Of all the party, V2Z4 did not need to train, at all. He considered simply going dormant until the party was done, but he finally decided to get a job. For a month, he worked as security for a pair of transport vessels, and even ran in to a group of hostile naga and had to defend the ship. When he was done, everyone was still training, so he decided to explore the island the port city was on. He hired a guide, but on the second day, the guide was mauled by bears.
He went to a local tavern to learn if there were any mines in the nearby isles, hoping to use the time to mine out some precious stones and make some coin. Todd, the barkeep, told him of a mine dug out by mountain dwarves, a week west of their island. He also tells him they abandoned it a year ago. Some say because it ran dry, others say because they found something that made them want to leave.
Back on the Dread Mist, where the party all came to to sleep every day, V2Z4 told this to Thourin Stonefist, whom was the closest to finishing his training. Sibyll Demier overheard, and said she would be interested in tagging along. They hatched a plan to wait for Sibyll to finish, charter a boat and se what riches they could find.
Once Thourin was available, they needed to kill three weeks before Sibyll finished her training. Thourin set himself up as an alchemist, being one himself. He managed to convince seven ship captains to invest in a large quantity of Greek Fire to defend their ships with. He spent the three weeks mixing Greek Fire and made a huge amount of coin. V2Z4 decided to sell his services as a bouncer, and made a little coin.
When Sibyll was ready to join them, Thourin used his newfound wealth to rent out a barge and her crew, and the trio set out to the mysterious mine. On their way, tey passed close to another isle, and harpies swooped over from their cliffs and perched themselves around the ship. They spoke a strange prophecy, "An ill wind blows at the mouth of the sea. All who enter shall not leave the same." Finally, they leave, and the trio scratch there heads at the meaning.
When they arrive, they find an old port that was built in to a cliff, and the entire island is one small mountain range. After taking a day in ritual, Thourin bond the earth to his will, and created an elevator of earth to take the party to the top of the cliff. They see the entrance to the mine easy enough, and down they go. The first room was a sort of check-in. The second room was a vast space, filled with abandoned tents and huts, clearly the area where the miners lived. Sibyll snooped around, while Thourin and V2Z4 looked for mine shafts. They found six, and Thourin was able to read the script the marked them, seeing how cave dwarf and mountain dwarf were not much different. They were labeled Site A, B, C, D, and E, and the last was labeled Treasure Room. The pair decided to check out the treasure room, naturally.
They followed the tunnel as it took a turn. V2Z4 had a touch, while Thourin could see just fine underground. They came to a section where the tunnel narrowed, and something reflected the torchlight. That something vibrated as they neared, and a transparent ooze started to move towards them. Thourin used hands of earth to try and stop its movement towards them, but it simply leaked out from the openings in the hand. V2Z4 ran past it to see what lie beyond, and found two more oozes, that start to move towards them. The first ooze enveloped the earth elemental, but the elemental managed to split the ooze in two, only to have the halves become two full oozes. They deiced to flee, and the oozes did not follow very far.
Thourin and V2Z4 met up with Sibyll, and they each decided to take a different mine shaft and see what they could see. V2Z4 took B, Sibyll C, and Thourin E. Thourin's earth elemental stops Thourin as he prepares to round a corner. He casts the spell of walking unseen and peaks around. He sees five hobgoblins, heavily armored and armed, standing over five kobolds, who appeared to be mining iron from the cavern wall. He recognizes that the hobgoblins bear a familiar mark: tattoos of a black skull.
He turns back and waits for the others, leaving the elemental to watch them. After half an hour, Sibyll turns around and heads back. V2Z4 does also, but gets lost. It takes almost an hour for the others to find him and for them to get out of Site B. They begin to a hatch a plan to dispose of the hobgoblins. V2Z4 suggests they use the oozes, but when Thourin approaches the oozes while under spell of walking unseen and they still were aware of him, they decided against it. They all are made unseen, and they make a plan. Thourin would great a twenty foot pit, forcing them to have to funnel around it, so they could fight only one or two at once. Sibyll would strike one with a sap, cutting down their numbers. They decided to put the plan in action.
They got in position. Thourin weaved his spell for ten minutes, still unseen. While they waited, they noticed one of them, whom they labeled the leader, tense up and his tattoos began to glow. It closed its eyes for a few minutes, and when the glowing faded, he spoke in goblin to his comrade, who simply nodded their heads. When he finally went to cast, the spell failed, and he was visible. Sibyll struck the nearest one, but his helmet was too thick. The earth elemental and V2Z4 just charged. When the fighting broke out, the kobolds fled deeper in to the mine. Thourin trapped two hobgoblins in hands of earth, one was slain, and the other two were knocked unconscious. They did away with all but the leader, and then they grilled him for answers.
They learned that Icurnas was an island (which I thought they had already discovered, but whatever), and that they appeared to be led by someone called the Icurnas Priest, a servant of the Abyssal Powers. They also learn that a legion of troops were on their way to the mine. Despite Sibyll tortuing him for more answers, they get nothing after three hours of questioning. A kobold pokes his head out from deeper within the cavern. He offers up all the information he knew. They learn that thousands of kobolds, having fled their island home after a volcanic eruption, were forced to work as slaves for a massive army of goblins, hobgoblins, and other things, all on the island of Icurnas. The island, itself, is a two week journey by see from the mine. The kobold also speaks goblin, and tells them the hobgoblin had told the others that their masters were pleased and that they were sending the legion of troops. Their last question was why the Icurnas soldiers needed to mine iron. The kobold says it is to make weapons and armor, having exhausted the resources and "black stone" of Icurnas. V2Z4 speculates that the black stone is obsidian, a volcanic rock used to forge black steel through the dark arts.
They ask for the kobold's name, and he says he is called One-nostril, or just Nostril for short. They invite him and join them, and he brings his friends. The five kobolds agree to follow the party, so long as they are fed and not mistreated. The trio and their new companions return to the barge with ten pounds of raw iron. They return to the port and tell the others all that happened. The trio get jobs around town, Thourin makes more Greek Fire for a few more ships. When Silvertooth Dreadwind was not training, he instructed the kobolds on how to man the ship, happy to have a real crew for a change. Kirin Drakos also found some work, as he finished over a month before Silvertooth and Elenya Lindale. After the fourth and a half months, it was now fall and they had to decided to what do next.
(Crap, I almost forgot! Here's a comic about last session, by Silenced Requiem!)
(Crap, I almost forgot! Here's a comic about last session, by Silenced Requiem!)
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