Broken+Destiny+Session+77

After spending a comfortable night in the Norwood estate, the group gathered in the morning. Posy gave Shri a bag of 5000 gold to purchase a gem worthy of soul resurrection, and at her request Marden Norwood sent for the remnants of the incinerated urchin boy. Marden set up a dining area out on the veranda where he invited the group to join him for breakfast. The morning was beautiful, and despite the warm sea air blowing in, the air was far less humid than it had been in Lyrabar. The grounds overlooked a garden of colorful tropical flowers local to the area. Trays of eggs, bacon, ham, breads, and fruits were brought to the table by servants. "I regret that your first experience with our fair city was such an unpleasant one," Marden welcomed everyone to his table, "I just wanted to let you know that Raven's Bluff //was// a fine city. Many adventurers came here... as you no doubt have heard... to explore the ruins beneath the city. And we have our trade with the Sembian cities from across the sea. This is one of the main ports in the area, much like the many in Impiltur ... such as ." The staff filled everyone's glasses as he paused. "But you've come at a difficult time..." Marden sighed. "Why is that?" Erevin asked with interest. "One of the merchant nobles of the city... Lord Kolvain... Marco Kolvain," the merchant noble answered. Thorn looked up, recognizing the name immediately as a "noble" who had been in Lyrabar... a man associated with the Black Mark. He had been leading the new Lyrabar branch. Marden continued, "had always been involved in some questionable dealings... as many merchant nobles sometimes do... it is the cost of business. You can't always know exactly who you're dealing with." Erevin glanced an accusing arched brow at Azarius, before turning back to listen to the young noble Norwood. Marden continued, "Last year things started to change... he was long suspected to have ties with one of the thieves guilds here... The Black Mark... one of many... but they started to rapidly expand. Quickly, other merchant nobles who had affiliations with other thief guilds... had their influences destroyed as the Black Mark moved against them. They were led by this group of elves who apparently attacked you as well... They are well known in the city as striking from out of nowhere and disappearing as swiftly as they came... None of the merchant nobles have the power... or the resources... to deal with them. So those other guilds were destroyed... or went underground so deeply that they may has well have been. While they haven't struck directly at any of the merchant nobles... their power has been weakened so much that the Kolvain family is in charge of most of the mercantile business that's in town." "Really?" Wren leaned forward, interested. Marden nodded, "He obviously doesn't have the manpower to deal with everything... but all of the most //lucrative// things go through him." "How fortuitous for him," Wren nodded. "Yes," the young noble agreed, "And these elven assassins have not yet been linked to him, though everyone suspects it. We have adventurers and mages in the city who have attempted to scry and use magics to find these elves, but they haven't seemed to work... I hear from the accounts of your battle that you ten must be very powerful people to fend them off." "Thank you for the compliment," Wren nodded and smiled softly, "We did what we could..." "Well you did what no one else has been able to do," Marden nodded to her, "There have been other adventurers and guards that have fought with them... and even slain them... but they just always seem to return." Thinking about what they could do... the group could only imagine the damage the Echo group could wield against a simple city... with no conscience, morals or fear of death... "One of my friends... the man who freed you... Titus Devilars," Marden continued, "He and I have been looking for a solution to this problem and I was hoping that perhaps we could help each other." "How so?" Thorn looked at him questioningly. "Well... if you could deal with these elven assassins and find some sort of link to Lord Kolvain... then you would do a great service to the city of Raven's Bluff," the noble answered him, nodding. Thorn stared at him, waiting for what the merchant conceivably had in mind to offer to the group in return. "And I could possibly give you a headstart," Marden nodded to him, "I'm sure that Lord Devilars told you that the sewers would be a good place to start, but... we suspect that these elves are deeper... that they reside in the area