ragath4

The party left the cave in the morning. The blizzard of the night had yielded to light flurries and their view of the mountains was much clearer. After losing track of the four in black the party decided to follow the map from the dead dwarf toward Ragath Mountain as it appeared to be the direction they were heading before.

The party was cold (except for Jacen whose ring kept in warm) and they soon had to stop and start a fire. While cooking the last of their perishable food, they once again saw a white hawk in the sky. This time the hawk was far off and between them and Ragath Mountain. After lunch and melted snow to drink, they continued. They finally came to a bridge crossing a deep chasm. Jacen, who led the party, took a bad step and slid down the slope toward the gap but managed to stop himself before plunging into icy oblivion. After carefully climbing back up the side of the chasm, the party tied themselves together with rope and attempted to cross the bridge. Yet as soon as Jacen took the first step onto the bridge, he slipped again. This time stopped by the the rope, the party hauled him up once again. Finally, Triblet noticed that the shadow of the bridge wasn't quiet right and waved his hand through it and the illusion was dispelled.

The party continued onward, wary of illusions, and finally made it to the landing on the other side of the now vanished imaginary bridge. The black four's tracks were easy to follow once again due to the fresh snow. The tracks continued up a steep slope between two peaks and as they neared the top, they could see another storm coming from the west. Without cover, they continued as quickly as possible down the slope following the fading tracks and reached a valley just as the heavy snow began to fall. As they tried to get their bearings on Ragath Mountain and find shelter, they heard the cries of wolves coming closer but could not see beyond an arm's reach.

While trudging on at the edge of exhaustion, they began heard voices.

"Hold there!" said a deep gruff voice and a stocky dwarf covered in white furs walked up with two henchman holding the leashes of two huge winter wolves, each two feet taller than their dwarven masters. "What is your business here?" he asked accusingly.

"Dalgoreth Mogarn!" said Dagmar in the dwarven tongue, "we are traveling from Jotsplat to Ragath Mountain in search of our friend who was kidnapped."

"Ragath Mountain!" said the dwarf above the howl of the wind, "That is a desolate place to look for a friend. But by Moradin's hairs a dwarf is welcome in our mines, of course, and we can discuss this there out from the cold. I am Neygrim Roshtel, leader of the Clan of Ragath. Follow me."

The party followed the dwarf to the base of a mountain covered in snow-- the entrance of which was covered in a white stone almost impossible to distinguish from the snowy rocks. Once inside, the air was warm and dry. They all got out of their winter gear (those that had it) and were taken to stark quarters in the mine.

"The bell for meals is an hour from now and you will dine at my table," said Neygrim with a voice that spoke more of order than invitation.

"Does anyone else think it is too hot in here?" asked Jacen, sweating profusely.

After an hour, they joined Neygrim at the table and the party told the story of Grelj and his kidnapping. Neygrim listened attentively without saying a single word. Finally, at the end of the tale, he pushed back his gray-looking fish stew and said that they were welcome to stay and that they would be fed as well as the rest of his clan. He then took the visitors on a tour of the mines, pointing out with obvious pride the stone halls and showing them through great iron doors to the giant furnace which hovered over a pit of molten lava. They watched as dwarves in thick gray work clothes wheeled in broken rock and dumped it into the giant smelter. After a while, they swung the smelter from over the lava and pulled tap plugs and out poured molten metal into the waiting ingot molds.

"A thousand iron bars a week!" he said with pride, "and a fair amount of gold as well," he winked. We trade with Jotsplat for things we need when the snow has melted during the summer.

"How do you carry thousands of iron bars to Jotsplat over these mountains?" asked Xendra.

"Ah, that's the beauty of this mine," he said and took them down a long set of tracks, avoiding the carts laden with ore on the way down. They could hear the sound of metal on stone from below. Finally they reached a domed room. "Beyond that rock fall is another tunnel which leads to an underground river. Once we clear the cave-in, we'll be shipping bars once again."

With that, he ended the tour and escorted the party back to their quarters. He warned them that the mining areas were dangerous for those unfamiliar and asked that they stay in the common areas unless escorted. Tired, the party went to sleep early in warm if not entirely comfortable beds.

