Chairs and tables in the room were laden with rancid, thawing meat. Smelled awful. There was a terrifying, multi-species sculpture along one wall. Pieces of several different animals assembled into one horrific whole. The party shuddered and left the room.
Back in the corridor, we smelled a metallic, burning odor. We could see and smell smoke leaking out around a door down the hall. Menka cured Cathal’s lighter wounds, getting him back 8 points (32). Cathal laid his hands on Gonchar in a shocking fashion, getting the dwarf back 14 points (77). We lined up around the door with the smoke creeping outward near the floor. Flint checked the door for traps, finding none. He then checked the door to the right (west) and heard someone muttering in an accent from the Isle of Many Kingdoms.
We entered the room without the smoke issuing forth around it. We found ourselves in a room filled with what seemed to be dwarven furniture. It was clean. The linen was neatly folded, and everything was tidy and livable. Along the southern wall sat a writing desk and chair. Both had been modified and lifted to accommodate a person of approximately human height. On the writing table sat a book entitled “An Investigation Of…”, with all of the pages torn out. There was also a 3-page handwritten letter.
The Letter To Ejia And Pickman
Ejia, and Pickman:
It is with no small concern and, indeed, some desperation that I write to you to entreat you to relieve me of my duties in this crumbling outpost. I have faithfully served you - and Mother Hydra, and Father Dagon, and our combined efforts to ensure HIS awakening and return - but it is my sincere belief that my usefulness to this far-flung aspect of our grand design is at its end. The goal has been achieved. This was not yet the case when Pickman last appeared here, astride his Bya- khee, in response to my last letter. But now I - or, rather WE - have achieved what was asked, and I request that I be permitted to return to duties by the sea, so that I may work in conjunction with the deep, and those whom we serve, including those that cannot be named, whose names may not be uttered.
Allow me to update you. I, and the increasingly mad mage, Athelfan the Summoner, worked together to bring forth the Spirit of the North, the Ice-Lord, the Wind-Walker, he who some call Ithaqua, others Wen-Di-Go. He is here! - his Idol imbued with his presence, his servants from the North amongst us, his icy shadow darkening the land - let us rejoice! The snow-folk have become numerous in the area with his arrival. The tribesmen who worship him - silent, dour folk, but powerful with their scimitars, axes and crossbows - are here to support his will. And more recently the Gnoph- Keh have arrived - several of them - to do his bidding and guard his idol with the Yeti-men.
But I must ask that I return to our Town. What more can I achieve here? Would I not be of more use elsewhere? Please do not doubt my faithfulness to our cause! But this crumbling fortress is full of peril. Giants and ogres swarm the lower levels beneath us, seemingly searching for some lost Dwarven treasures or loot, or perhaps to escape the recent cold, and from farther below the Earth the dark dwarves and elves have come, perhaps for the same reason? It is unknown, but they are hostile, we have lost several tribesmen, and these enemies serve little purpose here other than to provide meals for the Gnoph-keh.
And more sinister things are here. We have had to cut off passages full of the dead, which walk. Screams sometimes echo through the halls, high and keening, and mad voices can be heard, nattering from distant tunnels. I ask you to allow me to return to the sea!
And I dread our own allies, those who serve the wind-walker - the tribes-folk and white apemen are little more than hostile. Athelfan grows more mad every day, uses his spells seemingly at random, and he seems to have no regard for his own safety, the bone-chilling cold, and the ravages of the weather. And the Gnoph-Keh - they are little more than beasts. They have already eaten one of the tribesmen, which only prompted the brutish northern folk to bring the beasts more flesh, and indeed sacrifice one of their own to these savage creatures, to please Ithaqua, I surmise. I fear I am next!!
