Chapter 2. Part 3.

Adventure with the Iron Imp Company

 

When Mark and Gwen arrived at the Inn in Ravensend, Mr. Grogson, in his role as guild master, was just tacking up a new quest to the notice board. They immediately read it. “Wanted – the Tools of TaDrog” in the abandoned Dwarven city of Rocksbottom. There lies hidden the tools of a great craftsman. Reward offered, by distant relations, upon verification of authenticity.”

Their plan had been to dive into some adventure and do something exciting. As the last quest had been rather on the dull side of life. Mark enjoyed everything about this other world. It was Gwen that yearned for some truly incredible action.

“Abandoned Dwarven city. Sounds like a dungeon crawl to me.” Mark said with glee.

But he was not the only one interested in that particular quest.

“Are ye considering taking yonder quest?” a deep voice interrupts the pair.

Looking over they saw a Dwarf. Not the classic old as dirt grey beard. This Dwarf was in the prime of his life, his beard dark black and well styled. “I am Den Stoneroller, of the Iron Imp adventures.” he introduced himself.

Mark introduce himself as “young lord Crane.” and Gwen as “the lady of lightning”

“We have no group affiliation. And we are thinking that quest sounds very interesting.”

“Ever been to an abandoned Dwarven settlement?” MrD asks.

They both reply in the negative.

“Well its no easy thing to explore, unless ye have an expert with ya.” Says the Dwarf.

Mark smiles “And you would be just the expert we need? What good luck we have.”

MrD introduced them to the rest of his party.

Raccoon Girl – Ramalla, expert lock pick and treasure finder.

Wolf Boy – Woofren, ranger and all around fighter.

Human – Teg Thumper, a walking tank of a man.

Human – Chuch Grub, he looks after the camp and cooking.

Mark explains that they are both warrior mages. He specializes with wind, she with lightning. He does not mention their range is actually much wider than just a single type of magic element. But he does say “I can do some healing.” That always seems to grab people's attention. A healer who is willing to adventure is a rare thing in this world. After all, if you can make good money and never risk your neck, why would you chose a life of danger?

Like many Dwarves, MrD has some magic, but it was only of the enchantment type. Great for making items but requiring many hours of work. He did not consider himself a combat caster of any sort.

After the introductions are made, Mark gets around to asking, “Why was the city abandoned?”

MrD answers, “A few thousand years ago this land was uninhabited, except by goblins and the like. Then Dwarves and Humans came here, seeking to build a new civilization. They cooperated against the monsters and slowly expanded their settlements. Many forts were built to protect the frontier. Some of them developed into towns, with Dwarves living underground and Humans above.”

MrD takes a drink then spits on the floor. “Then came the war with the Empire. Many towns were destroyed, many lives lost. A few places were resettle, rebuilt. Others were just forgotten.”

“Many abandoned Dwarven towns became nests for monsters, as the human buildings above them crumbled into ruins.” He finished with a bitter snort.

“Yes yes, a sad tail.” agrees Ramalla “But on the bright side, they are great places to find loot.”

“Rocksbottom is about 2 days walk north east from here. It has been explored a few times already. So if there is any loot left, it is well hidden.” MrD says.

After some more talk they come to an agreement. The Iron Imp adventuring party will hire Mark and Gwen, for an even share of any loot found on this quest. For their part, the pair will act as spell casters and healers.

They set out next morning after a quick breakfast. The II having 3 pack mules with them to carry supplies and hopefully bring home some loot. The mood is light and friendly. As no one in the group is actually very old, there is no serious and grumpy side to things. People talk and joke as they walk. The II is more like a gaggle of friends, while the BB were a pack of deadly hounds.

As he did with most men, Woofren challenged Mark to a friendly fist fight. No weapons or armor. Of course he still wore the ring of protection. “Friendly or not, any fight puts you at risk.” Bob had cautioned him. Mark used all his recently gained martial arts skills, but despite this, Wolfy won. He was a brawler, strong and fast. The hits Mark landed did nothing at all. “You fight good, for a wizard” the beast-man said after it was done.

Raccoon girl asked a lot of questions, as she always did, with everyone. She was not subtle in her fishing for information, nor was she focused. Gwen talked to her a lot, mixing fact and fiction. She stuck to the cover story about being from a far off land. Ramalla seemed to believe everything.

Interlope with the Ogre.

About half an hour away from the ruins of Rocksbottom, they ran across an Ogre. Woofren detected the smell and warned the group. Mark used a search spell and pinpointed its location. MrD quickly set the battle plan.

