
The Main Vault
Gnomish workers used this area to eat and congregate
between work shifts. The absence of thick webbing makes
walking in this room easier than the last. The dining table in
the center of the room still stand as a monument for the
areas previous design. There is a hall leading to the left and
an entrance to another room in front where a strong odor
emanates.
A : This room served as the kitchen area when the vault was
in operation. Keeping to gnomish customs, there were
several magical items left here that were used to produce
food. One item was a jar that could refill with honey at a slow
rate. An Orange Ooze has been feeding off the jar for a very
long time and has grown to large size. All of the objects that
were not magical have been consumed by the ooze. As the
ooze's need for food grows with its size, the slow refill rate of
the magic honey jar has both limited its growth size and kept
it in a state of constant hunger.
The magical jar of honey is still salvageable and can refill
from empty to full every five days. A jet-black stone the size of
an average human hand that stays at a constant freezing The main vault has been turned into a breeding room by
temperature can also be found. the new occupants. Five smaller chambers lead to rooms
containing giant spider eggs. The players are noticed when
B : A rubble filled hallway leads from the previous room and entering the room and three Giant spiders approach from the
turns right. Remains from a door and part of the wall cover chambers.
the floor on the left side of the hall. The destroyed door leads Behind the web lining the wall are rows of safe boxes. Most
into a bathroom and now remains an open gateway with have been left open and none remained locked. Taking the
nothing blocking entry. The hall is free of any webbing. time to search all the boxes results in 1200gp worth of gems
After the players investigate the rooms down the right hall, and raw precious metals.
they are surprised by a Giant Spider that emerges from the
hole in the bathroom returning with a fresh kill. Destroyed
pieces of furniture surround a large hole that appears to lead
into nothingness in the center of the room. The few
identifiable pieces of debris provide hints to this room being
used as a restroom and the hole in the ground looked to be
the exit point for anything unwanted.
On the wall is a magic wand resting on a wooden plaque.
The hole in the room leads to a large underground cave and
the bottom is nowhere in sight.

4
 Giant Spider Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the spider
knows the exact location of any other creature in
Large beast, unaligned
contact with the same web.
Armor Class 14 (natural armor) Web Walker. The spider ignores movement restrictions
Hit Points 26 (4d10 + 4) caused by webbing.
Speed 30 ft.
Climb 30 ft. Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) piercing damage, and the target
must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking
14 (+2) 16 (+3) 12 (+1) 2 (-4) 11 (+0) 4 (-3) 9 (2d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as
much damage on a successful one. If the poison
Condition Immunities None damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is
Senses passive Perception 10 stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit
Languages None points, and is paralyzed while poisoned in this way.
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Web (Recharge 5-6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit,
Spider Climb. The spider can climb difficult surfaces, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: The target is
including upside down on ceilings, without needing to restrained by webbing. As an action, the restrained
make an ability check. target can make a DC 12 Strength check, bursting the
webbing on a success. The webbing can also be
attacked and destroyed (AC 10; hp 5; vulnerability to
fire damage; immunity to bludgeoning, poison, and
psychic damage).

Orange Ooze Amorphous. The ooze can move through a space as

narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Large ooze, unaligned
Spider Climb. The ooze can climb difficult surfaces,
Armor Class 8
including upside down on ceilings, without needing to
Hit Points 45 (6d10 + 12)
make an ability check.
Speed 10 ft.
Climb 10 ft.
Actions
Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) bludgeoning damage
15 (+2) 6 (-2) 14 (+2) 2 (-4) 6 (-2) 1 (-5) plus 3 (1d6) acid damage.

Condition Immunities blind, charmed, deafened, Reactions

exhaustion, frightened, prone Split. When subjected to lightning or slashing damage,
Senses blindsight 20 ft.(blind beyond this the ooze will split into two new oozes if it has at least
radius),passive Perception 10 10 hit points or more. Each new ooze has hit points
Languages None equal to half the original ooze's, rounded down. New
Challenge 2 (450 XP) oozes are one size smaller than the original ooze.

5
Dr. Bonsworth's Wand of the Tightly
Wand, uncommon
This simple wooden wand is topped with several dark
colored feathers that are bound with a strap of leather. The
wand has seven (7) charges that can cast the following spells
while held.
Number of Charges Effect
1 Mend
3 Animate Object
5 Unseen Servant

Additionally, you can use the wand to cast prestidigitation

at will.
The wand regains all expended charges daily at dawn. If you
expend the wand's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand
will slowly disintegrate into bubbles.