Session Fifty Six

The fifty sixth session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on 3rd October 2023.

## Party Members Present

* Brandr Sigurdson
* Snorri Morgrimson
* Relnwe Adiath
* Professor Meino Osterhaus (late)
* Aleksi Lehtonen

## Synopsis

### Odds and Ends

After returning to Deadgate, we all had lots of little jobs to do. While we were away, Ranulf had managed to dig down rather far under the basement of Our House. He had first reached a natural cavern and then had dug down further, reaching the top of a dwarfen made tunnel on the second level of the Ruins. Snorri also went to sell off the knowledge of the sapphire mines we found in the Ruins. He met with Runa Rangrsdotr in the Miner's Bounty and they made a preliminary deal for 90GC in return for guidance to the mine.

### An Audience with the King

#### Breakfast

The day after the victory party in the Keep, we went for our private audience with the King. We polished our armour and headed up to Skalf's Hold and were brought into the great hall of the Keep. There, the king sat on his throne, with his two councellors, Furagrim and Balakina to his left and right. A table had been set up before the dais with space for ten. As we walked in, we were joined by Durak and Thane Rorgunson. The king welcomed us and invited us to sit. Breakfast and breakfast ale were brought.

#### The Business Beyond the Hold

As we ate, the King asked us about the outside world, beyond the hold, from whence we had just come. We told him of our adventures in the Badlands. He also asked Brandr about the waystones. We said that they ought to keep an eye on the waystone network in the Rivet and suggested resettling Umkar to do so. The King wanted Brandr to impart what he knew of the magic of the waystones to the Damirsons.

#### The Skalfson debt to the Forgekeepers

The King then said that the hold owes us a debt for our valiant actions in the Badlands against the beastmen. He talked of Skalf and the Skalfsons and said that they feltgreat shame that they had not conquored Karak Azgal proper. It was for that reason that they did not take the original name of their clan, the clan of the Kings of Karak Izril, Glimmerhearth. Only when they reconquor the hold will they retake that name. Then, Balakina handed the King a scroll. He handed it to us with his gratitude. On the scroll was a signed declaration of the king that stating that Brandr and Snorri’s party had free passage into the hold for two months. We were also be allowed to use the King’s Entrance under the keep. He then brought out another scroll - upon it was a suggested pact between the Skalfsons and the Forgekeepers, a pact stating that we would work together to endeavor to reclaim the home that we had lost: Karak Izril. He asked that, together with Vikram (who saved the King's life), we would continue our forays into the Ruins and rid it of the evil that resided there. Thereafter, we ate our fill of breakfast and drank our fill of breakfast ale.

### Diddling in Deadgate

#### Gunter's Journal

After breakfast with the king, we returned to Our House to discuss our next moves. Having rescued Nikolai, we could turn our full attention to Flame-Head - that cretinous warlock who attacked Vikram. After thinking long and hard about an approach we could take, Snorri remembered that, many moons ago, we had come across the journal of a man who we thought was selling Flame-Head magic items. He was a bandit by the name of Gunter, and we had killed him in the Ruins. The journal, however, had remained in the Professor's possesion (i.e. his pile of dirty washing in his room) and in the heat of recent events, we had quite forgotten of its existance. The Professor then produced the journal and we saw that it was written in a codified version of the Classical language. Fortunately for us, it could be somewhat deciphered by both Rel and the Professor. It spoke of a drop-off point somewhere in near the Pit of Blood in Deadgate. This was a lead, a cold one, but a lead nonetheless. We then quickly concocted a plan: the Professor would take on the image of Gunter, and with Rel and Aleksi in disguise, they would make a grand return to Deadgate and see if any worms squirmed out of the woodwork. Meanwhile, the dwarfs would wait at the Crystal Palace.

#### Stevran

The Professor took on the image of Gunter and went with Rel and Aleksi, disguised as two Tileans, Che and Guevara, to the Ice Maiden. They burst in loudly and went to take a seat. It wasn't long before Aleksi noticed a man staring at them. Before long, he came over and said he was shocked to see Gunter - he was presumed dead. The Professor said that he (Gunter) had just been lost in the Ruins for months. The man said that he was still holding onto Gunter's things as he had been asked - the rocks. He'd had them hidden near the arena. By introducing herself as Che, Rel found out the man's name was Stevran. Stevran led them to a side street near the Pit of Blood. There, he revealed a small cavity hidden in the brickwork of one of the buildings from which he pulled a bag and pressed it into the Professor's hands. It contained various gems and one stone of great interest: a glowing red stone. A Stone of Power. This was what Gunter was trying to sell to Flame-Head. At that Stevran bid them farewell and to find him at his mother's house near the Cavernous Cask if they needed him. Then the Professor cast a spell on the magic stone, making it look mundane.