perhaps within the ancient dwarven city or... perhaps even below... in the ancient drow city that both cities were built upon. ...Both of the cities are permeated with magic... I'm sure that Lord Erevin, you are familiar with mythals?" The elven woodsman nodded to him, "I am." "Those mythals seem to interfere with scrying... thus we suspect that they are using that to hide their operation," the merchant continued. "Do you know what the name of the drow city was that lies beneath us?" Erevin asked. Marden shook his head, "Sadly I do not... but I might be able to get you past the sewers which are thief and trap infested... to the dwarven city." "Really?" Wren asked, "You have your own secret entrance?" "I know of a secret entrance in one of my mines... that is one of the things I am involved in... nothing so extravagant as gold or silver... but simple iron," he nodded. "Iron has it's place," Erevin nodded to him. Thorn nodded his agreement. "It does," Marden agreed, "I had found a shaft that was not natural... carved with dwarven runes about it... it seemed to be some sort of lift." "You have kept this a secret?" Erevin asked. "For the most part... I did send word to the dwarves of my discovery, and they sent back a dwarf who's been staying here for a couple weeks. He has examined the site," Marden nodded and called for a servant to fetch the dwarf. The servant quickly ran off and returned with a sleepy round dwarf in a nightshirt and nightcap, grumbling. "It's far too early yet for breakfast... the sun's barely up," he grumbled as he stepped through the door, pausing to blink in surprised recognition at the group, "Why Lord Erevin... what by Borden's beard are you doing here?" Everyone turned to see the arriving dwarf in his night clothes, recognizing him as the Eisenhammer dwarf guide who had led them through the mountains to gain entry into Magmadon's volcano lair. "Goram!" Erevin quickly crossed the veranda to throw an arm around the dwarf, embracing him, "It is good to see you!" "Aye," the dwarf agreed, returning the embrace, "Marden here had sent away to the Eisenhammer clan as well as the other two clans of dwarves... and it eventually came to me. I'm a bit of a spelunker, as you no doubt remember... and also interested in ancient dwarven holds." "So what have you discovered thus far?" Erevin asked. "Well there is a lift that appears to go down quite a ways to what I'm guessing is Sabreen from the runes around it... but it doesn't seem to be working," the dwarf walked back with him to the table, taking a seat, "I've been working on fixing it, but it needs... more powerful magic to get her going than I have... as I'm just a simple dwarf." "What's it going to cost this simple woodsman?" Erevin raised an eyebrow. "Well you've got some spell-slingers among you, right?" Goram took a seat at the table. "That we have," Erevin nodded to him, returning to his own seat. "Could it use maybe a tinker's touch?" Thorn asked, glancing at Posy and back to the dwarf. Goram paused, looking Posy up and down for a moment, "Ahh maybe in the repair work... if you're so inclined." He arched a suave eyebrow and winked at her. Posy blinked at him and pointed to her aunt and uncle at the table, "Not me... them!" She quickly linked her arm with Uther's. "Ahh the good ones are always taken," Goram sighed and loaded his plate up with food, "Well certainly, but we're going to need some powerful magic to put into it." Wren nibbled lightly on a slice of fresh apple from the orchard, watching Goram scoop mouthfuls of food into his mouth, bread crumbs catching in his beard, "What sort of magic?" "Well... some powerful elemental lightning should start her right up," the dwarf nodded to her. She nodded, "I can probably manage that." Erevin turned to Marden, "Is there a library or anyone in the area that would know anything about the drow city beneath us? Specifically about the mythal." Shri shook her head, "I do not... it's not even close to the city I was born in... and I have little memories of that." Wren nudged the elven prince, "Tired of glowing colors already?""No," Erevin shook his head, "but I'd like to know more about what ELSE it does... because trust me, you don't want to be a drow or anyone unwelcome in Myth Coramanth ." Wren nodded, "Nor even an unwelcome green dragon it would seem." She pondered for a moment and Erevin nodded his agreement. The merchant shook his head, "I'm afraid not. It's much too ancient for anyone around here to know anything, and I don't think you'll find anything about it in our library." Erevin sighed, "Alright... it's too late