Rurik's Mission VII

 Two Resurrections for the Price of One! (Plus an Anvil)

            Just after first thaw, the dwarven caravan arrived, bearing supplies and a high priest of Moradin named Gorin.  He agreed to resurrect Scout, but in repayment, we would have to travel to Darble Anvil and retrieve an anvil that was left there many centuries ago when the dwarves and humans were cleared from the area by Dagnalok.  Dwarven history has much to say about Darble Anvil:  the once great dwarven mine has openings to the Underdark, and is now infested with draconic folk, old worshippers of Dagnalok, or at least their descendents.  This was sure to be a most brutal adventure.  We agreed to the terms of the deal and prepared for the journey.  Hearing of the gnome’s departure and that our group was now one person short, Kreger, the dwarven smith, asked to fill the vacancy.  Knowing that his powers of healing would be of great use in this quest, we agreed to have him along.

            We traveled along with the caravan as far as Merryvale before it turned northward, back to the wall.  We stayed in Merryvale for a few days.  We met with Rigel’s parents, a fine, halfling couple, who told us many amusing stories of Rigel’s childhood.  We also met Lilly Ann in the temple of Yondalla.  She gave us some advice and sold us many potions and rations.  I spent the next day shopping for a cart on which we might carry the anvil we were sent to find.  I found one that was suitable.  We spent a few hours reinforcing it so it might carry such a heavy item.  I also bought some extra feed for the mules.  Then next day, we traveled down to the mine south of Merryvale, the southern most reach of the halfling rangers’ influence.  Within minutes of switching onto the old mine road toward Darble, Scout spied six ogres setting an ambush for unwary travelers.  Sorry to disappoint them, but also eager to try out our battle skills on living targets, we decided to approach them quite aware.  We managed to kill four of the would-be bandits, and Scout was able to follow the trail of the other two all the way back to an enormous ogre city set deep in the hills.  She estimated somewhere between two hundred and three hundred ogres might live in that city.  Me made careful note of its location, then continued on our way.

            The old mine road was, as expected, in need of major upkeep.  We rarely made a full hour without having to dig out at least one rockslide, or having to make detours, or hack our way through the dense shrubs.  Needless to say, after so much grueling work driving the cart through the hills, a good sleep was necessary.  That first night after the ogre-incident, we were attacked by a pack of some fifteen goblins.  They poured over the hill like a flood.  I gave my warning call, but they were too quick and swarmed the camp before I could even move to defend.  Rigel was startled awake, and used his light beam eyes trick to help him see.  He also shouted at the goblins as they ran in.  Scout was quick to react, and I did make it down into camp.  We managed to dispatch three goblins before they even attacked.  Seeing that we were better prepared than they had thought, they immediately turned back to the hills and fled.  The group went back to sleep and got a few more minutes rest before we packed up and moved on that morning.

            We had only been traveling for a short while when we came upon a narrow ravine.  We slowly moved along between the steep walls, keeping our eyes opened, searching for an ambush.  As we approached a bend in the middle of the ravine, Scout’s owl screeched alarm again.  Despite our attempts to avoid it, four giants got the drop on us.  They were working in pairs, one team on each side of the ravine.  They were tossing boulders at us.  I told Arcadius to get the cart around the corner in the ravine.  We couldn’t afford to lose it to a bunch of overgrown rock-tossers!  I charged one of the giants.  We needed to find some way to scale the walls of the ravine to reach these enemies.  I managed to reach one of the giants without too much trouble.  Baridin joined me on the embankment, and we moved to flank the giant.  Unfortunately, a second giant had followed Baridin over.  I sidestepped a mighty swing from the giant in front of me, never noticing the one behind.  I raised my glaive to parry another blow when I heard a strange, ringing and a crunch . . .

            Something was different.  The sun should have been much higher in the sky.  The sounds should have been more rural.  I try to look around, and found myself in a room.   My neck was so sore. . .   My eyes had trouble focusing at first, but after a few minutes of determined staring, I could start to make out a few shapes, and then a few colors.  Suddenly, a slightly familiar face took shape in front of me.  It was Gorin, high priest of Moradin.  Suddenly I knew exactly what has happened.  I stared at Gorin praying that what I knew to be true is just a horrible dream, but Gorin shook his head, as if he knew what I was thinking.  He gave me a few more minutes, and then quietly said, “You will be ok, now.  I shall make the proper arrangements with your clan.”  My heart filled with sorrow and shame near to breaking.  I had fallen in battle, and to mere giants.  Gorin saw my pain and left me to deal with my misery alone.  I got up and went over to a nearby desk.  I found a piece of parchment and a pen and wrote a letter to my parents.  It was a most difficult letter to write.  I told them to honor Gorin’s claim, and that they would be repaid in full.  I almost didn’t have the courage to send it, but my sense of duty won out.  I spent the rest of the day in contemplation.  There was nothing.  The last thing I remembered was fighting the giants, then nothing until I had awakened here.  No light.  No dark.  Neither warmth nor cold.  No voice telling me that my faith has saved me.  No one taunting me for my lack of faith.  I didn’t understand, but maybe I was not meant to.  I decide to take a vow of silence.  Until I could redeem myself for falling to those four giants, I would not say a word.  I would listen, and hopefully I would hear what I needed to hear.  Maybe then I would hear the voice to help guide me.  Until I had cleaned the slate and killed four giants, I would listen.

