At last, the adventurers from Blasingdell have acquired the secret knowledge hidden among the ruins, and the means with which to confront the greatest threat lurking in the depths of Khundrukar. Will they survive their final confrontation in the Forge of Fury?

When Heath the Wizard, Yushi the Bard, Eumin the Paladin, and Kheldegan the Shopkeeper stepped out from the shrine of Khundrukar, they realized that time had passed and much had changed in the world without. The grey dwarves who had reigned in the ruins of the citadel were nowhere to be seen. And new intruders had arrived in the intervening days that had seemingly gone by. These new adventurers were led by the half-orc Grendar, the sergeant of the town guard in Blasingdell, who had first set the adventurers on an ill-fortuned path. As they came to realize too late, Grendar also sought the treasures of Khundrukar and had set other adventurers on paths leading to their doom. Now, he had come to the ruins to claim the treasures hidden therein. However, he did not expect that Heath, Yushi and the others would still be alive. Therefore, he drew his sword and resolved to take care of these survivors himself.

But the confrontation did not go according to his plans. Despite having brought a number of worthy adventurers himself, he and his companions had battled through the army of orcs that held the upper levels of the complex. They had taken their fare share of wounds in the process. They were no match for Heath, Yushi and their companions, who would have made quick work of these upstart raiders in the ensuing fight.

However, instead of resorting to violence, the heroes convinced their competitors to join them on their quest to rid the land of a dragon, and reap the rewards of becoming renowned dragonslayers in Blasingell. 

With their rivals turned into allies, the heroes set out once more. They had resolved to return to the Black Lake to confront the dragon with whom they had previously parlayed. For now they had not only more adventurers at their side, but they had Durgeddin’s legendary weapons in their hands, which the dragon surely feared, or else they would not have been dispatched on a quest to retrieve them. 

The heroes passed through the area containing the forge where they had first encountered the grey dwarves, but everyone was gone. They found only a single survivor remaining. It was the king of the grey dwarves of this domain. He revealed that the dwarves who had once followed him had all gone to confront the dragon in the Black Lake. And none of them had returned. Among them was his own daughter who had struggled so hard to maintain his reign and authority.

It was near this place that they also met another soul, though not of the living world. They had long felt his presence throughout their journey in the halls of Khundrukar, but it was only now that he appeared before them clearly for the first time. This was the ghost of Arundil, a dwarf wizard and advisor to Durgeddin the Black, who had betrayed his lord and kinsmen to the orcs that had laid siege to Khundrukar.

When he saw the ruin that his treachery had wrought, Arundil had fallen into despair and sought to guard what remained of his home from further looting by grave robbers. He filled the halls with traps and animated skeletons, and he even summoned a powerful fiend to act as a guardian. But the fiend proved too strong for him to control and destroyed him in the end.

It was this fiend that was now manipulating wayward souls that had wandered too close or delved too deep into Khundrukar.

The heroes wondered whether to seek out this fiend, or to return to the surface with the treasures they had already found, or to march into the lair of the dragon to put an end to its evil once and for all. In the end, they decided upon the final course, and with that choice their fate was sealed. Though they could only wonder where it was a choice made of their own free will, or one influenced by the power that the fiend hidden among the ruins had exercised upon their minds.

The adventurers descended back the way they had come, down the chain ladder upon the waterfall, through the treacherous pathways leading to the Black Lake beneath the halls of Khundrukar.

When they arrived, they were greeted by the bodies of the slain duergar who had come at the fiend’s behest. Had they too come here from fiendish compulsion without even realizing it? Perhaps, but now the choice had already been made, and there was no turning back. They heard the voice of the dragon echoing in the darkness, offering them wealth and power in service, if they would but yield and hand over the weapons of Durgeddin the Black.

But Heath, Yushi, Eumin, and Kheldegan would not yield. Together, they took up their sword and staff, axe and hammer, against the dragon’s fearsome claws and teeth. The dragon struck from the shadows and nearly overwhelmed them, dragging the adventurers into the water and threatening to devour or drown them in the dark waters of the lake. But in their hour of greatest danger, Eumin the paladin raised up the sword forged by Durgeddin in his anger and grief, and plunged it into the heart of the dragon, spilling black blood that boiled upon the water. Then at last, the dragon that had terrorized the Stone Tooth and surrounding lands was no more.

Among the slaughtered duergar, the heroes found one lone survivor—the daughter of the duergar king. She returned to her father and tended to his wounds, while the party returned to Blasingdell as heroes of the realm, having acquired the dragon’s hoard as their reward.

Finally, each of the heroes had achieved their quest. Eumin and Kheldegan had avenged their kinsfolk after the sack of Khundrukar. Yushi had been a part of deeds worthy of song, which she could now serve up to the dragon of Kryptgarden. And Heath had uncovered the secret truth of Khundrukar that had been buried there for centuries.

Now, it was time for their next adventure, wherever their path might lead them. 

Yet a fiendish power still lurked beneath the Stone Tooth, waiting for wandering adventurers lusting after treasure to test their mettle and their fortunes in the hidden depths of Khundrukar.

The End