To Err is Dwarven

General Summary

King Bombo, a consummate dwarf of action, assembled some adventurers and, after swearing them to secrecy, set out to take care of the dragon problem himself.
Deep in the vaults of Ozrilyn, the Dragonslayer slept. Along the way, however, the party encountered an unassuming old dwarf custodian who referred to Bombo as an "orphan king of a prodigal kingdom." Bombo, knowing his parents were alive, dismissed the elder and moved past him, although neither Savin nor Elliot saw the dwarf. Bombo was a dwarf of action, not words, after all.
At the vault door, the party encountered a being standing over the corpse of a celestial dwarf. The tentacled mass called itself Vesh'shuggthuxxsh and declared it was the guardian of the vault. To pass, it must be offered sentient food. Bombo refused, and the party engaged the creature directly, though shrouded in darkness. Savin stared into madness and began bashing his own brains out with his shield, and Elliot, though blind, reversed gravity and cast several blanketing spells, nearly killing his party members, but the creature called out to its god and disappeared. Bleeding but not broken, the party never discovered what the creature was. They were a party of action, after all.
Fortunately, fate intervened and a key fell from the air where the enemy had been, and was picked up by none other than the dwarf apparition only Bombo had seen before. The oldbeard handed the key to them with a warning: "Inside you'll find the means to test whether your king has the heart of a father, or the heart of a dragon." Bombo took the key but did not ponder the meaning of this warning, nor wonder at the similarity to the lyrics sung by the dominated miners, for the king was a king of action.
Inside the vault, they met Dragonslayer, an intelligent hooked hammer who revealed that she was a portion of the soul of gnome who first captured Caex'charir, the Red Sword. Caex'charir had been a devoted worshiper of Tiamat, and had submitted to what he thought was his deity's will in a dream-vision to be imprisoned in the evil node that lay in the heart of the mountain in Forgehaven under Fjordhaven. This was a trick, however, as the gnome had sent an illusion using the dream walk spell. It was likely this dreamscape however, that allowed the dragon to reach out and influence the dwarves of Fjordhaven, although Dragonslayer did not know how the dragon was conscious, and it should not be able to affect the real world through earthquakes at all. Though not an evil act in itself, evil nodes can only be accessed by evil spellcasters, but fortunately for the party, Dragonslayer could do so. This seemed reasonable to them, and the party found no reason to question this as they headed back to Durak to access the Heart of the Mountain. For they were mighty and full of deeds to be done, action-adventurers, you might say.
Ignoring the tapestries depicting dragon hordes and black-bearded dwarves in his villa, the party eventually found Durak, Elder Lord of Kadre Harbor, making an impassioned speech in the House of Gold, the congress of the dwarves. He had been put into the position by Bombo and seemed to be well-suited to the trappings of power, entertaining his audience with an animated fist pounding on the podium, speaking loudly of dwarf strength and of how Pandora and all its riches were their birthright since they were there first, and pushing them to war with the Sovereignty as it was dwarves alone who defeated the evil empire the last time. King Bombo arrived and stood beside Durak, and although the elder lord was an economical progressive, allied with Lord Orem of the Fjordhaven Mining Company, all of the dwarves including the traditionalists applauded his speech when they saw their king. Whatever the issue was, the vote seemed well in Durak's favor, and the lord took the party aside. They offered no questions as they entered the teleportation circle Durak assembled from ancient stone blocks in front of them, and Bombo offered no protest as the elder lord reminded the king of his oath: to save the city and never release the dragon. Thus acknowledged, Durak activated the circle and the party entered the heart of the mountain to save the kingdom! Actions speak louder than words, after all.
The heart of the mountain turned out to be a massive forge that siphoned rock and lava heated by the evil node. After Elliot discovered the engineering plans in a hidden room, the puzzle of accessing the inmost chamber was quite simple, and they were able to open a path despite the heat bearing down on them. The heart's guardians activated, and though tough and magically immune, all foes fell beneath mighty hammer blows. Inside the node, the party quickly chose to keep the dragon imprisoned, and entered Caex'charir's dreamscape with the help of Dragonslayer. Once inside, each of them saw their greatest fear reflected in a being near the node, and Savin, unable to keep himself from reaching toward his burning children, was slain by a phantasmal killer and disappeared. Elliot and Bombo realized that this was no mere nightmare, and ignored the respective visions of lost memories and miscarriage projected toward them. They demanded to know what the creature really was, and it spoke to them, hissing that it would feast on their fear just as it feasted on the dragon's terror of eternal imprisonment. Realizing the evil before them, they flew at it with abandon and slew the phantasmal slayer. Dragonslayer explained that these creatures had likely been trapped in here with Caex'charir, and that by slaying it, they could now safely leave this place, forever trapping the source of Fjordhaven's power here. Satisfied, the party ignored the pleas of the ancient wyrm begging them to release him from prison, and laughed at his promise of a retribution for their sin, and left the dreamscape, sealing the dragon in eternal slumber. The party was a party of action, not words, after all.
Awakening, they found that Savin had awoken already, drained of vitality, but alive. Immediately, they felt the mountain tremble worse than it ever had, and they teleported back to Bombo's bedroom. Surprised, Queen Javida was shooing them out when a messenger bearing tragic news fetched them. Flying down to the now-ruined cathedral of Moradin, they found that the final earthquake had indeed claimed more than stone as its victim: Goraldina Sternhammer, High Priestess of Berronar and grandmother of the queen, lay dead. Resurrection spells had been cast, but her spirit was unwilling to return. Surrounded by the rubble of the temple, Durak offered his sympathies and carried out the king's order that she be laid to rest, but first stated that he had another task to attend to. With a flourish, twin banners depicting the holy symbol of Abatthor, god of avarice and dwarves, were hung over the last two pillars of the entranceway. "You approved of this when you stood beside me, Your Majesty. Everyone knows you're a king of action, not words, after all."
Bombo, incensed that he had been tricked, swore he would undo all that had been done. Doomslayer, seeing that her work was done, bid her farewells, though no one seemed to notice. Savin, knowing there were means of speaking with the dead, requested that the funeral for Goraldina be placed on hold, and Bombo agreed, even as Queen Javida wept over the body of her last blood relative.