then. We'll leave after the good dwarf has had his breakfast and properly wakes up." "Thank you," Goram nodded, heaping his plate again. After everyone finished their delicious breakfast, Wren nodded toward Marden, "Thank you again for hospitality." "You're welcome," he nodded to her, "I hope that you will be able to find a resolution to this situation." Wren nodded, "We hope that as well." Erevin agreed, "I am certain we will find a resolution." Servants arrived carrying a small casket with the charred remains of the urchin boy. Shri dressed in her sheer white gossamer robes and danced around the small casket, her body moving gracefully as she held a magnificent sparkling ruby that she caressed over her body and held up to the sky. Despite it being in the middle of the day, silvery moonlight appeared over her, sparkling over the casket. A soft glow formed around the briquette and slowly became a glowing boyish form lifting out of the casket. The ghostly boy standing next to Jerome, looked over toward Shri, "She is calling me!" He walked over to where the body had formed and merged with it... looking around in wonder as he was brought back to life. Shri started to crumple, exhausted, and Erevin was at her side in an instant. She leaned heavily against him, and he swept her up into his arms, wrapped in his cloak. The urchin cheered, "I'm alive!" Wren nodded to him and smiled, "Welcome back. You can thank Miss Posy and Lady Shri for your life." The young witch gestured to the gnome watching and the drow priestess being carried off. "I can't ever thank you enough, Miss Posy!" the boy rushed over to the barbarian gnome, "Or you Miss Shri!" he called after Erevin. He turned back to Posy, "If you ever need a guide in Raven's Bluff, you just let me know! I can't thank you enough... is there anything else I can do for you?" He was a poor orphan boy with no real place to go... Posy smiled at him, "Why don't you just wait here at the Norwood estate for us to return." "Alright!" the little boy nodded to her, "I can do that." Marden nodded, "I'll look after him," he turned quickly to the boy, "Stay out of the silverware." He nodded quickly. "What is your name?" Wren asked the young boy. "Lucias," he smiled up at her brightly. "A good name," Wren nodded approvingly and stepped over to hand a small bag of gold to Marden, "Can you please get the boy fed and send someone to fetch him some clothes?" "Of course, of course," the merchant noble nodded to her, accepting the bag. Jerome smiled and stepped next to Posy, smiling as he patted her hand, his ghostly hand passing through hers. "He can be my squire," Posy nodded to Lucias and smiled at the ghostly gnome beside her. "I can do that!" the boy nodded to her excitedly. A servant came and led the boy into the house to get him some breakfast, and Goram came down dressed in his metal armor and leathers, carrying a battleaxe.
 * Session 77 ** **8/22/15** **Descending into the Dwarven Ruins of Sabreen With** ** The Return of Goram Eisenhammer In Raven's Bluff **

Erevin nodded toward the dwarf approvingly, "Now I recognize you! That nightshirt threw me." "I was a little naked," Goram nodded, "but they're so comfy... these humans know how to make night clothes." Wren giggled. He leaned toward her, "Kinda snug in the unmentionables, if you know what I mean." Wren flashed him a grin, and shrugged her shoulders, "I sleep naked... so no, I don't." She winked at him. He blinked at her for a moment, and she leaned softly against Kale, who stepped next to her, slipping an arm around her waist.

The group headed up the steep climb through the narrow rocky path to the next level of the bluff where mine entrances could be found. The iron mine was quiet, appearing that it hadn't been worked in days. Erevin turned to Goram, "Why is there a work stoppage? ...Is this because of what was found in there?" The dwarf nodded to him, "We weren't real sure what might come up out of there... so Norwood put this mine on hold, keeping his workers away for their safety... could've been something from the ancient dwarven ruin... or even some of those dark elves." Erevin nodded, "May the gods forbid that a dryder should could come out of there." Goram nodded.

The group went down into the mine, traveling a couple of hundred feet into the earth. The mine was well supported and ventilated. Occasional streaks of iron ore ran along the walls. Some new construction led to where they had recently broken into a partially collapsed tunnel. The occasional half-buried visage of a dwarven god and runes on the wall suggested they had found Sabreen.

