At first light the next day, Erijay and Kern were surprised to see
Darnorth come bumping into camp on horseback. The dwarf had decided, with all
the military activity going on about Westmist, to get out of town and follow
the pairs trail into the Untamed Lands. Hopefully, the dwarf said, the rest of
the party would join them once they were able to get away. Partly reunited, the party decided to sift
through the ruins of Barksis’ Hold for clues and collectables. They remembered
Braksis saying something about staying away from the cellars on their last
visit, so they immediately went looking for those cellars. A little digging in
the charred rubble uncovered stairs down, which the trio descended. The cellar,
through smelling of smoke, was still in good shape and filled with crates and
barrels. In these they found a mix of food and drink, much more than would be
need by an isolated inn such as the Hold. They also found crates with armour
and weapons, all in hobgoblin style. That explained a few things. Also
uncovered was Braksis’ retirement fund, a pile of coin hidden under a barrel
and protected by a blade trap.
Their curiosity satiated, the
three mounted horses and continued west towards the Castle of the Golem. About
noon, they were descending into a hollow when they encountered three ogres
coming the other way. Both sides eyed each other warily, but when it was
obvious the party presented to immediate danger, the lead ogre (Gor) was ready
to talk. In broken common, he told them they were out hunting giant flightless
birds (a brace of which each ogre carried). They were headed back to their home
in the ‘ruins to the south’, but also said they moving out of those ruins to
find new homes to the north because the ‘little men like you’ had paid them to
leave. That raised three sets of eyebrows. Further questioning narrowed down
their home to the ruins of Nasper where the party had scouted before, and the
identity of the ‘little men’ as Jax and some of the March Baron’s troops. Before
parting ways with the ogres, Kern paid them off with more gold so the brutes
wouldn’t reveal that the party had learned from them details about the March
Baron’s dealings.
Another couple of hours ride and the party found themselves nearing a
small keep on a low rise to the north: the Castle of the Golem. Approaching,
they first noticed a bloody mess of slain hobgoblins about a hundred yards from
the gate. They looked to have been stomped to death by elephants. Approaching
closer, they were now unnerved to see that instead of towers, the gate was
flanked by two 20’ tall statues. And then even more unnerved when the statues
heads turned to watch them. Cautiously they knocked on the gate, and after a
few moments it was opened and they faced an unusual gatekeeper; an
exceptionally tall man, ebony skinned, wearing nothing but a bejeweled
loincloth, and with eyes with no pupils. Challenged by the man in a sepulchral
voice, the party was able to talk themselves into an audience with Zoloren to
deliver the mirror of aging. Led inside, they found themselves waiting in
a long hall with steps and a set of double doors at the far end. After a while, the doors opened and another
strange sight emerged. Out came a small frail man in crimson robes, sitting on
a levitating ebony throne, which in turn was being pulled by four tattooed Zevistian
harem girls in gauzy silks. Flanking all were two ‘guardsmen’ seemingly carved
out of bronze or amber. Zoloren greeted the party politely in a voice of dry
whisper, and the mirror was turned
over to him. To test it, Zoloren had his
guards fetch a hobgoblin prisoner and exposed the unfortunate creature to the mirror with the expected aging effect. Satisfied,
the archmage gave the party directions to the wish ring he promised in payment . He said to go north from his
castle, and ford the Shinning River. From there strike northeast until three
hills were encountered. There under one hill they would find the ring.
Business complete, Zoloren was about to leave when the party asked a
few questions. Brushing aside questions of mundane matters such as hobgoblins
and war (“I’ve seen men and nations come and go; I care not for those when I
have my own realms and creations here”), he showed some interest in the Iza’ka
artifacts the party carried. The cylinder and cube held by Darnorth he
identified as some sort of power source. When told of the strange green
cylinder they had seen in Mor, he informed them that it could be used to
recharge the power cube and cylinder. With that, he impatiently motioned for
the three to leave. Taking the hint, they quickly left and climbed back into
the saddle to ride north. Making good time, they reached the river and rowed
across in Kern’s floating boat and
then struck north east. Just as the sun set, they reached the three hills as
described by the archmage. Camping for the night, they examined the hills
closer the next morning. Each was just about a hundred or so feet high, and on
two could be seen some kind of posts or pillars. Climbing the bare hill first,
Darnoth noted it was not natural, but seemed to be a man-made mound of dirt. A
little digging confirmed this, but revealed little else. Climbing the next hill
(this one natural according to the dwarf), they found at the top a large number
of statues. These were all weather worn, and were placed in a circle around a
central group of figures. They seemed to all be statues of men and women in
arms and armor, and one of the figures in the centre had a hand with a ring
extended and a crown on his head. Thinking that this might be the ring they
sought, Darnorth tried to remove it. But it seemed part of the statue, and it
took some chopping with the dwarf’s magical blade to remove. But it proved to
be nothing but stone. Pushing the apparently useless statue over (a party
tradition), the trio headed for the last hill.
This hill, again a man made mound, was crowned by a circular ring of
stone. From the base flowed a small stream, where the party pitched a camp and staked
their horses before climbing. Once at the top, they could hear a strange
moaning/howling sound as the wind off the nearby mountains whistled between the
standing stones. Erijay and Darnorth found the sound eerie, but Kern was
absolutely frightened stiff by it. Literally, as the elf and dwarf found the
merchant standing completely stiff and immobile. A bit of poking and prodding
was followed by a collected shrug as the two decided to explore the stone circle
while waiting to see what happened with Kern. At the base of one stone, Darnorth discovered
a narrow spiral tunnel leading down into the bowels of the hill. Finding little
else of interest, they returned to find Kern still paralyzed. Hoping the
condition would pass with time, the lugged him back down to camp, and Kern
shortly returned to normal. So back up the hill they went again, and again Kern
was frozen in fear. Back down the hill and a couple of hours wait latter, the wily
merchant stuffed wax in his ears and the trio marched back to the top. This
time with no issue. Heading to the hole, they tied a rope around Darnorth and the
dwarf started to crawl down. And down. And down. Three lengths of rope later,
he hit bottom and Erijay and Kern followed him into the dark.
The three found themselves in a rough dirt cavern. There was little to distinguish
it, except on closer inspection the walls and floor were embedded with bones,
bits of armor and weapons, and other battlefield detritus. Cautiously moving
forward, they rounded a corner to find another chamber. This one was completely
covered in a red fungus with white puckered protrusions. Three tunnels exited
the room, so Darnorth decided to trudge through the growth. This set off a
cloud of spores which made the dwarf cough and sputter, but caused no other
harm. Rather than risk further exposure, the three brainstormed a plan to make
a path. Noting that the spores came from the white protrusions, they decided to
use bolts and arrows to set off enough to form a path. 40 missiles later this
was done, and they headed for the first exit from the room. After just a few
short feet they found their way blocked by a group of giant ants, behind which
could be seen a small tunnel. Deciding to avoid conflict at this time, they
headed for the next exit and soon found themselves in another chamber similar
to the first. Sensing that this was not going to be a simple search, the trio
elected to head back to camp to rest and plan a strategy to further explore the
caverns on the morrow.
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