On the last day of a short period of rest (12/18 – 12/27), several of Tienarth’s Raiders relaxed at the tavern where SIlverfish introduced them to a new game of chance using cards. Zhargrave had declared his temple complete, and the village was filled with a celebratory mood. The old wizard explained he’d learned the game from the Stewards of Fate, about which he didn’t explain further nor did any ask. He offered some unrequested advice, that the party has for too long ignored Fortune. They paid her no tribute, sought no relief from her, nor even seemed to trust that she might offer any benefit. He suggested that not every fact is knowable. Not every circumstance always makes sense. Time burned away while they seemed mired in a mental swamp.
The game proceeded, and while little coin was won or lost among all of them, they were fortunate to meet a new friend. A dwarf who called himself Bale Shezzar asked to join the game. They came to learn of his successful career as a gladiator who earned his freedom from the pits in White Vault, now seeking the holy retreat of Beoll-Dur. An ancient, dying slave told him of the dwarven monastery built by dwarves on the rim of a dormant volcano. The volcano woke with fury, and fiery salamanders came up from below, routing the dwarven clerics. Most perished. A few escaped to share the tale.
Bale recruited the Raiders to assist him in sailing for Beoll-Dur to find what remained. He had a well-equipped ship and a crew. Equal shares were offered and the group agreed. They sailed the next day (12/28), expecting a six-day trip. The direction was southeast. Two days into the journey a storm sped them onward at extraordinary speed and they they arrived sooner than expected (12/31).
Smoke and steam drifted out of the peak stabbing up out of the azure ocean waters. Stairs were seen climbing the face of the volcano to where the rim of a crater at the top. Tienarth transformed into a golden dragon, drifting over the island. Hundreds of feet below the rim was a roiling hellscape of lava. The stair climbing more than five hundred feed to the rim crumbled as they descended the inside of the crater. He spied a landing 75 feet below the rim where two ornate door remained locked.
The party, including Bale, climbed to the rim and affixed a rope. Ollie, the dwarf fighter, descended to the landing. The rope held him fast as he stepped on a trap door through which he would have otherwise fallen down in the burning lava. The metal doors were locked and did not budge under his magically-increased strength. Ferris, alchemist and thief, took a turn, and soon he had the locks working, pushing the doors open easily. One by one, they came down the rope and stepped into a long hallway, twenty feet wide. The temperature inside was very warm (95F).
Hocuspo and Tienarth were in dragon forms. When Tienarth attempted a landing at the door, the stones gave away, tumbling down the slope into the lava below. The two dragons were able to fly through the wide doors, though the twenty-by-thirty area was crowded by the two beasts. The rope still dangled withing reach, so they all took comfort in making an escape if necessary.
A massive iron portcullis, rusted with age, blocked further entrance into the retreat. Magical lights showed the hallway continued for more than a hundred feet. The ceiling was forty feet tall. A search turned up no obvious method for raising the iron bars, and even the combined strength of all members could not lift them. However, Jerker and Ollie were able to bend the bars enough to allow them to squeeze through, excepting the two dragons.
The nearest door was tried. Behind it was a cloud of noxious gas. After the door was shut again, Saul provided protection against poison to Ferris who ventured into foggy room. To the north, he found a room with a rusting wheel he was unable to turn until he borrowed Ollie’s gauntlets of ogre power. His effort raised the portcullis, admitting the dragons. He also searched a room to the south that was filled with arms and armor, all seemingly ordinary.
Back in the long hallway, Ollie approached a second door. Before his hand touched the handle, the stone spun around. Suddenly, he was gone. The rest of them could see the seam in the rock but could not budge the door. On the other side, Ollie found that door was false, except that in the otherwise bare stone was a keyhole. Behind him was a narrow way sloping upwards. He made his way cautiously, avoiding falling down a shaft through which he spied a room. The passage turned around and down, leading him to the room filled with debris.