Ramalla and Mark would flank right, Woofren and Gwen would flank left, MrD and Thumper would attack directly. Everyone would move quietly until in range to cast spells. Once the casters started chanting, Thumper would make some noise to get the ogre's attention. A reasonable plan given the fact almost all mages needed several seconds of chanting to ready a spell. The Dwarf was a very thoughtful tactician.

As they had agreed much earlier, Mark and Gwen did actually do some chanting. It was part of their cover to hide the fact that they could cast so quickly.

The battle was brief. Gwen opened with a full power lightning bolt. The flash and boom causing everyone to shake in surprise. Mark then hit the stunned and smoldering ogre with a wind blade, taking off a leg at the knee. Wolfy rushed to finish it off, as Thumper and MrD closed in just in case.

“That was horrible.” Wolfy complained “It hardly had any fight left in it.”

On the other hand Raccoon girl was thrilled that the fight was so easy.

She was a bit less thrilled about the loot she got from the oger's corps.

The Dungeon Crawl.

They set camp in the ruins of a building on the edge of the abandoned town. Its sturdy stone floor prevented much from growing in the middle of it. Wolfy and Ramalla went to scout around the area before nightfall. Thumper stood watch. Grub did most of the actual work setting up the camp.

Mr.D talked with Mark and Gwen, explaining a bit more about what they were in for.

“Dwarven settlements follow a similar plan, but they never be exactly the same, owing to details of the ground they be dug into. They always have strong points and gates for to hold off attackers. If goblins or bandits ave moved in, they can use these defences, and we be in for a hell of a time.”

Although the scouts found no recent sign of activity, Mark still sets an alarm spell for the night.

Next morning they went into the underground. “Everyone stick together. We be going slow. I be making a map as we go.” MrD said. Ramalla took point followed by Wolfy. MrD was next, followed by Mark and Gwen. Thumper was rear guard. Grub stayed at the camp.

The underground town was large and rambling, but it was not a 100 level deep labyrinth.

A few random monsters were met and a few low value “treasures” found. Nothing very impressive.

The Tools of TaDrog remained undiscovered, despite an extensive search of several old craft shops. 

In the evening when they all got back to camp, MrD says “I hope ye all enjoyed that. Tomorrow be the real work. We go to search for hidden rooms. In particular we go to search for the tombs. Have ye a spell for that, Mr Wizard?”

Sadly Mark did not. “I can search for mana and monsters, although if they are behind thick stone walls I may not detect them.” he explains. “Do we know if the tools are magic?”

“TaDrog was a renown craftsman, able to make fine enchanted items, so Id guess yes.” MrD says.

The truth about how detection spells worked was even more complicated. If you knew a lot about what you were looking for, you could cast a search for anything. Finding a family member or close friend was simple because you knew them so well. Finding an object you just had the name of, was next to impossible.

Before falling asleep that night Mark thinks about how to make a spell to find secret rooms. Normally it takes a few days to create a new spell and test it. Simple ones can be improvised more quickly. But to find a hidden space, you have to tell the spell to differentiate between types of space. It was a real brain buster.

Next day they split into two teams.

First team, MrD, Mark and Wolfy. Second team Ramalla, Gwen and Thumper.

The idea being that each group would have a mage able to search for mana, and cast spells if necessary. No one was seriously expecting trouble, because they had swept the town of tunnels yesterday. But MrD insisted that even when searching for secret doors, one person must be alert and looking around for enemies.

After an hour of inspecting the church, Mark's team discovers a crypt. "I knew it had to be here some place." MrD said, as he triggered the latch to open the door. Then as they cautiously enter the crypt he warns, “Dwarves are known to set traps to protect the dead.” The crypt is not a huge room, but it is well decorated, with rows of tombs built into the walls.

A statue of a warrior stands above a small alter at the far end of the room. “The guardian of the dead” the Dwarf says. “None of ye touch anything. I will read the names on the tombs. We might find TaDrog faster that way.”

They found him eventually. MrD checked for traps. There were none he could find. So the Dwarf and wolf-boy got the pry bars ready. Mark took a few steps back, just in case.

Woosh the trap went off, spraying a cloud of gas out from the tomb. Mark acted fast, with a blast of wind to force most of the gas back into the stone box. Unfortunately both MrD and Wolfy had gotten a face full of the stuff. Mark yelled for the other team, not really expecting them to hear, but figuring it was a smart move, before he tried to help his companions.