They woke suddenly to the call of a horn being blown. The party ran from their quarters and followed the horn to find Neygrim talking to two worried-looking dwarves. They spoke quickly and quietly in dwarvish, which Dagmar quietly translated to the rest of the party. Two dwarves were missing in the mine. The missing dwarves were pushing a cart up the tracks from deep in the mine, but suddenly they were gone and their cart was speeding down the tracks back into the mine. After searching the tunnel and calling out for them, they blew the horn and headed up the tunnel to get help.

Search parties were quickly assembled and the party joined in. They went down the mine tunnel as a group and searched the whole of the mine complex but did not find the still missing dwarves. After Jacen though he saw some tracks that didn't seem to be dwarven in the high room with the cave-in, they search it more thoroughly. After hours of searching, Dagmar noticed a unusual rock above the cave-in. Triblet climbed up the wall and called out that he had found something. One of the rocks was in fact not a rock at all, but a skin carefully painted to look like a rock covering a narrow tunnel entrance!

"That's strange work," said Neygrim looking over the skin.

The party volunteered to investigate and Neygrim sent four of his guard with them. After putting on their gear, Triblet lowered a rope and they all climbed through the tunnel. The tunnel seemed to have been made directly over the cave-in that they now suspected was collapsed on purpose.

The tunnel dropped onto a stone corridor that headed west and ended at an iron door that was barred on their side. Triblet and Jacen listened at the door and heard muffled voices speaking in goblin.

"Did you see those dwarves," said one, "they didn't look too happy with Rugoth dragging them by their beards," and another snickered.

"Serves them right for not sharing their gold. Now they'll sleep with the fishes," said another.

"Did you hear that?" said yet another, "I heard something on the other side of the door!"

With that, Jacen grabbed the bar and kicked open the door and waded into the room. The goblins screamed and grabbed their short spears and attacked Jacen and Triblet.

Triblet swung his shortsword and struck one down immediately and Jacen cleaved another. With the door clear the rest of the party was able to move into the room. The battle was terrible but in the end all eight goblins lay dead and two of the dwarves were seriously hurt. The party sent them back with the two unharmed dwarves to tell the rest what they'd found. They two uninjured dwarves then returned with two more fresh guards to continue.

Jacen and Triblet crossed the room and listened at the door on the other side of the room. This time, they heard no voices and they unbarred the door with weapons ready. The corridor was empty and continued west were it opened into a large cave with a stream running through it from the southwest to the northeast. The was a broken stone bridge across it and six crude boats on the far bank. As they went to investigate the boat, two spears were thrown at them by orcs previously hiding behind the bridge. Xendra cast a sleep spell and immediately one dropped to the ground while Jacen slew another with an arrow to the chest.

"At least that was a little quieter," said Triblet in a whisper.

With a running start Triblet leapt over the stream and took one of the boats across for those too heavily armored to make the leap across. After they all had crossed they continued to another door on the west wall of the cave. One of the dwarves explained that they kept their salted fish and some supplies in this section of the complex. The door was not locked and as Jacen opened it, he was struck in the chest by an arrow from the other end of the corridor sixty feet away. They quickly closed the door and rearmed with their bows and crossbows. Triblet and Dagmar crouched with their crossbows, and Jacen his longbow. Xendra was ready as well with a Magic Missile. They quickly opened the door and were rushed by two goblins. Xendra struck one of them with her Magic Missile and Triblet was struck hard by a short sword and fell to the ground. Dagmar reached for her warhammer and swung, but the goblin jumped backed and ran to the far door which was quickly shut behind him.

The party charged down the hall and Jacen and Dagmar pushed the door before it could be barred. With their combined strength they forced it open and found the room filled with eight goblins and a very well-armed orc. The goblins attacked the party and their dwarven guard as their leader, the orc, fired arrows from his bow over their heads killing one of the dwarves and gave orders in Goblin. The goblins were quickly dispatched, but not before striking down two more of the dwarven guards and injuring Jacen and Dagmar. Triblet worked his way around the room, but his strike on the orc missed the mark. The orc turned to him with his greataxe and with a mighty blow sent Triblet across the room unconscious. Xendra fired a Magic Missile at the orc warrior and struck him, yet he did not seem hurt as he headed for the remains of the party over the strewn bodies of goblins and orcs.

Jacen fired his bow and buried an arrow in Rugoth's chest and again Xendra cast her Magic Missile at him and struck. Dagmar let out a mighty cry and charged with her warhammer but with another blow from the orc's greataxe was sent to the ground unconscious. Jacen pulled his sword and struck at Rugoth, but the orc's greataxe parried the blow. Xendra unsheathed her dagger and swung, but the orc dodged her knife and brought the flat of his axe down upon Jacen's head. The ranger crumpled to the ground leaving only Xendra standing.

