Once the room was back in order, Hiawatha and Hastez (and Glooskap!) went with us out of the dormitories, through the waters of the 3rd level, and then up the collapsed stairs. We made our way over to the steps where Hastez had a conversation with his Ve’Estan. As soon as they hear ANY noise from above, play their belly drums loud! This will deter Hastel, the Red Warrior, from coming to investigate.
We led our group up the steps and over the gaps, making our way ever upward until we were back on the top floor. From here Shim, Dizzy, and Wilhelm went over the lift machine again, making sure we still knew how to work it. Some wood was gathered and Connal went down to the rungs and then up to the machine itself. The fire box was mostly ash, maybe 15 pounds of wood. The pilot light was still lit. And the water tank was hard to tell – less than half full? The thought was that Hastez could heat up the boiler with his hands so we could get the elevator back up to the top. And then we could do like we did before with the water elemental.
But according to the fill dial, the tank was not quite out of the red – pressure to work the main dwarven spiral gear would not be high enough. So we all brought our water skins over and Connal filled the reservoir with them – getting it CLOSE – but not enough. So Hastez held his hands up and concentrated…making it rain! A pounding warm summer rain fell all around the area and Connal used his cloak to act as a funnel, forcing the rain into the fill tank – and getting the boiler tank just into the green mark of the dwarven dial.
The Black Warrior was exhausted from his display of divine magic, but was excited for being a part of this. Getting the green light from Wilhelm, Hastez placed his hands on the metal boiler and HEATED it up with his touch. The water inside quickly grew hot and the whistle began to steam. Wilhelm started the lift and then with the engine running, manipulated the lift controls to get it to rise. On pushing the speed level higher though, he did forget about the blowback, and the lift boiler gave a loud BANG – and a 9’ gout of flame shot out scoring the two men. Hastez stood there and smiled as the flames coursed over him, but Connal had to JUMP, evading the worst of the fire and perched up on the machine’s top cowling.
As soon as the elevator came closer and closer, Wilhelm slowed the machine down and eventually engaged the brakes, locking it in place. The boiler was now about a quarter filled and the metal was cherry red for a bit until it eventually cooled off. The god and the monk jumped onto the lift and Connal pulled the platform out from the bottom of the lift. Meanwhile Dizzy and Wilhelm worked the controls and bounced and lifted the gantry until it finally slipped out from the wall and extended enough to bridge to the lift from this side.
All over here now, we had gathered some 100#’s of broken wood and Shim attempted to write a scroll. Needing more water, Connal and Hiawatha went down to the 2nd level and filled up the 5 water skins at the water from the bridge. The Native Hero’s presence kept the water babies at bay, allowing them to gather the needed resources without issue. From there they went back to the top floor and placing 2 of them in the middle of the loading area, Dizzy and Wilhelm cast Create water. As the water spread, 20 gallon pooling out, Dizzy cast it again and Wilhelm cast Animate water. It all gathered together into a 4’ tall fat bipedal form.
He guided it over the gantry and to the platform and then to the machine where he had it flow up to the fill pipe and then slowly pour itself into the boiler. We were now very much in the green.
Everyone got in position, Hastez and Wilhelm staying up at the machine controls. The druid then turned it on and sent it down the almost300’ to the 4th floor. When the smoke got too much, Hastez inhaled it. And when it was safely down, the fire god inhaled the flames from across the way and extinguished the fire box. Once off the lift, the group called out Hastezilini’s name and the Black Warrior grabbed Wilhelm and the 2 of them portalled down to the 4th floor.
The area here as a fucking mess. We had come from Shedaklah not too long ago and this was very much like that. Foul, feculent, mushrooms and slime and oozing stink everywhere. Also, unlike our Vision quest, the cave was filled with phosphorous fungi and lichen on the ceilings, giving it an otherworldly glow. The cables were also only dimly lit, visible in the half mile gloom of the cave but only just barely. Hastez also let us know about the strange feeling down here.
There was a 500 foot triangular platform of stone here with a dwarven compound on the north end. Three main trunks led off of the main platform to other landings where those keeps were. And from there they went off again into the gloom and down – but sunk into and under the water. This meant just under 20 of the platforms were out in the water and below the surface.
And no divine being can get off the platform. If they do, their divinity seems to be sapped. None of the gods have dared it. Only Thunderbird. He was the strongest of them all. Constantly looking for a way to get them all home. Jubilex makes his home in the maw above on the ceiling, a gathering of all the cables that go up into a nest of cables. He stays there for the most part, feeding on the residual energy before coming back down to the here to feed. It was during one of those times when the Faceless lord was at his strongest and Thunderbird was at his weakest that they fought and the great god fell from the sky and plummeted down to the water. According to Buffalo he rests near some gate to an Ahto, god of the seas from some pantheon. We don’t know which that it was. There is a compound to the north, so we decided to go there and check it out.
