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Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 1008" data-attributes="member: 99"><p><strong>Looting and Leaving</strong></p><p></p><p>Speaks cast a few minor healing spells to bring Krase back from the brink and the group began to organize a search for Nightscale's hoard. Feeling quite a bit of pride at slaying the dragon, they cast an illumination spell on the severed head of the dragon and bore it as a standard to light their way.</p><p></p><p>Krase led the group, closely followed by Ilrath with Rhys and Speaks trailing. Noting that the dragon had approached from the east, the group made for the easternmost bridge that crossed the swift underground river. As Krase and Ilrath mounted the bridge, it suddenly crumbled beneath their feet and both of them plunged into the icy waters of the subterranean river. As they fell, they were struck by stones falling from the remains of the bridge and as if that weren't enough, both of them were wearing heavier armor than normal.</p><p></p><p>As the current swiftly rushed them downstream, Speaks reacted in a flash. He ran to the western (downstream) bridge and thrust the haft of his longspear into the black waters. As the warriors struggled to stay afloat under the weight they carried, both managed to grab hold of the spear. It was all Speaks could do to keep his hold on the spear as both large men hung from it, pulled by the weight of their equipment and the rushing stream.</p><p></p><p>Krase still held the glowing dragon head in one hand, having dropped one of his heirloom short swords into the swift waters already. He attempted to toss the head onto the nearby ledge but the stream dragged his arm and Nightscale's head bounced off the wall and sank into the stream. The cavern grew dimmer as the light from their trophy dimmed and floated away to the west.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath was able to lunge out and grip hold of the bridge and pull himself to the opposite ledge. Krase got close enough to the other ledge that he could grab the outstretched hand of Rhys. Soon, he was out of the water as well. They sat for a few minutes by the stream marveling at the irony of how easily they had defeated the dragon only to lose their trophy and a cherished weapon not to mention be nearly killed by a simple stream. They picked themselves up and resumed their search.</p><p></p><p>This time, they made use of Rhys' <em>Spider Climb</em> spell to negotiate the cavern. In that way, they were able to circumvent the areas where the ledge that hugged the southern wall of the cavern abruptly ended and resumed beyond a vertical section of wall that lacked any ledge. After a few minutes, they arrived at another ledge and at the edge of the illumination provided by an ensorceled crossbow bolt, they could see a small island in the Black Lake that glittered with steel and gold.</p><p></p><p>Acting quickly, they set up a relay of ropes and sacks to ferry the treasure off the island and onto the ledge. They managed to get all of it before Rhys' spells expired. The now found themselves stranded on the ledge with no way to get back to the chain ladder to the dwarven forge without climbing along the slippery cavern walls.</p><p></p><p>They decided to rest and wait and return when Rhys could provide his magic again. They had already had a harrowing experience with falling into the cold waters of this underground world once that day. None wished to repeat that experience.</p><p></p><p>In fact, Krase and Ilrath being wet and cold was becoming a real problem. They had no dry clothing to change into and were shivering quite a bit. The prospect of spend a night in the cold cavern in wet clothes wasn't merely unpleasant, it was dangerous. A decision was made to start a small fire using the last pair of torches they had as well as the bow and arrows that the group had badgered Ilrath into bringing along (which he hadn't used at all). With nothing else to do but rest, and still lacking a deck of cards, the group decided to catalogue the treasure they had gotten from Nightscale's hoard.</p><p></p><p>In total, the treasure included 565gp, 1,430sp, a Wand, a mithral chain shirt, a mithral breastplate a rather matted and smelly suit of hide armor and seven mithral, weapons. The wand, the hide armor and all the mithral weapons were identified as magical. Rhys decided to use their magical candle to identify the wand, the hide armor and the gladius.</p><p></p><p>The wand turned out to contain the <em>Color Spray</em> spell and had been expended of just over half its charges. The hide armor was enchanted to provide the wearer with additional "natural" protection. The gladius was enchanted to slay orcs. It bore the name (inscribed along its blade in dwarven runes) "Heartneedle". Krase happily claimed it in place of the sword he lost in the river. Speaks claimed the hide armor and made a note to use his minor magics of <em>Repair</em> and <em>Purify Water</em> to rid it of its foul smell.</p><p></p><p>Krase made a point to examine the other weapons and was able to identify their names by the runes on them: Longsword - "Foespike", Greataxe - "Fangcleaver", Light Mace - "Skullhammer", Heavy Mace - "Banemaul", Heavy Flail - "Deathrattle", and Battle Axe - "Doomhack". They strongly suspected that these were also of an orc-slaying nature. </p><p></p><p>Krase then revealed to the group that he had recognized the name "Duergar" the dragon had used in reference to the dwarves who dwelled above. He told them the tales his grandfather had told about this particularly callous and cold offshoot of the dwarven race. He chastised himself for not earlier recalling the natural abilities of enlargement and invisibility that race possessed. From the stories of his grandfather, he noted that while the Duergar were self serving and hard hearted, they were not particularly known as oathbreakers. Krase felt that they would hold to their end of the bargain, at least as long as they thought it was in their interest.