Saralas: Session 36

10 Eleint

• We start this session in Caer-Dineval, having been clearly caught out by the Red Wizard Avarice. What should we do now? We have Avarice on one side and Wodna on the other. One is definitely evil but has the upper hand, the other is unpredictable and likely to be angry with us.
• Should we just go to seek out Xardarak Sunblight instead?
• Should we try to spread the word through the Ten Towns about Sunblight's dragon?
• Karthos suggests talking to Auril which seems like a bad idea
• Korag doesn't think we should wait to go towards Sunblight's stronghold.
• We travel towards Easthaven and search out Imdra at the town hall. She tells us that messages have already been dispatched to the other towns and they are already working to raise militias.
• We don't know exactly when they will attack but we got our first warning on the 25th of Elesias (a tenday and a half ago) and we saw on the 2nd that the dragon was nearly done. I don't think there is much time left.
• The others spend more time than I think is reasonable begging for help and figuring out where we can get help. Aren't we the favored of the gods?
• At this point it is pretty late in the day. We plan to stay in the inn and leave in the morning
• Ah, this inn again. Oh look Wodna is drinking there. We explain that they knew what we were up to before we even got there.
• Karthos and Korag try to confront her over the book.
• She says she has the statue. "At least the Duergar don't have that" she says, lost in thought.
• She thinks they were in town trying to get the statue. She thinks not having the statue will have slowed them down somewhat.
• She's getting information on black ice from Sunblight, but not actually delivering black ice to him. She's been hiding the big pieces away.
• She doesn't think they have much more than the Dragon. He doesn't have the numbers to take over Icewind Dale, she thinks the dragon is his main goal, and if we want to protect the Ten Towns we should focus on the dragon.
• Of people who really know black ice, there was Copper, who has left Icewind Dale, and her friend, who is dead. Also Wodna, who doesn't know how to destroy the dragon.
• We get more stories from Wodna, none super helpful but we know a bit more.
• I have an incredibly real dream about my family, it feels very real. I wake up oddly anxious. I haven't written home in a while, I wonder about these feelings.
• We meet up in the common room of the inn in the morning. Wodna is not there. The route to the fortress is probably through Dougan's Hole and then overland. We pass through Good Mead and then make our way to Dougan's Hole. The townsfolk do report seeing a dragon in the sky.
• They have received the message about the dragon and have raised a militia of 12. This is not going to do much and we advise them to protect the people rather than the buildings.
• From here we have to leave the road and head overland towards the fortress.
• A few hours later we come across a pile of dead bodies. It looks as if a caravan has been ambushed. The wagon is burning. A body thuds from the sky. We look up and see a huge dragon circling the area. It is the White Dragon we met once before. We leg it and make our way to the forest before it takes notice of us.
• We travel further and come to the foothills of the Spine of the World. Majestic, broken peaks. Snow and ice.
• Along the way we find ourselves on a sheet of ice and crevasse, covered by snow. We are warned when the snow starts to crack and Karthos starts to slide into a crevasse. He arrests himself and we manage to pull him to safety. We find a new route.
• We see a sheer wall rise above us. Carved high on the wall are rows of arrow slits, there are lights burning behind them, and we hear clanking sounds. Leading up the cliffside is a staircase cut into the rock, leading up to a ledge. The arrow slits have clear view of the stairs.
• Based on my knowledge of the Duergar, there are likely no other terrestrial entrances to the keep. The only other entrance is probably through the underdark.
• Taking great care, moving as quietly as I can, I climb to the stop of the stairs. To the east of the top of the stairs I find a 10 foot tall double door on the south face of the mountain, north of the path, the entrance to the keep. An arrow slit facing my direction guides the approach.
• I report back to the group, and we spend too much time debating how to get in. Karthos plans to turn into a badger and I decide to go up with him. As we approach, the doors open, and inside a portcullis also opens.
• We see no people in the arrow slit to the east
• From our current vantage point we cannot see through the arrow slit to the north. We debate what to do.
• Karthos decides to still go in with stealth. He slips a rope through the arrow slit, drinks his invisibility potion, and goes in as a badger.
• Karthos alone:
  • The room is heated and illuminated by a brazier of coals. There is an iron level, iron winch, and an iron cage in the center of the room that appears to be a lift. The chains of the lift are constantly moving, making loud noises. There are four arrow slits to the south, and a closed door to the east. There is a passage to the north.
  • He heads north. There is a large passageway. Doors to the north and west are closed. The passageway extends to the east.
  • Karthos does not sense movement in the tunnels. The ground is clean stone.
  • He heads east until he comes to an opening to a shaft that goes down. The entrance to the shaft is closed off by a set of iron bars. Karthos squeezes through and falls through to the floor below.
  • He finds himself in the forge, a huge area and he is dangerously exposed.
  • Smoke fills this warm cavern, which has a ceiling which ranges from 20 to 30 feet high. In the center is a 20 foot tall stone forge that looks like a pyramid with its peak shaved off. It exudes heat and a deep heartbeat.
  • Overlooking the forge are four 20-foot tall guard towers with grey-skinned towers overlooking the battlements of the towers.
  • South of the forge is a ? Surrounding it is a cleanup crew led by a female Duergar leading 6 hulking bipeds. They are tossing scraps into a cylindrical container.
  • Perched on the large platform is the black ice dragon. It looks complete as far as Karthos can tell as a badger. They are still working on it but it looks complete.
  • He polymorphs into a raven and flies up to an upper floor and perches on the iron bars.
• Karthos makes he way back and relays his story.