30^th of Mirtul of the year 1492

The afternoon started with the group discussing their next set of specific plans.  All of them wanted to rest a bit more after all the rough days and Fogo really wanted to finish his cooking lessons with Xaasz before they set off again.  Dancer would take all their gems and jewelry and sell them to the local underground black market – aka Jepos, while the rest would engage in low impact activity over the next ten-day.

1^st of Kythorn to the 10^th of Kythorn of the year 1492

Everyone renewed their rooms to ensure they were still able to stay at the Blackbutter Inn longer. Otherwise, everyone mostly went their own directions to accomplish different objectives over the next ten days.

Party Members:

Angelica: When not making scrolls, she trained with Vladimir with her new sword. Much like Vladimir, once she had enough gold, she went out at purchased a set of plate mail.

Avery Rockwell: Spent much of his time working with Fogo and Angelica on getting spells on scrolls from them so that he could copy them into his wizard’s spellbook. For the rest of his time, he wandered around to meet people, be friendly, and general socializing.

Dancer: Worked on little carvings of different members of the party.  He completed ones for Fwoosh, Vladimir, and ISAC. Not wanting to be left out of spending gold, at some point he had gone to Dhelosk and bought a quiver of Ehlonna to allow him to have a greater capacity without the weight.

Fogo: Healing from his near-death experience and works in the Blackbutter Inn’s kitchen for Xaasz to complete his chef training. During his time in the kitchen, he was able to figure out that all five of the goblins in the kitchen are alchemists. Wanting to further his knowledge about Mystra, he ordered a religious text to get a deeper understanding of Mystra.

Fwoosh: He worked on his replacement mask for several days. Checking in with Jepos to see if had heard back about his missing friends in Waterdeep, but there was not any new news. The rest of his time he practiced his different performances. He was also diligent about collecting some bear claws and sharing them with the children at the sundries store. Once the Dwarves arrived, he collected his reward from Vallivoe for letting him know they would be coming.  He was not the proud owner of a very nice pocket watch.

ISAC: While he does not have a spellbook, he did get Angelica to make a bunch of spell scrolls for him. He also stocked up with many healing potions.

Vladimir Miller: For most of his time Vladimir was spent training with his new maul as well as with Angelica to help her understand her new sword. Once the coin arrived from selling the gems and jewelry, he ran off to the Tantur’s Smithery to get his plate mail ordered. At some point he had collected the horses, picked up the wagon, and brought them back to the farm. The most exciting thing he did was to write a letter home, with whom he had not communicated with for several years now.

Happenings in Red Larch on Specific Days.

1492-06-01:

• Avery’s scroll (Comprehend Languages) is ready from Dhelosk.
• Party’s wagon has been repaired at Thelorn’s Safe Journeys in Red Larch.
• Alfred takes over Gaelkur’s in Red Larch and renames it Alfred’s Shop.

A few of the party members went over to welcome Alfred to his new shop and the only oddity was that Marlandro had removed every possible piece of paper or evidence of any business from the shop.  He had also left behind what appeared to be some jewelers’ tools, or at least the larger ones, since all the fine tools were gone.  Alfred had packed everything in a box that they looked at but were clueless at what it might have represented.

Alfred

1492-06-06:

• Coin from party selling gems and jewelry to Jepos Copperhand arrive.

1492-06-08:

• Grafaerd Ulamoira helpers arrive from Bargewright Inn to help with the Galloping Wheelworks in Red Larch.

1492-06-09:

• The party moved their wagon and horses to the Wagonworks as a closer location to be able to use them.
• Contingent of Dwarves arrive to take care of the Tomb under Red Larch.

1492-06-10:

• Jaleesa Orna becomes mayor of Red Larch, and her husband Harburk became the official constable of the town.
• Bryllyn Trollfist takes over the Mellikho Stoneworks and immediately starts work on carving out stones to fix the sinkhole.
• Theldor Darkaxe asked about the maul that Vladimir had found.  He told him what little he knew about the maul. Vladimir also revealed that they had found an old ruined Moathouse to the south of Red Larch. When Vladimir brought up the Dwarven books they had purchased, he suggested that they be brought to Banmin Glehuruhr for more information.

While at the Helm and gambling with the Dwarves, the captain of the Dwarves, Theldor Darkaxe, took Vladimir to the side for a conversation.

“That is a mighty fine maul you have there, where did you get it from?”

“[We practiced this.] We ventured into a Moathouse to the southeast of here. It was filled with several different bandits and ne’er-do-wells, and we cleared it out and this was one of the things that one of them had. “

“That maul is from a famous Dwarf slayer from over 4000 years ago.”

“A Dwarf slayer?”

“Yes, he basically did not like a lot of different particular creatures and liked to hit them.”

“Oh.”

“He was very proficient; he was even known for haven taken out an ancient dragon at one point.”

“Our party has been encountering a lot of the Dwarven history around here, and it seems that even the Moathouse the bandits were in was a Dwarven fortress of sorts.”

“Oh, really?”

“And so, I wonder if they have been using some of these areas as hide outs and that might be where they picked it up?”

“He was known to be in the valley. His name was Angrboda Gog. He is legendary, but not much was known about him, but he was known for his maul and the dragon biting itself on the head of the maul. This is how I was able to recognize it.”

“You know, I have been playing around with this for the last few days and getting used to it, and it is very powerful, but it is just not quite as powerful as it could be. I am not sure if there is something particular about Dwarven weapons that lends itself to that?”

“It is an ancient weapon.  We do not know much about that time. He is just a legend and known to bath in the blood of his enemies and bashing them all to pieces. This was pretty much his only weapon.  He was known for bathing in the blood of dragons, demons, giants, and wading through hundreds of orcs.”

“He seems like an impressive man.”

“He hated them. He is known for his hate of those four species. He swore he would come back from the dead just to haunt and kill more of them if he could. He was a vicious Dwarf, but we are very proud of him.”

“It seems like Dwarves are very proud of their history.  We also came across a few books of Dwarven lineage. I do not know if those would be of interest to you. They are dull, and in all honesty, full of a lot of begetting.”

“If you could bring them all, I will happily look at them. You should talk to our priest, especially if you have any books of lineage.  He would be a much better person to talk to.”

Theldor Darkaxe

11^th of Kythorn of the year 1492

Starting off the morning with a well-cooked breakfast cooked by Fogo, everyone was happily surprised that it was not only tasty, but well balanced. Everyone was pleased that they now had a good cook to help them on their long-distance trips. Everyone noticed that Dolores was hanging out all the time, although she was much more translucent than normally. Fwoosh excitedly showed off his new pocket watch. Vladimir talked about meeting the Dwarves and that they were interested in the Dwarvish books they had purchased.

Dolores

Their next set of discussions were around how to deal with Dwarvish ruins and tombs in the future, as well as what they should focus on next.  Dancer was all for the place called Treasure cave.  Everyone else seemed to be interested in making a trip to Amphail for a variety of reasons. Dancer asked about the coded ledger, and Avery wanted to participate in the conversation with the new Wagonworks owner.

When brought to Grafaerd and asked if there was any related paperwork, he was not sure since they were still cleaning up.  He told Dancer via finger talk that they were coded somehow, but it would take him some time to work through them, if he could. Avery kept trying to get into the conversation, but Grafaerd did not have anything that he was sharing with him. They finally left the ledgers with Grafaerd to see if he could figure something out.

Grafaerd Ulamoira

Vladimir and Angelica headed to the entrance to the old Dwarven Tomb. The guards seeing Vladimir waved him forward.  It seemed that they were expecting him. They could also see a large pile of carved rocks piled up near the entrance.

“I’m going to win that card game next time.  I have been practicing.”

“It is more about luck though.”

“No, we just need to feed you some ale, and then we will win more.”

“Then we will get you to face the real challenge the next time.”

“What is that?”

“The little bird guy that travels with me and deadly with cards.”

“Is he now, well we do not like card sharks, we prefer people like you.”

A little more banter revealed that it was Vladimir and his party that had asset off the massive poison trap in the tomb room.  The guards also mentioned that the cultists were just weird, and that someone had spun around one of the floating holy stones, and that too was revealed to be the party. Feeling embarrasses Vladimir and Angelica quickly made their way down into the tomb before he inadvertently confessed to more war crimes.

Dwarven Tomb Guards

They made their way to the shrine room and saw a pair of Dwarven acolytes cleaning the statues and tidying up the area of all the ashes that seemed to be piled up in front of one of the statues. What appeared to be the head priest was in the middle of the room surveying everything within it.  Hearing the two of them come down the ramp, the priest came over to them.

