Rurik
Log-
General info
Forne Ironstone-son of Banin Ironstone from Durin Baldesi, has Journal and Last Will and Testament of Gregori Stoneheart, who is a famous dwarven adventurer
Sapper-mother from Durin Rista, father from Durin Baldesi
Iggy Rock-daughter of Morpheus Rock, from Durin Suldar, traveled with Niccolo
Angus Darkhammer-son of Malcum Darkhammer, paladin of Gorm Gulthyn, from Durin Baldesi, from large family (21 siblings), brother Shane Darkhammer
Rurik Torunn-son of Taklinn Torunn, Hau-Tonn from Durin Baldesi, brothers Vergi and Kerris Torunn, uncle Argo Torunn killed at the Riven battle
Silvantis-Sumeril elf that was part of the Crucifari in the Skyreach Forest
DeKlerik Highcleft-son of Desater Highcleft, priest of Dumathoin, uncle of Iggy
Maximilan Wandini-brother of Marissa Wandini, entertainer
Marissa Wandini-sister of Maximilan Wandini, entertainer
August 6th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Mountain Gate is a human town two days from Durin Baldesi. A few dwarves live there to moderate the trade with the humans. It is made up of about 50 buildings. 1
Nore-hilly and dusty. A few woods and streams.
Forne leads the group out, looking for lost dwarven treasure.
August 8th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Reach Mountain Gate. Several dead goblins line the center of town.
Two people in the center of town. Loud man boasts of defeating the goblins, while he argues with a woman over the bounties to be paid. Three others hang around the man arguing.
The group goes over toward a distinct looking human and a dwarf. Sees a lot of the goblins are women and children.
Sapper recognizes the dwarf as Morgan Tuck, Trademaster for Garu, King of Strathrhyl. He lives in Mountain Gate.
He tells group that it looks like another slaughtered tribe. More and more appearing all the time. Mostly goblins, but some hobgoblins, gnolls, and trolls.
The boasting human is Miglean Starbuckle, a Skyreach Ranger. The woman is Evynn Deroda, the Royal Wardsman.
The current bounties for goblins are: 50 gp for warriors, 25 gp for women, and 5 gp for children.
Morgan tires of the boasting and offers to take the group to a good dwarven inn. Introduces to Callus Grym, a human cleric of Hanno from Skoryn.
Takes the group to The Pits, which looks like a mineshaft.
Low ceiling oval room with a huge fire in the center. Callus only allowed in because of Morgan.
Morgan says the ale is imported from Durin Baldesi. Asks groups business in Mountain Gate and gets the general story.
Morgan grunts and mentioned that Forne's father owes him money. Forne says collect from his father.
Morgan mentions that trade should go through him.
Eat BBQ, a delicacy unknown to most Durin but popular among those at Mountain Gate.
Morgan says that the humans are suspicious of the Durin, as Niccolo is in good with Dracar.
Callus says the Dragon Throne cast a great shadow over all. Skoryn is preparing for a Dragon invasion. The Dragons are an abomination.
Rurik and Silvantis enter the bar. They had been investigating a local smith named Durgin.
He has been dead since the Riven battle, but he had an ancient Durin forge (tools) that were believed to be magical. He bought them from the previous smith. Silvantis detected two sources of magic at smith's shop. General magic not sure what was causing it though.2
Barkeep throws BBQ to Rurik and ignores Silvantis.
Silvantis grabs some of the meat with a Mage Hand spell.
Forne notices Silvantis wipe blood from his hand. Asks Morgan about him and learns that they are searching for a human smith named Durgin.
Silvantis plays light dinner music, which irritates Rurik.
Forne approaches Silvantis and asks about smithy. Silvantis attempts to blow him off.
Callus offers to heal Silvantis, but he declines the offer.
Forne congratulates Silvantis on having received the wounds and offers to buy a drink.
The barkeep throws an object at Silvantis that Rurik intercepts. Turns out to be a hot potato, so Rurik passes it to the wizard.
Forne offers to have Silvantis join the group to hunt vileness. Silvantis says he will think about it.
A new dwarf enters the bar and demands money from Morgan. Morgan says "Not only do I say no, I say hell no" and decks him. The dwarf leaves the common room, but Morgan seems distracted.
Morgan leaves to go lie down.
Silvantis and Rurik leave the bar. They want to check out Durgin's grave.
Forne repeats his offer to Silvantis as he leaves.
The group drinks a little more then begins to make their way to retire for the evening.
Sapper decides to check on Morgan before going to sleep. Morgan is even worse.
Sapper gets Callus, who says it appears that a Skoryn poison was used. The poison is called Viper's Breath.
Callus treats the poison and the results seem promising.
Callus attempts to dilute the poison with a Create Water spell. Morgan wakes up.
He is still weak, but he offers his gratitude.
Forne is impressed and offers Callus the opportunity to travel with the group.
Callus says, "There is a great darkness spreading across the land. I have been sent by Hanno to smite that evil." Then agrees to join group.
They agree on equal shares and the group goes back to sleep.
Silvantis and Rurik go to the graves south of town.
They don't find anything initially, but then find another section of graves.
Find a dug out grave. Rurik determines that it has only been hours since the grave was dug up.
There are human, goblin, and Durin footprints around the open grave. No tracks leading directly away from the grave.
Silvantis detects magical presence. The grave has the texture of enchantment.3
Sapper awakens in the middle of the night and sees shadows in the common room. He determines they are goblins and raises the alarm.
He draws his crossbow as Iggy emerges from her sleeping area. She is hit but kills a goblin.
Sapper is also hit as he kills one.
Angus charges and cleaves two goblins.4
Iggy misses and is hit by a goblin.
Forne wakes and casts Mage Armor.5
Sapper helps Iggy and takes down a goblin.
Angus kills another goblin.
Iggy kills a goblin.
Goblin cries out to retreat.
Sapper charges and kills one.
Angus charges another, but misses.
Forne moves to block the doorway. No one moves to kill a surrendering goblin, but then Iggy does kill it.
Forne steps out to look for more goblins, but does not see any others.
Iggy searches the bodies as Sapper and Forne help clean up the common room.
Iggy finds more coins and jewels than expected on goblins.
Sapper finds same thing. A lot of non-goblin type loot. Suspects they were paid for the attack.
Forne and Angus find same on other bodies.
August 9th, 3rd Year of the Empire
During the morning, the bodies are disposed of into the center of town. There were a total of 13 goblins.
The group recounts the battle to Morgan and Callus arrives to meet them.
News of the fight dominates the gossip around town.
Silvantis and Rurik wander back to The Pits.
The coins and jewels are typical of the local style. The jewels are somewhat valuable, but a lot of them are broken in some way.
Morgan says the items are common from the Marjil Hills. They were probably all taken from raids.
While the raids were increasing, Mountain Gate had missed them until this point.
Silvantis suggests that they should be returned to their original owners, which is not a popular opinion.
Callus offers to heal Iggy, but Angus had already prayed to TBD and Laid on Hands. Callus leaves.
Silvantis tells of the dug up grave. The group is discussing when Evynn shows up.
She interrogates Silvantis, who does not deny that he and Rurik were at the grave last night.
Forne asks if Silvantis is a suspect. Evynn says not currently, she is only investigating the desecration of the grave.
She mentions the curse of the shadow of the throne. There is a scourge on the land.
Forne again offers to have Silvantis accompany the group. They go to a secluded grove to talk.
Forne tells story of the book.
Into
his possession comes an obscure, leather-bound journal, its pages a
hodge-podge mixture of vellum, parchment, papyrus, and even runic
rockpaper. Its cover claims it to be the Journal and Last Will and
Testament of Gregori Stoneheart, famous dwarven adventurer who was
last seen when Forne was still a pebble on his mother's
workboots.
But as hard as he scrutinized the pages, Forne
could never see any writing. He did not dare show it to his
teachers or his relatives, for they would demand possession of such
a valuable book or at least an intolerable share of the profits.
He snuck out of the mountains to the Open Lands above to see if they
were moon-letters, but no luck. His only other idea was that
it could be blood-writing: writing that does not appear until a
certain blood sacrifice is made onto the page. The blood pools
and swirls into the letters, revealing the writing. Forne
tried his own blood, but it did nothing to the page.
Silvantis has heard of Gregori Stoneheart.
Forne wants Silvantis to try and use his blood to see if the writing will appear. Silvantis does wipe his bleeding hand across the page and writing becomes visible.
Silvantis suggests that they come to an arrangement before he will reveal anymore of the books secrets. Lots of haggling over magic items.
Agree on equal shares of non-magical items.
Silvantis gets first choice of any magic items, unless they are directly related to the book. Rurik gets first choice of any magical hammers. Forne second choice of magic items, unless directly related to the book. Others will alternate selection of magical items. 6
The
Journal of Gregori Stoneheart reads as follows:
"Kaskarian
and I spoke with the sage of Ringelwood village. The old hag
was cagey, but the sight of gold loosened her drooling lips.
She knew where Durgeddin's lair lay, north three days into the Hills
and hidden in the Stone Tooth.
The elf insisted I pay her the
promised fee so we now travel even lighter in our coin pouches.
I hope that discovering Durgeddin's forge will lead me closer to the
works of Andune..."
Having deciphered the first page of Stoneheart's Journal, our recently banded heroes prepare to venture into the Marjil Hills between Nore and the Skyreach Forest. These hills have always been only sparsely populated due to various hostile natives including Grothan tribes (which the folks in Nore call orcs). As with everywhere else, in the three years since the rise of the Dragon Throne, the Marjil Hills have become wilder and more dangerous. The orc tribe of Grum One-Eye has taken over three Nore villages in the Hills and established a firmer dominion.
Legends have it that two hundred years ago, a great dwarven smith, Durgeddin the Black, built a secret Durin stronghold in the Marjil Hills for a war of vengeance against the orcs living there. He established a forge to create masterful weapons for this war. For years, Durgeddin and his clan labored, until the orcs discovered Khundrukar and stormed the citadel, slaying all within. Legends say that Durgeddin's masterful blades and glittering treasures were never found. For surely, no orc, no matter how vicious, is bright enough to unravel too many Durin secrets in their own home.
Group goes back to The Pits. Sapper asks around for information on Ringelwood.7
Silvantis remembers that it might be near the Skyreach Forest.
Group heads to Aagn to the north. About a hundred miles to the Marjil Hills.
Silvantis offers gift to Forne, the Necklace of the Couatl. It provides Feather Fall ability.
Silvantis says he hopes to help heal the rift between the two races. Forne says it is appreciated and unexpected.
Group sets standard night watch: Sapper and Forneà Rurik and Callus à Iggy and Angus
August 11th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Arrive at Aagn, a town of about 400 people. See no dwarves and only a couple of elves.
The group looks for a tavern. Silvantis has been at Aagn before and suggests the Arbor Leaves.
On the way to the inn, some half-Grotha are spotted in the marketplace. Seem to be interacting normally.
The Arbor Leaves is a two-story inn and the group is met by Viggin. He is the son of Orst, the owner.
The group gets three rooms at 5 gold per room and finds that there are about 20 people staying there currently. Silvantis and Rurik share a room. Iggy and Callus share one. Forne, Sapper, and Angus in the last room.
The group meets in the common room and begins drinking. Silvantis and Sapper begin to bond.
Gossip is about Tsen, the King of Nore. He rode through Aagn to Sperra Tyrol to the north. His party was about 200 people, so the roads that way might be tore up.
Paag is the town to the east of Aagn. Three silversmiths at the inn are going that way.
Vinwall is the town to the north. Most travelers are going that way, after the king. They say the roads are fine.
The two elves seen initially walk into the room. They greet Silvantis and offer to buy him a drink.
They are merchants from Skyreach and think that Ringelwood might be on the road near there.
Forne begins singing and buys a round for everyone in the common room. She is joined by others in the crowd who have instruments.
August 12th, 3rd Year of the Empire
On the road to Paag, which is about a day and a half away.
During the afternoon, the group is forced off the road by about 500 Nore military going west.
August 13th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Reach Paag around midday. It is a walled town and while the walls are in disrepair, it is obvious that they had dwarven advisors when they were originally built. The walls are being renewed.
The guards say weapons must be peace-tied. There is also some anti-Skoryn sentiment, but Callus is allowed in.
No buildings have been built outside the walls, preferring instead to build up.
The city is very prosperous and crowded. There is no market area, but food markets to pop up outside the walls during the day.
The city guard appears to be very effective.
The population is very diverse, including a small dwarven neighborhood. The neighborhood has a consul.
Also, there are a lot of half races, mostly elven and grothan. There are some full grotha as well.
Silvantis has been to the Broad Branches Inn, which is elven run.
Again the group gets three rooms at 10 gold per room. The rooms are slightly smaller than Arbor Leaves.
The even not as fun for the dwarves at the elven inn.
August 14th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Leave for Walkerdon, the village to the north of Paag.
Late in the afternoon, Rurik realizes that his purse is about 100gp lighter.
August 15th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The road is rougher than expected, slowing travel.
During Rurik's watch he thinks he sees light east of the road moving south. It has the feeling of a false dawn about it.
He wakes Forne who says, "If it comes closer, then let me know." Then he goes back to sleep.
