The cast:

• Slyn Keenblade. Skirmisher, Gunsmith, Delver. Name weapon: trench knife.
• Blane Keenblade. Support, Adept, Mechanician. Name weapon: pistol.
• Ravelle Keenblade. Mauler, athlete, armorer. Name weapon, kukri.

Further Developments

After the fellowship returned from the dam, the clan sent Master Enchanter Kaldrak to check the corrupted rune. It knocked him out for a couple weeks when he saw it, and it will take him, his apprentices, and enchanters from Onyx Arm years to fix it. A dwarf must be responsible for the corruption.

War Council

The archon called a war council. The clan allows a fortress called Chain Crag to stand empty, because it serves as a lightning rod; it collects local monsters and scum, and every few decades the dwarves attack the fortress and wipe them all out. The fortress has a magical foundation that allows it to slowly rebuild itself, so the gloves are off when the order comes to attack. Huge bodies are rolled off a cliff on the back side of the fort, and the empty fort can start attracting evil again.

After the council started setting up this iteration’s tactics and assignments, the Fellowship was called aside after the meeting. The scouts found caves below the fortress that were previously unknown. One of the scouts is missing, and it would be handy if the dwarves could find a way from the caves up into the fortress. Go scout it out. On a more sinister note, there was rotting stone there, like what was seen at the dam. There must be a connection in there somewhere.

The Fellowship borrowed a tablet that could absorb runes into itself, and they were sent on their way.

Into the Caves

They borrowed a boat, and floated into the caves (only revealed when the water level was low enough to boat in.) As they scouted, they were telepathically contacted by a roper, who revealed that beardless sky dwarves laired in the caves.

They cautiously entered one of the side caves to find many mirrors set up; they were taunted from inside the mirror by a beardless dwarf, who retreated somehow, and a pile of dwarves broke out of the mirrors and attacked. The Fellowship dispatched them, and confronted something that peered out of the darkness in a mirror with red eyes, but they broke the mirror and did not find out what it was.

In another chamber, they found a lever that released the captive tortured scout Anok. Another mirror in that chamber had sketchy poor imitations of a number of Templar of the Falls dwarves; disguises perhaps? They discovered the images had been torn from Anok’s head during torture he endured at the hands of two beardless sky dwarves.

They found a mirror warded with runes, and left it alone. They also found a box with a cup and a small golem, and another box with a book that had instructions for how to do earth magic for adepts. Finally they found a treasure room with human and dwarven currency; they took all the coins.

The whole area looked like its owners had moved through in a hurry, snatching up the most important things and leaving the rest. In the process they set fire to some documents that burned incompletely; the Fellowship found a picture of the original foundation rune of the dam, a map of the area with some sites marked, and a sketch of the archon. Clearly the malefactors here were involved in the sabotage, and had more trouble in mind.

Eventually they withdrew back to the main chamber, and found a long spiraling ramp up to a secret door into the fortress.

With both the secret door’s location and the missing scout in hand, the Fellowship decided to return and report what they found.

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.

After the last adventure, both Castlebar and Sorel chanced upon a nest of feverworms; they got all bit up and incapacitated, shivering under piles of blankets. Vecna had to wait out the fever or give up on reclaiming the Forge.

Fortunately reinforcements were on the way. Roffle and Korvask were traveling to reinforce the effort to retake the Forge. They were on their way up the road to the front door when they encountered a lone fungaloid out hunting. The fungaloid offered to take them to meet up with the other dwarves, in exchange for help in the future. Roffle agreed, and they made it to Vecna without further incident.

INTO THE FORGE

Then they headed down the crude shaft cut in the side of the mountain. At the bottom, they encountered another giant frog, and had a desperate battle that they won handily, though both Vecna and Roffle were giggling hysterically in a drug-fueled bout of uncontrollable hilarity. They pulled back and waited twenty minutes for the effects to subside, but in that time a pack of goblins with skull helmets came to exit through the vent, and violence threatened.

Vecna told them to back off, and the dwarves stepped out of the passage, letting the goblins go. It was tense, but did not descend into violence. Continuing on they found the Glitterhame, and followed the trail to the massive door. Vecna unlocked it, and they headed into the area with the forge and the great hall.

