Medriev's FR Thunderspire Labyrinth - Concluded Apr 13

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 1)

“There’s a shrine to Torm next to the Deepgem Company,” said Rendil Halfmoon when the battered band returned to his inn in the Seven Pillared Hall. “Phaledra will surely raise the elves if you have the gold.”
The six left the common room straight away and headed across the wide cavern to the western wall where the shrine was said to lie. Dulvarna saw the dwarf party first, a female with a large sword on her belt and four armed warriors, all with the grey skin of the duergar.
“Duergar are here,” she said to the others. “What brings them into this place?”

She lowered her end of Telkya’s litter to the ground and started towards them while Enlishia lowered the other end and unshouldered her bow. Erlmoor and Lavren put down Litiraan and started towards the duergar as well.
“What brings you here, duergar?” asked Erlmoor as they reached the gray dwarves. “We have met your kind in battle recently and it did not bode well for them.”
“Any battle here would end badly for you,” said the female duergar. “We are welcome here whilst you are strangers and the Mages rarely tolerate unruly behaviour.” Rendil had mentioned the mysterious Mages of Saruun as the rulers of the Hall and had intimated that they were to be feared.
“My friend merely asked you a question,” said Dulvarna. “Will you answer or not?”
“I have no need to explain my business to you,” answered the duergar. “Nor to I have time to stand and dally with you. If you wish to continue this conversation then seek me at the Grimmerzhul Trading Post in the east wall.”

At that, the duergar moved off towards the bridge over the river that divided the cavern in two, paying the companions no further mind. Enlishia made to nock an arrow to her bow but Erlmoor held out his arm and stopped her.
“Let them go,” he rumbled. “There’ll be time for them later.” They continued on to the shrine, drawing glances from others in the Hall as they went. Seemingly few risked confrontation with the duergar in this strange place.

The doors to the shrine were open and within was a hall no bigger than the shop of the trading company next door. At its far end, the wall was curved and enclosed an altar stone with the gauntlet symbol of Torm carved into the wall behind it. In front of the altar, three shallow steps descended to the shrine floor and benches for perhaps two dozen people filled the nave in two blocks to the left and right of an aisle. A side aisle led in front of the benches to a door in the south wall while before the altar knelt a priestess with close-cropped blonde hair in a chain jerkin and with a morningstar strapped to her back.

“Hail and well met,” said Erlmoor, setting down his end of Litiraan’s litter. “We seek the aid of Torm the True.”
“Torm only helps the deserving, the loyal and the obedient,” answered the priestess without rising or turning around. “Which are you, strangers to Thunderspire?”
“We are the survivors of a battle in need of aid for our fallen companions,” answered Lavren. “We bring gold to donate to Torm’s service but whether that makes us deserving, loyal or obedient, I know not.”
“Well spoken,” answered the priestess rising at last and turning to reveal the lined face of a middle-aged woman and streaks of grey in the front of her short hair. “You are loyal, for you did not abandon your companions to their fate and seek aid for them now. Not all act as you do in this world.”
“Will you aid us?” asked Erlmoor.
“I will,” answered the priestess. “I am Phaledra and you are welcome in Torm’s house.”

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 2)

“She wakes,” rumbled Erlmoor as Telkya’s eyes opened. Phaledra had applied sacramental unguents to the fallen elves all night while praying before the gauntlet altar behind them until, as dawn brightened the surface world somewhere above them, Telkya woke.
“My brother,” she said softly, reaching across to Litiraan. The realisation struck Lavren like a blow. The two were truly close and did feel love for each other because they were siblings. He could not help but break into a wide smile for so much more than the fact that Telkya lived and breathed again. Litiraan stirred as his sister’s hand touched his and his eyes too opened.

“The hobgoblins and the duergar are allied,” Telkya said weakly. “We must finish them and save our kin.”
“And so we will,” said Dulvarna, kneeling beside the elf maid. “Are they strong enough?” The last was asked of Phaledra, who now stood over the elves as they sat up warily.
“They should be,” answered the priestess. “Though they will suffer the effects of what they have been through for several days. Their souls went on beyond this life and were called back. No one can endure such trauma unaffected.”

