Session 13, We are Really Good at Jumping to Conclusions

“Ouch…” We had just finished a very tough fight where I was sure we were all going to die. Actually, I knew we were going to win, because we are starting to trust each other and work well as a team. Look, I can’t recap everything every time! You just need to pay attention.
 
Vardai says she is thankful that no one died. I couldn’t agree with her more.
 
After a few minutes, I start looking around. “Is this a lab?”
 
Eowyn answers in the affirmative. She further expounds that she knows the name of the necromancer. “Meck.” Eowyn says she saw it in a diary. Will confirms that he saw that same name in a letter. So… Meck is the necromancer behind all of the bad we’ve discovered lately. Eowyn continues, “A necromancer corrupted this place.”
 
As we investigate the lab, I sit down and ritually cast Detect Magic. I make some flame and manipulate the patterns in the flame as I bring to spell to bear. After about 10 minutes, I start seeing the magic auras. The first is some abjuration magic coming from some bracers the wizard was wearing. The wizard’s hat is also magical. We figure out that it is a pretty common magic item that allows wizards to cast cantrips they don’t otherwise know. The bracers appear to add some protection to an unarmored person, almost as if they were wearing some light armor. Surprisingly, the wizard has no spellbook on him.
 
Vardai picks up a Warhammer that my detect magic did not find. It appears to have some ruins on it. After a bit of study, we identify the ruins and the inlet jewels as Dwarven in origin. However, the Orcish language uses a Dwarven script, so it could very well be Orcish in nature. After she studies it for a bit, she realizes the ruins are from her people. She concludes that only one of her clans people were tortured here. There is no other explanation as to why the hammer might be here. After she reflects inwardly for a bit, handling this hammer as a sacred treasure, she starts to elaborate. Vardai says, “Holding this hammer is like holding a precious treasure. This is something my father would have used.” Apparently, forging these hammers is a lost art, as not even her grandfather would know how to make it. She does think that ancient elemental magic made it.
 
I am by no means an expert on how to forge, but, I once had to escort a renowned dwarven blacksmith to a dance. He really wasn’t interested in me or the dance, he was just interested in talking about his craft. What little I do know about smithing I learned from him. As I understand it, steel is the most common material used to forge weapons, and making a hammer requires quite a bit of steel. However, the blacksmith must first make the steel from iron. They do this by first making charcoal, and then heating the raw, mined iron in the charcoal inside a bloomery furnace to work out the impurities in the iron. The impurities are a waste product known as slag. After about a day of smelting the iron in the charcoal, along with some hammering, what is left is workable iron. I know, you are asking how does one make charcoal… don’t worry, I’ll get to that.
 
Continuing on, because the iron was heated in charcoal, some carbon (the black substance from the charcoal) works its way into the iron and strengthens it. This amount of carbonization, however, is not enough—usually—to turn the iron into steel. There are a few methods to add more carbon into the steel. One way is to lay the iron in rotting corn husks or other plant matter over several weeks. This way usually only hardens the outer portions of the iron though. A more common way is to put the iron into a crucible and seal it up with plants or bone and leather, and then cook it for a while. Once carbonized, the steel is then workable in a forge to turn into a weapon.
 
Apparently, some playwrights think that you melt steel into liquid and poor the liquid metal into a cast to forge the weapon. That might work with copper or bronze, but not steel. Steel doesn’t really melt, it just burns and then becomes pitted and crumbles. It looks really cool to see liquid metal flowing into a stone cast, but true steel weapons are heated to an orange color and then hammered into shape one hammer blow at a time. Once in its final shape, the steel is reheated and then cooled quickly in a oil bath, called a quench.
 
This renowned Dwarven Smith said he also knew the secret to forging mithral. But that, he said, is too important of a secret to trust to my ears.
 
So, as promised, charcoal is made from burning wood, preferably large pieces. After the wood starts burning, you reduce the exposure to air so that the burning is reduced to smoldering. After a while, you completely cut off all air, and the resulting black lumps are charcoal.
 