Vecna remembered the hidden door and avoided the traps by the statues, and even remembered which stair was rigged to trigger an alarm before entering the great hall. All was still and silent as they ascended into the massive chamber.

They smelled brittlestone, a horrible material that grows on bones and remains and renders them animate, filled with a hate for the living. Keeping a careful eye out (and not investigating a weird skittering noise,) they continued to the doorway into the forge. It was right where they remembered it.

THE MASTER FORGE

They passed through the door, and explored the forge cautiously. At the very back, they found the Master Forge. The entire chamber had taken decades of intensive work to complete, but the Master Forge was surrounded by glittering darkness, next to a vast pit, out of sight from the rest of the forges. It was laced with runes, a mighty tool for a master that was designed to withstand millennia of use. Korvask used his skill as an enchanter (and some of his blood) to activate one rune on the anvil of the forge, and that was enough for them to say they claimed the forge.

They withdrew through the doors and were attacked by a pair of skittering bone constructs. After pitched battle, they slew the things, though Korvask and Roffle were both wounded pretty badly in the fight. They withdrew to a secure storage area in the forge to stitch up their gashes and rest.

While there, Korvask heard the whispering of a long-dead spirit that was trying to tell him sanity blasting truths; he focused his mental energies and actually destroyed the ghost. Newly wary (and bandaged) they decided they should look in on the shrine before they left.

THE SHRINE

In the unfinished shrine, they found four animated corpses of the dwarves that were left behind to keep the site maintained when the clan marched off to war. It appeared they had died from violent injuries. The fellowship slew them, and saw that brittlestone had been planted here; the bone creatures were also not “local.” So, some necromancer (or hireling of a necromancer) was trying to cultivate this site to eventually serve as a place to create masses of undead. That plan was failing! They resolved to return with numbers and neutralize the brittlestone.

As they left the great hall, they were attacked by three sporehounds. The battle was sharp but over quickly; even wounded, the dwarves made short work of the lunging fungal monsters. They withdrew, and in the wilderness on the way back they were ambushed by a fungal ogre. The monster fell to their persistent attacks, and they finally reached relative safety.

The forge was reclaimed. Time to go home and Tell the Tale.

(The session took two and a half hours, including making a character and taking a 10 minute break to deal with childcare.)

The Fellowship had traveled to Solemn Lake, a town on the edge of Stout Narrows in the southeast corner of the Caskbound Pocket. Across the Narrows lies territory of Clan Stonebridge, trading partners of Clan Caskbound.

The town is called Solemn Lake because the water in the Narrows tastes normal, but hits a person’s system as though it was vodka. If you don’t boil the magically polluted water you’ll bounce back and forth between euphoric and hung over. It is a great party town, but most of the time the place gives the impression of being hung over.

• Devron Leveler. Berserker, Chosen, Mason.
• Korvask Wryt. Vanguard, Enchanter, Scholar.
• Revelle Lateminder. Mauler, Delver, Jeweler.

They were in town for a festival, and as they were taking in the sites they saw a badly injured dwarf staggering down the street. They rushed up to him, he collapsed, and they took him into the tavern. His insignia was of Clan Caskbound, he had once-fine clothes ripped to tatters by briars and blades, and he had the hands of a delver. Intrigued by the mystery, they got him conscious, and he privately admitted he was Sardell, the huntsman for the subarchon Kell Glyte of Clan Stonebridge (a subarchon is like a prince.)

The subarchon and huntsman had taken a fine pack of hunting stag beetles out to get a salamander; sometimes the fiery amphibians worm up from the deeps and cause trouble. Hunting them is utilitarian and sport. (Hunters use mastiff-sized stag beetles for the hunt, as their chitin does not melt; these prized creatures have their iridescent chitin polished to a high shine.) During the hunt, they were ambushed, and Glyte didn’t get a good look at his foes but he was lucky to make it back to town.

Leveler used the litanies of the Gods of Ur to help him rest, then they sought out the Head Alderman, Ferrig, a somewhat notorious alchemist. They figured he should know about the lost subarchon. He agreed, and decided to look after the huntsman while the Fellowship went looking for the subarchon; should not start a panic over a missing person if it could be quietly sorted. Off they went.

