This document is a working draft for the opening act of Razored Labyrinth: Beneath the Castrovin Sea. It covers the Bridge of Kridorfrost, the first descent to river level, discovery of the sinkhole, early access options, and the first two combat encounters.

GM Core Truth: the sinkhole exists because hidden tunneling far below destabilized the stone beneath the Bridge of Kridorfrost. The party should not discover the larger Spawn-related truth yet. In Act 1, this is an unrelated local adventure from the players’ perspective: clear the sinkhole lair, rescue survivors, protect the bridge, and help the town secure the crossing.

Act 1 Goals

Introduce Kridorfrost and the ancient bridge over the Noyrus River.
Make the bridge feel enormous, old, and economically vital.
Let the party discover the sinkhole organically while inspecting the bridge pillars.
Establish the sinkhole as an active lair with multiple access routes.
Mix random denizens with an organized raider crew.
Give the party a reason to return to town at level 2, resupply, and come back better prepared.
Plant Kharzug’s Dhucharg sidequest and a future Darklands ally seed.

Expected Level Progression

Phase	Expected Level	Purpose
Town briefing and first descent	1	Inspect bridge, reach river shelf, discover the sinkhole.
Initial sinkhole entry and first combats	1 → 2	Clear entry patrols, survive first exploration, identify larger threat.
Return to Kridorfrost	2	Payment, resupply, engineering response, rumors, second mission authorization.
Second delve and deeper clearance	2 → 3.5	Break raider control, rescue Dhucharg survivors, secure bridge foundations.
Departure toward Kridorn	3.5	Follow broader clues south toward the maritime arc.

Scene Structure

Scene	Title	Focus	Status
A1-S1	The Town Hires Adventurers	Briefing, bridge lore, missing workers, official descent plan.	Drafted outline
A1-S2	The River-Level Descent	Ropes, slippery rocks, river shelf, sinkhole discovery.	Detailed below
A1-S3	The Sub-River Pitch	Party leaves fixed ropes and sets a new descent into the sinkhole opening.	Detailed below
A1-S4	First Watch Patrol	Initial organized raider contact.	Encounter 1 below
A1-S5	Upper Sinkhole Exploration	Trails, ledges, evidence of raids, denizens, first route choices.	Partial
A1-S6	Raider Trail Ambush	Second combat; proves surface raids are organized.	Encounter 2 below
A1-S7	Return to Kridorfrost	Resupply, town payment, engineers secure upper descent.	TODO
A1-S8	Second Delve	Deeper lair, flooded chambers, Dhucharg survivors.	TODO
A1-S9	Grath One-Eye	Bugbear chief / organized crew leader finale.	TODO

TODO: Finalize whether Grath One-Eye is a bugbear chief, bugbear ranger, or bugbear fighter. Current recommendation: bugbear scavenger war-chief with goblin, kobold, orc, and human smuggler subordinates.

A1-S1 — The Town Hires Adventurers

Premise

The town of Kridorfrost hires the party to descend to river level and inspect the lower pillars of the Bridge of Kridorfrost. The bridge stands roughly 200 feet above the Noyrus River. It is ancient, unknown in origin, and far more massive than any bridge serving a frontier village should be.

Town Request

The town does not yet ask the party to clear a dungeon. They ask for a dangerous inspection.

The bridge rises through the morning fog like a wall built for giants. Its black stone arches vanish beneath the roadway and descend into mist, spray, and shadow. Far below, the Noyrus River flashes silver between wet rocks. Town engineers have rigged ropes, pulleys, and a swaying platform to reach the lower pillars, but none of them are willing to go down again. Not after the last workers vanished.

Key NPCs

NPC	Role	What They Want
Master Engineer Volrik Hedd	Bridge engineer	Wants the lower pillars inspected before repair crews descend.
Bridge Warden Serah Vonn	Town authority	Wants the bridge safe, trade restored, and panic contained.
Worker Tovin Rusk	Survivor	Claims something moved below the pillars and that tools were stolen before the collapse.

A1-S2 — The River-Level Descent

If the party chooses the town-assisted rope descent, engineers lower them down the official route. The descent reaches a slippery shelf near river level, where the party must scramble across wet rocks while clipped into safety ropes. The Noyrus River itself does not pour directly into the sinkhole. Instead, the sinkhole sits off to one side of the river, where a side eddy once curled back into the main flow. Now that side current drains into the sinkhole opening.

The roar of the Noyrus grows until speech becomes gesture. Mist beads on armor and hair. Below the bridge, slick basalt shelves angle toward the river, and the fixed town ropes sway in the spray. To one side, where the current should curl back into the river, the water now vanishes into a dark, broken wound in the stone.

Terrain and Checks

Obstacle	Suggested Check	Failure
Slick river shelf	Acrobatics DC 11 or Reflex DC 12	Fall prone or slide 5–10 ft. while clipped to rope.
Rope-supported traverse	Climb DC 10	Lose movement; gear may scrape loose.
Spray and noise	Perception DC +2 penalty	Harder to notice scouts or trail signs.
Cold side eddy	Swim DC 12 if entered	Dragged toward sinkhole lip but not instantly pulled under.

