An entrance to a lost subterranean settlement has been found in a potato storage shack! News of the discovery has made it to larger towns nearby, and daring souls have begun making their way here. What will they find in the Lost City? Riches, or despair?

The Dungeon

Located roughly two hours away from Rynsburg, what the locals call the “dungeon” is a partially collapsed, buried tower. Its location is marked by a round tower made of smooth, fused stone. The round top of the tower sticks about five feet out of the ground, but a hole has been dug into the earth beside it, allowing access through one of the tower’s windows.

Until recently, this tower was seen as a convenient place to store potatoes and carrots. However, last summer, part of the floor gave way under the weight of the vegetables, revealing hitherto unknown parts of the structure.

The tower extends two floors further downwards before it reaches the elven castle proper. The tower has mostly been stripped of valuables, but it now makes an excellent staging area for equipment.

The northwestern tower is the only one that currently breaches the surface, due to it being one story taller than the others.

The Castle

The castle of Inyal Ansallen served three major purposes: Quartering the royal family, serving as a military headquarters, and hosting religious leaders.

The Elven Royal Family (and of course, their many servants) lived in the oldest part of the castle, a two-story central keep. Surrounding this keep is a 100-foot band of greenspace, enclosed by a two-story, square building that hosted the military and religious elements of the castle’s population. Covered walkways once connected both structures in each cardinal direction, but only the southern connection is still remotely usable.

The tower connects to the northwestern corner of the outer building.

The Upper Floor

NW TOWER – RECTORY – NE TOWER
HALL OF AWAKENING – COURTYARD – GRAND LIBRARY
SW TOWER – HALL OF RITES – SE TOWER

The Rectory

This section of the outer building once housed the priests and acolytes of the elven religion. The threshold of the rectory is marked with a strip of gold inlaid on the floor. The rectory has roughly a dozen personal rooms, each of which has a bed and desk. In the center of the rectory, there is a long table used for eating and such. This table is now broken, snapped in half at its center when the once-beautiful chandelier that hung above it crashed down onto it.

The southern wall of the rectory, which faces the courtyard, consists of three tall windows with murals of Yalion, Kyorr, Ral’gyn and Rhaz’otz painted between them. These four gods represent the key virtues that the inhabitants of Inyal Ansallen held dear: Discernment, courage, discipline, and righteousness.

Hall of Awakening

The eastern section of the outer building’s upper floor holds the Hall of Awakening. A large amount of dirt has spilled into this room through what was once an impressively large window on the eastern wall. A tunnel has been dug out of this dirt pile. [great place for enemies. where does that tunnel connect to?]

A beautiful statue of Rhaz’otz stands against the western wall, though its head has been chopped off and an ancient elven word that translates roughly to “TRAITOR” has been painted across its chest.

The Grand Library

The Grand Library takes up most of the eastern wing of the outer building, on both floors. Before the collapse, it was an impressive archive of literature and scholarly texts from across the world. At its center was an observatory dome, where scholars studied the mysteries of the heavens. Unfortunately, in the years since the collapse, fire-breathing dog-like beasts have taken up residence here and caused many fires. These fires have destroyed most of the tomes and scrolls and even caused the second floor to collapse.

Now, all that remains is charred bookshelves and the stone platform of the observatory. Enterprising adventurers can cross this room by engaging in what industry professionals call ‘light platforming,” but a slip will send them into the ash and splinters below.

The Hall of Rites

The Hall of Rites was once a beautiful room, full of treasures and intricate art pieces. Both the nobility and the priesthood used this place for coming-of-age rituals, inductions, and the like. Unfortunately, this room has completely collapsed and is now filled with dirt and rock. However, sticking out of the dirt on the east side of the room is a golden ring with a gem set into it. This is the Blazing Ring, the treasure the Nameless Order seeks.

The Lower Floor

NW TOWER – BARRACKS & KITCHEN – NE TOWER
ARMORY – INNER KEEP – GRAND LIBRARY
SW TOWER – ENTRANCE – SE TOWER

Barracks & Kitchen

The northern section of the outer building holds the meager quarters for the royal guards, as well as the kitchen where food was prepared for the entire complex. Tripwires and other boobytraps fill this area, making it very dangerous to cross.

Armory

Before the collapse, this armory was a well-organized room of weapon racks, polished armor, and shields hung proudly on walls. Now, most of the weapons are gone, and what remains are scattered around the ground.

The Grand Library – Lower Level

The lower level of the Grand Library consists of piles of ash and paper, in between the still-standing bookshelves. A small group of fire-breathing dog-like beasts has made a den in the northeastern corner, and the destruction of the library was their doing.

The Main Entrance

The southern section of the ground floor contains the entrance hall. Its southern wall has an iron portcullis, which has been dropped down into position, though now the only thing it keeps out is rock and dirt.

Hidden passages near the gate would have allowed archers to fire at invaders from concealed positions.

At the northern end is a gate leading to the inner keep, which is always guarded by at least two elves.

