Days before the events of the last session…
The Raven Guard
A tall, muscular human in dark armor breaks through the brush in the Dankwood and finds himself before the looming cliffs of Stonegarden.
Driven by something he doesn’t quite understand, the warrior approaches the mountain path with grim determination.
Torben, as he is known, feels compelled to enter this stronghold of the dwarves. He recalls the visions he’s had nightly of a raven flying toward the fortress.
The champion knows that his fate will be found deep within the hallowed halls of the dwarves, but what that fate is, he cannot say.
Making his way to the first gates, Torben is met with some derision from the guards. He stays resolute, though, and his talk of visions is enough to summon a sergeant of the guards. The old dwarf hears his story and appreciates the man’s fervor and honor.
Knowing that one more strange celebrant won’t make much difference, he allows the warrior to enter. While Torben makes his way into the marketplace, he can feel the eyes of secret guards around him, but knows that if he stays respectful, he should be left alone.
The Rogue
Grimnir always felt slightly different from the rest of his Canide dwarven clansfolk. There was always a coldness in him that made it hard to relate to others, and that always seemed to lead him into a bit of trouble.
That tendency toward rulebreaking ran him afoul of the guards many times, but also made him valuable to the endless plots of the various royals or merchant princes in the dwarven keeps and fortresses.
Over a career of several decades, Grimnir became known as the dwarf to hire when a job needed to be completed no matter what.
Unfortunately, his luck ran out on his last contract. Right amid his heist, a commotion broke out at the royal feast. It was then that the guards he had counted on being away from his quarry rushed past his position and noticed him trying to break into a home.
That night, the king himself gave Grimnir a choice: either spend weeks in the stocks for his numerous misdeeds, or be set free on the condition that he aid the dwelvers and become clanless.
Knowing that being in the stocks that long would open him up to reprisals from all the enemies he made, the rogue resigned himself to the only choice he had — losing his clan and venturing into the unknown depths for whatever horrors were contained below.
The Hunter
Zarah Shadowthorne loved the hunt. The thrill of chasing her prey to its end, to find what could not be found, and to explore new spaces was what she lived for.
That was made all the easier by the fact that, as a wolfkin, she was only welcome in the wilds with no other kin to bother her or drive her out of a village.
Despite the prejudice against her kind, Zarah had made a decent living as a tracker and hunter. She brought honor to her tribe for the renown she had earned.
That skill would be her undoing. While out with a friend, the wolfkin learned of a plot to overthrow her tribe’s leader.
Despite being close to the would-be rebel, Zarah told the tribe elders of what she had learned. They ordered her to act like she was in on the scheme, but to lead her friend into a trap.
When the destined betrayal came, she dutifully led her clansman into the ambush and stood aside while her friend was butchered. Disgusted by her clan and her own actions, Zarah ran into the wilderness and never looked back.
After weeks of exploring, she found a strange cave at the edge of a mountain range near the Dankwood. Drawn by a unique scent, she kept going deeper and deeper into the cave until she came across a well-worn stone staircase. Following the rough-hewn path, she found herself in a massive cavern lit by an eerie blue glow.
But before she could rest and appreciate the strangeness of her discovery, a group of large, dark shapes rushed out from the shadows toward her with a deafening bellow…
Now, the morning after the feast and the surprise entrance of the dwelvers.
Sturmberg, Lucia, and Kristov (as well as Torben, in another area of the marketplace) are suddenly awoken by the sounds of a process winding its way through the homes and markets of Stonegarden’s inner sanctum.
Stepping outside their sparse accommodations, the travelers see a line of dwarves led by King Karonax. The monarch is followed by his wife, the dwelvers from the night before, and an honor guard of warriors. Not far behind them trods the Princess Arvia of Crombe, the grizzled warrior Lupendus, and a grim-looking dwarf in leather armor.
Kristov notices that the dwarf at the end of the procession seems reluctant to be part of the parade, and seems dour and resigned to some unknown unpleasantness. (Indeed, Grimnir does feel resigned to his fate, but he is intrigued that Arvia of Crombe has decided to join the mission.)
Taking her cue from Sturmberg, Lucia looks at the old warrior with concern. She knows the sacrifice he is making and would do whatever she can to ease his burden. Tearing himself away from the procession, Kristov is once again tempted by the precious gems all around him, but restrains himself for the sake of his friends.
Meanwhile, Torben sees the raven from his visions hovering over the parade and is once again compelled to follow it. He isn’t sure if others can see the raven, but he knows that his mission is tied to the strange ancient dwarves the crowds were all gossiping about.