“You have our gratitude,” said Erlmoor, facing the priestess. “Though my service is pledged to Lathander, my blade is yours to call upon whenever you may need it.”
Erlmoor bowed to the priestess and turned to leave the shrine. The others took their leave in their own ways and made their way out of the chamber. In the cavern outside they did not pause but crossed the cavern to the eastern passage and the hobgoblin lair that yet lurked in the darkness.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 3)

The companions drew quiet as they neared the double doors at the end of the entry hall, thinking to surprise the hobgoblins they knew to be behind them. They had decided that this way would allow for the best chance of surprise for surely their enemies would not expect them to come from this direction, even if they expected them to return at all. Dulvarna drew her sword and the others followed suit and then they watched as their leader drew near to the doors, leaned her sword against her shoulder with one hand and reached out for the door handles. She turned one iron ring as Erlmoor turned the other and then both hurled the doors open.

Carvings of eyes covered the walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber beyond the doors. An idol of a horrible toad-like creature dominated the area while in the centre of the floor, chains were affixed to the flagstones, though no prisoners were chained there. A huge black wolf lay on the floor nearby, its ears back and its eyes on the door as the companions entered. It raised its head and issued a low growl of warning.

Suddenly, a hobgoblin appeared on a balcony above the southern side of the room and loosed an arrow that drove into Dulvarna’s shoulder. She yanked the arrow from her shoulder and charged at the dire wolf, slashing her blade across the beast’s shoulder. Litiraan followed her into the chamber and loosed a silver bolt from his wand towards the archer, forcing the hobgoblin to duck back. The sound of shouting came from the southern balcony as the wolf leapt at Dulvarna. She dodged aside and slashed out with her blade as she realised what the shouting meant. More enemies were coming!

Erlmoor darted right and rushed up the stairs to the southern balcony with his sword in his hands. Telkya followed him into the chamber, chanting as she came. A bolt of light flew from the amulet in her hand and struck the floor close to the wolf.

Outside the chamber, Lavren heard the shouting and turned aside, heading up steps to his left that he hoped would lead to the chamber where they had last entered the lair. He threw open the door at the top of the steps and surprised a hobgoblin who was just gathering up his bow in response to the alarm from the main chamber. The elf uttered a word of power and loosed a blast of black, crackling energy towards the hobgoblin. The blast flew high over the hobgoblin and struck the wall above its head. The hobgoblin leveled his bow and loosed an arrow that drove into Lavren’s arm and the elf ducked back out of the doorway.

Enlishia watched Lavren go and decided to attempt her own flanking maneuver. Turning right, she made her way down the southern passage, past a torch burning on the wall and a side passage to the end of the passage where a door led eastward. Hearing a small clattering sound, followed by a burst of coarse laughter and angry muttering, she nocked an arrow to her bow and ducked back around the corner. As more clattering and low, guttural voices reached her through the door, she leaned forward flung the door open. The room appeared to be a combination of kitchen, storeroom, and mess hall. Several barrels and a woodpile rested in the kitchen area, where a large cooking fire burned. Hobgoblins, goblins, and a pair of humans were gathered around battered old tables. The room’s occupants looked up in alarm and reached for their weapons.

Erlmoor reached the archer and the hobgoblin threw down its bow in favour of the sword that it drew from its belt. It slashed at him and he parried the blow before roaring and spraying acid on the hobgoblin. The creature reeled back along the balcony and the dragonborn brought his sword in from the left to cut into the hobgoblin’s leg. A silver bolt seared into the side of the hobgoblin and drove it back another step. He looked down to nod his thanks to Litiraan and saw that Dulvarna and Telkya were driving back the wolf with sword and prayer but across from him, he saw a new threat. The chieftain had emerged onto the north balcony and was heading for the stairs.
“The chieftain comes,” he called out.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 4)

Dulvarna looked up and nodded as she dodged another lunge from the wolf. Behind the chieftain came another archer, presumably the one who had sounded the alarm. This hobgoblin came to the edge of the balcony and loosed an arrow at Telkya, the shaft driving into her arm and forcing her back a step. She yanked the arrow free without flinching and loosed another bolt of light towards the wolf.

Lavren cursed the hobgoblin in elven and called forth flame with his wand that burst from the creature to sear its flesh. He charged then, his sword in his right hand and his wand in his left. He only hoped that there were no more enemies lurking close to this chamber.
Enlishia loosed another arrow into the closest hobgoblin and then darted back up the corridor towards her friends. The hobgoblins and their allies roared their anger and rushed after her and as she fled, she began to yell too.

