Arkomir writes...
Refreshed, we awake in the morning ready to investigate the mine with
Thicoul Stormwalker and the gathered gang. We meet up in the dining room to eat whatever rations we have. Before bed,
Dharra Boulderfoot identified the ring from the lake and confirms it is a ring of warmth, which, it turns out could have been handy yesterday. She takes it and wears it. Both Thicoul and
Esabel Chantry are up early as well. They both appear to be in good health this morning. Everyone else slowly makes their way in to the dining hall and
Kezahr says that
Fafnir has told her of another way into the mine. We arrange to have a look through the door first before making a lot of noise opening it.
Isadora Giordano also says she can arrange a way for everyone to be in contact with each other. After breakfast, she sits in a corner and casts a spell to allow for this. Suitably refreshed and equipped, we head down to the Mine Doors to do some recon. Isadora casts another spell and we all see a view a space in front of the doors. She moves this through the gap in the doors and down a hallway. There are a few side tunnels here and there and eventually we see evidence of light up ahead, and then it opens up into the large central chamber.
The Dwarven Mine
There are a number of orcs and ogres roaming around the area, working the mine. A number of different species (halflings, elves, dwarves) are being held captive as well. There is a large angular anvil on the centre Dias with some folks being held by chains to it. On this central dias is a large orc with iron plate armour that appears to be the one who may have been forging. As we are watching this image, we hear Thicoul say in our minds, 'Enough of this, it is time to put an end to this'. He sends us, Dharra, Kezahr, Essa and myself, to the other entry point to head off the hunting party, he, along with Isadora and Katya, will head in the door.
Whilst we wait to enter the back door to the mine, Dharra casts identify on the arrow we found in the lake. She sits with the arrow for a little while and gets an impression of dwarven hands shaping metal, tiny pieces of metal. The pieces start to become one and form a point, forming arrowheads that were made for a specific job. This one came home and is probably a one use item (maybe not though). This is an arrow +3. Dharra gives the arrow to me to use at an appropriate time. We discuss numerous versions of plans but settle on the following:
- We will aim to take out the hunting party and try to clear out the corridor that leads into the main chamber.
- We will try to lure some other orcs into the corridor tpo thin the ranks.
- We will aim to get the captives into one area so they can be more easily protected.
Thiccoul will wait for our signal before coming in loud, unless he sees captives being hurt before time. We leave Thiccoul, Isadora and Katya waiting for our signal, and head back through the grotto to the
Kobold Caves. Before we leave the front door group, Thicoul has a discussion with Essa and they trade shields and he give her an encouraging squeeze on the arm. Isadora steps over to Kezahr and kisses her on each cheek and casts a spell, a gift from Merrelion, and as she steps back, Kezahr has a scroll in her hand. Isadora gives Fafnir a pat and then steps to me. She wishes me good luck, and bids me take care of these strong and beautiful women. We leave the Kobold caves and head toward the southern end of the island to find the hunting party.
The Battle for the Heart of the Mine
We find the hunting party in the southern part of the island and enter into battle against them. After a short battle we defeat the hunting party and then are attacked by a group of perytons. Again, after a short battle, we defeat the Perytons, however, during the fight, Dharra noticed that as one of the Perytons fell, its shadow was humanoid. Investigating the fallen Perytons we dont find anything of note but Kezahr confirms some detail about there origin. They are a created being, and cast the shadow of the last humanoid they consumed. The half elf ranger gets some healing from Essa and then introduces herself as Ayshr. She gives us some good intel on the mine and the numbers we may be facing; roughly 20 orc, the Orc Smith and 4 or 5 ogres. There are also two half orcs in the mine, who may side with us in the fight. They are mistreated by the orcs and are also the Smith’s children. There is a gnome named
Seraphina who may be able to get a message to the rest of the captives if we can get close enough. Ashyr has been on the island for about 3 years, and the longest captive is dwarf named Thrain who has been here 4-6 years. Thicoul sends a message saying his group is standing by. We get ourselves set and start by getting a message to Sera. Dharra casts invisibility on me and I head in to give the message to her. We deliver the message to her and things appear to be getting set. I move further into the chamber and get myself set to go Dharra casts an owlbear to distract some folk and things start moving. We enter into an immense battle for the heart of the mine.