“What are you here for?  Oh yeah, Darkaxe said you had some books you wanted me to look at.”

“Yeah, we were in the sundry store, and we were curious with all the Dwarven history here if there were any Dwarven books, and they happened to have these three, which we looked through and they appear to just be genealogy books.”

“Can you bring them out?”

As the priest began flipping through the books, a quick flash of concern and shock could be seen on his face by Vladimir.

“Where did you say you got these books?”

“In the sundry store.”

“That’s the one at the end of town?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s troublesome, I’ll have to go speak to him and see where he got them from.”

“You seemed pretty shocked looking through these.”

“Well, these are books from Mirabar. There was a contingent of Dwarves that came down from Mirabar. They were showing the flag and visiting different towns. One of them were carrying these books and the whole delegation is missing. They disappeared somewhere in the northern part of the Sumber Hills. I don’t know how their books got down here. It might be good to investigate this.”

“How long ago did they go missing.”

“More than a week ago. We have been concerned.”

“Well, this is not the first time we have heard of people going missing in this area and taken off the road.”

“They were not here, they were in the northern part of the Sumber Hills on their way to Summit Hall and other places, but they never got there.  There are people checking on it, but we have not heard anything.  Have you heard anything about the missing Mirabar delegation?”

“No, we do not think so.  We have been lacking any information about Dwarves in the area.”

It was then that Vladimir remember the guard they had rescued from Lance Rock, Gef Rilisk.  He had said he had been in a trade delegation from Mirabar, and it had Dwarves in it.

“Oh, wait a second.  The guard we had rescued from Lance Rock.  He had said he was part of the Mirabar trade delegation.”

“That would have been them.”

The discussion continued with the story of the rescue, and finally giving the assignment to Vladimir and Angelica to go find out more about what had happened with the delegation in exchange for having desecrated their tomb and setting off numerous traps inside. He also looked at the maul and was not sure if it was from the legendary maul or not. Vladimir was also curious about the floating rocks and what they were and was told that they were to be set up for different constellations for different religious days.

The priest seemed amazed that there was not a clear leader of Vladimir’s group and had a lot of mocking words for them about that.

Banmin Glehuruhr

The two rejoined the rest of the group at the Blackbutter Inn and started filling them in about what had been discussed. The group seemed a little surprised that their trip to Amphail might have been derailed and that they now needed to hunt down a missing delegation to appease the Dwarves for having tomb robbing and setting off the poison trap filling part of the tomb. They decided that finding Gef Rilisk the former Mirabar trade delegation guard would be a great start to their newly assigned adventure.

Splitting up to try and be more efficient to find him. Realizing that they had been seeing him in town, but just did not socialize with him after the rescue.  He had been seen at the Helm, the Market, and just in town in different places. They also needed to query Endrith about here he had bought those books. The topic of the trade bars they had found on the earth priest that was in the tomb was also reviewed.  They suspected these might have also come from the missing delegation. This caused them to spin off with some fanciful theories, but without some more solid evidence, they would not be anything but fanciful.

Fwoosh and ISAC ran off to the sundries store, Avery and Fogo visited to Mother Yalantha’s, and finally the group of Angelica, Dancer and Vladimir went to the Helm.

At the Sundry store Fwoosh was swarmed by the children there hoping for more bear claws but were only disappointed since Fwoosh was on business this time and not a pleasurable bear claw run. Asking Endrith about the Dwarven books and where he had gotten them. They were told that a passing merchant going through town had acquired them in Womford from some shady guy on the wharf. Endrith did not have much else to tell them about the books, but suggested they go down to Womford for more information.

Endrith Vallivoe

Wandering to Mother Yalantha’s, the two there engaged her in conversation about Gef and it seemed that there was a lot more room for rent now since eight of her renters had suddenly left and had not returned.  They had been rough looking men that had a mean look about them.  They even left all their small luggage as if they had just disappeared.  When asked about Gef, she explained that he had been helping around the establishment and had been waiting for word his friends that he had gotten separated from.  He was doing odd jobs around town and was helping at the Helm working as a bouncer. With that the two of them headed to the Helm.

Yalantha Dreen

Back at the Helm the last trio looked around for Gef they find him standing off at the side keeping an eye on the room and especially a pair of arm-wrestling Dwarves. Approaching him, they began to ask about the caravan he had been in and if in fact it was the Mirabar trade delegation.  He confirmed it all to them. When told that the delegation was missing, he was surprised and worried for his friends.  He wondered how that had been possible with over 20 guards and that the whole caravan was nearly 50 people. Dancer asked about where he had been kidnapped and he told them that it had been on the Stone Trail just south of Westbridge. The caravan had been heading to the Stone Bridge, Beliard, and Summit Hall.

Convincing Gef that he should go talk to Banmin about what he knew and that he had been from the delegation, they got ready to go. Heading off to the quarry to gain entrance to the old tomb, they were waved in by the guards there, but not before they commented on the group’s pet cat, Dancer. Several insulting words later, they entered the cave complex. Having Gef explain his story about the kidnapping and subsequent rescue did not really impress Banmin much. It was then that Gef revealed that he had heard someone talking in the Helm about the fact that they had seen the delegation in Beliard. The person had been a guard with another merchant and had gotten into a fight with a member of the delegation.

Gef Rilisk

Heading back to the Helm with Gef, they were able to meet up with the rest of the party. Sharing what each found out with the rest, they came up to speed quickly.  Asking about the trade bars, Gef explained the purpose of the bars and confirmed they were from the trade group.  There was a little maker’s mark on each bar that gave its origin. The delegation had bars of many different types of ores including Mithril and Adamantine. The discussion start going around the topic of cultists and that they had been finding them in many different places around the valley, and that it seemed that a lot of the different concerns and problems that have been happening were very likely related to these cultists. During the discussion, Gef told them the breakdown of the caravan, the important members, and that there were many others there.

After waiting around playing old maid for three hours, a large half-orc woman walked into the Helm munching on a large pickle.  Gef pointed her out and said she was the one that had seen the delegation last in Beliard. She ordered a meal and several ales and sat down to eat.  Avery, the smallest and least assuming of the group went over for a chat.  

Purchasing a new round of drink for her, Avery asked about the trade group in Beliard.  She complained about how four of them had jumped her, and she was not even satisfied with it. She did say that she was satisfied with Grund but was worried his hips and endurance would not be able to keep up. When asked about the caravan, she said she had seen them leave Beliard, but did not know much more.  She did let them know that there is a priest in town staying at the Swinging Sword that had seen them as well. When Avery started explaining everything, they knew about the caravan including the future destinations, she did not have much to say about that except that there were rumors of hill giants in the area near Beliard.

Half-Orc Guard

Crossing the street to get to the Swinging Sword, they were met inside by Kaylessa Irkell the owner. Asking about the priest, they were directed to a table where the half-elf was daintily drinking a glass of wine.

Kaylessa Irkell

The entire group crowded around the priest making him a bit nervous, but he still greeted them. ISAC understanding that it did not look good to have everyone there found a nearby table to sit at with some of the others. Avery started his interrogation right away. He asked about the Mirabar delegation, and the half-elf said he had seen them in Beliard around the 26^th of Mirtul and that they had said they were headed to Summit Hall and then further south, and eventually up to Red Larch. Once again revealing that the delegation was missing, the half-elf seemed surprised and concerned. The half-elf had come a more direct way over Larch Path, a muddy and much smaller path that usually had room for wagons assuming there were not any mud slides across the road. He also mentioned that there were rumors of hill giants and ogres wandering the hills as well as strange fires being seen at a distance, groups of people wearing gold masks, and hippogriffs and other large birds in the flying air.

Half-Elf Priest

Standing in the middle of the main room, they started discussing what they had found and some of the connections they might have figured out between the visions and clues they had found so far.  Unaware, they were starting to draw more attention to themselves once again. The group started trying to figure out which direction and place they should go next. Dancer wanted to make sure that they visited the “Treasure Cave” on their way to Beliard. It was then that Dancer pointed out that continuing the conversation where they were might be a bit weird and suggested they go to one of their rooms to finish their talk.

It was there that they continued their strategy making.  Fogo was for pushing ahead sooner and not pick up his armor in Amphail since he was concerned that the more time that went by, the more of them that might be killed. He based this from what had happened to the Ammakyl family merchants and guards.  They started with over 40 and ended up with less than ten in the end. Planning on starting first thing in the morning they were not sure if they could take the wagon or not. Fwoosh ran downstairs and asked about the best route to Beliard and if they should take the Larch Path or the Long Road through Westbridge. They gave some options and their thoughts, and with that Fwoosh went back to the room with the others. Not satisfied with those answer, Fogo ran back to the Swinging Sword to talk to the priest to ask about the condition of the Larch Path. Told that the path was open and that there should be room for a wagon, Fogo ran back. With that everyone voted for taking the Larch Path to Beliard and hoping that it would be quicker for them.

