Session 11 — Parley

Following their near-deadly fight with the roper, Argora, Blumf, Hugo, Kerath, Keeva, and Qeew nursed their wounds. [Stuv, whose player was not present, was said to have fled after the harrowing experience.] Sensing phat loot, they tore into the roper’s gut and–after sifting through the dissolved remains of less talented adventurers–recovered some valuable gemstones and a Ring of Spell Storing.

Continuing their journey, the group came to a deteriorated prison. In one cell, they recovered a corroded greataxe forged by Durgeddin’s smiths. In another, they found the centuries-old remains of a dwarf possessing a key, which they guessed could open the iron door emblazoned with Durgeddin’s mark, passed earlier. They retraced their steps to this door, unlocked it successfully, and entered the octagonal room beyond it.

Two days earlier, in Blassingdell…

Kavagal, having recovered from his night of unbridled drinking, joined Zin and set out for Khundrukai after the rest of the party, just a few hours behind. Before the pair left Blassingdell, Dark Warren beckoned them near the Founderstone. He offered to help them get to Khundrukai in exchange for some of the weapons they recover from within and other unspecified favors. After Zin and Kavagal accepted his offer and agreed to seek him out before Lord Kane upon their return, Dark Warren used the power of the Founderstone to open a portal in space (and time!) to a random location within Khundrukai (and a couple days in the future!).

Finding themselves alone in the dwarven stronghold, the pair fought off a swarm of blood-sucking stirge. They cleverly disabled a trapped door by clogging spouts designed to release alchemist’s fire upon would-be thieves using the charred body parts of nearby orc corpses. The door itself served no purpose other than to lure greedy adventurers to their deaths. When the pair explored other passages, they were attacked by a large group of orcs. While retreating, they activated the fire trap, instantly melting a few of their enemies, before descending a dark stair. They picked up the trail of the rest of the party and found them as they were exploring the octagonal room.

Within, cast bronze statues guarded two doors. These too were trapped and lead nowhere, but the party discovered a secret door. As they ascended the stairs beyond it, a magical alarm sounded with a booming voice warning the party to leave in dwarven. They hesitantly continued forward and into a large throne room. There they were interrogated by a disembodied female voice, also speaking dwarven. The woman demanded that the party leave immediately or be killed. Blumf, the only member of the party that spoke dwarven, attempted to negotiate a partnership or truce with the voice, but she was unwilling to cooperate.

As she grew increasingly impatient, she further demanded a tribute of gold to spare the intruders’ lives. The party devised a plan: they would leave only a fraction of the gold required (Qeew volunteered the remainder of her personal savings) as the top layer in a bag of rocks to act as a decoy before returning the way they came while Kerath hid in the shadows. He watched as an invisible creature walked off with the offering and exited through a door, behind which he could hear the sound of smiths at work on anvils.

Wishing not to engage an unknown foe, the party rested for the night in the octagonal room. They were beset again by stirge, and while he slept Hugo was bit by one of the blood-suckers. In the state between wakefulness and slumber he cast the last spell he had used the previous day… and Mage Hand-slapped Zin across the face. The party agreed to confront Hugo about his friendly fire once they were back in town.

In the morning, the party proceeded again towards the throne room, hoping to avoid confrontation with their unseen antagonist. Again they set off the magical alarm, and before they made it more than a few steps into the room they were ambushed by a group of seven invisible duergar, including the female they had negotiated with. In a few brief moments, Kerath, Zin, and Keeva were knocked unconscious before Argora’s healing brought Kerath, and through him Zin, back from the brink of death. Their battle continued…