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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kid Charlemagne" data-source="post: 772" data-attributes="member: 93">Shadow Springs, Vokal Mountains, December 23rd, AE 419“Vekkoth?” Sir Brennen asks.  “We were given your name by a dwarf in Oakendell.  We may need your help…“What’s going on here?  What happened to the town?”Vekkoth and the other two dwarves lead the party up and into the Sky Temple itself, which is a low lying structure at the top of a rocky precipice.  A low door leads into the structure.Vekkoth introduces the party to several other dwarves who escaped the fall of Shadow Springs.  They include an elderly priest of Moradin named Valarin, who is helped along his rather rickety way by two priestly aides; Vekkoth’s son, Dumas; and Blyndras, a blacksmith from Shadow Springs.  Valarin and his two aides are from Kazathun, and Dumas led them here by the underground route the party hopes Vekkoth will be able to show them.“So what happened to Shadow Springs?”  Brennen asks again.Vekkoth explains, “The town was attacked about a week ago by a combined force of Orcs and Drow, about 200 in all.  We were vastly outnumbered, and the Drow went around making sure that all the townsfolk were dead.  They kept the orcs from cannibilizing the dead..”“Well, that’s a plus, anyway,” Jalea says.“It wasn’t for that reason,” Vekkoth goes on.  “They went around randomly setting fire to buildings, and burning various bodies.  It wasn’t until they cast a wall of fire down the central street that we understood what it was they were doing.  They were trying to make sure the attack looked like a dragon attack.  When they left, they opened the gates so that wolves could come in and feed off the bodies, obscuring any evidence of the sword blows that killed them.”The party takes this news in solemnly, and then Reanna speaks up.“What about Kazathun, and the Lake of a Thousand Waterfalls?”Kassaroth, one of Valarin’s aides, responds, “We were attacked with no notice at all.  The first warning signs were a series of minor tremors in the center of town, then a large force of Drow and Orcs burst through the cavern walls.  The holes had apparently been made by Umber Hulks, which were also used in the fighting.  Maybe two hundred orcs, and around sixty Drow.”Aris whistles.  He’s been tracking the Drow activity for a while now, and the previous largest group seen in the past hundred years was around a dozen.“We were overwhelmed.  Kazathun was taken, and the dwarves who weren’t killed in the fighting are being forced to do the Drow’s bidding.  We escaped about three weeks ago, and made it this far.  But maybe the Drow didn’t want us escaping any further.”“Well, we can get you out of here no problem.  Jovah here will have you presenting this information in front of the King in… what is it Jovah?”  Brennen stops mid sentence as the luck-priest tugs on his cloak.“That might not be a great idea,” Jovah whispers.  “That Valarin guy has got to be the oldest dwarf I’ve ever, and that trip through the mountains didn’t do him any good.  I’d hate to have this one jump be the one that gives an old dwarf the one year’s worth of aging that kills him.”“Yeah,” Brennen replies.  “That wouldn’t exactly endear us to the dwarven community, huh?”“Not really,” Jovah agrees.“Okay, then,” Brennen says.  “We’ll get you guys out of here on foot, to Oakendell.  Count Rovan can help you out as well as anyone can.”The dwarves begin to make preparations to leave, and the party gets Vekkoth to agree to take them to Kazathun once the Dwarf-Priest is safe in Oakendell.Batista searches out Harak, the younger of Valarin’s aides.“I have a question,” he says.  “I’ve always thought of dwarves being an underground kind of people, but then there’s this Sky Temple thing.  What’s this place all about.”Harak grins.  “Let me show you.”He leads Batista to a stair leading up to a trapdoor, and throws it open.  The dwarf and the half-elf step out on to a flat platform, completely open to the freezing air and the cobalt-blue sky.  Shadow Springs sits between three immense peaks in the Vokal range, and the view is spectacular. “This is a place of reflection,” Harak says.  “And of facing one’s fears.  Dwarves are commonly agoraphobic by nature.  Decades and centuries spent in close, underground mines, and small workshops make us fearful of open spaces.  This is a place for a Dwarf to come and face those fears, and lessen them, perhaps overcome them completely.”“Great view,” Batista says appreciatively.“For some dwarves, it’s a terrifying view.  Once we can overcome the fear and appreciate the beauty, we have passed the test.”</blockquote>

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