The Inner Keep

The last bastion of the elven capital, the Inner Keep holds the remainder of the elven royal family and military.

The ground floor of the keep was once an elegant place used for hosting royal guests and serving glorious banquets. Now, it is just a barracks, filled with beds and weapons. At the north end of the ground floor, there is a table with a map of the outer building, with wooden tokens listing information about each area.

King Lun, elven king. King Lun is a relatively young elf who has spent most of his life underground, leading the war against the dwarves. He is a hateful man and cares more about killing the dwarves than returning to the surface.

Kir Dwarfsbane, elven commander. Commander Kir is a talented tactician, who earned the sobriquet Dwarfsbane after slaying a dozen dwarves singlehanded. He is old enough to remember the surface well and longs to see its light again, but he follows his king’s orders to the letter.

Te’hay, elven religious leader. Te’hay is a tall female elf who wears priestly robes. She believes that the cataclysm that dropped Inyal Ansallen below the surface was caused by the gods, who have scorned the elves and will smite them if they ever reach the surface again. Most of her sermons are incoherent but inspiring.

Elven Weapons

The most common elven weapon is a single-edged cutlass-like sword. For the sake of brevity, we’ll just be calling it an elven cutlass from here on out.

A typical elven cutlass has a D-shaped hand guard made of a dark blue metal. The hilt is wrapped in a cotton cord that has been dyed dark green. The sword is roughly 30 inches long, and the hilt is slightly too short for an average human man to hold comfortably. Breaking the bottom part of the D-guard is the easiest way to make it more comfortable to hold, but any blacksmith would be able to modify the weapon more elegantly. More elaborate examples have fullers hammered into the blade to lighten them, or family names engraved into the blade.

Some of the guards carry spears instead of swords, and the blades on these are much simpler. Many of these have been repaired over the years, including at least one whose blade was lost and replaced with a kitchen knife.

Many of the guards carry leaf-like kite shields, painted green with a golden bird in the center.

The Dwarves

Centuries ago, a glorious dwarven city sat under Inyal Ansallen, though neither city was aware of the other. This city, Hig Farhoom, was a dwarven cultural center. Its beautiful frescoes illustrated the dwarves’ long history, and its population was vibrant and cheerful. In the deep bowels of the earth, these people made a glorious home for themselves. But it was not to last.

As Hig Farhoom’s population grew, they dug more and more chambers out of the earth. Eventually, they dug too close to the surface, and a gigantic sinkhole opened up. Anywhere else, this would’ve been a minor tragedy: Deaths, and then rebuilding. But here, an elven castle fell straight onto Hig Farhoom, crushing it under the weight of its stone. In the two centuries since, the dwarves have waged a war against the people they see as invaders, hoping to avenge their dead and take Inyal Ansallen for their own

Rynsburg

About a two-hours walk away from Inyal Ansallen is the village of Rynsburg. About 200 people live in the area surrounding Rynsburg, though this number will rapidly increase as time passes. By the time the party arrives, a few other adventurers have already settled in in the “Mudpit,” and the long-term changes to this sleepy village have begun.

The Kravists

The Church of Krav the Mender is one of the tallest buildings in Rynsburg, thanks to its steeple. The steeple holds a brass bell, which rings at dawn, noon, and dusk. The Church provides magical healing to any who need it.

Krav’s teachings emphasize the importance of repairing and repurposing. To them, no person or thing has one true purpose. Anyone or anything will serve many purposes throughout its life.

Wenzil, cleric of Krav. Wenzil is a tall, gaunt man with bright blue eyes and black hair. He wears a black robe that has been fixed repeatedly with red and white thread. He is a gentle man, and nowadays he sees far more injuries than he’d like.

The Nameless Order

The Nameless Order is a group of knights who defected from a larger organization called the Order of the Falcon years ago, after that order was taken over by a ruthless and bloodthirsty usurper. In the time since, they have wandered the land searching for a relic called the Blazing Ring, a golden ring whose gem glows as long as its wearer holds the virtues of the Order of the Falcon close to their heart. They intend to use the Blazing Ring to show that the current leader is unfit to lead the Order of the Falcon.

Unfortunately for them, the Blazing Ring was gifted to the elven royalty of Inyal Ansallen centuries ago, when the order was so strong and pure that they believed they’d never need to use it to validate a leader’s faith again. The Ring is among the rubble in the Hall of Rites (see below.)

Each carries a sword, and a heater shield whose heraldry has been blacked out.

Bonifacy the Brave. Bonifacy is a tall man with broad shoulders and blond hair. Several scars mar his face and body. He doesn’t speak much, but his voice is deep and booming.

Waldemar the Wise. Waldermar is a short, muscular man with an unkempt beard. He is very well-read, and his studies led the Order to the former site of Inyal Ansallen. He was pleasantly surprised to find it currently accessible.

Cyprian the Clean-shaven. Cyprian is a wiry man whose face is entirely free of beard or mustache. He is the most talkative of the Nameless Order, and spends much of his time bartering for their supplies.