I made the three day journey back to the ravine with the in complete silence.  Once there, Scout sent out her owl to find the lair of the giants that attacked us.  Scout reported that the lair was found a small distance away and that there seems to be a single giant.  She asked the group what they wanted to do, but I was already climbing the sides of the ravine.  I needed to kill this giant.  Scout caught up to me and we assault the giant head on.  We manage to get it into a flanked position, but it used its bulk to pin scout to the wall.  I attacked it furiously, and just as it was about to lean into scout, I drove my glaive through its solar plexus and pulled the thing down and away from Scout.  Just to make sure, I then drove my glaive into its heart, which was now exposed.   I then marched into its cave.  There were no more giants, but we did find a good deal of treasure.  The treasure was divided, and my spirits were lifted.  I was down to three . . .

            That night we experienced the first of the spring showers.  The rain must have loosened some rocks because we had to clear a landslide around noon, but otherwise we had an incident free day.  These lawless creatures had learned to fear the Warriors of the Eclipse.  We followed the trail which eventually lead into a nice little box canyon.  We carefully maneuvered the cart along the steep walled trail until we reached a point where the canyon opened onto an open mesa.  The sight was absolutely breathtaking.  We could see for miles in nearly every direction.  There were ruins of a small village here, too.  The foundations of three buildings could be seen, and a fourth, nearly whole building still stood.  We all pushed forward to get a better view then instantly froze.  As soon as we stepped out onto the flat, a deep sense of dread and foreboding washed over us.  This place was evil.  Rigel was reluctant to look for another route, and the dwarves were sure we could deal with any danger we might face, so we decided to move forward.  As soon as we reached the center of the plateau, all hell broke loose.  The mule reared in terror as a mass of cloudy substance suddenly formed directly in front of us.  Three huge tentacles formed from this mass, while the entire mesa was covered with smaller tentacles.  The huge tentacles immediately grabbed the mule, Baridin, and Scout.  We were now in a life or death struggle to escape.  The tentacles were cold, and when hit I felt an almost irresistible urge to fall asleep.  I managed to shake off the drowsiness I felt and I tried to attack the tentacle that was holding Baridin.  Rigel kept himself busy by flinging people back and forth on the mesa, throwing Kreger out of harms way, and himself right into danger as one of the tentacles snatched him right out of the air.  He eventually pried Scout from the grasp of the tentacled beast, leaving the warrior dwarves to deal with, and eventually kill, the beast.  Unfortunately, one of the mules did not survive this battle.  We were lucky that Baridin had bought another mule in Merryvale.  After such a terrible battle, we all needed rest, so I spent the next two hours preparing the lone standing building on the plateau so that it would be habitable.  Upon further examination of the rock, it became clear that many people had ventured along this path and had succumbed to the beast.  They were deposited in the stone of the mesa, as was the beast’s final victim, our mule.  Kreger decided to do some excavating for treasure, so we all chipped in and sifted through the rock, now magically transformed into mud, to see if we could find any valuables that might have been trapped in the mountain with their former owners.  We actually did find a good number of items, both magical and mundane, and added them to our account to pay for life giving spells.

            After one final look at the beautiful surroundings, we continued on our way to Darble.  The immense power of that creature of the mesa was really driven home as we did not run into any living creature for a full two days travel from the place.  Everything with sense knew to keep away from such a dangerous predator.  Finally, after a long journey, we made it to the base of Mount Darble.  We set up camp, ready to face the final climb in the morning.  Late in the evening, just as my watch was starting, I noticed some movement on the face of Mount Darble.  I squinted for a moment, and then my eyes went wide.  I could see two giants and these were bigger than the first ones.  I blew my warning horn and charged into battle.  It was a very difficult battle, but by working together, we were able to destroy these vile beings.  I was much relieved when both the giants had fallen.  I was down to one . . .