It was then that…

All of you pause for a moment.  You look around seeking something.  Your eyes are causing you a slight pain, your head has a dull ache, and your entire body feels like there are tiny pin pricks occurring all over it.  As you look around you can see that nothing else is moving, nothing, except the group of you. You can see the curtains by the window that were fluttering a minute ago are frozen and unmoving, yet still furled as it they were caught in a moment. You can feel that you are breathing, but there is no air movement, as if everything was just still.  Unlike all the visions and dreams you have had; you know you are awake and can feel.  It feels like reality has glitched somehow.

It was then that all the color from everything around you begins to slowly drain away until everything is in simple black and whites.  Even your hands and others around you are also standing there in a stark black and white.

You hear a voice from behind you, and as you look you see that ISAC is at the edge of the room away rest of the group.  He seems a frozen and unmoving.  Everything around you is in such a sharp focus, sharper than anything else you have ever seen, almost painfully sharp.  On ISAC’s shoulder is a black leather gloved hand resting there, not putting any pressure, but also not letting go. You cannot see the figure behind ISAC, it is just not tall enough, or wide enough, or just not quite in focus enough.

“All of you are just rats in a cage.”

You are unable to move, but you can feel the malice coming from the unknown figure.  You can feel the hatred rolling toward you.

“I have been told I am impetuous, that I am not patient, and even quick to anger.  I have also been told to not interfere, to let everything play out, that all of you are good little rats. Sigh, yes, all of that is true, but I cannot just wait around no matter how much I might be punished.  I feel the need to push, it is just my nature.”

“So, here is a little push from me. Be good little rats and run along.”

The mouth on ISAC’s scarred and pained face opens but no sound comes out, it appears that he is trying to scream, scream something, scream in pain, in anger, or just scream, but nothing comes out.  As you look his face, which you know is a mask, started pixelating in small boxes, and then larger ones.  The mask starts stretching out from between his eyes further than is believable when a black blade emerges sliding smoothly through ISAC’s head.

The mask shatters and the pieces fall, but all turn into whisps of smoke before they can reach the ground.  ISAC’s face a hard combination of metal and what appears to be wood, has no expression, but is still attempting to scream, scream as loud as he can, but no sounds leave his mouth.  The small gems that are his eyes start blinking rapidly as if they are trying to send a message that no one can understand.

The blade is quickly drawn out but fades into smoke as it is removed.  ISAC’s body starts to fall forward, but what you can see of his face start corroding, melting, and turning into crumbling dust.  His body falls forward but the only thing that crashes to the ground is his clothing and gear.  His body is nowhere to be seen except for some dust and ashes blowing around and away from the body.

It is then you can see the figure.  It seems to be a he, from the voice and figure, but he is not tall, nor short, just a medium height.  He is covered from head to toe in black leather with various weapons stashed on his waist, and a leather mask covers his face leaving it unseen.  As you attempt to move, to look closer, to understand what has just happened, the figure also fades away in a wisp of smoke.

As he disappears color starts seeping into the world around you.  The unnaturalness that pervaded everything is fading.  Once the color has once again moved into where it should have been, everything starts moving around you again.

Dark Figure

And this is where the session ended.

History Lesson

Forlorn Hills

Description

The Forlorn Hills was a hilly region in northwest Faerûn between the Dessarin Valley and the Delimbiyr Vale. The hills were once the center of the ancient shield dwarven kingdom of Dardath—one of the three kingdoms in Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns—and were then called the Dark Hills. After the triumvirate collapsed in the Year of the Lamia’s Kiss, 615 DR, the Dark Hills became known as the Fallen Hills or, more commonly, the Forlorn Hills. The people of Athalantar called them the Horn Hills. Some folks mistakenly called them the Sword Hills, confusing them with a smaller range of hills on the south bank of the Delimbiyr.

Geography

The Forlorn Hills were located east of Ardeep Forest, across the swath of open land that contained the House of Stone and was once the realm of Elembar. To the south was the Delimbiyr Vale and the River Delimbiyr. The Iron Road ran southeast from Womford, skirting the northern edge of the Hills, until it reached the village of Uluvin on the eastern edge. The town of Secomber was farther to the southeast. To the northeast was the High Forest and to the northwest was Gaustar’s Creek, a tributary of the river Dessarin.

Geographical Features

The Forlorn Hills were once part of the great forest that included Ardeep Forest, but dwarves cleared portions of it and then later humans from Athalantar put the western side of the Hills (known as the Halangorn Forest) to the torch to drive the remaining elves away from lands they wished to claim. The hollows between the hills were often in the shadow of the surrounding peaks and thick mists typically obscured vision until highsun.

By the time of Phalorm, the landscape was stony, and the hills were isolated in places. The line of hills that formed the northern border of the area were known as the Watchers of the North. There was a high ridge that arced through a portion of the Hills near the center. It was here that the mansion known as the House of Taeros once stood before it and part of the ridge were destroyed in a spell battle around the end of the 6th century DR, leaving behind the ruin known as the Crumbling Stair.

History

Since the time of the First Flowering, elves held sway over the surface of the Forlorn Hills. Initially it was the moon elves and green elves of Illefarn and Ardeep, then it was the gold elves of Aryvandaar during the Crown Wars. The area saw a resurgence of Illefarn and Ardeep after the defeat of the Vyshaanti of Aryvandaar at the beginning of The Founding Time.

Dwarves established settlements beneath the Forlorn Hills sometime in the early part of The Founding Time, if not before. At the very latest, they were there to take in refugees from Besilmer when that above-ground dwarven realm was wiped out by hill giants and other creatures in −4160 DR.

In the time leading up to the founding of Phalorm, the dwarves established their underground realm of Dardath, but above ground the human realms of Elembar (in the Year of the Risen Towers, 146 DR) sprang up on the west side of the Hills and Athalantar (in the Year of the Murmuring Dead, 183 DR) on the east. Athalantar had ambitions to take over the Hills and set fire to the Halangorn Forest between Elembar and the Hills to drive out any inhabitants. Ultimately, this tactic failed when Elembar moved into the Halangorn uplands and established noble houses such as the House of Taeros and what became known as the Moon Tower. The untamed portion of the Hills remained the habitat for bandits and monsters. In the Year of Many Mushrooms, 238 DR, the young Elminster was an outlaw, hiding from the magelords of Athalantar in what they called the Horn Hills. Athalantar was destroyed by an orc horde in Year of the Cantobele Stalking, 342 DR and Elembar suffered the same fate in the Year of the Fortress Scoured, 511 DR.

Phalorm, the Realm of Three Crowns, was chartered in the Year of Trials Arcane, 523 DR, and the dwarves of Dardath became part of the triumvirate along with the elves of Ardeep and the humans from Delimbiyran (the last remnant of Elembar). The dwarven population of the Hills grew during this time as refugees from the Duchy of Hunnabar fled a troll incursion in the Year of the Supreme Duelist, 592 DR. Phalorm lasted less than a century. Dardath suffered the death of their king, Oskilar Ironaxe, in the Year of the Shattered Scepter, 614 DR, and the elves withdrew from the alliance, many leaving for Evermeet, the following year. Delimbiyran, under King Javilarhh II, claimed all the lands previously belonging to Phalorm and named it the Kingdom of Man in the Year of the Ensorcelled Kings, 616 DR.

The Kingdom of Man was ultimately unable to stem the invading hordes in the face of internal strife after King Davyd was assassinated in the Year of the Triton’s Horn, 697 DR. The dwarves of the Forlorn Hills continued to drift apart after the death of King Oskilar and, in the Year of the Lamia’s Kiss, 615 DR, the loss of most of their fighting forces. Dwarf holds became defensive and isolated, depleted further by emigration to Ammarindar. They even went so far as to pretend a plague had swept through Firehammer Hold, hoping the ruse would keep enemies at bay.

The Kingdom of Man devolved into lesser realms including the human Calandor, Scathril, Loravatha, and Starshadow; the halfling Duchy of Imristar; and the gnomish Duchy of Gloraela. Roughly, the northwestern quarter of the Fallen Hills was claimed by Loravatha, including the House of Taeros/Crumbling Stair. Many of these small kingdoms fell one by one under the relentless assault of orc raiders until finally, in the Year of the Clutching Death, 702 DR, the Duke of Calandor was able to muster an army strong enough to defeat the invaders.