Amenities

Rowdy’s

Rowdy’s starts out as a simple two-room building, with a kitchen and storage on one side of the wall and a bar and tables on the other. As the campaign continues, the building slowly expands, adding a patio and more rooms. The food at Rowdy’s never improves, however.

The Menu

Rowdy Rob, tavern owner. Rowdy Rob is a skinny man with dozens of scars on his arms and chest. According to local rumors, he once suplexed a bear.

The Mudpit

On the edge of town, a small cluster of tents have sprung up beside the river. These tents belong to adventurers who have come to Rynsburg to delve into the newly discovered dungeon. The area around this cluster of tents is constantly muddy and disgusting, earning it the unsavory nickname, The Mudpit.

Staying here is, obviously, free, but it’s little better than sleeping in the wilderness. Perhaps worse, since the wilderness usually doesn’t have other adventurers yelling or crying throughout the night.

The Racks

Within a month of the party arriving in Rynsburg, an establishment called The Racks opens up. It is a warehouse-like building filled with bunk beds. Top bunks cost a silver per night. Bottom bunks cost two silver but come with a storage trunk under the bunk. This trunk has no lock and is secured solely by the sleeping guest’s weight.

After about a year, the Racks begins to offer a few proper rooms with reasonably comfortable beds and locks on the doors. These cost one gold per night.

Bryley’s Blacksmith

Like many things in Rynsburg, Bryley’s blacksmith shop improves over time. When the party first arrives here, Bryley’s inventory is as follows:

Bryley is able to repair most things, but her inventory does not expand to the full list of Player’s Handbook weapons until a year after the party first enters Rynsburg.

Bryley Jones, armorer. Bryley is a muscular woman with short, blonde hair. Until recently, she only made horseshoes and basic tools, but now she’s learning to make swords and other weapons.

Half a year after the party first comes to Rynsburg, Bryley hires two assistants:

Ragnar Umbras, blacksmith journeyman. Ragnar is a tall man with curly black hair and incredible biceps. He speaks with an accent you or I would likely describe as “Irish.” “Tree” instead of “three,” that kind of thing. He makes sure to shake the hand of anyone who asks him to make a weapon so that he can get a good idea of their hand size and grip.

Leonar Umbras, blacksmith assistant. Leonar is Ragnar’s younger brother. While he has the same black hair, his build is shorter and wirier. He helps his brother and Bryley by building sheaths and shields and adding some decorative flourishes to the goods.

Meyr’s Mercantile

Meyr’s Mercantile is a small, wooden building along the main street in Rynsburg. In the early stages of the exploration of Inyal Ansallen, Meyr only stocks rope, farming supplies, and the like. As Inyal Ansallen is explored further, she begins stocking caving equipment and adventurer-oriented supplies.

Meyr will buy most of the things adventurers drag out of the elven castle for half their listed price in the equipment section of your system of choice. These generally get shipped off to a major city, where they get resold at much higher prices.

Meyr, merchant. Meyr is a short woman who is rarely seen without a cigar in her hand or mouth. She is a member of the Merchant’s Guild. Until recently, she made modest money supplying farmers and craftsmen with specialist goods imported from major cities, but now she has pivoted to squeezing coin from adventurers. She is a shrewd businesswoman, and will never make a deal where she doesn’t come out on top.

The Professor’s Tent

Half a year after the party arrives in Rynsburg, a scholar sets up a tent on the edge of town nearest the ruin. This brown canvas tent is the home of Emily Kelleigh, a scholar specializing in ancient elven history. The tent is full of trunks of books, leaving little room for Emily herself to sleep.

After a month or so, Emily begins building a small house, giving her enough room to store her research materials and also get a good night’s rest.

Emily can identify almost any item brought up from Inyal Andsallen, though anything more complicated than a pot, sword, or chair takes 1d6 weeks of examination. After her house is built, this time is reduced to 1d3 weeks due to her reference materials being much more organized.

Emily Kelleigh, scholar. Professor Kelleigh (pronounced like “Kelly”) is a scholar gainfully employed by a far-off university. She has a degree in, and teaches, ancient elven history. She is very excitable when it comes to her work, and she enjoys talking about the elegant curves and mathematical theorems embodied in elven creations. Both her and her work area reek of stale coffee at all times.

Afterword

Thanks for reading! This article started out as an attempt to bring the atmosphere of the TV series Bering Sea Gold to a fantasy setting, with countless riches awaiting those desperate souls who are willing to risk their lives. Little of that remains. Earlier drafts had weather cutting access to Inyal Ansallen off during the winter, but I could never find a way to make that satisfying instead of merely annoying.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!

-Garm

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Garmbreak1
Former esports wannabe, current TTRPG streamer and TTRPG creator interviewer. I like science fiction and I have a soft spot for licensed tabletop RPGs. You can find all the campaigns I’m in and interviews I’ve done over on YouTube.

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