Father Dunstan nods, and seems pleased with the group's response. "The foul thing will be destroyed at noon today, in the temple court. First we'll cleanse the profanity that fills it, then we'll take sledge hammers to it. Any of you who wish are welcome to join in the pounding. You might want to be a bit early, since word will spread, and many will want to see the thing destroyed." He and his brethren take their leave, with the brazier in a cart they brought with them, the younger priests forming a sort of guard of honor, as the evil thing is carted towards the main square, where the temple is.
Haversham shows up just as the second round of breakfast appears, and takes a seat. "The Thane sends his thanks, and in fact he'd like to meet you. Apparently word of your exploits is all over the fair, now." He smiles faintly at that. "As if they needed anything else to make merry about..."
Before he can continue though, Morris walks over, and smiles at his wife, who is supervising breakfast with her usual skill, and then puts the heavy book that the group found in the secret room down. "Well, you'll be pleased to know that you were in the lower works of the Towers of Gard. Or at least under where those towers used to be."
Anyone local has heard the tales of the Towers of Gard.
The Towers of Gard
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Before there was a city of Stonegate, two strong towers, built by the dwarves of Stone Mountain, formed an outer bulwark for the defense of the approaches to the Mountain. Great war engines topped the towers, and could be used to punish any army that tried to besiege the dwarves in their stronghold.
When the hordes of the Darkrune first erupted from the deep places, more then seven centuries ago, they were faced with the vast might of the Old North Kingdom. It took nearly five centuries, even after they broke the power of the men of the north, to consolidate their rule, and to sort out the power struggles and infighting that accompanied the division of their new-taken lands. Then, their power in the north complete, the Darkrune crossed the mountains, planning to bring the same slaughter and slavery to the south that they had in the north of Avonleigh the island. All that stood between the hordes and the weak, scattered men of southern Avonleigh were the dwarves of Stone Mountain, and a group of wild mercenaries known as the Men of Mallon Hill. The first king of Avonleigh was doing his best to marshal the forces of his new and fledgling land, but he needed time. The Towers of Gard bought that time. For two months orcs, giants, drow, and darker things raged around the two towers, but the defenders, both dwarves and men, stood firm. In the end, the towers fell, and were razed to the ground, all the defenders slain. But the time gained allowed the army of Avonleigh to march north, and join with the Stone dwarves and the elves of Tremblewood to smash the Darkrune hordes, and eventually to drive them back into their dark places, deep beneath the earth. The towers, which had taken twenty years of dwarven labor to build in the first place, were never rebuilt.
The sacrifice of the Towers of Gard also forged a lasting bond between the dwarves and men of both north and south, and eventually led to the foundation of the city of Stonegate, long centuries later, after the Darkrune hordes returned.
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Morris grins, and points at the book. "That's your proof. It was written by the commander of the tower garrison, and it was sealed away in a secret chamber, along with their most grievously wounded comrades, and some valuables, just after the Darkrune breached the inner defenses. And you found the secret cache, apparently."