“More to the south,” she called out. “More come from the south.” She turned as she reached the double doors, sharing a glance with Telkya who looked back at her shouts of alarm. Turning back towards her foes, she nocked an arrow to her bow but then thought better of it and tossed the weapon aside. Drawing her sword, she raised it to meet her enemies. An arrow flew from the far end of the corridor and drove painfully into her shoulder. Without a free hand to snap it free, she left the shaft there. Another arrow flew past her heads and clattered against the steps that Lavren had taken.

Dulvarna heard the warning shouts behind her and knew she had to finish the wolf quickly. Weaving her blade before her she darted left and then twisted on the spot to bring her blade around in a wide swing that clove into the side of the wolf, shattering ribs and piercing the lung beneath. The wolf snarled and bit at her but she dodged back just as the hobgoblin chieftain reached the bottom of the stairs. He hissed at her and stabbed out with his spear, feinting left and then driving it in from Dulvarna’s right and into her thigh. She cried out and staggered back, retreating before both foes now as the wolf wheezed forward, blood pouring from its ruined side. An arrow flew past Dulvarna and clattered into the wall behind Telkya as she completed another prayer. A bolt of searing white radiance lanced out from her holy symbol and drove through the wolf’s chest. With a yelp, the huge beast collapsed to the chamber floor.

Erlmoor slapped aside the blade of the hobgoblin before him and stepped towards the creature but even as he lashed out with his blade, a silver bolt struck the hobgoblin in the chest of pitched it from the balcony to the chamber floor below. Erlmoor looked around for another enemy and started forward along the balcony thinking to circle around to the other archer. Just as he started forward, s trap door opened on the ledge beside the toad-like statue and from it emerged a goblin with a small crossbow in its hand. The dragonborn roared as loudly as he could and charged the newcomer. His blade slashed out and caught the goblin in the shoulder as it threw aside its crossbow and reached for the short, jagged-bladed sword at its belt. Erlmoor roared again and saw that another goblin followed the first up the ladder from the trapdoor below.

Another arrow drove into Enlishia, piercing her hip this time but still she stood form. The hobgoblin archers were jostling in the corridor for the next shot. The ranger put away her sword, picked up her bow again and loosed an arrow into the lead hobgoblin. The shaft drove through the creature’s throat and threw it back into the next of its companions. The next archer shrugged its fallen companion aside and loosed its own arrow at the ranger but it only clattered off the corridor wall as Enlishia ducked back out of sight. Another loosed an arrow as she ducked out from the corner again but it flew harmlessly past her head. She ducked back, nocked another arrow to her bow and prepared to leap out and fire again.

Erlmoor drove his blade into the shoulder of a second goblin as it clambered out of the trapdoor but it rolled to its feet and came up with sword in hand. A man in black leather armour with a mace in his hand emerged next and the dragonborn stabbed at him as well, nicking his cheek as he clambered from the trapdoor. One of the goblins stabbed at the paladin but he parried the thrust and twisted the goblin’s sword out to one side. Another man clambered up to Erlmoor’s right and he slashed out at him then, missing his chance to attack the goblin. He drew blood from the man’s back but still the warrior got its his feet with a mace in his hand. Erlmoor roared, lashed out wildly with his sword and retreated back along the southern ledge to restrict the enemies he would have to fight. The men followed but the goblins knelt to retrieve their crossbows. They had other plans for him.

Telkya flinched as another arrow struck the stone next to the double doors and began praying again. She raised her holy symbol and loosed light from it that seared into the chieftain’s shoulder as he and Dulvarna parried each other’s blows. She looked to Litiraan who was already uttering another incantation of his own. The two of them, brother and sister, together with Dulvarna, would surely defeat the hobgoblin chieftain this time.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 5)

Lavren slapped aside the hobgoblin’s sword and whipped his own blade across his enemy’s chest, drawing blood from a deep wound and forcing the hobgoblin back into the passage entrance. The creature stabbed out again but again the elf parried and moved forward for the killing blow. Plunging forward, he drove his blade into his foe’s belly and as the hobgoblin fell, he felt the creature’s strength flow into him from his sword and fey magic of his warlock powers fill his soul. He gasped as he transformed into a silver mist that moved along the corridor and then reformed into his elven form halfway down the hall. With sword and wand in hand, he moved cautiously along the hall until the sounds of battle grew louder and the corridor turned to the south. There, at the end of the southern passage, stood a hobgoblin archer, his attention fixed on the battle in the wide hall below him. Lavren turned towards this new foe and leveled his wand at the creature.