#### At the Crystal Palace

The party reconvened at the Crystal Palace, where the dwarfs were waiting. The Professor shed his magical disguise a Gunter in the loos and we discussed what had happened. We talked quietly under the cover of the loud music and other entertainments and we decided that the Professor would try the Gunter disguise in Skalf's Hold to see what he could turn up. Meanwhile, the Dwarfs would go to the Dragon's Eye in Skalf's Hold, a place that Thane Furagrim Kazorson was known to drink, and try and get some information about the Meanest Dwarf from him.

#### At the Dragon's Eye

The dwarfs left first and went up to Skalf's Hold. There they found Furagrim with a crowd of Lawbringers, boasting about the size of his hammer (which was very big). He invited us to pull up a chair and Brandr asked for a private conversation. The table was quickly cleared of the other lawbringers and Brandr and Snorri had the thane's hairy ears. We asked if he knew anything of Flame-Head and he said that he had heard only rumours from Vikram. He believed there was a place more lawless than Deadgate where his type lived, although he did not know where. Then we asked of Harlok Balgorson AKA the Meanest Dwarf. He told us that the Lawbringers suffer his presence, as any criminal underworld is. However, if they had more evidence, they would surely prosecute. He said that we should work with his lieutenant, Brokk Svenson. He said Brokk would contact us. Then Brandr fawned over Furagrim's hammer, called Judge.

### Flames Over Deadgate

#### Beserker in the Streets, Beserker in the Sheets

Meanwhile, in Deadgate, the Professor re-disguised himself as Gunter and, with Rel and Aleksi, they set off to see what else they could find out. On their way down a quiet street in Deadgate, however, their path was blocked by a man standing still. Only the Professor could see a roaring magical fire in his eyes and around his head. Then, the man suddenly charged at them, his face contorted in rage. Behind his eyes was no human mind, only pure anger. He pulled a sword and went straight at the Professor. Aleksi threw his rockworm acid in he man's eyes, melting flesh, but the man kept attacking.The Professor then pulled out his special, single use Shadow Dagger, meant only for Flame-Head, and stabbed the man. To the Professor's eyes, the man's flames were immediate extinguished. To everyone else, the man quit his frenzy and fell to the floor screaming in pain from his stab wounds and acid corrosion. Rel quickly put him out of his misery. She then checked his pockets, but found nothing of note - he seemed to be but a normal denizen of Deadgate.

#### Red Magic in the Sky

Up ahead, they heard more voices from the end of an alley, so they decided to turn tail and run. At that moment, the Professor suddenly gained perfect clarity of magical sense and for a brief moment, he saw the ethereal world and all the colours of magic. However, he also saw streams of red magical energy flowing form somewhere in Skalf's Hold. The red streams sought out and touched another person on the street and, suddenly, that person was engulfed in flames like the first. He turned on them, drew an axe, and charged. Rel and Aleksi tried to hold him back, the Professor tried to put him to sleep, but a strong and distant willpower kept the enraged man going. As they fought, the Professor saw yet another red stream of magic fly down and hit another person. The Professor then tried to dispel the magic, but his intricate chess moves were defeated. Aleksi then tapped a new medallion that he had on his chest, and he was propelled forward at the assailant with the force of a chariot. He let out a loud, high pitched squeal and caved in the man's chest. He fell to the floor, defeated. At that, Rel, Aleksi, and the Professor fled for their lives. As they ran, the Professor saw more streaks of light come flashing down. There was a beserker hot on their heels. A couple of passers by tried to interrupt the beserker and he set on them, then soon a large crowd of people, the proud citizens of Deadgate caught, on to the commotion and brought down the assailants. Just then, the Professor noticed the spell he had cast on the new red stone of power begin to fade and t5he red streaks of magic came no more from Skalf's Hold. Clearly this was the work of a powerful sorcerer. It had to be flame-head himself. He was after the stones of power and the Professor's magic spell had alerted him of its presence. These beserkers seemed to be his magically-controlled minions - the very same that had attacked Vikram in the ruins. The campaign to bring down Flame-Head, this evil warlock, had begun.