Session 64: The Vault Opens Report
General Summary
The party battle a treant and two awakened trees outside the collection of Brandath crypts, the treant continually bellowing, "Only Brandath blood may enter!" Andryn Stormpeak goes down when it throws a large boulder at her. Jarlaxle Baenre wonders if it might behoove them to summon Renaer Neverember to get them into the crypts. After some fighting the party backs away until one of Jarlaxle's drow compatriots brings back Renaer and Meloon Wardragon. The trees back down when Renaer appears.
The group enters the oldest crypt where they find that Dagult Neverember has exhumed the original Brandath here to give his wife the oldest and most important mausoleum. The party (along with Renaer, Jarlaxle, and company) enter the crypt and search for clues. They eventually find a button that exposes a stairwell under Renaer's mother's tomb. Underneath they find evidence that people sent by Lord Victoro Cassalanter and Lady Ammalia Cassalanter encountered magical traps when they broke into this crypt to find a Eye of the Stone of Golorr. The party continues to investigate and finds a caved-in tunnel is an illusion hiding a corridor to a large door.
Some investigating reveals that this door was recently made, while this underground system seems much older. The surrounding arch looks much older. Andryn and Cameron Overholt notice references in the runes to Dumathoin, a dwarven god of mining and underground exploration. It's clear Dagult modified older structures within this underground structure to create magical and physical barriers to people trying to get to the Vault itself. After a few lockpicking attempts from several people, Renaer is finally able to open the door so the group can descend further. Eventually they find a massive door with no handles or locks, seemingly the door to the Vault of Dragons. Dwarven runes around the door read, “All that lies within belongs to the Silent Keeper.” (Silent Keeper is a reference to Dumathoin, Andryn determines). There is a bas relief on the ground. A gold sun is inlaid into the relief. An inscription around the relief reads “Know ye the hidden truth" repeated three times.
There is much discussion on how to open the door. They go over the riddle: Three keys ye seek. Strike scale of wyrm in light of day. As the vault bears witness, so shall it open to mithral’s strike. The party wonders if actual sunlight is needed, if they are to strike a specific dragon scale, and if they need someone to bear witness. Jarlaxle mentions he has many dragon scales back at his ship (the party noticed them in his office and bedroom). He sends one of his lackeys back to get some. After a short period he returns to dragon scales. The man mentioned people are lurking above ground. He saw ravens, gazers, and some flying snakes scanning the area. The party tries to cast Light on the sun relief in the floor before the door and strike the scale but nothing happens. It looks like they need actual sunlight. Andryn knows a druid, Mellannor Fellbranch, her contact at the Emerald Enclave. Jarlaxle sends one of his men out again with a clock of invisibility to retrieve Mellannor. After some time they return, though Mellannor is not happy. He casts Daylight on the sun relief in the ground and leaves with Jarlaxle's clock (Jarlaxle is not pleased about this). The party use the toy mithral hammer they bought to strike a dragon scale in the sunlight. The doors open.
The group heads into a room with several closed double doors. Cameron is able to deduce that only two sets of double doors open to a room. They also find some frescos that depict the early settling of Waterdeep. It shows Dumathoin blessing the ground they recognize as Waterdeep, centuries before the city itself was founded. It looks like Dumathoin showed a group of dwarves where deposits of mithral were deep underground. Another fresco shoes dwarves tunneling deep underneath what would be Waterdeep creating a home for themselves, finding riches of mithral. The last fresco shows the dwarves tunneling ever further underground. The city begins to rise over their underground halls. In the expanse of their Underhalls the party sees the silhouettes of creatures of the Underdark reaching upward towards the tunneling dwarves. Both Cameron and Andryn recall that there was talk of the missing sixth level of Undermountain and this could be a representation of the initial creation of Undermountain before it was taken over by Halaster, the Mad Mage. They also recall that these levels were reportedly created by Clan Melairkyn.
They venture further into the underground complex and find another fresco. Andryn is charmed by it and refuses to move. Cameron reluctantly damages the fresco to break her of the charm. They head upward and find three crumbling bridges. The rest of the group holds back as the party tries to cross the bridges. Cameron tries to cross the most sturdy looking bridge but it breaks as he crosses. Andryn bravely jumps across the broken bridge. Runt hops over like it's no big deal. They find a room of more frescos, depicting the construction of the Temple of Dumathoin deep under Waterdeep as well as the Heart of the Mountain. Andryn removes a suspicious looking hammer in the fresco revealing a secret compartment. Inside are maps to the sixth level of Undermountain along with detailed notes showing the calculations used to determine the location of the Heart of the Mountain and the divinatory properties which resulted from “the whisper of the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain” (Andryn know 'Keeper of Secrets' is another title of Dumathoin's).
Cameron casts Spider Climb on Andryn to get her to the next room. He and Runt jump from one bridge to another and barely make it across. They enter a room and find four sets of armor and runes that say “A secret never before told will part Dumathoin’s lips.” The party mulls over what this means. Since she has Spider Climb, Andryn crosses to the next bridge and finds a room with a trapdoor and more frescos on the walls. These frescos depict a long red slender dragon. It's chest or heart looks to be bursting into five pieces, represented by emerald, sapphire, ruby, topaz, and crystal. The frescos show most of the pieces being thrown across many lands, but there is a focus in the main fresco of the sapphire piece. Andryn sees dwarves holding up their hands to accept the sapphire. As the fresco progresses Andryn sees it being placed in their Underhalls.
Andryn tries to open the trapdoor in this room but is blasted with psionic energy. She returns to her party while they figure out what to do next. They consider what secret this room wants from them. Cameron idly says he once slept with his graduate advisor. A trap door in the center of the room immediately opens. Cameron assures the rest of the party he received his degrees on the up and up (but internally worries about this has affected the academic legitimacy within the group—though Runt and Andryn seem not to care at all). The party descend circular stairs to a dusty, dry hallway. As they try to make sense of where they are an elderly voice calls out, "Hello? Is someone there? I'm afraid I'm not up for visitors. The place is a mess..."
Rewards Granted
Maps to the Sixth Level of Undermountain
Runt Thundermount
Cameron Overholt
Andryn Stormpeak
Caelynn Amastacia
Report Date
14 Mar 2022
Primary Location
Related Plots
Comments