Enlishia ducked back around the corner of the passage and loosed one arrow and then a second into the chest of the next hobgoblin coming up the southern corridor. It fell back with both shafts through its breastbone and another stepped over its companion. This was the last archer, though, and Enlishia knew its accuracy was no match for hers. She ducked back around the corner as the hobgoblin started forward, seeking a better shot. The ranger waited for the hobgoblin to round the corner but it never did. Instead, she heard the twang of a bowstring and an arrow drove into Telkya’s shoulder blade from behind. The elf priestess reeled forward and staggered as Litiraan looked around to see where the shot had come from. Enlishia cursed her poor judgment, nocked an arrow to her bow and moved forward to the corner once again.

A small goblin crossbow bolt drove into Erlmoor’s thigh but he paid it no mind. Of more concern were the two human warriors he now faced, blade to blade at the corner of the narrow balcony. Erlmoor parried a mace swing and twisted the warrior away from him but as he did so, another goblin bolt drove into his hip and threw him off balance. Erlmoor lashed out with his blade anyway and struck the man under the arm, almost throwing him off the balcony and forcing him two twist awkwardly to maintain his footing. Erlmoor roared his defiance for all to hear and surged forward again.

Dulvarna feinted low and as the hobgoblin chieftain moved his blade down, she twisted on the spot and brought her blade up high. The sword came down with all the momentum of her spin and all the weight of its mighty blade. Had the chieftain not moved, it would have cloven his skull but although he did it still smashed through the collar bone of his left shoulder and almost severed his arm. A silver bolt from Litiraan’s wand seared into the chest of the hobgoblin and drove him back a step. With a panicked and pained grimace, the hobgoblin looked back over his shoulder, up the steps. With his spear held awkwardly in one hand, the hobgoblin stepped back and then darted away up the steps. He pushed his way past the archer at the northern doorway, jolting the hobgoblin so that his next arrow flew straight downwards into the floor of the lower chamber. The huge hobgoblin turned through the doorway but was met by an elven curse. A searing black bolt lanced out and struck him in the chest. He staggered back onto the balcony and as the archer watched helplessly, he pitched over backwards to land with a dull thump amidst the chains below.

Telkya ducked back through the double doors, a prayer on her lips and her amulet in her hand. She loosed a bolt of light from the symbol that struck the archer in the southern corridor in the shoulder and sent him reeling backwards. Enlishia ducked around the corner and loosed two arrows, both of which missed the hobgoblin and at that, the creature hissed its defiance at the ranger. Raising its bow, the hobgoblin loosed another arrow that drove into Enlishia’s leg and then retreated back a step down the corridor.

The goblins on the ledge looked anxiously at the fallen chieftain on the floor of the main chamber and turned their attention away from Erlmoor. One rushed across to stand before the toad-like statue and leveled its crossbow at Dulvarna. It let fly the bolt but the missile clattered harmlessly into the stone at the feet of the warrior woman. She pointed her blade at the goblin and then rushed up the stairs towards the archer who still stood in front of the northern doorway, stunned by the fall of his chieftain. Dulvarna’s blade lashed out and brought the hobgoblin back to its senses as it tore into his chest and spun him around to face her. The hobgoblin let his bow clatter to the floor and drew his curved sword from his belt. The archer lashed out and drew blood from Dulvarna’s cheek as she recoiled to evade the blow. A silver bolt struck the stone above the hobgoblin’s head and the archer visibly flinched. Then it heard elven cursed from the corridor to its right and it knew it was doomed.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 4 - Hidden Light and Brazen Darkness (Part 6)

Erlmoor glanced over at the goblins as they turned their attention to Litiraan and Dulvarna on the floor of the main chamber and smiled as he saw the fallen chieftain, lying broken amongst the chains. He parried one mace blow then but then felt a painful blow strike the top of his right arm before he could bring his blade back across to parry the second blow. The dragonborn snarled and lashed out with his blade, forcing the warrior back from him but missing him by several inches. The dragonborn glanced over at the far balcony just as black, crackling energy flew past the hobgoblin, crossed the room and struck the balcony behind Erlmoor.
“Can’t the elf be a bit careful,” he grumbled to himself before turning his attention back to his enemies.