From across the room, an ogre charged with no warning. It swung a bastard sword. Despite its large size, Ollie had little trouble cutting it down. He took up the sword which glowed faintly, and he felt an intelligence within the blade, though it did not speak to him. Made for a humanoid of greater stature, the dwarf could manage to swing it one handed by holding it close to the hilt. A human might hold it in both hands, but Ollie could not. He carried into an adjoining room, the ogre’s lair where he found a silver key after some searching. He also grabbed sacks of coins, three rubies and three potions. The key fit the keyhole in the trap door. Turning it spun the platform around, reuniting him with his companoins.
They moved deeper into the complex, following the long hallway to a round room forty feet across. In the center was a glowing pillar that reached from the floor to the sixty-foot ceiling. A booming voice came from the pillar, introducing itself as Duinor. Ollie approached the pillar, touching it and was instantly stung by an electric jolt. The voice announced its intent to test the group, encouraging them to enter the room. All but Ferris, who was still invisible, entered, and presently the rooms three exits were sealed while a new archway formed to the south. A hydra emerged to do battle. The group pounced on it, slaying with will little effort.
The doors to the room returned to their former configuration: the wide hallway entering from the north, plus ten-foot passages going east and west. Duinor, the pillar, congratulated them being worthy. He explained he was the high priest of this temple in ages past. He built the retreat for his many clerics, not knowing the volcano would awaken. From fissures in the lower levels, salamanders emerged. Most of his followers were killed. He put his soul into this pillar hoping that one day heroes would arrive to liberate the retreat. He also mentioned that some of his best clerics are also in suspended animation elsewhere, but his knowledge of the layout of the corridors was now foggy.
He asked them to find the salamanders, slay them and free his clerics. He offered the use of several magical items. The first was called a dwarven hammer of retribution, which Ollie insisted that Bale take up. The gladiator gladly accepted. The next item was a sword of cold that could be commanded to be infused with freezing cold on command. The third item was a helm of teleportation taken by Jerker. The fourth was a shield of fire resistance, followed by a ring of fire resistance. There were also potion of fire resistance, healing and invulnerability and a ring of protection. These were distributed between the group.
Duinor healed their wounds and then encouraged them to find a way to the lower levels, and they set off to the east. The first found a dusty barracks and then a steamy room from which they backed away without further investigation. They returned to the circular room and then continued west, finding an open archway into a dining area filled with tables and benches. Farther down the hallway they tried a door on the south wall that opened to a lecture room with a podium on a raised platform. Ollie discovered the podium itself was a mimic which pummeled his head. It was cut down and the cut up in hopes of finding gems inside, though there were none.
Another empty lecture room was found next to the first, and then at the end of the hallway was a chapel. Two statues of dwarves flanked a pulpit, behind which was a door. They followed this door to a set of stairs. Ollie guessed they’d found the way down, but the short stairs led to small chamber that held a gruesome statue, one that only seemed vaguely human. It bent over an altar. A pentagram was drawn on the floor. This scene was foreboding. Though offered some encouragement, Nate refused to step forward to disturb what they concluded was an evil shrine. Instead, they all retreated from the scene, concluding it did not match with the idea of a dwarven temple.
Standing in the dwarven chapel, they contemplated a next move.
End Notes
- Days
- 12/18 – 12/27 Downtime
- 12/27 Cards with Silverish, meet Bale Shezzar
- 12/28 – 12/30 Sailing
- 12/31 Arrival at Beoll-Dur
- Treasure:
- 50 gp
- 3000 ep
- 3000 cp
- 3 rubies worth 50 gp each
- 2 silvery potions
- 1 green potion
- Dwarven Hammer of Retribution +2
- Sword of Cold
- Helm of Teleportation
- Shield +4 of Fire Resistance
- Ring of Fire Resistance
- Potion of Fire Resistance
- Potion of Extra Healing
- Ring of Protection +2
- Potion of Invulnerability
- Combat: 1915 xp
- Ogre 240 xp
- Pyrohydra 875 xp
- Mimic 800 xp
- Characters (7 shares of 274 xp)
- Elaria (hireling) 137 xp
- Ferris (human, skills) 304 xp
- Hocuspo (hireling) 137 xp
- Jerker (human, fight, strength) 307 xp
- Nate (human, fight) 304 xp
- Ollie (greedy, fight, strength, leads) 285 xp
- Saul 274 xp
- Tienarth 274 xp