HUNTING IN THE NARROWS

As they were moving over the polished iridescent stone of the narrows, a salamander rushed up from a fissure and attacked! Leveler wounded it grievously, his weapons melting on its hide. Wryt exploited a crack in the stone to break off the shelf where they fought, and the salamander slid back down into the fissure as Lateminder snatched Leveler to safety. After that clash, Wryt used his bloodbrush and enchanted two weapons to be safe from the heat of their blood.

They continued on and found a foraging expedition of fungaloids. Lateminder cautiously approached and let them spray her with telepathic spores. She found out they were looking for choice ingredients to add to their melding beds, and they wanted dwarven “crackers” because that added something to the experience. She shared, and they told her that a Deep Worm had been compelled to surface nearby; that might be relevant.

The Fellowship went looking for the Deep Worm surfacing site, but got lost and instead found a withered old dwarven woman named Mother Service. She offered them chemical weapons (as she was an accomplished alchemist) in exchange for Ledger she could use to trade with the local clans (who didn’t want to trade with her for some reason.) They camped nearby for a few hours, then headed out with the directions she gave them.

Soon they found the breach where the Deep Worm had been compelled to surface, disgorge passengers, and retreat. They followed the tracks (in internal worm slime) until they got to the bogs of the Narrows, where the occasional print of the warband was enough to keep them on the right track.

They found the ambush site, and a little further on a hunting stag beetle, grimed up and hesitant. Lateminder befriended it by feeding it a dead rat and talking to it soothingly, and it happily accompanied them on to find its master. (Its name was Mister Stab.)

They discovered a rearguard, mostly submerged in a pool on the warband’s backtrail. They attacked and defeated them, noting they were trollkin with some regeneration and loads of violent muscle. Even more cautious, they continued along the path.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

A local landmark by the Narrows is “the Lighthouse.” It looks like a house of some kind, built far up on the cavern wall, and suffused through with powerfully bright luminescent fungus. It is like the North Star when navigating the Pocket, visible from all around. And the tracks led towards the Lighthouse.

Finding the hidden stair carved into the rock, they saw it had a human enchantment mark as well as the stonework being signed by Clan Stonebridge, centuries ago. Wryt used his bloodbrush and put a rune of invisibility on Lateminder, who explored up the staircase and found two more trollkin guards. After reporting her find, she slipped past them, and the other two dwarves approached up the stairs. One trollkin jumped up to cling to the wall and drop in ambush, the other pretended to be a boulder; the dwarves sorted them out fast, and kept moving (even though blood spatter ruined the invisibility rune.)

Wryt made two more invisibility runes, one for Lateminder and one for her to take along, on a headband. She slipped past more guards, into the wonderland of the Lighthouse (after climbing hundreds and hundreds of stairs.) She reached where the subarchon was held prisoner, and the trollkin were rapt at the horrific poetry recital of their bloated leader.

Her psyche grimly enduring the poetry, Lateminder slipped into the group (pinned to a pillar once by a leaning trollkin, and slipping loose after jabbing him while making a cave centipede noise so he moved.) She slipped the invisibility rune on the subarchon, and together they made their escape, slipping out of the trollkin perimeter and racing down to join the other dwarves.

The subarchon told them he fooled the trollkin into thinking him a lowly hunter. They questioned him about what was in the area; over thirty strong, the warband is looking to set up a power base near or in the Caskbound Pocket. But that is a problem for another day! He was desperate to get back to safety.

The successful Fellowship was feasted in the Happy Hut, the subarchon brought in a troubadour to sing songs of their clan, and he gifted Mister Stab to Lateminder for her heroics in rescuing him.

This is the first test of the “GM-less rules” for Axes and Anvils. The “Frame Master” sets the scene; they are headed to a music festival (now called Kegapalooza) and some other competitors do not want them to arrive.

The two performers have an act, the merchant has the merch, and the healer is to fix them up after bad ‘shrooms so everybody makes it home safe.

Everybody gets 2 words generated by Dungeonwords or Wilderwords, and when we get there, a scene type. Then “Encounter Masters” GM for a scene, before passing it off to the next player.

