Further Clanbuilding

The clan was founded in 1173, that’s when they broke off from Thunderforge in negotiating the Clearwater Compact. (The current year is 2129.)

The Keenblade family has traditionally defended shrine sites.

Beardfall has three notable tributaries we discovered this time.

• Arkaig. They focus on digging coal. They have one of the first dam constructions of the clan, a reservoir to smooth the depth of the river for easier water travel. They sluice mines. They have a big dam.
• Ettricks. They focus on farming and logging, famed for rangers and topsiders.
• Crosswaters. They manage the river traffic between the other two tributaries and Beardfall. They have a river lock system, and they manage a garrison that keeps the river traffic safe.

We also learned of a haunted forest near Crosswaters known as Mirar Modena, the Watchwood. Trees can get restless if the renewable lumber harvesting gets too aggressive. The woods currently occupy the attention of Crosswaters’ militia.

The cast:

• Slyn Keenblade. Skirmisher, Gunsmith, Delver. Name weapon: trench knife.
• Landon Crackstone. Berzerker, Chosen, Brewer. Name weapon: maul.
• Blane Keenblade. Support, Adept, Mechanician. Name weapon: pistol.

A decade after the last adventure, we rejoin our heroes. In the interim they had built up 5 ledger, and also been given mithril-laced armor or a mithril-laced weapon in gratitude for their service. (The clan’s 50 finest warriors are outfitted with mithril-laced gear.)

The clan experts talked to Sobelthek, learning how to work mithril in record time. He wants to be put down, and the council is likely to allow it. Meanwhile Sobelthek’s forge is still corrupted, though enchanters are working on it.

The clan recently welcomed the Onyx Arm family after a period of years petitioning. They bring about 50 more adults, and a couple accomplished enchanters.

The Journey

Archon Keenblade summoned the fellowship to have a private conversation. His friend Overseer Torfal managed Arkaig, a tributary to the north, and he wanted some help with a mysterious problem. Keenblade sent the fellowship to help if they could.

They traveled to Arkaig on a steam barge piloted by Dorn Kassarock with a crew of 12, armed with a number of cannon. They were on the water for 4 days, with a stop in Crosswaters. During the trip, they were interrupted by giants hurling boulders at them (they shot some giants, and even shot one boulder out of the air.) Also ogres with torches rushed the barge, but were summarily gunned down with grapeshot.

The Rune

They reached Arkaig and met with Arias, the Overseer’s daughter. She took them to Torfal, who told them that the engineers noticed part of the dam was beginning to deteriorate; that should not be possible, as there are powerful runes put in place by enchanters of past generations that should be impervious. Torfal had to go into the sealed records to see if there were any clues about what could have done this. He did find a map to the site of the foundation rune, one of six in the dam, that could be the problem. This was strictly need-to-know! So the dwarves solemnly swore secrecy, and headed out with Arias as a guide.

The rune location was buried in stone, supposedly. But the stone had an open gaping wound, like acid had melted it. Guarding the way was a mud-beast with a glowing stone at its core, powering it! The fellowship tackled the creature, pulling at the stone and generally laying waste to it, but the monster was tough. It hardened to stone, but was knocked to pieces and its power source shattered.

The fellowship went on to discover a questing path had been melted, wandering but insistent, and the rune was uncovered. It was inverted; what had been a rune of protection was now a rune of destruction, and it was slowly damaging the dam!

The fellowship traveled all night to get this sobering news back to the overseer. He lifted their obligation to the vow of silence, and they agreed to go talk to their archon and see if they could get some of their finest engineers back here to figure out what could have gone wrong.

First they checked to see if they could figure out who did it. Who was the tributary’s last enchanter? They checked his work for similarity to the damage at the dam, and checked his grave to make sure it was all peaceful. All seemed well.

So they traveled back with their grave news, seeking the clan’s help with the puzzle.

Building the Archon

We built the archon as a mini-game before we got started with the adventure. 

Boscar Keenblade (affectionately known as “Boscar the Grouch”) is an elderly dwarf elected by the Council to rule. He has ended up somewhat bitter and depressed, neglecting his ruling duty so (or maybe because) the Council can make all important decisions.

