Grey Sky (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Lore/Tale of Cole Karth

= Grey Sky =

The Tale of Cole Karth
The story takes place ten years ago, in the small mining village of Rockhaven in the Werkslund Region.

The village prospered as one of the biggest gold mines in the region. However, an overseer name Cole Karth was greedy. The more gold his workers extracted, the higher his bonus became. So he overworked his employees, careless of their health and families. One day a worker came to Cole, pleading to him to allow his poor soul to take a pause. The overseer refused, ignoring the man's failing health. By dusk, Cole learned the man had died in the mine from exhaustion.

Frustrated about losing a set of hands, he decided to send the dead worker's young son to take his father's place. The widow came to Cole, pleading with him to change his mind, saying her poor son was too young and too fragile to support long work in the mine. The overseer again declined, valuing his bonus over the boy's life.

A month later, the boy still lived and worked. Cole had an idea. He decided to send every boy over 12 to work in the mine. This decision brought him incredible riches, however, his money cost many young lives. The town priest came to him, pleading him to stop his folly. Annoyed by the priest, Cole decided to send him into the mine too.

Four year passed like that. Cole became one of the wealthiest men in the region. He bought a magnificent mansion, ate the best food and lived on gold while the people of his village lived in misery.

One day, a passing deviant told him that if he continued his greedy actions that he shall end up in hell. The man mocked the deviant, telling her how those superstitions were foolish. Exactly one year later Cole Karth met his doom, not by supernatural means, but by the mine, which was so overworked and deep that the ground below Cole's mansion crumbled, engulfing him and his entire estate (and thus his great wealth) in the deepest tunnels.

Adventure Idea

 * His mansion (what remains of it at least) is still buried in the tunnels of the abandoned mine. Will the party travel to the ghost town, venture into the long abandoned tunnels and retrieve the Cole's wealth?
 * The ghost of Cole haunts Rockhaven, seeking forgiveness...or revenge.
 * Some rumours tell that the mine was abandoned because of the controversy. But the mine still possesses a huge quantity of gold. A corporation takes interest in the rumour and hires the party to find out the truth.
 * The children who were exploited by Cole seek compensation, but the corporation refuses to, since the children have no proof. Together they hire the party to find and bring back a ledger hidden somewhere on the mine. But the corporation sent their own men to get rid of the proof once and for all.

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