This is a summary of an extended single-session version of Forge of Fury which I ran with a group of university students at ChungKang College of Cultural Industries as part of a two-day creative workshop.
In the lonely mining town of Blasingdell nestled among the hills beside the great pine forest of the north, four heroes met in the Griffon’s Nest Inn and Tavern. They were Altena Sianadel, a half-elf wizard and faithful acolyte of Oghma, ever a student of history and seeker of secret lore; Seraphina Suyeon, a halfling rogue and criminal, living as a free spirit far from her family whom she yet loved; Diana, a human barbarian and outlander who lived as a nomad fighting against oppressors and would-be tyrants seeking to expand their territories by claiming lands not their own; and Adeline Bridgette, a human paladin and soldier of noble birth, ever a stalwart foe of injustice and loyal servant of the crown, true to her own oaths and vows.
These four adventurers began their journey together as huntsmen in the great woods surrounding Blasingdell. Their early quests yielded little fruit in the way of pelts or skins, but on one eventful outing, Diana discovered a broken sword buried amidst the shrubbery. Despite its sorry state, it was exquisite in its make. The party took the sword back to the tavern, where Diana boasted of her discovery to the innkeeper, Sarel Bankdown, and announced her intention to find more such relics. Sarel suggested showing the sword to Baron Althon, a local noble and long-time friend of Adeline, who had a keen interest in ancient swords and relics.
Althon discerned that the sword was of dwarven make and masterfully crafted but could divine little more. He directed the party to Kheldegan Tolm, the dwarf owner of Tolm’s Superior Outfitting and Dry Goods. As Kheldegan inspected the sword hilt, his expression darkened and he sighed sadly.
Kheldegan told the adventurers the tale of Durgeddin the Black, a famous dwarven smith who forged legendary weapons to fight the orcs of the north who had slain his entire family. Durgeddin built a hidden redoubt deep in the valley, whose entrance was hidden in the crevices of a tall spire of rock known as the Stone Tooth. From his secret fortress, which he named Khundrukar, he crafted many fine weapons woven with enchantments to be fell and deadly when wielded against orcs. These weapons were sold to nearby human and elven kingdoms who in turn used them in their campaigns against the orcs of the Many Arrows tribe, the largest of the orcish kingdoms of the north.
When the orcs found themselves being slaughtered in droves by foes wielding Durgeddin’s fierce weapons, they tracked them to their source and discovered at last the location of the dwarves’ secret fortress. The orcs laid siege to Khundrukar for many months, until at last they overcame the keep’s defenders. When they finally set foot inside the keep’s hallowed halls, the orcs slaughtered the denizens therein to the last and pillaged the keep of its arms and wealth. Such was the tragic end of Durgeddin and his people. Yet not all of the wealth of Khundrukar was ransacked by the orcs, so it was believed. The deepest parts of the citadel may yet remain unconquered by orcs or other creatures still more foul. Many groups of adventurers delved deep into those ruins, only to succumb to the countless creatures and monstrosities that claimed the dwarven ruins as their own.
Not a few were patronized by Baron Althon whose losses grew with each failed expedition lost to the dangers of Khundrukar. Despite his reservations about funding yet another quest to the hidden subterranean keep, he could not refuse when his old friend ADELINE asked for assistance for herself and her companions in their own attempt to find Durgeddin’s secret redoubt. Althon gifted the adventurers with three masterwork weapons—a shortsword for Altena, a shortbow for Seraphina, and a longsword for Adeline. And to Diana, he granted a potion of greater healing. In return, he asked for a portion of the bounty discovered in the ruins.
Althon did not need to warn the adventurers of the dangers that lay ahead. And he did not think it strange that Diana the nomad barbarian did not want a finer weapon for her quest. In truth, the heroes did not want Durgeddin’s weapons for themselves. They wanted to find them in order to destroy them. Diana believed that such weapons did not belong in the hands of anyone and would only serve to further despoil the lands and their peoples. Adeline feared that if Durgeddin’s weapons fell into the wrong hands, they would shatter the fragile truce that had recently been brokered between the orcs and her own kingdom. Altena believed that Durgeddin’s weapons, wrought in the forge flames of wrath and enmity, served only to corrupt the historical site that was Durgeddin’s lost keep. Seraphina too claimed to wish the fearsome weapons destroyed, but she alone among the heroes wished to steal away a few for herself to sell in order to return to her family with riches.
The heroes were not alone in their mission. They were joined by Sister Alonsa, a local priestess of Oghma who wished to learn the secrets of Khundrukar. In particular, she wanted to find the lost verses of a song made by the dwarven loresmith after the days of the siege and fall of Khundrukar. The opening verses spoke of the betrayal of the dwarves by the human and elven kingdoms that had taken oaths to defend one another in their times of need.
Where are the spears of the horse lords, and their tall banners streaming?
Where are the blades of the elf lords, and their sharp warhorns singing?
Where are the shields of the marches, upon which our oaths were taken?
They hang upon dusty arches, their solemn duty forsaken.
Therefore, the heroes armed with Baron Althon’s aid and Sister Alonsa’s healing magic, set out together. Taking the high road, they headed deep into the brooding pine forests to the north. After a day, they glimpsed the pinnacle of the Stone Tooth rising in the distance high above the tops of the trees. From there, they left the road, fearing orcs and bandits, and were led through the woods by the halfling Seraphina who knew these lands well.
Seraphina discovered underground chimneys from which smoke rose out of the earth, indicating that someone was lairing within Durgeddin’s subterranean realm. But the chimneys were too narrow for anyone to crawl through. After further exploration, she found an old tunnel whose entrance was blocked by fallen rocks and debris. Her companions cleared the blockage from the tunnel entrance, creating a gap large enough for each of them to pass through. And so, they entered the dark passage, which led deep into the earth. But they did not notice the tracks of other subterranean denizens, along with the prints of a large bear, passing through the entrance.