Again, I am devoted to our cause, to bringing forth those whose names must not be said aloud - but would I not be of more use to our seaside project to wrest the temple of Poseidon to our uses, or to the ongoing infiltration of the sprawling Temple of the Bacchus, and his wine-soaked underlings, too besotted to stop us from our glorious goal? Or perhaps even south, in the desert, where we have gained traction in Thoth’s abandoned Temple - I seek only the sea, but to escape this bone- chilling cold would be enough! I have heard talk that, even now, we have achieved … (the writing ends here, the next page missing)
Menka found no secret doors in the room. Flint ransacked the place and found a bag in the bed that contained some gold and platinum pieces (how many?). He also found something 3’ long and heavy, which turned out to be a very nice flail, praise Thoth!
The Wind Walker’s Wizard#
We left the room and entered the other door, expecting to find fiery chaos. In that, we were disappointed. A single, sickly looking human was in the room, feeding paper pages into the fire. It was apparent from his ravings that he was a worshipper of the Wind Walker. he seemed to be burning his spell book.
Having listened to just about enough, Gonchar tackled him into the fire. The human began to burn although Gonchar took no damage, due to his Ring of Fire Resistance (yes?).
- initiative win
- The skinny guy rolled out of the fire, defending himself with a dagger.
- Gonchar hit him for 15 points of damage while standing in the fire
- The worshipper backed away and began gesticulating
- Gonchar’s second attack missed
- initiative tie
- Tim killed him with a handful of magic missiles
- wizard, worshipper of the Wind Walker (?? hp)
Gonchar searched through the fire for the wizard’s robe and spell book. He found the robe (yes?) but the spell book could not be salvaged.
There seemed to be nothing else of interest in the room. We milled about a bit in the hallway and Kyril peaked around the corner to the north. Seeing nothing, he motioned to us and we turned right into the main corridor, heading back toward the entrance.
We made our way to the barred door and investigated it again. The dwarves noted that it had been installed recently. We decided to open the door and Menka said a prayer for our protection, praise Thoth! We lifted the bar and, finding no traps, entered. We were immediately set upon by 2 undead dwarves.
- initiative tie
- Cathal attempted to turn the undead, as did Menka
- party needed to save vs. magic, +1 from the prayer
- Tim fled, with haste
- At the same time, Menka’s turn undead took effect, and the 2 undead dwarves moved away, back into the dark from whence they’d come
We decided to destroy them before exiting back into the main hallway, re-bolting the door and resting. Ha! We tracked them down to 2 opposing alcoves that formed a cross in the hallway. Disposing of the undead turned out to be more dangerous than we assumed.
- no initiative (enemies considered prone)
- Cathal hit one for 10 points
- Gonchar hit the same one for 14 points
- It attacked Gonchar, hitting him for 1 point. A fat white worm leapt out of the undead creature and attacked Gonchar but missed. He stomped on it.
- Gonchar nailed it again for 16 points, killing it
The two crossed the hall to the other alcove and attacked the other undead dwarf.
- no initiative (enemies considered prone)
- Cathal hit it for 7 points
- Gonchar hit it for 14 points and managed to avoid the worm again
- From around the corner, Tim zapped it with some magic missiles, destroying it
- 2 undead dwarves (?? hp)
We backed up to the door in the hallway. Tim wanted to cast Evard’s Black Tentacles at the next intersection, just to fuck some shit up. The party went along with the gag and then had to roll initiative. Of course.
- initiative win
- One of the creatures had risen and attacked Tim right after Tim cast his testicles.
- Menka re-killed the one that attacked Tim.
These things needed to be burned. With fire. We piled the 2 squirming, dead undead dwarves and Kyril produced fire, finishing them of. Tim’s Tentacles spell had gone off without a hitch and was currently flailing away at the pair of undead dwarves at the next intersection.
We backed out into the corridor and re-barred the door.
Kyril ventured south through the main corridor and took a right into the hallway blocked by the wall of thorns. He passed through it (how?) and scouted around. He saw muscular, gray dwarves and larger humanoids with crossbows and yellow hair. He also saw undead armed with crossbows and very large eyes. We’ve not encountered these before.