Rurik then wakes Silvantis. The two watch the light for about five minutes and then it disappears.
August 16th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group reaches Walkerdon, which has a feeling of being a frontier town.
Weapons are allowed and the walls are in disrepair. The town is very crowded.
The group learns that the crowds are refugees from Ringelwood, which was overrun by orcs.
As Silvantis is suggesting that the group find a private place to discuss the situation, an older woman approaches them.
She introduces herself as Branda and says she is the head of the militia. She is around 60 years old but still looks comfortable outfitted in chainmail and sword.
It admits it is a very hastily assembled militia and she has no formal military training. She is a retired adventurer.
Forne asks, "What are your rates?" She says if interested, then inquiry at the Tower.
The group heads to the Tower and sees a small square crowded with a lot of people.
The group sees about 50 people in the square and is not very impressed.
Five people are checking the weapons of the militia.
One of them approaches the group and asks if they are interested. His name is Twalen and he is a huge man with a thick beard.
The offer is 5 silver pieces to march to Ringelwood and fight the orcs. They will also throw in free lodging for the night.
They expect to march at dawn, with the fight occurring the day after that.
The group agrees to accompany them, though Silvantis does get his own room.
August 17th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The militia musters and begins marching. Based on the pace, it will take three days to reach Ringelwood.
Forne begins whipping them into shape, which Branda and Twalen seem to encourage.
August 20th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Sapper and Silvantis scout ahead in the early morning.
Battle of Ringelwood.8
The gentle villagers of Ringelwood are torn between grief and gladness. Their village has been restored to them, but fifteen locals died in the fighting. The heroes are treated very well, given lodging, food, and drink at no cost. In fact, unless they wear out their welcome, they will be given free lodging and sustenance in Ringelwood and Walkerdun from now on.
Investigation after the battle revealed the following. The tribe was the Black Mountain Orcs, led by a crafty shaman named Gru-chuk. They had snuck over the walls in the dark of night and slain the few village guardians within minutes. After that, they drove the people out of the village, slaying some, but letting most run through the south gate.
Even after a week of orc infestation, the village is remarkably well off. Stories have told of orcs laying fire to anything once the looting was done, but no arson was committed in Ringelwood. Some of the wealth and prized possessions has disappeared, prompting Twalen to speculate that this Gru-chuk and some of his orcs were not in the village when it was liberated. Most likely shepherding a train of loot back to whence they came.
Twalen and Branda were both once adventurers, but have no taste for it now. Twalen is responsible for the safety of Walkerdun and Branda agrees to move to Ringelwood to lead their defenses in the future.
Branda is personally grateful to Callus Grym and Angus Darkhammer for saving her life. She was chagrined that mere orcs had taken her down, but she admitted that too many decades had passed for her to wade into such battles with impunity.9
August 21st, 3rd Year of the Empire
Silvantis makes the Gauntlets of the Asp for himself.10
The group stays at the house of Sir Miles Barak, the leader of Ringelwood. He provides fine wine, which is lost on the dwarves.
Sir Miles asks the group to stay in Ringelwood, offering free room and board. Angus says have bigger fish to fry and the rest agree with him.
He has an estate to the south, where is vints his own wine. He offers some wine as a gift after several hints from Silvantis.
He tells Silvantis that a lady of the town wants to meet with him. Her name is Ongrin Hallowhall, but he does not know what she wants.
He says that the orcs hit the first farm about four months ago, from the southeast. The orcs had a three-fang symbol on their shields. Appeared to be a nomadic tribe.
Silvantis asks about the north. The remains of an old road are no longer used.
The weather turns strangely cold after one day of travel. Full-fledged winter after two days.
Several people know of the Stone Tooth and say it is named after its appearance.
A local woodsman, Thon, has been north. Said he didn't like it as it "raised the hair on the back of his neck."
Ongrin shows up at Sir Miles' house. She is very pretty and dressed in older fashion.
She says she is very grateful for the service done to the village. She appears fascinated with Silvantis and remarks he does not look like the elves of Skyreach.
She asks if he is from Sumeril and a shipbuilder.
She wants to know him better and make his stay more comfortable.
Silvantis senses an ulterior motive and declines a walk through the village.
Sir Miles tells group there will be a gathering/celebration outside the walls the next day.
The group discusses the situation and decides Angus will check for evil at the festival.
August 22nd, 3rd Year of the Empire
Silvantis makes Gauntlets of the Asp for Rurik.
Rurik asks why Ongrin asked if Silvantis was a shipbuilder.
Silvantis tells him that the Sumeril Elves are descended (or the same as) the Seafaring Elves of legend. It is said that special trees harvested from the dangerous Sumeril Jungles gave the elven ships their incredible strength and magical potential.
Sapper wanders the town. Branda approaches Angus and Callus and thanks them for saving her life.
Many people remark on the lack of destruction by the orcs. It does not fit their previous patterns.
The festival is for Chora, who is still openly worshipped in Nore.11 It is being used as a thanksgiving festival as well.
Iggy sees Ongrin first. She tells Silvantis she arrived with a man.
Angus concentrates and detects nothing.
She approaches Silvantis and kisses him. She tries to pat Rurik's head, but he instead kisses her hand. She is not very happy.
She tries to dismiss Iggy and Rurik, but Silvantis keeps including them in the conversation.
She asks about Sumeril and Silvantis tells her what he remembers.
As she explains parts of the festival, she flirts, but not overly.
Sapper walks the crowd and checks it out. He is uneasy about the nature of the orc attacks.
The only group there that seem out of place are the dwarves.
Silvantis pulls out a cloth to dab blood, which impresses Ongrin. She did not know he was there and is quiet for several minutes.
She makes a polite and subtle offer to Silvantis for the night. The man she arrived with is still in the crowd and she explained is her brother, Osgood.
Silvantis is unable to sense an ulterior motive and agrees to accompany her.
Rurik follows back to her house. Impressed with the accommodations that he is given.
August 23rd, 3rd Year of the Empire
Callus makes Bulls Strength potions for Rurik and Angus.
Ongrin asks Silvantis when the group is leaving. He says in a couple of days.
The group heads north that morning. They notice a drop in temperate that is beyond normal by the end of the day.
The road is passable, but more and more overgrown as the group travels on.
Around 5pm they crest a hill and smell roasting food. Sapper scouts ahead.
The road goes down and winds through trees. He can see light from a fire, but not the fire itself.
Sapper moves further ahead. The trees thin and might be climbable. He sees no movement and returns to the group.
The group moves forward and sees 7 humans around a rack on a fire.
They are all well armed, but Rurik recognizes them as the Brothers of the Grimm. They are a group of barbarians that he had traveled with in the past.
He walks in and grabs a piece of meet off the rack. After a few tense seconds the Brothers laugh and invite Rurik to join them. They snub the others, who set up camp a short distance away.
There are five men: Grigore the leader, Adrian the romantic, Crinu, Vilmos, and Pavel. There are also two women: Florenta and Melita.
They have never heard of the Stone Tooth as they have been hunting ogres and in the west.
Grigore offers to have Rurik rejoin the group. He doesn't understand why Rurik who want to stay when he could live the free life again.12
August 24th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The two groups part ways in the morning.
The road is still passable, but is getting increasingly overgrown.
The group has an early dinner and moves on for a few more hours.
Sapper scouts ahead. He thinks he sees movement about 30 yards away. What he can make out appears to be bulky but of human height. It is moving southeast. He goes back to the group.
The group moves off the path to set up an ambush. Sapper moves back out to check. He is very loud and can see no movement.
After about 10 minutes he thinks he sees movement further south, but he is not sure.
The group reforms and continues north. At about a half an hour to nightfall, it has gotten so cold that they can see their breath in the air.
Silvantis' fingers itch inside his gauntlets. He checks with Rurik, who does not feel anything unusual.
He casts Detect Magic and sees sparks from the fingers on him and from Forne. The magic appears amplified as the halo glows brighter than usual.
The group uses their standard watch. Forne and Sapper à Rurik and Callus à Angus and Iggy.
August 25th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group awakes to a light snowfall.
At about 2pm they see the Stone Tooth. It has an exposed trail and smoke is billowing from it. They estimate that it will maybe take two hours to reach the top.
After about 20 minutes they reach the single-file trail. It is obvious to the dwarves that it was made by Durin.
They can also tell that it was originally concealed, but that it has been weathered away leaving odd chunks of rock.
The group begins up the trail with Sapper ahead. Forne, Iggy, Angus, Rurik, Silvantis, and Callus follow.
It only takes 20 minutes to reach the end of the trail, which opens to a cleft into the hills.
Sapper moves into the cleft. He sees debris, carcasses of small animals, mostly rats, and torn leather.
Sapper and Rurik climb to the ridge to check out the smoke. It is natural and coming out a chimney in the hill. They return to the group.
The group goes into the cleft.
Sapper sees bestial humanoids lounging against the wall. Forne yells "Orc!"
Sapper drills one with a crossbow bolt. It stops moving and begins gurgling.
A second orc runs away down a passageway. The group cannot see it as it went around a corner.
The group moves forward, with Sapper further in front. He quickly tries to look around the corner.
He cannot see the orc that ran, so he checks the one he shot. It is dead.
The group comes together. Silvantis casts Mage Armor.
Sapper again looks around the corner, this time more thoroughly. He sees a few steps ahead.
As he moves up, an arrow glances off of him. It was shot from an arrow slit about 15' above.
He hears an orc yell out, "Did you hit it?" He moans and prepares a flaming flask.
He throws it at the slit to distract the orcs. The flask does not pass through the slit, but it is close enough to serve its purpose.
Sapper runs ahead. The passage opens into a larger area and he saws another arrow slit further up.
The group follows him, standing between the two arrow slits.
Silvantis prepares a flaming flask and throws it clean through the second slit. The group hears hoarse cries.
The passage turns, opening up to a room with marble steps and a door in a formal entrance. There are arrow slits 10' above the ground on both sides.
Silvantis casts Dancing Lights in a vaguely human form in the center of the room.
Silvantis and Rurik prepare to throw flaming flasks at the new slits.
Rurik runs into the room and throws the flask, but it bounces off the wall hitting him.
Silvantis is able to throw his flask through the arrow slit.
An arrow bounces off Silvantis' Mage Armor and another just misses Rurik.
Sapper runs to the door and an orc attempts to shoot him through the slit. Silvantis kills it with a Magic Missile.
Sapper is unable to budge the door.
Rurik throws a second flask at the slit, which barely hits the opening.
Iggy and Forne go towards the door.
Sapper spends a couple of minutes and unbars the door. Forne listens but hears nothing.
The rest of the group moves to the doors as Sapper opens one of them.
It opens into a room with a chasm. There are two braziers on the near side of the room.
A rope bridge hangs down, having been cut from the far side. The far side is more cave-like.
Two orcs appear on the far side and shoot at Sapper. He knocks away one of the arrows while the other misses.
Forne steps into the room to shoot his crossbow and hits one of the orcs.
Iggy steps into the room and falls prone before firing her crossbow. She kills one of the orcs.
Angus follows and goes prone as well. His shot finishes the last orc.
The entire group moves into the room. Sapper pulls up the rope bridge. It is not great but is workable.
Silvantis throws a grapnel across and hits a far post.
He thinks he notices something on the wall, but the dwarves think he is crazy.
As the dwarves tie off the rope, Silvantis remains convinced that there is a door hidden in the wall. Sapper agrees.
Silvantis is able to find the hidden door and asks Sapper to check it. He finds no traps and the door is not locked.
He goes the door and sees a passage that turns left. He comes to a short set of stairs that lead down.
As he continues he can tell this would be where the orcs that were manning the arrow slits were.
An orc appears and fires a bow at him, but misses.
Sapper fires back and kills the orc.
Silvantis goes to the wall opposite the hidden door and finds another one. He does not open the door, instead waiting for the group.
Forne passes Sapper and is shot at by another orc. It misses and he fires, killing it with a headshot.
Callus moves in and looks out one of the arrow slits, confirming Sapper suspicions.
Angus checks the rest of the passage, but only finds a charred orc body.13
Callus attempts to revive one of the orcs. Silvantis attempts to charm it after it is healed.14
Silvantis gets the name of the orc, "Ark", but he does not feel he has charmed it.
He invites Callus to try and talk to the orc.
Callus offers it some food and asks how long the orc has been here. The creature is unresponsive and not friendly. Callus tries to convince it he will let it leave if it helps.
The orc says the rope bridge is the only way across the chasm. He doesn't know how to repair it. There are a lot of orcs further ahead and they have a border with two-legged lizards.
Forne says to let him go. Not to heal him, but to just let him go.
Silvantis searches down corridor and finds a secret door.
The rest of the group searches the arrow slit hallway and loots the orc bodies. They come up with four longbows, four heavy flails, holy symbols of orcan gods, 35 gp, and 80 sp.15
The group gathers at the secret door and discovers that it pivots.
Forne warns the orc who is still in the room, "Any monsters in there, you are going to die."
The door opens to an unoccupied hallway. Sapper moves down the hallway looking for arrow slits, but he does not see any.
The hallway has stairs going up 5' and goes up to a wall. Sapper hears snoring, cursing, and grumbling in Grothan.
Silvantis finds a secret door, then moves back. Sapper tries to open the door, but it is blocked.