Map 1 — River Shelf and Sinkhole Lip

BRIDGE ROADWAY ABOVE ===================================== Ancient black-stone arches lost in fog ===================================== Fixed town ropes || || Cliff wall || Bridge pillar ########### || ################ # # || # # # [A] #======||========# # # Rope # slippery shelf # # # Descent # # # ########### ################ Main Noyrus Flow ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ fast water, spray, noise, cold river current ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Side Eddy ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ [B] Sinkhole Lip ~~ ___________________ ~~~> / \ / water drains down \ / into broken opening \ /_________________________\ [C] Scraped trail marks [D] Ancient masonry exposed

Encounter 1 — First Watch Patrol

The first organized crew guarding the sinkhole entry attacks once the party reaches the sub-river shelf. This group is not meant to fight to the death. Their job is to delay intruders, test their strength, and raise an alarm deeper in the lair.

Enemy	Count	Role	Notes
Goblin Raiders	3	Ranged harassment	Use shortbows or javelins from cover.
Bugbear Enforcer	1	Melee threat	Attempts to hold the broken wall and punish anyone who advances.
Kobold Alarm Runner	1	Escape / alarm	Tries to flee deeper after round 2 or once injured.

Terrain Features

Feature	Effect
Shallow runoff	Difficult terrain.
Wet stone	Acrobatics checks when charging or moving fast.
Ancient broken wall	Partial cover.
Flood fissure	Falling in requires Climb or Swim to escape.
Hanging ropes	Can be climbed, swung from, or cut.

TODO: Add exact PF1E stat blocks for goblin raiders, bugbear enforcer, and kobold alarm runner.

Map 2 — Sub-River Sinkhole Entry

Second Pitch Rope || || [A] Entry Ledge ___________________ / \ / slick stone shelf \ /_______________________\ trickling runoff ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ difficult terrain [G1] Goblin cover [G2] Goblin cover broken stones broken stones [K] Kobold alarm runner hidden near crawl gap \ \ deeper trail ------------------------------------------ [B] Broken ancient wall / partial cover ------------------------------------------ [BB] Bugbear Enforcer holds shelf gap ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [C] Flood fissure / black lower water pocket ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Encounter 2 — Raider Trail Ambush

The party discovers one of the hidden ascent/descent trails used by the sinkhole raiders. This trail proves the inhabitants have been raiding surface resources and retreating through prepared paths rather than simply climbing randomly from the pit.

Enemy	Count	Role	Notes
Goblin Archers	4	High-ground harassment	Fire from upper trail and retreat across rope bridge.
Orc Raider	1	Heavy melee	Guards the switchback and tries to shove enemies toward drop-offs.
Cave Viper	1	Hazard creature	Kept in a basket or lairs near warm stone; released during ambush.

Optional Trap

If the kobold alarm runner escaped Encounter 1, the raiders have prepared a falling-rock snare.

Map 3 — Raider Trail Switchback

Cliff Face / Sinkhole Wall ================================== Upper Trail [G1] [G2] goblin archer goblin archer ================================== || || crude rope bridge || ---------------------------------- Middle Ledge [G3] goblin archer ---------------------------------- narrow descent \ \ ---------------------------------- Switchback Shelf [ORC] [V] orc raider cave viper ---------------------------------- party approach [P] [P] [P] [P] [P] [P] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ River far below / falling hazard ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Organized Crew and Random Denizens

The sinkhole should feel split roughly 50/50 between organized crew members and random or displaced denizens.

Organized Crew	Random / Displaced Denizens
Bugbear enforcers Goblin archers and scavengers Kobold alarm runners and trap-setters Orc raiders Human smugglers or deserters	Giant cave crabs Darkmantles Chokers Giant frogs Stirges or bats Oozes in flooded pockets

Grath One-Eye, Bugbear Scavenger Chief

Grath is cruel, practical, and territorial. He did not create the sinkhole and does not understand the deeper forces behind it. He sees the lair as a fortress, a raiding base, and a way to dominate smaller creatures. He fears the deeper shaft and forbids his crew from descending too far.

Open TODO List

Add full PF1E stat blocks for Encounter 1 enemies.
Add full PF1E stat blocks for Encounter 2 enemies and optional trap.
Decide final chief class and CR for Grath One-Eye.
Draft A1-S7 Return to Kridorfrost with town payment and engineering stabilization.
Draft A1-S8 second delve, including flooded chambers and Dhucharg survivors.
Draft Kharzug sidequest details and Dhucharg military party NPCs.
Add treasure parcels suitable for level 1–3.5.
Add experience/milestone guidance.
Create cleaner tactical maps later, possibly as image maps or printable grids.

DM Handout - Act 1 GM Packet

Act 1 — Beneath the Bridge