For centuries thereafter, the dwarves maintained a relatively low profile in the Forlorn Hills, but the story about a plague-devastated Firehammer Hold eventually became an attraction for adventurers instead of a repellent. The clerics of Haela Brightaxe that controlled what they called Torstultok, the Hall of Grand Hunts, had little choice except to try and redirect these would-be tomb raiders by hiring them to seek out and clear other dwarven holds that were known to have been taken over by orcs. Eventually, the old Firehammer Hold became a nexus for dwarves and other races looking for glory and treasure. By the Year of the Unstrung Harp, 1371 DR, the priests had spread rumors and placed clues around the region to lure more adventurers to spend their money and sell their loot at Firehammer Hold. The most well-known example was a map scrawled on the wall of a small room in the Singing Sprite inn. By the Year of Rogue Dragons, 1373 DR, there were several dwarf clans making their home in the Forlorn Hills.

In the late 15th century, Firehammer Hold was conquered by duergar from the Underdark in a plot instigated by the Red Wizards of Thay. The evil wizards also began building a small fortress called Bloodgate Keep on the west side of the Forlorn Hills, far from any large settlements, for use as a base for invading the Sword Coast via a portal from Thay.

Notable Locations

In the Year of Prideful Tales, 1219 DR, Lord Geldirth Gost of Waterdeep began constructing a secret underground complex with a series of portals that eventually emerged in a secluded cave on the southern slopes of the Forlorn Hills. Other interesting locations included:

Crumbling Stair

The Crumbling Stair is all that remains of Taeros, a grand, turreted mansion that once stood proudly amid fanciful gardens adorned with fountains and pools. The house sprawled along a curving ridge in the heart of the human-ruled barony of Loravatha. Originally built by a merchant lord, Taeros became a school of arcane study for young lasses seeking to master sorcery under the direction of his widow, the sorceress Ybrithe. Twenty years after the founding of the school, the mansion was torn apart by southern mages seeking to plunder whatever they could. But before they could seize Ybrithe’s treasures, a latent magic trap blew apart the ridge, Taeros, and all the surviving attackers.

The Crumbling Stair now rises from broken lands overgrown with scrub woods. The weathered staircase, made of green-veined white marble, rises six or so steps into the air from a dark hole at its base. Beyond this aperture is a long corridor with a few attached rooms that once served as extensive cellars. The fore chambers are home to the maddened ghost of one of the attacking wizards and some sort of creature— possibly an all-consuming hunger (Und)—that leaves glowing slime-trails on the walls, floor, and ceiling. In addition, the phantom of a half-elf sorceress sometimes appears to point out collapsed tunnels and forgotten secret doors leading to a large warren of catacombs, which are said to be home to some sort of beholder.

Floating Tower of Ondil of the Many Spells

The northern edge of the Forlorn Hills was marked by a line of hills known as the Watchers of the North. Immediately south of them was Ong Wood – and unbeknown to most folk, a secluded vale at the western end of the Watchers held the legendary Floating Tower, home, and later tomb of the mighty archwizard Ondil of the Many Spells. Once guarded by liveried griffons who drove intruders away, it was found the Bright Blades adventuring band (when Elminster – as Elmara – was their mage). The tower’s name came from the fact that mighty magics held it up, floating unsupported high above the ground, after its lower floors had collapsed.

Tales say Ondil had withdrawn into this spell-guarded tower even before Netheril’s rise to greatness, to craft many new and powerful spells. He was reportedly so mighty in magic that he was able to hide his tower from all Netherese mages. Older tales said Ondil had been a sorcerer of Thaeravel, the land of mages from which Netheril sprang (believed to lie – then as now – under the sands of Anauroch).

Moon Tower of Elembar

Little remained of Elembar’s northern settlements after the invasion of an orc horde shattered the realm. One notable exception, however, is the Moon Tower of Elembar, an ethereal spire visible only on the nights of the full moon. Thought to have been the domicile of Elembar’s mage royal, this mysterious figment has spawned many fanciful tales. The Moon Tower of Elembar can be accessed via the Border Ethereal, but the magic-laden ruin is well guarded by the ghosts of its defenders, the ancient constructs that keep watch over it, and an advanced ethereal marauder that uses the place as a lair.

Torstultok (Firehammer Hold)

Torstultok, or the Hall of Grand Hunts, is a temple-fortress of Haela Brightaxe. The place is well known among the Stout Folk of the North for the all-dwarf and mixed-race adventuring companies its inhabitants sponsor to reclaim long-lost dwarven relics from orc held halls.

Torstultok lies within a sprawling complex of tunnels and grand halls beneath the eastern end of the Watchers of the North — the line of tors that marks the northern edge of the Forlorn Hills. Torstultok was known as Firehammer Hold before the Fallen Kingdom fell, and much treasure is still ascribed to the latter name in the tales of the North. Those same legends claim that the dwarves of Firehammer Hold perished in a plague shortly after the founding of the Kingdom of Man, but in fact the dwarves’ numbers had dwindled over time, and the leaders of the hold planted false evidence of a deadly plague to increase the security of the dwarves who remained.

An unexpected consequence of this action was the arrival in subsequent centuries of treasure-hungry adventurers seeking long-lost hordes of dwarven gold. To assuage the anger of such would-be plunderers, the dwarves hired them to seek out other dwarven holds that they knew to be occupied by orcs. From this tradition evolved the hold’s current role as a clearinghouse for battle-loving dwarves and adventurers of other races who sought glory amidst the ruins of long-fallen dwarven kingdoms. In recent times, Haela’s clergy have even begun to lure adventurers to the temple deliberately with ancient-looking, incomplete maps and other enticing items. Such a map may be found on the walls of a not-so-secret hidden room in the Singing Sprite—a slate-shingled, many-gabled stone inn located in the bowl at the center of the three hills upon which the village of Secomber is built.

Campaign Notes

A small lapse of time so that everyone could get personal stuff done, and then digging into the Dwarvish books.  Chapter One has started with the missing delegation.  ISAC is murdered in front of the entire party by some unknown figure.  The next session will prove to be interesting.

29^th of Mirtul of the year 1492

Already tired and ready to head back to Red Larch, the party was surprised by a nasty goblin assassin and a thuggish half-ogre. The battle, like many, did not last very long, but this one proved to be a bit more dangerous than many of those that came before.  The half-ogre was able to stand fast and weather many blows before falling, allowing him to pin in place several of the characters while the goblin was able to sneakily hide and fire from his hidden positions doing incredible damage with his bow shots and poison. Most of the party fell and were only saved through timely heals and magic.

Goblin Assassin

Half-Ogre Thug

With both ambushers’ dead, the group quickly looted the bodies and made for Red Larch as quickly as possible hoping to avoid any additional hostile encounters. Carrying along the body of the dead Goblin, Fogo seemed sure that this goblin meant something important.  Heading to the constable’s office they found no one there, and after banging on several of the other buildings they finally found one of the butchers who allowed them to store the body in the freezer for the night.

Their current home, the Blackbutter Inn still had the front doors open but the main room was empty. They made their way to their rooms, and everyone collapsed into sleep quickly, except Vladimir, who gleefully cradle the ancient Dwarven maul in his lap to become more acquainted with it before heading to bed with it at his side.

30^th of Mirtul of the year 1492

The next morning was as normal as it could be as they all slowly came downstairs and started breakfasting in the main room.  Dhelosk was at his counter, and Delillia managing the tables.  The room had few other customers since most of the merchants who stayed here usually got moving early in the morning. Dhelosk gave Fogo some odd looks since his fur was still patchy and missing large chunks.

“Do you have anything to fix that?”

“I’ve never had that problem. Maybe if Fogo goes and talks to Xaasz maybe he can do something for you.”

Dhelosk Quelbeard

Fogo made his way into the kitchen and saw all the goblins scurrying around, that is until they saw his bedraggled state.  He was then the center of attention by the small group of goblins that seemed to be staring and evaluating his condition. Xaasz did not seem to be happy seeing Fogo in this condition while in his kitchen.  Fogo was told to take a couple of days off and was given a small vial of something to consume that Xaasz claimed it would make him feel better.  Fogo had managed to collect a few common and uncommon poisonous plants that he gave to Xaasz.  Again, it was not anything that impressed the small goblin chef as he just chewed on them without a second thought.