...

That night, the new High Priest of Abatthor, confident that his power was at last secure, slept soundly in his chambers, and heard a voice in his dream.
"Lord Durak."
"You!" replied the dwarf lord to the visitor. "You said there would be no more killing! Now the king blames me for the death of his queen's grandmother!"
"Enough!" said the figure, impatiently cutting the air with a pale hand. "She is of no consequence. Thanks to the pressure I kept on the Kingdom, the king was distracted and acted too quickly. You have your new position because of me, High Priest. I am here to remind you of our deal."
"I remember," replied the dwarf lord, after reflecting a moment. "Now the earthquakes will stop?"
"So long as you keep up your end of the bargain, you have my word."
"One more thing: How did you know the king would act the way he did?"
I learned much from our last battle together. Death brings knowledge, and "doom is not blind." Goodnight, little dwarf.

Rewards Granted

Loot:
[10,000 gp] ancient gold coins

Armor
[7,850 gp] +1 dragon-defiant dwarvencraft mithral mountain plate armor (new armor: Races of Stone page 156-159)
[7,170 gp] Dragonslayer's Shield (specific item)

Art
[500 gp] gold and mithral baby rattle
[500 gp] platinum holy symbol of Gond

Gems
[2,000 gp] pouch of emeralds

Potions
[750 gp] potion/oil of shrink item (CL 5)
[300 gp] potion/oil of remove paralysis (CL 3)

Scrolls
[1,125 gp] arcane scroll of suffocation (CL 9)
[1,125 gp] arcane scroll of cone of cold (CL 9)
[375 gp] arcane scroll of lightning bolt (CL 5)

Wands
[375 gp] wand of create water (CL 1)
[4,500 gp] wand of weapon of awe (CL 3)
[375 gp] wand of detect magic (CL 1)

Weapons
[8,000 gp] +1 dragonbane gnome hooked hammer (sheds light; gnomish runes name it "Dragonslayer"; it was once an intelligent item but headed into the dreamscape and now exists as a mere weapon until called upon in a quest)
[2,330 gp] +1 dwarven waraxe [sheds light]
[2,300 gp] +1 sling [no light or external clues]

Wondrous Items
[800 gp] cap of human guise [clue indicates function]
[500 gp] armbands of the brawler [no external clues]

Experience:
Elliot (16): 3,067 XP = 400 (unknowable entity from beyond) + 400 (convinced Durak to let them enter the heart chamber) + 1,200 (forge golems) + 1,067 (phantasmal slayer)
Bombo, Savin (14): 5,600 XP each = 700 + 700 + 2,100 + 2,100

Alignment:
Bombo shifts to:

Show spoiler

N5/G2 for charging into combat and ignoring opportunities to investigate, discuss, or question motives and actions of others involved in the imprisonment of the dragon Caex'charir.

Empire (changes already added)
The Kingdom of Fjordhaven: -1 Reputation
Fjordhaven City: +2 Economy, +2 Wariness, -2 Loyalty, -2 Order
Kadre Harbor: +2 Loyalty, +1 Economy

Current Event(s)
No citizen of the Kingdom of Fjordhaven will receive any reply from any spell or prayer seeking a response from a member of the Morndinsammen (Dwarven Pantheon) except Abbathor. Divine casters who are citizens of Fjordhaven and worship any member of the Mordinsammen other than Abbathor will no longer receive spells.

Related Reports

A Storm of Ale, Shaken Yet Unstirred, Part 1, Shaken Yet Unstirred, Part 2

Report Date

29 Aug 2024

Primary Location

The Havens

Secondary Location

Fjordhaven City

Related Characters

• Bombo
• Caex'charir
• Durak
• Elliot
• Goraldina Sternhammer
• Savin

Dungeon Master

Sharhorn (12): 5,400xp/5,800gp/5dt