Missing Quarry Hands
A local employer offers payment to find vanished workers and recover the quarry ledger before the road is closed permanently.
Campaign Overview
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Smiles Beneath the Quarry
A sinkhole has swallowed part of a humble trade road, exposing an old quarry and the sealed tunnels beneath it. Locals insist the newcomers camped there are friendly, helpful, and always smiling — but livestock vanish, lantern light turns green underground, and the stone itself begins to sweat a bitter, acidic dew.
The party is drawn into a small but dangerous mystery rooted in an abandoned worksite, a frightened settlement, and a hidden ritual chamber below the quarry. Act I focuses on investigation, tense social encounters, and one dangerous descent into the dark.
Player Handout
Welcome to the Quarry Road
You arrive in a small roadside settlement after a collapse cut the trade route in half. The locals are anxious, but a cheerful group of newcomers has offered food, medicine, and repairs. They seem helpful. Too helpful.
Tone
- Gritty roadside mystery
- Unfriendly stone tunnels and claustrophobic chambers
- Uneasy smiles, hidden motives, and creeping corruption
Starting Hook
A foreman, a reeve, or a worried relative asks you to find missing workers and determine why the quarry has started producing a strange acidic runoff. Follow the lanterns. Trust no one who is smiling too widely.
Free Act I Preview
Smiles Beneath the Quarry
Act I introduces the quarry town, the missing-workers problem, and the hidden enemy operating beneath the surface. The party learns that the quarry is not simply abandoned: a cultish leader is using the site to harvest corrosive residue from a buried hazard and mold locals through charm, fear, and false hospitality. The act should feel like a slow reveal from cozy unease into underground danger. End Act I with the villain exposed and the lower tunnels discovered.
Adventure Hooks
The Helpful Newcomers
A suspiciously cheerful traveling group has settled near the quarry, and a relative or friend begs the party to discover what they are hiding.
Act Structure
Act I: The Smiling Quarry
Recommended level: 1-2The party arrives at a quarry settlement troubled by missing workers, strange generosity, and acidic seepage. Investigation leads from a friendly camp to a dangerous underground ritual site where the central villain is exposed. This act should end with the party understanding that the quarry is only the first wound in a broader buried threat.
Objectives
- Investigate the missing workers
- Learn what the newcomer camp is hiding
- Descend into the lower quarry tunnels
- Disrupt Brother Vale's rite
Roadside Arrival
The road breaks around a fresh collapse, leaving a scar of mud, stone, and wet timber. Beyond it, lanterns glow beside a quarry cut, and several smiling strangers wave you closer as if expecting you.
Open with a practical problem: the road is blocked, workers are missing, and the quarry camp is either helpful or suspicious. Let the party question townsfolk before they choose an approach.
Checks
- DC 10 Wisdom (Insight): notice forced cheerfulness in the camp
- DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation): spot fresh drag marks toward the quarry
- DC 12 Charisma (Persuasion): get a worried worker to share the map
Clues
- The newcomers are well supplied but evasive.
- People heard dripping or hissing below the quarry.
- A foreman hid the lower tunnel map before disappearing.
Transitions
- Lead into the quarry camp scene
- Point toward the foreman's office or supply shed
The Camp of Helpful Strangers
Soup simmers over a clean fire. Blankets are folded with care. Every question is answered too quickly, every smile held too long, and no one seems willing to stand near the open shaft.
Run this as a social pressure scene with the option of stealthy observation. The camp is not full of true believers; some are frightened laborers or manipulated helpers.
Checks
- DC 12 Charisma (Deception or Persuasion): pose as inspectors or allies
- DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): notice guards watching the shaft, not the road
- DC 11 Intelligence (History): recognize old quarry survey marks on crates
Clues
- The camp is guarding the shaft for someone below.
- A hidden supply trail leads into the quarry.
- One of the workers has blackened hands from acidic residue.
Transitions
- If tension rises, use the Quarry Camp Watch encounter
- If they search thoroughly, reveal the lower route
Descent into the Lower Works
The air grows cold and metallic as you descend. Water gleams green in cracks along the walls, and every step echoes a little too long, as if the stone is listening.
This is the exploration beat and the lead-in to the final confrontation. Use cramped tunnels, leaking water, and signs of labor converted into ritual space.
Checks
- DC 11 Dexterity (Acrobatics): cross slick ledges safely
- DC 12 Wisdom (Survival): follow the best route through the old workings
- DC 12 Intelligence (Investigation): find the hidden maintenance route
Clues
- The quarry was modified into a ritual site.
- Something below is being fed by the runoff.
- Brother Vale used the camp to delay intruders.
Transitions
- Lead into the Acid Runoff Tunnels encounter
- Reveal the ritual chamber entrance
Bitter Stone Ritual
The basin at the room's center bubbles with green light. The smiling man turns, his calm expression cracking at last into impatience as the chamber shudders around you.
This is the climax of Act I. Let the players feel pressure from the ticking ritual, collapsing stone, and enemies trying to stall them. End with proof that the quarry horror is deliberate and connected to something larger.
Checks
- DC 13 Intelligence (Religion or Arcana): understand the rite can be disrupted by breaking the basin
- DC 12 Strength (Athletics): shove or collapse a pillar onto the ritual circle
- DC 12 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand): sabotage the focus unnoticed
Clues
- Brother Vale has records of other marked sites.
- The quarry's corruption is part of a broader pattern.
- The missing workers were moved, not killed, at first.