The door was still locked and the blast shutters were all in place. It looked like no one had been in here. Dizzy picked the lock and we looked in. Decent sized room, entrance area, some chairs. Signs for Offices, Meeting Room, and Record. And 4 dead dwarves here. Still had skin and hair, wearing rags. We entered and the first dwarf gasped and choked, hand out pointing to us. Then the next and the other 2. Damn it, ghouls! Dizzy called to Sif and turned them, and the ghouls all fled to the far end of the room, forced there but unable to get away.
So Shim shot a magic missile at 2 of them and damn it all to hell – they fell over dead! This spurred Hiawatha and Hastez to also throw projectiles, killing the last 2. Dizzy looked them over and assured us the dwarves were in such bad shape that even undead, they had only a few sparks of life. Still dangerous, but easily manageable.
We went to the offices first. Short hall, west door and north door, 2 more dwarf ghouls. We go west and find a conference style office table and chairs. Over 10 could sit here. There were signs on the walls (in dwarvish). Maxwell’s demon, work is the best reward, future is better when worked for. We then left and went to the next – a secretary’s office with the secretary here. Dead of course. Aaaand a ghoul. We killed her and looked around. Found a key to the next door and entered. Someone who ran this place, that’s who the office belonged to.
It was in pretty good condition, picture of Mt Gorok on the wall, some knicknacks and the like. Big desk. Just…no dwarf. No zombie. Placard said: High Thane of 3rd District (retired) Ralstrom Thermun Gorok, Ordained Nornian Threadbinder, General of the 2nd Gorokian Special Forces (Retired), Advisor to the Council of Thanes, Head and Master of Future Projects, Duke of Razors.
And where was he? Shim did a detect magic and we saw a single point, weak, on the wall with the Gorok picture and some real dormant but still possible ritual type on the opposite wall. We spent some time mulling it over and guessed it might be a portal of some sort. The place was supposed to be self contained, no one leaves ever. But this Ralstrom, had it seemed a back way to get out. And it was his name on that contract we saw in the vision quest with Asmodeus. Dizzy guessed that he might even still alive and probable ran away when the orcs hit the place, portalled back to Gorok. 144 years ago.
We then left and went to the meeting room, killed some ghouls, and then the records area. No ghouls here and there were 6 rooms on both sides of the hall – 41, 42, 43 and then the right was 44, 45, and 46. We went into 44 and looked about. 25’ deep, 10 wide,15’ tall, both sides lined with shelves to the ceiling. A rolling ladder on a track above allowing someone to get to any shelf either side. A mix of tomes, scrolls, folded pages, vellum, stone tablets, clay tablets, and other off things. Dizzy and Shim took some time to read them and it was some records that the researchers had noted a long time ago of getting portals open.
We guessed the numbers were the year in question the place had been keeping records. 6 years before it was overrun. Made sense. They went back to 41 and looked and it was mostly all stone bits and clay bits – no paper. All real old, like millennia old bits of legend. Kinslayer wars and dwarven combats. Legendary bits of ancient wisdom 1500, 2000 years old.
Thee went to the last rooms and it wasn’t full, likely the orcs had come and destroyed it during year 46. The missives talked about Ralstrom and the Randari getting some wind of this place. A traitor or spy on the Thane’s council. And each trip back to Gorok made it likely they’d be caught. Also, some notes about the entire set up being stable and not needing their support if they could get 30 gates in place. Something about the elves of Tilani and a frustration of the world tree.
We then went back and the two of them did a deeper dive into the older records and legends. Seems part of the genesis of this was the elves had a Lifetree, a huge 300 foot tall redwood/oak sort of Fey tree that was a descendant to their original home across the stars. And Tilani was unable to be broached. But a dwarven tactician named Oden had figured out a way to portal through the Astral plane, bypassing the elves defenses, and the Gorokian dwarven set a massive explosion at the Lifetree, crippling it and then it fell – a living natural embodiment of the elven home and culture. It demoralized them immediately and they lost the Kinslayer war, where they were subjugated to the dwarven empire for the next 300 years.
This. This bit of information was key to the entire Donnegarten Stronghold. And this Ralstrom was the chief researcher and architect of it all. Which eventually gave birth to the Terror Dungeon. And according to Shim, it will be ground zero for Ragnarok…or at least Fimbulwinter…very damned soon.
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