After over a year's hiatus, we've restarted a twice monthly campaign centered in and around my version of Muntburg and the Dwimmermount. The Argent Flame, our previous adventuring party, is busily living down the accusations of demonic consortium and Chaos-worship. Accusations for the most part true.
Here is the FB post I put as a new hook:
Dwimmermount II
The Dwimmermount. For centuries, if not millenia, the massive mountain fortress loomed large across the realms of men. Famed first as a redoubt of the Red Elves of Areon, then the Zaharan Empire, and finally the wicked Termaxian sorceror-cult, the Dwimmermount was sealed under mysterious circumstances two centuries ago, and the Zaharan Empire fell to squabbling successor-states.
Almost six months ago, in Tensmonth of the year 214 After Zahar, the great "Red Doors" of the Dwimmermount were found to be open again for the first time in centuries. Strange lights and shadowy figures were seen moving up the carven stairs to the doorway, and furtive travelers, avoiding the frontier town of Muntburg, were observed on unknown errands to and from. Adventurers, already not uncommon along the frontier, began to flock to the ruins. The most famous group is the Argent Flame, a large band composed of many strange characters with many different goals.
Some of these goals, alas, proved inimical to civilization, and on the 21st of Thirdmonth four of the senior members of the Argent Flame, Whelan-Thiss of Irrun, Lydia the Doomspeaker, Rain Weatherbourne, and the knight known as Arthur fled the Muntburg compound. A trial, of sorts, was held to determine how much Chaos had infested the Argent Flame, and now they tread lightly through Adamas, worried that their rapid rise to fame and power have doomed them.
Thus, the Dwimmermount goes largely undelved in this Thirdmonth of 215 AZ, and adventurers hoping to emulate their success have begun to enter the fortress in search of fame and fortune.
The time has come for other tales to be told on Talis.
And thus, five new adventurers set forth into the Dwimmermount:
Gwenaria, a Neutral elf ranger interested in learning more about Areon.
Pendelton Reed, a Neutral mage with interests emulating Turms Termax- a knowledge of alchemy, astrology, and collegiate magic.
Phaedra, a short-haired, tomboyish Neutral fighter with a two handed sword.
Robin the Red, a Neutral assassin played by my wife. He's a pirate far from the sea.
Thomlin Dell, a Neutral fighter armed in Zaharan panoply, with plate mail, shield, throwing javelins, and sword.
Long ago, the Argent Flame established humankind's dominance over Level 1 once more, and bladedancers from the temple of Astarte and clerics from the Great Church reconsecrated shrines and had workers laboring to clean the floor. Some of them had even moved in.
Alas, when our new heroes arrived, the human residents were on the great stair outside the dungeon, tending their wounded. It seems a wizard by the name of Balthus entered the 'mount a week ago, asking strange questions of the Speaking Mask on the first floor (which in my campaign answers many questions on many topics.) Somehow, Balthus reanimated the dwarven statues (the inert dead) in the cemetery and these dwarven "deadstones" then fought a bloody path, pushing the living out. Brother Beoholdt, the only cleric to survive, vouched that turning the deadstones was difficult. Not that our party could do much about it anyway.
For homework (and to get their XP bonus), I am making my players do session reports. So I will let one retell what happened further in their own words:
Dearest father,
Having arrived safely in the Town of Montburg, I have acquired sufficient rooms at the local Inn. Whilest I was partaking of some ale and nourishment at the tavern, I overheard some humans talking about exploring the Dwimmermount, an ancient place first settled by the Red Elves of Aeron. Intrigued by the chance to explore such a place, learn more about the Red Elves and also gain the resources we need to restablish our honor back home, I asked if the two fighters, Pheadra and Tomlin, if they were in need of a tracker. They being new to town and eagar to obtain treasure as well, agreed to add me to there group.
The next morning we headed out, joined by a mage (Pendleton) and a pirate named Robin. Upon arrival at the Dwimmermount, we saw several people outside tending to some wounded workers. The cleric and bladedancer attending an extremely injured man warned that the place had been taken over by a man named Balthasar and he was raising the dwarven dead. Eager to assist them with ridding the Dwimmermount of such a terrible person, we set forth. As we opened the door, I spied something shuffling about at the back end of the room. It sounded like one of the undead dwarves based on the cleric's description. I was able to lodge an arrow in the mucky clay consistency but it was Tomlin's javelin that depensed the creature and turned it into a pile of stinking muck. The pirate found some jewelry tucked into the base of a statue before we moved forward with my torch lighting the way. In the first hallway, Tomlin busted down a door that had been bared with iron spikes. Inside we found a man hiding. Unable to get much information out of him, I offered to escort him safely to the main door. He reached the outside safely without incident and we continued exploring. In a room just off the one where he was hiding, Pheadra encountered a gelatinous cube and received some serious acid burns. Others did damage to the cube with their first hit but it was my arrow strong and true that turned the beast into a puddle of goo and more treasure was obtained within its acidic contents. In another room, there was a black pillar with some sort of runes that no one recognized. Nothing seemed to happen to the humans when they touched it but I had a bad feeling became very tired suddenly and very sad as it I didn't want to continue any longer. Fortunately we didn't, having discovered a room of workers and another cleric that had been murdered by the dwarven undead. We carried the bodies out and placed them by the doors so the order could attend to them before heading back to town.
I will continue to keep you informed of my adventures as best I can father.
Take care until we see each other again.
- Gwen