Iggy and Forne move up to open the door and Sapper steps back.
Iggy slightly opens the door to see what is on the other side. She sees unused bed space and clothes, but no orcs.
Iggy pushes again and the door opens. She steps in and sees a bunch of orcs. Stepping aside, she draws her weapon.
Forne steps in as Iggy charges and kills on of the orcs.
Forne charges another, but misses. Angus charges and kills one.
One orc starts to run down a hallway on the opposite side of the room. A javelin hits Iggy and an axe hits Forne.
Angus is surrounded by a group of orcs, but only the largest hits him.
Callus steps into the room and casts Hold Person on the orc fleeing the room.
Sapper and Silvantis step into the room and fire their bows. Both miss.
Rurik steps up and helps Angus, killing one of the orcs. Iggy charges another one and kills it.
Forne kills an orc. Angus hits, but does not kill the larger orc.
Another one of the orc begins to flee, as does the larger orc. Iggy gets a shot at the larger orc, but misses.
Sapper moves up to shoot crossbow, but misses. Silvantis moves and shoots, hitting one of the retreating orcs.
The large orc groans, but does not go down. Rurik jumps on the table in the room and throws his hammer, taking down the larger orc.
Iggy begins to loot the bodies. Angus calls upon the Durin gods and heals himself. Callus checks out the dead and Rurik gathers his hammer and drags in the body of the large orc.
One end of the hallway has a 7' dwarf statue. It is fierce looking with a stylized sword.
Loot: 6 great axes, one of dwarven make, 6 javelins, and a set of scale mail.
Callus heals Angus and Forne. Forne and Silvantis check out the Durin axe, but Silvantis says it is not magical.
Silvantis checks out the statue. He steps on a pressure plate and a green gas comes out of the face, weakening him.16
Rurik pulls him back. Sapper checks the statue and determines it is a one-shot trap.
Forne offers Silvantis ale. Sapper does not find anything else on the statue.
Sapper checks out the corridor. He finds no traps where it meets an iron door. It then turns left and continues on and is well used.
Sapper hears a snoring dog behind the iron door.
Sapper starts to move down the hallway, when Angus, Iggy, and Forne fall asleep.
Five orcs appear and one of them throws a javelin at Sapper, but misses.
Silvantis casts Sleep at the orcs and two of them go down.
Sapper is attacked by two of them and is hit by both.
Rurik is also hit. He swings his hammer and hits the orc back, but does not kill it.
Sapper attacks and knocks an orc down. Silvantis wakes Angus who attacks a nearby orc but misses.
Callus helps Rurik, but misses with his morningstar. Silvantis wakes Iggy who joins the battle, killing an orc.
An orc swings at Callus but misses. The iron door opens and two large wolves and an ogre step through.
The ogre swings a great axe at Iggy, but misses. Rurik misses an orc as Silvantis wakes Forne.
Forne casts Grease around the ogre, the 2 wolves, Iggy and Silvantis. Iggy slips.
Sapper hits with his crossbow, but the ogre reaches and attacks with his axe. Sapper seriously hurt and goes down.17
Callus misses the orc. Silvantis tries to step back and slips. He casts Daze but it has no effect.
Iggy stands and steps back. Callus hit by an orc.
One of the wolves steps out and attacks Forne, but it misses.
Rurik smashes the orc and moves to attack the ogre.18
Sapper unable to stabilize. Angus misses the ogre, but Iggy hits. Silvantis stands but can only watch.
The ogre stands and hits Rurik. Rurik rages but misses. Forne hits it hard.
Sapper unable to stabilize. Angus takes the ogre down. It is still gurgling so Iggy attacks it again.
The grease disappears as the spell wears off. A wolf mauls Forne.
Rurik moves over and hits the wolf and then Forne kills it. Angus kills the second wolf.
Callus stabilizes Sapper, and then heals him.
Angus checks out the room the ogre came from. He sees several poorly cured animal skins and learns the ogre was named, Ulfe.19
Iggy loots the ogre. Silvantis detects magic in the room. There are two wooden chests behind the furs.
Callus heals Iggy. Sapper checks the chests for traps. Not finding any, he opens them.
The first has lots of shining coins in it. The group does not count it.
The second has several items, including a crusted over gin flask and a rapier that radiate magic. The flask has a faint aura and the rapier has a moderate aura.
The group also gets 50 gp in various coins off the orc bodies.
The group gathers in the room to rest. They pull the ogre body into the room and put the orc bodies in the guardroom.
Callus heals the group.
The iron door is very heavy, but the group is able to close it.
August 26th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group is able to rest for eight hours.
Sapper listens at the door and hears nothing. He then sneaks out to the hallway and checks the guardroom. It looks the same.
He goes down the unexplored hallway and sees semi-organized trade goods. The group moves up and joins him.
Sapper moves up to cavern area, where he hears the sound of water far off.
He checks the corridor and finds that it ends at a slightly ajar door.
He goes to the hinge corner and looks in. He hears nothing and it looks like chamber.
He kneels down and opens the door. It looks like the guardroom, but it is not occupied.
The group comes up to the room and Rurik stands guard as they search the room.
Iggy finds and iron cauldron with about 210 gp in it. Sapper finds an onyx and two topaz gems, but does not know the value of them.
Sapper moves up the hallway slowly, but sees nothing to cause concern. The ceiling varies from 5-12'.
He comes to an opening with a small pool in it. There are trade goods stacked along one wall.
Silvantis and Rurik check out the trade goods. It looks like the goods are blocking a corridor.
Silvantis detects transmutation magic in the pool. Both the water and tiles at bottom are magical.
Sapper quickly goes down another hall that is made of worked stone.
Silvantis dips one of the trade goods into the pool, but cannot see a noticeable effect.
Forne wants to check out the blocked off area. It is easy to disassemble the goods.
The group goes down the opened corridor until it sends at a portcullis. They see a chamber beyond the bars.
The ceiling is 30' high and the center of the room has an opening in the floor.
Sapper finds a lock and picks it. He tells the group he will not be able to relock it.
Sapper opens the door and steps in. The walls are full of carved images of dwarves at forges.
There are four human sized skeletons at one end of the room near a door.
The stairs in the opening are very ornate and there is buzzing sound coming from below.
Sapper moves towards one the skeletons and sees they were orcs. The bodies have scorch marks on them. There is also rusted armor and axes.
He goes to the door and listens. The buzzing grows louder from below.
Silvantis checks for any clues from the blast pattern.
Sapper checks the stairs and is attacked by four flying creatures. They are small with glowing red wings.
Rurik tries to grab one off Sapper. Forne tries to hit one with a water skin. Sapper is all wet but no effect on the stirges.
Silvantis readies his bow in case more come up the stairs.
The stirges drain blood from Sapper.20 Callus attempts to Death Touches one of them but no effect.
Angus kills one. Sapper pulls one of them off himself. Iggy misses. Rurik kills one. Forne misses.
Silvantis casts Magic Missile and kills the last one.
Silvantis checks down the stairs. He descends 30' and it is apparent that it continues down further.
Sapper checks the doors in the chambers, finding no traps.
The group decides to try and pin the doors closes with pitons.
The south door is okay, but the north door spits liquid fire on Iggy as she works on the door.
Callus casts Create Water on Iggy, but it does not affect the fire.
Rurik and Angus grab her and take her to the magic pool. They dunk her, which puts the fire out.
When she emerges, she has heightened senses.21
The group discusses where to hole up for the evening.22
Silvantis, Angus, and Forne decide to check down the stairs.
Callus heals Iggy.
Silvantis leads the three down the stairs, using his magical cloak to hide in the shadows.
The stairs become narrower and start to twist and turn. They also become rough-hewn.
After 60' they come to a rivulet, which runs into cracks in the wall.
Silvantis sees some floor to his left in the cracks in the walls. However, he cannot tell if it is natural so he asks Forne.
Forne says that it is a natural passage that used to hold more water. The larger tunnel was built after the water changed.
Silvantis listens but hears nothing but flowing water.
They continue down the path another 30'. The passage becomes a ledge of a larger room, with the ceiling about 50-60' overhead.
They hear water in the cavern, but cannot see anything in the total darkness.
Silvantis has Forne and Angus use their darkvision. The report that the cavern extends beyond what they are able to see.
Silvantis notices a metallic tang in the air, which Forne and Angus say is coppery. There is no mention of mining near the Forge.
They withdraw back to the upper room. The cavern was about 100' down.
The group sets watch: Rurik à Angus à Forne
Silvantis casts Alarm down by the rivulet and the dwarves secure the bar door with pitons.
During Rurik's watch he thinks he hears something at the steps. He wakes Angus.
Silvantis is awakened by his Alarm spell.
Angus wakes Forne as more stirges appear.
Forne casts True Strike and his axe begins to glow.
Angus steps up and hits one with his axe, cleaving it in two.
Silvantis casts Sleep and the remaining stirges fall.
Angus runs down the stairs and sees two more flying out. He yells, "There's more" and kills one.
Rurik throws his hand axe and kills the second one.
Sapper wakes up, but rolls back asleep. Iggy never wakes during the attack.
The rest of the night passes without incident.
August 27th, 3rd Year of the Empire
Callus casts Lesser Restoration on Sapper. He uses his wand to heal both Iggy and Sapper.
Sapper checks the trapped door. He learns that a counterweight pumps out the liquid fire.
He also checks the other door and sees no traps. The door is locked from the other side and he can smell smoke.
Sapper does not want to go through either door. Forne makes fun of him.
The group goes down the stairs. The come to the rivulet and continue on straight ahead to the ledge of the cavern.
At first, no one sees anything. Then more stirges appear and attack.
Forne is hit by three and two hit Iggy. One misses Callus and flies by him.
Sapper hits one on Iggy with a crossbow bolt, killing it.
Silvantis casts Sleep, affecting most but not all of the stirges.
Angus moves up to help. Iggy kills one of the on her.
Another one flies at Sapper, but it misses him. He bashes it with his crossbow, killing it.
Forne kills the stirges that are sleeping but still attached to him.
Silvantis shoots a lit arrow across the cavern, which does not attract any stirges.
The cavern is about 100' across with a river running through it.
The ledge reaches the floor before getting to the river. However, the river is only a yard wide.
There are two openings on the southern side of the cavern.
The copper smell is strongest where the river exits the cavern. There are small openings for the water to pass through, but in general it is blocked with mud.
There are several large, lizard-like tracks around the opening.
Rurik checks out the openings. The lower opening heads south and he sees a soft blue luminance.
The upper opening heads east. He can smell that orcs have been there but probably not there now.
Angus is intrigued by the blue luminance. It is uncommon for the Durin, but he has heard of a religious connection.
Angus takes the lead and the group goes through the lower opening. They come to another chamber.
Along the walls are dwarven sepulchers. The holy symbols are glowing and Angus feels at peace.
Looking at the tombs, they notice the one with Durgeddin's name is unused. Only three of them are sealed: Borgal, Garin, and Numik the Unlucky.
The dwarves offer prayers.
Callus walks to the edge of the room to be unobtrusive. The light from his staff sets of a chain reaction of crystals, lighting the area.
They see the floor is highly irregular and covered with some vegetation.
There is passage to the north and the south. There is also a tiny, iron door up a level.
The dust in the area cause Rurik, Iggy, and Sapper to start sneezing, but not out of control.
Forne wants to check out the iron door. There is a clear path from the stairway to the door.
The group goes up the stairs and moves towards the door.
A green tentacle reaches out from the ledge at the group, hitting Angus.
Another one grabs Callus and slams him into the rock.
Sapper is also grabbed and pulled toward the rock. Angus swings but misses. Sapper hits the tentacle, but it does not let go of him.
Angus is squeezed but no more appear to grab people. Callus begins screaming as two additional tentacles constrict him.
Sapper is pulled against the ledge and passes out.
Rurik smashes the tentacle holding Sapper and is covered with purple ichor.
Iggy slices two of the three tentacles hold Callus. Silvantis casts Magic Missile on the last one.
Forne swings and misses a tentacle. Angus misses as well and the tentacle begins to constrict him.
Sapper is unable to stabilize himself.
A tentacle hits Forne.
Rurik smashes the tentacle holding Angus.
Iggy pulls Sapper and Callus away. Silvantis then tries to stabilize Sapper but he is unable to do so.
Forne slashes the tentacle on him. It pulls back into the rock. Forne gets out a pick to go after it.
Angus helps with his pick as well.
Callus stabilizes Sapper by casting Cure Minor Wounds.
Forne creates an opening in the rock and swings at the creature, but misses. Angus hits with his pick.
Rurik steps in and hits it with his hammer.
A remaining creature grabs Forne. Rurik smashes it with his hammer, killing the last one.
Looking around, they see there were three of them that attacked the group.
Angus thinks they were some type of unholy aberration called a Grick. They tested the dwarves when they originally built the Durin homes.
Callus heals Sapper, Forne, Iggy, and Angus.
Sapper checks the door, which as Durgeddin's mark. He doesn't think it is trapped, but it is locked.
After several attempts, he gives up and says he cannot unlock it.
The group goes back to Durgeddin's sepulcher and search. They find nothing.
They search the passageway behind the Grick. They find 200 cp, 180 sp, 60 gp, and medium sized scalemail.
