The heroes from Blasingdell encountered new folk in the depths of Khundrukar and gained a mighty weapon to aid them on their quest. When they returned to the ruins of the citadel, they found new foes and threats awaiting them. But they also discovered hidden lore and lost memories. Will they succeed in acquiring the treasures and truths that they seek in the Forge of Fury?

Heath the Wizard, Yushi the Bard, Eumin the Paladin, Kheldegan the Shopkeeper, and their gray dwarf companion emerged from the dwarven tombs of Khundrukar with their newfound weapon—a dwarven axe of conquest, baneful to both orc and undead foes. They would need this weapon to face the challenges that lay ahead in their quest for the legendary sword and hammer of Durgeddin the Black, wherever they might be hidden. Being hopeful that the red-haired dwarf would now lead them to the relics that they sought, they prepared to return to the ruins of Khundrukar.

On the way, they noticed that their gray dwarf companion appeared to be talking to himself. When Heath approached him for a closer look, the gray dwarf appeared to be communicating telepathically with someone who was not present.

Suddenly, the gray dwarf announced that he needed to leave at once, and that the party should rendezvous with him and his leader at the forge where they had first encountered each other. He pulled off a ring that he was wearing and thrust it onto Heath’s finger, then disappeared into the darkness. Heath was startled and disturbed to find that the ring could not be removed! It was cursed or enchanted, but either way the ring would not come off his finger. Moreover, he found that he now possessed the ability to communicate telepathically with another individual who wore the ring that was the counterpart to his own—the red-haired dwarf.

The adventurers returned to the forge on the outskirts of the ruins of Khundrukar. There they discovered not only the two gray dwarves whom they had met, but three others who were also with them. One of them had a beard longer than the rest and wore a crimson mantle. He was clearly in charge of the others. The adventurers hid themselves and eavesdropped on the gray dwarves’ conversation. Heath surmised that this Crimson Cloak was the commander of the gray dwarves, even outranking Red Hair. And he appeared to be displeased with Red Hair for some reason.

It soon became clear to Heath that Red Hair had gone rogue. She was trying to acquire tributes for the Black Dragon on her own, perhaps to boost her own position among her people. Was she attempting to pull off a coup? What could be her scheme?

Heath was suspicious, but deep inside his heart, he felt a pang of pity for her. His intuition told him that there was a deeper reason for her betrayal of her leader’s trust. Therefore, he extended an offer of help through the telepathic connection that they had established with their enchanted rings. Red Hair refused at first, but seeing little other choice, she ultimately revealed to Heath her true purpose was in trying to acquire the relics of Khundrukar.

These gray dwarves were exiles from the deeper subterranean realms of their people, and their king was the father of Red Hair. When they had first stumbled upon Khundrukar, they decided to settle in the ruins of the citadel. But then they encountered the Black Dragon beneath the Stone Tooth. At first, they waged war against the dragon in the hopes of driving her out of her den in the Black Lake. This resulted in a fierce battle, but the dwarves were hopelessly outmatched. Many of them were slain, and their king was maimed by the Black Dragon’s acid breath. Now the king was bedridden from his severe injuries, his life hanging by a thread. His second in command was Crimson Cloak, who quickly consolidated his power among their people. Crimson Cloak had gathered together those who would follow him, and he purged others who were stubbornly loyal to the king by feeding them to the dragon.

Red Hair wanted nothing more than to restore her father to his rightful position. And the only way she knew how to do that was to offer a great tribute to the Black Dragon herself. If Crimson Cloak offered the tribute first, he would take the reins of power for himself.

Having become aware of the circumstances, Heath felt a greater compassion and empathy for Red Hair than before. From their place of hiding, Heath told the others of all that he had learned, and they swiftly formulated a plan. They revealed themselves to the gray dwarves and demanded the freedom of their newfound companions!

Yet Crimson Cloak was not so easily caught off guard. He pulled a warhorn from his belt and blew loudly upon it. Heath tried to stop him with a spell of fire, but he lost control of the magic. The bead of flame exploded elsewhere than Heath had intended, burning the wizard himself and Eumin the paladin along with one of Crimson Cloak’s minions, who was instantly incinerated. This did not stop Crimson Cloak from letting out a call to arms with his booming horn. The sight of Heath’s gigantic ball of flame only helped to draw the attention of the entire gray dwarf encampment. A great cry went up in reply as dozens of nearby gray dwarves were roused to action, threatening to descend upon the hapless heroes. 

