Smith (N warforged artificer 9) served alongside Steeljack. Designed to provide battlefield support, he has become one of the most gifted warforged artificers in Eberron. He is fascinated by the docents, quorforged, and other mysteries of Xen’drik, and spends his time studying the past or crafting magic items for the unit. His work with warforged components has allowed him to discover the Wand Bonding ability, which he has taught to a number of other mystics in the Watch.

A long-dormant shield volcano, called Darkfire by the tribes who live in its ominous shadow, recently erupted in an explosion of fire and rocky shrapnel. Now a deep crater spews flesh-searing gas and hot magma from where the mountaintop stood. The torrent of fire, a portent of doom to the local tribes, is a great gift to House Tharashk prospectors seeking the rich reserves of Khyber shards once buried miles below the earth. But Darkfire holds a sinister secret in its burning heart. After the dragons laid the Lords of Dust low, they imprisoned hundreds of their fiendish minions within the depths of the volcano. Its eruption has set these menaces free to spread their evil once more.

Approach

The flaming caldera of Darkfire lends the night sky a hellish red gleam visible from miles away. The angry glow guides travelers along craggy trails to the snarling lip of the fiery crater. Climbing hazards aside, the demonic influence of Darkfire taints the landscape. Fiendish predators and possessed tribal folk harass the PCs as they approach. Smoldering ash falls in curtains from the sky, coating everything in a dismal black-gray shroud and searing the eyes of those who trespass here (DC 20 Fortitude save every hour or go blind for 1 hour). Wearing a wet cloth over the eyes negates the blinding effect but reduces visibility by half.

The burning reek of sulfur blisters the nostrils and stings the eyes. The trail crests a ridge of glossy black obsidian, where a shimmering haze of red heat beckons beyond. Below is a burning nightmare. Fields of fire and ash, smoke-belching pits of darkness, and a caldera of superheated magma promise scalding death to any who venture within. The mocking cackle of fiends rides the blistering wind, threatening to melt away the soul even as the fires sear the flesh.

Features

Along the inner ridge, the oppressively hot gases rising from the volcano deal 2d6 points of nonlethal damage per round. Additionally, the cackling winds slowly shred a listener’s sanity. Unless they render themselves deaf or plug their ears, creatures must succeed on a DC 25 Will save every day or take 2d6 points of Wisdom damage. When a creature’s Wisdom is reduced to 0, it acquires the fiendish template and becomes chaotic evil, acting on every dark impulse. The blinding ash afflicts those here as well, and the scent ability does not function as sulfuric gas overpowers olfactory senses.

The demons’ dark power infests the land. By night, the earth itself betrays those who linger in this tainted place. Anyone traveling after sundown must succeed on a DC 30 Will save or travel directly toward the Devil’s Cauldron (area 4) regardless of the intended destination.

The crater floor is a fiendish paradise whose searing air deals 1d6 points of fire damage per round. Creatures that sleep inside the crater are tormented by dark dreams wherein frolicking demons gleefully tear their loved ones apart (DC 25 Will save or suffer the effect of a nightmare spell, CL 20th).

Keyed Locations

The following features correspond to numbered areas on the map.

1. House Tharashk Encampment: Precariously perched on the lip of the crater is a small camp of the Finders Guild. Drawn by the promise of dragonshards, these prospectors found instead the terrors of Darkfire. Their leader, a hulking half-orc named Kardobah (half-orc bounty hunter, ECS 238), is now possessed by a nalfeshnee named Muldrak-Syn. He murders and cannibalizes other prospectors at night. Two fiendish minotaurs (former diggers) accompany him at all times. Most of the other Finders succumbed to the cackling winds and now prey upon each other. One canny old prospector, a leathery half-orc named Grizlag, maintains his sanity and soul. He knows how to avoid the many dangers of Darkfire and helps any PCs who promise to escort him back to civilization.
2. Dragonshard Fields: Prior to the eruption, this expanse was already a source of Siberys shards fallen from the sky. Now the fields are rife with Khyber shards as well, expelled from the volcano during the eruption. Local tribes shun the area, heedless of the wealth contained here. Signs dot the landscape, bearing warnings such as “The fiendstones curse all who claim them” and “Go back from this evil place.”
3. Cave of the Red Warden: Since the dragons created Darkfire, they have left one of their own to watch over it. The last Red Warden, an adult red dragon named Zinshear-Jhodjaros, was slain by the deluge of demons that burst forth during the initial eruption. His body remains here, a hideous puppet animated by four hellwasp swarms. A large sending stone (CAr 150), used to keep in constant contact with the Eyes of Chronepsis, sits in this cave. A rakshasa named Kintakathjalil deceives the Eyes on this end. In the illusionary guise of Zinshear-Jhodjaros, he has convinced them that all is well, and that although a “relatively minor” eruption has taken place, the fiends remain safely locked away.”
4. Devil’s Cauldron: This pit of boiling magma is infused with a heat unrivaled by that of any volcano in Eberron. The souls of a thousand fiends swim in liquid fire here, howling in constant torment. Anyone within 100 feet of the cauldron is subject to possession. Once per minute, a powerful demon or devil focuses its attention on a creature nearby and attempts to escape the binding fire of the Cauldron. 
   The potent heat of the Devil’s Cauldron and the tainted power of the fiends within grant this pit the ability to reforge any destroyed artifact if its pieces are brought together in the magma. Any artifact so restored is plagued with a potent evil intelligence whose sole purpose is to lure as many creatures as possible to the Cauldron and free its dark fellows to wreak havoc on the world.
5. Crystal Maze of the Tiger-Fiend: A great tigerheaded balor named Cyl-Maaldrake, favored servant of the Lords of Dust, remains shackled in the heart of this dark crimson maze constructed of Khyber dragonshards. Chipping shards from the maze weakens its hold over Cyl-Maaldrake, and many of the fiends already released are working to disassemble his prison. Contingents of hezrous and bearded devils loyal to CylMaaldrake toil to bring down the maze, but powerful wards trap them as well. The fiends seek humanoid proxies to mine the shards for them, and they send possessed agents to lure tribal peoples and prospectors from Stormreach to this unrivaled find of rich Khyber shards.
6. Lava Tubes: These large tunnels, bored through the crater wall by rivers of magma, are the last redoubt of a tribe of drow called the Darkwatchers, who served the Red Warden. The drow have not fared well since the eruption. With their patron laid low, they face constant attacks by hordes of devils and demons. Still the Darkwatchers lend their aid to any party brave enough to battle the sinister forces of the crater. The drow possess mighty talismans that ward off possession (as protection from evil) and negate the Wisdom-damaging whispers of the wind. They offer these boons to PCs who promise to contain the rising fiendish tide.