Enlishia loosed an arrow and then both she and Telkya ducked to the left back into the main chamber. Telkya loosed a bolt of light at the hobgoblin that Dulvarna faught while the ranger turned back to the doorway, another arrow already nocked, waiting for the last archer. It came soon enough, loosing an arrow into Enlishia’s shoulder as it rushed past the double doors. The ranger fell back and coughed, blood filling her mouth. She was more sorely wounded than she had thought. She only hoped that her strength would last. Telkya looked over at Enlishia as blood began to run down her chin and began a healing prayer. Even as she did so, a goblin crossbow bolt drove into her side and almost knocked her from her feet. She staggered and leaned against Enlishia before pushing herself back to her feet and beginning her healing prayer once more.

Erlmoor reeled back again as a mace connected painfully with his forearm as he tried to parry the blows of both his enemies. He lashed out wildly again to drove them back but as he did so, flame filled the balcony before the toad statue and engulfed one of the warriors and one of the goblins. They cringed from the searing fire and Erlmoor took his chance. With a prayer on his lips, he feinted at the warrior wounded by the flame and then swept hiss blade back around to strike at his other foe. The warrior ducked but that only saved him from being beheaded. The paladin’s sword slashed into the side of the warrior’s skull, splitting it open and felling him where he stood. Divine power flowed out from the paladin then, restoring his strength and even reaching Telkya on the floor of the main chamber below. Erlmoor roared his triumph and then, uttering another prayer, he drove his blade into the chest of the other warrior as the paladin’s blade glowed with a golden light. The warrior fell beside his companion and Erlmoor turned towards the goblin before the statue. With another roar, he charged at the creature.

Telkya finished her healing prayer, her strength restored a little by Erlmoor’s prayer, above her on the balcony. Divine light reached out to Enlishia and healed the worst of the ranger’s hurts. She nodded her thanks to the elf and then loosed an arrow at the hobgoblin near the doors. The shaft drove into the shoulder of the archer but it simply turned its head aside tore the arrow from its flesh with its jagged teeth. It loosed an arrow but the missile clattered into the stone next to Enlishia. She smiled with an enthusiasm that she did not feel and the hobgoblin snarled back at her. One would die here, both knew, and both prayed that it would be the other.

Litiraan retreated from the balcony and loosed a silver bolt into the goblin that Erlmoor now faced. The creature had drawn its jagged sword and stabbed at the paladin but the dragonborn had swatted the small blade aside with his own, huge blade. Litiraan heard the click of a crossbow and turned towards the other goblin just as a bolt struck the floor close to his feet. He raised his wand towards the goblin and the creature shrank backwards. Nervously it glanced to its left as Erlmoor drove his sword into its companion’s belly and then hurled the goblin over the balcony to the floor of the chamber below. The dragonborn was upon the goblin a moment later and as it fumbled for its sword, Litiraan began another spell.

Telkya loosed a bolt of light from her amulet at the hobgoblin near the door and as the divine fire struck its chest she saw fear mixed with its pain for the first time. It turned its eyes towards Enlishia as it raised its bow again but it knew that the ranger would be quicker. It drew back its bowstring but as it did so, Enlishia let fly her arrow. The hobgoblin was transfixed as the arrow flew towards it and drove straight through its forehead and into its brain. It bow and the unspent arrow clattered to the floor of the chamber and it collapsed to the chamber floor.

Lavren leveled his wand again and began his most powerful spell, determined to bring down the hobgoblin this time. He uttered the incantation and as he completed it, the hobgoblin screamed and began to shrink from invisible enemies. It dropped its sword on the balcony before Dulvarna while clawing at its own face. Blood poured from self-inflicted wounds and then it reached the balcony edge. With a final scream, it fell over the stone balustrade and landed with a thump next to its fallen chieftain.