</p><p></p><p>Ilrath had a gut inclination to slaughter the lot of them for aiding the orcs before and he also knew that once the orcs returned to the Stone Tooth, the Duergar would aid them again. But he conceded that there would be other days to deal with the Duergar and right now the most important thing was to get these weapons back to his people where they could be put to good use.</p><p></p><p>Speaks and Rhys both felt that restraint was in order. But, once he recovered his spells, Rhys did send Tavis to scout the forge above to see if the Duergar lay in ambush. In fact, they did seem braced for an attack (and appeared tired from having been on alert for a long time). But the party reasoned that they were simply on guard in the event that Nightscale defeated the party and sought revenge on the dwarves. Still, after the party had regrouped on the ledge at the bottom of the chain ladder, they used the remainder of the <em>Spider Climb</em> spell to quietly scale the wall instead of using the noisy ladder.</p><p></p><p>At the top, they found Arc, faithfully waiting. Speaks rewarded him with a large hunk of venison jerky from his provisions and the group moved back up the narrow hallway. As they came to the "forbidden" fork that the dwarves had cautioned them to avoid, Rhys couldn't help himself and quietly snuck down that hall. After on 20 feet or so, it came to the back of another secret door. He listened at the door but heard nothing beyond. Knowing that he was holding a very obvious light source and afraid of angering the dwarves this close to completing their mission, he relented and returned to the party. (If only he knew what treasures lay beyond that door…<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />)</p><p></p><p>The group exited through the door at the end of the corridor and retraced their steps back through the dwarven lair. They were nearing the throne room when a duergar opened a door along the hallway and gazed with disbelief at the party. "They live!" he was heard to exclaim.</p><p></p><p>Ignoring this dwarf, the party continued through the throne room and back into the room of statues. Behind them they heard the sound of cheering dwarven voices. They took that as a good sign. The descended the stairs with hopes of quickly making their way through the Glitterhame and out the Mountain Door. But before them stood the stout iron door that blocked their way to freedom. Rhys tried to pick the lock but it was clearly beyond his abilities.</p><p></p><p>Then, behind them a voice called down the stairs saying, "Come back up. Nimira wishes a word with you before you leave…"</p><p></p><p><strong>NEXT: Final Encounter with the Duergar - Words or Swords</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rel, post: 1008, member: 99"] [B]Looting and Leaving[/B] Speaks cast a few minor healing spells to bring Krase back from the brink and the group began to organize a search for Nightscale's hoard. Feeling quite a bit of pride at slaying the dragon, they cast an illumination spell on the severed head of the dragon and bore it as a standard to light their way. Krase led the group, closely followed by Ilrath with Rhys and Speaks trailing. Noting that the dragon had approached from the east, the group made for the easternmost bridge that crossed the swift underground river. As Krase and Ilrath mounted the bridge, it suddenly crumbled beneath their feet and both of them plunged into the icy waters of the subterranean river. As they fell, they were struck by stones falling from the remains of the bridge and as if that weren't enough, both of them were wearing heavier armor than normal. As the current swiftly rushed them downstream, Speaks reacted in a flash. He ran to the western (downstream) bridge and thrust the haft of his longspear into the black waters. As the warriors struggled to stay afloat under the weight they carried, both managed to grab hold of the spear. It was all Speaks could do to keep his hold on the spear as both large men hung from it, pulled by the weight of their equipment and the rushing stream. Krase still held the glowing dragon head in one hand, having dropped one of his heirloom short swords into the swift waters already. He attempted to toss the head onto the nearby ledge but the stream dragged his arm and Nightscale's head bounced off the wall and sank into the stream. The cavern grew dimmer as the light from their trophy dimmed and floated away to the west. Ilrath was able to lunge out and grip hold of the bridge and pull himself to the opposite ledge. Krase got close enough to the other ledge that he could grab the outstretched hand of Rhys. Soon, he was out of the water as well. They sat for a few minutes by the stream marveling at the irony of how easily they had defeated the dragon only to lose their trophy and a cherished weapon not to mention be nearly killed by a simple stream. They picked themselves up and resumed their search. This time, they made use of Rhys' [I]Spider Climb[/I] spell to negotiate the cavern. In that way, they were able to circumvent the areas where the ledge that hugged the southern wall of the cavern abruptly ended and resumed beyond a vertical section of wall that lacked any ledge. After a few minutes, they arrived at another ledge and at the edge of the illumination provided by an ensorceled crossbow bolt, they could see a small