The following is a summary of the first session of Forge of Fury, an Adventurers League campaign. A party of adventurers sets out from the town of Blasingdell and heads to the Stone Tooth where the ruins of the dwarven fortress of Khundrukar and its treasures are rumored to be hidden. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Player Characters
Amira, human (life)cleric 2
Rex, wood elf fighter 2
Eliza, kenku (draconic)sorcerer 1
Gydean, v. human rogue 1
Varrick, hill dwarf (forge)cleric 1
Part 1. The Road to Khundrukar
1.
A cold wind blew through the North when a band of adventurers gathered at the Griffon’s Nest Tavern in the town of Blasingdell. They had each heard rumors of the dwarven ruins of Khundrukar and came to this town to set off in search of the hidden forge of Durgeddin Stonehammer, also known as Durgeddin the Black, a renowned dwarven weapon smith.
Long ago, Durgeddin and his folk were the survivors of a war with the orc hordes called Many Arrows. After their homeland was destroyed, they settled in the mountain called the Stone Tooth and, under Durgeddin’s guidance, made many fell weapons that were given and sold to the men and elves of the North who swore an oath to defend each other from the orc hordes.
But when the orcs found the hidden redoubt of Khundrukar a century ago and laid siege to it, no man or elf came to Durgeddin’s aid. When the orcs at last discovered a hidden path into the dwarven fortress, they slew Durgeddin and all his kin. Since the tragic loss of Khundrukar, the dwarves of the North felt no love for the elves and men of the North. But legends said that the deepest parts of Khundrukar remained hidden and there were great treasures to be found for any who might discover the way to them.
More recent local rumors abounded of a spate of raids made by a new band of orcs that had taken up residence in the dwarven ruins at the Stone Tooth. Few had survived an encounter with these vicious orcs and returned to tell the tale. All that was known for certain about the orcs was that the leader of their band was no orc at all but a cruel ogre who called himself Great Ulfe.
2.
Each of the five adventurers in the Griffin’s nest had their own reasons for seeking out the legendary forge of Durgeddin. Amira, a cleric of Chauntea, wanted to root out an evil more foul than orcs that was rumored to lurk in the mountains. She and her companions had encountered a vicious tribe of kobolds in a warren at the base of the Stone Tooth and discovered that they were worshippers of a terrible evil that lurked deep within the mountain. Amira felt that vanquishing the monster was her holy duty to all living things that were threatened by it.
Eliza, a kenku sorcerer with dragon’s blood running through her veins, wanted to find the glittering treasure that was rumored to be in the subterranean forge. She was an albino kenku who spent most of her time grooming her white feathers and spoke little anyone else. But she followed Amira because the cleric alone approached the kenku and spoke to her, though Eliza had little interest in the teachings of the goddess of nature.
Rex, a wood elf fighter, was one of Amira’s companions, but he felt no sense of divine duty to fight evil in the mountain. Instead, he was enticed by the rumors of great weapons and arms that yet remained hidden in the forge of Durgeddin. He was a pragmatic warrior who wanted to constantly improve his skill and prowess in battle.
Gydean was a rogue and entrepeneur. Unlike the others, he had a clear vision for the future as a businessman and saw an expedition to a dangerous dungeon as a risky but rewarding business venture. Not only was there a lucrative bounty on orc heads advertised in front of the mayor’s lodge, but he had it on good authority from the mayor of Blasingdell himself that artifacts recovered from Khundrukar were sought after by a wealthy benefactor – a local baron – who would pay handsomely for them.
Lastly, Varrick, a hill dwarf cleric of the forge, received a mission from the Church of Moradin in the dwarven city of Mirabar to seek out the legendary forge of Durgeddin Stonehammer. Varrick had other reasons for embarking on his quest. Being a former master of arms in the dwarven army of Mirabar, he much longed to see the fine weapons forged by the renowned master smith of Kundrukar.
Amira and Rex had determined the location of the dwarven entrance to Khundrukar from their previous excursion to the area. Varrick warned the others that the mountain door would likely have arrow slits and a guardian statue as is customary for dwarven citadel doors, making it a highly defensible position. The party spent the night at the Temple of Chauntea where Amira where she had become friends with the local priestess. The party made what preparations they could and set out the following morning.
3.
On the second day, traveling northeast along the main road, they arrived near the Stone Tooth, a jutting pinnacle of rock that pierced the clouds like the tooth of a terrible dragon of ancient myths. From afar, they spotted the mountain door high up the road upon the base of the mountain. To get a better lay of the land, they traversed to a sheer cliff near the summit of the Stone Tooth. From this vantage point, they saw a dark lake to the east of the mountain and, more curiously, a column of smoke rising from the south, just beyond the mountain door.
The party headed toward the column of smoke. They suspected the presence of orcs who needed to be dealt with if they were to continue their quest unmolested, or perhaps a village that might be threatened by the orcs in the mountain. Either way, they needed to get there as quickly as possible, since nightfall was fast approaching.