As the fight progresses, the door below the entrance opens and a ghostly vision of Brak appears. The fight is long and arduous, but we prevail, just. Toward the end, Dharra hears the voice of
Brak in her head again, thanking us for coming back. As the smith falls, Dharra and I make our way back to the dais. The ghost of Brak nods to us and then disappears. I kick over the orc anvil which has symbols of Gruumsch on it. Ashyr rushes forward and tells everyone that we are friends and then commences a head count. The captives have gathered in this hallway which appears to be dwarven made. Thicoul, Isadora and Katya come down the stairs to us and help us tend to the wounded and prepare to investigate the tunnel under this chamber. We also meet the other survivors:
Zef tells us that the Smith’s half orc sons are still in the upper tunnel. Their names are
Krael and
Durgash. We find them kneeling in the tunnel. We have a discussion with them and they seem keen to leave this place and find a place in the world. They seem apprehensive at first, but decide to take us up on our offer of finding a new life. They head off to see the sun and will wait for us to leave before leaving.
Investigating the tunnel where the Ghost of Brak appeared, we find that the air feels and smells cleaner and sweeter in this tunnel. We head down this very dwarven tunnel and find the burial ground for the dwarven settlement. We find Brak's burial site, along with Heide, his wife. Dharra sits quietly and plays some of the songs she has learnt about Brak and the air seems refreshed and sweeter. This place seems hallowed to me and more at peace now. We find an empty space and lay the pick and the statue that Dharra carved for Trodbread in the space. She says a few words for Trodbread and lets him know that his wife waited for him. She tells him he is at peace now.
The Tower of Glade
Thicoul says it is nearing time for he, Isadora and Katya to leave. We thank him for all he has done for us and Dharra quizzes him on the founding of Kaz Urul and she gets some good intel on that front. Dharra mentions the library at the top of the tower and that maybe Isadora would like to see it before they go. She is very interested, Thiccoul agrees and we head there. The library has been quite badly damaged with a large gash in one wall, however the bookcases appear protected by the same magic glass used on the windows. A number of them are empty and some have been knocked over and trashed. The lab has been trashed but there are sections that are still intact. Most of the books have been taken out of the library, and most of the lab has been packed up as well, however, this are still some things here of note.
In the lab we find a magical glass sphere, plus all the unbroken glass in here appears magical of a sort. As we are looking around in the library, Isadora points out something to Kezahr. Kezahr opens one of the bookcases and takes out a sheaf of pages. It is a collection of stories of
The Cleansing Wave. It is a more detailed set of stories similar to ones we have, plus some extra stories. Thiccoul deals with the last of the Perytons and we head upstairs to the last part of the tower. This area is where the Perytons have been nesting and is in quiet a state, however, we can make out the original battlements that formed this part of the towerand there is a roof structure that encloses it as well. On some of the walls that remain intact, are framed pictures.
The first shows a depiction of The Bowshot Bridge, behind which is a view to
Glade's Folly, but a more extensive town than exists today.
The next picture shows a depiction of the ground floor entry section of the tower at
Belhaim.
The next picture shows a large open stone square. This view does not seem familiar to us at all. There are a series of statues at the end of the square, one of which is female with outstretched wings. Thiccoul sasy this would be a view of the square at
Steinwark.
After mending the next picture we see a view across forested land, with houses built in to the hillside. There is a waterfall in the centre part of this view and I recognise it as the the
Mol Gentra high town.
The next view has been knocked crooked but we fix that up. It shows a largish chamber of dwarven construction and at the far end is a dais and two small thrones. A youngish dwarven woman is here with her hand outstretched to a dwarven warrior and behind them are series of columns with a wide balcony with a glow of red light beyond. No one recognises this place as yet.
Turning to the last image we have found, we see a view across open ground to a wall in the space we are looking into. There is what looks like freshly cleared ground and garden beds and grass. The centre of the image is pointed at a dark stone tower, bigger than the one we are currently standing in. It is about 5 or 6 storeys (that we can see) and is in a dark stone. In the background, is what must be a massive structure, another dark stone structure that is in ruins. It is clearly an enormous structure. Thiccoul seems unsure as to what this is but Kezahr says it looks familiar. Isadora says that it is the academy at
Port Zaram, however this is a very old picture. The ruin is still there and forms part of the city wall now on the North side of the city. The ruin is of a giants fortress from the time before when it was Zaer’haem.
Some of the lengths of wall nearby no longer stand so two more of these vistas appear no longer visible. They dont appear like pictures, but are more like looking through a window at the vista beyond. On the floor in this are, there is a lot of
Peryton debris and nests. Upon searching through this we find a bunch of Kobold and Orc bones that may have been used to create new Perytons. Using my Divine Sense, I get a sense that the area is free of nastiness. I do get a small ping of some leftover Peryton eggs and deal with those. Dharra casts Detect Magic and sees the shield that Thiccoul lent Essa lights up as does a staff that Isadora is now carrying. All the pictures all light up and we find one more (there is still one missing). The glass in the library (that we can see from here) lights up.