Crimson Cloak made his escape while his remaining minion used his gray dwarf magic to enlarge himself to giant size. The giant dwarf held Eumin and Kheldegan at bay, but the others along with Red Hair and her subordinate pursued Crimson Cloak. Heath hurled a magic missile at him, which shattered his helm. This drew his attention and his wrath just long enough for the adventurers and their gray dwarf companions to surround him.

They had cornered the gray dwarf commander, but some distance away they heard the voices of many warriors, who were clamoring and cheering at the capture of two surface dwarves. Eumin and Kheldegan had become prisoners of the gray dwarves!

Now it came into Heath and Yushi’s heart to rush back and try to save their allies. But Heath knew in his rational mind that such an action would be foolhardy without a proper plan. What could they do? If they offered up their own prisoner to bargain for the safe return of their companions, it would give them only a brief reprieve before the gray dwarf commander mustered his forces and pursued them. Yet if they left their friends to seek out the relics of Khundrukar alone, they would not only have abandoned their honor and fellowship, but also the mighty weapon found in the tombs of Khundrukar—which would surely be needed on their quest.

Therefore, Heath devised a plan to help Red Hair gather support among her people. He would provide her telepathically with the words of a stirring speech, and Yushi would aid her by weaving enchantments into those words. Together, the wizard and the bard would make Red Hair into the new de facto leader. Then she could oust Crimson Cloak from power.

They were about to put their plan into action when suddenly, Heath and Yushi heard a familiar voice inside their minds. 

“Save me… Help me… Release me…”

This time, the terrible power of the voice overwhelmed Yushi’s songs of warding. Both Heath and Yushi were overcome by the voice’s influence. The world turned dark before their eyes as they lost consciousness.

When Heath and Yushi regained their sight and senses, they were standing deep amidst the ruins of Khundrukar. How they had arrived there, they could not remember. Somehow, they felt rested, as if days had passed. Eumin and Kheldegan were standing beside them. In front of them, there stood a shrine to Moradin, the Allfather and Creator of the dwarves. But the adventurers were disturbed to see that the great stone doors to the shrine were bound by chains and sealed with foul orc runes, cursing what ought to have been a sacred place. Heath and Yushi both knew some orcish from their studies and travels, and they were astonished by the words that they could make out among those terrible runes.

Beyond these doors lie Durgeddin the Black, the Maker of Death.
May he gnaw on his own hate until the sun dies and all things end.

The heroes knew that they stood before the place where Durgeddin had made his final stand. Yushi recalled dwarven songs of the final battle of Durgeddin the Black in the besieged and blasted halls of Khundrukar. No orc could slay him, despite wave after wave of warriors being sent against him. So, the orcs sealed the doors of the building where the last dwarf of Khundrukar fought to the point of death by exhaustion. Then they waited, and waited, until they were sure that Durgeddin had died of starvation or thirst. It was only then that the orc shamans of Gruumsh One Eye sealed the place with curses and chains—but not before they buried their most fearsome warriors alive, to ensure that Durgeddin’s spirit should never depart and exact revenge upon the orcs. 

Surely, the adventurers would find their prize beyond the doors of this shrine.

Before the party entered the shrine, Heath resolved to learn as much as he could about whatever might indeed lie beyond those doors. Therefore, he summoned the spirit of the ancient dead: the Orc King of Many Arrows, who went on to become king of the orcs in the North. Heath tried to talk to the spirit of the Orc King, but he received no answer. Then it came into his mind to offer to lay the spirits of his loyal orc warriors to rest. Hearkening to the wizard’s appeal, the Orc King gave an answer, but only in the form of a single coin, which miraculously was not a mere ephemeral thing but a tangible piece of metal.

This was a Coin of Lost Memories, a magical relic that could grant the holder a single memory or truth that had been lost to time. Heath used the coin to find the memories of the dwarven wizard that had led to the downfall of Khundrukar. He learned that the wizard had summoned a powerful demon to guard the ruins of the citadel from graverobbers, but it had turned against him and caused him to die a terrible death. And that spirit was still hidden away somewhere in the dark corners of Khundrukar.

Having learned and prepared all that they could, the heroes made themselves ready. They removed the chains and broke the seals of orc shamans of old, and they opened the doors of the shrine. As the stone doors opened, a tide of bones and skulls cascaded out from the entrance—the remains of the countless orcs slain by Durgeddin’s hands—and a plume of ancient dust rose into the air.