He is also a famous brewer, he has his own business: “Boscar’s Taphouse.” There you can get many delightful drinks–17 varieties of ales, 12 liquer, and 4 kinds of mead. (The mead relies on fungi pollination–don’t ask.) Famous drinks include Boscar’s Thoughtbomb, a cinnamon liqueur. Also Hopfall, Baldface Bandit, and Boilerroom Stout.

Boscar is kind of a wacky uncle of the Keenblade clan, including several of the characters.

Further Clanhome Details

The Grand University of Engineering is built around the Clanheart, the vast steam engine in the center of the clanhome. The dean is Kiernan Scarspire. He is into logistics and administration. HIs daughter Nicoto is next in line, and where Kiernan is grouch, ruthless, and stubborn, she is more laid back.

The Steamholders are an organization tasked with maintaining the steam pipes. They are notorious for having attitude, working when and how they want to, and getting into alcohol-soaked brawls.

The “Trim & Tale” is a respectable destination owned by Francis Clearwater, head loremaster and respected barber. He is Chosen of the Gods of Ur, and his strange business combines lore and beard trimming–beard trimming is no laughing matter, for there is lore for 140 words for harm that can befall a beard.

Into the Mine

The cast:

• Slyn Keenblade. Skirmisher, Gunsmith, Delver. Name weapon: trench knife.
• Landon Crackstone. Berzerker, Chosen, Brewer. Name weapon: maul.
• Blane Keenblade. Support, Adept, Mechanician. Name weapon: pistol.
• Ravelle Keenblade. Mauler, athlete, armorer. Name weapon, kukri.

A year after the last adventure, we rejoin our heroes. The clanhome is celebrating, because a long reclamation project is culminating in opening the way to a lost collapsed silver mine far beneath the clanhome, today. It can take centuries to clear the way to lost areas, since they are not top priority, and the current site was likely lost between 500 and 600 years ago. History is not terribly clear on what happened here.

Sidri Stonewhisper, Captain of the Delvers, led the ceremony to send off the adventurers. The adventerurs borrowed some Delver treasures to help them in their mission.

• Delver’s Medallion. Made of quartz. Once a round, it can grant full armor instead of rolling for armor (assume maximum roll) to an ally within a hurl.
• Talking Fork. A tuning fork that arcanists can use to send one of a dozen pre-set codes through rock for long distances.

Archon Keenblade was there to see them off, along with a small crowd of delvers. The adventurers descended down the long, rough passageway.

What Happened Here? 

As they entered the mine, they found murals carved into the wall. This was more than a mine; a family of dwarves was trying to found a new sub-clan down in the darkness. Sobelthek was the leader, assisted by Drekthar, a Chosen.

The adventurers pieced the story together from a series of murals spread through the complex. There were murals carved before the collapse, then defacement and later murals that painted a very different picture. The entry orginally had a chiseled greeting, “Welcome to Spireheart Mine” that was hacked out and replaced with “The Escape is Underway.”

There were up to 30 dwarves in the mine when it collapsed. They had almost finished a master-craft forge that could serve as the foundation of a new clan. Shortly after the collapse, they discovered a massive chamber with gromthier, the base stone from which mithril can be taken! A quantity so vast it could yield up to 100 pounds of mithril!

Furthermore, the dwarves discovered the secret of how to work it–an achievement that would catapult the new-forged clan to assured status. But the collapsed tunnel trapped them, rendering them desperate. They had a siege garden, so the food would last for at least a while, but they had to find a way to get out.

Drekthar reached out into the supernatural world, and found the Devourer of Caverns, Gilthirakanom. This powerful supernatural demon of the deeps was like a vast worm, and perhaps it could tunnel them out.

There was serious conflict between Drekthar and Sobelthek about whether or not to summon it, and it is unclear who favored which approach. In the end, they summoned the demon wyrm, but it radiated insanity and they had a change of heart, perhaps at the last moment. They sealed the wyrm behind wards, trapped in gromthier, the only kind of stone that could imprison it. The demon wyrm was able to spread influence through tiny brain worms.