Looking down to the ground, the tower used to stand in a large walled garden area with a stone wall. There are two smaller buildings that the forest has reclaimed that appear in a large amount of dissrepair. I ask Thiccoul to push all the Peryton muck out of the tower to aid in cleaning up the area. He summons a mighty wind, and all the peryton debris is pushed or swept off the tower. Looking at the cleaned area there used to be a circular rug and a circle of chairs that once furnished this area. However, the tower now looks far cleaner and would be a lovely place to sit and reflect.
Friends Depart and Things Discovered
The time has come for Thiccoul, Isadora and Katya to leave. We head back down the tower to the basement so that Isadora can use the teleportation circle. During the journey downstairs, I walk alongside Katya. She is quite quiet but I notice that she is a bit haunted. I get the impression that she didn’t sleep terribly well last night. On the way down the stairs, we have a quiet conversation about our upcoming journeys and our pasts. It is nice to feel like there is some closure between her and I. I tell her that this is not goodbye, only see you later! I ask her to keep us informed on things in Mirrellion if she can. Dharra has a conversation with Thiccoul on the way down the stairs as well. Isadora came to him to ask him to help her specifically for our need. He thanks Dharra for showing him the tower and the settlement. It is an important part of Dwarven history and he saw the resting place of one of his heroes. She asks if he knows anything about a Hobgoblin sect called the Iron Shadow. He says that they are a sect or specific cult within Hobgoblins that is quite rare. A big enough warband will have at least one. The Iron Shadow keeps an eye on other Hobgoblins and report back to a central group. They aren’t exactly magical but are masters of movement and shadow and are lmost exclusively female. They might serve the feminine elements of Hobgoblin society in steering the rest and they are fucking nasty. Dharra shares news of Westley who turned out to be a sverfnebblin from the Underdark. She mentions his tattoos and the words he had on him. Thicooul has had some run ins with sverfnebblin before and he has heard that they are in a long war against Black Elves (drow). In relation to the tattoos he recognises them as
Lolth markings.
Westley may have been under the sway of the drow for some time. Dharra asks about his impressions of
Pozohr and he is clearly not a fan. He is powerful and strong, but his opinion of Pozohr is not as high as Pozohr’s own. He is more of a fan of
Funi (as are we) and he lets us know that she is a diviner. Her failing is that she has been thrust into a political position by people more political than her. Dharra tells him that we are uncomfortable with Funi no longer having the sending stone. Thiccoul says that maybe Funi will find a way to get it back. Dharra casts a quick message to Funi. She answers that it is good to her from Dharra and she will aim to get the stone back. Pozohr is still concerned about me. Funi will keep an eye out for things at her end for us. The group are heading back to Port Zaram but will be heading home after that.
We reach the basement and the teleportation circle. I thank Thiccoul and say that he is always welcome here. I give Katya a big squeeze and tell her that this is not a goodbye. She tells me about a dream that she had; hundreds of
Aboleth talking to each other, then a seperate vision of massive stone creatures like mountains shaping the land. There was torchlight underground and lots of people moving. She then steps back and then gives me a kiss before stepping into the circle. Isadora says goodbye to us all and stops to say a particular goodbye to Kezahr. She says she should visit and bring Fafnir, as he is of breeding age. She steps back into the circle and casts a spell. After a few minutes, the outer band of the circle and the sigils glow and they disappear.
Final Investigations & The Settlers
We head back upstairs to investigate the garden area as we are nearby. Kezahr uses the key to key to open the front door and we venture outside. Nature has well and truly reclaimed most of this area. We head around the tower to the two outbuildings we saw from upstairs. There are, or were, two structures here that have been taken over by foliage. The one closer to us appears to have at one time been a workhouse or storage area. There is a large mound of dirt piled up in one corner, that was at one time a pile of fine sand, possibly used by Glade to make glass for the tower and the lab. Dharra casts detect magic and has a look around both buildings but does not see anything particularly magical. Looking at the bigger of the two buildings, it is a bit hard to tell what this once was. It may have been a cottage or some sort. Not finding anything else here, we decide to head back to the beach. We will send Kezahr and Essa back to Belhaim to arrange for more boats to rehouse the folks from the mine. Kezahr will get a message to Moulten as well and tell him what we have found and done. We light the beacon and not long after, perhaps with some coaxing from Fafnir,
Ken arrives. We fix up Ken for the trip thus far, and a promise to pay for the extra trip for the resettlement of folks. We wave goodbye to Ken and the girls and head back to the pool to gather up the loot.