The druid returned to the party and relayed what he’d seen beyond the thorns. We prudently decided to head back to the tidy bedroom where we’d found the letter to Ejia and Pickman and rest. We planned to speak with the dead worshiper of the Wind Walker and Menka prayed accordingly. He would then pray for 2 hours to fill that spell slot. While we rested, we noted that the stronghold seemed to be warming up.
During the watch of Menka and Lycovyne the corpse of the worshiper of the Wind Walker briefly animated, and our acquaintance of yore spoke with the two, briefly. He commended the party and Menka, specifically for the destruction of the statue and the removal of its power from the local sphere.
The satyr also mentioned the phantom temple to Thoth in the southern deserts. Menka told that satyr that, indeed, he had seen the visions himself. The corpse of the worshipper of the Wind Walker strongly recommended that Menka journey to that temple with all speed to expel the chaos bubbling up out of the depths of the earth. Menka made his intention to travel south in the future clear but did not provide a timeline. The party had already decided on a basic near-term plan:
- Hit the dwarven mines and find out what’s up. Kick ass and take names.
- Possibly visit the Hall of Seven Pillars on the way back.
- Return to the Monastery and work our way back to the surface. Secure the entrance.
- Attend to Cathal’s troop muster requirements.
- Head to The Friendly Arm (Menka needed to speak with Anu Sekar).
- Head south.
Menka and Lycovyne had kept their conversation with the corpse all quiet-like and did not immediately alert the others.
After the watches were complete and the party re-assembled, Menka prepared to speak with the dead. As an 8th level cleric, he would get 3 rounds worth of conversation, for 3 questions. Menka began to pray, asking Thoth to allow him to speak with the dead wizard. His ankh held firmly in front of him, he continued to pray as the room became windy and filled with echoes. Reality became warped and energy crackled through the air. The body of the human wizard began to glow with this same energy. We assumed this was the body of the mad mage Athelfan mentioned in the letter just found.
Conversation With A Corpse#
Feeling the time to be right, Menka asked his three questions:
Who wrote the letter we found in the room next door?
The dead wizard had no idea.
Who is Ejia?
\emph{Ejia is the father of Aphrem, who is the father of Ephraim. He is an old man who lives in Innsport. He is a great man, and he will bring back the one under the sea}
What town by the sea?
Innsport.
Instead of that last one we should have asked who or what was Mother Hydra. Oh well. Several party members wanted to take Athelfan’s head with us for further questioning, later. We heaved the gruesome trophy into the Bag of Holding. We assumed the Temple to Bacchus mentioned in the letter to be the same Dionysian temple we had visited all those long months ago on the other side of the world. We already knew about the trouble in Thoth’s abandoned temple.
In the here and now, we still had a white dragon lurking about. Should we seek it out? Kyril thought it wise to consult the local fauna. It would take him 3-4 hours to pray for the \spell{Commune With Nature} spell.
Before taking that break, we searched the two rooms again and Kyril cast detect magic.
Loot!
- iron rations
- pile of neat clothing, including an unholy symbol: an antlered wooden humanoid effigy, disturbing to look upon, with a suggestion of red eyes
- the wizard’s robe (magic)
- the flail (magic)
- the wizard’s dagger (magic)
- spell book with the pages torn out (magic)
Cathal poured some holy water on the unholy symbol and it sizzled but had no other effect. Flint put the unholy symbol in the backpack on Menka’s back. It may prove useful, and the priest’s superiors would certainly be interested in examining it.
Kyril prayed while we faffed around with the new gear. When he was ready, he walked off into the woods and communed with the local animals. The animals told him that the destructive force in the forest had dissipated. They also told him that the white dragon was indeed still around, but it was a natural critter and it was not out of place. It functioned as the alpha in the surrounding forest. It seemed the local area would recover, in time.
Dwarven Stronghold Map, Main Floor#
