Axeholm

Axeholm is a dwarven fortress carved into the base of a mountain fifteen miles south of Phandalin. The site was abandoned and sealed up long years ago after being haunted by a banshee--the restless spirit of a moon elf ambassador named Vyldara who tried and failed to foment civil unrest among the dwarves. The dwarves imprisoned the elf and sent messages to her people, asking that they come and collect her. Before envoys could be sent, Vyldara killed two guards trying to escape, only to be cut down by dwarven axes before she could succeed.

When the elf's evil spirit started filling Axeholm's halls with deathly wails, the dwarves abandoned their stronghold, but not before several dwarves slain by the banshee arose as ghouls to feed on their kin. Ghouls and other creatures now prowl Axeholm, while the banshee continues to haunt the fortress's upper halls. The banshee senses the arrival of adventurers with its Detect Life trait. In its twisted spectral mind, they are invaders who must be destroyed for their trespass.

Travel to Axeholm
The day-long journey to Axeholm from Phandalin takes the characters across grassy lowlands that skirt the rocky foothills of the Sword Mountains. The trek passes without incident, though cool winds and rain blowing in from the Sword Coast make the trip far from pleasant.

Arrival
''Thrust out from the base of a dark gray mountain is the entrance to the dwarven fortress--a dark, fifteen-foot-wide passageway flanked by forty-foot-high bulwarks of smooth, seamless stone. An iron portcullis covered with rust blocks the entrance. Arrow slits carved into the bulwarks are dark, revealing no hint of occupation.''

Axeholm Features
In the dwarves' absence, Axeholm has become a dark, sullen tomb, full of dust and bad memories. It's quiet most of the time, except when the sorrowful wails of the banshee fill the place. The following features are common throughout.

Arrow Slits
When using an arrow slit for protection, a creature gains three-quarters cover against outside threats. A Medium character can't squeeze through an arrow slit, but a small creature can with a successful DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

Ballistas
For its defense, Axeholm relies heavily on ballistas--massive crossbows that fire heavy bolts. A crew of three dwarves operated each ballista. Before it can be fired, a ballista must be loaded and aimed. It takes one action to load the weapon, one action to aim it, and one action to fire it.

Ceilings
Ceilings throughout Axeholm are fifteen feet high and flat.

Chimneys
Fireplaces throughout Axeholm have chimneys cut from seamless stone. Some of those chimneys can be used to gain access to the fortress.

Doors
Regular doors are made of thick, sturdy oak reinforced with iron bands and fitted with iron hinges and handles.

Light
The walls are lined with torch sconces, but the torches burned down long ago. Adventurers require darkvision or their own light sources to see inside.

Stench
A foul stench lingers in Axeholm, becoming stronger as one gets closer to the resident ghouls.

Keyed Locations
The following locations are keyed to the map of Axeholm.

A1. Outer Gauntlet
Axeholm's primary entrance and exit is this defensible passage, which is blocked by a sturdy portcullis. Arrow slits are spaced along the walls and murder holes line the ceiling, enabling fortress defenders to shoot ballistas at invaders or pour boiling oil on top of them. With the dwarves gone, the only remaining defenses are the portcullis and the double doors to the south, which are barred shut.

A2. Western Bulwark
This area contains seven ballistas pointed at arrow slits, a winch that raises and lowers the portcullis, and a stone staircase leading up to area A22. Each ballista is equipped with five bolts.

A3. Eastern Bulwark
This area has the same features as area A2.

A4. Mustering Hall
This great hall has a 40-foot-high ceiling supported by four thick stone pillars. A think layer of dust covers the flagstone floor. In the middle of each wall past the entrance is a double door. Arrow slits are set high up in the north and south walls, and a small stony balcony protrudes from the wall above the east exit, 20 feet above the floor.

A5. West Hall
The floor is strewn with bits of armor and the gnawed bones of dwarves who were killed and eaten by ghouls. Lurking in the hall is one ghoul for each member of the party, not including sidekicks. The ghouls pursue prey that flees.

A6. Armory
The dwarves took all the weapons and armor from this area when they left. All that remains are empty stone weapon racks, wooden mannequins upon which armor once hung, and iron hooks in the walls that once bore shields.

A7. Main Barracks
Dozens of meager cots lie scattered about the floor. A pair of fireplaces stand cold and dark, their rubble-choked chimneys rising 120 feet through the mountain.

A8. Privies
Tattered wool curtains conceal three neglected privies, each with a wooden bench set against the back wall.

A9. Stirge in the Smithy
Standing before two blackened hearths are a pair of rusty anvils, which dwarves once used to fashion and repair their armor and weapons.

A fluttering noise can be heard coming from the southernmost fireplace, indicating the presence of a stirge near the bottom of the 200-foot-high chimney. If anyone shines a light up there, the stirge panics, flies out, and attacks the nearest character or sidekick. It ignores the characters otherwise.

A10. Tool Storage
Dwarven armor smiths and weapon smiths stored their tools here, which still hang from hooks along the walls. Though a bit rusty, the tools are in serviceable shape if the characters wish to use them.

A11. Inner Gauntlet
Four arrow slits line the walls of this corridor leading to Axeholm’s throne room (area A14).

A12. West Guard Post
Two ballistas point toward arrow slits in the east wall. Each ballista is equipped with five bolts. The guard post is otherwise empty.

A13. East Guard Post
The gnawed bones, torn armor fragments, and rusty battleaxes of two dead dwarf guards lie in the middle of the room. The guards were trapped here by ghouls, killed, and eaten.

Two ballistas aimed at arrow slits in the west wall come equipped with five bolts apiece.