They return to check out the tunnel where Rurik smelled the orcs. The tunnel is rough-hewn.
About 40' in, Forne notices something hiding on the wall above him. It is in an ambush position.
He swings his axe, but misses. The creature leaps back on the ground in an attack position.
There is another creature in the room as well. Both are lizard-like.
One of them attempts to run down a back passageway. Angus shoots his crossbow at it and misses.
Forne steps into the room and hits the one on guard.
A loud roar is heard from down the back passageway.
Silvantis moves forward and casts Web across the far opening, trapping it in a mass of snakes.
Iggy moves forward into the room. Rurik moves up to guard Silvantis.
The retreating lizard makes slow progress through the snakes.
Angus moves up to help Forne, but misses with his axe.
Forne finishes it offs, which releases a copper smell.
Silvantis readies his bow and steps forward with Callus, who casts Hold Person on the lizard.
Silvantis thinks the roar was a big bear.
Iggy pulls the lizard out of the snakes and Sapper ties it up. Callus releases the spell.
Sapper speaks to it in undercommon. It pleads, "Don't kill me."
Only Sapper and Angus can understand it.
They learn that the lizard's name is Gerbin and that it is their pet in the cave to the back.
It says they met the orcs, but didn't like them. They then ask about the dwarven forge.
It says, "Why should I tell you, you'll just kill me."
After assurances to the contrary,23 it tells them that these are not the dwarven caverns, which are lower.
They ask about the fungus in the other chamber. The lizards never touch it, as it is deadly.
The lizards fight occasionally with the orcs, but for the most part they are separated by the stirges.
The group decides to go to the rivulet, with Angus holding his crossbow on the lizard.
The lizard looks longingly at the tracks in the large cavern.
Suddenly, it gives off an awful stench, weakening Forne, Rurik, and Callus.24 It begins running towards the muddied up area of the river. Angus hits it, but it does not stop.
It dives through the opening and out of the party's view.
The group continues back to the rivulet. They turn and go down the passage coming to an alcove.
They find the ancient body of a Durin adventure. He has 35 gp and an extra long bone scroll case.25
Sapper checks for traps and finds none.26
Silvantis examines the scroll case, which is covered with elaborate inlays and gemstones.27
He casts Detect Magic. The gemstones radiate a moderate aura and whatever is inside radiates a faint aura. Both are Evocation magic.
Angus performs last rites on the Durin body. Afterward he thinks more about the lizard creature and says it is called a Troglodyte because of the awful stench.
Sapper again looks at the case and says there are no signs of a physical mechanism that is trapped.
Silvantis moves off away from the group and opens the case. As he takes the lid off, sparkling lights appears from inside.
He looks inside and sees a glowing, quartz wand about 18 inches long.28 He thinks that quartz is most powerful magically when dealing with light and images.
Now that the case is open, he decides to Detect Magic again. The spell returns the exact same results.
He takes out an Identify scroll to use on the wand and the case. He also asks for the rapier found in the ogre's room.
Iggy tries to check out the wand. She can tell it is very nice but Silvantis keeps moving it around.
The rapier is enchanted to help the wielder hit and do damage. The wand creates light and has an inscription in Durin on it describing how to activate it. The case creates illusions when it is set down and light is cast upon it.29
Silvantis sets it down and thinks of huge piles of gold. He casts Light on it.
Each of the gems on the case lights up, then a large red light fills the cavern.
The group sees images of various Durin. One is of Durgeddin and other dwarves going through the iron door. The scene started before the group could see how to open the door.
No scenes seem to repeat and Durgeddin is in a lot of them.
Silvantis casts Ghost Sound on the scroll case, but no sound is added to the scenes.
The group continues to watch and eventually the scenes begin to repeat.
The scene at the door shows Durgeddin genuflect in front of the door and it opens.
They watch a second time to confirm and the image shows him kneel with open hands and press his forehead to the ground.
The other scenes show forges, a guest hall with a feast, and people around a fire in a kitchen.
While they are watching the images, Iggy finally gets to read the wand.
Darkness is our Hearth
Light is our Salvation
Bone is the Shield
Which hold our Memory |
Darkness is our Hear{ Light is our Salvation Bone is {e Shield Which hold our Memory |
The group sets up camp in the cavern of the rivulet.
Watch order: Rurik à Angus à Forne
During Angus' watch, he hears sounds but doesn't understand them. He wakes Callus.
They hear the sound of an axe going through flesh and hitting stone. An orc head rolls down the stairs.
Iggy wakes up and begins to wake the rest of the group.
Sapper and Iggy move to the opening with Angus. Callus hides in the alcove.
Forne moves up as well. Angus hears a door close above.
Sapper sneaks up the stairs to the room with the firetrap. The door to the south has a lot of blood and gore around it. There is also blood at the top of the stairs.
Sapper listens at the door. He again smells smoke, but he hears nothing. He returns to the group.
They look at the orc head. It is an older female with long black hair.
Angus describes the noise he heard and Silvantis thinks it was an elf cursing.
The rest of the night passes uneventful. Rurik, Forne, and Callus recover from the stench.
August 28th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group wakes and prepares to leave.
They hear a mournful wail through the caverns. They think it is the trog's pet.
They go to the iron door, passing through the tombs, by the fungus, and the Grick lair.
Angus kneels at the door and mimics Durgeddin's motions. The door opens.
Sapper moves through till he comes to a corner. Looking around he can see a set of stairs going up.
He checks the first stair for traps and doesn't find any. He also looks for arrow slits and sees none.
He begins up the stairs and the group follows. About half way up a loud voice says, "Alert! Alert! Intruders approach!"
It repeats as each person passes that point.
The stairs open to an octagon room with three 10' tall bronze statues of Durin warriors and two doors.
It is very ornate, with blue tile on the floor and green marble on the walls.
Angus steps into the room and the group follows.
Iggy notices a small trail of footprints, which lead to a hidden door.
Sapper listens and checks for traps. He does not hear or sees anything.
There is no obvious way to open the door, so Angus genuflects in front of it.
The door opens to a set of stairs that end at a door. Sapper goes to the door and sees no lock or traps.
He opens the door and sees the feast hall from the earlier illusions. The room is 50' by 100'. There is a throne at the far end and 10 columns down both sides. The columns are carved like mythical beasts.
The room is lit by torches about 15' feet up.
The room is fairly well ransacked with frescos smashed and graffiti on the walls. Also, there is a pile of rubble in front of the throne.
Sapper hears the ringing of hammer on metal to the far off south.
He steps into the room and hears a voice in Durin. "Go back the way you came. This is the only warning you will get." The voice appears to be from something larger than a dwarf.
Forne casts Shield. Callus blesses the group. Silvantis in Mage Armor and casts invisibility on Rurik.
The group goes into the room. Sapper steps right, Angus left, and Forne straight in.
Sapper and Forne hit by crossbow bolts, Angus missed. They think being shot at from behind pillars.
Silvantis casts Light on an arrow.
Iggy and Sapper move up to the first column on the right. Angus on the left. Forne follows Angus.
Rurik moves to the second set of pillars. After seeing nothing behind the first set he calls clear.
Silvantis shoots an arrow down the hall and then uses his cloak to hide as he steps into the room.
Sapper, Iggy, Angus, and Forne move up to the next set of pillars.
Callus steps up to the door. Rurik goes to the throne.
Silvantis steps to the wall and then advances forward.
The group makes it to the end of the hallway. The door behind the throne opens.
Silvantis readies a Web spell. Rurik steps on the dais and waits against the wall.
The door slams shut.
Silvantis moves back down the wall and Angus moves to guard the opposite wall.
Forne notices footprints, which are similar to the previous room. They lead to one of the pillars.
The groups checks the pillars, but find nothing unusual.
They check out the rubble in front of the throne. They find six sleeping pallets and some food. They are dwarven made but not dwarven size.
Rurik says they are the possessions of "Rotten Dwarves". They are not true dwarves. They use dwarven tools, but of poor quality. They are rumored to be a touch magical.
Sapper checks the say behind the throne is not locked but it is barred.
One of the doors to the side is a set of double doors. It is not locked and no traps.
Sapper opens one of the doors and Angus looks in.
It is a large forge room. There are several inactive forges and a small stream running across it.
There are three sickly dwarves hammering metal at an active forge.
Forne steps in and yells for them to stop desecrating the forge. They turn and begin to advance.
Sapper shoots one of them with his crossbow and Iggy charges.
One of them charges sapper and hits. Iggy misses on her attack.
Silvantis tries to shoot one of dwarves, but hits Sapper instead.30
Callus casts Spiritual Weapon but misses the dwarf.
Rurik moves into the room, still invisible. He begins moving to a bridge over the stream.
Angus kills one that attacked Sapper. Iggy hits one but does not kill it and is hit back.
Sapper shoots crossbow, but misses.
Move dwarves start to come out of a tunnel near the back of the forge. Silvantis casts Web on them.
Callus misses with Spiritual Weapon. Forne charges to the bridge but misses.
Angus charges the bridge and kills one. Rurik goes across the bridge.
Iggy finishes the one on her. Sapper misses.
Three dwarves run past Rurik and he smashes one with his hammer.
Several dwarves appear around the core group at the door, hitting Silvantis and Sapper.
Sapper and Callus goes down. Silvantis goes down as well, playing dead.
Forne hits one but doesn't kill. Angus turns and charges back toward the door, killing one.
Rurik kills another that ran by him. Iggy charges and kills one of them on Silvantis.
Iggy attacked and hit hard.
One of the dwarves finishes off Callus. Rurik is attacked but missed.
Silvantis stands and casts Sleep, dropping two of the rotten dwarves.
Angus goes to the ones on Callus, but misses.
Rurik kills the last on the other side of bridge and moves towards the door.
Iggy misses as one of the dwarves moves away to attack Silvantis.
Angus is flanked but hits on a free shot. He then misses an attack.
Silvantis assumes a defensive position. Forne misses. Angus kills one. Rurik moves to help Iggy and kills one. Iggy helps Silvantis and kills one.
Silvantis misses a retreating dwarf with his bow. Rurik charges and kills it.
Angus finishes the ones on him.31
At
the very end, you tied up one sleeping enemy and slew the other.
Angus dragged the bodies from the feast hall into the forge and
secured the door with a large iron bar made for the purpose.
The
forge extends to the east for another eighty feet where the fast
moving stream falls down a long, wide chasm. There is nothing
but darkness down the chasm, although you can hear the roar of
distant waters over the sound of the waterfall. You see no
exits from the waterfall chamber.
The forge chamber contains
five forges, only one of which was in use at the time of the
battle. The rest appear dust and web-covered. There are
piles of coal, iron, and ore around the room as well as in two small
chambers to the south.
The
mortal possessions of Callus Grym, Priest of Hano, include
a
Morningstar
a Shortspear
a Heavy Crossbow with 21 bolts
Banded
mail armor for a human
a large shield
a gold holy symbol of
Hano, God of Justice
a jade stone he wore on a leather thong
around his neck
a scroll belt (15 scroll capacity)
a
masterwork potion belt (10 potion capacity, free action)
675 gold
pieces
a Wand of Cure Light Wounds (30 charges remaining, cures
1d8+1)
2 Potions of Cure Light Wounds (1d8+3)
1 Potion of
Bulls Strength (+1d4+1 Str temp.)32
The group looks around and finds that the dirty dwarves were making masterwork woodworking tools.33
It is unheard of for them to be able to make masterwork quality items.
Forne determines that one of the tools was just recently made.
Neither Forne nor Silvantis detect any magic on the forge that was being used.
Forne checks out the ore that was being used and detects magic coming from behind a wall in the back corner. It produces a faint to moderate evocation aura and comes from multiple sources.
Sapper begins tinkering at the force, though he lacks any formal training.
He is unable to produce anything, so Rurik tries to work at the forge.
Iggy and Angus begin to interrogate the prisoner. They are gruff and grim, but offer the possibility of survival.
The prisoner taunts back that the group will never get out alive. There are hundreds of dirty dwarves.
They drove out the Durin once and they can do it again.
Iggy asks why the dirty dwarves are there, and the prisoner says it is their home.
Q-What else is in the caverns? A-Many things to kill you.
Q-Who is your leader? A-We serve the greatest leader, Serevan.
Silvantis begins to question. Q-What do you make? A-Everything is masterwork.
Q-Why are you in ragged equipment? A-Gave good to leader
Sapper takes the prisoner to the bridge and tries to intimidate him into talking.
Unfortunately, he is not convincing, so Rurik grabs the prisoner and dunks him.
He is still defiant, so the group begins to debate on what to do with him.
When Rurik hears the suggestion that they drag him through the rest of the caverns, he drops the prisoner into the river. The prisoner is stilled tied up and the group hears him go over the waterfall.
The group goes to the door closest to the magic source. It opens to a storeroom.
Sapper attempts to go down the river by the magic source, but he has to stop before he sees anything.
The group goes back to the main hall to check the other door.
As they walk out, a dirty dwarf shoots Sapper in the head with a crossbow bolt.
Angus feels a shock on his leg and yells in pain. He swings his axe down and kills a rat.
Iggy moves to the first pillar and shoots her crossbow, hitting a dirty dwarf.
