Adventure Summary 2 - Deeper and deeper

Torb Madjeer

The goblin kings army, they did darken the land,
The conquered krypts fury, death fell from his hand.
Men ran and they cowered, and they fought and they died.
They burned and they bled, as they issued their cries.

‘Horvutah, Horvutah, rel goran los, unahzaal.

 Trapped trapped she ------- is unending/ceasless/eternal

Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal         

To keep/guard evil forever at bay

Ahrk fin norok pall graan fod     

And the fiercest foe rout when

Nust hon rel zul zondro zaan

They hear her voice called

Stin ek kogaan ofan mu draal’

Free her  ghost blessings we pray                   

We need saviors to free us, from goblin kings rage.
Heroes on the field of this new war to wage.
If the goblin king wins, man is gone from his home.
Lost to the magic of the dragon queens tomb.

But then came our Heroes on that terrible day.
Steadfast as winter, they entered the fray.
And all saw the fires, of the goblin hoards doom.
The sweet song of victory ,pierced through the gloom.

The heroes they freed us, from the goblin kings rage.
Gave the gift of deliverance, ushered in a new Age.
If the crypt is eternal, then eternity's done.
For his story is over and the goblin king... gone.

DAY 5
The adventurers having been trapped at the top of a great underground chasm were witness to the dread retribution of a dragon spirit of great power. They watched helpless as a priest of Helm was rendered into three by this lifeless creature, a three headed dragon, and as it split and shattered rock with its deadly breath.
Legends of this beast were known to the party but their stories of what they know were different.
Though he came face to face with it Pavitra the priest of Tempus  was of little interest to the dragon which swiftly left plunging down into the darkness of the chasm.

The party were able to move on through the great doors of this ancient dwarven mine of Korem, now that their path was clear, their goal to find a way out back to the surface, before this crumbling ruin became their tomb. They witnessed the the remnant spirits of long dead dwarves floating ethereal in the close, silent halls of the ancient Modrisgwerg dwarves.

As they trudged accros the broken rubble strewn floors of the caverns which were heading slowly down into the earth, they had to traverse crumbling floors, falling ceilings, collapsed tunnels and giant spiders. It was when they found themselves faced with these spiders that they came across and inadvertently rescued a young Tinker Gnome wizard , named Barry. Karl ignited the spiders nest , while Osmund sliced the leg off one wolf spider which quickly retreated back into its web-nest, and Pavitra squashed another dead. The gnome had been captured in the battle with the goblins above ground, knocked unconscious, and when they had fled had taken him with them underground. He had come round in darkness being dragged along by the goblins only to be dropped and then something had bitten him and that was the last he remembered.

So three trapped adventurers became four as they continued to follow the ruins down.
It was not long before they came across a sign that something more than bats, bugs and gricks lived down here. A trap set across a stairway of pots, pans, crockery, and brick-a-brack, clearly set as an early warning system.
The crafty adventurers concocted a plan and heading back the way they came collected the body of the dead spider and pushed it down the stairs to set off the trap and try to bring out whatever was below and so draw it into their own trap.

Goblins! They came sneaking up the stairs ready for trouble but did not expect to face such heroes. The goblins were ready and the two archers let fly with their arrows striking Osmund in the chest with an arrow. Pavitra squared up to the biggest Goblin who was carrying a magical glowing warhammer, and knocked his head clean off and took the holy weapon for his own! The other three party members fought back killing another goblin and wounding another, but two escaped running down the stairs into the darkness. Osmund saw just in time as the two goblins fled through a door.

The door was held fast with a puzzle lock. Osmund could not figure it out but Pavitra and their new gnome companion worked out the combination to unlock the door.

Beyond Osmund spotted through the dust tracks which way the goblins had likely gone and so they charged through another door to chase them down. The large room beyond was lit with torches on the walls and the goblins were waiting hunkered down behind a table and chair. Pavitra took an arrow from one while the others shot bounced off his armor, and the goblins ducked down to take cover.
The adventurers without a pause rushed in to take down their opponents, swiftly killing one. The other hiding behind the table escaped a crossbow bolt from Karl. Out numbered the last goblin (named Krub) surrendered, and was tied up and questioned.

Barry found an old journal, from about 50 years ago, telling about a party of artifact hunters who had come to Korem in search of the fabled red steel. The last pages told of the death of his companions at the hands of 'The Beast' and how he had become lost in the ruined halls and caverns of Korem as the monster hunted him down, only for him to end up dying trapped in the mines.

‘Hroki and Baern are dead, killed by that beast, that monstrosity. It was relentless I barely escaped, it has hunted me down for days through the ruins and caverns. I have lost it but I am lost myself.’

‘I seem to have doubled back on myself somehow, this place is a warren, I fear to go forward in case I run into that monster again, yet I cannot go back as there is no escape that way.’

‘No food for days, I will die without food, yet I may die if I eat this fungus. What choice do I have but to try and survive.’

