. Caves of Chaos

After their first encounter with the Duergar and the successful retrevial of the Skull Scepter. The group took a momentary breather and tried to decide what to do next. Some of the party wanted to continue on deeper into the Horned Hold. Others wanted to immediately depart back to the Seven Pillared Hall. After much discussion the group sent their Drow comrade, Dark Face, alone to the Hall as he could easily pass the dimwitted Orc guards. So while the rest of the group rested, Dark Face made his way to the Seven Pillared Hall. He waited at Gendar’s Curios and Relics for Gendar. After several minutes Gendar made his way back from the Halfmoon Inn and met Dark Face. Dark Face told the group that Gendar seemed suspicious that he had returned so quickly with the Skull Sceptre and that he had returned without his comrades. Gendar acted quite strangely around the Drow, but paid him promptly. Dark Face then went back to his room at the Halfmoon Inn and rested until it was time to return to the Horned Hold.
The Orcs let him enter immediately, but only two were waiting in the entry hall. One Orc followed Dark Face, and tried to protect him when he noticed the empty forge and the piercing squeal from the Eye of Alarm. The rest of the party quickly rushed out of their resting place and dispatched the Orc.
After dumping the body, and hearing from Dark Face, the group decided to check out the double doors. They entered a large hallway that doglegged to the right, and ended at another set of double doors. Next they found a storeroom full of cheese, cured meats, floor, sugar and other sundries. A small bedroom led to a kitchen in which two human slaves were cooking for the Duergar. After talking with them and waiting for the third slave to come back to the kitchen, the group insisted the humans wait in the pantry. The humans told them there were two Duergar next door and two more in a room past that.
The group decided to burst through two separate doors into the dining room in order to surprise the dark dwarves. The druid froze one dwarf to the bench he was sitting at. This expansive chamber appears to be some kind of dining hall.
Three large tables are arranged on the floor, and against the far wall a fire crackles in a large fireplace. Two gray-skinned dwarves are here, finishing their meals.
Rundarr dropped his spoon, picked up his great warhammer and smashed the table, yelling in common “Ah here’s desert”. The group started a grand fight with the two Duergar. The Duergar were skilled warrors, and made it very hard to hit them. The Druid’s spells seemed very effective. It was with great shock to the group, that after becoming bloody Rundarr suddenly grew much much larger. With renewed rage he dealt horrible blows to several of the party members. The group kept up their attacks with limited success, slowly witling away until finally with a flourish of daggers Rayrond dropped the Duergar Guard and then a little bit later the evil Rundarr fell to the stone floor and shrank back to his original size, one of Rayronds daggers still buried in his flank.

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.

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?

Calendar of Harptos

Month
Hammer - Deep Winter
*Annual Holiday-Midwinter
Alturiak - Claw of Winter
Ches - Claw of Sunsets
Taraskh - Claw of Storms
*Annual Holiday-Greengrass
Mirtul - The Melting
Kythorn - Time of Flowers
Flamerule - Summertide
*Annual holiday-Midsummer
Eleasis - High Sun
Eleint - The Fading
*Annual Holiday-High Harvestide
Marpenoth - Leaf Fall
Uktar - The Rotting
*Annual Holiday-Feast of the Moon
Nightal - The Drawing Down

Each month has 30 days divided into 3-Tendays

Days are broken into loose slices:
Dawn, Morning, Highsun, Afternoon, Dusk, Sunset, Evening, Midnight, Moondark, Nights End

20th of Elient.

Confidently the group decided to continue deeper into the Kobold Hall. Mathers teleported up to the mezzanine and found the burnt remains of a couple of Kobolds. Giving the all clear the rest of the group opened the double door where the Drakes had emerged from and continued cautiously into the dark. Dark Face scouted ahead and found a large cavern with 20ft ceilings and a small central room with only 10ft walls. As he was peering around an enormous boulder fell down and started rolling around the room threatening to crush them all. Dark Face had a close call, but they managed to move out of the boulders reach. They discovered a locked room in the center of the hall.