Silvantis casts Shield and moves down the wall. Rurik follows the mage.
Forne looks around for rats. Seeing none, he steps forward.
Iggy drops her bow and moves forward with her axe.
Silvantis continues along the wall and shoots his bow, but misses.
Rurik again follows. He throws his hand axe, but misses.
Forne moves to the pillar beside Iggy.
Silvantis is attacked by a huge dwarf. It if 6' tall and has a double bladed sword. He takes a terrible wound but does not go down.
Iggy and Forne see the room change dramatically, but they are able to shrug off the effects.
Five identical dirty dwarves appear in the center of the room. It is a wizard that cast Mirror Image.
Sapper runs toward the diaz and fires his crossbow at a sound. He scores a head shot against an invisible dirty dwarf, killing it.
Rurik rages and charges the large dwarf, smashing it with his hammer.
Forne also charges the large dwarf and hits with his axe.
A flaming sphere appears and hits Angus.
The large dwarf hits Rurik with both blades of the sword.
Forne is hit by an arrow shot in the back.
Several dirty dwarves appear throughout the room. There are a lot around Sapper.
Angus destroys one of the images, but Iggy misses altogether.
Silvantis, bleeding profusely, casts web on the dirty dwarves that appeared behind the wizard.
Sapper tumbles away from the dwarves that had appeared around him.
Rurik takes down the large dwarf with a mighty swing of his hammer.
Forne charges another dwarf that had appeared by the large dwarf.
Several dwarves move to attack Sapper and Angus, hitting both of them.
A dirty dwarf shoots both Rurik and Forne with its crossbow.
Angus manages to avoid the flaming sphere.
Iggy destroys the last mirror image and Angus hits the real wizard.
Silvantis, leaving a trail of blood, moves up shoots a Magic Missile at the dwarves attacking Sapper.
Rurik charges the dirty dwarf with the crossbow, but misses.
Angus shrugs off a mental attack.
The large dwarf gets up and hits Forne. The other dwarf takes Forne down with a sword to the chest.34
The dirty dwarves attack Silvantis and Angus, but misses. The one on Rurik steps back.
Iggy takes down the wizard. Angus misses the dwarves around him.
Silvantis moves away from the dirty dwarves and assumes a defensive position.
Sapper shoots at the large dwarf, but misses.
Rurik charges and smashes its head in, killing it.
A dirty dwarf misses Iggy with a sword strike. She misses on her return swing.
Angus kills a dirty dwarf.
Silvantis takes another step back and pulls out a potion of Cure Light Wounds.
Sapper hits a dirty dwarf with a crossbow shot.
Rurik smashes one with his hammer. He then attempts to stabilize Forne, but he cannot.
Iggy and Angus trade blows with the dirty dwarves, dealing massive damage.
Sapper moves over to help Forne.
Silvantis takes another step back and prepares to defend himself. Rurik moves to help him.
The fight continues with Iggy and Angus pounding the dirty dwarves.
Silvantis casts Ray of Frost and Rurik attempts to kill a dirty dwarf attacking Silvantis. He misses.
Sapper determines that Forne is dead.
Iggy and Angus hack down a dirty dwarf each.
Sapper shoots a dirty dwarf in the head.35
Rurik kills the last dirty dwarf, who was trying to attack Silvantis.
The group kills a dirty dwarf caught in Silvantis' Web spell.
The group loots the bodies.
The one that originally shot Sapper has magical chainmail and a potion of Cure Light Wounds.
The large dwarf has 2 scrolls in scrollcase, potion of Cure Light Wounds, a double bladed sword, and 60 gp.
The wizard has 2 scrolls and broke rat pendant. There is also a nice spellbook covered in leather.
The rest of the 10 dirty dwarves have axes and 50 gp between them.
The group goes back to the forge area and barricades themselves in.
The group takes the bodies of the dirty dwarves and dumps them over the falls in the forge room.
Looking through Forne's possessions, they find Dust of Tracelessness, a potion of Cure Serious Wounds, 365 gp, 3 sp, and 8 cp.
Angus begins to check the wall where it radiated magic. Then he heals the group with the wand.
The group splits some of the items. Silvantis takes a potion of Cure Light, as does Sapper. Iggy takes the potion of Cure Serious Wounds. Rurik takes the magical chainmail shirt.
Angus digs through the wall and breaks through to a chamber.
There is an elf that has been mummified by age. Silvantis says it is unsanctified.
It is lying on seven or eight leather packs with several corpses around it. Some of the corpses are burned and others are smashed.
There is magic around the body and Angus announces that he does not sense any evil.
Silvantis and Angus step into the room, trying to avoid the corpses.
One of the elf's hands still clutches a wand, which is pointed at the opening.
Silvantis attempts to Detect Magic. Two of the leather packs and the elf's sword radiate magic, but the wand does not.
The elf also has six potions, two of which Angus says are slightly evil.
Silvantis moves the packs. The body moves slightly but in a natural way.
The packs have dwarven runes on them, which read "Keep Mine". Each pack has dwarven runic gold coins in it.
The sword is a thin elven saber.
He takes the magical items to the forge room.
The dwarves are able to determine that the room was originally a storage room that had been bricked up poorly.
Silvantis performs rites over the body.
Sapper begins to count the gold from the packs. There is 5000 gp in each pack, which is more than should have fit in them. They are Satchels of Holding.
Angus finds a loose stone in one of the forges. There is hiding 320 gp, 1100 sp, a gold necklace set with rubies that is worth 900-1000 gp, and a dwarven iron box.
The dwarven iron box is very deadly to non-dwarves. Sapper is able to open it with no problems.
There is a strong magic radiating from it once it is opened.
The group sees a rune covered smithstone. It is the Smithstone of Andune.36
The group rests for the night.
Silvantis looks closer at the potions and casts a spell. He says the four neutral ones "Creates Fire"and the two evil ones "Creates Choking Darkness".
The group deciphers more of Gregori's Journal.
"Several years have passed and I still find it difficult to tell the tale. The rumors were true of Durgeddin's Home. It stood as a great beacon in the wild lands, a bastion of law against the tides of chaos. Countless were the numbers Durgeddin and his honored people slew.
But we found it broken by the Gudden, all the good dwarves slain to a one.
It was too late that we realized that the fiend behind the invasion of the Forge had not departed. No Gudden warlord had eluded Durgeddin's myriad of defenses. It was betrayal by a trusted ally. This greatest sin was committed by Katral the Deceiver.
In our battle, he slew my friend. Kaskarian is no more.
My hands were too weak. I fled carrying only my life and not his body. No greater injustice could I have done him. Instead of finding his peace in the green meadows of Skyreach, he is condemned to unconsecrated death.
I tried twice to rescue his body, but the Gudden had taken over the Forge and each time drove me off.
As much as I still mourn my friend, the siren's call of adventure brings me forth from my comfortable home in Strathruyl. Traders have heard of a smithy in Tyrol who fashions goods as good as the Durin. No Durin has received permission from the king to practice in that human village, so I suspect someone is making good use of Andune's Forge."
Another entry reads as:
"I had Andune's hammer in my grasp, I felt its power. All gone by the hands of a smelly, wine-sipping, shaggy-footed, cackling, obese, Gorm-to-hell hobbit! I cannot return to Strathruyl without the hammer or the shame would kill me where I stood. I have looked for weeks and the creature has vanished.
I suspect I must listen to the laws of Vergadain the Sly. If I do not seek out this foul thief, he will fall into my hands, if it be her will.
I find I miss my friend more now as I sorely need his talents and companionship. My brothers may condemn me for trusting an elf, but I have found that the Iluwin can offer us things we cannot provide for ourselves. Kaskarian was a delightful mage, full of humor and trickery. But he also knew how to swing his thin blade to lethal advantage. Being a few hundred years older than I, I appreciated his patient view. More than once his calm hand restrained me when my blood boiled for the fight, each time saving my life.
But I cannot mourn him by putting myself in danger, at disadvantage. I have found another elf who will complement my skills at adventure. His adopted name is Hamali. He too is a mage and warrior. Though he is younger than I, it appears that patience is an elven trait.37
The group goes the various items and distributes them among the group.38
The group set watch order and rests for the night. Iggy à Angus à Sapper à Rurik
Rurik awakens by himself. He realizes that Sapper should have awoken him for his watch.
He wakes Silvantis and looks around. The main door is closed but it no longer barred.
Silvantis casts Detect Magic, but does not pick up any residial magic.
Rurik wakes Iggy and Angus. Angus says there is no evil in the room.
Iggy checks the dwarven iron box, the smithstone is missing.
Angus and Rurik look out in the main hall. The torches have burned down, but there is a small fire near the far door.
The group goes to check the fire and the door. Sapper's clothes and equipment are in the fire.
It looks like the body has been turned to ash.
Silvantis goes to the open door and closes it.
Angus again checks for any evil present and finds none.
Sapper was wearing his armor and had his crossbow. They are still intact.
There appears to be an oily substance in the blast radius.
Silvantis does not know of a spell that would cause the same effect.
Silvantis takes a closer look at the remains and thinks they are Sapper's.
Rurik runs to get a javelin taken from the orcs. They poke the remains with it, but learn nothing new.
Silvantis collects some of the ash in a used potion vial. He thinks the oil is just common oil.
The group retreats back to the forge to finish resting from the fight.
August 29th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group debates on whether to go after the smithstone or leave the Forge.
With their depleted numbers, they decide to leave.
Iggy and Angus will carry Forne and Callus.
As they prepare to leave, they realize that Sapper must have had their map, as they cannot find it.
Without too much difficulty, they make it to the room with the sepulchers.
They hear a hiss and some scrabbling. Angus goes over to check the sound out.
He sees an opening that has been blocked up.
Angus stands guard near the opening and the group makes it through the room with no problems.
They make it back to the stairs leading to the room where Sapper was attacked by stirges.
Silvantis sneaks up the stairs and sees a human standing by the southern door, which is now open.
Silvantis casts See Invisibility and goes back up to the room. He does not see anything new.
Silvantis casts Invisibility on Rurik. Rurik moves up the stairs and goes beside the human.
Angus steps up and detects faint evil. He asks the human who he is.
The human says he could be "either a friend or an enemy". He then asks Angus to have the rest of the survivors come up the stairs.
Iggy comes up the stairs as Angus locks on the human as evil.
The human says that since they helped clear the area, they should be given some of the loot.
Iggy and Angus only see the human, but Iggy asks what kind of loot.
A voice behind them says "small and easily portable" as a hidden figure steps out of the shadows.
The newcomer has a crossbow drawn and appears to have elvish blood, though he is not full blooded.
Iggy and Angus discuss the situation in dwarven, but neither reacts to the dwarven language.
Angus does not detect any evil from the elf.
After the discussion, they put down almost 2000 sp and the gold necklace with rubies.
The half-elf tells them to step away from the pile. Then tells the human to take a third of coins and the gold necklace.
While the man is getting the coins, Rurik looks through the open door.
It appears to be the lair of a sentient being and is laid out more intelligently than the ogre's room.
Rurik thinks it might be an alchemist or shaman's room.
Iggy asks why the two are taking so little, and the half-elf says the necklace is very valuable.
Angus says they will have to get the bodies of their fallen comrades and the half-elf nods okay.
Iggy and Angus go get Forne and Callus, then carry the bodies out their the door.
Angus tells the half-elf that he needs a new profession. He replies this one is working out just fine.
Silvantis waits to see if Rurik is going to attack. The elf tells Silvantis that is it is time to leave.
Rurik moves to stand between the half-elf and Silvantis.
Silvantis steps out of the shadows and says that the wealth needs to be redistributed again.
The half-elf says no need to do that and calls to the human, Sevya.
The fighter moves to one side of the room with the half-elf on the other side.
Silvantis asks the half-elf his name and is told "Jack". The half-elf also refused to say where is from.
After some conversation, Silvantis leaves the room and Rurik follows him.
While they are waiting for Silvantis and Rurik, Iggy finds an iron strongbox. It contains 180 gp and holy water.
The group makes it out of the forge and heads towards to Ringelwood.
August 30th, 3rd Year of the Empire
When the group is a day and a half from Ringelwood, Iggy feels they are being watched.
Silvantis casts Invisibility on Rurik, who sneaks back behind the group.
He spots two Norish Rangers trailing the group.
He goes in front of the group does not see any ahead.
The group stops for lunch and Silvantis goes to the invite the Rangers to lunch.
The Rangers are gone and Silvantis and Rurik can see tracks that go off to the side.
August 31st, 3rd Year of the Empire
The day passes without event and the group continues to Ringelwood.
September 1st, 3rd Year of the Empire
Again the group thinks they are being watched.
Silvantis casts Invisibility on Rurik, but he cannot find anything.
The group approaches Ringelwood as evening approaches.
As the group reached cultivated land, four of the rangers step out of the forest behind them.
The rangers make no move to follow the group, so they continue to the town.
They can see an encampment on the southeast side of the town. There are several campfires visible.
There are several people standing around in the arable land.
Twelve soldiers on horseback trot over towards the group. They spread out in front of the group.
The leader tells the group to halt. "You have been found to be thieving from Norish land, the Stone Tooth. You need to be put under judgment."
Silvantis says, "We saved this stinking little town and this is the thanks we get."