Dulvarna stepped over the sword of the fallen archer and rushed at the last goblin. Her blade slashed out and cut into the chest of the creature as it shrank back against the wall. A silver bolt of energy hurled it back against the wall and it lashed out with its sword one last time before Erlmoor swept its head from its shoulders.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 1)

“They have been sold,” said Lavren, reading the letter that they had recovered along with other treasures from the hold of the Bloodreavers. He read on. “Sixteen elves taken on the East Way, sold to someone who has signed themselves as Murkelmor Grimmerzhul.” They were gathered in Dulvarna’s room in the Halfmoon Inn and sorting through the chest of treasure they had brought back from the hobgoblin lair.
“How much did they pay?” asked Dulvarna as she held up a chainmail coat which seemed finely made but was incredibly light.

“A thousand gold,” rumbled Erlmoor, reading over Lavren’s shoulder. “A bit more than sixty each.” He turned away with a bitter grimace on his face. He tried a practice swing with the greatsword that they had recovered from the hobgoblins while Dulvarna began removing her scale armour to try on the chainmail.
“Any price would be too little,” said Enlishia. “We have to find this Grimmerzhul.”

“Perhaps we already have,” said Dulvarna. “The duergar we met this morning were from the Grimmerzhul Trading Post were they not. And we were invited to see them there.” The others nodded as they realised the truth of Dulvarna’s words.
“But first we shall rest and eat,” Dulvarna added. “We shall want to face them fresh and well fed.” The others nodded again and as Dulvarna tried some practice swings with her sword in the chainmail coat, the others rose to go down to the common room. Eventually, when she was satisfied that the armour would serve, she followed on behind.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 2)

The trading post was a sturdy building of grey stone carved into the cavern’s east wall. A sign above the door displayed an emblem of a hammer and manacles. The front door led to a counter, where two dwarflike creatures stood. They had skin of a sooty hue, bald heads, and stiff beards of rusty orange. “You don’t look like merchants or mages,” said one of the duergar in heavily accented Common. “”What’s your business here?”

“We seek Murkelmor Grimmerzhul,” said Lavren. “You know of him?”
“Can’t say that I do,” answered the same duergar. “We can ask around and see if we can get a message to him.”
“A message?” rumbled Erlmoor, and the others could tell that he was only just restraining himself. “Tell him we want to buy some elves.”
“Buy elves?” answered the other duergar. “Don’t know what ye’ve heard about this Murkelmor but we sell no elves in our clan.”
“Of course not,” said Telkya. “We must be mistaken. What do you sell here?”
“What ye see, elf,” answered the duergar. “Ye want to buy any of our wares?”
“A nice front,” snarled Telkya, starting forward suddenly. “Now tell us where we you take the slaves or I start smashing things.” She drew her sword from her belt.

The duergar reacted immediately, both reaching into their beards for the quills with one hand and drawing warhammers from their belts with the other. They opened their mouths to call out but Lavren began to curse them before they had chance. Purple rays lanced out from his wand, one striking the nearest duergar and the other striking the wall behind the other. Litiraan darted left and with an uttered incantation loosed flame from his wand as the duergar ducked down behind the counter. Telkya began chanting, loosing a searing bolt of flame at the nearest duergar and blasting him back against the shelves behind the counter. Erlmoor circled around to the left of the counter and with a roar, unleashed a spray of acid at the duergar. He draw his sword and lashed out but the dwarf brought up his warhammer and parried. Dulvarna ducked behind the dragonborn as the duergar lashed out at her but she drew her sword and parried the hammer. She twisted the hammer to one side and then brought her blade back but the dwarf, more agile than his form suggested, leapt back beyond the reach of her blade. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the shelves above the counter and the duergar began shouting in their own tongue, presumably summoning aid.

The second duergar threw a quill from its beard that drove into Lavren’s arm and then turned to face Dulvarna and Erlmoor beside his companion. The other dwarf lashed his warhammer in low to strike Erlmoor’s leg painfully and force him back a step. The door beside Lavren opened then and another gray dwarf stood there, its warhammer at the ready. It lashed out and struck the elf’s already wounded arm, sending him reeling back from the doorway. A second duergar appeared beside the first as Lavren struggled to put some distance between himself and the doorway. He turned and loosed black, crackling energy from his wand that struck the lead dwarf in the chest. Litiraan moved to aid Lavren, loosing a silver bolt into the duergar and Enlishia turned her bow upon him but the dwarf came through the door undaunted anyway.

