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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wulf Ratbane" data-source="post: 881" data-attributes="member: 94">TENTH SESSION-- perfidy and the paladinKELLAN’s TENTH SESSION JOURNALTo All whom these presents come, greeting:At the suggestion of John Wells, we journeyed via teleport to a dwarven stronghold that reportedly crafted arms and armor of excellent make. We require such equipment if we are to have any hope of defeating the dragon that holds the final gems required to awaken the Arxifext. Scarcely had the tingling of the teleport spell worn away that we found ourselves at the massive dwarven gates, sentinels watching our every move. We gained entrance to the stronghold, and had barely made our needs known when we were taken to their Great Hall to be told of the stronghold's pressing plight.Drang Stormbrow, the spokesman for the six clans residing within the stronghold, spoke of a foul entity that had claimed the life of their King, Belladur, in years past, and returned from the depths of their mines to afflict them once a year. The dwarves were unable to do more than dread the yearly visit, as none of them had the skill to fight and defeat the cursed beast (described to us as a 'black and hungry cloud of death'). I immediately pledged my aid in hopes of defeating a great evil, with the added bonus of equipping ourselves more properly in our own quest against marauding evil. My companions quickly fell into agreement, and we were taken to a place of rest to await the opening of the doors to the mines below.The next morning brought to me a sense of excitement as we were led below. The doors already stood open for us, and we entered the abandoned halls that in times past lodged the six clans: Stormbrow, Burnbeard, Onehorn, Greenshield, Fellhammer, and Baneblade. There were some signs of activity in some (but not all) the rooms, and in one, the desiccated and unholy remains of a former dwarven leader and five of his clansmen rose up against us in undeath, bent on consigning our souls to the hell from whence they came. We defeated them at some cost; several of us (including myself) had life-force drained, and it was only through the potions of a long-ago priest of Moradin, discovered in the still-sacrosant temple to that august Power, that we were returned whole. We also encountered the undead remains of Belladur's queen, and were barely able to defeat 'her' and 'her' two undead companions.After resting a while to regain spells and health, we ventured forth again to explore deeper in to the mines. We found the old forge, and found a fell enchantment that allowed the weapons and armor within to attack us without the benefit of a corporeal wielder. After defeating this strange magic, we proceeded down the steps, where we discovered the body of what we soon learned was King Belladur. Unfortunately, the King's soul had turned to evil, and was in fact the very scourge we had come to defeat. After a long and draining fight against this monster (a strange and evil multi-armed apparition), wherein Jorie, Jorie's wolverine companion, and Nikolai proved especially valiant in the face of mind-numbing and blasphemous evil, the apparition, apparently defeated, disappeared with the message that he would continue returning "...until his axe tasted the blood of the six." We continued to explore the remains of the mines, defeating in the process an earth elemental of considerable size, and headed back to the surface.It was about this time that events above began to reveal their true nature. The craven among the dwarves shut the great doors behind us, fearing we would not be able to repulse the evil. After persuading them to re-open the doors, we made our way back to Stormbrow and the others for a final reckoning.The dwarven lords were seated around the meeting table in their Great Hall. Each of them had at their side an elderly advisor, and as we began to parley, men-at-arms bearing the colors of the six houses slowly filled in around the walls of the hall. It seemed to me that it was not necessary to kill the lords to fulfill the spirit's need to have his axe taste the blood of the six; I surmised that a mere pinprick would suffice to satisfy the letter of the curse, and hopefully the intent of the curse, as well.We addressed the lords, and told them what we had found below. I explained our encounter with the spirit of Belladur, and the dwarves began to be more and more restless as their history was laid out bare before them. None were happy to have an outsider explain the situation to them, and they were even less happy when I explained that they would need to prick their palm on the blade of the axe in order to end the curse. Several lords, with Stormbrow the most vocal, refused to do so; Stormbrow accused us of having been perverted by the spirits below, and we were now doing their will by having them touch the axe. They were afraid that this action would consign their souls to the will of the spirit. I continued to press, noting that this curse had been with them for decades, and wondering why they were unwilling to end the curse now that the opportunity had presented itself. I also noted that we had been asked to do a job, and we had willingly done so - why were they not living up to their part of the bargain? And why did they not want to end the curse that frightened them so? As a paladin, I could not lie to them; they had to trust me, and what I said we had found, or there was no way around the impasse.Lords Greenshield and Onehorn were the first to be persuaded; they willingly cut themselves, with no effect. The other four lords continued to refuse; they did not trust the outsiders that they had been willing to sacrifice to the spirit of their dead king, and doubted out motives. Our position was not helped when it was discovered that we carried some mithril from their mines, and that Tanthril was unwilling to give up the heraldic armor he had found below and was using. Tensions continued to mount; Nikolai made the point to the observing men-at-arms that while two of the lords had been brave enough to meet the test of the axe, the other four were still standing pat - was that the example of bravery a dwarven lord was expected to set? This persuaded Burnbeard and Baneblade to cut themselves on the axe, leaving but two lords untested.The sticking points were the mithril and their unwillingness to trust certain members of our party to give back what had been taken below. We were moments from having to battle dozens of skilled dwarven men-at-arms because Tanthril refused to give over his armor. While Stormbrow trusted me, as a paladin of Heironeous, he did not trust the ranger. Finally, after staking my personal reputation on Tanthril returning the armor, Fellhammer pricked himself on the blade. But still, Stormbrow refused. He was unwilling to bargain until we had given him the item he felt were his, and we were unwilling to bargain until he had bloodied himself on the blade. We were at an impasse, and something had to give before we found ourselves in pitched battle.I went to Tanthril and demanded to armor. He still refused, saying that it was useful to him. Having placed my trustworthiness on the line to get the party out of trouble, I was not about to let that pass. He finally agreed to give over when I convinced him that it was not just himself, but all of us, he was putting in danger. At this, Stormbrow reluctantly acceded to our demands, placed his hand on the blade, and cut himself.Almost immediately, the pervading sense of evil and despair dissipated. The axe of Belladur was returned to the clans, and we left with our reward: several thousand gold, an amount of mithril sufficient to be crafted by our party's blacksmith into several pieces of armor, and a blade that had been forged for a long-dead sea elven prince. We also purchased our necessary arms and armor, and as I write this, we prepare to move on the fortress of the dragon who holds the final gems we need to recover in order to prevent the Arxifext. . . whatever that may be.In the service of the Great Knight, I remainYour faithful,Kellan Evershar</blockquote>

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