Journey to the Dwarven Mines, as told by Glaurung the Golden Sune's blessings on you all! So you want another story
from the Savage Frontier? Well, gather around, and if somone can see to
topping up my ale, so much the better. At that time word had reached the town of Hope of trouble at the
dwarven mines. They had dug too deep, as is the way of dwarves, and
something evil was unearthed. Quckly a group of unlikely chancers decided
to go forth and deal with the problem, partly through a sense of kinship with
those afflicted but largley because of the rich rewards of gold, arms and
armour on offer. Three dwarves and two halflings set forth. The dwarves
were myself and two of the most immaculately groomed kinsmen I have ever
met. Frank McStank and Orax Thunderfoot. The two halflings
were Reginald Tealeaf and Larry Hornblower, the latter accompanied by a strange
bird like creature. A gnome was also set to accompany us but they are an unreliable
people and Burglekut, tragically, left a day too early. We saw no sign of
his body on our journey so perhaps he yet lives. On our first day we headed North through the swamps, or so Larry
assured us. A full watch we marched, seeing nothing but fetid swamp
in all directions. Rather than seek to forage for food or water we
focussed our efforts on staying true to our course and another march brought us
to the abandoned fishermen's village that was ravaged by trolls. As we were seeking rest we were disturbed by a vast army of beetles
slowly moving in our direction. The wiser heads in the party decided to
circle the threat and camp in the area they had already devastated. This
proved sensible to all and we passed a comfortable night's rest, debating the existence
and nature of the mythical Platypus and ruminating on what precisely can coax
oil to spurt forth from a dolphin. The latter seemed something of an
obsession for our good friend Frank. The following day, confident of our bearings, we marched North
West, making good progress. We spied the great gate to Lull to the North
East and looking South West we spied the Bone Obelisk, both expected
landmarks. We made our camp at Titan's rest, planning on a good night's
sleep before pushing on to the mines in the morning. Alas, dear friends, rest was not easy to come by that
night. It was the second watch and Larry was keeping a keen eye out for
trouble while I was making sure the fire was burning well. He heard the
approach of some great clanking behemoth and with barely time to warn others we
were set upon by a metal clad colossus at least 10 feet high. A fierce battle ensued, with our best warriors having to fight
the strange creature in little but their underclothes. We gave good
battle and despite both Orax and Frank being downed, we did sufficient harm to
finally end the creature, though sadly my crossbow was crushed in an attempt to
ward off one of its mighty blows. - It's a good thing I have a touch of Gold Dragon in me on my
grandmother's side, or that blow would have ended the tale right there and
then!.- In any case, each of us played our part and fortunately both
Frank and Orax were restored to consciousness. The creature was a disturbing one, and spoke in a strange high
pitched voice. It kept telling us we were being 'acquired' and to offer
no resistance. A strange thing to expect when you belabour people with a
great maul. If there are more of them to be found, make note of the
following: The behemoth resisted the blows of our weapons, so they did not
harm it as much as they should have. It also seemed somewhat impervious
to necromantic energies, perhaps not surprising as it turned out to be a small
undead creature encased in metal armour. Magic seemed to touch it not at
all, and it also scorned psychic harm. A tough foe though
fortunately not resistant to flames or the thunder wrought by Orax through his
god. We rested as best we could, seeking to recover from some of our
hurts. The following morning we reached the dwarven mine. We
elected to send Reginald forward as scout but he wasn't stealthy enough and
alerted four great hounds clearly beasts of much malignity, as evidenced by
each having two heads! A fierce battle ensued but the grace of Sune and
other well inclined Gods were with us and we triumphed without loss, though
poor Frank suffered something of a mauling.
I shall end the tale here, for the time is late and I must slash
like a horse, if you take my meaning. Come back tomorrow and maybe I'll
tell you how the tale ends. Thus concludes part 1 of the Dwarven Mines adventure.