Erlmoor brought his blade down beside the counter and smashed the collar bone of the duergar before him. The dwarf staggered and fell back his warhammer drooping in his hand. Dulvarna saw her chance, swept her blade out and beheaded the duergar. The other dwarf roared and lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna drew back and the weapon only glanced off her sword hilt and bruised her hand. She ducked to her left to allow Erlmoor to round the counter next to her and together, the two warriors drove back the duergar.

The wounded duergar rushed to the right as he came through the southern door and lashed out with his hammer to strike Litiraan in the side and send the elf reeling away from him. The second dwarf came through the door and rushed at Lavren, lashing out with his hammer and bringing it down in a crushing blow on Lavren’s shoulder. The elf sagged and all but fell, his left arm falling limp at his side. Desperately, he tried to draw his sword from his left him with his other hand while retreating before the relentless duergar. He limped back from the gray dwarves and raised his wand as best he could, trying to conjure flames from within the gray dwarves but none would come. In front of Lavren, Litiraan drew his sword, slashing the blade at the wounded duergar he faced. The dwarf ducked and grinned, recognizing the wand in the elf’s left hand and knowing that Litiraan would likely rather use that than a blade.

Behind her brother, Telkya called a column of light down on the remaining duergar behind the counter and as the divine light burned it, Erlmoor and Dulvarna surged forward, the dragonborn chanting a prayer as he came. His blade glowed gold as he plunged it into the shoulder of the duergar and the gray dwarf fell back. Dulvarna thrust her blade in low, piercing the leg of the duergar just above the knee. The gray dwarf grunted as the leg gave way and he all but fell before his enemies. Behind him, the duergar heard the door open and he knew his leader had come. With a roar, he lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna leapt back out of his reach. The gray dwarf glanced back over his shoulder, saw his leader enter the chamber and knew that he was saved.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 3)

“Ye came to see us then,” snarled the duergar female with shoulder length red hair as she strode into the room. The sword that she held in her hands had hung at her belt when last the companions had seen it and they knew at once that this was the same dwarf that they had met on the way to the temple of Torm. She lowered her sword and pointed it at Erlmoor.
“You shall be first to pay for this effrontery,” she snarled and with a word, she summoned a coiling stream of lightning that lanced out and wrapped around Erlmoor. With a pull of her hands, she dragged the dragonborn across the chamber in an instant until he stood before her. The dragonborn roared but he was helpless until he stood before the duergar, within reach of her blade.

Lavren continued his retreat, desperately working his wounded arm while binding the worst hurts there with cloth. Litiraan retreated with him loosing two bolts of blue white energy from his wand towards the duergar. A thin path of frost appeared on the floor of the chamber beneath each one before fading away and as one struck the wall near the end of the counter, it froze the stone. The other struck the duergar nearest the door and limned its left shoulder in ice. Telkya looked to her brother with admiration, having never seen him cast that spell before and then drew her sword. She charged the nearest duergar, praying as she advanced. Her blade glowed with divine radiance and for a moment, Lavren’s body glowed behind her as healing energy flowed through him. He glanced towards Telkya with a smile as he flexed his formerly wounded arm and then leveled his wand at the closest duergar.

Erlmoor feinted to the left and then brought his blade in from the right, deceiving the duergar female and landing a painful blow to her ribs beneath her left arm. She cursed and staggered and then looked up in alarm as Dulvarna drove her blade through the throat of the remaining duergar guard and came to join the dragonborn. The duergar, called Kedhira by those who knew her, looked to the left and mentally willed her warriors forward, for she would need their aid. As she looked, the duergar, both wounded, drove the elf and the brown haired woman back from the doorway. They would prevail, Kedhira decided and in her own tongue, she bound the dragonborn to her and then lashed out backhand with her blade, tearing into the top of the dragonborn’s chest. He staggered back and with a smile, Kedhira started forward.

Lavren came forward, renewed strength flowing through him from Telkya’s prayer. He leveled his wand at the nearest duergar and uttered a curse and then a spell. Black, crackling energy lanced out and struck the wall next to the gray dwarf he had aimed at. Beside Lavren, Litiraan loosed a silver bolt from his wand that struck the duergar that Lavren’s spell had missed. The gray dwarf reeled back against the door frame and Telkya and Enlishia surged forward at the same time. Telkya thrust forward with her blade but the other duergar parried the attack with his hammer while Enlishia slashed her blade towards the head of the duergar wounded by Litiraan. The dwarf recovered enough to duck under her blow and her blade struck only the door frame.
Erlmoor surged at the duergar female chanting a prayer as he came and as his blade glowed brightly, he thrust it into the gray dwarf’s shoulder. Dulvarna came in from the other side, her blade weaving a hypnotic dance until she thrust it towards the belly of the duergar. The dwarf darted left and Dulvarna’s blade jarred into the stone beside the doorway. Dulvarna cursed and stumbled forward only to be met by the hilt of the duergar’s sword punched into her face. Her nose broke with a crack and she reeled away, blood pouring down her face.

