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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(contact)" data-source="post: 914653" data-attributes="member: 41">Great Delve 516 FlameruleHere’s an interesting monster for you, Ashnern, and before you accuse me of severing the heads of my foes like a Stonelands goblin, may I assure you that this head is all that there is.  Winged heads, by the gods, and they are not shy about attacking adventurers!  We fought a pack of the creatures, and acquitted ourselves honorably.After encountering the flying blood-sucking severed heads, we discovered a set of stairs at the back of the fungal forest that led thousands of feet into the air.  In practical terms, it was a journey of several excruciating hours, only to discover that an impassable portcullis bars the passage at the top of the stairs.The runes above the archway indicate that this passage leads to the halls of the Filas Hali.  Further into the cavern, beyond the opening, another curse-mark glows on the wall, similar to the one we discovered with the dead priests.  It reads:“Cursed are those who follow blindly.” I write this from the top of the stairs, as frustrated as the rest of my group with our long journey for nothing.  At least we can count ourselves safe this high above the cavern floor, and all this stair-climbing is carving my calves into a shapely perfection that I haven’t seen since I stopped roof-running in Zhentil Keep.  If I could kiss myself, I think I would.The Filas Hali followed the Aq Med and their blasphemous king into infamy.  “Cursed are those who follow blindly”, eh?  It sounds like the Filas Hali were soldiers, loyal to a fault, placing their duty to their liege above their duty to their Creator.  Woe to them, I suppose, and here we have this worthy lesson for all created beings locked away in their forgotten halls, where none shall see it and it will do no good.Dwarves.16 FlameruleI am beginning to shape a theory, would you like to hear it, Ashnern?  This place must certainly have been a dwarven metropolis.  Everyone knows the little bearded fellows are exceedingly clannish, and I suppose that within the First Home of the dwarves (as Enkil translates the proper name of this place) they would be even more so than now.  More dwarven than dwarven, if you take my meaning.Moradin has cursed the place, that much we know. The dwarves here angered Him greatly, most likely by supporting the usurper Hepis in his ascent to godhood.  Perhaps each clan deserves its own curse for its individual failings.  It’s not a cheery thought, but there it is.  Enkil grows more agitated with each new discovery, and I cannot say I blame him.  He questions why knowledge of the First Home has passed from the lore of the bearded folk, and it is a fine riddle.Still, the adventurer’s life is what it is, and if I wanted safety and comfort I would have remained in Eveningstar and wenched away my new-found wealth.  Onward and onward again, I say.  Discovery is the order of the day.  16 FlameruleWe returned to the fungal forest, and proceeded South.  There we discovered a set of stairs leading down into an abyssal chasm.  Bern cast a divination using a golden chain, and announced that Kossuth wanted us to go below.  Fine by me, but Merkatha became completely unreasonable, stating that she would not go down there for any reason, the God’s will or no.When pressed, she was completely unable or unwilling to elaborate, although that might have been due to my rather vehement questioning.  I will admit that I have always fancied the tough-talking enforcers of the Zhentarim and their remorseless interrogation techniques.  Alas, I failed to achieve the truth of it, and resplendent in our ignorance, we left Merkatha behind and descended the stair.At the base of it, we found the bodies of several dwarves and lizard-like creatures arrayed before a portcullis, lying on the stone of a boat-moor.  This strange underground pier faces onto a lake of unknown proportion, although it must be huge, as it is tidal.But back to the dead dwarves.  Or mostly dead dwarves, I should say.  I was watching the bodies of the lizard-men, supposing some trick, but it was the dwarven corpses who rose from the ground and quite literally sucked the vigor from my frame.  I have never in my short life felt such a demoralizing sensation, and that is coming from one who was birthed in a temple to Bane.In truth, it was only my terror that kept me from fleeing outright, but credit Bern and Enkil for turning the tide with their faith, and Selise’s sharp-shooting for returning the dwarves to oblivion.But what strange dwarves they were—plane touched, like myself, although these dwarves were obviously from the Kindly Realms.  Undead celestial dwarves!  Who ever heard of such a thing, Ashnern?  The clan-mark above the portcullis identified these dwarves as Clan Thurarin.I meant to bring you the head of one of them for your examination, but Enkil forbid it.  You may take the issue up with him.The portcullis was as impassable as the gates barring the passage to the Filas Hali, and again, looking into the passage we noticed a glowing curse-mark:“Cursed are those who profit from the warfare of their brothers”Well, on this account Moradin and I are in complete agreement.16 FlameruleOn our way back up the stairs, I attempted to generate some positive sentiment toward our new drowish companion (whose mysterious refusal to follow us below had deepened the group’s suspicion of her).  I pointed out the likelihood that she would die soon enough, possibly taking an arrow meant for me, and that her presence saved us the trouble of recruiting another fighter next time we returned to town.Unfortunately, my selection of words may have tended toward the undiplomatic side-- specifically, “monster-fodder”, “sacrificial lamb” and “most likely dead within a week”.It occurred to me as we finished our climb that Merkatha had probably been shadowing us the whole time, and overheard the entire conversation.  My mother used to say, “those who make enemies of drow shouldn’t make plans for their old age”.  Of course, she also used to say, “halflings are vermin and should be cleansed from our city”, and “murder is a solution for any disagreement, provided you apply it liberally enough”.  But I do think she was right about the drow.</blockquote>

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