As we head down to the pool, the air is noticeably sweeter and the slickness on the stones is no longer apparent. Getting back to the pool, we pick up a bunch of loot all of which gets added to the bag of holding. We head back to the mine and gather up the prisoners to bring them down to the beach, ready to be resettled. The folks are milling about, but they have busied themselves piling up the dead orc and ogres. The older dwarf comes up to us and greets us and introduces himself as Thrain Stormforge. He is a quarryman and a stone mason and would like to be part of the rebuild of the island, the tower and the settlement. We investigate the pile of bodies that Thrain and the others have gathered up. The Orc Smith is on the top and has a symbol Gruumsch etched onto his armoured chest piece. Most of the orcs and some of the ogres have black paint over one eye and down one cheek. They all have, branded into their left shoulder, the same symbol of Gruumsch but with less barbs coming off. None of these bodies have any sigils or markings that we are looking for in particular.
I set myself up to burn the bodies and bless the area previously inhabited by these orcs and ogres. Zeferion the Tiefling will aid in the burning of the bodies. The two half-orcs come back and pledge allegiance to us. We ask them to be part of the group that will protect the island. We conduct our ceremony and bless the area in the name of
Corellon,
Moradin and other gods. There feels like a stronger connection with folks here after all of this.
After this, there is some showing folks around the settlement and taking them outdoors. We emphasise that this place and this island needs people and stories to make it great again. Some folks are keen to stay and bring the island back to its former glory. Dharra shows Thrain and Brom around the settlement. A number of other folks head outside to take in the rest of the island and the tower. Kaelin is quite happy to be above ground, as are many of the others. Krael and Durgash meet us outside and they and the rest of us head down to the beach to meet the boats. We see the boats approaching and meet Ken again, get everyone settled on board and head back to Belhaim. The second boat is piloted by a couple, a half-elven man called Thomas and a human woman named Syl. I sit with Krael and Durgash on the second boat whilst Dharra sits with the dwarfs on Ken’s boat as we sail back to Belhaim.
Back to Belhaim
We pull in to one of the larger docks and get everyone safely back to shore as Kezahr and Devlin meet us at the dock. Moulten has asked that we house folks in a townhouse next to the tower, as well as a room in the tower (if needed). They accept and everyone decides to stay in the townhouse tonight, however Thrain will be available to speak to Moulten on their behalf. We get folks settled there and head to the tower to speak to Moulten. On our way into the tower, Dharra notices a piece of glass in a wall above the square. This could be how the ‘pictures’ in Glade’s Tower were made and could be updated. We are ushered into the secondary meeting room and into the presence of
Esward Moulton.
Aleif is also here and is assisting Moulten in day to day matters and a discussion follows on the events on the island and a division of labour moving forward. We sign the lease agreement and set up a bunch of systems and folks to start the repair of the Island. We hand over a bunch of gold to Moulten to pay for taxes and guards. We will speak to
Devlin and Thrain about Employment moving forward as part of the rebuild. Having settled that, he turns his attention to the matter of
Alden. We give him our counsel as to how he may deal with that situation and he thanks us and we take our leave to head home to the
Chandlerveil.
Before we leave, Kezahr asks to speak to me. She is going to head to
Confluence to work out whatever this is between her and Pozohr. I ask her to be careful whilst she is there to not offer information about
Verdant Isle and the things found there. She agrees to all of that and gives me the key to the tower for safekeeping. She will leave for Confluence tonight. I ask her to make contact with Funi whilst she is there as well.
Dharra has a catchup with Devlin over a Dwarven Ale. She tells him all about what we saw and fought and starts to feel him out about being involved. I join them and we lay out our plan for him to be our Captain of the Guard. He seems keen and will meet the rest of the folk planning to stay at the Tavern tonight before giving us his final answer. We also catch up with Holly and fill her in on what we would like her to do as well. She seems keen to help out with as well, and we all get changed for dinner and head out to the Tavern. We pick up all the folks at the Townhouse on our way and head to dinner. On our way to the tavern, we ask Thrain to be overseer, to which he agrees. We find a spot in
The Lonely Forest Tavern and have a splendid dinner. Devlin sits with Krail & Durgash, but also alongside Thrain. Dharra spends some time performing for everyone and there is singing & dancing, eating & drinking had by all.
During the evening, Moulten turns up with Aleif and
Kugulex. They join us for a drink and in listening to Dharra play. We pick up on the fact that Moulten and Aleif are into each other. Word spreads through the crowd that Thrain has decided to stay on the island long term and others seem to be picking up on that and making their own decisions as well. Silas and Asha confirm that they will be staying on the island as well. The night finishes up well and we head home to the Chandlerveil. Dharra asks me about my conversation with Kezahr and I tell her what transpired. She then sits down to identify the chainmail we found in the pool. She tells us the story of its manufacture and confirms it is chainmail +1. Dharra gifts Devlin with the chainmail and he agrees to be our captain. With all of that finally squared away, we head to bed for a well earned long rest.
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