Xaasz

The rest of the group moved to a table and ordered some breakfast. Fogo joined them and his patchy fur seemed to have recovered a bit, but all the new fur seemed to be replaced with something more orange than his previous grey.  Maybe from the traumatic experience, or perhaps from the vial of something Xaasz gave him. Back with the group, Fogo explained about his thoughts and that it seems that he had previously been wandering, but now he feels he has more of a purpose. There was also some discussion around the maul they had found and the fact that Vladimir seemed very enamored with it. It was agreed that his old sword would be given to Angelica once he was able to properly say goodbye to it.

It was midmorning when the constable finally came in and seemed to be grumpy.  He was not happy with a dead body being left in the freezer, and wanted to make sure it was collected before his wife found out and caused him bodily harm. When asked about a goblin and half-ogre duo he only had a little to share.

Harburk Tuthmarillar

“There have been some rumors of some brigands running around doing tomb raiding. Was there something in place you went where they would have had trouble? Where were you?”

“We were investigating the little girl that said she say a ghost and we were kind of looking into that.”

“So, it was a tomb or something and they ambushed you on the way out.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Yeah, that sounds right for a lot of the brigands. Was there something early in the tomb that was difficult to get past?”

“Yes, that was the ghost.”

“Oh, so you took care of the ghost?”

The ghost won’t be a problem for anyone.”

“Maybe they had difficulty in getting past the ghost or did not want to.”

The conversation continued some more, and Fogo agreed to run over and collect the body and bury it somewhere outside of town. Before grabbing the dead goblin, Fogo asked Dhelosk on what the respectful way was to treat the goblin body.

“They eat each other.”

“Well, we might skip that tradition.”

Vladimir explained they were trying to provide more transparency to the constable and perhaps fewer surprises. Harburk told them that at this point, everything was a surprise.  He was not trained for this; he was only a retired soldier.  It was the elders that appointed him to this position, and it seemed that they were already in some sort of conspiracy which every now knows how that ended. Finally heading out to do their body collecting, the group split up into different directions.  Vladimir went to his room to say goodbye to his old sword, Angelica went to her room and wanted to get some additional sleep, Avery headed to the market, and Fogo and the rest went to collect the dead goblin. With the constable leading the way, he opened the freezer and allowed Fogo to carry out the frozen solid goblin.

“How far out of town would you like me to take it?”

“Somewhere the children cannot find it…. Like Amphail.”

Walking about 20 minutes outside of town, they buried the goblin, and then they all came back into town. Everyone headed to the market while Fogo made a stop at the Allfaith’s Shrine. He was greeted by Imdarr and Lymmura. When asked about why Fogo was so patchy looking, he explained that he had survived a near-death experience and that he now felt closer to Mystra, the goddess of Magic.  While training to explain his vision while almost dying, it seemed to confuse Imdarr since the whole party seemed to be having vision, and Fogo had been dirt, but now was fire, or something like that.

For a moment, there was just darkness. Hmm… darkness isn’t quite right. We have been in the dark underground where no light can penetrate, but this was darker. It was blackness.

After some unknown time, from the edge of my awareness, an orange glow started to grow. It soon became bright enough, though still very faint, that I could see myself. I appeared thin, like a threadbare sheet, barely together. I was so thin in fact, that I could feel myself floating down. I had so little substance that I was but a feather on the wind.

As I fluttered down, I twisted to get a look at the glow coming from down below. I saw a ring of fire. It was small, like it had just been lit. As I slowly fell towards it, I could see that there was much unlit fuel. But! I also saw something heartening, a banner with an oak leaf, the sign of Silvanus, in the center of the fiery circle.

I continued floating down towards my fiery demise, the threads of myself now becoming visibly undone. I landed squarely on Silvanus’ banner. My body did not have enough form for me to move. When I tried to move my body, the few strings left holding me together would snap. Helplessly, I laid on the banner and I watched as the fire encroached.

Finally, an edge of the banner ignited, then another, and another. The flames approached until the fiery tongues licked my frayed edges. A part of me felt ready to succumb, to give up. But the seed of a thought rapidly blossomed in my mind: the fabric of my life was becoming undone, but I had learned of Mystra, now on her third incarnation, who was the Tapestry of arcane magic. Died and born again, she held together, taking new forms as she needed.

The flames ignited me right as the last remnants of mind that wanted to give up were pushed out by this revelation. I put every ounce of my being into holding my shape, feeling each individual thread of myself, and moving them, weaving them back together, even as they were engulfed in flame. I cannot fully convey the mental exhaustion that I went through in these moments.

I simply refused to let the fire take me. The memory of the passage of time in this space feels hard to remember, but it felt like it took ages, and yet by the time the fire calmed down to a smolder, you could have convinced me no time had passed. I felt my body, once again with shape, and I stood up. I looked down at the banner, which I knew had been burned, yet it remained. Though it had changed: the oak leaf was now wreathed in flame. I looked at my body and noticed a change as well, a fiery orange emblazoning my fur.

And I laughed. I had made it. I picked up the banner and wrapped myself in it and continued to laugh. I sat down in relief at having come through the flames and out the other side.

It was then I noticed the ashes of my former self. It may sound strange to be able to recognize ashes, but if you have ever stared at your own ashes, you may know the feeling. I scooped them up, suddenly feeling the loss. I survived, I changed, but something else was also lost. I cried, tears falling into the ashes I had cupped in my hands. It was when I felt lost in the pain and joy of loss and rebirth that I saw a large hand appear from above me. I realized that I recognized that hand. By the time it plucked me from ground, I realized it was ISAC’s hand, picking me up and taking me back from where I had been before.

Imdarr Relvaunder

Lymmura Audarhk

Explaining that he was interested in knowing more about Mystra and wanted start a more focused worship and Imdarr was willing to assist as much as possible. When asked about any priests of Mystra, Fogo was told that he would have go to Waterdeep, but Imdarr was willing order a book of worship of Mystra for him. Before leaving shrine, Fogo spent a bit of time at the statue of Mystra and offered his prayers. He then joined the rest of the party at the market.

It was during this time that Vladimir was able to say goodbye to his sword and deliver it to Angelica so that she would be able to attune to it and be able to use it for the next time they needed to stab something. Angelica seemed sad about something and while Vladimir attempted to find out what might be bothering her, she was not willing to share at this time. They went ahead and walked to the Market to join the rest of their party.

Looking for paper for scrolls Avery hunted down any deal he could find to acquire a few sheets that he could use later. Getting a snack of meat on a stick, Avery hung out until the rest of the group arrived.  Dancer and Fwoosh joined Avery at the market.  Making their way to the booth where the Farrowvale family were selling their different cuts of meat. Dancer was interested in hearing about the health of their horses and found out that they were much better would be ready to pull a wagon within the next couple of days.

In their wandering, they passed Grund who still seemed to be in a bad mood but was very instant on giving Fwoosh a bowl of Grund’s Special Pickles. The party moved away quickly before they had to actual consume them in front of Grund. When looking around they were able to hear some of the rumors that were going around town.  There was a lot of talk of the elders and what had happened in town. There was also some surprise that someone had bought the Wheelworks. There was also someone trying to purchase Gaelkur’s. There was also a lot of gossip about a bunch of crazies that had jumped down the sinkhole to save the children. Some had mentioned that there is giant Dwarvish Temple under the town that is the size of the entire town.

Grund

Trying to cause additional confusion, Fwoosh started speaking out loud about something about large dumb worms underground, rampaging through the tunnels. It did not seem that anyone paid attention to his attempt at starting a new rumor. Looking for Feng, Fwoosh approached a random stranger wandering around and when he started asking his questions, the stranger seemed surprised at Fwoosh and his overly shiny cloak.  Fwoosh was asked if he was a performer which got the show started. Doing some card tricks and a few acrobatic stances earned Fwoosh a hand full of copper and a round of applause. When Vladimir asked if performing is something he enjoyed, Fwoosh did not seem to really understand.  It was explained that he should also seek out things that he wants to do for himself, not just do what others tell him to do, become more of a free agent while still support his family.

Fogo finally joined the group at the market and with ISAC leading them to Feng’s booth to help Vladimir shop for some plate, but there was not any to be purchased.  There was a new allotment of Iceshield Orc axes on the wall, but no plate armor.  When asked about the plate armor, they were told they would have to go visit the smith for something like that.  They then sold the arms and armor they had collected from various dead bodies that they were responsible for and were able to collect a few more coins.

Feng Ironhead

When asked about Aerego Bethendur, they were told that he does not usually come to market. They learned that the storage spaces he rents out are expensive and only some of the larger merchants use him, or those that need more protection for their cargo.  He even has magically protected spaces available there.  He mentioned that some merchants use him as a third-party transition point, where one will drop off and their buyer will come by and pick up the merchandise. They asked if he knew who had purchased the Wagonworks, but he only knew that it was someone recently that came to Red Larch, and it was not a name he knew. He further elaborated that the Wheelworks is an important shop in town since any merchant spending the night would need to store their wagon and horses.  The town had seized the property after Ilmeth’s death and were anxious to get it sold and running again.

