When the party arrived at Khundrukai, they entered as before through the cave system beneath the stronghold and made their way to the octagonal room at the entrance of the Duergar enclave. As they expected, crossing the threshold into the adjoining throne room triggered the magical alarm they had previously encountered, so they quickly rushed into the near door in the southwest corner. This led to a kitchen and dining hall. There they found no duergar but were instead assaulted by the dinner table, which was apparently enchanted to attack intruders. Though the table was remarkably agile and dodged many of their attacks, the group eventually destroyed the fleet-footed furniture.
Pressing on, the party approached the door in the northwest corner of the throne room and found it was sealed with a warning: “Beyond this door the Maker of Death is chained”. Not wanting to take that on when they were still expecting to be ambushed by duergar, they moved to the northeast door.
They entered a room beyond it containing a shallow pool. They heard the sound of a terrible wailing approaching from the hall ahead and prepared for a fight. Suddenly the horrifying form of a dwarven ghost appeared. Some party members were so frightened that they were instantly and magically aged. Blumf gained 30 years; however, as a dwarf with a life expectancy of over 400 years, the youthful 120-year-old shrugged this off. In contrast, the coeval 35-year-olds Kerath, a human, and Keeva, a wolf, both aged four decades in one debilitating moment, bringing them near death’s door.
After exchanging a few blows, Blumf called for a ceasefire so that he could talk to the ghost and learn what it wanted. It told him that its name was Arindel, once a trusted advisor to Durgeddin the Black centuries ago during the Smith War. He was cursed to wander the halls as a ghost for betraying his people by hiding from battle when the orcs first invaded the stronghold. He said that the sealed room with the warning was Durgeddin’s tomb, where he made his last stand against the orcs. There, Durgeddin’s remaining allies placed curses on some of their slain enemies to act as undead sentinels guarding their fallen chief’s final resting place.
Arindel revealed that some of the lingering defensive magic in this place, such as the animated table, was designed by him to attack non-dwarves. A dwarf like Blumf should have been able to command the table to stand down. He also indicated that he desired to see the forge cleansed. Before the party could ask for clarification, the ghost escaped through a wall and vanished from sight.
Lacking the powerful magic that could fully reverse the aging experienced by her friends, Qeew tried a Lesser Restoration spell on Kerath, which restored 20 years, revitalizing him. Qeew feared that she might exhaust her magical abilities if she attempted this taxing ritual again too soon, and so poor Keeva would have to wait for a chance at relief. Her body was now far older than any wolf would naturally experience, and she found her strength and speed were greatly diminished.
Taking the path to the left, the party continued down a hall. At the end some spotted a secret door. Charlie, who did not notice it, was incredulous and shouldered the wall to prove it was solid. To his surprise, the door swung open into Durgeddin’s pitch black tomb.
Lumbering towards them in the dark, Durgeddin’s slayers and eternal guardians approached the group. An orc wight and two ogre skeletons attacked, but through Charlie’s adept use of ensnaring spells the party was able to destroy them without incurring too much damage.
The undead defeated, the group approached a simple shrine bearing the corpse of Durgeddin the Black. Upon the shrine were two shortswords and a greataxe crafted by the master smith. An idea came to Kerath, as if planted in his head by some deity, to use the Night Caller whistle he’d pocketed in the Sunless Citadel, capable of animating the dead. Perhaps Durgeddin would be pleased to have a chance to exact vengeance on some orcs, he thought. At the very least he will want to reward these orc slayers with information about his forge and the secrets of Khundrukai, right?
Hearing no emphatic objections to this idea (though, he would admit, not really discussing its merits in great detail with the entire group), Kerath blew the whistle. Durgeddin sat up upon the altar of his shrine and berated him, furious that someone so insolent would brazenly disturb his rest, and in such an undignified manner, as the whistle bound Durgeddin’s will to Kerath’s, making him the ranger’s slave. Not receiving the reaction he was expecting and knowing the genie was already out of the bottle, Kerath decided the best way forward was to use Durgeddin–against his will–to advance the party’s objective of acquiring as many weapons as possible. To start, Kerath ordered Durgeddin to place the shortswords in the bag of holding, allowing the dwarf to retain the greataxe, for now, to defend himself. He then commanded the lord of Khundrukai to lead the way to his armory…
Chalkboard sketch from 2017-11-20
Durgeddin’s tomb beneath Khundrukai, 2017-11-20