The date is Sunday, 23rd April
Wake up tired and with hangovers (except Seer). We're now officially adults.
Spend a couple of days doing some bartering and trading. Ponder our future.
Agatha (blacksmith's 12-year-old daughter) approaches us and offers to show where
Fyren can find the diamond he seeks. She takes us to the village barrow, where she squirmed inside a badger burrow and says there's treasure and stuff inside.
Those who die in battle with a weapon in their hand are cremated and their spirits go to Valhalla. Everyone else who dies is buried in the barrow and their spirits go to Helheim.
Sigmund gets Agatha to guide him into the burrow.
Idris and
Fyren are uncomfortable with disturbing village graves so go to speak to
Brogi.
As Sigmund squirms in, a rush of air greets him. He reaches an internal chamber filled with bodies, with shields at their feet, some with weapons in their hands. There are also urns. Sigmund has a poke around.
Meanwhile, Idris and Fyren tell Brogi about the barrow and the
badgers. We don't specify quite how we discovered this. Brogi suggests, as adults, we could sort the problem out. We mention a need to check if the badgers have damaged the barrow, so kind of justifies Sigmund going in there.
All meet up back at the barrow and wait for Sigmund to emerge.
Fetch some tools. Fill in the badger hole on the outside. Fix the badger hole damage on the inside of the barrow. While in there,
Seer senses the presence of magical items.
As we're about to leave,
Asami enters. She enquires if our repairs are complete. She is here to bless the barrow and asks us to help. Ask her about the magic items - she says they are needed by the dead in the afterlife. We reseal the barrow and return to the village.
That evening,
Hamir (blacksmith) speaks to us. He mentions that dwarf traders haven't visited in the past couple of years and he's nearly run out of ore. He'd like us to visit the
Old Dwarven Mine in the
White Mountains to the west/north-west a few days travel away. We load up some pack
Reindeer with trade goods and then we can bring a load of ore back.
The date is Tuesday, 25th April
Head out. We are warned not to enter the mountains proper (the quarry is on the edge). The weather is warm and dry.
Seer and
Tinnan forage as we go.
Encounter a notably burned tree. A burned corpse, dwarf-sized, is chained to the tree. It seems the body has been here for months. We retrieve a chain shirt (
Sigmund wears it) from the dwarf and then dig a shallow grave for it. We find a key ring with three keys on it.
Camp overnight.
The date is Friday, 28th April
Head north looking for dwarf quarry. Run into a patrol of
Kobolds. We manage to set up an ambush for them. We kill a few but a winged one makes a hasty escape.
Head northwest in the direction the kobold flew. Find a semi-circular quarry cut into the foothills of the mountains, three huge piles of broken stones partially fill its 300ft. diameter, the rocks stained red with iron ore. A dark tunnel leads into the hillside.
Leave the reindeer safely outside the quarry.
Send
Seer's bat into the tunnel to scout. We head into the tunnel. The tunnel curves to the left and gently descends. It has clearly been made by skilled miners. In the floor of the tunnel are two parallel grooves about 5' apart. The tunnel ends in sturdy double doors that are open, casual inspection shows that the large, chunky lock has been forced.
We test the keys from the dead dwarf and the largest one fits the broken lock.
This chamber doesn't look mine like at all, the floor is paved and the walls and ceiling are plastered and smooth. In a large alcove to the south are various bits of mining equipment. There is a narrow 5' passage leading south, another leading north and a roughhewn, wider 10' passage leading west.
We head south into a dining hall of the dwarven miners. The ceiling is supported by six large columns, it arches into the centre where it reaches 10' high. Along the centre are two long trestle tables that could seat around 20 dwarves. The floor is paved and the walls are plastered. The walls have been inexpertly painted with scenes of dwarvish life, mining, drinking etc. One of the friezes possibly depicts a semi-clad dwarven lady. From the roof hang two iron chandeliers with four oil lamps on each.
The room is filled with a band of kobolds, which we swiftly massacre.
Head onwards. This is the kitchen; there is a small well and a fireplace/stove. At the back is a store room with some sacks of flour, meat of some description and two large, empty beer barrels. Find and slay a lone kobold skulking in the larder.
This is the recreation room of the dwarves. There are some stone benches with washing bowls, others with small tools for sharpening pick axes and maintaining gear etc. There are three chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
A further small band of kobolds are slain rapidly.