Inside, all was dark. When the heroes stepped into the shrine, they could see nothing. The air inside the shrine felt colder than even the tombs of Khundrukar. Heath conjured a magical light to illuminate their way. As if someone or something was responding to his magic, a series of blue flames became lit upon the torches along the walls on either side of the shrine. The heroes could see only a sea of bones covering the entire floor. At the far end of the hall, upon what might have been a raised platform now buried beneath a mountain of skulls, they could see the skeleton of a stout dwarf warrior still holding a mighty sword and hammer. The heroes knew it was Durgeddin the Black, still standing even in death after all these decades—and still wielding the orcbane weapons that he had forged in his wrath.

Crouched in front of the remains of Durgeddin, there was a dark figure. It was bony yet covered in withered and mummified flesh. The figure stirred when the heroes had entered. Now, it rose up and turned toward them. Its face was a desiccated mask of rage and malice. Its hands clutched an orcish axe, an ugly yet fearsome-looking thing. Its mouth had been cruelly stitched shut. When Yoshi sang a song of bolstering to give courage to her allies, the orc wight forced its lips apart, tearing the stitches and the flesh bound by them, until its horrible maw opened wide into a hideous and unintelligible battle cry. As the sound echoed through the hall, the doors of the shrine closed shut behind the adventurers. In front of them, amalgamations of bones began to collect and incorporate themselves into the forms of four skeletal orc warriors. Two more amalgamations became covered with a thin film of horrid yet withered flesh, transforming into orc ghouls. 

Heath conjured yet another ball of flame, this time causing it to explode right at his party’s feet! The adventurers were burned by the reckless spell, but so were the skeletal warriors. All four of them were immolated and utterly destroyed. But the threat was far from over. Eumin held aloft her dwarven axe and charged at the orc wight, but she was cowed by the aura of terror that surrounded the undead creature. The wight and the ghouls struck at Eumin and Kheldegan, tearing at the dwarves with their wicked blades and sharp claws, until only the paladin was left standing.

In this desperate moment, a voice came into the minds of the adventurers. Then they knew that it was the voice of the demon that they had seen through the Coin of Lost Memories—the same demon that had spoken to them, beseeching them to set it free.

But now, the voice was no longer asking for release. Instead, the voice offered to them in the hour of need. In exchange for their favor, the demon would aid them in their battle against the wight. Heath the wizard and Eumin the paladin both refused the voice’s temptation. Yushi the bard also tried to refuse at first, but she ultimately wavered and agreed to the voice’s terms. Instantly, the terror fled from her heart, and she was able to sing a song of bolstering that steeled Eumin against the terror of the wight.

No longer paralyzed by fear, Eumin swung with her axe. The mighty blade of orc-bane and undead-bane tore through the neck of the orc wight and sent its head flying through the air. Then the wight and its ghoul minions turned to dust and became nothing.

The coldness fled from the hall and the blue flames vanished from the walls of the shrine, just as shadows might recede in the presence of light. The heroes stood before the remains of Durgeddin the Black, still standing tall.

Heath tried to pull the sword and hammer from the skeleton’s grip, but he found that Durgeddin’s hands refused to give up the weapons he had long ago forged with his own hands. Therefore, Heath tried to summon the spirit of Durgeddin to ask what might be done to let the long-departed stonelord part with his weapon. 

But something went awry yet again, causing Heath to summon not Durgeddin the Black, but the dwarven wizard marked as a traitor in the songs and legends of dwarvenkind.

Heath and Yushi spoke to the spirit of the wizard, telling of all that they had uncovered on their adventure—hidden truths that told the real story of the wizard, not as a traitor to his people and his lord, but a desperate dwarf desiring nothing more than to save his people. The spirit seemed moved by these words, and therefore it told them the secret of the shrine. Durgeddin’s spirit must be put at ease and laid to rest. The best person to do that was Eumin, who had dealt the final blow that had killed the orc wight. 

Eumin spoke to Durgeddin, assuring the departed stonelord that he could now rest in peace. As if in answer, Durgeddin’s bony hands loosened their grip. When Eumin grasped the sword and hammer of Durgeddin, the skeleton that had held them crumbled into dust. Durgeddin had found his warrior’s rest at last.