In the pit was a circle of large milky-white crystals. To the side was several levers and gears set into a black metal box. Aware and Kittri looked over the gearwork, tinkering with the brass gears covered in dwarven runes. "You see this? This is a sprognocket!" Aware exclaimed excitedly to Kittri. The gnome woman took Posy's hand and led her closer, "Do you see?! Do you see?" "Sure," Posy nodded, pulling her axe out and leaning against it, "Whatever you say." "You know all about whatsits, don't you?! ...didn't Jerome...?" her aunt's voice trailed off in disappointment. Jerome shrugged beside the young barbarian gnome. "We didn't get that far," Posy shrugged. "Oh! Such a lack of education!" Aware swayed, looking like she might feint. "I learned other things," Posy explained defensively. Uther nodded beside her, "Trust me... she knows a lot of things." Wren giggled, but the sexual connotation seemed to go right over the Garishthimbles' heads.

Goram pointed to the magic crystals, "Alright, you see those crystals? Charge them up with some elemental lightning." Wren looked over the circle of milky-white crystals, "How powerful should I make the lightning?" "How the hell should I know?" Goram shook his head, knowing nothing of spells. "It looks like it needs to chain from one crystal to another," Thorn nodded up to her. "That'd be cool!" Goram nodded, "Can you do that?" Wren nodded, "I can." She brought up her hands, sending out powerful lightning that arced from crystal to crystal to complete the circle. As it hit the last one, Goram called out, cursing himself and bringing his slightly burnt hands to his mouth, "Ahh! Son of a bitch! Take your fingers off of that first." From deep below in the darkness, the clanking of gears could be heard along with the occasional harsh scraping of metal on rock. About 15 minutes later, the platform came into view. It looked as though it possibly once had a cage around it, but that had long ago been ravaged by destruction and time.

"Alright," Goram gestured to the raised platform, "Climb aboard. I think we have enough power now. I'll stay up here, but if there are some controls down there, send it back up... I'd like to take a look around the ruins." Wren nodded, "How about letting the Garishthimbles work the controls and you can come with us now." "Sure, we can take it over," Aware nodded cheerfully. "But... they're gnomes," the dwarf muttered to her, leaning close. Wren laughed. "And we can hear!" Kattri retorted. "I meant no offense, good gnome... I merely meant that you like to tinker with things... and to make them 'better'," Goram nodded to both of them. "Well did you see that lift?" Aware asked. "So terribly slow," Kattri agreed. "We could certainly make it faster," Aware nodded in agreement. "Not with us on it!" Posy shook her head. "Oh no," Aware shook her head with Kittri following closely with, "Of course not." "Alright..." Goram looked them over carefully, agreeing to let them work the controls, "but don't tinker with //anything//!" "On our honor as Garishthimbles!" the two gnomes spoke in unison. The dwarf nodded and joined the group on the platform. Ursus and Mali decided to stay behind to guard the lift and the Garishthimbles, "Just in case the Echoes show up..." Erevin and the others nodded in agreement, leaving them behind as they descended into the deep darkness. A straight closed shaft 500 feet down... they could feel the pressure grow heavier. Everyone set their ion stone into motion and Wren wove the occasional dancing lights spell to brighten the dark tunnel. "If this is Sabreen," Erevin turned to Goram, "What was she known for?" "Well... the primary reason that I'm interested in it... was they were excellent crafters," Goram answered, "And they had a very special forge that they called the Soul Forge." "A soul forge?" Erevin asked. "Yes, and they supposedly had many amazing items that were crafted from this thing... and rumor has it that just working at the forge could turn a piddly worker of metal into a grandmaster... creating items of amazing power... Certainly the Eisenhammers would like to have access to such a thing," Goram answered. "Do you believe that you can copy the techniques?" Erevin asked. "From what I understand... the forge is an actual thing here... likely not movable," Goram nodded, "We shall hopefully see if it is true." Erevin nodded, "Excellent." At the low end point of the cavern, the platform settled onto the ground. A second control panel