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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carlo-One" data-source="post: 8045398" data-attributes="member: 7015827">After some searching, the group located and entered a small cave near the trail. It was empty of any creatures. However, they could see that an unnatural-looking group of rocks glowed red near a tall crystal in the back of the cave. Darrow examined the crystal, which bore dwarven runes. Meanwhile, Dermot and Shanni carefully inspected the glowing rocks, which appeared to have once been a statue; the rock did not appear natural to Dermot. Darrow read the crystal’s runes aloud to the others: “Let the Chosen come to me and I will give them what they richly deserve.” Dermot and Shanni then managed to reconstruct the rock fragments to reveal the original statue’s face, which was that of a godlike, supremely handsome dwarf. Darrow could shed no light on the subject, beyond saying that the cave had been taboo for the clan as long as he could remember.Exiting the cave, they decided to continue their search for Helrud. Dermot initially found nothing in the area besides animal tracks, but then a short distance away the ranger located what appeared to be a climbable part of the ridge, with a lot of marks on it. He had no luck scaling it barehanded, so he used a coil of rope offered by Rahnee and a tied-on hatchet – lacking a grappling hook – to fashion a way up, with help from Shanni. Eventually the four adventurers all made it up the ridgeside, with Rahnee going last and wobbling a bit as she climbed.Moving along the open path further into the mountains, they spotted some crumbling stone ruins and found another cave. Entering it, they discovered a stirge nest and had to deal with its occupants before exploring further. Some old humanoid bones that looked to have been cracked by giants’ teeth lay near a dug-out firepit. The pit seemed to have been relatively recently used, with remnants of burnt wood in it. Nothing else was there, however.Making their way further up the mountainside towards some ruins, the four companions finally encountered Helrud. The dwarf had a tent and a campsite inside a walled area and greeted the group with a gruff “about bloody time!” After they had introduced themselves, Darrow pointed out that Helrud could have just stayed in the nearby cave. Helrud in response said that it gave him the creeps. The dwarf then greeted and welcomed the others, indicating he would tell them of how he found the dragonscale and what he wanted to ask of them.Rahnee, not feeling secure in their exposed location, chose to do a short patrol of the area. As she walked off, Helrud pulled out a crimson scale that was twin to the one Lorn had shown them at the Ironhelm forge. The dwarf mentioned that there had not been any dragons living in the mountains in living memory, but the dragonscales meant that one had been there, at some point. He said he had been out exploring further than usual and found them. He would have explored further, but a pack of winter wolves deterred him.At this point Rahnee rejoined them, not having found anything untoward near Helrud’s camp. He told them that he did not want to distract them from whatever business they had with the clan, but that if they were willing to get rid of the winter wolfpack, he would show them where he had found the scales. Darrow immediately said he would be up for exploring, while Shanni was more hesitant; she was less sure that there was not, in fact, a dragon in the area. Ignoring this, Darrow said that they would be back after they had a chance to reunite with Aerikoth. They said their goodbyes to Helrud and hiked back to Ironhelm, with Shanni still dubious about the idea.Re-entering the clan halls shortly before dusk, Darrow first went to talk to his mother Nurina while the others searched out Aerikoth in the guest quarters. The wizard had finished studying his spells, in preparation for their planned descent to the Deep Delve. He and Rahnee informed Dermot and Shanni about some of their previous encounters in the depths, including one with Umber Hulks. Aerikoth assured them that with his spells, they were more than capable of handling the monsters. Since High Priest Iskar would need to remove the wards on the entrance first, they went to the temple to seek him.Iskar greeted them and stated that it was likely, as had been mentioned during the previous conversation, that the wards to the Deep Delve had been tested - from the side of the clan halls. The dwarven high priest commented that it perhaps had been one of the clan’s young hotheads. He said he thought it unlikely the group would find much, but the expedition would be an excellent cover for Darrow’s presence in clan halls. Despite his professed lack of concern, Iskar then presented the group with a gift of healing and restorative potions, should they need to recover from any encounters in the depths. (It is unclear to me whether Iskar was simply being prudent, or if he had some inkling of what they would encounter this time. --R)</blockquote>

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