Having found a staircase descending into a deep crevice, the party started marching down. The stairs spiraled down a space roughly twenty feet across. A lattice of steel supported wooden treads. Far below, at the base of the stairs, was a river of lava. The closer they got to it, the more intense the heat became, until it was unbearable to anyone with any heat resistance. They turned and returned to the relatively cooler second level of the dwarven monastery, still as warm as the hottest days in the tropical sun.
After a time of rest (1/5), spells of protection against heat and fire were prepared. Tienarth and Hocuspo transformed into small, red dragons able to squeeze through the staircase. Nate offered his shield to Jerker. The paladin remained behind with Ferrir and Elaria while the rest of them went down. At the bottom, lava flowed and bubbled past the stone landing. A short hop allowed access to a narrow ledge along the southern face of the crevice, only a foot wide and just above the level of the lava. They stepped carefully, backs to the wall in single file until they came to a room. The fissure narrowed there, cutting the room into three sections. Metal planks were laid across the fissures which were only five feed wide.
A door in the north end of the room was left as is, and a passage was taken to the northeast. It turned around on itself, going south. A door on the east wall invited exploration. With no thief available, the door was just thrown open. Aderian faced four salamanders taking turns hurling spears at targets on the far wall. These monsters were a mockery of human form from the waist up and a thick serpent trunk below where their leathern braces hung. They threw spears at the former pirate. Soon, the other fighters rushed in to pummel the fiery beastmen.
Now the full power of the Hammer of Retribution came to be known. As Bale Shezzar crashed it’s head down on the foes, it was obvious to all, least of which the salamanders, that the hammer had some special power over their kind. Vainly, a salamander attempted to wrap its tail around the dwarven gladiator, but the four foes could not last long against the entire party.
Two more salamanders, likely responding to the commotion came in from behind them. This was momentarily dangerous for Saul who had hung back, but the fighters rushed with hasted limbs past him to defeat those two. And as they fell, the call went out to rush deeper into the dungeon while the effect of the haste spell remained. Urgesh, a step faster than the rest, pushed passed them all and disappeared around a corner.
When the rest of them turned, they paused at a new door while the barbarian rushed into maze where footsteps echoed about him. Aderian found another salamander behind the door, exchanging blows beside ollie. After the salamander was killed, Aderian searched the room for ten minutes, finding only ordinary weapons and armor. Meanwhile, Ollie and Jerker chased after Urgesh. The half-orc continued to holler for more salamanders to come to him, his voice bouncing off the polished walls.
Time was on their minds, as Saul and Bale were only tolerating the extreme heat due to Saul’s protection spell. They knew they would have to retreat before the spell gave out. The three warriors were sever minutes ahead of the rest as they came to another door, behind which was a pitch black room. Ollie ventured in with aid of his dwarven sight. Misty shapes swirled around him, stabbing him with an intense chill. Jerker contemplating lighting a torch but then relied on the candlelight glow of his sword. The shadows were destroyed soon after.
Time was running out, but Urgesh managed to spot a secret door. Beyond it was a treasure cache belonging to the shadows. It included 12,000 gp, 16 gems worth 60 gp each, 11 pieces of jewelry, a potion, a rod and three figurines. They were to learn later that some of it was magical. With this business concluded, they sped their way back to the stairs, still moving with caution along the narrow ledge. They spent that night camped again at the top of the stair and were not troubled by salamanders nor any other intruders.
The next day (1/6), they began descending the stairs again. A number of salamanders were waiting for them. As they floated in the lava, they hurled handfuls of molten rock at the stairs. At first, there was some attempt to join the salamanders in battle. The dragons leaped from the stairs to fly in the superheated air. Tienarth produced a poison cloud that killed one of the salamanders. The rest pulled back out of view. Jerker initially considered using the cube of force, but in the end, they agreed that a fight with the salamanders in this environment was infeasible. They retreated, and after a few hours checked that the salamanders had not come up the stairs nor had they managed to destroy the stairs.
Presently, the party backtracked to the corpse of the enormous fire giant where Jerker employed the magical ring to speak with the dead body. He asked four questions.
“Are you aware of any ways to the lower level by way of the lava?”
“Yes, I know where the salamanders are.”
“Can you describe how to get down besides the staircase?”
“Sure. There are two ways into their lair the caldera of the volcano where lava pours out of caves.”
“Would we have to swim through the lava or would we have to climb?”
“That depends. You have to climb or fly down into the volcano. Then, you could take a boat into one of the two caves, if there were such a vessel suitable for lava. Swimming would work, sure.”
“Are you originally from this volcano?”
“No, I was just an explorer. I climbed down into this volcano and I found the Salamanders inside the cave. It was a bother stooping and crawling through their pasages.”
In honor of the fire giant, Jerker dragged his body to the staircase and threw it into lava far below.
To test the giant’s information, Tienarth exited the monastery to fly to the bottom of the volcano. Indeed, he found the two caves, on of which offered an opening large enough to soar through. It widened into a natural chamber partially finished with fine stonework. A salamander stood here, tossing garbage into the magma. A noxious odor filled the chamber, and Tienarth quickly retreated.
After relaying this information, the party decided to leave the monastery for the ships where there was amble food and ale. As they climbed down the steep slope, they all noticed the magical items given by Duinor vanished. Jerker concluded that since they had not satisfied the cleric’s quest, the rewards were taken back.
The next two days (1/7 and 1/8), Tienarth analyzed magical items. He also lent his spellbook to Hocuspo and Elaria so that they might identify items as well. During these two days, they discovered the ring to give the power to walk on water. The rod, like one other found before, was a rod of negation, useful for dispelling magic. The three figures, which were miniature salamanders, had the power to transform into living salamanders if thrown into battle. Tienarth took the time to find that they were useful but once and for a limited time. The potion, though sipped by Urgesh, was not identified.
End Notes
- Days
- 1/4-1/6 Exploring Beoll-Dur
- 1/7-1/8 Identifying items
- Treasure:
- 12,000 gp
- 16 gems worth 60 gp each
- 10 pieces of jewelry worth 500 gp each
- Ring of Water Walking
- Unknown Potion
- Rod of Negation
- 3 Salamander figurines.
- Combat: 9600 xp
- 8 Salamanders 1150 xp each
- 4 Shadows 100 xp each
- Characters (7.5 shares of 1280 xp)
- Aderian (human, fight, lead) 1434 xp
- Bale Shazzar (hireling) 640 xp
- Elaria (hireling) 640 xp
- Hocuspo (hireling) 640 xp
- Jerker (human, fight) 1421 xp
- Ollie (underground, fight, guards rear) 1318 xp
- Saul 1280 xp
- Tienarth 1280 xp
- Urgesh (half-human, action-oriented, fight) 1370 xp