3rd Day of the Claw of Sunsets (March) 1363 DR:
Firehammer Hold – Chapter Eight
Shingling Chamber – Wall of Fog: (23:20 pm):
Thora: “Yes, thank you Mirafir, but what are we to do about this ‘Wall of Fog’ Wizard?”
Mirafir: “Let us all move out of this room and chose the least painful of our options.”
Sigune: “Good Plan.”
Mirafir: “Remembering that the range of ‘Wall of Fog’ is some 30 yards.”
Frimly: “THAT’S 30’ FEET INSIDE WIZARD.”
Mirafir: “Ah yes indeed, 30’ feet meaning they are so very close to be able to cast ‘Wall of Fog’ at us.”
Shingling Chamber – Wall of Fog: (21:00 pm):
Thora and Frimly remain in the Shingling Chamber where the ‘Wall of Fog’ had been cast, with Frimly clinging to the wall with his ‘Slippers of Spider Climbing’.
Mirafir, no longer ‘Invisible’, commanded Sigune to close the door to the Storage Room, to the south of our Heroes, allowing the Wizard to then cast ‘Wizard Lock’ on the door preventing any entry for the Duergar Warriors.
Thora and Frimly both stop and listen out for their enemies, Thora can hear the sound of heavy objects being moved, Crossbow cocking and Duergar Warriors moving about behind the northern door in the Shingling Chamber.
Thora (In Elven): “The door is locked and wedged with stone wedges.”
Thora calls out in the fogged Shingling Chamber, while Frimly is unable to hear the noise of the Duergar Wizard breathing.
Mirafir has Sigune join him in the Forge where the Wizard casts ‘Invisibility’ on himself once more.
Mirafir (In Elven): “The Duergar Wizard must be close I say Sigune activates the ‘Web’ from her ‘Cloak of Arachnida’, Thora then sets the ‘Web’ alight and we can then deal with the Duergar Wizard.”
Thora (In Elven): “It will be up to you to deal with the Duergar Wizard as we will be busy with our task, are you ready Mirafir.”
Mirafir (In Elven): “I am.”
Sigune activates the ‘Web’ Spell from her ‘Cloak of Arachnida’, Thora then sets the ‘Web’ alight with her Flint and Steel and Mirafir scans the northern area of the Forge for the Duergar Wizard.
Mirafir: “I can see nothing the flare of the flames was too bright but it has lessened the ‘Wall of Fog’ considerably in here.”
Sigune looks over at the right moment and she is able to see the shape of the Duergar Wizard for a split second before it merged with the background.
Sigune: “There in the north-west corner, where the 2 dead Duergar Warriors are, I see the Wizard.”
Thora and Frimly both make their way out of the Shingling Chamber and head towards the north-west corner.
Sigune beats them both and swings at the area where she had seen the Duergar Wizard and hits her foe.
Mirafir is no longer ‘Invisible’ and not able to aid in the battle with the Duergar Wizard as Sigune had been joined by Thora. The Fighter and Paladin deal several blows more and stop, with the blood of a Duergar Wizard on their weapons.
Thora searches the body, which becomes visible as she does so, and she removes all the personal items on the Duergar Wizard.
(Cloak – Boots – Belt – Dagger – Spell Components – 6 Rings – 4 Necklaces)
The Heroes then debate as to where they are to go next:
1: Try to fight their way North through the locked Shingling Chamber.
2: Descend via the Mine Cart Rails.
3: Investigate the eastern route taken by the 2 Duergar Warriors that escaped that way.
The Adventures decide to head east towards the Mine Cart Area and to also check any chambers not entered.
Mirafir searches for the mechanism to open the Secret Door and is unable to do so and time runs down on the Adventurers.
Frimly enters the Barracks Post and looks through the Arrow Loops.
To the south of the Secret Door, used by the 2 Duergar Warriors to escape that way, Frimly discover the other Barracks Posts containing:
12. Barracks Posts:
This octagonal chamber contains a fireplace, a round table with stools, and six bunk beds. Three narrow windows pierce one wall. This room has a 5-foottall bellows apparatus fixed to one of the walls, west in this area). Each apparatus is below a small square window with a closable brass plate attached to it with hinges. A brass pipe leads from each apparatus into the wall underneath the window. These apparatuses are the source of the ‘Alchemist’s Fire Traps’ in the Drinking Hall.
Thora (In Elven): “Come here young Frimly, the Wizard cannae opens the Secret Door.”
Frimly move around and eventually find it as valuable time runs out. Beyond the Adventures find an empty Mine Cart Station, with a single Cart on the rails.
16. Mine Cart Station:
This area contains the terminus of a mine rail, which descends through a passage in the north wall. An empty mine cart sits on a rail in the middle of the room, connected to a chain and a winch near the south wall. Beside the winch is a corridor leading south. In the western part of the room are four large, metal-bound wooden crates. The western wall has narrow 3-foot-tall niches starting 3 feet off the floor.
Crates: Two crates are full of reddish chunks of iron ore
Mine Cart: The winch can be operated to move the cart down the rail slowly and steadily to the area below. If the brake is loosened, the cart can ride down the rail quickly, provided it has weight in it and someone pushes it to get it started.
Secret Door: A secret door in the southwest corner is the only way to the west side of the complex at this level.
Frimly moves off alone and searches the southern room which he saw through the Arrow Loops earlier.