Still wanting some plate armor, Vladimir led the group to Tantur Smithery hoping that some might magically have been left there. While they headed there, Fwoosh stayed at the market in a bit of a daze of being free and Dancer and ISAC headed to the Wheelworks to see if they could find the new owner.

At the smithy they were greeted by Laefra Tantur. Asking about some plate armor, Vladimir and Angelica were disappointed in that there was not any available, and it was going to be a large amount of gold for it to be made, and all the coin would need to be paid up front. They were also curious if the maul they had found could be repaired, which required her to call out her husband out front to look it over. Eldras was impressed with the very nice Dwarven antique work, but he did not have the skill nor the knowledge to fix something like the maul. He told them to seek out a Dwarven smith to appraise it for repair.

Laefra Tantur

Eldras Tantur

Back at the Wheelworks, Dancer began knocking on the door hoping for an answer and it was, by Grafaerd Ulamoira. He was happy to see his rescuers and let them know that he was the one that purchased the Wheelworks, but he would not be open for a week or two.  He was waiting for friends and family to come in from Bargewright Inn to replace all the workers that had left. He had purchased this place because he had decided that treasure hunting was too dangerous, and they it would be better if he settled down. In finger talk, Dancer introduced himself, but Grafaerd seemed to already be aware of Dancer from Jepos. Asking about getting some space for their wagon, he offered to store it for free, but suggested that he charge some nominal amount to not arouse suspicion. Dancer was also curious of the Zhentarim had also purchased Gaelkur’s, but Grafaerd said that it was a different person they had rescued, Alfred the merchant.  He seemed to also want to settle down here.

Grafaerd Ulamoira

Fogo went to the baths since he still was still losing fur and did not smell the best. When he got there it was closed because today was market day, and most businesses in Red Larch were closed on market day. He decided to search for some of the rare plants he had learned about from Xaasz but even with his strong druidic magic, none were within range. Heading back to the Blackbutter Inn he met up with the rest of the group. Avery went up to his room to work on some scrolls, Angelica wanted to spend some time with her new sword to attune to it, and everyone else sat at a table in the main room.

Fwoosh hunted down the baker at the market and bought a dozen bear claws and while purchasing them he asked about Jepos and was told that Jepos would be available tomorrow afternoon. Going over to the Sundry booth, he shared all those bear claws with the kids which made him the hero of the day to the kids in the area. He also asked Endrith about if any pocket watches were available. Unfortunately, it was not an easy to come by item, but Endrith promised to send out word with the merchants to see if one could be gotten and brought to Red Larch for Fwoosh.

Endrith Vallivoe

The two also talked about how the business was at the market and Endrith was satisfied with it and was happy that those in town are starting to talk to each other again, and the air of suspicion that had been over them seemed to have disappeared. The people of Red Larch were enjoying themselves once again. Fwoosh mentioned that he knew Dwarves were going to come to town because of the temple underground.  Endrith had not thought about that and started planning on how to get more goods the Dwarves would like, especially ale.  He told Fwoosh that if this turned out profitable, he might get him that pocket watch free, or at least at a heavy discount. With that, Fwoosh went straight back to the Blackbutter Inn.

Once there, he could see his friends, but he headed over to the mantle to get a better look at the maker’s mark on the mantle clock. Fogo wanted to discuss the group’s plans, if they were going to stay in town, if they wanted to explore, or what.  Fogo was interesting in staying in town and finishing his chef apprenticeship. That discussion would have to happen later since Fogo needed a bath and used Vladimir’s room for that while Vladimir ran to the Thelorn’s Safe Journeys to see if their wagon was reason from being repaired and modified.  Again, another shop was closed on market day.

Mantle Clock Maker’s Mark

With some time before dinner, they went to one of the rooms to open the chest from the sarcophagus in the haunted tomb.  Inside were more platinum and gems of such high value than they had ever seen before.  Hidden in a false bottom, there was a gold chain with a locket with the etched figure of a half-elf. With such a large collection of gems and jewelry, they needed to find a buyer, but in this small town they did not know who could.  Dancer offered up his contacts but mentioned that it would be 50% to 75% of the face value for him to sell it, but that he could probably sell it quickly and get the coin to the party. Everyone seemed happy with that, but Fogo wanted to know more about the contact and how Dancer would be able to sell these things. Dancer answered that almost any town of any size would have a black market, and that he knew how to find it and would be able to sell things there.

Agreeing that selling the loose loot would be good, then they would be able to purchase more things that they needed, specifically the plate armor for Angelica and Vladimir. Everyone was also very interested in getting their wagon outfitted better, with windows, a hatch, and maybe even beds.   It was then since everyone was together, they also discussed their plans and what and where they might go next.

And this is where the session ended.

History Lesson

Another weekly episode of the Savage Frontier with your host David Bourgh-Ettin.  We have covered a few of the places around the valley, but none stand as tall as the Sword Mountains.  Today we will be continuing our review of the history of this area.

Description

North of Waterdeep, the Sword Mountains march north toward the Neverwinter Woods. Although not militarily significant, this range shields the Dessarin river valley and the High Forest from the
worst of the storms that blow in from the Trackless Sea. The western flanks of the range are home to
orcs, bugbears, kobolds, leucrottas and other dangerous creatures. Self-styled bandit lords, such as
Amalkyn the Black and the wizard Helduth Flamespell, have long-established holds in the region. The
southern peaks are home to stone giants and more fearsome menaces, as well as sylphs on the high ledges and peaks. The Sword Mountains is littered with ruins dating back to the orcish empire of Uruth Ukrypt and the dwarf and gnome clanholds that preceded it.

Geography

With an arc-like shape, the mountains were located northwest of Waterdeep and east of the Mere of Dead Men. Their western slopes led to the Trackless Sea in rolling foothills.

History

The mountains were home to orcs and trolls, but after the orcs were united by Wund and the Brotherhood of the Scarlet Scourge in the Year of the Red Rain, 927 DR, a shaman named Wund arose among the orc tribes of the Sword Mountains. On the eve of the Feast of the Moon, as Wund had prophesied, blood red thunderclouds engulfed the Sword Mountains. For three days the slopes ran wet with blood, leaving behind the sickening stench of rot and decay. All manner of plagues quickly swept through the region. Many orcs (and other folk) died by the White Hand of Yutrus, including every tribal chieftain, but the spawn of Gruumsh who survived the crucible of plagues grew stronger.

In the immediate aftermath of the Blood Plagues, Wund established a monastic order known as the Brotherhood of the Scarlet Scourge. Members of the order organized the surviving orc tribes into a united realm under the spiritual guidance of the brotherhood. The most powerful chieftain, a massive, unintelligent tusker named Uruth, was crowned king by Wund. This was a contributing factor to the Trollwars.

In the Year of the Sky Raiders (936 DR), the armies of Uruth Ukrypt swept down the eastern slopes of the Sword Mountains. The armies of Waterdeep battled the orcs of Uruth Ukrypt in a series of pitched battles known as the Orcfastings War. Early orc victories in the Battle of Whirling Blades, the Battle of Sarcrag, and the Battle of Withered Fields drove Waterdeep’s forces back to the gates of Nimoar’s Hold. However, a timely feint by the Duke of Calandor enabled Nimoar’s forces to break the orcs’ siege of the hold in the Battle of Burning Cliffs. They hatched another plan to attack in the Year of the Cold Claws, 940 DR, but this plan was ruined by the gold dragon Palarandusk.

Due to a raid on Ukrypt’s crypt by a human adventuring company called the Dawnbringer Company in the Year of Lathander’s Light, 1024 DR, the orcs of the Brotherhood of the Scarlet Scourge formed a horde called the Broken Bone with the intent of destroying Waterdeep. Their plans were once again ruined by a dragon; this time Lhammaruntosz. Still determined to exact their revenge, the orcs formed another horde, calling it the Black Claw, and in the Year of Crimson Magics, 1026 DR they came from the mountains to attack Waterdeep. This attack proved unsuccessful, and they were defeated, causing the orcs to lose their unity and plunge into a period of tribal conflict and the orcs of the Sword Mountains disintegrated into warring tribes.

