Clan Caskbound, played 4.17.20 IRL, 8.30.2121 IG.

• Devron Leveller (Mark) Berserker. Chosen, Mason.
• Dandel “The Dan” Deeptunnel (Simon) Berserker. Carouser, Miner, Brewer.
• Korvask Wyrt (Michael) Vanguard. Enchanter, Scholar.

The Fellowship returned to Whiskey Forge in Stoneshadow. On the airship trip back from the skyfall crater, Korvask felt unsettled, the Nexus of the Mind Shards uneasy in his bones.

Delivering the Gift

The Fellowship immediately got an audience with subarchon Sabado and told him about the Nexus. He was not an expert, but could understand the potential implications of what they retrieved, so he arranged for an audience with Archon Basrencru, who placed a Friendship Rune with his seal on a clay tablet for them to authorize a visit to the Veinsluice Forge and a meeting with Master Smith Eelee. Helbek was also summoned, as an expert scholar and treasure of the clan; he was delighted at the possibilities of what Korvask had retrieved and carried within.

Veinsluice Forge

The Fellowship passed through the central exchange of the clanhome, taking in the sights and sounds of the Remembrance Day celebration of all dwarves who fell in service to the clan. Moving deep under the clanhome, they placed the Friendship tablet in the belt buckle of the giant stone guardian statue protecting the forge, which was the museum, vault, and prestige crafting center of the clan. The statue allowed them passage through the deep vent corridor, the only way in and out of the heavily warded and protected compound below.

They witnessed the glorious 30 foot tall statue carved by Mad Marga; it was one of her signature sculpts, so obviously nude, but draped in canvas. Within was an Ur Shadow, cosmic energy traces left behind by Hellifino.

Master Smith Eelee and her apprentice Kaskel met them, and MS Eelee suggested relocating the Nexus to coat the wall behind the statue would be excellent placement. Then she went off with Helbek to review some of the new pieces while Kaskel offered hospitality to the Fellowship (after pitching the idea that heroes like them could ease the way for an enterprising adept smith to found a master forge in Khundrukar.)

The Portal

The Dan was at loose ends, but Devron invoked Hellifino and the Gods of Ur, drawing on the Ur Shadow, ritually blessing Korvask and attuning to this chamber. Korvask meditated on Caskbound and the ancestors and the Gods of Ur. Something else was in the energy of the Nexus, a hostile force; it stirred, taking in all the focus on dwarven ancestors from the festival above, possibly reaching out into the guardian statue, now perhaps posing a danger as the dwarves attuned to it and to this warded place.

A shimmering crystal pool formed, an interface to again enter the Nexus. Korvask extruded two mind shards so his companions could escort him, and together the Fellowship delved into the Nexus.

The Founder’s Shadow

Moving into the crystalline cave-like environment, steeped in a red-tinged yellow glow, they explored the other-dimensional space. Traces they left behind pulled together to form a giant stone dwarf shaped like the clan’s founder, who came at them with a massive shield and hammer. They battled the echo, and put it down. As it crumbled, they continued following the light, closer to the heart of the Nexus, looking for the force that resisted them.

The Crystal Guardian

Cinder-bodied behemoths with crystal armor and weapons lurched out of the walls at them, and desperate battle followed. They survived, smashing the hulks apart, and Korvask spotted the energy trace that was flowing through the crystal forming their opposition. His recognition forced it into a liquid crystal form, and it snapped out blades and attacked.

The Dan smashed it with one hit, seemingly, as it sprayed apart to avoid his blow. It re-formed and surged at them, impaling them on crystal spikes, vicious and fluid; the more they hit it, the more pixelated it became, unable to render its smooth shapes with such ease.

Finally Korvask launched at it with a devastating shield bash, knocking it apart, arresting its energy in a frozen kernel in the crystal. As he drove his shield through its essence, he captured some of that essence in the defensive weapon.

The Heart of the Nexus

A liquid crystal form rose, freed from within the defensive shape that had grown around it, and accepted the dwarves (specifically Kovask) as its guardian shape. They were gently returned to the surface, and the Nexus swelled up around the statue and up the back wall, gleaming with yellow light (and dislodging the canvas around the magnificent nude statue.) Korvask decided to stay connected to the Nexus. Devron offered worship to Hellifino for their victory, and for the new crown jewel of the Veinsluice Forge.

The Shield Shard

This sturdy vanguard style metal shield can attune to its bearer. In combat, the bearer can choose an incoming attack to dispel, and the shield flies apart under the impact, inflicting 4 Vitality to everyone (but the bearer) in melee range and totally negating the hit. If the bearer chooses to use this ability after damage is revealed, the bearer must spend 1 Resolve. The shield can reform in about 1 minute if the bearer spends Resolve, or 1 hour on its own.