Lavren loosed another blast of black energy that struck the wall close to the nearest duergar. Litiraan loosed another silver bolt and again struck the duergar in the chest, forcing him backwards. Telkya drove her blade into the hip of the duergar before her but Enlishia again struck the stone above the head of the gray dwarf she faced. The duergar snarled their resentment and hatred and came forward again, one striking Telkya’s leg with his hammer and the other smashing the haft of his weapon in Enlishia’s chest and forcing her back. The elf and the ranger braced themselves for the next flurry attacks, parrying desperately as they waited for aid from Erlmoor and Dulvarna.

Erlmoor roared and surged forward, smashing the hilt of his blade into the face of the female duergar. Dulvarna followed the dragonborn forward and as the duergar reeled from his blow, she drove her sword into the dwarf maid’s chest. She staggered, sank to her knees and as she did so, Dulvarna drove her blade through her throat. Kedhira the duergar fell forward in a spray of blood to die at Dulvarna’s feet and together the warrior woman and the dragonborn turned away to aid their companions.

Another black bolt from Lavren’s wand seared into the wall beside the door and another curse escaped from the lips of the elf. Litiraan loosed another unerring silver bolt into the duergar closest to the door and Lavren glared at the wizard as though his poor aim were the elf lord’s fault. Suddenly, Erlmoor appeared in the doorway behind the duergar and plunged his blade into the dwarf’s back. With a gasp, the duergar fell to the floor at the feet of his enemies. Dulvarna rushed around from behind the counter and charged at the last duergar. The dwarf desperately tried to bring his hammer across from his right where he had parried Telkya’s sword but he was too slow. Aecris pierced his chest and drove through his left lung into his heart. He fell beside his companion.

 

[Medriev]

Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 4)

“We should go, quickly,” said Enlishia, as they tended their wounds in the outer chamber of the duergar trading post. “Even here, and even with duergar, such attacks are likely not looked upon favourably.”
“We should search the place first,” said Telkya. “Let us not forget that we came here seeking our kin. I would learn their fate while we are here.” She immediately began searching the shelves while Litiraan moved into the room to the south, apparently a dining room. The others, excluding Enlishia, spread out to other rooms to search for clues. The ranger remained behind in the outer chamber with an arrow nocked to her bow, once she had barred the door to the trading post.

“I have a map and a letter,” Lavren called eventually from the southeastern chamber of the trading post.
“And a passage leads south from here,” Litiraan called from the southern end of the large back room that formed the heart of the trading post.
The companions gathered, Enlishia included at the southern doorway that opened onto a corridor that led away into the darkness.
“A way that leads deeper into Thunderspire,” said Dulvarna. “But where does it go to.”
“The southern way is named the Road of Shadows on the map,” said Telkya, leaning over the map with one hand on Lavren’s shoulder. “And this letter is also from Murkelmor Grimmerzhul. It requests provisions to feed new merchandise.”

“Then your kin yet live,” said Enlishia. “But where are they to be found?”
“The Road of Shadows leads to the Horned Hold, according to this map,” said Telkya, leaning forward over Lavren now. “Our kin must be there.”
“It would make sense for the duergar here to have a passage that leads them towards their kin,” said Dulvarna.
“Perhaps,” rumbled Erlmoor who had been silent so far. “But perhaps we should ask around the Hall first.”

The others looked to him, Telkya visibly slumping down to drape herself over Lavren’s shoulder. The moon elf tried to pay her no mind but the closeness of her distracted him from the matter at hand. He thought of Thira and how she would feel about him desiring someone else so soon after her death but he knew she would not mind. She was a creature of whim, fancy and desire as he was. She would understand.
“We will ask around,” said Dulvarna. “But we will be quick about it. If some react badly to what we have done here, we would do well to be away from the Hall when they do.”