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Message: <blockquote data-quote="weem" data-source="post: 4941527" data-attributes="member: 9470">First of all, it sounds fun!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />So let's see... brainstorming time...What if the language is not "illegible", or (as I assume you mean) nonsense... maybe it has simply evolved or changed for some reason. Perhaps there is/was a larger force at work, something that forced its will on the people which drive them insane and to extinction (for the most part). Imagine if these writings they find are all the same... any parchment found from anywhere has the same symbols - there is a pattern they see emerge - and maybe they discover at some point that in their madness, the minds of the living creatures of this region were consumed with this one message (whatever it is) - doomed to repeat it verbally in their maddened state, and in some cases write it out repeatedly. This force could have come from another plane/world and sought to enslave the population - but their fragile minds could not handle the attempt.-- Part of the PC's campaign could revolve around the translation of this text.-- There could be pockets of surviving peoples who succumbed (without losing their minds). They are cult like zealots worshiping this force/entity who can tap into the hive mind of the entity, sharing their thoughts with it, and therefor all of their people.Skill Challenges1. Perhaps they meet up with Dwarves alive and thriving in the tunnel - you could have them be very un-trusting of anyone/anything accessing the tunnel. They may have to talk their way into getting permission to pass.Interesting Encounters1. Maybe there is a mining cart system in the tunnel - you could have a combat occur while riding in a cart(s).2. The PC's could encounter a group of zealots who become very aggressive when it becomes clear the PC's will not bow to their commands. This encounter could involve the zealots using powers that are based around the hive mind idea (mentioned above). One power idea...An attack vs Will that fills the victims mind with "illegible" voices from the hive mind (hundreds or even thousands of them) effectively Dazing them (save ends), etc. One cool aspect of something like this could be that the victim also gets the sense that "others" have been "called" and are on the way. This makes the fight time sensitive and the push to get to the tunnel even more urgent.2a. Encountering the group of Zealots could result in a fight/skill challenge as well. Perhaps one of them begins a ritual to call others to the location - now the PC's must fight AND stop the ritual.I have more ideas, but I have to get back to work <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue    :p"  data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" /></blockquote>

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