Flames in the Dark: A 14th Level Adventure for 5th Edition

Long ago, when the dwarves were cast underground by the gods of law and chaos, they began to dig. They dug grand halls and beautiful chambers, rich mines and passages that crisscrossed the world. There are many stories of the greatness of dwarven ingenuity and building prowess, but there is one story few speak of: the Deep Stair. You see, the dwarves were enamored by the riches found beneath the soil and stone. They dug deep, seeking all the world had to offer.

Khedras Brightstone rose up amongst his fellows and gained a reputation as a profitable and just leader. Eventually, the dwarves would call him their first king, and gift him a crown upon which sat The Heart of the World, a ruby of incredible size and clarity. Crown upon his brow, Khedras led many expeditions into the Unterrealm, the world beneath the world, in search of riches for his kingdom. For awhile he was successful, and his endeavors made the dwarves richer than they could dream. But eventually, their greed outgrew them: The veins of gold and silver meant nothing anymore, and the gems and mithral they found were beneath them.

It was then a voice spoke up to Khedras, calling him from deep beneath the rock and soil, deeper than any dwarf had dared to venture. It told him of great riches waiting to be taken... if only someone had the will to do so. Khedras heeded the call of this mysterious voice and began the greatest endeavor the dwarves had ever undertook: The Deep Stair. This would be a passage into the belly of the world, to its very heart, where the voice claimed a treasure awaited. Days turned to weeks, turned to months, and then into years as the dwarves dug deeper and deeper, all the while the voice kept assuring Khedras that he was so close. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the work stopped. One day, Khedras sent the workers home, descended the Deep Stair for the final time, and sealed it off permanently.

In the years since the gods cast the dwarves beneath the surface of the world, they had created the many races that call Arden home. It was the in a final act of creation that they released their divine energy into the world, each spark finding purchase in a host, and each host then becoming a god unto themselves. It was a kind and gentle dwarf named Brunhilde who received one of these sparks and became a deity for her people to follow. In those first moments of divinity, Brunhilde was overwhelmed by the sheer knowledge she now possessed. When the initial rush faded, she looked down into the depths of the world and was horrified by what she saw. Treasure did not await Khedras and his crew, evil did. In her first act as a goddess, she sent Khedras a vision of what truly lay beyond the final wall of stone his men were digging towards. It was a demon as old as the world itself, a creature born of hatred and cruelty. Now with the truth revealed, Khedras did the only thing he could: He descended the stair, uttered a prayer of thanks to his new goddess, and invoked her power to seal the Deep Stair forever. His penance? To stand vigil over the final barrier for all of eternity.

In the centuries since, Brunhilde wiped the knowledge of the Deep Stair from history. Now, it exists only in legend and myth. But the evil trapped at the bottom of the stair has not relented. It has slowly been probing and testing the bounds of its prison, seeking a way to reach out and touch the world once more. The dwarves weakened the walls of its jail with their digging, and in the hundreds of years since, it has found a way to be heard once more. A greedy dwarf has heard its call and believed its lies. Now, he and his followers have located the Deep Stair and begun their descent. Should they reach the final barrier, defeat Khedras, and free the evil within, the world would surely be plunged into darkness.