Catching up with the parade, Kristov attempts to engage Arvia in conversation.
“What do you know of these passageways, princess?” He asks. “Is this the only way into the undermountain, or are there secret tunnels we should keep in mind?”
The princess scoffs at the audacity of the old human to he would dare approach her, but feels inclined to speak with the adventurer.
“I did not grow up in Stonegarden, but I have heard many legends about it,” Arvia says. “There are some tales of secret tunnels at the base of the mountain that lead to the fortress; however, if they even exist at all, those passages might have cave-ins or worse. We’ll need to be careful if we encounter any.”
Heading deeper into the mountain, King Karonax leads the group through a series of tunnels and chambers before entering a grand crypt. Mausoleums, tombs, and sarcophagi are arranged neatly around the large cave before it ends in a chamber filled with huge, ornate double doors.
Enscribed on the doorway is a warning chiseled in old dwarvish script: Ye who pass through here, pass away from the world.”
Arriving at the doorway, the king makes a great show of pulling out a large old key and uses it to unlock an intricate old mechanism. As the doors slowly creak open, he says, “We cannot thank the sacrifices of you enough. The dwelvers would not have come if the need were not great. While you will be dead to your clans should you survive and return, your deeds will live on forever in the legends we will tell of your success.”
As the king turns to talk to Sturmberg, Grimnir, Lupendus, and Arvia, Torben takes the opportunity to speak with the only other humans he’s seen so far.
“Hail. Do you know what it is the dwarves are asking of us?” Torben asks. “I was drawn here by a vision, and all I’ve learned so far is that those strange old dwarves have caused a huge commotion.”
Lucia and Kristov inform him that they don’t know much either, but that they are being tasked with helping the dwarves contain “a beast” that lives in the Undermountain and that the dwarves that help them will be banished from their clans even if they succeed. The knowledge unsettles Torben, but his faith keeps him resolute.
Before leaving, Sturmberg folds his Canide cape and hands it to the king, saying, “Should my family yet live, give this to them and tell them of my sacrifice.” The king responds with a solemn nod.
The ancient door hinges sound out with a tired screech, and darkness quickly envelopes the party after walking through the gate. The dwelvers lead the adventurers deeper and deeper into the mountain before coming to a strange device that looks something like the lifts that were outside Stonegarden.
The party notices that the air around them has grown thick but cold and stale. Suddenly, the two strange dwarves burst into speech and startle the rest of the group. The dwelvers identify themselves as “Rangmar and Arvi.” The ancient stone singers say the air at the top of the mountain is too thin for them to speak well. The party quickly wishes the air were thin here, too, as the dwelvers, who were once silent, now pour forth a never-ending torrent of chatter.
The two dwarves usher the group into a large copper lift, and with a joyful cackle, launch a boulder through a chute on the other side of the room that launches the lift down into the dark. After several minutes, the lift slows down and empties the party into a cavern like nothing they had ever seen before.
The vast cave opened up into seemingly impossible heights. The ceiling of the cave was supported by immense pillars of a metallic material. The pillars didn’t run perpendicular, but seemed to arch out like beams across the ceiling. Veins running throughout the cavern gave off an eerie blue light that illuminated a series of carvings that evoked the faces of noble dwarves.
The group barely had enough time to appreciate the view before them when they heard the distant sound of battle. Carefully hiking forward, the adventurers quickly came upon a wolfkin beset by a pack of rock trolls in the distance.
Looking at each other in disbelief, each of the party launched into action.
Grimnir raced down to the fray by hiding in the shadows of the pillars. He didn’t know the wolfkin, but knew that the horrible monsters would eat him and his compatriots if they were driven away. Quickly striking out against the nearest troll, his blades found purchase against its rocky hide, causing it to bellow in pain.
Lucia and the pair of hunters she had hired unfurled their slings and launched missiles against the horrible trolls. Many of their shots found their mark and distracted the beasts from attacking the wolfkin.
The rest of the part ran as fast as they could to reach the desperate wolfkin. Sturmberg got just close enough to be grabbed by one of the larger trolls and thrown against a pillar.
Zarah dodged as well as she could, but even her speed and agility weren’t enough to stay ahead of the multitude of monsters. One of the trolls smacked her with its mighty fists, knocking the wind out of her and leaving the huntress writhing on the cavern floor in pain.
It is there that we leave the adventurers with their fates unknown in the depths of Stonegarden…
Click here to read the adventure from the very beginning — Session 1!
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