By sundown when the leaves were lit with an orange light and long shadows were cast by the trees of the woods, the party had retraced their steps through the wilderness and arrived at the high road again. Gydean scouted ahead to look for orc raiders or patrols, having heard rumors of their activities from the people of Blasingdell.
That was when he saw them. Four hulking figure strode up the road. Gydean knew that they were orcs when their hideous faces were briefly lit by the fiery red light of the dying sun.
Working swiftly, Gydean wrote the number “four” on a scrap of parchment, tied it to his arrow, and shot it silently at a tree beside his companions who were still a distance behind him. The party read the note and understood Gydean’s message.
Together, they laid an ambush for the orc band that was approaching. Amira and Varrick rushed out to meet their foes with their shields at the ready. Rex, Gydean and Eliza waylaid the orcs with their longbow, crossbow, and magical bolts.
The orcs were quickly dispatched, but not before they let out a great battle cry that rang across the foot of the mountain. From afar, towards the mountain door, the party heard the deep bellow of a warhorn. A moment later, it was answered by another horn that was blown from the southwest, far away behind the party on the main road.
“Orcs to the front, and more orcs behind us! We are caught between two fires!” Gydean mused.
“Then let us continue on to the mountain door,” said Amira. “Perhaps we can get inside once the orcs have emerged from the entrance.”
4.
Night had fallen and the road had grown dark as the party continue toward the Mountain Door. Only Varrick and Rex could see in the darkness with their keen eyes, so they led the party. Behind them, the others saw with amazement as a dwarf and an elf marched side by side.
Since the fall of Khundrukar, there had been no love between dwarves and elves. The former felt betrayed by the latter when Durgeddin and his clan were abandoned by the elves and men of the North. Dwarves knew that men were short-lived and quick to forget the oaths made by their forefathers, but they had expected more from the long-lived elves, many of whom had made the oaths that had once bound them together.
Here, in the shadow of the Stone Tooth, one wood elf had honored the ancient traditions of the Silver Marches, whether he thought of it or not. But to his dwarven companion, he simply said, “You ought to grow longer legs, master dwarf, or the orcs will catch you.”
Varrick gruffly replied, “You need more than long legs to survive, sir elf. You need keen eyes as well.”
“Aye, and I have both!” Rex laughed.
They fell quiet when they heard a noise coming from up the road. The growling and sniffing of a great wolf broke the silence upon the road, accompanied by the heavy footsteps of orcs. Six hulking shadows loomed in the distance, along with one enormous lupine shadow. After hearing about the size of the creature from the party’s scouts, Eliza determined that the creature accompanying the orcs was most likely a dire wolf.
“We will never outrun that beast!” Gydean exclaimed. “It will catch us, and then the orcs will be upon us.”
“Not if we slay it first,” said Rex. Eliza cast a spell of radiance upon the wood elf’s arrow. Then Rex loosed his shining bolt upon the dire wolf. Three of his arrows struck the beast. Then Eliza, using the light of the shining arrow to see the wolf, loosed a volley of magical bolts that smote the creature. The dire wolf yelped and crumpled in a bloody heap.
The orcs began to argue loudly amongst themselves. Clearly the wolf was a prized animal and its death would incur the wrath of their leader. The heroes used the momentary distraction to scatter into the woods. All but Amira hid themselves in the shadows and canopy of the trees. Amira’s loud, clanking armor gave her away to the orcs who ceased their argument and rushed toward the cleric now standing alone on the road.
Amira said a prayer of protection and raised her shield. She stood bravely against the half dozen orcs who now surrounded her. She held them at bay, their spears and axes crashing heavily upon her shield. When Amira felt like she could hold up her shield arm no longer, she heard a loud, wet crash upon her shield. Then all was quiet. Amira lowered her shield and saw that Varrick’s warhammer had crushed the skull of an orc upon her shield as if it were an anvil. The rest of the orcs laid dead, pierced with many arrows. Her companions had rained death upon them from the cover of the trees while she held the orcs at bay.
The heroes caught their breath while Rex beheaded the orcs and collected their heads in his sack, eager to collect the mayor’s bounty. Then they continued up the road until they finally reached the dwarven door of Khundrukar.
The great iron double doors were set into the mountain like an angry giant gritting his teeth. On either side upon the rock wall, there were thin arrow slits just as Varrick had predicted. But the guardian statue made by the dwarves had long ago been destroyed by the orcs who had laid siege to the place a century before. And beyond the doors, they heard not the songs of dwarf lords and their hammers ringing upon anvils, but the echoes of crude orcish words spoken by the harsh, roaring voice of an ogre.
To be continued…
Session #1 Rewards
2 Advancement Checkpoints
2 Treasure Checkpoints
5 Downtime Days
Character Advancement
Amira, human (life)cleric 2 -> 3
Rex, wood elf fighter 2 -> 3
Eliza, kenku (draconic)sorcerer 1 -> 2
Gydean, v. human rogue 1
Varrick, hill dwarf (forge)cleric 1