Notable Locations

Hills & Peaks

• Mount Araddyn: Located just north of Mount Sar, Mount Araddyn is easily accessible only from the High Road.
• Icespire Peak:  The tallest peak of the Sword Mountains situated just east and a bit north of Phandalin.
• Mount Galardrym: the peak that was home to the dwarves of Clan Forgebar.
• Mount Sar: The second most southern peak of the Sword Mountains, was named for one of two great fomorian giants who lived in the southern Sword Mountains before they were slain by an early warlord of Waterdeep. Mount Helimbrar, the southernmost peak, was named for Sar’s twin.
• Mount Helimbrar: The southernmost peak of the Sword Mountains, was named for one of two great fomorian giants who lived in the southern Sword Mountains before they were slain by an early warlord of Waterdeep.

Landmarks

• Mountain’s Toe Mine: a successful gold mine owned by a Neverwintan business consortium.
• Wave Echo Cave: the labyrinthine caverns that housed the fabled Forge of Spells.

Settlements

• Axeholm: an abandoned dwarven stronghold that was haunted by a banshee.
• Gnomengarde: a minor kingdom of rock gnomes that was in caves at the base of the mountains.
• Ieirithymbul: another gnomish settlement nestled in the valley of Felrenden.
• Kheldell: a rather small human logging village.
• Nasaqh Estates: East of the High Road, in the valley between Mount Sar and Mount Helimbrar, lie the Nasaqh Estates. Eight generations of Nasaqh lords have ruled this valley, but the current Lord Nasaqh (LN male Illuskan human aristocrat 9) may be the last of his line, considering that he is growing older and has not yet produced an heir. The Nasaqh holdings are known for producing “seawine,” a potent liqueur popular among Waterdeep’s merchant elite.

Within the holdings of Lord Nasaqh lies the Agrivar estate. Consisting of more than 100 acres of fertile fields, old woodlands, and a stone manor house set on a rise overlooking the land.

Structures

• Icespire Hold: the mountain-top fortress that was claimed as a lair by the young white dragon Cryovain.
• Marune’s Stronghold: The infamous necromancer who seeks to rebuild the Shadow Thieves Guild in Waterdeep has laired for more than three decades beneath the base of Mount Helimbrar, undiscovered by Waterdeep’s city guard. Although he spends the bulk of his time in the City of Splendors, Marune still returns to his longstanding lair from time to time, usually to craft new magic items or research new spells. The lair is always well defended by a variety of undead, and the spell trigger traps that Marune has placed there summon all manner of monsters to battle intruders.
• Melairrin: High on the slopes of Mount Sar lies a warren of caves leading deep into the mountain’s heart. Gulyaikin Dzrund, “the Mad Dwarf,” dwelt therein nearly nine decades ago, and some believe that he lives there still. Gulyaikin was noted for fits of berserk glee during which he delighted in killing all sorts of passersby by rolling large rocks onto the High Road below and catapulting boulders at fishing boats offshore.

The warren of caves is now home to Harshnag the Grim, a frost giant and member of the Gray Hands. Harshnag’s caves are linked to Blackstaff Tower via a large-sized, two-way, keyed portal.

The deepest caves of Harshnag’s lair lead down to a dwarf-built citadel in the heart of the mountain. Once known as Melairrin, the complex fell to the orcs of Uruth Ukrypt early in the history of that realm, giving them a secure base from which to dominate the southern Sword Mountains. In the Year of the Dracorage (1018 DR), the caverns of Melairrin were taken over by a black Wyrm named Shammagar, who claimed it as his lair. The black dragon dwelt therein for several centuries before Asilther Graelor (CG female halfwood elf rogue 9), longtime companion of Mintiper Moonsilver, stole much of his hoard. Fearing further thefts, Shammagar abandoned Melairrin and relocated to an offshore island.

The caverns of Melairrin still retain traces of their various owners, but they are now home to a wide variety of monsters that have crept up from the depths below. Harshnag reports encountering small bands of half-black dragons of orcish ancestry from time to time, suggesting that Shammagar’s progeny may still dwell below. Older reports speak of a vampire lairing in the depths and a one-way portal linking the Sundered Throne (UM L1) to the dragon’s lair in the depths of Melairrin. The vampire Rorrina, dual, (daughter) of Tuvala of Clan Stoneshaft (CE female vampire [augmented shield dwarf] cleric 10 of Abbathor), does indeed exist and is a servitor of Artor Morlin

• Olothontor’s Lair: Olothontor the Minstrel Wyrm (LE male very old blue dragon) dwells on the western flank of Mount Araddyn, high above the High Road. His lair lies behind the ruins of an old stone mansion originally built for the brother titans Endrigul and Roevryn Taluth, and later taken over by the self-styled Gnome King Karlus “Goldgoblet” Dlinshoulder as the seat of his court. In the wake of repeated orc raids, the place was abandoned. The rear rooms of the mansion are now open to the sky, allowing the Minstrel Wyrm to fly in and out. A cavern in the cliff face behind the mansion leads into the dragon’s lair, which lies on the far side of a deep chasm heated by a volcanic flow. Olothontor is entranced by music, and he demands regular visits by traveling bards, from whom he commands repeat performances.
• Temple of Abbathor: another site abandoned by the dwarves, later uncovered by a mining excavation.

Rumors and Tales

There have been many rumors of older civilizations hidden under the northern part of the Sword Mountains.  The stories range from old Drow ruins to a buried ancient Gnomish city of lost technology.  These are all said to date back over four thousand years. There were stories about a young lad from Westbridge who had found a key to enter these secret passageways and had found the entry somewhere in the northern part of the Kryptgarden Forest in the foothills of the Sword Mountains.

Campaign Notes

The party continues to rest up and start looking at selling their massive pile of loot.  There was some discussion on what to do next, and several of those will start up Chapter One.  Now we will see how long they can hold off before the main story takes over.

29^th of Mirtul of the year 1492

Setting forth in the late morning, they used the directions they had gotten from Pell to make their way to what they were told was a tomb with a ghost in it.  Upon arriving, they were able to see the partially collapsed hill and the stone door entrance into the hill.  The stone door was cracked open.

Pushing it open further, a piece of metal, something from a wagon, fell to the ground making a loud banging noise.  While the party was surprised at the noise, nothing jumped out to attack them.  Moving into the dark corridor it led to a staircase heading downward.  It stopped at another stone door. Pushing it forward again, they were able to see the room ahead of them.

Inside the mid-sized room, they could see a 20-foot-tall statue of a dwarf holding a large maul.  The ceiling was 20-feet high and was held up by four pillars. One was a large horned demon as tall as the room, but appeared to be getting squished by the weight of the ceiling pushing him down, another was a giant grimacing in pain as he too attempted to hold up the ceiling, the third was a large pile of orcs, some dead and mashed on the bottom, while all the others were climbing up and preventing the ceiling from falling, and the last was a large dragon roaring in defiance, but still stuck holding up the ceiling as all the others were.

The party moved into the room and began investigating all the features of the room especially the intricate carvings of the pillars.  They were very lifelike and frightening at the same time.  There was another door in the room in which Vladimir approached. Angelica was able to identify the dragon statue as a red dragon, and was at least an adult one, if not older. A soft wispy voice filled the room.

“Don’t, don’t go forward. You can look around here, just do not go any further.”

“What are you? A ghost?

“I’m not a ghost, just a guardian here.”

“Do you have a name spirit?”

“I do not remember.”

“What are you guarding here?”

“A tomb of a mighty warrior. I failed in my duty once; I will not fail it again.  Do not go any further.”

‘What happens if we go further.”

“Then I will have to stop you. Don’t test my patience either.”

“I am sorry to hear you failed before, what did they do?”

“That is why I am guarding now.”

“These columns are very intricate; do you know the story behind why they are holding up the ceiling?

“The master wants them all to feel pain. He has hunted them all.”

“Who is your master?”

“You have already seen the statue.”

“Who is it though?”

“I do not remember.”

“Guardian, would it make any difference to your master if we are also hunters of some of these creatures? We’ve slain orcs.”

“You should not compare yourselves to the master, all of you are pathetic in comparison.”

“Is his tomb behind the door over there?”

“That is the space you should not go, and you would never have met my master, he died over a millennia ago, several.”

“Did he task you with guarding this?”

“My penitence for having failed him once. There used to be more of us, but I am the only one left now.”

“Besides the little girl, has anyone come by recently?”

“None have entered, the other stone door has opened and closed, and something might have attempted to peek in. but, as long as you do not try to continue, I will not bother you.”