of gears and levers could be seen to the side. It was quiet... and a big yawning chasm stretched ahead. All around there seemed to be huge mushrooms, some even as tall as the elves' waists. Even the b roken stone pathways had mushrooms growing up through the cracks. They looked like hearty non-poisonous mushrooms though... good for eating. Squat stone buildings that looked like ancient dwarven farmhouses suggested that these were once mushroom fields. Above them, on the ceiling, imbedded into the stone, was tiny gemstones that twinkled like stars in the lights. Following the road 400- 500 feet into the chasm, great stone carvings stood 20 feet tall in the side of a large fortress. The dwarven pantheon, including Moradin and his wife, The Battlemaiden, flanked the door... and to each side was their dwarven court. A brazier stood at the feet of both the chief dwarven god and his wife, that still wavered a magical flame, casting a ruddy glow over the area. "Is that customary?" Erevin gestured to the carvings. The dwarf nodded, "Aye, carvings of the pantheon and ancestors... I expect to see more ancestors inside. And the braziers are a testament that they're still lit after several hundred years." Doors stood slightly ajar with a few tracks of small metal booted feet along the groung. A couple of other entrances were higher up on the fortress with balconies above the pantheon carvings. Several stone statues were inside around an iron statue of Moradin... perhaps ancient dwarven heroes and ancestors. Stairways led up to the balconies overhead, leading to where a cauldron of boiling oil was likely to have been used to guard the front entrance. Warmth flooded the room from within the fortress. Erevin glanced suspiciously at the stairway leading up to the balconies. As the elven woodsman approached the stairway, the iron statue of Moradin seemed to come to life, moving toward him and raising its fists to pound the elf into paste! Thorn darted quickly toward the stairway to avoid the lumbering golem. Erevin pulled his moonblade, "My apologies, Goram!" He charged to the golem depicting the dwarven god. His blade barely scratched the metal torso that seemed to resist the sharpness of his strike. "Goram, what's the password?" Wren turned to the dwarf. "What? Do you think I know everything about dwarves?! That's racist!" he retorted. "Well say something to it in dwarven! Try anything," Wren pointed toward the golem, recalling both the enormous golem outside of the magic shop of Lyrabar as well as the earth golem she once had to outrun. "We come in peace," Goram shouted at it in dwarven, "Halt! Stop! I'm your friend... Praise Moradin..." Nothing seemed to work and the enormous statue of Moradin continued to raise it's arms to smash Erevin. "What is Moradin the god of?" Wren asked. "Dwarves," Goram answered. "Specifically?!" Wren shouted her question with an annoyed tone to her voice. "Dwarves!" he answered more firmly, "He's like the all father." Wren sighed, "The only thing I know about these golems is that electricity will slow it... and fire will heal it... it probably has a password... does anyone have any ideas?" Azarius arced a spell of lightning into the iron golem, slowing it. The arm of the golem came down, smashing into Erevin, but too slow to manage another strike. Deciding it was best to outrun it, Wren and Kale bolted past Thorn toward the stairs. Posy, Uther, and Goram followed the two of them quickly. Thorn hurried his run, grateful that the doorway here was too small for the golem to follow him in. Erevin tumbled backward only to have the second iron fist of the golem pound into him, but he managed to put some distance between him and the statue, following the others. Shri slid across the floor, falling into step beside him. Azarius took flight, following the others. Wren and Kale made it to the door first, pulling the massive door open. Two red rays of fire blasted out at them from the trap within, but the magic resistance she wore deflected it from the witch. Kale however... shrouded in fire, managed to pull the heavy stone door open as he ignored the pain, his muscles rippling from the exertion. Everyone poured through, slamming the door closed behind them just in time for the golem to bang into it with a heavy thump! Shri prayed over Erevin, healing his wounds. "Thank you!" Wren nodded gratefully, and put her soothing hands on Kale, "Are you alright?" He nodded, pulling her close as they looked over the next room.