"Just you and me, pointy-eared one," he said in elvish, "perhaps we can bargain for your lives."

"Bargain with my blade, foul orc!" said Xendra as she swung, but the orc easily sidestepped her attack.

"You're a feisty one," he retorted, "perhaps you may be useful to me if you lay down your sword and surrender. If not, you'll fall like the flai leaves in autumn," referring to the flai trees whose leaves all fall red to the ground on a single day. A stunningly obscure reference for an orc to have made in elvish!

But despite her surprise, Xendra swung her meager dagger again and struck him.

"You'll have to do better than...", he said but stopped and looked down at the dagger in his chest with a puzzled look in his eyes. Then he slowly sank to the ground.

Xendra finally sat in the room, sore and alone. She climbed back to the cave-in and called for help. More dwarves came and they carried the dead party members, their fallen comrades clansmen, and anything of value from the goblins and the orc back up the mines.

It was several days before everyone was well. Once recovered, they looked at the treasure which Dagmar and Neygrim agreed should be split between them. Although it was trapped with a poison needle, Triblet was able to overcome it with his keen gnomish tinkering skills and they opened it. Inside they found a large emerald, a platinum ingot (with the mark of the Clan of Ragath), a vial of some clear blue liquid, and several scroll cases which contained a Remove Curse scroll (identified by Xendra) and two maps in orcish showing a large underground vault, and a map of the Ragath mine with ore deposits marked. The later was immensely interesting to the dwarves! They also looked over Rugoth's weapons and found them to be of exceptional quality. Triblet took the Mighty Composite Shortbow, Jacen the black metal chain mail, and Dagmar the rune covered greataxe.

They then returned to the battle scene with more reinforcements. There they found the eight dead goblins, but Rugoth was gone. His body, from the tracks, had been dragged away to the stream and all the boats were gone.

The party continued their search and found the two missing dwarves hung by their arms in the fish salter, fast asleep. They seemed a little bruised, but otherwise unharmed. On the way out, Triblet asked what was behind another door they all had overlooked. It was very well hidden, but somehow Triblet's keen eye had noticed it. None of the dwarves had any idea it had been there all these years. After searching for an hour to find a way of opening the door, Triblet stuck his shortsword in a hole behind a sconce and it swung open. After lighting torches for Jacen, they entered

The room was large, about fifty feet on a side, and was decorated with lavish furnishings. There were two carved wood bookcases with scores of books on metallurgy, stone masonry, construction, engineering, and mechanics written in dwarvish. There were also maps scattered on a desk, but curiously these were not covered in dust as most everything else was and looked to have been brushed off recently by a large hand. The maps were apparently the originals of the Orcish ones they found in Rugoth's cache. These were written Draconic and could only be ready by Xendra after she cast a Comprehend Languages spell.

They also found a desk with a lock that somehow Triblet was able to open. It desk drawer contained a book and a scroll case. Xendra picked up the red book and opened it and was immediately aware that everything around her was gray and distant. She felt her attention being drawn deeper and deeper in the the runes of the book. The rest of the party noticed her paralyzed and staring at the book and took it from her hands and snapped it shut. She gave a yelp and shook her head. While back to reality, she noticed that she had a terribly headache. She then looked at the scrolls. They were magical and had to cast Read Magic to identify them. The scrolls contained powerful spells: Chain Lightning; Fireball; and Summoning for Air, Water, and Fire elementals. On another desk was a vial of thick black slimy liquid with a label (in Draconic as well): Black Lotus.

They each gathered a handful of books and Xendra grabbed the spell scrolls and Ragath Vault map as they headed out. Just as they cleared the doorframe, the ceiling of the room collapsed, crushing the room's contents. Nothing but what they carried out could ever be recovered intact, they were fairly sure.

Once back, they divided the treasure with their hosts. Neygrim was annoyed at the greed of Jacen for the armor, weapons, and magic, but they reached an agreement once Dagmar swore to "defend the Clan of Ragath." Neygrim was satisfied that now they not only had the armor and weapons, but a promise to use them in the clan's defense.

"But what of the orc warrior, the one that the goblins called Rugoth?" asked Dagmar.