The leader eyes Silvantis warily.
Silvantis and Rurik recognize that the soldiers are Norish. The are wearing the red and green uniforms and have the badges of Lord Sperra.
The leader has a Crimson Eagle badge.
The leader tells Silvantis to watch his bounds. Nore has an agreement with Skyreach and he is not charged with the rest of the group.
The group debates the situation. As they do so, they spot Jack and Sevya in the gathering crowd.
Rurik says that he will go, but will not be bound or disarmed. "Everything I have came from a dead orc, troglodyte, or dirty dwarf. Last time I knew, Norish law did not extent to those creatures. Neither did the protection of your order. This I swear by the greatsword of Haela Brightaxe."
The leader says his name is Sir Kristoff the Red. He takes Rurik's pledge and asks if the rest of the group will swear by their gods as well.
The group swears. Angus swears by Gorm Gulthyn. Iggy swears by Moradin.39
Sir Kristoff says he will he will the case then decide if they need to be taken to the Baron.
He then asks about the two bodies.
Sir Kristoff says Rurik says they are heroes of the Battle of Ringelwood. He says that Lady Branda can vouch for them.
Branda moves in to do so and Sir Kristoff says he will get her story later.
There are two people in the crowd who are especially interested in the group. They are not locals.
Silvantis says they are Skoryn.
The soldiers move into a protective formation around the group.
The group can no longer see Jack and Sevya. Silvantis attempts to mention them to Sir Kristoff but he says to wait until later.
The two Skoryns approach and talk to Sir Kristoff. They ask for Callus' body.
The group gives them his holy symbol. The two say they will stick around for the tale before taking the body back to his father, "The King."
Sir Kristoff summons a priest. He casts Gentle Repose on Forne and Callus, preserving their bodies.
Several villagers attempt to vouch for the group, but Sir Kristoff says there will be plenty of time to speak about it later.
The group is put up at an inn, The Stout.
September 2nd, 3rd Year of the Empire
Several villagers again approach Sir Kristoff, including Branda. She says she knew the group was going to the Stone Tooth, but she did not think it necessary to try to stop them.
Silvantis tells him about Jack and Sevya, who had presented themselves as travelers.
Silvantis vaguely asks questions about the law. The people of Nore are over the Marjil Hill. The dwarves had established the Stone Tooth with permission of the King.
When Rurik is questioned, he tells the tale exactly as it happened. He tells it very straightforward with no vagueness.
Sir Kristoff gathers the group in the evening. He says that between the telling of the tale and the vouches of the villagers, there is no reason to take it to the Baron.
The group is released, with no shadow on their names.
Silvantis asks for something in writing so that they do not have to go through it in village on the way back to Durin Baldesi. Kristoff agrees.
Kristoff removes his cloak of office and asks the group if they want a pint.
He says that he was part of a force that responded to the plea to free Ringelwood.
Obviously, the group had already liberated it before he arrived.
September 3rd, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group buys ponies and a cart and heads towards Durin Baldesi.
September 15th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group reaches Durin Baldesi.40
The dwarves are led to the Temple caverns. Silvantis is escorted into a waiting area.41
The Temple caverns are large halls with arched ceilings and huge artwork.
There are several hundred people already waiting in the Temple area.
Each dwarf sees several people from their own clan.
Stratus Rock approaches Iggy. He is the Clanlord of the Rock clan.
Angus sees the head of his order, Garrus Highcleft. He belongs to the Order of the Bronze Mask.
Angus also notices one of his rivals, Gilarun Stard.
Rurik sees several Hau-Tonn.
An alcove for each of the gods surrounds a large open area. In the center is a 10' forge that serves as an altar.
The priests take Forne's body and the ashes from Sapper and place them on the altar.
The other dwarves begin to gather around the altar and the priests lead everyone in a chant.
The chants and incense lead everyone into a heightened religious zone. They can feel the power growing in the room.
Two silver rings, with a greenish hue, appear in the air above Forne.
The rings join, forming the sign of Berronar Truesilver. She is the dwarven protector of home, family, and marriage.
Forne awakens as the priests call for his spirit to be returned.
Nothing happens with Sapper, and the priests begin to examine the ashes.
One of the priests approaches Angus for a tithe for Forne. He says that since Sapper could not be raised there would be no tithe.
Angus goes to talk to Verrus, and Iggy is approached by Stratus. Rurik heads to the shrine of Haela Brightaxe.
While Silvantis is in the waiting room, a dwarven priest approaches him. His name is DeKlerik Highcleft.
The priest asks about being in Skyreach and how Silvantis met Rurik.
The priest also asks about Iggy, explaining that he is her uncle.
Silvantis tells about the group's adventures at the Forge of Fury. The priest says it was known as the Forge of Andune.
Andune had forged the circlet that the elf king had. The Riven could not remove it as he was captured.
Iggy tells the tale of the Forge to the Clanlord. The Clanlord asks about the Smithstone and is disappointed that it is gone.
He also asks about the Journal. Iggy tells about it, but not who has it.
Iggy and the Clanlord go back to the Rock dwarven home.
Angus goes off with the head of his order. He tells the tale of the Smithstone and the death of Sapper.
Verrus asks about Durgeddin. Angus says that he was not in his grave and the Forge is still polluted.
Verrus is pleased and sends Angus to prayers.
Rurik prays to Haela and then joins the Hau-Tonn as they leave for their area of the home.
He also sends someone to get Silvantis to join him.
He tells the tale of the Forge.
He also hears that the Empire of Vurdigan has fallen to the orcs from the North. This is very disturbing since the Empire was a union of barbarian peoples.
Rurik learns that Gordon's Reavers were in the fight, though their fate was unknown.
The Reavers were the band that he was fighting with when he meet Silvantis.
September 18th, 3rd Year of the Empire
DeKlerik visits Iggy. He says that it is a poor generations of dwarves if they let the Smithstone get away. Iggy says she was asleep.
DeKlerik says the only redeeming feature is that it is in the hands of dwarves.
He tells how the Smithstone was reported in Durin Rista.
Another priest arrives and summons Iggy to the Temple. Her uncle accompanies her.
Iggy meets Forne there. He is dressed in simple robes and has been healed of all wounds.
He is not the same out going dwarf. He says he is much changed after touching heaven.
He has chosen to seclude himself for the next twenty-five years.
He tells Iggy that she can have the Journal and then returns back to the Inner Sanctum.
Iggy goes to find Rurik. Silvantis is with him.
Iggy tells them about Forne and DeKlerik tells them about the Smithstone.
Rurik is troubled by the news that the Smithstone is at Rista, as Sapper had family there.
He asks his father, Talkinn, for advice.
His father is generally suspicious of Rista dwarves, but Sapper's family, the Loams, in Baldesi have been honorable folk. He encourages Rurik to keep looking into it.
Rurik approaches the priests that attempted to resurrect Sapper.
The priest explains that the ashes thought to be Sapper were simple common coal ashes.
September 19th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group gets new arms and armor. Angus, Iggy, and Rurik all get their own weapons enchanted.
Angus and Iggy also get enchanted armor.
They also divide the remaining loot from the Forge.
Silvantis discovers that the blade he got from Kaskarian has moon writing on it. He learns that the blade can create light up to the size of a bonfire and it is shapeable.
Silvantis also uses some of the money left over to buy a Wand of Bulls Strength.
Veras Goldnose, the Trademaster of Durin Baldesi, visits the group.
He is very wealthy, but is not a noble.
He is concerned that the name of the dwarves is besmirched for losing the Smithstone.
He offers to send the group back to the Forge and clear it out. He will then send people there to bring it back to life.
Silvantis asks what they will get out of it. Veras says their name will be restored.
Silvantis says not worth it. Veras says that if they secure the Forge and give one of his reps a tour to prove that it is secure, then he will pay 500 gold apiece.
Silvantis tries for a percentage, but they best he can get is 4,000 gold apiece.
The group is summoned by the Dwarflord, Melandor Stonefist. Everyone is summoned to the court.
Rurik tells the Dwarflord the tale of the Forge completely.
The Dwarflord says that they should go back, and Rurik tells him that the Trademaster has already made arrangements.
Rurik makes arrangements to meet the Dwarflord privately.
Rurik tells the Dwarflord his suspicions about Sapper.
The dwarflord is coldly angry at the betrayal and says that if you can bring back Sapper alive or proof of the dire deed, he would marshal the might of Baldesi to avenge it
The group meets and DeKlerik asks if he can join them on their return trip.
Iggy returns to her room and finds a finely crafted iron rose with red gold.
She thinks it might be worth 100 gp, but does not have any idea who would have sent it to her.
She talks to DeKlerik, who chastises her for not noticing the smith Tharen Mithradel in the crowd.
September 27th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group arrives at the Stone Tooth at predawn.
There is no smoke coming from the Forge and they hey head up the path to the entrance.
About halfway up, they see two large poles planted on either side of the path.
Each pole has an impaled body, one troglodyte and one orc.
Silvantis says the bodies bring back bad memories and has the group take them down.
The group enters the tunnel, and this time does not encounter any guards.
They head past the murder holes with no problems and reach the double doors.
They are unable to open the doors, which appear to be more solidly barred than before.
Iggy, Rurik, and Angus try to force them open, but are unable to do so.
Silvantis casts Bulls Strength on Iggy and the group tries again. They are able to force it this time.
They see a cracked metal bar on the other side of the door. It was a wooden bar the first time.
They go through the door and see that the rope bridge is up.
They also find that the secret doors are barred. They try to force them, but are unable to do so.
The group cannot see completely across the chasm to the other side.
Rurik heads across the bridge first.
He sees two ogres and charges at one of them.
He smashes it in the hip with his hammer, but is hit by the second ogre.
Angus and Iggy start across the bridge. Silvantis casts Haste on Angus.
Rurik yells, "My Hammer Seeks Your Doom!" and kills the first ogre.
The second ogre again hits Rurik.
Angus and Iggy continue across the bridge.
Rurik turns to attack the other ogre and misses. The ogre hits him again.
Silvantis fires a Magic Missile across the chasm and hits the ogre.
Angus makes it across the bridge and charges the ogre. He slices the ogre in half with his great axe.
Rurik is winded and sits down to rest, as the rest of the group makes it across the bridge.
They find a shiny amulet on the second ogre.42
DeKlerik heals Rurik as Silvantis checks out the amulet. 43
It has a symbol of a diamond with an eye in it. The amulet is human sized and it might be worth 50 gp.
DeKlerik kneels and begins to pray to Dumathoin. Angus kneels and prays to Gorm.
Silvantis checks the area for secret doors, but does not find any.
DeKlerik rises and says there is a disturbing emanation from below. He says there are several unhappy souls that need to be freed.
DeKlerik again heals Rurik.
Angus opens the door, revealing a hallway beyond.
The group sets their order as: Rurik, Angus, DeKlerik, Silvantis, and Iggy.
The hallway comes to three forks and the group heads down the passage to the right.
They come to an iron bar door of a cell that had been wrenched open. The cell contains human remains.
The group turns and goes down the passage to the left.
It opens to a room that the group thinks they recognize. It is the large cavernous room with the merchant goods stored in it.
The goods have been stacked up and are arranged in an orderly fashion. That was not the case before.
The group heads back and heads down the straight-ahead passage.
The passage narrows as it continues straight and a wider side passages opens to the right.
The group can feel air flowing from the right, so they check that out first.
The room looks like it served as a living space for multiple humanoids. It is currently empty.
The airflow is coming down from the ceiling.
DeKlerik prays, but he detects nothing but the thoughts of the party.
The group returns back to the narrow passage. It opens to the other end of the merchant goods room.
There is another passage out of the room, so the group heads down it.
This ends at a wall, and Silvantis finds a secret door. The group goes through and the passage ends in a wall. Silvantis finds another secret door.
It opens into a room with a closed door. Rurik recognizes it as the room he looked in when they first meet Jack.
The group goes through the door and heads back to the ogre's room.
It has been cleaned up and was being used. Probably by the two guards that were killed at the bridge.
The group heads to the guardroom that they first entered. It had also been cleaned up.
The group heads back to the room where Sapper was attacked by the stirges.
Silvantis heads down the stairs. He can see fire light before he makes it to the rivulet.
Silvantis comes back up the stairs and reports. The group then checks out the trapped door.
They think they might be able to force it open.
They get some wood to use as a ram from the mercantile room. They slam through the door, but there is no reaction from the trap.
The door leads to a small room that had the mechanism for the trap. The tanks for the fire are empty.
Silvantis cast invisibility on Rurik, who heads down the stairs to scout.
When he goes completely down the stairs, he see three fires burning in the opening. Each fire reveals a troglodyte impaled on a rough-hewn log.
Rurik checks the closest body and sees that it was impaled while still living.
Rurik also checks the hole where the one trog escaped from the group. It has been blocked up.
He heads back to the group and reports the situation. They agree to hole up in the old spellcasters room while Silvantis and DeKlerik renew their spell abilities.
Silvantis goes down to the rivulet and cast and alarm spell.
After resting about seven hours, Silvantis reports that the alarm spell has gone off.
The group opens cracks open to door and see an ogre slowly coming up the stairs.
The ogre stops and appears to listen. After a moment it slowly backs down the stairs, again passing through the alarm spell.
