Nor'mul Mine

The Nor'mul mine is an iron mine the entrance of which is located within the city walls of the city of Ravenmar in the Kingdom of Wolfsbrunn. The extensive network of tunnels and mine shafts of this active iron mine leads deep into the Thelian Mountains.

Might of the Mine

The iron of the mine has been an important factor in the prosperity and martial power of the city of Ravenmar, and has been used by blacksmiths within the city to create all sorts of items aside from weapons and armor. The iron extracted from these depths is not always ordinary, in some places the mine has been influenced by extraplanar energies. It is rumored that a sorcerer used the mine as a secure place for his arcane experiments, and that those experiments might have damaged the fabric of reality within the mine. In any case, some of the iron is infused with planar energies, which is a coveted research for the creation of Planar Steel.   To reach the rich veins of iron ore, miners must embark on a half-hour journey using a manually operated cart on tracks. Miners typically spend one or more days within the mine before returning with the iron filled carts to the surface. Outward from this primary track and mine, there are many other tunnels and shaft of varying size. Some turn into natural caves and chambers within the earth, but some tunnels and shafts connect to other parts of the mine itself, turning the Nor'mul mine in an underground maze. Some say that there are passage ways from Thornspire Castle into the mine, which can be used by the Duke of Ravenmar and other nobility as a means to escape an attack or siege.

Delving Dangerously

The Nor'mul Mine is not without its hazards and dangers. The constant threat of collapse, the presence of noxious gases, poisonous mushrooms, and pools of acidic liquids, make every venture into the depths dangerous. On top of those hazards, many odd creatures and oozes can be encountered deep in the earth. Lindwyrms, pale, serpentine draconic creatures, roam the deeper parts of the mines and miners are taught to securely section off parts of the mine with hatches and doors to prevent an assault from these subterranean creatures.

Notable Locations

Crystal Echo Grotto. A place the miners are drawn to, but tend to stay away from is the Crystal Echo Grotto, a cave filled with beautiful crystals that cast an eerie, soft light in the darkness. While breathtaking, this grotto is treacherous, not only are the crystal formations extremely sharp, breaking them causes a noxious gas to fill the air. Breathing in the gas leads to dillusions of echoing voices which has driven some miners mad. This madness can be lethal, and there have been a small number of miners who reportedly dropped down a mineshaft screaming against the voices only they could hear.
  Widow's Drop. One of the largest cracks in the earth is known as the Widow's Drop, a deep chasm that slices through a large open space in the mine. The chasm is a grim reminder of the mine's dangers, its bottom disappearing into an unfathomable darkness. The chasm suddenly appeared decades ago whilst miners had built an encampment in that part of the mine. The name given to the chasm is due to the large number of miners who died that day. Despite those events and the historical records of it, some say that it was named after a miner's wife who, upon hearing of her husband's death in the mine, threw herself into the abyss and still haunts it to this day.   Forgotten Thelian Halls. Further in the mine, at the end of a long winding side tunnel, lie the Forgotten Halls, an expansive complex of chambers and hallways believed to be part of an ancient, underground structure long predating the mine which was built by a long forgotten Thelian civilization. In some places the hallways and chambers are lined with strange, undecipherable runes and pictograms. The air here is thick with an inexplicable sense of dread, and because of that miners have mostly avoided it ever since discovering it. Some scholars have visited it, but none have been able to properly distinguish the nature and origin of the structures.