The crude tunnel appeared to have been carved by orcs a century ago, during the days of Durgeddin’s final defense. Both Sister Alonsa and Altena were well pleased by this discovery, for it answered at least one question about Khundrukar’s lost history. How had the orcs penetrated such a well-defended fortress? They had tunneled into it by their own devices. But how they had discovered the precise location for their sappers to dig remained a mystery.
The tunnel eventually ended and opened onto a large cavernous space. SERAPHINA, who was leading the way, lit a torch so the others could see. The light from the torch illuminated two pairs of bulging yellow eyes hidden in the shadows on either side of the passage. As the eyes recoiled briefly from the sudden light, the heroes caught a whiff of the terrible stench that emanated from them. These eyes belonged to a pair of troglodytes that were lurking in the darkness, and behind them stood a hulking bear bound by the creatures with iron chains.
All of them were ravenous, and therefore, they assailed the heroes hoping for an easy meal. But the brave adventurers made short work of them, and took one of them prisoner—both to glean more knowledge of the caverns and their current inhabitants, and out of mercy for the pitiful creature.
With the help of the captured troglodyte, the adventurers went deep into the depths, battling other foul subterranean creatures, until at last they arrived in the forge halls of Khundrukar. It was there that they encountered the voice of a lonely dwarf, singing a melancholy song that grasped Sister Alonsa’s attention. For it was the following verse of the song that she had sought after for so long, lamenting the plight of the last dwarves of Khundrukar.
Now none remain to guard the dwarfhold from the hands of plunder
And none remain to bear the stonelords to their eternal slumber.
No more shall the song of the hammer be heard in the forge everburning.
The light of the dying ember fades in the hall of mourning.
Upon approaching the source of the voice, the heroes discovered that it belonged to a ghost of a dwarven wizard. But when approached, the apparition vanished. The heroes had little time to ponder this mystery, for they themselves were soon after approached by other more tangible dwarves. But these were not the kindred of Durgeddin spoken of in the ghost’s lamentations. They were grey dwarves, duergar of the Underdark, who had taken refuge in the abandoned ruins of Durgeddin’s once-mighty stronghold.
With clever diplomacy, the heroes brokered a truce with these grey dwarves by convincing them that they might be of aid to them. These dwarves were here to plunder what wealth and secrets remained in Khundrukar after the realm was ravaged by orcs. Yet they were wary of the deepest halls, where the rumor of dragons and still more foul demons stayed their advance. The heroes offered to delve deep into the bowels of the subterranean halls to rid the place of such evil things. The grey dwarves were content to allow the foolhardy adventures to try, or perish in the attempt.
Therefore, the heroes began their ill-fated plunge into the ruins of Khundrukar. They battled undead skeletons of fallen dwarves and orcs that had died in battle long ago. They saw again the ghost of the dwarven wizard as a fleeting visage, but never for long. And strangest of all, they found a mysterious woman who claimed to be a prisoner of a mad mage who had laid claim to the dwarven ruins. After rescuing the woman, the heroes entered a sealed chamber, which was barred with foul orcish runes and curses.
Beyond this door the Maker of Death is chained.
May he gnaw on his own hate until the sun dies and all things end.
Upon entering the chamber, they found mounds upon mounds of orcish bones, the remains of those laid low by Durgeddin himself and his sword in his final moments. At the furthest end of the chamber were the bones of Durgeddin himself, still standing and gripping his iron blade. And kneeling before him, waiting with purpose, was a dread warrior—an orcish ghoul, enchanted by orc shamans, to guard this place so that the spirit of Durgeddin may never find rest.
It was here that the rescued woman revealed her true purpose: she was a demon from the Abyss, summoned by a dwarf wizard, the last survivor of Khundrukar, to guard the ruins. It was the wizard’s betrayal that had led to the fall of the hidden redoubt, for his secret knowledge of the city allowed the orc sappers to burrow into its heart. Wracked by guilt and grief, the wizard had returned to the ruined halls and filled them with dark enchantments, animating the remains of dwarf and orc soldiers alike to guard its silent halls from graverobbers. And in the madness of his mourning, he summoned the demoness in the hopes of acquiring another more powerful guardian for Khundrukar, only to fall victim to her deception. In the end, he was driven to darkness and death, his spirit becoming trapped and forced to haunt the ruins of his former home.
The demon in turn was trapped in the chamber where she had been summoned, sealed by a magic circle, which was broken when the heroes unknowingly set her free. Now, the demon empowered the orc ghoul in Durgeddin’s final tomb and conjured skeleton minions to destroy the adventurers.
The heroes fought bravely with their swords and bows, but they were no match for the demon, the orcish ghoul, and their undead host. In the chaos of the battle, Seraphina fled in terror, the screams of her companions echoing behind her. She alone escaped from the harrowing halls of Khundrukar, her eyes full of tears as she left her friends behind.
Seraphina left the Stone Tooth and went on to join new quests with other adventurers. She never remained in one place for too long, fearful that the memories of those she abandoned would catch up with her. For she never forgot them nor the events that had transpired in the depths below the Stone Tooth. In the deepest part of her heart, she had vowed to return. And many years later, after she had gained a new group of companions who had become mighty in their own right and called her friend, Seraphina returned to Khundrukar. She had come to exact her just revenge upon the terrible things that dwelled in that place, to rid the world of the foul weapons forged in that place, and to lay the spirits of her former companions—Altena, Diana and Adeline—to rest.