Session Twenty Six

The twenty sixth session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on the 16th May 2022.

## Party Members Present

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

## Synopsis

### This is no mine!

#### Exploring the tomb

The tomb we found ourselves in was very large with multiple levels. Each levelhad many dwarfen tombs on them. The tombs were essentially solid blocks of stone. About the tombs were inscriptions with prayers to Gazul, protecting the souls of the dead. One inscription also said that this was the first tomb of Karak Izril, making them very old indeed. There were clan markings on the surrounding walls that matched some of the markings on the tombs themselves. Snorri wondered if there were any Forgekeeper tombs and thought that the most likely place for such important tombs to be was the lowest level. As we headed down, we noticed that there were no other entrances to this place other than the one that we came through. As we went down, we came across some Silverscar tombs. What was more, some of the incriptions of Gazul had been damaged - somone had tried to smash them.

#### Forgekeeper Tombs

At the bottom we found what we were looking for: the resting place of Snorri and Brandr's glorious Forgekeeper ancestors. There were 12 Forgekeeper tombs in total, including that of one Dari Svensson. However, here, the inscriptions were even more damaged than anywhere else - someone had taken great effort to smash every single one. From the look of the stone, SNorri thought the smashing had taken place recently - about 50 years ago. But who would do such a thing? The answer came to the party almost immediately. Many weeks ago, at a drinking session in the Inn Way Too Deep, Brandr and Snorri had begun talking to one Reinhardt Bormann. Since then, of course, Reinhardt had become great friends with the group and had even fought nobly alongside us. However, on that first meeting, Reinhardt had mentioned that undead roamed the Ruins. We surmised, then, that a Necromancer lurked below. Perhaps it was this same Necromancer who destoryed the prayers to Gazul. Necromancers would, after all, hate anything that *protected* the sanctity of the dead (disgusting defilers that they are). Surely there was a space in the Book of Grudges for the Necromancer who did this to a glorious Forgekeeper tomb. The Professor examined the broken inscriptions for any residues of magic - he felt nought but a sense of revulsion. There were other tombs on this lower level alongside the Forgekeeper graves. Four other clan were represented: Clan Rorganson, a clan with a symbol very similar to that of the Skalfsons, and a clan symbol that neither Snorri nor Brandr recognised. We decided to head back to Fort Vikram and talk to Vikram about the tombs. Vikram confirmed that it was the first tomb to be built in the hold. Usually tombs were built at the bottom of the hold, but those who built the hold needed a place to rest their dead. We told him of the defiling of the inscriptions and he was enraged. He said that it did make sense that they were 50 years old as undead activity had been increasing in the Ruins over the past 100 years.

### Goblin Tracks

#### Hanging Around

Putting our disgust at the Necromancer behind us, we decided to focus onthe job at hand: finding a way down to the fourth level, dealing with gas down there, and finding cool loot. The only other lead we had was the tracks of the greenskins we had slain two days previously - surely they had someway of travelling between levels. We headed back to the Orc camp and Rel soon found drag marks and very large footprints. The tracks led to a narrow passage and there were bits of ragged black cloth caught on the rocks, suggesting Yellow Moon Night Goblins. Approaching a corner, we heard a sobbing and thought 'for fuck's sake, Wurogg's only gone and blown himself up again.' However, as we proceeded forewards, we saw a human in a net attached to the ceilng. Rel went to cut him down but stepped on another rope, sending her flying into the air to join the hanging man. After a chortle, Snorri cut them both down.

#### Horst the...

Before we could question the man, Aleski heard a noise behind him and turned to see two goblins who immediately scarper. Aleksi gave chase and just as he was about to catch them, they scrabbled into a nook in the wall and escaped down a tiny passage too small for us to follow. After this, we questioned the man. He told us his name was Horst and that he was from Deadgate (his father didn't approve of surnames). We took the piss out of him for crying and not having a name. He said that his friends had also been caught in the trap and that the goblins had carried them away. Ahah! we thought - there must be trails from these goblins carrying humans! We gave Horst a small dagger and told him to come with us. We followed the goblins' tracks and they led us down a passage. THe passage led to the storeroom of an old clan hold, but any markings had been scratched away. There were the remains of many wagons. We passed througha few more rooms of the hold and entered another rocky tunnel. This tunnel went steeply down and Snorri nearly kicked a bunch of stones downwards. Finally, we came to a cave.

### Another bloody fight

#### It's a trap!

We crept forward into the cave with Snorri leading the way. Horst was trembling with fright. We crept up to a stalagmite and then suddenly a net was thrown over Snorri. Arrows flew from out of the darkness: one seemed to suddenly divide into two, hitting Snorri in the arm and severly injuring him. Arrows continued to whistle by as we struggled to find their source. Callisri charged northwards and out of sight whilst Horst stepped forward to remove the net from Snorri. The fight was long and bloody - the goblins were lucky with their shots and there were many of them. However, we had a secret weapon: Horst Goblin Bane! The weeping man had found his name. Horst hewed down goblin after goblin with his small knife, leaving his fear behind him. After the fight, we stood about, out of breath, covered in goblin blood and our own.

#### Bonk

Though the battle was won, we still could not find Horst's friends. A passage led us to another cave. This cave was huge and as we looked around the corner, we could see that it was filled with night goblins. They all wore the black robes with yellow moons. Their leader wore a large red hat. But then we saw it - the monstrosity - an enormous squig called Bonk. As we looked on, we saw a pair of human legs disappear into its mouth. Terror set into us and and Snorri prematurely discharged his pistol at the beast, bringing all focus onto the party. We didn't hang around to see what they wanted - we legged it back to Fort Vikram. At least we found out the fate of Horst's friends.

#### To War!

Back at Fort Vikram, we breathlessly told Vikram what we had seen - naturally, he was dismayed. This would call for more dwarfs. He sent of some of his sons to bring down some reinforcements while we rested, fixed our wrent armour, and healed our injuries with partial success. In the morning, we would fight.