Hidden Modern Tunnel¶
The Hidden Modern Tunnel is an electric-era mineshaft hidden beneath the tourist Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia, with work lights, vehicle tracks, an old elevator shaft and a freshly dug gold pit.
| Type | Location |
| Aliases | secret mineshaft |
| Region | Beneath Consolidated Gold Mine, Dahlonega |
| First appearance | Appalachia 03 |
Description¶
The tunnel sits below the old tour tunnels and is far newer. Andre described it as a "new-ass mineshaft" dug since electricity: both ends of the section the team landed in had fresh cave-ins, with an electric work light sticking out of the rubble, and there were signs of motor vehicles having been driven toward the blocked ends. Further in were more electric lights and tools, a gap in the floor that Kurt nearly fell into, and a vertical shaft with coiled cables where an elevator had once run, now with no way up (Appalachia 03).
Dahlonega's mines interconnect with each other and with natural caves. Before the team went down, the sheriff warned them that the workings run for tens of miles, that the old branches are not reinforced, and that it is easy to get lost (Appalachia 03).
Notable places within¶
- Collapsed floor. A reinforced, boarded section of the old tunnel gave way under the team. Kurt and the Biz landed unhurt; Andrew and Huell each took 1 harm from falling rocks and timbers.
- Work-light tunnel. One end was fully blocked; the other could be wriggled through. Andrew rolled well to get through and help the others across. A small red light blinked far ahead.
- The gold pit. The gap in the floor that Kurt, on point, caught himself at is a freshly excavated shaft 10 to 15 feet deep, bridged by a couple of two-by-fours. When the team returned, Kurt was lowered on a rope and pulled a small gold nugget from the floor. He kept it as evidence.
- Elevator shaft. At the bottom lay a single German-looking child's shoe, taken as evidence. See Child's Tennis Shoe.
History of events there¶
The team entered during the search for Frederick, the German boy who vanished from a mine tour. In the dark, a white blur charged them. Kurt fired and was hurled into Andrew and the wall; a second hand tore a long cut up his back and badly strained a bicep tendon (2 harm). The creature fled down the tunnel with a moaning scream. Andrew healed Kurt with Lay on Hands but took the harm as a massive nosebleed (Appalachia 03). See Frederick.
The team followed the creature's blood trail to the elevator shaft, found the shoe, and went back to the pit. Climbing out, Kurt ran a rope and reinjured his elbow, and as the Biz came up last the tunnel caved in behind him. It could not be revisited without shovels, and the search party estimated that digging down would take days (Appalachia 03).
Kurt checked a tourist map: no known tunnel matched, so the shaft probably ended in another tunnel nearer the surface. Taking the likely exit point as the land above the cave system, the map put it near both the death cave and the Spud Hut Regional Distribution Center. The mine's tour-guide proprietor said he doubted anyone could keep a mine secret, since it would take too many laborers. Andrew suggested a cult could, and the sheriff's face darkened (Appalachia 03).
In the final recorded session a worker named Clive told the team that the Spud Hut operation used bred ape-men to dig gold under Dahlonega, and the team was taken through the mines to a gold room. The Dahlonega Gold Mines page covers that network. It is never stated outright that the tunnel in Appalachia 03 is part of it, but the nugget, the vehicle tracks and the creature that attacked the team all fit (Appalachia 09).
Unresolved¶
Nobody says who dug the shaft when the team explored it; the final session points to Jan Martense and his conspiracy.