            We slept the rest of the night, and then scaled Mount Darble the next morning, arriving at the city of Darble late that afternoon.  We marched through the surface ruins until we found the entrance to the mines.  As we neared the entrance, a large force of kobolds jumped from their hiding places and launched their javelins at us.  I managed to drop the few foolish enough to come after me.  I then took up position in front of the casters so as to protect them from being overrun.  The kobolds, some twenty-five strong, were easily defeated and only one got away.  We followed the lone survivor into the mines.  Unfortunately, he was able to give warning, so they were prepared by the time we arrived.  We were quickly in a fight with five lizardmen warriors, one shaman, and a whole slew of kobold crossbowmen.  I managed to break the line and chase the shaman away, triggering a swarm of kobolds.  We left no other survivors this time, and Rigel’s psicrystal was able to follow the shaman who escaped.  It returned, warning us that a large force of lizardmen was advancing on our position.  We tried to use one of the rooms as a defensible location, but that was exactly what they wanted.  They slammed the doors shut on us, and the walls started heating up.  Now, I have never particularly wanted to die as some humanoid’s dinner roast, so I lowered my shoulder and rammed the door.  Scout and Baridin were right behind me as we burst through the shut and held door.   The lizardmen were so surprised that we were able to escape, that they fought most ineffectually.  We vanquished this horde, killing 14 of the warriors and one of the shamans.  Our spell casters were exhausted after this fight, so we decided to camp a little ways down the mountain.  A light snowstorm went through the area around midnight, but we were not followed, nor were we attacked that night.  The next day, we marched through town again, but this time the kobolds did not stay to fight, they ran back into the mine as soon as they saw us coming.  We returned to the room where we had fought the day before, but this time there were no enemies waiting for us.  From here, we had several tunnels to explore to find discover where the anvil might be.  Rigel sent his psicrystal out one way while Scout sent her owl down another tunnel.  The psicrystal mainly saw kobolds mining deep in the tunnels.  The owl, however, was overcome with fear and flew as fast as he could right out the entrance to the mines.  We figured that must be the way we needed to go.  As we wandered down that hallway, we confirmed our location.  We were entering the artisan’s quarter of the old city.  This was the exact place we should be if we wanted to find an anvil.  We reached the end of the corridor, which opened up into a large trading plaza.  At the far end of this room was a large pile of coins, art, and magical treasures.  Sitting atop that hoard was a dark colored dragon.  It looked up at us, and then melted away into nothing.  We started moving into this creature’s lair, when it suddenly appeared behind Arcadius.  It released its breath weapon on us, and then suddenly stopped moving.  We all took our swings at the immobilized dragon.  Twice, my glaive dipped right through the dragon’s flesh, but didn’t leave a mark.  Instead of fighting a creature that could apparently hop around its lair at will, I decided to go after our prize.  While fighting, I had noticed a large anvil in an alcove near the dragon’s treasure.  I left the fight and tied a rope around the anvil, then started dragging it out of the lair.  I figured that this is what we came for, so we might as well get it if we can.  Also, if it was valuable to the dragon, I would draw the attacks, and I wouldn’t have to worry about chasing a dragon around a room.  If it wasn’t valuable, we could beat a quick retreat, and the dragon might leave us alive to fight another day.  I continued dragging the anvil, and the noise it made while scraping on the stones was terrible.  Finally, Arcadius used a wand to reduce the weight of the anvil so it could be lifted onto the cart.   As I left with the anvil, Scout came over and insulted my honor, asking if I had lost all my courage.  That struck deep, especially after all I had done for the group, but I guess a human’s honor just doesn’t work on the same system as a dwarf’s.  We were there to get the anvil to pay for Scout’s resurrection.  Any looting beyond that would be an extra bonus, but not at the cost of our primary goal.  As I dragged the anvil on, Arcadius ran up, burned the rope I was using as a harness, and then took the anvil to the cart.  That being taken care of, I returned to see what could be done with this dragon.  I walked into the room to find Scout on the floor, Kreger and Baridin assisting her, and the dragon sitting, with Rigel, in a protective stance on its hoard.  I almost had to blink twice just to make sure I saw what I saw.  Scout left the lair with Baridin and Kreger in tow, and Arcadius was waiting for them at the cart.  I walked up to the dragon, dragging my glaive’s tip on the ground.  I made a deep bow to the dragon, walked half the distance back to the corridor backwards, still dragging the point, and then made a sharp military turn and walked out of the lair.  The dragon even deigned to give me a slight nod of acknowledgement in return.  One of these days, we may return to clear out and re-open Darble Anvil.  I hope we are ready to face that dragon again at that time.

            As we left the mine, Rigel’s voice spoke in my head, first telling me to go toward the kobold mines that his psicrystal had found, and then telling us to just leave and get as far away as possible.  Kreger, Arcadius, and I left right away with the anvil, but Scout and Baridin stayed behind to wait for Rigel.  We made it to camp in good time, and I got to sleep first watch.  About halfway through my rest, Rigel and the others arrived at camp.  They woke me up and said we had to leave, now.  I blinked, then rolled over and went back to sleep for an hour.  Apparently, while I was asleep, Rigel convinced the rest of the group that we should move, so we marched for the rest of the night, until we reached the camp at the base of Mount Darble.  The sun was just rising behind the mountain, so if you wanted to look at it, you had to squint.  I could just make out movement on the mountain, and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.  The last time we had camped here, we were attacked by two giants.  Now it looked as if two giants were standing at the exact same place.  It must be an illusion or some sort of flashback.  But when the boulders started flying, we new this was not a trick.  I had to charge in so as to avoid boulders as much as possible, but still got hit twice.  As I was still somewhat battered from the battle with the dragon, I had to take everything a little more carefully than normal.  We did manage to defeat the giants, and I drove my glaive through them, one at a time, to make sure they had died.  I then buried the tip of my glaive in the earth and knelt down between the giants and spent the rest of the day in prayer and meditation.  That evening, I got up, asked Kreger for ale, drank it, and went to sleep.  I had finally finished my penance, my honor was restored.  More importantly, I had listened, and had heard what I needed to hear.

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