Fearing the gas may linger, he quickly darted in and pulled them one by one back towards the entrance. Then he cast a healing spell on each of them. But if the gas was poison, that would not help much. To neutralize poison you had to know what kind of poison you were dealing with.

That was when he heard the statue moving. The guardian of the dead seems determined to live up to its name. Worried but not yet in a panic, he tries his favourite attack spell, wind blade. An easy hit, but no damage. Next was fire ball, not wanting his companions to get caught in the blast, he keep that one small. Still no damage.

The statue seems to be made of metal, so maybe the physics trick will work. Mark hits it with cold then more fire, hopping to shatter it. But it just keeps coming, slowly but surly. He could run, but that would leave both teammates to their doom.

He screams “No Way!” draws his sword and dashes past the guardian, back into the crypt. “Come on you bastard.” he yells, hoping it will stay focused on him and ignore the others. He can buy time this way. He is much faster than it. He just has to keep it way from his fallen companions, while he figures out the right spell to use.

Meanwhile

“Did you hear that?” Ramalla asked her team? “Sounds like a fight.”

“We better go check it out.” Thumper answers.

When they arrive at the crypt, they see Mark dancing around a big moving statue. MrD and Wolfy unconscious on the floor, next to the steps. “I will check them. You give him some support.” Raccoon girl says and quickly moves to it.

Thumper rushes down the steps into the crypt in a full charge. He slams into the back of the statue. As he expected, the impact knocks the thing off its feet. Slam attacks are one of his favourite moves. Next comes his other, beheading blow with his axe. Against a most opponent this would have ended the fight.

Mark grins with relief. The much needed help has arrived.

But then, just like in many horror movies, the headless enemy starts to get up. “Nothing works against this thing.” he yells. “Damn Dwarven craftsmanship”

To prove that statement, Gwen hits the guardian with lightning, to no effect.

“If you cant kill it, just tangle it up and bring the ceiling down on it.” Ramalla suggests.

Excellent idea, Mark thinks as he remembers what he saw in a recent anime. Stone to mud is the spell to use and the floor, not the ceiling is the target. As heavy as that thing is, it should sink quick into a nice soft pool of mud.

And so it does. Everyone watches from a safe distance as the guardian sinks out of sight in the deep quagmire that the centre of the room has become. It struggles but is unable to resurface. Then after a slow count to 10, Mark reverses the spell and turns the mud to stone.

Tomb Raiding

After the battle, Ramalla tells the others, “MrD and Wolfy should be fine, it was just a powerful sleeping potion they were hit with, although it may have hallucinating effects too. Just to be on the safe side, lets get them out of the crypt.”

By the time they woke up, the rest of the group had carefully and respectfully raided all the tombs.
Most of them were trapped, but fortunately no other guardian creatures were awakened. There was quite a lot of treasure, weapons & armor, tools & jewels. Grave goods a historian would call them.

“How do you feel about tomb robbery?” Mark asked MrD “They are your people after all.”

The Dwarf looked at the pile of treasure. Then down into the crypt. “If items held by the dead can help the living, they should. If family abandons the dead, then they abandon claim to said items. That be how I understand our tradition.” he said with all seriousness.

“We were careful to put the bodies back the way we found them.” Gwen says quietly.

“Best I go pay my respects while ye all pack up the loot.” MrD says as he gets to his feet.

Wolfren grumbles loud and long about how he missed the entire battle. “Best enemy of this quest and Im sleeping like a pup! Damn wizard, you should have woke me up.” Mark laughs about it, “Well I did try to pull your tail and slap your face, but you just kept on sleeping.”

Once they eventually get back to camp, it is time for a more thorough sorting of the treasure. The tools of TaDrog must go to the quest giver. Everything else is up for grabs. Each party member is entitled to two objects, as personal gain. No consideration of market value. The rest of the loot is divided into, near as possible, equal shares. Even Grub gets his fair share.

MrD can detect enchantments on items, but it takes him several minutes of examination per item. Both Mark and Gwen can tell if an item is magic, but cant tell much about the enchantment on it.

“This be why adventurers do what they do.” MrD says happily. “The pay be often meager and the loot often trash. But every now and then we hit the hot golden stash.” Having said that rather poetically, he brings out the alcohol for a celebration drink.  

The group laughed and talked late into the night.

The next morning it was time to pack everything up and head back to Ravensend.

This adventure was over.