island in the Black Lake that glittered with steel and gold. Acting quickly, they set up a relay of ropes and sacks to ferry the treasure off the island and onto the ledge. They managed to get all of it before Rhys' spells expired. The now found themselves stranded on the ledge with no way to get back to the chain ladder to the dwarven forge without climbing along the slippery cavern walls. They decided to rest and wait and return when Rhys could provide his magic again. They had already had a harrowing experience with falling into the cold waters of this underground world once that day. None wished to repeat that experience. In fact, Krase and Ilrath being wet and cold was becoming a real problem. They had no dry clothing to change into and were shivering quite a bit. The prospect of spend a night in the cold cavern in wet clothes wasn't merely unpleasant, it was dangerous. A decision was made to start a small fire using the last pair of torches they had as well as the bow and arrows that the group had badgered Ilrath into bringing along (which he hadn't used at all). With nothing else to do but rest, and still lacking a deck of cards, the group decided to catalogue the treasure they had gotten from Nightscale's hoard. In total, the treasure included 565gp, 1,430sp, a Wand, a mithral chain shirt, a mithral breastplate a rather matted and smelly suit of hide armor and seven mithral, weapons. The wand, the hide armor and all the mithral weapons were identified as magical. Rhys decided to use their magical candle to identify the wand, the hide armor and the gladius. The wand turned out to contain the [I]Color Spray[/I] spell and had been expended of just over half its charges. The hide armor was enchanted to provide the wearer with additional "natural" protection. The gladius was enchanted to slay orcs. It bore the name (inscribed along its blade in dwarven runes) "Heartneedle". Krase happily claimed it in place of the sword he lost in the river. Speaks claimed the hide armor and made a note to use his minor magics of [I]Repair[/I] and [I]Purify Water[/I] to rid it of its foul smell. Krase made a point to examine the other weapons and was able to identify their names by the runes on them: Longsword - "Foespike", Greataxe - "Fangcleaver", Light Mace - "Skullhammer", Heavy Mace - "Banemaul", Heavy Flail - "Deathrattle", and Battle Axe - "Doomhack". They strongly suspected that these were also of an orc-slaying nature. Krase then revealed to the group that he had recognized the name "Duergar" the dragon had used in reference to the dwarves who dwelled above. He told them the tales his grandfather had told about this particularly callous and cold offshoot of the dwarven race. He chastised himself for not earlier recalling the natural abilities of enlargement and invisibility that race possessed. From the stories of his grandfather, he noted that while the Duergar were self serving and hard hearted, they were not particularly known as oathbreakers. Krase felt that they would hold to their end of the bargain, at least as long as they thought it was in their interest. Ilrath had a gut inclination to slaughter the lot of them for aiding the orcs before and he also knew that once the orcs returned to the Stone Tooth, the Duergar would aid them again. But he conceded that there would be other days to deal with the Duergar and right now the most important thing was to get these weapons back to his people where they could be put to good use. Speaks and Rhys both felt that restraint was in order. But, once he recovered his spells, Rhys did send Tavis to scout the forge above to see if the Duergar lay in ambush. In fact, they did seem braced for an attack (and appeared tired from having been on alert for a long time). But the party reasoned that they were simply on guard in the event that Nightscale defeated the party and sought revenge on the dwarves. Still, after the party had regrouped on the ledge at the bottom of the chain ladder, they used the remainder of the [I]Spider Climb[/I] spell to quietly scale the wall instead of using the noisy ladder. At the top, they found Arc, faithfully waiting. Speaks rewarded him with a large hunk of venison jerky from his provisions and the group moved back up the narrow hallway. As they came to the "forbidden" fork that the dwarves had cautioned them to avoid, Rhys couldn't help himself and quietly snuck down that hall. After on 20 feet or so, it came to the back of another secret door. He listened at the door but heard nothing beyond. Knowing that he was holding a very obvious light source and afraid of angering the dwarves this close to completing their mission, he relented and returned to the party. (If only he knew what treasures lay beyond that door…;)) The group exited through the door at the end of the corridor and retraced their steps back through the dwarven lair. They were nearing the throne room when a duergar opened a door along the hallway and gazed with disbelief at the party. "They live!" he was heard to exclaim. Ignoring this dwarf, the party continued through the throne room and back into the room of statues. Behind them they heard the sound of cheering dwarven voices. They took that as a good sign. The descended the stairs with hopes of quickly making their way through the Glitterhame and out the Mountain Door. But before them stood the stout iron door that blocked their way to freedom. Rhys tried to pick the lock but it was clearly beyond his abilities. Then, behind them a voice called down the stairs saying, "Come back up. Nimira wishes a word with you before you leave…" [B]NEXT: Final Encounter with the Duergar - Words or Swords[/B] [/QUOTE]
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