The Lost Library of Q'Sh Part 1

The Lost Library of Q'Sh Part 1

References as to whom or what Q'Sh was are uninformative but the Library of Q'Sh is mentioned in several journals and histories as a minor location of sagacious lore among the Suel of the late Imperiuum. Until recently its location was unknown but several traders in Verbobonc have recently acquired items which bear the name and markings of Q'Sh.

A group of gnome miners exploring the eastern Kron Hills area in search of a famous but abandoned mine have come under attack by marauding goblin wolf-riders and their guild has both mounted a rescue mission and a placed a reward for the head of any goblins brought back to their guild house at the border outpost Laghevel. They have the intention of eventually seeing the area made safe for mining.

Hunters returning to the border fort report tracking goblins to a lightly wooded region where they were surprised to find the entrance to some large building cut into the side of one of the hills.

Note: The actions of creatures at location 2). will probably occur before characters reach location 1).

Location 1).

The stairs are marble and very worn. Several have been cracked into fragments and all are slick with a green fungal slime. Movement on the stairs is at 1/2 speed and anyone running on the stairs must make a fumble roll as do those initiating combat.

Combat on the stairs is at -2 to hit and combatants must roll a d20 at the start of each combat round in which they are attacking (before any attack roll can be a made) to see if they lose their balance.

(a natural roll of 5 or less is a critical fumble and any item held in hand or hands will be dropped while 1d4 damage is taken and the combatant will tumble down the stairs with the possibility of tumbling into someone below them who then must roll to see if they fall as well whether they were attacking, defending or not. These fumble rolls are taken separately so that a combatant may have to roll more than once to see if they lose their balance or are knocked over by someone else losing their balance).

(a natural roll of 10 or less results in a combatant losing their footing and falling to their knees or back on their butt and suffering 1hp damage as well as giving any attacker a +2 to their to hit roll. Any attack they were attempting to make will be negated).

The green slime upon the stairs is a living organism but is harmless. It may be consumed and is both tasty and nutritious.  8 ounces of slime is = to one day's rations. It consumes vegetable matter and can double in size once a week if fed 4 times its starting weight daily, but it needs to be stored in a cold and damp environment or it will dry out and die in a day. 5 gallons of slime can be collected from the front stairs.

 2). These are massive wooden doors each 15ft wide and 15ft tall bound in brass, but heavily battered. The righthand door is wedged in place and must be broken, burnt or somehow dismantled to remove it. It will not open. Any force strong enough to break the hinges free and move the warped wooden portal will tear it apart in an explosion of splintered fragments and heavy bands of brass (50gp worth of brass can be removed from these doors).

The lefthand door is split across its center and the lower half  (about 4ft up from the bottom) is partially open; enough for a man to slip inside. Sheltered in the doorway is a 3hp goblin archer. He bears a shortbow, leather armor and shortword. He has 16 arrows in his quiver and will fire at maximum range toward anyone approaching the stairs. He is normally AC6 but with the partial cover of the splintered doorway he is AC2.

When he runs out of arrows or when characters begin to ascend the stiars the goblin archer will withdraw and the goblins at location 3), will begin to fan out along the top of the stairs.