After dealing swiftly with the grick and the goblin acolytes, the party decides it’s time for a break.
They backtrack to the armory room where they fought the hobgoblins.
Droop had calmed down from his panic attack at the sight of the bloody shrine, but still had to be helped to traverse the room again.
Settling down, they take a short rest for about an hour.
They notice nothing of worth, except maybe a few footsteps on the outside of the room.
Still, the hour passes undisturbed.
Brannus takes the opportunity to double check the storage room adjacent to the armory, just in case, but still finds nothing else beyond the previous chainmail, heavy crossbow, longsword combo, and a small keg of brandy.
They return to the area where they fought the grick and press forward.
Moving slowly, they open a door to the east and find a wide corridor with curtains to the north, south and a door further to the east.
They know the curtain to the south leads to the entrance they took initially, so they head north.
Dwolf parts the curtain to the north slowly and finds another storage room full of barrels and crates.
The smell of mold and rotten fruit fills the room.
Wreckage of the fallen tower they are stepping into is all around the edges of the room.
A black tarp is on the wall to the north.
Another door is to the east.
Dwolf and Kiara search about the room.
Dwolf finds nothing while Kiara easily uncovers a passage to the outside world behind the black tarp.
Sigmar opens a few of the barrels, but finds only rotten goods.
With nothing else of interest, they move out through the door to the east.
They find a corridor that turns south in a 90 degree angle.
It’s empty, it has another door to the east, and curtain to the south.
Kiara sends her cat to listen by the curtain and it hears voices beyond.
Sigmar proposes that this curtain to the south and the door to the east (that they saw in the wide corridor just minutes before) lead to the same place.
They might be able to coordinate a surprise attack!
Using Kiara’s telepathic connection with her familiar, the group splits in two and heads into the room from both entrances at the same time.
Dwolf and Brannus from the north curtain.
Sigmar, Kiara, and Droop from the door east of the wide corridor
They charge in simultaneously and find two hobgoblins inside that are utterly surprised by their arrival.
The fight ends quickly, with Kiara blasting another foe into an arrow slit.
Now in control of the room, they see it’s another makeshift resting area.
There’s a heavily barred door to the south that they decide to leave alone because it seems to the locked from the outside for a good reason.
They go back to the door to the northeast, past the curtains, in the corridor that turns in a 90 degree angle.
Dwolf listens in and doesn’t have to make much of an effort to hear voices.
One rough voice is talking about some sort of payment.
Another smoother voice is talking about a deal, a map, and some mentions of a warband.
The party prepares and opens the door:
They encounter a chamber that has been set up as a crude – albeit comfortable – living space, with thick furs on the floor to serve as carpets, decorations on the walls, a large bed to the north, and a brazier of coals burning brightly.
A round table with several chairs stands to the south near the door, and next to it – on the floor – they see an unconscious dwarf who looks badly beaten.
Inside this room, in the midst of a discussion, there are two individuals:
A fierce old bugbear, with stooped shoulders and a hunched back, that Droop recognizes as being King Grol – the leader of the Cragmaws.
A delicate-looking elf with dark skin and long, silvery, hair: it is a drow, and this is an extremely rare sight.
The group has little time to ponder about the pair because a fight immediately breaks out.
The bugbear charges Dwolf by the entrance, and they trade blows.
Seeing the doorway blocked, the drow moves away a bit and waits.
From the outside of the room, Brannus casts a Bane spell to tip the balance of the fight.
Grol seems unable to shake the spell effect, so he retreats back into the room while whistling sharply.
Seeing the fight developing the drow acts, revealing his true form.
Its silver hair begins to recede into his head, as the creature becomes bald.
Its skin stretches, becomes darker with an oily patina, and the face becomes featureless.
It clothing simply disappears as if being absorbed by the creature’s body.
It is now obvious that this is not a drow at all, but a shapeshifting doppleganger.
While this unfolds, fight continues:
Dwolf charges in after the bugbear. However, reacting to Grol whistling, a large wolf shows up and bites Dwolf horribly.
Sigmar charges in to attack the wolf, defeating it quickly.
Shook by Brannus' magic, the bugbear keeps fumbling his attacks.
The doppleganger attacks viciously but is countered expertly by the dwarves.
Surprisingly, Droop goes into the room and helps by pelting the king with arrows from a safe distance.
Kiara helps as well, raining eldritch magic on the villains.
The opposing sides duke it out for a few more minutes, but the party is too well organized.
The King falls, quickly followed by the monstrous doppleganger.
As the violent noises of battle die down, Brannus moves in immediately to help the unconscious dwarf.
As they suspected, it is indeed their friend Grunden Rockseeker.
The rest of the party investigate the room.
Sigmar take a look at Grol’s equipment since he seemed to have been holding a remarkably crafted shield, emblazoned with a symbol of an eye, that clashed quite obviously with his other beaten equipment.
Under the bed mattress they find some coins and a few potions of healing.
With the help of Brannus, Grunden recovers and wakes up glad to recognize his saviors.
They talk briefly, and the dwarf shares what little he knows:
He and Sildar were ambushed and kidnapped, as the party already knew, by creatures looking for his map to the legendary Wave Echo Cave (and the rumored Forge of Spells).
Grunden carried a map case, but it was a decoy. He never had the map, choosing to leave it with his brothers, who are elsewhere. He was taken to the King and beaten in an attempt to make him reveal its location.
Along with discussing what to do with the dwarf, since he was there but the map was not, the fake drow and the bugbear were also talking about some sort of arrangement for a strike-force to attack Deepdale.
The King had been apparently responsible for providing special “soldiers” for this attack.
With Grunden on his feet, and eager to move on, the party exits the room.
Instead of leaving the castle, the party is convinced by Sigmar to make a stop at the barred door they left alone before.
With the party really not sure about this, they unlock the door and peer inside:
The room is in darkness, with its arrow slits shuttered, and debris from broken furniture fill the room.
In the room resides an odd creature:
It looks vaguely like a goblin but it is much larger, both in height and bulk.
It appears feral, and its muscle mass is large and unnatural.
It foams from the mouth and snarls at the party, but makes no move.
They close the door immediately, and Kiara casts an offensive spell blindly.
Dark eldritch tentacles sprout from the floor, all around her, affecting an area inside and outside the room.
They hope to immobilize the creature with this.
Sigmar opens the door but, from the doorway, the room appears empty.
Ignoring all care, he simply walks in.
The creature had hidden out of sight, and attacks him as soon as he is in reach.
Sigmar is brutally wounded by the creature, as the party joins to help him (while Grunden keeps himself safely away).
They eventually defeat the foe but unexpectedly, instead of just dropping on the floor, it explodes releasing a noxious cloud.
Sigmar is affected and falls unconscious.
Brannus springs to action to heal his fallen comrade.
Stunned by this odd encounter, the party is left wondering what it means…
The Draconus Dictum
