Session Thirty

The thirtieth session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on the 10th August 2022

Aleksi was an arse.

## Party Members Present

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

## Synopsis

### Silver Scar Clan Hold Continued

#### Platform 9 and 3/4

After we finished up with the organ puzzle, and having found the monorail key, we decided it was time to investigate the final, hidden station. We returned to platform 5 and plugged in the key, making the monorail moan. The top of the pedestal loosened and Snorri pulled the top off reveavling a cavity with a knob in it. Snorri turned the knob to 9 and the Monorail moved off northwards and then westwards. We arrived at platform 9 and the door opened to reveal a smallish room. There was a wall of bookcases, tables, and items scattered everywhere.

#### I Was Elected to Lead not to Read

All the books were in Khazalid except one that was in Eltharin called Managing Waterways. There were a lot of books about stone working and metal working, including Thurlaz's Metal Working. All the books by dwarfs of Clan Silverscar were in a separate section and all written in code, one of which was more prominent and embossed with a special symbol. This book contained information about the monorail and the Sturlag Engine, but here it was called a Storri Engine. A secret door led out of the room we were in into noble quarters.

### The Great Forge

#### Broken Pipes

We took the monorail back to platform 1 and left the hold. We were all feeling exhausted and were running out of supplies, but we had one final thing we wanted to achieve in the Ruins, and that was to investigate the Great Forges. We headed back to the crossroads of many pipes and headed east. The passage became a collonade with two great rooms with enormous forges on either side. There, we ran into a couple of Vikramsons who told us they had found a broken pipe.One of them had very burnt hands and Aleksi suggested one of his Old Kislevian Remedies - to rub pennies in his hands, but that didn't seem to help. They take us to a broken pipe which looked as if it had been damaged on purpose. Brandr examined the pipe but couldn't work out what had done it. Then the Professor sensed magic and thought the damage had been dealt by a Gold Wizard in the last week or two.

#### Nikolai the Underground Halfling

Snorri and Brandr then decided to fix the pipes of the Great Forge. Aleksi went off to find scrap metal and got a little thirsty on his way. He took a sip from the flask of water gathered from the strange pond on the first level in his pack. Suddenly, a pile of metal was dumped on the floor in front of him and a halfling appeared. The halfling said he was Nikolai the Underground Halfling and that he was a scrap merchant. Aleksi then challenged him to a scrap off, claiming he could collect more scrap. Aleksi could find no scrap of his own, but claimed that Nikolai's pile was his own, much to the halfling's rage. The two squared up to each other and Aleksi swung at the halfling. Unfortunately for Aleksi, his mace went straight through Nikolai like he was made of air. Nikolai then disappered. After returning to the others, Aleksi saw Nikolai perched on Brandr's shoulders. Aleksi charged at him. Brandr tackled Aleksi and knocked him out. As the dwarfs finished the pipe, Aleksi woke up and vommited. He remembered nothing of his strange rampage. Clearly, we had been underground a little too long: it was time to go home.

### Homeward Bound

#### Flames at Fort Vikram

We headed back up to level three and returned to Fort Vikram. As we got there, we began to smell a strange acrid, burning smell. In the old orc camp, we saw scorch marks and injured dwarfs. We helped attend to them and then went into the fort where there were many more injured dwarfs. Most had horrid burns. Brandr mocked up a temporary Rune of Frost to help with the burn victims. Meanwhile, the Professor checked for magic and saw fire magic everywhere, but also the Lore of Heavens: ice and fire. Amongst the injured and dead dwarfs were also many dead, black-clad beserkers. We were told by a dwarf that they were attacked by a man with fire and lightening. We thought that this might be Flame-Head. We then went to find Vikram and found him on a strecher - he was badly injured, but his burns weren't life threatening. He couldn't talk very well so he called for his son and heir, Starik Vikramson. Starik told us that they were using a passage to get up to the second level when they were ambushed. The enemy managed to force their way into Fort Vikram and they stole many items - mostly gems, and some stones that weren't deemed to be worth very much. We thought that these could be the Stones of Power the Professor was always going on and on about. Storik said they had found these stones on the fifth level and sixth level of the ruins. Vikram said the fire man had a staff, a book in one hand, and a glowing pendant. All the beserkers under his command were human.

#### Tax is Theft

We returned to the surface with a caravan heading from Fort Vikram. We managed to disguise most of the valuable loot, but still had to pay a small fortune in tax which we were all very bitter about. Of course, under Forgekeeper rule, tax would be good and righteous. After a week or so underground, we stepped out into the bleak sun of Deadgate.