A long trough ran through the chamber into the distance, but it was long empty, and a reddish glow could be seen down the hall. As they moved toward the glow, following the hall, the heat became heavier... and sweat dripped from their skin. An open room off of the hall had a balcony with a large winch hooked up to chains on a massive black cauldron. Below was a large river of lava. It appeared the cauldron was meant to pour lava into the troughs that ran through the chambers. Hot magma in the cauldron moved strangely... enough that the group guessed it could be a magma elemental since it wasn't cooling. Thorn moved up to the next door in the hallway, "Hold on, Kale. I got this one." The halfling winked up at the elven warrior. "Oh that's awfully kind of you," Kale nodded, "Here you can wear this blindfold to make it more challenging." "Alright," Thorn shrugged, standing confident, certain of his skills... blind or not. Kale shook his head, "No, no... I wouldn't want to hinder your skills in the sack..." "Oh, your sister's been talking?" Thorn flashed him a grin. Wren shook her head, looking over at Kale, "You deserved that... you started it." He sighed at her. Thorn opened the door without any difficulties, finding that the interlocking tiles of the fortress gave way to a more earthy crypt-like room. A large silver anvil was in the room, engraved with images of Moradin ushering dwarven souls to the heavens. Though the value of the anvil looked rich, the item was far too heavy to be worth hauling out. Ten grave niches were carved out in the wall, but it looked as though the urns had been recently tossed to the side and broken on the floor. Posy stepped in next to him to see a spectral dwarven woman resting at peace in front of the northern wall of the room. Trying to talk to her, the spirit didn't seem to wake or take notice. As the gnome continued forward toward the spirit, Thorn called out quickly, "Wait! Don't step there!" Posy froze as a pressure plate clicked under her foot. A section of wall opened up for a large rolling boulder to tumble across the room! She managed to move back enough that it just knocked her aside slightly instead of smashing her... she could see a trail in the dirt where the boulder had traveled through, noticing barely an indentation of about dwarven size... perhaps someone that had been squished previously by the boulder. Tracks in the room showed the body had already been drug out.. Thorn and Posy managed to find a secret door in the wall that the halfling investigated further and opened. Inside, was a small intricate room with a tiered platform holding up a coffin with depictions of the same woman as the spirit who she seen resting here. A masterfully painted mural of color was on the wall, telling the epic tale of Micah's Quest for Sky... the feminine dwarven hero who struggled up to the surface, eventually piercing through the caverns to the lands of the sun. Among the pictures were many battles with grey skinned dwarves. Toward the end of the pictures, she was seen as an elderly woman stoking the fires of a white hot forge, and many paid homage to her during her wake. Large bronze candlesticks lit up with fire as Posy stepped into the room. There was no sign of any tracks. "We should leave her be," Thorn nodded, moving to close up the door. Posy seen the spiritual woman finally move, coming into the room to stand sadly by her coffin. She looked directly at Posy and gestured solemnly to the coffin. "Hey, there's a chicky!" Posy pointed to the ghostly form that no one else could see, and she moved up to start pushing open the coffin. "Posy... I wouldn't ... desecrate... the..." Thorn shook his head, watching in surprise. "No, there's a ghost woman... she was resting over there... and she's painted right here on the wall," Posy pointed to the mural, glancing back at Thorn, "She wants me to open this." Erevin, trusting in the gnome, moved up to help her, putting his muscles into sliding the stone cover over. Uther as well moved in, and the three of them shoved open the coffin. The spirit of the woman vanished. A magnificent warhammer was inside with a stone handle in the shape of a woman, and a head made of adamantite. Posy could feel the magic of the impressive weapon as she placed her hands on it, and she lifted it up to feel that it was lighter than it should be, but wasn't lacking in heft or power. There was also a magnificent golden bellows, bejeweled in amethysts, emeralds, and sapphires... also radiating a strong sense of magic. The little gnome collected both, asking Goram if he wanted them... since he was looking for the forge. "I'm looking for the forge, lass... if the little missy wanted you to have it, then you should take it... besides that's a girl's hammer, I'd look ridiculous holding that," he shook his head. Posy shrugged, taking the items with her, and offered a grateful thank you to Micah.

