Tomb of Moving Stones, Part 1
General Summary
2 Mirtul, The Year of The Scarlet Witch (1491 DR)
Town of Red Larch, Dessarin Valley
A tremor broke an ordinary afternoon in Red Larch. A second later, four small children and the old cart they were playing on slid into a sinkhole that suddenly opened. They disappeared from sight, shrieking for help.
A distraught woman ran out of a nearby house and sprinted to the hole's edge, which crumbled away, spilling her in. More people ran from other homes. Calls of "A rope, a rope!" and "Get a ladder!" filled the air.
More townsfolk hurried from all sides, staying clear of the edge. Among them were a few town elders, who pulled people away from the edge and ordered the others to stay back.
"Leave it to us!" says one of the elders.
"We will tend to this matter!" ordered one of the elders. "The children won't be harmed by being down there a little while, but no one must go down there. Keep back!"
The adventurers, who had all been enjoying a relatively quiet springtime afternoon in front of the Allfaiths Shrine, were surprised to see three town elders preventing anyone from venturing too close to the gaping sinkhole. It was also apparent the elders didn't want anyone entering the sinkhole, even to rescue those who had fallen in.
Darath Tugon, a minotaur paladin of Tempus, tried to convince one of the elders to let him help. But he, too, was ordered by an elder not to go near the sinkhole.
However, Erun Te'oma followed by Peridot Humgrin were able to get through the large crowd by pushing a ladder through. Seeker, a warforge, was not far behind the two.
Erun, with the help of others and despite any objections raised by the elders Ilmeth Waelvur, Albaeri Mellikho, and Ulhro Luruth, had quickly set up the ladder and several ropes at the edge of the sinkhole.
While Erun was busy securing the rope to the ladder, Peridot flew into the sinkhole to see how the four children and women were faring. Fortunately, they were all alive, having suffered minor bruises and cuts.
After helping the survivors out, the adventurers looked around.
The wide, irregularly shaped cavern had a floor of smooth bedrock. Damp dirt and stone, with tree roots protruded here and there, making up the walls. A five-foot-wide tunnel led off to the north, and a door—a stone slab with a rusty pull-ring—stood to the east. By the stone door, a couple of well-used cloaks and a waterskin were on the floor.
The waterskin was empty and the cloaks, although covered in dirt, were plain.
Beyond the stone door was a narrow passage. At the end of the passage was another stone door with an iron pull ring in it. It stands slightly ajar with darkness beyond. About five feet up, the door had a two-inch-wide, foot-long horizontal slit.
The party cautiously made their way down the passage.
Halfway down the passage, the party suddenly heard a sound reverberating through the ceiling.
They saw that the ceiling consisted of square stone panels about ten feet on a side. Rusty iron frames surrounded each panel. The panels were suspended about several inches from one another and the wall to either side. They formed a row overhead that continued down the passage.
They quickly realized the entire ceiling was some form of trap!
Everyone rushed through the passage as iron cages burst through ceiling and started dropping into the passage, starting from where the party first entered.
When they reached the end of the passage, they pushed the stone door open and stumbled into a big square chamber. Fortunately, no one got caught in any of the traps behind them.
This big, square chamber they were in had been hewn out of the rock. In the center of the chamber’s west wall was a stone door that has a narrow viewing slit. Beside the door was a set of iron bars bolted into the wall about three feet above the floor. Ten oiled chains were secured to the bars, and led up to a hole bored in the ceiling.
A male half-orc stood in front of the iron bars. It was clear, the half-orc had seen the party through the viewing slit and had triggered the traps.
Despite being outnumbered the half-orc attacked the party, who quickly dispatched the half-orc.
After, the group examined the big room further.
Another solid stone door was in the middle of the east wall. An eight-foot-tall rectangular stone stood upright in the room’s center. The stone had an inscription on it written in Common. It read, “Displease not the Delvers.”
At the foot of the standing stone, a small human boy was pinned, face down, by rocks placed atop his arms, legs, and back. He was barefoot and wore ragged clothes.
The group freed the boy and tended to him immediately. When asked who he was, the boy said his name was Braelen Hatherhand. He said he had been pinned in the room for two days. Heavy stones were carefully placed to hold him in place without crushing or breaking anything. He was clearly cold, thirsty, hungry, tired, and scared.
He begged begged for food and water, which he was given. They then asked him more questions about why he was being held captive beneath the town. They asked him other questions as well.
Braelen revealed that The Believers had put him in the room as punishment for disobedient. He failed to deliver a message from his father, Rotharr Hatherhand to Ilmeth Waelvur. It was a slip of paper the boy didn't read.
The boy said Rotharr was one of the Believers. Other Believers Braelen knew were Baragustas Harbuckler, Marlandro Gaelkur, and Ilmeth Waelvur. Believers were a secret group made up of some of the most important people in town. The boy also knew Grund, the half-orc who attacked the group, wasn't really a Believer, but the Believers took care of him, so he did what they told him to do. The boy said the Believers guarded the moving stones, and made sure no one disturbed the Delvers, who were entombed here. The Believers watched the moving stones carefully, because it was a bad sign when they moved, and they have to figure out what it meant to avert danger.
Braelen admitted he wasn't angry with his father or the Believers. He believed this sort of treatment was normal, and he was worried his father might find out the punishment ended before it was supposed to.
Finally, Braelen said the chamber of moving stones and the buried Delvers were to the east, beyond three more stone doors.
The group considered sending Braelen up with the other children they had rescued, but wasn't sure if the boy would be safe once the town elders discovered he had been rescued.
Still, the adventurers wanted to know more about Believers, the moving stones, and the Delvers.
Report Date
24 Jul 2022
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