Varion Mine

Varion Mine is an abandoned sapphire mine located in the West Woods region of Duemerus. It is located approximately two days' walk from both Ironside and Dane.

Background
According to Lieutenant Ralston, the mine was never an extremely profitable one. The hard, solid rock quickly wore out many of the lower-quality mining tools used by the workers, and the few gems that were found were of middling quality. Because of this, the mine was closed in 5 AES.

Layout
The mine branches off in three directions from the south entrance. The passage heading northwest leads to a small room with several small holes in the walls where gems were extracted. The northeast passage leads to a larger room with similar holes in the walls, and another narrow tunnel leading from the northeast corner to a small storage room. The passage leading north is inaccessible, having caved in at some point after the mine was closed.

Campaign Events
In 25 AES, the party of probationary prisoners consisting of Adira, Rhiannon, and Steven went to this mine, accompanied for part of their journey by Sergeant Rilke. They fought off a group of giant rats, along with a rock python; the latter was attempting to kill the Scarab, whom the party had been sent to find. In exchange for allowing him to go free, The Scarab gave the party members a large sum of treasure.

As the party prepared to leave, they were ambushed by more of the black-clothed bandits that had killed Sgt. Rilke. The bandits demanded that the Scarab be handed over to them, but the party attempted to fight them off (with aid from the Scarab); they were unsuccessful, as Adira and Rhiannon were nearly killed, and the bandits fled with the Scarab in tow.

In light of the death of Sgt. Rilke, and their failure to capture the Scarab, the prisoners decided to head southeast when the road forked on their way back from the mine, ending up in the town of Dane.