Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #307

Settlements and Sites of the Four City-States #307 

November 4th, 2023 

• Number: 307 

• Name: Deep Dive on a Site of Interest:  The Gateway Complex – Part 6 

• Location: Western Gold Mountains northwest of the City-State of Carasta 

• Population (approx.): Unknown (The Hidden) 

• Brief: As the name implies the Gold Mountains contain numerous deposits of precious metals in the depths. The entire range, from Orvusiv in the south to beyond Amthor in the north, is riddled with numerous mines, mostly abandoned, connecting to caverns, chambers and tunnels of the underdark. Before the Gateway Complex was established in Nuan Malie, Dwarves and Gnomes delved through her flanks into the depths. After several transits lead to visitors fleeing into the depths, requiring frantic chase and recovery, the Arcanist Guild, with the help of the Miners Guild, did what they could to seal any natural passages between what eventually became the Containment Cells and the ancient workings underneath. In case those precautions fail, the Complex keeps several Spelunkers of the Travellers Guild on retainer in case of emergencies. 

• Kaitberra (Kait) Trollbelch, 154, female Dwarf, is a famous spelunker at the Gateway on call to investigate the depths below. She is short and has rosy cheeks. She wears her auburn hair in thin braids down her back. Kait sees humor in most things and has a big smile. She arrives at the Gateway in a patterned dress with a pretty necklace and little hammer earrings. When she prepares to climb, she changes into leather work pants and a serviceable top. She straps her war hammer to her back, "In case anything shows up!" 

• The Arcanist Guild noticed a flash of someone coming through the Gateway early this morning. The mages and guards search the area and the Containment Cells below and turn up nothing. The mages bring Virric Gimbell, 320, male Elf, who can cast Detect Invisibility. Virric reveals images of an entity passing through the stone to the depths below the prison. The Guild calls in Kait to plumb the depths and find the entity.  

• Kait is excited to investigate the tunnels; usually, only miners are allowed there. She brings her climbing toolkit, and the mages provide her with a wand of Detect Person. She also brings several days' worth of food and water. Who knows what lies beneath? 

• Kait lives with her best friend, Gwen Frostpride, 134, female Dwarf. Divorced from their husbands, they keep each other company. They live in a small house on Down 3 and make it a point to have several meals together each week. Kait loves helping people and volunteers her time at a senior Dwarven facility on Down 2. 

• Geography: Like other nearby mountains, Nuan Malie has a half-dozen mineheads driven into her flanks. Kait heads downslope and a bit north to the last operating mine (closed about 150 years ago, location 7 see below). Old records from the Miners Guild in hand, she plans to ascend as close to the Containment Cells level as she can and begin her search from there. The Old Miners Hall (location 8) can be found on Down 2 across the main hall from the Bleating Goat Boarding House.