Now the sole leader, Sobelthek was desperate that the secret of working mithril that they discovered not be lost to the greater clan. The last of the dwarves conducted a mighty ritual on the forge, and used the life force of six of their most stalwart to sustain Sobelthek as he was encased in a mechanical body, which was then installed on a throne to await the return of the dwarven people to these haunted halls.

The Delve

The adventurers followed the murals, and found the overgrown siege garden (that still had living things rustling around inside.) They found the undying corpse of Drekthar, and released him from his painful failure; a brain-worm of the Devourer of Caverns crawled from his corpse and was smashed. They also found the summoning scroll for the Devourer, with some commentary; a worm came out of that too. The worm was destroyed, as were the records of how to summon the demon of the deeps.

They found a staff, mostly finished, that they surmised was to control or at least repel the golem. They did not disturb it, or test their luck; when they found the golem, it was almost inaudibly weeping on its throne before the mummified remains of six dwarves. They left it alone.

They did retrieve Drekthar’s name weapon, a hammer, as well as Sobelthek’s signet ring (laced with mithril.) They found the master forge, and left it alone. They did take some armor pieces that were ready to use to make more golems.

The corpses in the delve were oddly preserved, but prayer to release them allowed the remains to crumble to dust.

The presence of the Devourer could be felt as pervasive self-doubt and worry; it most likely drove the surviving dwarves mad with prolonged contact, and was likely more intense before centuries of imprisonment rendered the monster sleepy. The door to its chamber was connected to the massive cavern with the gromthier (where the adventurers broke off some mithril to take as a trophy and proof.) They did not disturb the warded door.

Aftermath

The cautious delvers returned to their clanmates, then to the clanhome. They told the tale, showing the mithril and the map, the name weapon and the corrupted forging hammer of Sobelthek. (And they got 5 ledger.)

Rivelle went on to study the secrets that the clan’s master craftsmen extracted from the now-mechanical Sobelthek, and she now has mastered the secret of how to extract and shape mithril.

The cast:

• Slyn Keenblade. Skirmisher, Gunsmith, Delver. Name weapon: trench knife.
• Landon Crackstone. Berzerker, Chosen, Brewer. Name weapon: maul.
• Blane Keenblade. Support, Adept, Mechanician. Name weapon: pistol.
• Garl. Vanguard, healer, chef. Name weapon, tower shield. (He only says “Garl.”)
• Ravelle Keenblade. Mauler, athlete, armorer. Name weapon, kukri.

After wintering with Clan Dimhollow, some friendly neighbors who needed the extra muscle, the dwarves were returning to Beardfalls. They did not get far into the Rosy Valley before they ran across Burn Wintersbane, of the Holy Order of Roadminders.

Wintersbane and his people were prepared to clear the snow from an avalanche off the road, but their work was prevented by a new danger. The avalanche had cleared off a former watch tower station, and gargoyles were flying out from the tower to harass his people, making their job impossible. The Fellowship quickly agreed to help out.

They climbed the icy rock towards the newly uncovered tower, with Wintersbane’s warriors covering them with crossbows and guns.

A short, sharp battle erupted. The gargoyles dove at them on the uncertain footing of the hillside, where their teamwork was hampered and the risk of falling loomed. Still, the dwarves knocked the gargoyle attacks aside and responded with blades or bolts and blasts, driving the surviving gargoyles back.

The intrepid dwarves continued to climb. Breaching the tower itself, they found a combination of magical and mechanical traps, but fortunately the traps were somewhat the worse for wear after the centuries of laying dormant and unattended. Following the adept’s keen sense for magical energy, they reached a room full of bones, with a dark orb on a stand in a shaft of sunlight. A skeletal golem formed, clattering after dwarven blood, and the fight was on.

While most of the group battled the golem and its stirring bony reinforcements, the adept and gunner focused on the orb. It was difficult to break, releasing magical charges when hit. The adept covered it in a cloak, cutting off its sunlight, which slowed the reanimating creatures (including the gargoyles, who were closing on the fight fast.) Then the adept peered into the orb, saw the glyphs powering it, and unmade them. The orb dissolved, and the animating force was lost. Victory!

Wintersbane was impressed and promised to put in a good word for them. They traveled home and told the story to the archon during a feast, pleased to be home.