Wanting to strategize outside the earshot of the spirit, the group went outside to determine what their action should be, and if they wanted to delve further in or not. For a while they discussed whether the tomb was related to the cultists or not, but in the end they decided not. There was some talk that perhaps the spirit guardian was fake because of the alerting trap they triggered. Attempting to use some Mold Earth to dig around the tomb, all they managed was to move a lot of mud and expose a lot more clay rock which Fogo’s spell could not effect. They finally decided that tomb robbing should be their goal, and off they went to confront the spirit.

“I see that you must have made your decision. Do you really want to do this?  Do you really want to be my foe?”

“I mean, not really.”

“Then you can turn around go back.”

“We do not want to do that either. We have questions that we are searching for answers and are hoping we can find them here.”

“I have no answers, I barely remember that I am here.”

“Does the last war mean anything to you?”

“There were so many, so many wars, trolls, giants, orcs, so many wars.”

“How about the elements?”

“The elements always strike upon you in war.”

“Any Drow?”

“Not any, any that I remember.”

It was at that point that Vladimir moved fully into the room and he could see the guardian standing next to the door waiting for him, and combat began. It was a brutal combat with an opponent that was incorporeal and was able to move through any of them, any object, and was able to fly fast enough to reach anywhere in the room.  The most terrifying aspect was that it was able to drain their health and make it unrecoverable except through time and resting.  Fogo was brought down into a coma losing many patches of fur over his body.  Its hateful glare was enough to send both Vladimir and Angelica running at different points, but they did finally defeat it.

Guardian Spirit

After the arduous battle they camped and rested hoping to regain the health losses almost everyone had suffered. The rest proved to be the best medicine they had, although Fogo was still very spotty with his fur as none of it grew back yet. Moving on to the next room, they found another medium sized room covered in five-foot tiles.  Each tile had a different number of brass medians upon them, and another stone door at the opposite side of the room.  Pain filled and grotesque carvings of orc heads covered all the walls as well as the ceiling leaving not a single open space.  There were hundreds of carved heads.  Dancer took a closer look and realized, that much like the other Dwarven tomb, every one of these mouths had an opening of some sort.

With several of them running in and out, they finally figured out that they had to take a specific route with a specific number of tiles and then pause to finally unlock the door.  Any deviation from that caused crossbow bolts to shoot from several of the orc mouths at them.  It was Fwoosh that came up with the solution and was almost able to execute it through.  Once the correct path was taken, the door unlocked and opened itself leading to another hallway.

In the middle of the hall was a set of double doors, and down some stairs there was a cistern.  The party debated on going through the doors and investigating the cistern, and Fogo persuaded them to dive into the cistern first.  Or at least, Fogo did.  Using his wild shape to become a giant frog he dove in to explore. The cistern was 90 feet deep and had a diameter of 50 feet with the opening at one end.  He could see a faint light on the ceiling of the other end.  Otherwise, it was filled to the top without any breathing pockets left open.

Swimming to the other end, he could see a hatch with some faint light coming from it, and a large lever in the wall.  Thinking that this was the way to open the hatch, he pushed the lever down hoping for the best.  When the water began draining rapidly and creating a giant whirlpool, he was sucked down through the false bottom that had collapsed into a put filled with jagged rocks causing his frog form severe injuries. With the water drained, and him changing back to his bedraggled form, he could communicate with the rest on what had happened.  Tossing down a rope and pulling them back, they trudged forward to the double doors.

Feeling optimistic, Vladimir pushed the doors open with the help of Angelica and they found another corridor with a set of stairs heading down, and at the bottom four alcoves, two on each side, stood a set of full plate armor.  Another set of double doors were at the other end of the hall.  Excited at the prospect of gaining some real armor, Vladimir ran forward to fondle the standing armor.

Unfortunately for Vladimir, the armor objected, and all four sets began attacking. With limited room, the party had to frequently switch positions to support Vladimir and Angelica.  The fight did not hold many surprises until some of the animated armors were killed, and one of the ones in the back absorbed the fallen armor making itself large, bulkier, and most likely much tougher. But even that one was eventually beaten down by everyone.  As each of the armors were defeated, they could see that within them was a mummified orc chieftain that had been stuffed inside to rot there indefinitely. Vladimir was very saddened that all they he could recover was a pile of rust and ash from the armors and his dream of parading around in a loud clanking set of full plate was burst.

Animated Armor

Hoping that there would be some sort of treasure ahead for all the work they had gone through, the party forged ahead.  The double doors led to another corridor with two more sets of double doors, one to the south and one to the east.  Choosing the closer southern doors, they burst them open looking for some loot.  This room was very large and narrow with stone table lining the walls of the room.  Upon each table was some sort of large creature’s skull.

They could see a Minotaur head, that was at least three feet across, not counting the horns, a horned demon skull that looked like it came from the demon pillar from earlier, a dragon skull that also appeared to match the one they had seen earlier, and finally a pair of giant human looking skulls, clearly from large giants.  A shatter giant sized great sword sat upon a table adjacent to the giant skulls.

Fogo was able to see that all the tables had a faint amount of magic that encompassed whatever was sitting upon them, but that magic was fading, and would most likely end within a few years.  Reaching out to touch one of the skulls, the magic popped, and the skull collapsed into dust.  Deciding to leave this trophy room intact, they moved on to what they hoped was the last set of doors of the day.

Behind these doors, which were the last ones, they could see a huge sarcophagus floating five feet off the ground resting on top of some white clouds.  The sarcophagus was 12-feet in length, and at least three feet high and wide. Fogo started to step in but jumped back just as a lightning bolt struck out at him from that cloud.  ISAC was next hoping to use the protections from the statue to weather to lightning bolts, but even he had to retreat as there seemed to be no end to the lightning.

Again, it was Fwoosh that helped solve the problem.  Using his newly acquired dagger, he turned invisible, trotted inside, and attached a rope to the sarcophagus and the party pulled it from on top of the cloud causing it fall and smash open. Out popped a mummified dwarf body holding on to a large maul and a small chest. Grabbing both, Fwoosh made his way out, but not before the lightning now having a target, shot a few bolts at his retreating back.

Thinking that this was everything in the tomb, the party was happy to make their way out into the dark night to escape back to Red Larch.  As they stepped out of the tomb, arrows were shot at them catching them all by surprise.

And this is where the session ended.

Maps

History Lesson

Good evening gentlefolk, this is your host David Bourgh-Ettin.  Last week we reviewed the history and condition of the Kryptgarden Forest, and this week we will be moving further south and look at the Westwood. Westwood was a forest on the Sword Coast North on the eastern edge of the Sword Mountains. Welcome back to our program looking into the history of the savage frontier.

Description

Westwood, as a general term, is used throughout the North to describe the western edges of a forest. This entry, however, details only the Westwood Forest south of the logging town of Kheldell. It’s said that this forest used to extend easterly to the High Forest, north to the city of Yartar, to the Delimbiyr Route in the south, and along the Sword Mountain range in the west. If this is true, Westwood once stood as proud and as large as the High Forest of today. Some sages believe this forest’s been shrinking since the destruction of Netheril.

Geography

The closest settlement to Westwood was Kheldell, which sat on the northwestern edge of the wood at the bottom of the Sword Mountains. This forest covered part of the eastern slopes of the Sword Mountains south of Kheldell. Amphail lay to the south of Westwood.

Westwood was part of a group of forests that were referred to by some as the Other Woods and others as the Moonwoods. The forests in this group were Lurkwood, Southkrypt Garden, Southwood, Moonwood, and Westwood.

History

Notable Locations

Elven Castle

Local legend claims that the ruins of an elven castle stand in a dell at the heart of the Westwood. Much magic exists in the ruins, and they’re supposedly haunted by owlbears and wild trees (probably evil treants preying on intruders). The way is best sought at night, for the route from Kheldell is marked by ancient spells that cause floating moonglow symbols to shine in the darkness.

Shrine of Mielikki

Mielikki is venerated at a hidden shrine in Westwood, and only rangers are guided to her temple. It’s said those who kneel and place fermented seed or newly sprouted oak trees at the altar are rewarded with a healing, neutralize poison, or remove curse spell (whichever is most needed). Those of evil alignment or who venerate evil deities that kneel at the altar are cursed with either a curse, a reversed neutralize poison, or a reversed cure critical wounds spell (whichever is most dangerous).

Campaign Notes

The haunted tomb was fun, a different puzzle appeared for them to solve.  The specter was a much tougher fight than they thought it would be, mostly because they were not able to get into a better tactical position.  The room was a perfect set up for the specter that was able to move through anything in the room including objects and people able to appear anywhere it wanted and attack.  Being intelligence, it was able to focus on one character at a time, meaning that the possibility of death was much greater.

And of course, something was waiting for them on the outside.  Afterall, who placed the warning trap that they triggered when thy entered?