No tracks around the area suggested that the would-be thieves never found this area, so after thanking her spiritual host, Posy and the others closed up the crypt and concealed the door. Following the troughed hallways to the north, a set of stairs led up to a vast bridge that spanned over the river of lava. Thorn carefully led the way across, finding a spider strand strung across the bridge like a trip wire. He followed the line up to the ceiling where there were webs holding a set of sharp pendulums, waiting to drop. Shuddering, he pointed up and alerted the others before carefully disarming the trap. Crudely dug in tunnels had been smashed through a wall to dig into other tunnels on the other side of the bridge. Thorn led the way, carefully stepping in through one of the smashed holes. On the west wall of the room, a pair of grey skinned dwarves rode atop massive spiders guarding a pair of doors. A third dark dwarf was among them, wearing heavy armor. All of them turned as the group entered the room. Erevin slipped up beside the halfling and brushed a pair of arrows across the red gem on his gloves, loosing them into one of the spiders with a fiery blast as Azarius began weaving a spell behind him. "Surface elf! You will feel the wrath of my kin!" one of the dwarves on the spiders challenged Erevin as he ran toward him with his jousting spear! He pierced into him as he ran by on his spider mount, continuing in a curved lap around the room. Thorn engaged his ring to vanish from sight and crept carefully into the room, drawing his daggers as Wren stepped past him to send out a powerful cone of cold, covering a spider, his rider, and the heavily armored dwarf in a heavy frost. Kale quickly stepped in front of her, drawing his blade to hold back the armored warrior that headed angrily for the witch. The rider stampeded around him to knock Wren to the ground with his spear, trampling her with his spider mount as he swerved around to follow the other rider. Posy drew her newly acquired hammer, charging in to shatter the frozen spider and smashed his rider into a gooey pulp as Erevin impaled the other spider to the ground with three arrows, pinning it's corpse to the ground as the dark dwarf tumbled off of him. A lillend azata arrived at the summons of Azarius, singing an elven hymn, and she struck into the grey-skinned dwarf with her blade! Azarius stepped into the doorway after her, sending a barrage of magic missiles into the armored dwarf who continued to strike against Kale's shield. The dismounted dwarf turned around, striking back into the azata with it's axe. Two more dark dwarves ran in from the open doorways mounted on spiders to surround Posy, "You killed Balrum!" One of them pierced into her with his javelin as the other knocked her over and trampled her to the floor! Thorn stepped away from the shadowed stone wall to slash and stab with precise strikes into the back of the armored dwarf who turned gruffly around to face the halfling with rage! Kale took the moment to strike into the turned back of the dwarf, drawing his attention back on him as Thorn seized the opportunity for a final strike to take down the armored dwarven warrior! The finisher! Wren got back on her feet, firing an icy bolt into one of the running mounted dwarves and his spider as Erevin sent another barrage of arrows into another of the mounted dwarves. Posy got back on her feet and smashed into the spider below the riding dwarf as Azarius sent in magic missiles to finish off the dwarf with arrows in his back. The lillend azata struck with her blade and tail into into the scurrying now-riderless spider to finish it off. A lone spider came scurrying out of the tunnel, growing to immense size! Shri stepped in just past Azarius into the room, sending out a prayer of Eilistraee to boost everyone's morale just as another mounted dwarf zipped in through the second tunnel to again knock down and trample the witch to the floor! A long length of webbing dripped out of the abdomen of the enormous leng spider, only to be ejected out, entangling Erevin near the doorway. The newly arrived spider bit into Thorn as it's rider poked his javelin into Posy. Thorn tumbled past the spiders to eviscerate the partially frozen poisonous mount as Wren stood back up to shoot lightning through her wand to kill another of the riding dwarves and spiders. Kale moved up to engage one of the mounted dwarves as Posy smashed into another. Erevin managed to maneuver around his webbed bindings to send another barrage of arrows out into the huge spider while Azarius's azata finshed the dark dwarf in front of her with a strike of her sword and a slap of her tail! The charismatic mage sent out a powerful green ray that, despite the spider's great resistance, still managed to disintegrate one of its legs. A wash of luminescent healing waved over Shri's companions, as she kept them all standing and focused. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">One of the mounted dwarves jabbed fiercely into Kale, knocking him to the ground and running over him as another dove for Thorn only to be stabbed in the back by the lillend azata, falling to the floor. The leng spider spun a long length of thick webbing around a rock, whipping it through the air like a flail to pummel the halfling mercilessly! <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> Battered and bruised, Thorn drove his daggers into it's long hairy legs while the witch behind him sent out a cone of silver darts through her empowering wand into the mounted dwarves, dropping them both, and allowing Kale to get back to his feet beside her. Posy swung her hammer to crush into the enormous leg of the spider as Erevin aimed carefully to send in a penetrating flaming arrow into its abdomen. The azata gave the spider a mighty slap with her tail as Azarius sent in scorching beams of fire. The leng spider, horribly wounded, whipped it's flailing rock webbing to pummel into Thorn again, leaning over the halfling with thick green poison dripping from it's fangs.

