Eight adventurers, Ruu Dawnhammer, Almalexia, Sauroff, Silvermoon, Koravhik Agu-Vakanu, Squirrelly, Cressidien, and
Cernan were continuing their exploration of the ruins of Phandelver when they came upon an archway inscribed with the dwarven phrase
"Spreuk Smeden", which loosely translates as "Spell Forge". The archway led to a long, dark corridor. Apparently this part of the complex was higher than the burnt archive, as the peaked ceilings of the corridors here were hidden behind a stream of thick, black smoke.
Squirrelly and Koravhik remained at the archway to keep watch to avoid having any hostile creatures ambushing the party while they were busy at the Spell Forge. The rest of the party advanced down the entrance corridor, passing the crushed and burnt bodies of several dwarves. The orientation of the bodies suggests that they were fleeing the Spell Forge when they were struck down.
The double doors to the Spell Forge were mostly open, revealing a large, square 20 foot tall chamber. The chamber was lit by a tall, green fire tornado rising from a 15 foot deep circular pit in the floor. The spiraling flames were not constant, flickering in both brightness and height. When the flames occasionally reached large crystals embedded in the ceiling, the crystals glowed briefly. Two curved stairs on either side descended into the pit. In each of the corners of the square upper chamber stood a large suit of strange plate armor, very reminiscent of the guardians the party encountered under Old Owl Tower.
As the party entered the Spell Forge, a large spherical creature floated into view from behind the crystals in the ceiling. The creature had several small eyes on the tips of stalks on the top of its body, and one large, milky eye in the center of the body over a large, toothy maw. The floating orb announced in dwarven that the party needed to leave, as they were not listed on the access roster for the spell forge. Ruu stepped forward and somehow convinced the orb that he was there to update the roster, so the orb let him (and only him) proceed into the Forge. Unfortunately, Ruu did not see any access roster as he scanned the room. Luckily, Cernan spotted a silver clipboard on the far wall, and pointed it out to Ruu.
As Ruu reached the clipboard, he belatedly realized that he did not have a quill or ink, nor could he see any near the clipboard. The floating orb would not anyone else venture past the area near the door, so Sauroff cast Mage Hand to pass his quill and ink halfway to Ruu. As Ruu cast his own Mage Hand to complete the transfer, there was a commotion in the hallway near the door.
Although Squirrelly and Koravhik were keeping watch at the far end of the hall, somehow the revived Flameskull from the smelter room had somehow slipped past them, possibly in the thick smoke at ceiling. The skull cast a Fireball spell on the party members clustered near the door, then announced to the floating orb that they were all trespassers. The orb activated the iron guardians in the corners of the room, and combat began in earnest!
After suffering a flameblast from one of the guardians, he was then struck with a paralysis ray from one of the floating orb's eyestalks. Silvermoon made a floating pincushion out of the skull with her bow, with only its inherent resistance to piercing damage allowing it to survive the onslaught. She then ran over to Ruu. Taking the pen from Ruu, Silvermoon called out her elvish name, then entered into the access roster. The vellum page flashed briefly as she completed her name. With her name now on the roster, the guardian which was heading towards her now started moving towards Ruu. Ruu shook off the paralysis at this point, then took the pen from Silvermoon, called out his name, then entered it on the roster. The two guardians looming over him then turned and lumbered towards the party members near the door.
Back at the door, the rest of the party remained in a tight group long enough for one of the guardians to engulf most of them with a flameblast. The party quickly finished off the flameskull, then split their attention between the floating orb and the iron guardians. Though their foes did appear slightly damaged, it seemed that the party was taking damage faster. The floating orb easily dispelled a darkness spell meant to blind it, then continued peppering the party members not on the roster with arcane attacks from its eyestalks.
However, Ruu and Silvermoon now took turns entering the names of their comrades into the access roaster (even managing to spell Koravhik's last name correctly). As each name was entered, the orb and guardians then ignored that person. In turn, the newly-registered person deliberately did NOT attack the Forge's defenders. This made the final outliers the center of attention, but all the names were entered before any of the party fell in combat. Once the last name was completed the guardians returned to their respective corners, and the floating orb became docile.
Searching the pit of the flame tornado, the party discovered a magical mace, a magical breastplate, and a magical cloak. Taking time to identify them (and the magical boots they had found earlier in the mines), they discovered their properties and divvied them up as detailed below. The +1 mace is for now unclaimed. They also learned that the green flames of the Spell Forge have faltered over time, and currently can only enchant armor or weapons for a few hours at most, and then only once per item.
After taking a long rest is an office just off the far end of the Spell Forge room, the party continued their exploration of Phandelver. Following a long, shallowly-sloped passage downward, they heard the sound of lapping water ahead of them. The passage eventually opened into an enormous chamber. A stone wharf and pier extended out into a large, underground body of water. Small waves in the water lapped against the pier, and marks on the walls indicated that the water level changed over time, both higher and lower than the current level.
Leaving this mystery for another time, they continued their search, eventually finding the section near the original entrance that has long since collapsed. Having finished clearing Phandelver of hostile undead, the party returned to the Rockseeker brothers. The party escorted the brothers back to the entrance they dug, then went to Phandalin with Gundren, arriving early in the morning.
The found Phandalin overrun with dwarves, all dressed in Pharesian garb. It turned out that the additional supplies and help that Gundren was expecting back in Westport finally arrived. The newcomers explained that they had been delayed by a long string of bureaucratic red-tape, labor issues, etc. They strongly suspected that someone behind the scenes were bribing people to delay them. Gundren warmly welcomed them, and promised to lead them (and their much needed supplies) to Phandelver the following morning.
Checking in at the Miners Exchange, the party learned from Halia that the old manor had
not been paid for with "ill-gotten gains". She said that all the fees had been paid for in Pharesian coins, but the money extorted from locals and travelers had been in Wallacian coins. As a result, the manor would have be processed through probate to see if Glassstaff had any surviving heirs. She added that if they wanted to speed up the process, they could go to the capital of Blackrock to pay for expedited processing at the records office. The party also decided to pay 10 gold for a records search on ownership of the rundown Sleeping Giant tavern, as well as 5 gold to claim ownership of Cragmaw Castle. Halia added that if the party did travel to Westport or Blackrock, they might want to be more discrete about their ownership of several magic items.
Silvermoon went to pick up her new rapiers from Bull Davos. He had completed three rapiers, allowing her to pick her two favorites. She also got some black enamel from Bull to help tone down the bright coloration of her new armor.
Sildar sat down with Koravhik to learn of their recent adventures in Phandelver, copying them down into ale-stained notes which he handed off to a courier rider in the late afternoon.
The party decided to journey back to Westport, and then on to Blackrock the following morning for a variety of errands. Coincidentally, a small merchant caravan from Allenstadt arrived just before sundown on their way to Westport. After having some difficulties with wildlife and truculent vegetation on the Tri-Boar Trail, they welcomed the party to travel with them in the morning.
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