Session 24: Behind the Crystal Waterfall

Having killed the worms, Flint was able to retrieve the hammer at the crystal bridge. After a short rest to allow Flint to become familiar with the new weapon, the group continued through the dwarven keep. The group made its way slowly south, going through many a burnt and rotten door and taking great care not to set off traps or to walk into an ambush. Deep inside the keep the group entered a room where the floor had collapsed. Not able to see the bottom of the cavern the group smelt the rot coming from the dark abyss below. Along the way the group came across some ghouls and shadow demons but with the gods' help and a strong arm they were able to dispatch the foe. Eventually the group reached a dead end and were forced to turn back. Seizing on the opportunity the group decided to head back via a different route. They returned to a series of doors they had recently passed, finding that the last door was rotten and hanging from its hinges. Assuming that this was the work of a fire breathing beast somewhere in the keep the group entered into the room. They found themselves in a very large room with three exits and a giant statue of a dwarf in the middle. As they headed for one of the exits the statue turned suddenly and attacked. Not wanting to fight, the group ran towards the exit but the goliath wasn't quick enough to evade the stony grasp of the statue. Asking Vassa to intercede on his behalf Goblin cursed the statue and hit it with a thunderous strike. The statue released it's grip on Goblin and he took the opportunity to catch up with the group, which meanwhile had fled to a set of stairs leading to a double doorway.  Where this leads we shall soon find out.....

Session 23: Thunderdelve Mountain

Finally after a bit of regrouping the Abolitionists decided to enter the lost dwarven mine of Thunderdelve. Following Flint's friend's advice they bypassed the front entrance for a hidden staircase down into the mines. 

The stairs were roughly hewed and caused several of the party members to trip and fall down into a bedroom. The furnishings appeared at one time to be nice, but without any upkeep the years had aged them taking away any value they might have had. Flint noticed the headboard was askew and pried a piece off revealing a hidden stash of gems and a vial labeled "poison." He put that away for later investigation. 

The party then moved down into the next room, which was similar to the one they had just left except half of the room looked to have been torn up by something. The party investigated, with Gylif checking out the destroyed half when what they thought had been a pile of furs turned out to be an emaciated bear. Mattock surprised fired an arrow that went well wide. Volodemir attempted to talk to the bear offering it food, but the bear in its crazed state attacked. The bear was quickly dispatched without injury to the party and they ventured out into a hallway.

Listening at a door Flint heard some talking, and the party decided to open it, hoping to find non-hostile people inside. Instead they found a group that was very clearly bandits. Volodemir cheerfully introduced himself, but the bandits appeared to be readying weapons in response, so Flint slammed the door shut. The party took up strategic positions around the door waiting to see if the bandits would follow them, but after about 5 minutes of waiting they determined the bandits weren't going to walk into their trap. They peeked back into the room to find it empty. 

Deciding to make sure they weren't getting flanked they opened the door opposite from the bandits. Inside they found another bedroom, this time appearing a bit more lived in. Upon a bit of searching they found a page boy hiding under the bed, and Mattock found a chest that had been trapped, after moving the chest away from the pitfall he opened it finding a bit of valuables as well as a small silk bag that contained a ring. Mattock passed over the valuables for safekeeping, but curiosity got the better of him and he slipped on the wolf ring. The party tried to get information from the page, but all they discovered is he was kept there by a red faced man, possibly a bandit leader, who trained wolves. Promising to come back to free the page, the party moved on to the next door in the previous hallway. 

As Flint went to open the door it was pulled open causing him to fall and end up surrounded by four bandits. They looked at the party and said since they were on break if they were each given 50 gold, they would forget they saw the party. Flint agreed and stood up, and immediately starting attacking. The bandits were hardly a match for the party and once again they were taken care of with no injuries on the part of the group. They searched the room and found a bit of scattered coin, but nothing of interest. 

Finally they went back into the hallway and went to open the final door, finding there was yet another pitfall trap in front of it. The party dodged this trap and opened the final door. Inside they found a grand hallway, the floor was ruby quartz, and there was a bridge passing between two waterfalls. As they walk by this bridge Flint noticed a gleam in the waterfall and fished in finding a golden ladle connected with a mithril chain. The ladle said "drink" in dwarven, so after a moment hesitation Flint did drink, his wounds closed and he felt better and re-energized. Each of  He party then drank to feel the effects, with Mattock filling a flask from the ladle, just in case the magic would hold. 

They passed through the next door finding a collapsed bridge across a pit. Gylif being athletic made the jump, but in doing so more of the bridge crumbled and fell into the pit. Mattock, using his roof climbing skills, took a running jump and managed to just clear the gap. As soon as he looked up he saw a ghoul like creature in the mist reaching for Gylif. Shouting a warning Gylif looked up and turned undead, causing whatever creature it was to flee. With the two of them on the other side of the pit they were able to support a rope and let the other scale across. 

From there they opened a blackened door finding an armory and another bridge. Inside however were two more ghouls. Volodemir threw a bead of force, trapping on, while the other was taken down with some arrows and fire. The trapped one was pushed down into the pit. While they didn't find anything interesting in the armory, Flint noticed a hammer across the bridge. He rushed toward it, pushing the others out of the way, recognizing it as the Hammer of Sorin. Before he could reach for it several worms popped out of the ground biting him, he took a couple bites, but he was able to fend them off with some help from the party. Finally he reached up and claimed the Hammer of Sorin as his own, as Gylif looked on with envy. 

Session 23: Onward to Roskilde

[Sorry for the brief post, but work has been busy, and the session was rather uneventful.]

Once they arrived in Darkshelf, the Abolitionists met with Arquestan, who told them of his search for the Rod of Seven Parts. He indicated that he was unable to find the Rod in Darkshelf, so the party might want to check in Roskilde. Alternatively, there was a cleric of Ryanna in the forest to the west who was able to teach Volodemir the language of the blink dogs. 

They decided to head to Roskilde, to the northeast, on the shore of Whitewater Bay. Just as they were settling in to town, an old apprentice of Flint ran up to them, telling them that the fabled city of Thunderdelve had been found! However, it was now occupied by darker things, and they could use the abolitionist's help in liberating the settlement. So of course the party got on a boat, to see what they could find on Thunderspire Island. The trip was uneventful, and they quickly arrived at a ramshackle village at the foot of the island. The entrance to Thunderdelve was about 20 miles north of town, and they got there around nightfall. The group settled in for the evening, preparing for their delve in the morning.