Secrets of the Sunken Forge
Evelais (Saints' Day), Martenin 11th, 838 ID
Gruulsh is boated from the battle of Tarndim to the nearby Greataxe Isle, where he meets with the troupe of Baro, Ymurf Gnarblottom, Hroemer and newly minted Bishop Conniff. They present their writ to the old pair of infirm sentries living near the north shore of the isle, Gunjar and Tharb, who share some stories with them and warn them that no one has ever successfully traversed the Sunken Forge to date. They take a tasty breakfast of smoked meats and vegetables from the obese elf, and Gunjar also tells them of the 'Curse of Five', a legend of the optimal number of adventurers (dwarves, presumably) to crack open the secrets of the Forge. This isn't exactly news, since Monch already knew of the legend. After the meal, Grenjar shows the PCs the path up to the surface level of the Forge, where the PCs encounter the first of many puzzles they must solve to successfully navigate the ancient dwarven tomb. A series of carved, concentric columns must be 'fed' with fire, ale, blood and weapons, all of which are consumed to open the top level. The PCs discover later that, had they failed, or used the inappropriate elements/items, a pair of massive treants above the surface level would have animated and crushed them, like the many other victims' bones strewn about.
After descending to the level below, they discover five arched doors with no obvious access, and a bunch of plaques in Dwarven which, through riddled language, teach them the dangers of the Forge and what they must do to unlock its depths. Each of the first floor chamber doors corresponds to an abandoned deity in Moradin's pantheon, and they must best each chamber challenge and collect mithril pentacles to unlock a hatch on the floor that leads below. The trick is that there are actually six mithril pentacles, one being false and representing the exiled deity Laduguer. The rules of the Forge state that adventurers are allowed to leave no more than one person out in the central hub, and take no more than four into any given room (the 'Curse of Five' in action); in addition, they've an 8 hour limit to unlock 10 of the doors throughout the entire Forge, or be obliterated by some natural trap within. One of the plaque alcoves contains a raise dead scroll and a dimension door scroll, the latter keyed to the surface and usable by only one person. After Ymurf figures out which deities the various arched doors here represent, the PCs plot out which team they'd like to take into the first challenge...
The first trial they tackle is that of Berronar Truesilver, Mother of Dwarves and wife of Moradin. In her chamber, they must dig their hands into stone basins full of molten truesilver and retrieve small rock slabs of individual word runes, which they then piece together to reveal what to do with the statue of Berronar in the center of the chamber. This is accomplished through the great pain of Gruulsh and Ymurf, but luckily they have Connif along to heal their wounds. Once they realize the runes in the basins spell out 'Mend - Me - As - You - Would - Mend - Your - Flesh', they begin to magically heal the cracks on the Berronar statue using magic, until a number of gems spray forth, and the two great rings it clutches fall to the floor, opening portals that reveal both a bible of Berronar wrapped in a mithril star pendant, and a magical radiating heavy mace named 'Tranquilliac'. In the second trial chamber, that of Dumathoin: Baro, Gruulsh, Hroemer and Connif have to mine up five forms of precious ore and feed them to a molten fountain, while taking rapidly accumulated damage from the heat. After finally mining out the ore, the molten flow ceases, and they recover yet another indice of dwarven faith, a pendant and a mighty magic maul which glows with molten light (known as 'Magmahammer'). This item is later rewarded to Ymurf Gnarlbottom for his part in the expedition.
The third trial chosen by the PCs is that of Vergadain, in which they encounter a golden-haired dwarf aslumber on a heap of coins. After awaking, the dwarf, claiming to be known as 'Vergadaxx' offers them three battles of wits. In the first, they must guess the number of coins in the chamber within 100 gold of the actual value, which they end up failing. In the second, Vergadaxx initiates a game of Wishing Well against Gruulsh, Baro, Connif and Hroemer, but stacking the odds slightly in its favor since it's one opponent against four. Again, the gold dwarf comes away victorious. After losing both of these wit battles, the PCs notice that the cave walls are growing larger, but cannot figure out why. In the third and final challenge, Vergadaxx proposes a two-way trivia, which the PCs are more successful at, since it involves less luck. As a final question, Vergadaxx asks them what he is. After some thought, they propose that he is in fact a gold dragon, for the evidence is too much to ignore. Verg then transforms briefly, thanks the PCs for fulfilling the curse that has trapped him in this place, and then he, and his gold disappear. However, before he leaves, the PCs have managed to coax him into revealing that there are two mithril pendants in the chamber. Hroemer appraises them and finds that one is not true mithril...they've got their deceiver, it would seem. They also receive Vergadain's indice of faith and a golden longsword called 'Goldseeker', awared to Connif.
The fourth trial is that of Sharindlar, and the chamber is illuminated by moonlike lichen. A prostate statue of a beautiful dwarf maiden, either in the process of lovemaking or giving birth, lies at the center of the area, and in her outstretched hands are a large, loose steel needle, and a white flame. After trying out various things, they discover a needle-hole somewhere near the statue's needles, but plunging the needle inside, with or without running it through the sterile white flame, does nothing. Gruulsh comes up with the idea of instead sterilizing the needle and plunging it into his own navel, which results in him being transformed into a female, and suffering a flash of illness! Once this has transpired, the 'statue' gives birth to a mithril pendant, its own indice of dwarven faith, and a strange, visually shifting whip dubbed 'Fleetbite'. As with the prior three challenges, the room becomes nullified and mundane once the arch has been passed. In the last of the five trials on this level, they enter the chamber of Clangeddin Silverbeard, and are forced to fight against a quartet of dangerous, almost unbreakable stone columns that animate into female dwarves. The fight is a tough one, largely because the PCs' physical attacks are only barely effective, but they come out ahead at last, and are rewarded with the last mithril star pendant, Silverbeard's indice of dwarven faith, and a magical axe known as 'Dicer'.