• Thrustin Magroin Timberlake. Mauler, Engineer, Merchant.
• Rebecca Blacksmith. Skirmisher, Healer, Alchemist.
• Anvaland. Vanguard, Enchanter, Performer.
• Wikit Kumbersnatch. Support, Gunsmith, Performer.

Scene 1: Ambush. Three fungal ogres jumped them on the road. After a spirited battle, they put the fungal ogres down. Then they rested to recover before heading onward.

Scene 2: Ambush (torture, slab). They headed into a “shortcut” to shave 4 hours off the trip, a mountain pass tunnel. It was full of murderous swarms of torture pygmies–“short” and “cut” indeed! The dwarves waded through them in short order, and took some time to throw their torture machines off the mountain too, then proceeded onward.

Scene 3: Chance Encounter (bloody, piercing). Right outside they saw a sign, “I Belieb” and a knight in armor was strumming his instrument and morosely staring into a stream. (He could emit a piercing shriek that punctured eardrums.)  The dwarves tried to sneak by, but were detected, so they piled on and mowed him down.

Scene 4: Ambush (firepit, casks). At the end of a long day of travel they saw some casks around the embers in a fire-pit; looks like there was a party there. Two dwarves went to check out the ale, the other two warily watched the scene. The two who drank found the keg was drugged; as they shrugged off the effects, a vegan vigilante emerged and demanded they give up all animal-related products. They attacked and butchered him, then spent the night at the campsite.

Scene 5: Environmental Hazard (sorcerer, swarm). They saw a sign that pointed either to the lowlands, to walk along the dusty road and maybe hitch a ride on a wagon, or the highland shortcut through a geyser field. They chose the geysers, and in the yellow stinky fog they saw a dead necromancer dressed in a red leather robe with lots of buckles and zippers; looked like his hair had burned off. A horde of zombies crouched around him, infested with flies. While the performers distracted the zombies with dance, the other two dwarves snuck around the side. A geyser erupted, but they escaped it; while it distracted the zombies, the performers made a run for it, and they all got away.

Scene 6: Free choice (radioactive, homestead). Towards nightfall they found a house with a sign out front that red “Zed’s B&B: Vacancy.” They saw a big penguin and some zebras dancing in the yard; through the glass door and windows they saw people enjoying themselves inside, but all the people had mutations. The dwarves moved on to a campsite, where they chatted up a penguin who waddled through, and acknowledged a 3 legged man on his way through. In the morning they found they were mutating; a third nipple here, a sixth finger there, and so on. They fled the scene, and their mutations faded.

Scene 7: Hunting Monster (hatch, pool). They came across a Mustang hatchback from the 80s. Since it was a magical carriage, the enchanter got it started; had he failed, it would have gone all “Christine” on the group. They rode on towards the festival in style.

Scene 8: The FINALE. Environmental Hazard (crystal, stonework). A crystal wall lay across the road, and as far as the eye could see in either direction. It was animate, with blade-like protrusions, and it was 30 feet tall. Fortunately the miner brought explosives, so the magical car was rigged and sent at the wall; it exploded, showering the dwarves in shrapnel, and they managed to run through before it self-sealed. Nothing now stood between them and the festival!

Our story concluded, with the assumption they do great at the music festival.

I ran Stonesky Delve, adapted for Axes and Anvils.

• Devron Leveler: berserker, chosen, mason.
• Korvask Wryt: vanguard, enchanter, scholar.
• Revelle Lateminder: mauler, delver, gemsmith.

They were hired by Gantar, a priest of the Gods of Ur who is under the shield of Clan Thunderforge. A new secret vent was found into Stonesky Mountain, famous for the site of first contact with the Gods of Ur, riddled with pilgrimage sites. If there truly is a new undiscovered area in the mountain, better to check it out before sending in the faithful. Devron was a chosen, Revelle a delver, and Korvask a scholar and enchanter; their expertise should reveal what’s up with this new potential site.

Loaded with gear for climbing and mapping, as well as cave moth pupae that would tell them the time, they headed into the timed adventure. They climbed down the bat vent, passing through several chambers to get to a tall vertical shaft where Devron sensed holy energy far above. They decided to return to check that out, and kept going. They saw a trickle of water down the rock, but this high up on the mountain slope, where could it be coming from? They continued exploring downwards, and ran into a nest of cave morays that tore Devron up.