17. Bloomery:
The east wall of this 30-foot-high room is occupied by a 20’ foot-tall vertical furnace. Arrays of ducts, which open in the upper part of the southern wall, allow air in. A stairway in the southeast corner climbs to the top of the furnace, and a bellows system is attached to the furnace near the northeast corner at floor level. On the west wall are crates for storing Ore and shelves for iron buckets and shovels.
Frimly notices that the flames in the Furnace are like those he saw under Harpshield Castle, Magical in nature.
All the Adventures gather at the Mine Cart Area and spend more time than they would have hoped on their next plan of action. The Heroes discuss how they can descend the Mine Cart Tracks and defeat those below.
Meanwhile, Frimly moves down the Mine Cart Tracks solo, Moving Silently and listening out for any Duergar Warriors. After some 70’ feet or so Frimly stops and attempts to Detect Nosie from the end of the Mine Cart Tracks. Frimly can hear at least 2 Duergar’s talking. Frimly makes his way back to the Adventures.
Frimly (In Elven): “The Mine Cart Tracks descend 100’ feet and end in a chamber and there I heard the voices of a least 2 Duergar’s talking.”
The Adventures leave the eastern way, and the 2 fleeing Duergar Warriors, and try to agree a strategy to descend and take out the Duergar Warriors too.
Frimly (In Elven): “I can draw forth one of my ‘Cards of Illusion’ and throw it into the empty Mine Cart, which can then be sent down into the chamber below.”
Thora (In Elven): “What do you have on those Scrolls recovered from the Underdark Wizard and are there any Spells that could aid us?”
Mirafir lists the Spells he could use before drawing on more of his diminishing power:
Intelligence:
- Clairaudience – So as to be able to hear, not understand, what may be below.
Camouflage:
- Wall of Fog – So as to obscure the Adventures advance and hide the arrival of the Illusion in the Mine Cart.
- Spectral Force – So as to create an Illusion (Sound, Smell, and Thermal Illusions) of the Adventures as a distraction or as camouflage hiding their advance.
Offensive:
- Delayed Blast Fireball – So as to capture more enemies that will come to fight the Adventures distractions.
- Stinking Cloud (Ring) – So as to block enemy’s movement or advance, camouflage the Adventures movements or as an all-out attack.
Nothing can be agreed and the terrain below is unknown.
Frimly decides to once again move off to reconnoitre the area to the east while the grown-ups came up with a plan. Frimly patter off eastwards from the Moving Silently, so as not to give away his position, from the Barracks Posts contain levers and winches, heading eastwards, connected to chains that operate the nearby portcullis trap.
Halfway down the corridor Frimly can see another chamber beyond and also hears the sound of a trap being set-off by his footsteps, but unlike the other Portcullis Trap that the Thief and Wizard were caught in, but nothing happens. Frimly decides caution is the better part of valor and returns to the other Adventures. As the Thief turns to move away he catches the glimpse of a Duergar Warrior at the edge of the range of his ‘Lens of Ultravision’.
Thora: “Sigune, head the Vanguard down towards the Duergar Warriors as we have no need to debate how to do so and I will follow up after you.”
Sigune: “Indeed as all the talking has numbed my mind, ATTACK….”
Sigune rushes where cleaver women, and men, fear to tread and moves eastwards, follow behind by Thora and Frimly walking along the wall and Mirafir several feet behind.
Sigune moves past a 20’ foot corridor, not setting off any Trap, and emerges into Guardroom and is fired upon, both Bolts miss the Paladin and she moves onto the eastern door and stands to one side having seen 2 Duergar Warriors with Crossbows further eastwards in another chamber.
Thora follow on behind taking a quick glance about the Guardroom.
15. Guardroom:
This room contains a table with four stools, a fireplace in the south wall flanked by two weapon racks, and a couple of braziers in the northwest and northeast corner. Mirafir and Frimly Follow up.
Sigune takes a look around the open door and can see that one of the Duergar Warriors had begun to move away north into the chamber and out of Sigune sight, while the second had drawn Shield and Short Sword, Sigune rushes in and is fired at from 2 Duergar Warriors in the north of the chamber.
13. Side Entrance:
This room contains a single chair near the entrance and an immense stack of dried firewood along the southern wall.
Both Bolts miss and Sigune notices that they are Special Arrows with Silver Inlay filigree.
The Battle insures with the Fighters fighting, the Wizard casting Magic Missiles and the Duergar Warriors succumbing to the onslaught.
Thora recovers the two Silver Inlay filigree Crossbow Bolts, searches the other bodies of the Duergar Warriors for other Bolts and find none. The Warrioress then takes one of the fallen Duergar Warriors Cross Bows.
The Adventures search the Side Entrance and find nothing of interest apart from what looks like the Side Door out of Fire Hammer Hold.
The Adventures then finally check the door to the north of the Side Entrance and find another small room.
14. Charcoal Storage
Large stone basins full of charcoal line the northern part of this room. All the charcoal is covered in dust.
Thora: “Right, now we must return to the Mine Cart Tracks and decide what to do next.
The Adventures return to the Mine Cart Track, Frimly then draws forth one of his ‘Cards of Illusions’.
Frimly: “Lady Luck be with me tonight.”
Frimly draws the card and tosses it in to the Cart. The other Adventures are startled by the sudden appearance of an Iron Gollum standing inside the cart.
Frimly: “Be quick and decide what to do next as time is not on our side.”
The Adventures now have to choose what to do next, use the Iron Gollum as a distraction with the aid of a ‘Wall of Fog’ and follow-up after it. Or use it as a distraction and attack from another front?