Bloodvault

The **Bloodvault** is a structure within the Forlorn Hills.

## Notable Characters

* Menegost
* Lumalea
* Callibretto
* Gallimar
* Vanzan
* Alumon
* Shadowy Figure

## Interactions

The Bloodvault is a structure that held the objective of Lord Garran and the duergars in Firehammer Hold.

It is suspected that something within the Bloodvault is the cause of the failing resurrection rituals.

The Golden Shield Company found another entrance into the Bloodvault within the Forlorn Hills that was a duergar digsite that contained an overseer's journal, some rations, bent and broken pickaxes, banners of Laduguer and twelve wooden stakes.

Entering through the duergar's digsite, they found themselves within the Golemancer Labs.

### Dark Great Iron Doors

The Golden Shield Company came across dark great iron double doors that had eight slots, of which some glowed a red similar to the red gates encountered before. The slots were arranged in two rows which had the following corresponding text from left to right, and first row before second row:

* Beast Pens (lit)
* Arcana Domain (lit)
* Astraplanar Sanctum (lit)
* Hoplology Forge
* Hemomancy Laboratory (lit)
* Golem Pen (lit)
* Zoo Menagerie
* Soul Vaults

## Overseer's Journal

*[Entry #1 to #11 details the overseers preparations in making the camps and mentioning the progress of the duergar’s treachery as well as Garran’s movements. Garran lost half his army in the first battle to a single vampire who created an arcane maelstrom before Garran incapacitated the vampire himself, where it quickly turned to mist and fled back into the vault. In Entry #7 the overseer talks about hitting stone. Entry #8 to #11 talks about their progress against the enchanted stone walls of the vault]*

**Entry #12**

Finally broke through these damn stones. Couldn’t use any of our enchanted gear going through as it would render them inert as soon as they touch the stones so we had to resort to good ol’ elbowgrease and duergar picks.

While the Dreadlord is locked in a standstill with the bloodbeasts and vampires, this secret entry should help us in claiming these cursed vaults first so that we can open the portal for our master, Gilndark, to rematerialize again.

We sent the fodder down through the hole. All they could get was a yell of death. Not sure what’s down there, but now we’re gonna wait for our more blessed brethrens to brave the hole first.

*[Entry #13 - #16 details the overseer’s anxiousness while waiting for the reinforcements. The overseer writes that the dreadlord broke through the vampires’ barricade and that some of the older loremasters that were accompanying him relayed that the vampires were speaking Netherese. Ancient Netherese.]*

**Entry #17**

They’ve finally arrived. One of them went ahead to scout in a ghostly form and came upon giant golems in the making as well as vampire artificers working on them although slowly and not without chaos. They seem to not be as fed as those on the battlefront, but not starved feral. They will send out a proper regiment tomorrow in coordination with a push from the dreadlord to mask the intrusion.

*[Rest of this entry detail the strength of the duergars entering, four of them exhibiting demonic blood and twelve other footsoldiers carrying rations and a sending stone. One name stands out to you, Gorvan Ironeater, who seems to share the same last name as Derval Ironeater, who is mentioned by the overseer to be hopefully be worth the money they paid him.]*

**Entry #18**

Our spies with the Thayan relayed the following information to me:

**Magic secures the dungeon.** No spell or trait allows anyone to evade the dungeon's enchantments. For instance, a Red Wizard was able to use a *dimension door* spell to teleport from one part of a zone to another, but no spell permits teleportation out of the zone in which the spell was cast. Similarly, the same Wizard casted a *passwall* spell to burrow from one area to another. If the tunnel would pass from one zone to another, circumventing security, then the tunnel ended halfway between the origin point and the possible exit point, the Red Wizard blamed the enchantment. It seems our worry of these vampires escaping the vault seems impossible for now, thank Laduguer. Further, an incorporeal or ethereal creature can't pass between zones. A detect magic spell can't penetrate the structure of the vault to sense the dimensional barriers.

**MAGIC GATES:** Two types of magic gates, white and red, secure the vault. These can be manipulated by glyph keys that are held by some of the vampires and blood pendants held by the vampire lords respectively.

**Gate Features.** Each gate is a 10-foot-wide circle of runes, drawn on the floor. This circle creates a magical energy field in its space from floor to ceiling. The field can be disabled by the use of a glyph key. A creature that enters an active gate's energy field while not holding a properly attuned glyph key is pushed back and suffers an invisible blow.

**White Gates.** White gates are placed in the dungeon to block passage between zones. The white gates are made out of ten-foot diameter circle of runes and clear quartz fragments set into the floor. Within the circle, a luminous white mist shimmers, obscuring what lies beyond. This field is also an impenetrable magical force that blocks passage (material and ethereal), sound, and scent. If a glyph key attuned to the zone on either side of the gate is applied to the gate's field, the mist dissipates and the energy field becomes inactive while the key remains within the gate. Therefore, a creature that has a properly attuned glyph key can hold a white gate open for others.

**Red Gates.** The red gates connect different areas of the complex. When a red gate's magical field is active, it gives off shadowy energy that lightly obscures the field's area. A creature can render a red gate's field inactive by holding the attuned blood pendant to the field, whereupon the smoky energy dissipates. If the pendant is attuned to a zone containing a different red gate, then the creature holding the pendant can also open a magical portal that leads to the other red gate's area. While the portal is open, the destination gate's field also becomes inactive.

**The Nexus.** According to Theja, their plan is to disrupt enough red gates so that they can repurpose these gates to bring them to the Nexus, where we can enact our plans. Hopefully, we will notice it before Garran and steal it from under his nose. Anyone who has the glyph key attuned to a red gate's zone can disrupt the gate. To do so, the character must touch the edge of the gate's energy field and test ones spellcasting ability. Theja theorized that a dispel magic spell cast on the gate up to a minute beforehand will grant additional aid on this contest.

Entry #19

There’s been a sound coming from the vault. I can’t really explain it but it is beautiful and a source of comfort in these stressful times. The scouts have yet to return, so I’ve sent more of them down there, to their bloody grumbles and piss-stained boots, but I’m the bloody overseer here, not them.

*[Entry #20 to #27 describes the sound becoming clearer and more melodious. The overseer claims that it is a song of Laduguer himself and that he can intepret the meanings now. The overseer has sent everyone down there but himself as per the song’s instructions. By Entry #28, the overseer writes about finally going to meet the singer.]*