Mad Artificer

The party, a ragtag group of 3rd level adventurers, hears a word from the town of a mad artificer who has been kidnapping and experimenting on the townspeople. The town pleads with them to investigate. Arriving at the cave where he is believed to be holed up, the party finds a cave leading into the mountain. And here the party finds themselves.

Setup

• Establish Marching Order
• Learn who's playing what. Adjust plans on the fly accordingly.

The Cave

As the party squeezes into the cavern, the larger of the party have to hunch to keep their head from the ceiling. There are no immediate threats within, other than some small spiders. Investigating the turns leads them to find the kidnapped townsfolk... or what's left of them. Mangled bodies, bizarrely stitched together, failed experiments, you suppose.

There are 2 entrances to the dungeon proper. The Hearth and Corpse Disposal

The Hearth

Entering the dungeon, they find a roaring hearth to one side, with some smithing equipment before it. Along the walls are suits of armor. Once the party goes more than 2 spaces south of the entrance to the room, 6 of the suits awaken. They form a phalanx, barring the party from advancing further into the cave. In a Whisper (voiced like the dark brotherhood door) one of the suits demands to know why they have come. Regardless of the answer, the armors are not moved. They warn the party to turn back or be forced to turn back. The party can fight them, or turn back and find the other way in through Corpse Disposal

The longer the party hesitates, they form up in a diagonal line advancing towards the party. This intentionally makes them ready targets for AoE spells. Animated Armor After 3 rounds, or if the armors advance on them to be matching the doorway, a guttural sound echoes from the Hearth, as dirt falls in and the fire is extinguished. Whatever the state is, the armors reposition to the fireplace, as a damaged flesh golem falls down the chimney. The armors have no means of hurting it, and only magical attacks can wound it. They will lose focus on the party, providing them a chance to escape or backstab them. The party might not know unless one is a dwarf or otherwise a smith, but a light hammer on the ground is adamantine, allowing it to hurt the golem. Whoever uses it would be wise to hold on to it.

The Button

Entering through either The Hearth or the West Wing, the door slams behind them once the last member of the party enters the room. In the middle of the room is a pedestal with a button, with a symbol of a snake eating its tail on it. The room is lit by magical torches in the corners of the room. When the button is pressed, the torches begin to flicker, as a counter begins on the wall above the southern door. it counts down from 10 to 0. At 7 the lights begin to go out one by one each second. 3-1 The ground of the room begins to shake. at 0, the torches relight and the doors all open. (Note, if 1 person leaves the room and comes back, and now everyone is in the room, the doors close again.)

To the south is a hallway that forks into 3 paths. Entering the end of any of the paths warps you to different locations in the dungeon. The left path warps you back to the hearth. The middle warps you to the fork in the Mimic Town wing.

The Shadow

The right one warps the party member into the darkroom between the Hearth and Corpse Disposal. There, they fight a shadow. The Shadow Each person that enters the room triggers another shadow. Once all shadows present are defeated, the party members in the room are teleported back to the button room.

West Wing

the west wing is fairly simple. It is a long hallway with 3 hidden doors.

One leads to what appears to be a broom closet. The door opens with just a push or a lean against the wall. Inside is a bloody broom, mop, and a dagger. A dwarf or smith can tell it is an adamantine dagger. If anyone moves an item in the room and leaves, a damaged flesh golem drops into the closet.

One leads into another room, this one with bookcases lining the walls. The books are journals, detailing the experiments of the madman. On a desk is a bundle of papers, an arcana check by a wizard or sorcerer or a survival check by a ranger or fighter recognize them as fire paper. As a bonus action, you can use the paper to ignite your weapon, making it considered magical and dealing 1d4 fire damage for 1 round. Alternatively, if you use a full action to apply it, it lasts for 4 rounds. There are 5 of them (-1 for each adamantine weapon they have found)

Corpse Disposal

The 3rd room