Inside a halfling prisoner told of being attacked by the kobolds and brought here unconscious. He claims to have been raised by a group of benevolent Goblins. Goblins who want to live in harmony with all others. They healed him, but could do nothing for the other occupant of the room. The started to cautiously look around for enemies. The newcomer, Gandor the 23rd, with his keen eyesight, spotted a Kobold perched on a balcony drawing a bead on the adventurers. They started to battle and more Kobolds emerged from their hiding spots. Mathers was perched on the now stationary boulder when a large flying Drake burst out of a hallway and tried to bite him in midair. The drake was quickly dispatched and crashed into the opposing wall.
Gandor and Panril had circled around and were in a dramatic battle with the Kobold Worym Priest and his Dragonshield bodyguards. After a tough battle the adventures finished off all but one of the Kobolds. Mathers interrogated him and the Kobold said that Szatahakas was in the next room, that he was the real boss, and that the Worympriest had the key to the secret door. They gathered the key and a note from the Goblin Slavers as well as the Worym Priests +1 staff of the War Mage.
Mathers deciding that no further information was forthcoming from this Kobold, so quickly killed him.

Next Gandor checked out the corridor and above the piles of Drake dung he saw a secret key hole. They used the key and discovered an inward swinging door that revealed a set of stairs descending into the darkness. Led by Darkface the adventures pushed forward into the dark. As Dark Face poked around they discovered an enormous natural cavern that was unnaturally cold. In fact a large pool of water was frozen solid in the middle of the cavern.
Suddenly a rush of air pushed out of the darkness an a large white shape leapt to the ground and tried to attack Darkface. With quick thinking Rayrond tossed a sunrod into the cavern to reveal a nasty young White Dragon trying to get it's claws into Dark Face. A great battle ensued and at the end the Dragon lay dead before them. They gathered the treasure, including the few belongings of Gandor. A quick rest and back to the road. On the way out Gandor's keen eyes spotted several pressure plates in the room with the coffins. He safely navigated his comrades to the road where they discovered their horses and the Dwarven armorer were gone.

New Adventure: 4E

So after vanquishing Kahrel and his minions the group made it back to town, dirty, smelly sore and bloody.
A great party was held the night of their return with many speeches by Lord Padraig and other local dignitaries. ALthough Darkface was shunned by the locals due to his race.
While resupplying Bairwin offered the group a job collecting a box from The Seven Pillared Hall in Thunderspire Mountain east of Winterhaven. They searched the town for two days for any sign of the sage but he was no where to be found. So the group set out after purchasing 3 horses. On the King's Road they encountered a tragic scene. A trio of humans slaughtered at the hands of a group of Kobolds. They found the sole remaining member of the traveling party cowering inside the wagon. He claimed the group of Kobolds slaughtered his companions and stole a box containing a Green Dragon hide. The adventures left their horses and walked into the woods to discover a trail leading up to an abandoned hall. Making their way down a set of stairs they found a room containing a 10ft deep trench 4 feet deep with a glowing green sludge. They made quick work of the Kobold sentries, although one .
They made their way to the next room which was empty except for two suits of armor set up in a couple of alcoves, and 4 vandalized coffins. Mathers cleverly found a dart trap when he stepped onto a trigger plate near one of the coffins. A dart shot from the visor of the closest suit of armor and hit Mathers in the back of the neck.
Next they examined a small shrine to the Dragon god Tiamut and took the 60gp offering the Kobolds had left behind.
The next room was much more interesting. Four more coffins two on either side of another sludge filled trench. 10 ft wall at the end of the room with a short railing. The adventures discovered a Kobold game called Skull Smash when they ventured into the room and a large sludge covered rock on a rope swung down and smashed into Panril. With deadly accuracy Cliff and Karl sniped the Kobolds and Panril tossed a moltov cocktail up onto the ledge finishing off a couple Kobolds. Another Kobold opened up a set of wooden double doors and let loose a pair of Drakes. The group made quick work of the Drakes and are now planning to move deeper into Kobold Keep.

"During the 2004 Olympics, we spent some time applying the D&D rules to various events. Among our findings:

Based on height and weight, U.S. gymnast Carly Patterson would be a tall female elf, and her Russian rival Svetlana Khorkina would be a slim female half-elf. The Hamm twins are as tall and as heavy as the average male half-elf. The wrestler Rulon Gardner is in the 69th percentile for half-orc height and weight.
And sprinter Maurice Green and soccer star Mia Hamm are very close to the D&D height and weight averages for humans.

The best Olympic archers are 7th-level rangers, based on their accuracy against a Fine, stationary target 230 feet away and some reasonable assumptions about feat choices.

Weightlifter Shane Hamman? Str 23, based on his snatch weight.

A 6th-level monk with a +5 movement speed feat can hit a world record for the marathon, which is 27,687 5-foot squares long." --From wizards.com By Jesse Decker and David Noonan