The group rests for another hour, and then heads down the stairs to the cavern.
They decide that they will begin by taking DeKlerik to see the tombs.
Out of the darkness of the passages ahead, two spears fly at the group. Rurik and Silvantis are both hit.
Iggy moves to take cover behind one of the logs the trogs are impaled on.
Two ogres appear and charge Rurik, though both miss with their attacks.
Two more ogres charge Angus, but miss as well.
DeKlerik steps forward and attacks one of the ogres. He misses with his ranseur.
Silvantis, already bleeding, casts Haste on himself. He then steps back and casts Magic Missile.
Rurik smashes one of ogres in front of him with his hammer, but Angus misses with his axe.
Iggy shots an ogre with her crossbow. She then drops the crossbow and draws her axe.
Both ogres hit Rurik hard, while Angus is hit by one of his attackers.44
DeKlerik attacks, but again is unable to hit.
Silvantis says "Asp strike thee", which activates his gauntlets. He then shots an ogre with his bow.
Both Rurik and Angus miss with their attacks.
Two ogres still down the passage throw spears at Silvantis, with both of them hitting him.
Iggy charges the ogre that Rurik had previously hit and kills it with her axe.
The ogres again attack. The one left on Rurik misses, but Angus takes a hit. DeKlerik is forced back.
Silvantis casts Fireball down the tunnel. He hears a loud roar as he also casts Shield.
Angus cleaves the ogre that Silvantis had previously hit with the Magic Missile. Rurik hits as well.
Two more ogres come out of the tunnel and charge Iggy. They both hit, but she is unable to hit them.
More ogres come out of the tunnel and charge at Rurik and Angus, hitting both of them.
DeKlerik gets in a solid strike with his ranseur.
Silvantis casts a second and third Fireball from his scrolls. One of the ogres falls dead.
Angus hits an ogre and Rurik smashes in the skull of one on him.
Two of the ogres charge Silvantis and kill him.
Iggy kills another of the ogres.
The ogre on Rurik hits him hard, while the one on Angus misses.
DeKlerik charges one of the ogres that killed Silvantis and kills one of them.
Angus attacks and misses. Rurik, bleeding profusely, steps away from the combat.
The ogre near DeKlerik attacks, but it misses.
Iggy steps up towards the one Rurik retreated from and hits it with her axe.
DeKlerik attacks and misses. Angus kills one of the ogres attacking him.
Rurik drinks his healing potion.
Iggy again hits the ogre with her axe. DeKlerik kills the second ogre that killed Silvantis.
Angus attacks the last ogre, but misses. Rurik moves in to help, but Iggy steps over and kills it first.
DeKlerik checks Silvantis and says there is nothing that he can do.
The group loots the ogre bodies and finds six potions of Cure Moderate Wounds and 200 gp.
Rurik picks up Silvantis and the group retreats from the Stone Tooth.45
September 28th, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group buries Silvantis a few miles from the Stone Tooth and heads towards Ringelwood.46
October 1st, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group arrives at Ringelwood. A couple of hobbits are putting on a show in the town square.
The group learns that they are Maximilan and Marissa Wandini. They figure that they might be able to fill holes in the group from the loss of Silvantis and Sapper.
The group is staying at the Inn of the Pale, which is also where the Wandinis are staying.
DeKlerik and Iggy head over to the table that the Hin are drinking at. Rurik and Angus stay at their table drinking.
Deklerik and Iggy have a brief conversation, then everyone heads up to DeKlerik's room to talk.
Maximilan asks for the dwarves names and DeKlerik says that will be after they talk. Maximilan calls him "Pops McHammer".
Rurik shows the hobbits the Moonblade and tells story of the forge.
Everyone agrees to equal shares.
October 2nd, 3rd Year of the Empire
Everyone leaves for the Stone Tooth on ponies.
As they travel, Maximilan and DeKlerik feel there is a magical presence in the area.
They experienced this in the past and it could alter magic, but never led to any problems.
The group heads down the road a little further and they see a wizard walking down the path.
Maximilan and Marissa hail the wizard and ask where he is traveling.
They learn that he calls himself Katral the Fair and he claims to be from all over Nore.
He says he is the wizard advisor to the King of Nore.
There is a reference to Katral the Deceiver in Gregori's Journal.
The wizard says he is traveling to Ringelwood to visit his cousin, Erik the Blue. His cousin lost his wife and children twelve years ago in a flood.
Angus detects evil and determines the wizard is evil. At this time the Wandinis invite him to breakfast.
Katral asks where the group is going, but DeKlerik blows him off.
After eating, the wizard continues on towards Ringelwood.
A half hour later the magical presence is no longer felt.
Later in the day, the group reaches the Stone Tooth. They do not see any smoke from the forge.
As the group heads up the path, they see the bodies that had been crucified before. It looks like they have been eaten by local wildlife.
The group enters the dungeon, with Maximilan and Marissa checking the area first.
They get to the rope bridge area and check the secret doors. They have been spiked closed.
They cross the bridge and go to the ogre's room. It looks like it has been turned over since they were there last time.
Iggy, Rurik, and Marissa notice gold and silver coins on the room floor. It is modern Norish coin.
They go to the orc guardroom and check out the secret passageway.
They lock themselves in for the night. Watch order: Marissa à Rurik à Iggy.
October 3rd, 3rd Year of the Empire
The group wakes and Marissa listens at the door. Hearing nothing the group proceeds.
They head to the mercantile room, where the goods have been disturbed. Anything valuable is gone.
They then go to the room where Sapper was attacked by the stirges. Marissa heads down the stairs.
The room is dark, but she can see the remains of a bonfire with an ogre body on it.
The body has been cut open in an unusual way.
There are a lot of strange smells and hints of other pungent smells.
Marissa comes back up and reports. Everyone heads down the stairs.
DeKlerik notices that the ogre body was not burnt. The chest was open and its hearts were removed.
The hobbits tell that their people believe ogres eat the heart of the fallen to gain their strength.
The group checks the rest of the area. The boulder is still in place blocking where the trog escaped.
They head towards the dwarven tombs.
As they reach the room, they see the remains of a blood pentagram. Also, all of the sepulchers have been smashed to pieces.
Angus is very upset by the desecration.
Maximilan thinks the pentagram is fake, that it should have been used up in the ritual.
DeKlerik thinks that it may very well be fake, but that whoever made it could have made a real one.
Maximilan breaks the circle.
DeKlerik and Angus pray, but they do not detect any tortured souls this time.
The group goes towards the fungus room. There is no fungus there, only charred bits.
Looking around, it becomes apparent that this is where the ogres were camping out.
There are creatures hanging on the walls for meat, including humans, orcs, lizard, bear, and trogs.
They hear a hissing from down a tunnel.
Maximilan casts Darkvision on Marissa, who goes to investigate.
The tunnel splits, so she takes the right fork.
This leads to a room with a 12' luminous white lizard in it. The lizard has six legs and is changed.
The lizard appears to be looking right at Marissa.
There are also two chests in the room, both with gold spilling out.
The lizard cannot reach the chests, but it can reach the other entrances to the room.
Marissa heads back and reports what she saw. The dwarves think it is a deep cavern lizard, but they have never heard of one that large before.
Angus draws his crossbow and heads down the tunnel. He takes the left passage at the fork.
This passage also goes towards the creature, but there is another branch as well.
That branch leads to a cavern filled with fungus and dead bodies.
The others move down the same passage that Marissa took. Everyone prepare to attack.
Angus fires with his crossbow, but misses. Iggy and Rurik hit with their shoots.
The creature runs down a passage behind it, giving it cover.
Rurik draws his hammer and steps into the room to check the other passageways. They are empty.
The Wandinis run into the room to check the chests. Marissa does not see any traps.
The creature runs out of the passage at the hobbits. Its tongue shoots out and wraps around Marissa.
Angus again shoots and misses. He drops his crossbow and grabs his axe.
Iggy hits the lizard with her shot.
DeKlerik moves into the room as Rurik charges the creature. He smashes one of the lizard's legs.
Maximilan attempts to help Marissa, but the lizard is able to drag her closer to it.
Angus moves in and hits with his axe. Iggy fires another bolt, but misses.
DeKlerik also attempts to help Marissa, while Rurik smashes the lizard with his hammer.
Angus hits with his axe, nearly separating the head from the body.
As the jaws slacking, Marissa is able to get free.
Iggy steps up with her axe and knocks the lizard off its feet.
DeKlerik heals Marissa.
There is 650 gp between the two chests, in mostly modern coinage.
The group goes to check out the fungus cavern. DeKlerik casts Detect Magic and determines that one of the dwarf bodies has a magical sword.
Rurik thinks it might be a sword forged by Durgeddin.
Still, no one can think of a way to get the sword out of the cavern.
The group checks the rest of the entrances to the lizard's room.
One of the leads to a dead end. DeKlerik checks for secret doors, but he does not find any.
Another passage leads back to the bear cave. Another back to the bonfire. The last to the surface.
The group heads to the iron door that leads to the forge area. Again the alarm goes off.
They enter the room with the statues and the secret door, then proceed to the regular door.
Marissa listens and checks for traps. She hears nothing and sees not traps.
The group heads through the hall with the intricately craved pillars and goes to the forge area.
The forge area looks the same, so they check out the door beside the forge area. They have to go up a 10' stairway first.
Marissa again listens and checks the door. She finds nothing and notes that the door is unlocked.
The door opens to a dwarven kitchen, with a lot of pots, pans, and furniture scattered about.
The group starts to search around, when one of the tables attacks the Wandinis.
Marissa is hit, but Maximilan is able to avoid the table.
Angus moves in and hits the table with his axe.
Maximilan attempts to move away and the table hits him. He throws a dart at it.
Rurik charges the table and hits, and Iggy hits with her axe. DeKlerik misses with his swing.
Marissa is slammed into another table as Angus hits it again.
Maximilan throws another dart but misses. Rurik also misses, but DeKlerik smashes the thing.
Marissa hits it and tumbles away. Angus again hits it with his axe.
There is a small flash of energy and a loud crack as the table collapses.
Angus heals Maximilan with his wand, while DeKlerik again heals Marissa.
The group leaves the kitchen and heads to the door opposite it.
There is orc graffiti on the wall. It says, "Beyond this door the Maker of Death is chained. May he gnaw on his own hate until the sun dies and all things end."
They go to the door opposite the forge. Marissa does not see any traps, but she does her faint speech in dwarven.
Rurik also tries to listen, but he cannot hear anything.
They open the door and see a room with a dark pool. The speech can be heard now.
It changes between being moaning, shouting, and gibberish. It is coming from the right corridor.
Rurik goes to look down the hall and sees a ghostly dwarf in religious robes. There is a ruined holy symbol of Gorm.
Iggy and Maximilan are mesmerized by the gibberish.
DeKlerik calls upon the power of Dunathoin and the apparition disappears.
The other hallway leads to a dead-end. There are living rooms there and they were not used by the dirty dwarves.
One of the rooms was a bunk room. There is a mess on the floor, including some bones.
The bones start to rise, but DeKlerik again calls on Dunathoin and destroys six skeletons.
The group heads down the first hallway. The first door leads to a large room.
The room is prestine, with tapestries on the wall, made beds, and a writing desk.
The Wandinis start to search the room, but Maximilan notices the rug quiver when he goes to step in.
He calls the group off, but the dwarves are able to step in with no problems.
If either Hin steps towards the room, then it quivers.
Iggy finds a chest under the bed. It has 1200 sp, 3000 cp, a piece of silk with gems, a sapphire (50 gp), and a pair of matched blue topaz stones (90 gp each).47
The group goes to the door across from the room.48
It was the residence of an important dwarf, but the room has been ransacked. There are two dwarf corpses in the room.
Rurik sees a gold decanter under one of them and takes it.
The next room down the hallway is also ransacked, but there are no corpses in it.
The opposite room is ransacked and has three corpses.
The hallway starts to open to a room, so Maximilan and Marissa move forward to investigate.
The room was the seen of a battle. There are broken tables, chairs, dwarven bodies, broken arms and armor.
There are also three doors in the room, as well as a large pool of water along one wall.
Maximilan gets an inkling of magic on the wall behind the pool.
He casts Detect Magic. There is residual magic of the wall have been magically created.
The Hin report back to the group. Everyone moves forward to the room.
DeKlerik and Rurik go to check the corpses, while the others check the doors.
One of the doors leads to a large room that was an armory.
Angus walks in and a practice dummy rises up and moves towards him. He smashes it with his axe.
Marissa searches the room, but she does not find anything.
They head to the last room, which is across from the armory. It is also broken up and has a few orc corpses.
Marissa searches this room, and finds an iron pendant.
Rurik and DeKlerik organize the dwarf corpses while DeKlerik administers the rites of the dead.
Maximilan and Marissa check out the pool. It is full of brackish water.
The Hin jump in to check it out, but only learn that it is slippery.
Maximilan checks the wall, which appears to be a normal dwarven wall.
The corpses in the armory had been stripped of equipment.
The dwarves do not think the pool would have been built the way it is. It does not seem dwarven.
Marissa checks the door opposite the pool. She gets a small shock when she touches the metal lock, but she does not think that it is locked.
