Val Kormin

Val Kormin was an Old Imperial city in northern Orkay. It was destroyed about a thousand years ago and now serves as the ruins standing above some subterranean chambers, and below them the Underdark.
==History==
Val Kormin was once an extremely wealthy city during the days of the Old Empire, and for a time after the Empire disbanded. The city was destroyed during the years of civil war in Orkay, and its lore was forgotten. The city had been famous for its love of games and beauty, and fountains and plazas once littered the streets. Once the people of the city fled after years of conflict, the city fell into disrepair and eventually became occupied by a clan of orcs. The orcs were soon surprised and wiped out from below by an attack by drow, as the caverns had broken through to the Underdark. The leader of the drow has changed from time to time, but they usually keep a presence in the caverns below the city. In recent years, the king of these surface drow had been a powerful wizard, and he governed a village called Khul Drasta. A colony of dwarves also occupied these ruins, but further west, in the underground village of Vandheim.
==Residents of Val Kormin==
When the party first arrived, the following residents were found in or near Val Kormin:
*Malavord, the former king of the drow in Khul Drasta.
*Krueger, a neutral half-orc mercenary, who lived in the northern ruins with his men.
*Rajhinn, a mysterious oni who left the ruins as the party entered.
*Tarnish, a kobold sorcerer who occupied a cavern with two other kobolds.
*Hodd Highshield, the leader of the dwarves of Vandheim.
*A drow rogue, who accompanied Malavord.
*A drow warrior, who accompanied Malavord.
There were also a number of unnamed factions within the caverns.
*Cave trolls, which were defeated after heavy combat.
*Mind flayers, which were dead when the party found them.
*Three ettins, who were spared by the party after defeat but later killed by Tarnish.
*A black dragon, which the Vandheim dwarves had already killed.
==In the Campaign==
The party ventured into the ruins alongside reformed bounty hunter Jack Morgan and the goblin Backbiter to claim a bounty of 15,000 gold coins on the head of Malavord the drow. They made their way past Krueger, Rajhinn and the ettins (and Viserys duelled with the kobold Tarnish) and eventually made their way to the dwarf town of Vandheim. Here, the leader Hodd Highshield spoke privately to Iskander concerning the creation of dwarven firearms by Jerold Dace. However, Hanu and Viserys seperately broke into the keep and stole some of the designs and gun prototypes, although Viserys was detected. Hanu went on to sell to these to several world leaders, and Viserys used them to provide armaments for his fortress.
The party solved a riddle which had plagued them for some time, and were rewarded with hidden gold:
"Here we stand as armies four, we guard the drow king's ancient lore
For love and work and wealth and war, we know what's worth fighting for."
The answer was a pack of cards, and they discovered a golem control rod, which led to the initiation of the first inter-party conflict, of which there would be many. The party finally broke through Khul Drasta and executed Malavord and his allies, claiming his gold, Crown of Glory, and Gloves of the Spider. They also stole the golems from the drow, one of which guards Redbeard Estate, one of which guards Alessandri Estate, and one of which guards Koboldova.
Category:Adventure Sites
Category:Ruins