Going a different way, they climbed up to the source of the water and found a cracked decanter of endless water, made at the beginning of the enchanter tradition among dwarves and still using some Shaper magic. They took that, and some ancient trinkets that were with it, and retreated. Revelle went down the moray shaft and killed the eels with Korvask’s help, and they continued to a ledge by a pool. Something was in it, but didn’t show itself.

Continuing down, they found a muddy area where the mud contained the traces of magic from the decanter and formed humanoid shapes that tried to kill them. After a fight that ended when the shapes lost coherence, they clambered through the sticky mud, around the sinkhole, and climbed up through a narrow vent. They found a pond with blind catfish, and rested.

Returning to the mud room and knocking the mudmen down again, they descended the next shaft. At the bottom, a strange crab/oyster/fungus monster attacked them and they killed it, but it released many spores. Escaping that, they found the massive bat-cave, and at the back of the cave a lake. Thinking they’d clean up one by one, they sent Revelle up first; a pair of giant archer fishes narrowly missed her as they shot globs of water, and everyone retreated.

They climbed through a passage so narrow they had to remove armor, and rubbed against red slime that acted like poison ivy. On the other side, they followed a corridor but realized the stone had stress fractures, a dam ready to burst. They carefully pulled back, and rested again. Then they continued on a long climb through a narrow passage, coming out where there was a sign on one side that was ancient, warning not to ever go that way because of the danger.

They went the other way, and found a cave untouched for at least a thousand years, where young hopefuls had candlelight vigils. Devron took a special enchanted candle, and they found a magically protected corridor leading back towards some civilized dwarven territory. They solved the riddle that protected it, followed the corridor to the end, and found it had been sealed by the dwarves long centuries ago.

After resting and healing, they headed for the exit. They did not want to investigate the “danger” site, though their imaginations ran wild as to what could be down that way that frightened the ancients so badly. Eventually they climbed up to where Devron sensed the holy energy, and he and Revelle risked the climb while Korvask guarded the cracked decanter.

After the brutal climb, the two dwarves found a chamber where a crystal stood; when the Gods of Ur first came to the holy mountain they spoke, and this massive crystal captured a single syllable of that utterance and reshaped the stone around itself. Devron had a massive religious experience (as a chosen) and as silver streaked his hair he gained permanent Resolve.

Already the bats were starting to escape through the vent, and they risked it being impassible and them missing their deadline. So they climbed down, forced their way out through the thickening swarm of bats, and reported on their findings. They got 5 Ledger for their great service.

The dwarves of Clan Caskbound were asked to go on a dangerous mission for the clan! Who answered the call?

• Vecna Sorrenvaas: vanguard, diplomat, chef.
• Alexander Sorel: leader, brewer, athlete.
• Castlebar: support, adept, alchemist.

I used the delightful “Forge of Fury” map for the adventure, partly because I’ve played through the scenario in multiple systems with my group before. Some of the same members are in the playtest, and they have both mapped it and have memories of playing through. Therefore, I can say they remember when they’ve been there previously in their long lives. Of course, now things are overgrown and different, after the site was shuttered about 40 years previously.

BACKSTORY

Khundrukar was founded by Durgeddin 158 years ago. He was a smith for Clan Bastion (under the Thunderforge shield) and he wanted to become a forge master, something he could not do at another master’s forge. He took his family and allies and carved out a settlement in the mountains. He also sought to connect the dwarfroads of the mountains with the human lands, easing trade to the local human city state Rothveldt.

He chose a site at the far end of the Caskbound Pocket, the haunted twisted wilderness that spawned around the ancient disaster of the Armageddon Ale bomb in this area. Khundrukar is at the end of the Basilisk Road, 36 miles from Whiskey Forge (the clanhome of Clan Caskbound.)

About 40 years ago, a necromancer named Kryaldi led the Weeping Death into dwarven territory. He was barely stopped, but the dwarven clans called on all hands to fight the menace. Khundrukar was shuttered and left with only a few caretakers, and Durgeddin’s warband took such heavy losses in the fighting that they could not return to their new tributary forge.