Angus starts to open the door when he notices Iggy and DeKlerik starting out towards the hallway.
He notices the ghost from earlier. Rurik and Marissa are also mesmerized by the ghost.
Maximilan moves over and blasts the ghost with his Wand of Lightning Bolts.
The ghost is shoved back and is less substantial than before.
Angus moves forward and attacks with his axe. The swing takes out the ghost's middle, causing it to scream and dissipate into a blue fog.
The others recover from the enchantment of the ghost, so Angus moves back over to open the door.
When he opens it, torches on the wall flare to life. It is a scholar's room or a library.
A slender human woman is sitting at a table.
Angus asks who she is. She says she is Ilana, a captive of a wizard who lives below.
Angus attempts to Detect Evil and Rurik asks who the wizard is.
She says the wizard is a foul dwarf named Balduris, who wants to enslave her.
Angus learns there is one evil thing in the room. He tells the woman that she must wait and closes the door.
Marissa moves to the other doors. None are trapped and all lead to empty rooms.
Angus and Iggy try to dig through the wall behind the pool.
After an hour, they have gotten about 5'. The group decides to rest.
After about 15', they break into a room. The room's floor is covered with water.
There is no sign of the Wandinis, so DeKlerik casts Detect Thoughts. He does not pick anything up other than behind the door where Ilana is.
DeKlerik checks the room behind the wall. Every so often he hears the creak of metal.
He throws a coin into the room and it bounces off something metallic.
Angus tries to look into the room, but he cannot see anything.
The group decides to go look for the Wandinis. They are intentionally making the alarm on the stairs go off.
They have the sword from the fungus room, which Angus picks up.
The sword is still warm, but in fine shape. It does have Durgeddin's mark and is untouched by age.
Everyone heads back to the armory.
DeKlerik casts Clairvoyance in the room behind the pool.
About 70' in, he sees an iron chain rise out of the water. It leads to a boat that could hold five dwarves on a bench, but is otherwise bare.
The boat is about 100' in the room and is held by three chains.
There are no other exits out of the room.
The lake goes down like a shaft under the boat.
The Wandinis open the door to talk to the woman. They ask a riddle about drinking from a bottle without pulling the cork out.
The woman is able to guess the answer and they close the door.
DeKlerik comes back to the armory and tells the group what the spell revealed.
The Wandinis again open the door and ask another riddle. This one is about a window.
The woman again answers the riddle and they close the door.
When they open it a third time, they see a dwarf standing over the woman beating her.
Rurik charges into the room, but misses the dwarf.
Angus is targeted by a spell. He is able to shrug off the effect, but he misses with his axe.
Iggy steps into the room and hits.
The dwarf leaps into the air and attacks Rurik with claws. It is able to grab a hold of him.
Rurik is unable to break the hold and Angus misses on his swing.
Maximilan moves up and uses the Wand of Bulls Strength on Iggy.
DeKlerik casts Hold Person on the dwarf, but it does not affect him.
Iggy swings with her axe, but misses.
A putrid fog comes from the dwarf's mouth, nauseating Rurik. However, he is able to break free.
Angus swings his axe and hits.
Maximilan uses the Wand of Bull Strength on Angus and then steps out of the room.
DeKlerik calls upon the power of Dumathoin, but it does not have an effect on the creature.
Iggy swings and misses.
The dwarf disappears and reappears behind Angus. It hits with its claws, grabbing him.
Both Rurik and Angus feel odd. Rurik tries to shake off the effect and attack, but he misses.
Angus breaks free and DeKlerik again calls upon Dumathoin. Again, there is no effect.
Iggy hits the dwarf as it calls out for a demonic ally.
Rurik steps up and swings twice, hitting once. Angus also hits with his axe.
The dwarf starts to change to look like the woman originally in the room.
Iggy hits the demonic creature. The creature attacks back, hitting with a hand of fire.
Rurik and Angus move to attack the creature, but both miss.
Maximilan casts Mage Armor and DeKlerik prepares to cast Shield Other.
Iggy again hits the creature and it emits a fiery laugh.
Rurik misses, but Angus and Iggy both hit.
The creature turns to Iggy and says, "I'll remember you" and disappears.
The room is on fire, so the group hurriedly leaves.
Angus turns to DeKlerik and says, "There is something wrong with me."
Both Angus and Rurik feel a stain on the soul in the shape of a demonic hand.
They go into a meditative state to try to fight the stain off.
After a couple of hours, the fire in the room burns itself out.
A charred human corpse is the only thing left in the room. The corpse has demonic features.
Marissa checks the room and finds 120 gp and a cats eye gem worth 70 gp.
The group rests and DeKlerik heals Iggy and Rurik.
October 4th, 3rd Year of the Empire
DeKlerik casts Endurance and Bless on Angus and Rurik as they continue to fight off the taint.
Maximilan casts Resistence on them as well.
Rurik rages and he feels the hand leave. Angus is able to fight it off as well.
The group heads back to the room with the pillars. They go through the door on the diaz, which turns out to be Durgeddin's chambers.
They head to the room with the orc graffiti. It is the smashed remains of a dwarven shrine.
Marissa is about to enter the room, when Angus warns that he notices an evil presence.
DeKlerik casts Consecrate on the area where the altar was.
Several skeletons suddenly rise up from the bones on the floor, but DeKlerik destroys them.
Angus says there is still evil in the room. It is behind the altar.
There is a large orc-type body riving on the ground there. DeKlerik calls upon Dumathoin and destroys it.
Marissa finds a compartment on the altar, which contains gold and a scroll.
The group heads back to the room behind the pool.
They make a raft and head out to the boat. Everyone gets in the boat.
Rurik activates the device and the boat begins to sink down.
When it reaches the lower level of the lake, it automatically begins going towards a light.
The tunnel that the boat is heading towards is covered completely in crystals.
It takes a few minutes, but the group adjusts to the light levels.
There is a pedestal or base in the room. The dwarves think that it would have held a relic.
There is also a body in the room, but nothing else. The body has been dead for a few hundred years and its hands and feet have been cut off.
The group determines that it is Durgeddin. The hands are still in the room.
They determine that the pedestal should have an axe on it that marked Durgeddin's royal authority.
DeKlerik casts Speak with Dead.
First, he asks Durgeddin who killed him. "Treachery most foul. The King of Baldesi lay with the Deceiver. Envy consumed his heart and he gave up the keys to Khundrukar. Curses upon Melandur Stonefist. May Khundrukar consume him and all his clan."
Second, he asks Durgeddin where he would want to rest. "I am in my home. There is no other place."49
Being that dwarves have accounting in their blood, the suggestion of clearing the dungeon and carting away the loot is immediately adopted by all.
Angus and Iggy begin to assess the place for its defensive holes - Is the front door broken?
Big orc tunnel into the second level (trog level)
a few unexplored reaches (where does the waterfall go? trog lair)
DeKlerik grabs Rurik and together they begin to put the place in order - establishing dwarflight (glowing stones that illuminate big caverns and small rooms without bothering their natural sight abilities)
cleaning out the dead into pyres
burning out places with fungus or other contamination.
cleaning out the trash (broken tables, etc.)
In their estimate, it would take the following to bring Khundrukar back to its former glory.
4 stewards (cook, clean, mend, etc.)
up to 7 smiths at the forges, with up to 21 apprentices
30 soldiers to maximally defend the place in shifts of 10 each It could then support a garrison of 100 warriors to attack the Durinfel (Blood Enemies of the Durin, namely goblins, but orcs, ogres, and trolls too.) in the region.
A full assessment of the "loot" factor is based on Max and Marisa spending a few days carefully searching the complex.
merchant goods - ten wagonloads, estimated at a total worth of 10,000 gold pieces at a major city
arms and armor - estimated 1,000 gold worth of salvageable weapons and armor
miscellaneous - estimated 2,500 gold worth of base coinage, trinkets, table service, minor jewelry, etc. removed from lairs, bodies, and caches in the dungeon.
October 11th, 3rd Year of the Empire
It is decided amongst our heroes that some shall fetch wagons from Ringelwood, haul the loot to Paag, sell it, and return with the money. The Hin, refusing to be stuck in a dwarfhole for weeks, volunteer, along with DeKlerik to watch over them and make the deals.
Meanwhile, Iggy, Rurik, and Angus remain to defend Khundrukar. Knowing that others will come eventually, they "repair" the hole leading to Durgeddin's Lake as well as booby trap the orc tunnel leading to the surface.
November 1st, 3rd Year of the Empire
After three weeks, DeKlerik, Max, and Marisa return to Khundrukar with 10,000 (1,667 each) gold for their troubles. They have barely scurried into the fortress when a troop of dwarves approach from the west.
Their shields are emblazoned with the clenched hand of Melandur Stonefist, symbol of the dwarves of Durun Baldesi.
Veran Goldnose leads the troop and is greatly pleased to see that the Fortress of Khundrukar has been liberated. He and his people (warriors and accountants) quickly take stock of the place and prepare it to come back to life.
In Durgeddin's Hall, Goldnose sits down with our heroes?
Goldnose sweeps his ornate robes behind him and sits at the head of the table in Durgeddin's Hall, already feeling in charge of the place. One of his assistants, a poor clan dwarf named Kijo Coldforge, brings ale and food to the table. The Hin sit in raised chairs.
"I raise my tankard to you, my fine brethren!" crows Goldnose. He drinks deeply, as do our heroes. Max is shown to have a prodigious talent in consuming alcohol, beating several dwarves in draining his tankard.
"You have wrested from the Durinfel this glorious fortress, a deed worthy of the Song of Heroes! And I am here to assure you that your lord, Dwarflord Stonefist, is also aware of your accomplishment and sends you his heartfelt praise."
Goldnose's demeanor darkens. "It would seem plain to me that the glory you have gained should be all that your true Durin souls require for your services, but as I am bound by our bargain?" Goldnose motions for Kijo to bring over an ornate chest. Opening it, he spills out a lot of gold coins. "Here is the agreed reward of twenty thousand gold coins, from the coffers of Dwarflord Stonefist."
The Minister of Trade pauses for Kijo to remove the empty chest and the glittering gold to work its magic on the Hin and dwarves assembled. Even the two dwarves behind Goldnose (personal bodyguard) are salivating over the pile.
"But even that does not complete your reward, my friends. Our Dwarflord wishes to honor you in the halls of Durun Baldesi, before all the fathers of the Dwarfhome. I am given to believe that he will grant you titles, of which there is no greater honor." (Likely knighthoods, giving them the title "Talos")
"I must remain here to supervise the defense and resurrection of this Fortress. My captain, Ojer Shard, will lead your honor guard on the trip back home. The Dwarflord expects you in time for the Feast of Swords which falls in seven days."
"But for now, let us eat our fill, drink our pride, and sing the ancient songs!"
A night passes of revelry. The coins are divided among the six heroes and packed away in their belongings. It is in the wee hours of the morning that they shuffle back to top floor guard room to sleep.50
1 Start of first session, August 8th.
2 Verify this info with Jeffrey.
3 Double-check with Big Dog and Jeff what this is.
4 Critical.
5 Originally, there was confusion if it stacked with regular armor. I left it as Mage Armor as Forne probably would not have been sleeping in his armor.
6 End of first session. XP: Angus, Forne, Iggy, and Sapper get 125 for the fight. All get 250 for roleplaying.
7 Start of second session, August 15th.
8 End of second session. XP: 625 per PC.
9 From Big Dog's email.
10 Start of third session, September 2nd.
11 The Seven Elders have a stronghold in Thran.
12 Rurik wonders that as well.
13 End of third session. XP: 110 for everyone in the group.
14 Start of fourth session, September 17th.
15 Email from Big Dog.
16 Silvantis loses 3 strength points.
17 Sapper scores a critical, but gives up an AoO.
18 Rurik scores a critical.
19 Check with Big Dog what told him the ogre's name.
20 Check with Brad on total constitution lost.
21 End of fourth session. XP: Sapper 1050, rest of group 950.
22 Start of fifth session, October 15th.
23 Rurik obviously was not paying enough attention here.
24 Rurik and Forne lost 5 strength, while Callus lost 3.
25 ID#15.
26 End of fifth session. XP: Sapper 900, rest of group 800.
27 Start of sixth session, November 7th. XP: Silvantis, Rurik, and Angus 300 for questions. Rurik 840 for log.
28 Double-check with Big Dog on the length of the wand.
29 The rapier is +1. The wand has 20 charges.
30 Silvantis scores a fumbles.
31 End of sixth session. XP: 1500 for group.
32 From Big Dog's email.
33 Start of seventh session, December 4th.
34 Dwarf scores a critical against Forne.
35 Sapper scores a critical.
36 End of seventh session. XP: 2000 for group.
37 From Big Dog's handout.
38 Start of eighth session, December 9th.
39 Check w/Rachel.
40 End of eighth session. XP: 750 for group.
41 Start of ninth session, January 7th.
42 End of ninth session. XP: 200 for the entire group.
43 Start of tenth session, January 28th.
44 Both ogres score a critical on Rurik.
45 End of tenth session. XP: 2000 for group.
46 Start of eleventh session, February 26th.
47 End of eleventh session. XP: 520 for group.
48 Start of twelfth session, March 19th.
49 End of twelfth session. XP:
50 From Big Dog's email.