22nd of Elient
The group awoke to a grey day, and after a good breakfast headed down to the Trade Road to begin their journey to Thunderspire Mountain. Amid a wilderness of pine forest and rocky hills the mountain’s pinnacle is wreathed in grey foreboding clouds. The Trade Road, an old dwarven built highway, links the human settlement of Fallcrest with the Dwarven stronghold of Hammerfast. From the Trade Road a steep cobbled path called the Vale Road turns north and then cuts into the mountain. The road rises through a valley with sparse vegetation and ends at Thunderspire’s base.
The Vale road ends at grand entrance; a 50ft stone archway hewn out of the mountainside. Towering minotaur statues stand on each side of the entrance, glowering at visitors. A steep windy tunnel called the Road of Lanterns slopes into the heart of the mountain. Brick vaulted and 30ft wide and 30 feet tall at it’s apex. Seventy-seven demon statues each over 10ft tall stand watch along the corridor’s length.
The heart of Thunderspire’s upper level is the Seven-Pillared Hall. Run by the Mages of Saruun, merchants gather and conduct business with denizens of the deep.
The ruins of the ancient minotaur city of Saruun Khel beyond the Seven-Pillared Hall are collectively called the Labyrinth. A confusing maze of countless intersections, small passages and mysterious caverns. Some passages were tunneled by miners and bear chiseled marks, others are natural paths through the underground rock. Still others were created by monsters, either as natural byproducts of their travel or carved with crude tools. Getting lost is a very probable dilemma for the unwary traveler.
When the group entered the Road of Lanterns, they noticed at one side passage light was emitting from a room. They stopped briefly and heard a rough voice speaking common “You’re ours now Halfling. We will easily get 10 gold for you.”
Another voice respond “That’s a shame, ‘cause I am worth at least 20 gold. I will buy myself if you let me go.”
They left their horses and crept down the corridor. An ajar door provide view into a room containing several Hobgoblin Soldiers, a Hobgoblin Warcaster and a brazen Halfling. 
After a clever battle at the doorway, the group easily dispatched the Hobgoblins.
Rendil offers them free lodging for the duration of their stay in the Seven Pillared Hall.
They decide to take him up on his offer and head to the Inn.
They are stopped at the entrance to the S.P.Hall at the Customs house(No. 2 on the map). A couple of human enforcers exam them and tell them that in order to do any trade here they need to pay 10% of all monies earned. A sour face, dark robed figure, most likely one of the Mages of Saruun watches them from a distance.
While having a bite to eat and a chat with Rendil Halfmoon, a huge ugly Ogre by the name of Brugg squeezes his way into the Inn.
He chats angrily with Rendil’s aunt Erra Halfmoon and then leaves with a scowl. Apparently trying to muscle some extra ‘protection’ money from the family run business.Later they head to Gendar’s Curios and Relics (No.15 on the map) to speak with the proprietor Gendar. He is their contact whom Bairwin instructed to pick up the stones from. He claims they won’t be there for another week and offers them a job picking up an item he claims is his. “A duergar in the Horned Hold currently possesses an ancient skull scepter that his agents had acquired in the Bone Chamber. They lost it when they were ambushed by the duergar. It clearly belongs to me. If you happen to find it I will pay you handsomely for returning it to me.” (300gp)
So they take up his offer and head South East to the Road of Shadows (No. 18 on the map)
After almost a mile of careful and ponderous searching through the maze of tunnels, following the marks described by Gendar, they come to a huge rift. The tunnel falls sharply and suddenly into pitch black on the right hand side and rises 25 above their heads.
They notice a couple Orcs guarding a porticullis. They cover their lantern and come up with a plan for Mathers to impersonate a duergar with the rest of the party except DarkFace as their captives. They head to the gate and Mathers bluffs the dimwitted Orcs to let them through. Once in they head through to the next set of doors, but realize that two of the Orcs are escorting them. When they get to the doors that lead to the forge they ambush the Orcs. A quick thinking Gandor locks the doors behind them, and the group quickly dispatches the vile foes. Avoiding the doors to the forge they find a deep well, so decide to hide the bodies their.Feeling embolded from their quick fight with the Orcs, they attempt the same rouse in the forge room. This time duergar are also present. Mathers intimidates a Duergar Scout, but the Master Smith, Urwol calls their bluff by speaking in Deep Speech. As the heroes obviously do not understand the evil duergar, they attack.
Gandor blows the scout, Urwol and an Orc back with an icy cold blast and the battle begins. After a few damaging ranged attacks by Urwol the group dispatches all but one invisible scout. They search desperately for their invisible foe. Gandor gets a sense of his location and attempts to immobolize the duergar, but he slips past. The desperate dark dwarf attempts to push past the halfling Rayrond, but is rebuffed and then the group gangs up on him. A quick search of the nearby rooms reveals a couple stashes of coins and jewels as well as the skull sceptre they were sent to retrieve.Do they push further into the Horned Hold, or escape with their booty while the going is good?
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