Defending the Temple
The dwarven commanders gave the job of defending the temple of Moradin to the party. Other stout dwarven warriors were lining up to defend the King's hall, the lower mines, the Forges, and the Merchant's Hall. Before too long, they heard the hobgoblins marching through the cavern toward them. Thirty seasoned hobgoblin warriors lined up and charged.
Rytalyn was up on a statue, and pulled out a scroll. Chanting the arcane words, she summoned a small ball of flame to her hand. She gracefully tossed it to a group of hobgoblins on the left flank that were pulling out heavy crossbows. The flame exploded where it hit, dropping most of the archers to the ground, and those that remained standing were busily trying to douse their flaming hair and clothes.
Vartan, Ameril, and Jellyroll opened up with the arrows, while Helios, Beltar, Coop, and Coal waded into the line of Hobgoblins. The were fierce warriors, but no match for the party. Within a thirty seconds, the force was defeated.
As the last of the hobgoblins ran into the distance, the party could see that the dwarves were doing well themselves for the most part. They had taken the biggest hit from the position to the right of their own, where almost a hundred hobgoblins charged the King's chamber. The heroes grouped together and started in that direction.
Suddenly, they heard arcane chanting nearby. A huge earth elemental rose from the ground just in front of them. Helios, Vartan, and Coal leaped at him, while Coop raised his Gem of Seeing to look for the source of the chanting.
Coop saw a familiar looking mind flayer with a scroll in front of him, chanting again. He dashed over, alerting everyone to the wizard's location. Coal leaped at the spot, but hit nothing but air. Coop gave him a firm kick in the gut, tearing the scroll and disrupting the spell. Being unable to affect the elemental, the group charged at the wizard.
He cast another spell on himself, the characters missing the invisible spellcaster. Having an idea, Vartan cast a light spell and charged, hoping to drab him with his hand. Ehlonnha gave her blessing, and the illithid was invisible but glowing in the cavern like a torch.
The characters threw attacks into him, but he had further protections than just invisibility. He took off in a mad dash toward the King's hall as soon as the hobgoblins had broken the dwarven line. He was unearthly fast - not even Coop or COal could keep up with him. The elemental charged off toward the dwarven mines.
Not long after this, all the fighting stopped. Dwarves and hobgoblins dropped their weapons, dazed and confused. They all started slowly walking toward the King's hall. The characters could feel something pushing into their minds, some powerful force telling them to come, to lie down in the darkness.
The temple doors were flung open and a dwarf leaned out.
"Come! Everyone inside! The Anvil of Moradin will protect us!"
The characters ran inside. Immedietly inside the temple was a large iron anvil covered with runes. They no longer felt the pressure of the voice in their heads. There were a few dwarves that came in, but most did not make it. They closed the doors after they could see no more stragglers. They did feel deep trembles in the earth. The cleric fear it was the elemental, bringing down sections of the dwarf hold.
The dwarven cleric explained that the Anvil was an ancient relic. It held many powers, including the blocking of ill magics. He suggested that they make a pallate for it and carry it to the surface, that they might escape and figure out what had happened.
The doors were flung open and a hobgoblin warrior came inside. He looked at the characters and threw his sword on the ground.
"I surrender."
