Gathering up their winter weather and mountaineering supplies, the party bid Unna and her troop on the Overreach best of luck and headed for the lost Dwarf mine.
Earlier in the campaign, Tamroohk acquired an old map at a gambling table in Rhackdalia. The map was drawn by human hands. It depicted a lost mine with hand-drawn artifacts that were supposedly found at the mine site. The artifacts looked Dwarven.
The Overreach was just seven miles south of the supposed location. With the expert guidance of Elan the Ranger, the party made good time across difficult terrain and bad weather to the foot of a large mountain. Ruined architecture, cobblestone paths, rails, and crumbled bridges lined the side of the mountain, and the party made its way cautiously up worn paths leading to its summit.
On the journey up the mountain, the party could see the devastated forest around the site, and far away, the thawing wastes of the Mherisan Melts. A fog set in, limiting their visibility. Large clumps of snow would drop from above them, from time to time, and they kept trudging up in the mountainside.
Eventually, the party encountered a 5' wide white pod covered in snow and ice, stuck some 10' above the path. Using clever magics like Mage Hand, they cut open the pod and discovered a corpse on the inside, its body fluids drained; the corpse a dry husk. They looted the corpse and pressed on.
They then found another pod along the side of the trail and stuck to the side of the mountain, this time at their elevation. The corpse on the inside was that of a dwarf and aside from his backpack, had not much in the way of value, except for a large brass mining pick. It was flat, heavy, just 18" in size, and more ornamental than useful. The party pocketed it and carried on, knowing full well now to be on the look for awfully large spiders.
Soon, as they closed in on the summit, the party encountered more and more pods. They looked up, and they went higher into the fog. They couldn't see through the fog but had an uncanny fear about what could be up there, as snow fell from time to time, on to their path. With more pods came more looting, but some of the pods had more sticky webbing on them, and the party was cautious to avoid those.
Having reached the end of the paved path, the party found themselves before a large door with a circular dias. There was a small stone guardrail and a sheer cliff on the opposite side. Four bodies were here in stages of decay, some already wrapped in a snowy cocoon. All of the bodies were human; all of them had been dead for at least one or two months.
One body, near the large stone door on the dias, was attempting to jam a thin 18" brass ax into a crevice aside the door. Tamroohk laughed along with Vongur and Gorbash. "That's not where a key goes," Tam said, and she yanked the ornamental brass ax out of the crevice. Combining the hilts of the ax and the pick at 45-degrees, Tam held up the resulting key.
Just then, giant snow spiders attacked! They fell from the fog and on to the heads of the party! There was a vicious fight - bites and poisonings and webbing! Meanwhile, Tamroohk was digging: parting the snow away from the dias, picking at the ice to get to the stone in front of the door!On the third round of combat, Tamroohk encountered the keyhole. An 18" circumference circle with two layers of Dwarvish writing.
The first layer read: "YORK & BARRELBORN" with a Dwarven calendar year of -259 years from the present.
The second layer read: "PRESS DEEP; WIDDERSHINS ONCE; SUNWISE TWICE."
In the middle, an impression in the stone accommodating the brass key - a crossed ax and pick.
The fight continued! As soon as one spider was killed, another would fall from the nest and take its place. There were spells, daggers, arrows, axes ... spider blood everywhere! Bodies piling up! But the party needed to get inside quick lest they become outnumbered.
Finally, Tam was able to pass her STR check, press deep, turn counterclockwise once, and clockwise twice. With a huge crash and heave, the door slowly lifted, exposing a room within. The 80' room had two rams heads carved of stone, facing a rail system for mine carts at a lower elevation than a platform that ran in the middle of the room. Party members dashed inside while Gorbash guarded the entrance, swinging at every spider that would try to enter.
At the end of the room was another large door and - this time - the key and lock mechanisms were separate. One to the right on the floor, and, across the other side of the platform, one to the left. One key hole was for the ax; the other for the pick. Their instructions were counter to one another: "PRESS DEEP; WIDDERSHINS TWICE; SUNWISE ONCE," and, "PRESS DEEP; SUNWISE TWICE, WIDDERSHINS ONCE."
Elan was knocked unconscious and dragged to safety; spiders learned that they could crawl above Gorbash to get inside! The party fought off advancing spiders as Tamroohk and Llewellyn attempted to activate the lock on Tamroohk's initiative. Both player characters needed to pass a STR check to depress the lock, and - for three rounds! - both PC's alternatively failed their checks, as spiders continued to advance.
Finally! On the fourth round, Elan - revived - and Tam passed their STR check, depressed their locks, and rotated the keys opposite of each other at exactly the same time. The large inner door opened and the outer door closed!
Inside, the party stared into the dark vastness of the mine, feeling warm stuffy air, and meeting an enormous set of stairs leading into the darkness.
And with that, we'll rejoin the party in the evening of the 9th of Bearguard, Rose: 47, at the entrance of the York & Barrelborn mine; wounded, sore, and about to embark on a grand adventure!
R
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