Clan Bastion’s clanhome is Coldstream Falls, about 50 miles away. They are allies with Clan Caskbound. They are currently embroiled in their own troubles, including a new clan moving in on their territory. Clan Vaultcracker, under the Stonebreaker shield, is planning to move into the area and claim Khundrukar as a mercenary fort. From there they will hire out to the humans and whoever else can afford them, and that will bring down the tone of the neighborhood, as they are violent and very un-diplomatic. It seems certain their presence would damage trade agreements and local goodwill.

They cannot move into Khundrukar if others get to the master forge and claim it for their clan first. So, with  a twenty day  head start, the dwarves of Clan Caskbound set out to claim Khundrukar!

ADVENTURE!

Three intrepid dwarves closed in on the main doors to the forge. Vecna remembered there was another way in, and did not want to use the front door. She remembered that in a spore-addled weeks-long celebration Durgeddin’s people proved they could dig a passage to human lands by digging a passage from the interior of the proto-clanhome to the chamber beyond. They could find that entrance and bypass the front door.

So they roamed the shroom-coated wilderness of the mountain flank, triggering spore clouds and by and large resisting their effects. However, the mule Alexander brought along was not so lucky, and struggled with paranoia. That was a real problem when they disturbed a massive (and high) caterpillar. They tethered the mule and left it to distract the caterpillar, pushing on with two massive casks on their own back instead. (They didn’t want to be caught without drink this expedition.)

Entering Khundrukar

They eventually found the vent into the lower halls of Khundrukar, and they cautiously followed the vent down. After a long hike, they entered a big chamber resonant with massive croaks. They found a broken gate, and beyond it, a frog as big as a horse, covered with psychotropic skin venom. They put it down after a fierce fight, but three more jumped them.

Using a combination of firebombs, steel, and magical bolts, they downed one and drove the others off. Unfortunately, in the battle Vecna was sprayed with the skin venom, and she thought she was a penguin for a while. (It wasn’t pretty.)

After she pulled herself together and everyone agreed to never speak of this again, they continued on, following Vecna’s memory into the deep. After a few twists and turns they came out in a massive chamber, the Glitterhame.

Vecna unerringly led them into the towering fungal forest full of psychadelic wildlife, ignoring blissed-out centipedes writhing across the path and groovy massive caterpillars that hung out on the mushroom caps.

Sporehounds Attack

As the path led them by a rocky cliffside, they were attacked by four spore-hounds–once human, these twisted creatures were transformed by fungal rot into something horrible. They attacked ruthlessly, but the dwarves put them down after a savage clash. Bruised and bloodied, the dwarves grimly pushed on to the impregnable door leading to the master forge.

They rested and got some strength back, also studying the door. It was covered with snippets of holy text, glyphs of the lineage of master smiths of the clan, and other decorations, surrounding a stylized face of Durgeddin himself. Enough of the door had interactive elements that they realized they might need clues for how to open it. The most decorated part of the clanhome, according to Vecna, was the burial ground at the other end of the chamber. The stone coffins had many markings and might bear a clue.

The Open Crypt

The coffins were in a peaceful balcony overlooking the Glitterhame. As the dwarves approached, they saw a massive frog-mount with a goblin champion mounted on it; she was high as a kite, and had two spiked chains implanted in her forearms and laid across the frog’s flank to pick up the hallucinogens. They tried to scare her off with a flashbang, but she hallucinated that they were a beholder, and she attacked savagely. They managed to balk her mount and knock her off, and the frog hallucinated that it could fly, leaping out over the Glitterhame (and not flying.)

They killed the champion properly, and Castlebar tore her spiked chains out of her arms (noting they were elven make.) Then he stood guard while Alexander and Vecna tirelessly worked on the caskets, using a keg of ale to help clear the frog excrement from the stone to look for clues.

Due to her extensive diplomatic background working with Clan Bastion, Vecna realized the order of the master smith glyphs were out of order.

Conclusion

They returned to the door and solved the riddle, opening the door to the Master Forge area. However, it was dank and dark, and they figured it might be best to return to the wilderness outside to camp before tackling it.

(They got 3 Ledger each, enough to get an upgrade!)