Thorn, gritting his teeth through the pain of his shattered bones, swung up onto the spider's back using it's own flail webbing, and stabbed viciously deep into it's back, driving it to the ground dead! The halfling collapsed to his knees as Azarius moved to melt parts of the corpse in acid to be sure it didn't heal itself back to life. Shri ruffled her fingers along Thorn's short hairs, washing him in moonlit relief as she sent in a powerful heal, fully mending his wounds, "You did good, little Thorn." Wren dashed over to cut Erevin free of his webbed bindings and everyone took a moment to look around to find that, closed from further exit, natural caverns loaded with spiderwebbing had housed where the dwarves had been coming from.

The dark dwarves wore several magic items that the group took with them... Magic Full Plate Magic Heavy Steel Shield Magic Bastard Sword 5 Magic Breastplates 5 Magic Lances 6 Magic Cloaks 2 Magic Javelins Magic Broach

A set of heavy doors led to a short set of stairs that led to a massive forge in a large chamber. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">An incredible feat, decorated with hundreds of reliefs depicting dwarven smiths surrounded by metal weapons and armor. Dwarven runes crowned the entryway that Goram recognized as words to a song called the Hymn of Moradin. The once magnificent carvings had been vandalized with scratched-in vulgar dark-dwarven graffiti, obscene images, and the unholy symbols of Laduguer and Deep Duerra... which Shri recognized as the gods of the duergar. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Goram looked around with skepticism, "There's something... not quite right here... with the forge." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Thorn and Erevin exchanged a look as a wafting of sulfur assaulted their sense of smell. Alerted to it's presence, Wren recognized it as an alchemical ingredient that was very flammable. Thorn found cracks in the pipes where gas was leaking, filling the room with it's presence... if they had lit the forge, the whole room would have exploded. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Goram shook his head, "I don't think this is the real forge... I think it's a fake... a decoy... but I suggest we back away." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Erevin nodded, directing everyone back out of the smashed room and sealing up the doors. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Heading back to take a different hall, the group found a room with a statue of Moradin where water ran out of his mouth. The water flowed like a river off of a balcony to fall to the river of lava below. Written in dwarven on the statue, Goram read, "Heed the words of Moradin which flow as water from his mouth. Apply these teachings to your life, and through them you will gain entry into the hidden realm." <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Erevin walked along the river of flowing water to peer over the balcony at the fog of steam rising from the lava. Azarius flew over the edge, inspecting it for any secret passages, but the wall seemed solid. Erevin walked back and felt around inside the statue's mouth to hear a click as he pulled a lever. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The statue raised up, revealing a doorway beneath. A set of ornate stairs descended to a massive forge made of burnished bronze, polished gold and silver, and glittering gemstones of every imaginable color. The room was sweltering and a raging fire burned in the open furnace. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">A large figure was yelling at one of the spider-riding gray dwarves who was pumping at the bellows, "Pump faster! It isn't working. Pump faster!" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Erevin drew his bow, pointing a careful arrow at the enlarged dwarf, who's body seemed to be roiling slightly... as everyone looked closer, it became apparent that the large figure seemed to be a dwarf made entirely of spiders!