After we finish investigating and then rest a short while, we ascend to the next floor. On that floor, we see some bound up undead creatures. Julia creates a telepathic bond between herself, Will, and the creatures. They must be hungry, because Will conveys that they are messaging, “Hungry! Hungry! Need to Eat!” There’s a statue of a dragon head behind them. Through the telepathic link, Will and Julia bargain the promise of allowing the undead to eat them in exchange for information.
 
As the undead clang their chains, Julia and Will translate the following information: They (the undead) were created by a blessed god… most likely the necromancer. That blessed god provided us (yes, we the party) as food for the undead. The undead don’t know much else beyond that they are hungry and we are food.
 
In the area where the undead are chained, a large stone dragon skull dominates the room. Some side desks or workbenches are also in the area. Eowyn surmises that the skull belonged to or is a replica of a famous Red Dragon Twin. One twin was Gremririud, the ancient evil red dragon. The other twin was named Pavros, the Eater of All. Pavros is said to have lost an eye and a wing while attempting to take vengeance on some dwarves. Really now, Pavros is not an impressive dragon name… the nickname “Eater of All” does add a little bit more to his impressiveness.
 
As Vardai suggests we put the undead out of their misery, Eowyn comes up with an idea. She creates an illusion of what she believes Menk (the suspected Necromancer) to look like. To me, the image looks like a distorted, generic halfling. Or is it a gnome. I can’t be sure based on the illusion. It was a good idea, but we get no confirmation (other than we are tasty) from the undead that their creator was Menk, or a halfling or a gnome for that matter.
 
After that valiant attempt (it actually was a good idea), Will shoots one. Suddenly, some crates that we had ignored up to this point start shaking, and tentacles try to break out. Behind us is an apparatus with three levers. Vardai investigates. She definitely wants to pull some levers. I ask everyone to wait while I do another ritual casting of Detect Magic.
 
After I cast the spell, I see a magical aura on the desk and some residual transmutation magic around the skull. With Julia using Mage Hand (really cool spell), we retrieve some notes and a magical bow made out of Darkwood. In the notes, bound together as a book, we learn that a king had used a potion to turn the dragon into stone. Menk must have used the latent magic infused in the dragon’s skull to power his vile necromantic designs. Either we are on to something, or we are really good at jumping to conclusions.
 
I also find a Ring of Necrotic Transfer (which we must destroy) and a magical hand axe. Vardai takes the Hand Axe. Eowyn brings out Pop the Weasel, whom I realize is some sort of magical manifestation of nature magic rather than a tortured weasel. Apparently, Pop had dies more than once, but got better.
 
Vardai uses her Lightning Javelin to kill the tentacle things, which we learn are some sort of brain eaters or intellect devourers. Will and Julia then kill all of the undead, which we figured out are grimlocks, a dead humanoid transformed into a monstrous cannibal.
 
Vardai then studies the apparatus with the levers closed. The machine seems to respond to her, as the walls did in the earlier cave passages. As Vardai focuses and pulls the levers, she sees a series of visions, which she describes to us. At first, she sees overlapping visions, a forest, and tunnel, and a tower; and she can’t make sense of them. Vardai can also see the layout of the structure we are in, and tells us we have to go to the bottom floor, where we will find some portal.
 
We find our way downstairs. We walk through a dungeon area with some mirrors. The mirrors contain some scenes which match up to Vardai’s visions. There are also a lots of bones, clutter, and some chests; so I cast Detect Magic again. We find a pair of daggers that sing when together, a Horn of Silent Alarm, a magical scimitar, a magical ring that allows someone to walk on water, and some magical arrows… cool!
 
From the mirrors and Vardai’s visions, we piece together the following scenes:
A tower in the forest has metal rings and Orcish inscriptions
A stone tunnel is occupied by a firbolg
A tavern like the one that is owned by Fenrick… oooh, I wonder if they serve Moonshine!
A Dark Dirt Tunnel
The Myconid cave where we started this journey
 
Where to first? We should use the portal to go to the tavern, so that we can rest and clean up and drink moonshine and maybe try to put goodberries in the moonshine and… never mind, Eowyn says she will use Augury to choose the best path.
 
• Thank you to George Sanders, his Anhult Campaign, and World Anvil.