The next day, Spiritmonth the 10th, we awoke early and discussed our options for the rainy day. We were NOT going to travel back to Erylond for now as it was a long trip at this point and Hjalgrim needed the rest, so our earliest departure date would be the 11th. Instead we went back to the map Darius had been crafting and looked at it in depth. There was some information about heading to get the Chime somewhere near Entrance Two, and we knew which corridor we had to travel down to get to the correct Glyph Gate.
We decided that just before 12 when the entrances would shift correctly in our favor again, we would head into the Terror Dungeon and find the gate, getting the Chime if possible. Since Hjalgrim was out of the possibility of entering and Percy was going to administer to him, Brading offered to come with us so we would have a full complement of people to enter and explore.
It was Marketday and even though it was raining, Lord Corface Bork always allowed 4 hours of trading and bartering between 8 and 12 for those who came to sell their wares. We wanted the chance to get some more oil and before all that, Gryg and Negan needed their armor fixed and maybe some new shields as well.
We spent almost 2 and a half hours getting the scale and studded leather armor repaired, bought some clothes, oil, new shields, replacement weapons, and other needed supplies before we would chance another trip into the Dungeon. The fixed armor wasn’t new by any sense of the matter, but it was less likely to fall apart during combat especially since we knew Ogres were close to the area we were heading into.
It was 11:45 when the group of us returned to the Terror Dungeon and descended to the gloomy depths. The smells were foul and the room we were in was the same we had seen before – 4 obvious ways out of the chamber, two of them with archways of stone – one appearing to be a Ogre’s mouth, the other looking like a series of swords and daggers.
With 2 torches lit, Sybil went to look over the western of the two northern exits – the one with the Ogre’s Mouth carving. The archway of stone was just that – mere stone and the paint had been applied in the past and thick, giving it that monstrous look. Beyond it the hallway had painting on both sides showing some larger creatures eating smaller creatures but the paintings had been faded and chipped over time.
We proceeded with care until we arrived at a portcullis in the down position, braced about a foot and a half off the floor by a pair of heavy stones. Beyond it there was a side corridor to the right and the main passage continued north unabated. The chains ran on both sides of the portcullis and could be used to lift and lower the very heavy gate (we estimated a couple hundred pounds) but the amount of wear and rust also let us know to do so would risk making too much noise.
So we discussed options for a bit and decided on Brading hitting the area with a silence spell, the party lifting the gate, Connal chaining it in place, and Sybil inching ahead past the limit of the spell and seeing if she could hear anything else in the distance.
The plan worked without issue and Sybil did note that the side corridor to the east led to some chamber with some broken furnishings in it and BEYOND that, the distant sounds of Ogrish voices.
All together again, we made our way with care and silence beyond the side passage and further for another 20 or so paces until the passage “T’d” to the east and west, just past an area where dripping water was filling slowly from a crack in the ceiling and staining the floor of the dungeon.
At the “T”, to the right was gloom and darkness and somewhere beyond all that, a lone slow-burn torch. To the left the passage went off for 40 odd feet and ended at a doorway. We discussed it and decided the Glyph Gate might be to the left and went in that direction.
Our estimation was correct. There was a door here, 8’ tall, 4’ wide. Atop the lintel was an oversized red glassine gem with 4 pairs of “radiant lines” chiseled next to it and then with some writing around it, and the middle of the door (which had no handles or knobs) had a raised section where numerous hand and finger prints marred its surface. The writing (in whatever language the reader felt comfortable with) read “The Eddas Major Count of High Ones, Less Frigga’s Doomed Blessed Son. Composed of zincs and composed of coppers, Forges horns and bits and stoppers.”
The gem glowed bright and a ripple passed through the air as the radiant lines flashed white – and the bits in Connal’s hand faded away – and then the ripple shot down the hall as the radiant lines each grew brighter until it hit the corner where the party was and went past – but enough of the rippling distortion hit Sybil and Gryg, and all their brass bits in their pouch faded away as well.
BUT – the door opened and we all came down the hall quickly and made our way through while the gem seemed to be losing brightness from the top down in a steady pace – we guessed a count of 100 and then it would go out. Once everyone was inside the room beyond the glyph gate the light did indeed fade and the door shut. There was a handle to open it from this end so we assumed we weren’t trapped in here.
The room was huge, 50 by 30, dominated by a large brass and clockwork machine some 7’ tall, 30’ long and 8’ wide. A series of oversized chimes were firmly mounted to the center of the machine, the chimes being 6’ in height. There were broken bits of swords and daggers, spikes, and chewed up rocks as if someone in the past had tried to stop the gears in the machine from turning – the machine was currently dormant but had many open places and pinch points that a person no prepared could accidentally lose a finger or limb in the machine.
