Hammer 7, 1489
Dre'zel my love,
I was revived by a hard slap from Taimen’s healing hand and saw that Talyth had just risen. The dragonborn handed me my bow, but the battle was over, and the duergar had been defeated!
We were outside the keep, a blocky stronghold bereft of warmth or charm, carved into the side of the dwarven valley in a rough crescent shape. A frozen stream cut through the snow to a barred culvert to the right of the main entrance. Further to the right were two other barred openings granting those within an unobstructed view of the hillside. To the left of the main entrance were the bars from the room outside the prisoner cells. Behind us, separated from the rest of the stronghold, were the smashed remains of what must have been a stone bunker.
Taimen helped me drag Nildar’s corpse through the large double doors of the main entrance over the now lowered drawbridge. Searching his corpse, I found some coin, a key, and my ring! It felt good to escape the cold once again.
Inside the keep, Ruvik began to yell. Something about the duergar being more powerful than we could imagine and Nildar’s father, Xardorok, unleashing terror upon Ten-Towns, soaring on dragon's wings!
The duergar was sober and began spilling gems from his pocket onto the ground and stomping on them. I urged my companions to stop him before he could summon whatever foul creature he was attempting to call to his rescue. Jojo grabbed the duergar in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground. After removing his gear, we relocated him to the orge cage where he was manacled, hooded, bound, and gagged.
We began to explore the keep, heading first to where I had seen the workbench with the black crystal shards.
The entrance to the room was trapped, and Ambrose found himself pinned by spikes that had sprung from the walls. The spikes were too heavy for me to move, but Jojo created enough space for Ambrose to squeeze into the far room, where Soupmeister Steve directed him toward a lever that released the spikes.
On a desk, we found the blue and green glowing magic lantern that had been stolen from the Northern Light in Caer-Konig. We also found a crumpled-up piece of paper with dwarvish writing that Saritu read aloud:
Brother,
You will find me on the frozen ferry in Easthaven. From this new base, the search for chardalyn continues. Long may our father reign over this dark land!
Durth
In a small hidden chamber off Nildar’s bed chamber, we found two magical items: an unfinished, chardalyn-infused light crossbow and a moontouched sword. Taimen took the sword, and Saritu took the crossbow.
Searching the rest of the keep, we found more coin, some pearls, and a magic arrow. I placed the latter in my quiver.
We returned to Ruvik, who refused to speak until Ambrose plied him with brew and Talyth put him in a Zone of Truth. We learned that Xardarok Sunblight, who was currently holed up somewhere in the Spine of the World, planned to conquer Ten Towns by assaulting them with a Chardalyn Dragon. It was just as I had feared! After being threatened with torture, he practically begged for a quick death. I was happy to oblige him after whispering in his ear, "Die knowing that your clan and your people will fail and clan Sunlight will be destroyed because of your weakness."
We soon returned to where Ja’artha was waiting nearby, and she brought us to Nordak, the leader of the Clan Battlehammer in the dwarven valley. While there, we convinced Nordak to watch over the duergar keep to ensure none returned. While Nordak was hospitable, the dwarven patriarchy was offensive, and I could see why Ja’artha had left this place.
We gave Ja’artha the lantern to return to Caer Konig and set off, heading for the Black Cabin. After an hour, we found ourselves pushing through another blizzard when the howling began. It sounded like hyenas, and we knew that we were being pursued by gnolls. We could hear them all around us, and they soon had us surrounded. But they were mangy and emaciated and were hardly more than a diversion when we had finished with them, leaving their corpses in the snow as we pushed on to our destination.
Two hours later, the blizzard was still strong as we reached the rover north of Lonelywood. Following the river, we soon found the Black Cabin perched twenty-five feet up on wooden stilts on the edge of a snowy ridge above a gorge at least a hundred feet deep.
Icy steps led to a snow-covered walkway on the side of the weathered lodge, its slumped posture and sagging, snow-covered roof, coupled with the broken windows and loose, flapping shutters, indicated the place had been abandoned. Large snowdrifts huddled around the stilts and an empty woodshed and outhouse.
Jojo practically raced up the icy steps, his heavy boots crunching through the otherwise slippery ice. The rotting walkway gave way under his weight, and he nimbly managed to leap into the safety of the nearby door.
Examining the underside of the old building, it was obvious that its wooden floors were in poor condition, and I quickly warned my companions that the far side, which hung over the gorge, looked like it could easily collapse.
Soupmeister Steve summoned his rope of climbing, which I tied to the stilts while he took the rest up to the walkway with Taimen, Saritu and Ambrose. Talyth waited with me below with Boy nearby.
While Jojo was talking with some animals in the room he had leaped into, the others were peering into a farther room. Saritu used his Mage Hand to transport a small black stone, circled by black metal rings, to Taimen, who waited eagerly.
As soon as Taimen grasped the object, there was a brilliant flash of radiance…and screams. As my vision returned, I could see that the walkway above me had been blown apart, and Taimen’s charred corpse lay in the snow. The nearby walls of the cabin were also shattered to pieces, and where Jojo had just stood were only ashes blowing in the snow.
Talyth immediately ran to Taimen and, cursing under her breath, began the ritual of Gentle Repose.
Still on the walkway, Steve and Saritu stared into the cabin through a nearby window. They were shaking, not from cold, but from grief or rage, I could not tell which.
Ambrose, either unphased or incredibly determined, had entered the cabin and was rummaging around.
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