‘If you are reading this then I hope you have a way out, or this place will be your tomb, and you are already dead..’

(As we didn't get to cover more of the journal in the game I will cover it below at the bottom)

The party force Krub to show them the way out, he insists that the caverns have been collapsed by Vargax, but the party ask him to take them to the rockfall. Instead the deceptive Goblin takes them deeper down into the mine to where the Goblins live in the well preserved lower halls of Korem. It is clear that they have suffered recently, a massive scorched area of stonework and the burned bodies of goblin females and elders shows that something has recently happened to them. Even though they easily outnumber the adventurers the goblin archers standing watch do not hesitate to surrender. The party are reluctantly but fearfully lead into the goblin throne room and meet with the old shaman who tells them what has a happened.

The goblins have lived here peacefully under the watch of the old shaman but recently were taken over by a hobgoblin who was being aided by Vargax. Vargax wanted into Korem, only the goblins knew they way past the magics sealing the mines, but the hobgoblin double crossed him and lead a goblin army to the surface. It did not succeed (as the adventurers witnessed) and most of the goblin warriors have been slain. Vargax found another way into Korem but by doing so awakened the spirit of The Child of IO - the three headed dragon spirit they saw earlier. The shaman reveals that way out of Korem was now sealed by the Child's spirit due to Vargax's actions and no-one could escape.

Vargax was angry and sought revenge on the remaining goblins,  and was after the Talisman to allow him safe passage into the Dragon Queens' Tomb where the artifact of power is meant to reside. The shaman would not reveal that he had the talisman and Vargax left to search the Great Hall for it and also for the key to the Tomb which is guarded by The Beast.

The shaman also told the adventurers that the only way to get out of Korem was to free the Child of IO who still slept in the tomb, and the word to free her was kept by the ghost of a dwarf a guardian of Korem. The shaman tells the adventurers that the dwarf guardian resides beyond the Great Hall in a throne room.

Vargax is after the artifact of power within the Dragon Queen's Tomb, the shaman is clearly afraid that if he gets hold of it he could destroy everything.

The party now rest as Krub digs out the secret goblin passage (the mine seems to be slowly decaying) towards the Great Hall........



HARODS JOURNAL
As you rest you get the chance to look further at older pages of the journal to pass the time.
The journal belonged to a northman a native human of this land named Harod. The journal covers about 5 years of his life and is clearly one of many he had written. It seems that he and his companions searched for ancient Modrigswerg magical items lost in the ruins centuries after that great dwarven civilization had ceased to be. Most of this journal talks about an extremely rare red rock called Kinnabar, and how the Modrigswerg were the only race to be able to mine and refine it due to it being poisonous to most other races. He tracked it down to the ancient fortress mine of Korem and they found a way in.

'They say that 150 years ago the great war hero Cuthalion and his companions including the lady Mellyanna and her sister the High Prestess Melony Jaxom sealed this place with powerful magics to ensure that none could enter. Well I have found a way. The stories are vague of what is down here, they talk of a powerful artefact with the ability to alter reality but that is the talk of mad fools determined to keep the brave away from these ancient halls. Cuthalion is well known for his bravery and service to our country and to the dwarves of this land, he is of Modrigswerg decent like Baern. I tried to talk to him, persuade him to share his knowledge, but even for an old man he is feisty and stubborn and I got a black eye and bruised ribs for my prying. But he has red steel armor in his possession and I know he has the knowledge of its forging. 
Baern is skilled with the forge and his knowledge is indispensable but still limited. But still if we can find a fresh vein of Kinnabar within the deep mines of Korem we will be rich.......

.......Kinnabar can be forged with the fires of the earth into Red Steel, oh glorious red steel! Harder than dwarven Adamantine yet as light as Elven Mithril, resistant to magic, it can also harm creatures only normally injured by magical weapons, and nearly indestructible that even red dragon fire cannot harm it. Yet the raw rock is poisonous to the touch - those exposed go mad and then die. Only the Modrigsawerg dwarves learnt to forge it., yet clearly it lead to that great races demise. Red steel red steel, how I long for you!......

.......The stories of The Beast are well known, told form Cuthalion, Melony and Mellyanna's adventures when they first ventured into this place, after the five staves. Such wondrous weapons, their magics are beyond the skill of most mortal wizards, if only I was born 200 years earlier maybe they could have been mine. But I digress. The Beast was created by the Modrigswerg in madness to guard Korem from intruders. Their skill with magic and alchemy was only surpassed by their madness and greed for Kinnabar. 
They say it was a minotaur, but they corrupted its body with pure Kinnabar rock and embalmed its corpse with Kinnabar poison, and so created an undying monstrosity, enlarged, mutated and evil. It could not die, Cuthalion killed it and it rose again. Finally the great mage Merl obliterated it to dust and ended its terror. The halls of Korem are now silent.