At the base of the machine on the east side were 3 large stone blocks, 2’x 3’, each with a carved letter emblazoned on the front: C, E, and A. The south side of the machine had 3 different apertures – the leftmost one had a spindle where wire would be wrapped around the center post and fed into the machine. The next had a pair of clamps that would hold something in place; currently the clamps had wood splinters only along the edges. And the last aperture had a receiving plate where something would be placed but was currently empty.
Finally on the south wall were 4 5’ tall clockwork looking gnomes composed of brass and other metals, faint light glowing from within them and some heat emanating as well. There were scrapes on the floor near their feet letting us know they did move at some point but for now were dormant.
No other doors in or out of the room. We decided to not fuck with the machine or gnomes at this time and after giving the place a once over, looked carefully for secret doors. And our search paid off as we could find THREE different exits from this chamber, one on the east wall, two on the west. But no amount of pushing, prodding, or anything had them budge.
So we went back to the machine and gingerly touched it. And all 4 gnomes become noisy and animated and stepped away from the wall. They pointed to the left most aperture and said in unison “Brass. Why. Her.” And then repeated it. The group mulled it over and deduced it was “Brass wire”. But we had none.
However on the north wall, a trough of stone had opened in the wall about 3’ off the ground, 10’ long. A trough big enough to lay something against it. The group went back to the stone tablets and sure enough, we could stack all 3 of them in place here against the wall like tiles. The thought was to try and match the cadence of the gnomes speech pattern and the party laid them out C, then A, and then E.
The gnomes all vented heat and steam with made the chamber warmer and a bit more moist for now. Then repeated themselves from earlier “Brass Wire” but this time added the words, “First Rate” right after.
With no venting in the room, the steam and heat had nowhere to go so we knew we could only made a small number of mistakes before the chamber grew too warm for us to work in. Looking at the letters we decided to change the order of them to A, C, E – Ace – something first rate.
And our guess was correct. The door all the way on the eastern wall opened up revealing the chamber beyond. Just on the inside of the door was the remains of a humanoid and a large chest; everything had been well chewed and splintered, leaving nothing of value behind. Past that the chamber was 20’ square with a molten pool in the center of the room of brass. An extrusion hand wheel was positioned around the pool, close enough to be hot and skim the top of the pool. A trough would lead the molten yet cooling metal down to a waiting spindle that would rotate and spiral up as the wheel circled the pool. It would take a slow, dexterous, and steady hand to operate this.
However, there was also a 400# clockwork mastiff in the corner with smoke and steam coming from its many orifices, watching the party. We discussed our options and came up with a working plan. Gryg and Sybil would be on sling and crossbow duties, Negan was going to hold the door open with his body. Dizzy and Brading were on spell duties for either healing or whatnot, and it would be Connal walking the wheel and extrusion machine around – with everyone watching the mastiff to see if it did ANYTHING.
It took a bit of doing before he realized how slow he had to walk before the brass wire cooled properly to firm up and adhere to the spiraling spindle. The Mastiff watched him as he walked SLOWLY around the pool and the wire amassed on the spindle. It was at the end of his 2nd circle when we had about 60’ of wire that the Mastiff began to growl and steam was venting from its opened mouth. He stopped and the molten metal separated the wire from the spindle. He picked it up carefully and watching the mastiff, walked out of the room and the door was closed behind.
Going to the machine at the first section of the receptacles was a similar spindle and the 4 gnomes were pointing at it. So he placed the coil of brass on the spindle and it whirred to life and a piece of it fed into the machine and then we heard a CLUNK. Dropping out of the east side of the machine was another stone tablet – this one with the letter “V” on it. As soon as we noted it, the trough on the north wall slid into the stone, dropping the other three tablets there, before popping back out, this time about 11’ wide.
Sybil noted that the A, C, E, and V all spelt Cave so we touched the machine again and the gnomes all pointed at the north wall and said, “Wood…Han…Dell.”
Wood Handle. Got it. A 2nd touch and placing of a single stone had them repeat the next step and this time add “Hollow” to their litany. Good job Sybil, Cave made sense.
We added the tablets to the wall until Cave was spelt and there was a crackling of stone and the secret door on the west wall opened. It was a larger room and the reek of rotting growth was strong. We peered in to see an oversized creature perhaps 10’ around like a melting chimera of dozens of types of beings moaning and sobbing. A carbuncle of wooden growth was on its back, patterned zebrawood, that showed numerous hacks and chunks had been carved out of it. But the piteous figure on the floor flailed its seemingly useless limbs about and cried with almost identifiable words through it dozens of ragged, twisted mouths.
And the gnomes pointed into the room and repeated, “Wood…Han…Dell.”
Great.
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