Transitions
- Use the Rite of Bitter Stone encounter
- Conclude with the villain's escape, defeat, or capture
Milestone: The party reaches level 2 after surviving the hidden ritual chamber or resolving the quarry mystery and securing proof of Brother Vale's scheme.
Villain Character Sheets
Brother Vale
Completed
Brother Vale is the kind of man people trust before they understand they have been measured. He speaks softly, offers food before questions…
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Brother Vale Character Sheet
Motivation
Brother Vale wants to awaken and control the buried corrosive force beneath the quarry, believing it will cleanse the region and elevate the worthy. He recruits the desperate with kindness, then binds them through fear, secrecy, and ritual obligation.
Personality
Soft-spoken, hospitable, and unnervingly calm. He smiles often, never raises his voice, and treats cruelty like practical mercy.
Resources
- A hidden ritual chamber beneath the quarry
- A small circle of bandits and coerced laborers
- Supply access through the camp and quarry stores
- Corrosive runoff and unstable stone as environmental weapons
Battle Plan
Vale begins behind followers and hazards, trying to complete the rite rather than win a fair fight. He uses terrain, retreats through narrow passages, and orders allies to stall intruders. If pressed, he abandons minions and escapes via the maintenance route.
Defeat or Redemption
If defeated, his notes reveal a larger network of quarry sites and ritual markers. If captured, he can become a useful but bitter source of clues, though he remains convinced his plan was necessary.
Running Notes
Recommended party: 3-5 characters
Session Zero
Use a simple safety check-in before play: ask about gore, body horror, coercion, and subterranean claustrophobia. This preview features manipulation, hidden cult activity, and corrosive hazards, so establish lines and veils around torture, helpless prisoners, and body transformation. Keep the tone uneasy rather than hopeless; the camp's friendliness should feel strange, not cruel for its own sake.
Scaling Guidance
For 3 PCs, reduce one creature from each combat encounter and make checks DC 1 lower. For 5 PCs, add one Bandit to the camp and final chamber, or increase the rat encounter by one Giant Rat. If the party is very strong, let the villain spend actions on the ritual rather than pure offense, adding tension without raising lethality too sharply.
DM Advice
Keep the mystery readable: every scene should point toward the quarry below. Let social play matter, but make the lower tunnels unavoidable once the clues are found. Brother Vale works best as calm, frustrating, and just barely out of reach. End Act I with a clear victory, a clear clue, or both.
Secrets & Clues
- The acidic seepage is not natural; it is produced by ritual contamination.
- The cheerful camp is covering for a hidden supply and labor operation.
- Brother Vale has maps or notes indicating other sites beyond the quarry.
- The missing workers may still be alive deeper below, at least for Act I.
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Encounters
Quarry Camp Watch
Suggested Level: 1
The party meets smiling camp guards who are trying to keep outsiders away from a collapsed shaft. A tense exchange may become a fight if the party presses too hard or refuses to leave.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Canvas tents and stacked tool crates
- Lantern posts with partial cover
- Narrow path beside a slag pit
Treasure
15 gp, a flask of alchemist's fire, and a hand-drawn tunnel scrap
DM Notes
Use this as an early test of social approach. If the party talks well, the guards can be frightened rather than hostile. Add 1 Bandit for 5+ PCs.
Seepage in the Lower Cut
Encounter Builder
Moderate
Suggested Level: 1-2
A slick tunnel filled with acidic drips and unstable stone gives way to lurking vermin and a territorial scavenger pack. The encounter highlights the quarry's corruption and the danger of the depths.
Creatures
Terrain Features
- Waist-high runoff channels
- Slippery stone ledges
- A leaking crack that counts as difficult terrain
Treasure
A buried pouch with 20 gp and a rusted silver charm
DM Notes
Keep the space tight and mobile. If the party is struggling, let the swarm be distracted by spilled rations or lantern light.
The Hidden Ritual Chamber
Encounter Builder
High
Suggested Level: 2
At the quarry's heart, the villain attempts to complete a corrosive rite while lesser followers hold the line. The room mixes ritual urgency with dangerous terrain and a desperate final stand.
Creatures
Cultist
SRD
· CR 1/8
· Humanoid
Bandit
Count 2
SRD
· CR 1/8
· Humanoid
Swarm of Rats
Count 8
SRD
· CR 1/4
· Beast
Terrain Features
- Circular chamber with ankle-deep acidic runoff
- Broken stone pillars for cover
- A ritual basin that can be disrupted
Treasure
A sealed key, a ritual focus, and 35 gp in mixed coin
DM Notes
This is the Act I climax. If needed, reduce the bandits to 1 or let the ritual fail after 3 rounds when the basin is damaged.
Magic Items
Lantern of Clear Steps
Completed
Lantern of Clear Steps
Uncommon
This hooded lantern reveals hidden footholds, weak stone, and safe footing in quarry tunnels. While lit, it helps the bearer spot unstable ground before it gives way.
Location
Act I, lower quarry tunnels
Attunement
False
Quarrywarden's Chalk
Completed
Quarrywarden's Chalk
Common
A chalk stick etched with old survey marks. When used to mark a wall or floor, it leaves one glowing symbol visible only in dim light for 24 hours.
Location
Act I, foreman's office or supply shed
Attunement
False
Vial of Bitter Nettle Tonic
Completed
Vial of Bitter Nettle Tonic
Uncommon
A stoppered vial of sharp-smelling tonic that steadies the drinker against corrosive fumes and foul runoff for a short time.
Location
Act I, ritual chamber or camp stores
Attunement
False
Player Characters
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