Once all the pendants are gathered, and set into the circular trap door in the central chamber's floor, the heroes gain access to 'The Stacks', a two-tier library of ancient texts and scrolls. It turns out that much of the Forge is a cylinder, and that 'The Stacks' is a chamber which can travel vertically up and down the central shaft, crushing anyone if the rules of the Forge's trials are not followed! Within the library, the PCs find a pair of magical tomes, which Baro and Gruulsh claim and read to gain a +1 to an individual stat (wisdom for Gruulsh, intelligence for Baro). Also of interest in 'The Stacks', a set of encyclopedias detailing the history of the 'Hundred Demons', some long unknown company of dwarven mercenaries, and a massive scrying crystal which views out on many countryside locations, shifting images every minute or so. The magic sculpture is credited to a 'Kylar Coldcrumb'. Our heroes realize that this place is a goldmine for Monch Gnarlbottom, and that he's better qualified to document it later, but that they're on a time limit to open four more of the Forge's arched chambers and avoid an inevitable deathtrap.
After passing through another trap door beneath 'The Stacks', they follow an ancient silk rope to the bottom level. Here there are four more arched doors, several of which also correspond to deities. One leads to an ancient forge of Moradin, and here the PCs realize that all along, the arches have been activated by those of particular alignments (which explains why some characters could not initiate passage through the seemingly solid stone doors). Within the forge, they find two massive dwarven statues, which bow down and salute Ymurf (presumably since he's a paladin of Moradin), and then vanish out of existence. Conniff surmises that this forge might serve the purpose of reforging the Axe of Dwarven Lords, but all else they can find here are a small shrine and an unfinished masterwork sword. In another of the chambers, they discover a mass store of mithril shirts and shields, enough possibly to equip the majority of the Last Eidolorn Guard who have survived the War for Floivin Province! They decide they'll remove as much as they can later, and then send men back for more. The third chamber proves to be a savaged ruin that was once a shrine to the deity Laduguer. It's been ransacked, and spidery glyphs painted on its walls, but there is one corridor which seems to lead out of the Forge into the depths of the earths...our heroes avoid it for now.
Finally, they come to a chamber of sarcophagi in which Ymurf detects a great evil emanating, and the PCs succumb to the idea that this is Renn Bellowbroth's resting place, and they've got a fight on their hands if they wish to get their hands on the haft of the Axe of Dwarven Lords. Unlocking one tomb unlocks them all, and from within pour forth four ghouls, a pair of larger, umber hulk ghouls, and an eerie incorporeal shade that whispers doom to them (Renn himself?!) Unfortunately for the would be assailants, a cleric of Eleste and a paladin of Moradin are within the party, and they manage to turn all of the undead within a single round, even destroying most of them! Thanking their stars, the PCs quickly loot the tomb, containing some treasure and a silvery, ancient birch haft of wood. After quickly grabbing some of the mithril shirts and shields, they make their way out of the Forge, that they can report their success to Monch Gnarlbottom and leave the rest of the trouble to the loremaster and his men. They also decide to turn over the indices of dwarven faith to Monch, excepting that of Sharindlar, which she-Gruulsh holds onto for the time being.
PCs: Baro, Gruulsh
New Faiths Unlocked: Berronar Truesilver, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Dumathoin, Sharindlar, Vergadain.
NPCs
Pvt. Tharbalas 'Tharb' Reddenbalm (elf male): Perhaps the most hideously fat elf you’ve ever set eyes upon, and quite likely the first of such stature. His jowls and belly project well beyond their normal racial parameters, and you can only barely make out his beady, dark brown eyes as they glare at you from his monstrous brow. Unable to find a suit of armor that fits, he has nonetheless strapped some bits and pieces of steel to his engrossed limbs, and a nasty, serrated ladle is stuck through his belt. His private pips are nearly hidden behind the fold of his left breast, and his greasy, silvery mop of hair half conceals a pair of pointed, waxy ears. 'Tharb' is one of the infirm soldiers assigned to Greataxe Isle, most likely to cook for Gunjar and keep the sergeant company.
Sgt. Grenjar Gnarlbottom (dwarf male): A grizzled old dwarf sergeant with a jaw like an anvil, complete with the nicks and scars of many deadly implements, and a fiercely receding hairline chased by some strands of long, fuzzy white hair which are haphazardly tied into braids below his neck. His left eye is clouded up, his brow heavily scarred, but his right eye glares at you with a fierce pale shade of green. He wields a dwarven waraxe decorated with small skulls (likely from kobolds or goblins), and a suit of chain mail which has seen better days, now rusted and barely oiled. Grenjar is one of two infirm soldiers tasked with monitoring the Sunken Forge on Greataxe Isle, and likely hasn't seen real action in many years.
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