A Miner Threat: Coal Tidings

5th December 2022

## Adventurers Attending

* Uannos Farric
* Todon
* Maxwell
* Kalen

## Mission Notes

After being called to the guild meeting room our adventurers were met by Reginald Beefington having received a message via black goat from Mwondir Blackstone, dwarven leader of the coal mining village beyond Irilian close to The Dig. The mine had been shut, owing to monsters in the shadows. With the mine being shut it was disrupting coal supplies for the forges who produce weapons for the guards and guards without weapons, just means more work for the guild, so they were tasked with helping the dwarves get the mine running again.

After agreeing to travel to the village, they met Hamer outside with the guild wagon to take them there. On the way between Irilian and the Village the weather turned cold, with sleet in the air, a vision in the mist appeared of a large old man hunched in a cloak with sagged features, horns and tusks surrounded by minions who appeared to be carrying the storm with them. With Maxwell shouting to the creatures, they disappeared as quickly as they came with the weather returning to normal.

Arriving at the village strewn with firefly lights and emanating the low hum of horns and songs of mourning, they found the dwarves honouring their fallen on a stone plinth in the centre of the village.

‘Dwarves from stone were made – hammered in coal and flame – In the embers we all burn – and to the stone we all return’

After speaking to Mwondir, they discovered there were monsters in the shadows of the mine and that there were 6 dwarves unaccounted for in the mine. Pastir, the dwarves goat herder agreed to show our adventurers into the mine. Passing one of the goat coal carriers on the way into the mine, our adventurers failed to notice the goatherd speaking abyssal to his goats as they eventually came upon a dwarf slumped against the wall. Appearing dead they left the body before they were set upon by two shadows. It was at this stage Pastir turned on our adventurers owing to some curse and a fight began. Shooting arrows, bolts and swinging the odd mace or two, the shadows were sent back to rest and Pastir was dispatched with haste.

Venturing further into the mine our adventurers came across a room with dwarven statues, telling the story of how the dwarves were came to be made from stone by being hammered to life and form from the rock they mined by Moradin the creator of Dwarves. The room appearing a sanctuary seemed unaffected by the plight of the mine.

Heading further into the mine they found another slumped dwarf by a small box. With Uannos turning the crank handle on the box as it played its tune it revealed a yuletide fairy which bestowed temporary life upon our adventurers, it seems Uannos had indeed been nice this year. The group then stabilised the barely breathing dwarf and returned all the bodies to the sanctuary.

Again heading further into the mine they came across 4 black goats singing songs about black Phillip killing the lions while dancing round a pile of coal. Upon gaining the goats attention, the goats attempted to attack before being quickly dispatched. Upon being struck the goats exploded in a cloud of coal dust revealing their true form as dwarves. With black stockings tied around their neck it became apparent, that these stockings were responsible for turning the dwarves into goats and our adventurers began removing them from the dwarves necks, but not before a few turned back into goats again.

With the dwarves returned to life. They all returned to the sanctuary where the dwarves collected their brothers, before suggesting our adventurers made an offering to Moradin. With Maxwell placing her hand axe on the altar, Moradin's statue came to life and unleased his almighty hammer on the alter, cracking it to reveal 4 pieces of lucky mistletoe.

Knowing that all was still not well in the mine. Our adventurers made their last push to the lift, descending into the mine proper looking for the cause of the problems. Managing to sneak in quietly and undetected they found evil elves ferrying coal through a portal framed by a runic arch which featured a bauble symbol with a k within it at the crest of the arch. Looming over the arch was a lone Bulezau towering with goat like features and a pestilential aura seeming to be instructing the elves.

Uannos attempted to reason with and deceive the Bulezau by speaking to it in abyssal, finding that he merely alerted his foes to his presence. With combat started, the elves rushed to attack our adventurers, while the Bulezau set to to turning the runes on the arch from Blue to Orange. Between arrows and daggers the elves were pushed back while our adventurers took the high ground. But, it was the bolts from crossbows that struck the Bulezau that did the most damage, before Todon focused hard and loosed a final accurate bolt into the Bulezau's turning glance, impaling the bolt in its eye and finally downing the beast.

It was at this stage that the magical aura of Moradin appeared and with one swing of his almighty hammer dispatched the last of the elves and with another turned the portal from Blue to radiant white. Letting our adventurers know that they may use to the portal to return to the village when they were ready.

Looting the nearby worktables our adventurers returned through the portal as it collapsed to the village and celebrated the saving of the mine with the dwarves, who turned their horns from mourning to merriment, having had their remaining brothers returned from the mine.

## Loot

* 4 pieces of lucky mistletoe - one for each player - this is a custom item - this item is a one use item that allows you to reroll any attack roll, ability check or saving throw one time, but you must take the rerolled dice when you use it. Once used the item is consumed.
* 2 x Horn of the Miner's - these are custom items - they work identically to the Horn of Silent Alarm - except they only have 3 charges, once the charges have been used the Horn returns to being a normal horn that makes noise as a horn would and it is not able to regain its charges.
* 1 x Pipe of Remembrance
* 1 x Driftglobe
* 1 x set of woodcarvers tools
* 1 x set of smiths tools

## Rumours

* Who were the group in the snow storm, what connection did they have to the events in the mine if any?