A14. Throne Room
''The stench of death hangs heavy in the air of this dusty, pillared hall, which has a dark, soot-stained fireplace at the east end. A deep alcove in the south wall contains a dais, atop which rests a limestone throne flanked by granite statues of dwarf warriors. Between the throne and the fireplace is a hallway with stairs leading up.''

A15. Dining Room
In the middle of this room, a carved stone dining table (15 feet long by 5 feet wide) is flanked by a pair of equally long wooden benches. Above the table hang two iron chandeliers, their candles long since melted away. North of the seating area is a sooty fireplace and an alcove containing a rough-hewn pit that descends 60 feet. The bottom of the pit contains moldy animal bones and other refuse discarded by the dwarves after their meals.

A16. Kitchen
The dusty room has all the trappings one expects to find in a dwarven kitchen, including metal dishware, utensils, and drinking mugs. A stone sink is equipped with a faucet which, when turned, spouts hot water channeled from a naturally heated underground spring.

A17. East Hall in Ruins
The earthquake that hit Axeholm triggered a ceiling collapse that left this hall in ruins. The eastern half of the hall is strewn with debris. The stench of death hangs heavy here, becoming stronger as the characters move toward area A19.

A18. Empty Room
This 15-foot-square room was cleaned out by the dwarves before they evacuated Axeholm. Only dust remains.

A19. Ghoul Den
Characters can reach this area by following the naturally formed tunnel from area A17 or by descending the stone staircase from area A24. The door to the north has been smashed open, and its remains are strewn on the floor.

The stench of death and decay grows stronger as the characters approach this room, and they can hear the hisses and snarls of the ghouls that lair here. The room contains one ghoul plus one additional ghoul for each member of the party, not including sidekicks.

''This chamber was once a shrine, as evidenced by wall carvings that depict dwarves carrying censers and observing religious rites. However, the eastern section of the room has collapsed, filling the area with rubble. Gnawed bones scattered among the debris are the remains of a number of dwarves.''

A20. Narrow Tunnel
Ghouls dug this winding, rubble-strewn tunnel connecting the upper and lower levels of Axeholm. The tunnel is 2 feet wide, 5 feet high, and 60 feet long.

A21. East Upper Barracks
The ghouls trashed this room, leaving behind wrecked cots, chairs, tables, and other furnishings. A blackened fireplace is set into the east wall, its chimney rising 20 feet to the outside. Characters can use this chimney to enter or exit the fortress.

A22. Upper Bastion
This large chamber extends over the outer gauntlet of the main entrance (area A1) and contains many former defensive measures. Arrow slits to the north allow outside light to enter, filling the northern half of the room with sunlight or moonlight depending on the time of day or night.

Thick webs are strung between the walls and pillars. Lurking among them are several giant spiders — three spiders plus one additional spider for each character in the party, not including sidekicks. The spiders are spread throughout the southern half of the room and move to attack all interlopers.

Other defenses include two fireplaces, which were used to heat cauldrons full of oil that the dwarves poured through narrow slits in the floor. Three empty cauldrons are lined up along one of these slits. Arrow slits along the south wall open up onto area A4, and stone staircases descend to areas A2 and A3.

A23. West Upper Barracks
A fireplace is built into the west wall of this room. Hanging from a hook above its mantelpiece is a nonmagical steel shield bearing the symbol of Axeholm: a dwarven gauntlet clutching a handaxe. Characters can use the fireplace’s soot-stained chimney to enter or exit the fortress.

The room’s other furnishings — cots, tables, chairs, and empty footlockers — are intact but covered in dust.

A24. Haunted Hall
The banshee haunts the east–west stretch of this L-shaped hall. The creature floats in the middle of the hall, outside the door to area A27.

''The luminous, wispy form of a female elf floats in the dusty hallway before you, its face wreathed in a tangle of gossamer hair, its body clad in spectral rags that flutter around it. The apparition’s face becomes a mask of rage as it screams, “Get out of my house!”''

A25. Upper East Hall and Balcony
The earthquake caused part of this empty hall to collapse. A double door in the west wall leads to a small stone balcony overlooking area A4.

A26. Ghoul Bath
Several ghouls gather here — a total of two ghouls plus one additional ghoul for each member of the party, not including sidekicks. The ghouls enter and leave the room through a 2-foot-diameter hole in the east wall, which breaks into the chimney of area A14.

In the middle of this room stands a carved stone tub filled with gnawed dwarven bones. The tub is equipped with a faucet which, when turned, spouts hot water channeled from a naturally heated underground spring. A stone plug seals the drain in the tub’s bottom.

A27. Banshee’s Bedchamber
This bedroom was set aside for honored guests, but its furnishings have decayed with age and are covered with dust and cobwebs. Vyldara once stayed here, but the elf’s possessions were taken during her captivity, leaving nothing of value.

A28. Castellan’s Bedchamber
A stone-framed bed with a moldy mattress stands in the middle of this room, covered in dust and cobwebs. Set into the south wall is a soot-stained fireplace. Stirges nest in the rubble-choked chimney. The stirges attack anyone who pokes around in the fireplace.

Secret Door. The back wall of the fireplace is a secret door.

A29. Secret Vault
Against the south wall of this otherwise empty room rests a 80-pound iron chest with clawed feet. Its built-in lock bears a tiny circular indentation instead of a traditional keyhole. Close inspection of the indentation reveals a tiny symbol of a handaxe clutched in a gauntlet. This symbol matches the one on the castellan’s signet ring (found in area A14), albeit reversed. If the castellan’s signet ring is placed in the indentation, the chest unlocks and remains unlocked until its lid is closed tight.

A30. Privies
Rusty chain mail curtains conceal a pair of privies, each with a wooden bench set against the back wall. The chutes for these privies descend deep into the mountain, passing just east of area A10.