The team puzzled over their situation. They looked over the fresco that was made in the north wall, depicting Dumathoin (the dwarven god of secrets), Ladaguer (currently the evil god of the duergar) and Ilsensine (the god of illithid). The fresco was as follows: Dumathoin placing glowing gems into a range of mountains (which appear to be a primeval representation of the Sword Mountains). Dumathoin visting the Illithid god Ilsensine (manifested in its form as a disembodied emerald brain) and bathing with it in the greenish psionic energy of the maze-like Caverns of Thought. Dumothoin, Ilsensine (in the form of an Illithid avatar), and Laduguer, the god of the duergar, with hands clasped in a circle of friendship. Could it be part of the riddle? A dwarf's greatest love... Well, that could be anything. Sigurd was sure it was rocks. Everything here is made of stone after all. Rock and stone! Maybe not. The others didn't have many ideas, most of them tainted by dwarvish stereotypes, but it was Valetta who pointed out that Kin and Clan are more or less the same thing, and she wondered if there was more than one possible answer to the question. The team also discovered something odd - a cartouche bearing the initials "HN", like an artist's trademark. Could it be the one who built this place...? It was situated between the doors of Kin and Clan, as well. As the team lamented their lack of dwarves to answer this question, Enigma realized he had something that was written by a dwarf... the dwarvish translation book from Kolat Towers! While it didn't explicitly state what a dwarf's greatest love was, a lot of the translations in the book were pertaining to family and how to properly address a dwarf of a certain clan, more than any other concept. As if it was very important to a dwarf... That had to be it, then! On top of that, the HN signature was placed in an interesting spot, as if hinting at the direction to go in. After another brief debate, the team opted to give it a try, as Ray pushed the door for Kin open... and it opened into another room. It looks like this was right! However, trouble would strike again as Ray entered the next room and encountered a fresco of dwarves battling goblins. It was a majestic work of art... almost... too much so... Ray found himself enamored with the painting and couldn't tear himself away from it. The others realized something was up and tried to move him away from it, but he seemed to be resisting their efforts. An idea hit upon Yuan though, that if maybe the fresco didn't exist, Ray couldn't look at it anymore! Drawing his bow, he moved to fire an arrow at the fresco... which immediately draw an expected bout of hostile violence from Ray, who ran over to stop him by any means necessary, catching everyone by surprise! While Yuan managed to get one arrow to hit and damage the fresco, Ray was able to retaliate by scratching him with his draconic claws. Marcellus realized what was going on, though, and joined in, shooting a firebolt at the fresco, destroying that portion of it before the entire group devolved into a frantic mob trying to break up the fight - Yagra threatening to knock Ray's block off for attacking her friend. As it was destroyed, Ray's compulsion came to an end, and he apologized profusely, as the others got between the two to ensure there would be no further violence. After things calmed down a bit, Ray questioned why the fresco would compel him so, and the purpose of the trap, especially if the right answers lead them into it. Marcellus gave a theory that suggested the entire place was set up to protect against non-dwarves - clearly, a true dwarf would know the answer to the door riddle, and perhaps a true dwarf wouldn't have been subject to the fresco either. Perhaps a way to stop a non-dwarf who got lucky? There might not be any way to really prove that, though... At the very least, the team was able to see that the other door, Clan, also lead into this room, proving Valetta's theory. Also, there was another HN cartouche hidden near the fresco - another devious trap for a non-dwarf to check out and then get enamored by the fresco. Setting aside the issue, the team pushed forward, up an expertly crafted staircase that lead to the second floor of the structure, leading them into a hallway that consisted of pillars shaped like upside-down warhammers, and a very long mosaic that ran along the wall, showing a dwarf smith crafting smaller dwarves from black metal and diamonds. Valetta thought that this might be the creation story of the dwarves, as Moradin, the primary dwarven god of the Mordinsamman, was thought to have made the dwarves in this way. The black metal was a substance called adamantine, one of the hardiest substances known to mortals. There were also several bridges stretching out over an expanse - the door room they had just vacated only moments prior. The bridges seemed to be lacking in structural integrity in some places, though... However, Ray discovered something peculiar toward the end of the hall - another one of the HN cartouches, and an odd seam that looked out of place with the mosaic on the wall, which ended with Moradin proudly standing over his creations. Valetta thought that it might be a secret door. Yagra thought that the best way to go through it was to shove through it - it worked well for Yuan so far, at least. Yuan and Yagra worked together to try and push the door open, and found that it was surprisingly resilient. However, it did eventually give way to a dust-choked room filled with cobwebs. A room that had laid untouched for perhaps thousands of years... it seems Dagult never found this room during his initial trip to the Vault to secure his embezzled funds! Inside, they found five copper urns, teaming with treasure, and on the wall, in dwarvish script, Jalester translated: “In these halls which his craft has wrought, the master architect Harlsnod Darkshine lays his secrets.” Thinking there might be magical traps or some other kind of magical weirdness, Yuan focused his senses, and learned there were three magic auras - abjuration on the door, another abjuration in one of the rings inside of an urn, and conjuration on a key being held by a statuette of a dwarven priest of Moradin. Combining their efforts, Sigurd and Valetta worked together to Identify the two items. The ring, bearing iconography of icy mountains and other wintry pictures, was a Ring of Warmth, which protected one from cold. The key however was a mystery, and Valetta was only able to discern how to properly use the item, but not to where it lead to - she could hold it and turn it as if she was unlocking a door. Who knows where it could have lead? Giving it a try, Valetta turned the key, and a loud "click" was heard, as a spectral door began forming in the spot where she used the key. Ray was ready to take the plunge again, but Renaer stopped him, saying he's put himself in danger enough times today. Renaer stepped forward into the door... and disappeared. Following suit, the rest of the party began to filter into the door, and found themselves in what appeared to be an incredible mansion complex, carved of stone and bearing the iconography of dwarves. They just found themselves in what looked like the life of dwarven luxury, finding plenty of good food and drink and other high-class comforts, complete with a gang of invisible servants to care for their every whim. Additionally, though, the mansion also included an incredible, massive library, filled with maps, scrolls, books, and any other piece of literature one could think of. The team thought there could be something useful to explain who this Harlsnod Darkshine was, and indeed, the secrets they uncovered here were incredible. Harlsnod Darkshine was a member of Clan Melairkyn, who were devout followers of Dumathoin, the Keeper of the Mountain’s Secrets. Their cult believed that Dumathoin encoded his secrets in the veins of ore and precious stones he placed in the mountains he raised from the earth for the dwarven people. In their mining, the dwarves released Dumathoin’s secrets into the world. This angered Dumathoin and there was a period of discord beween the dwarves and the Mordinsamman (the council of dwarven gods). In order to appease Dumathoin and to protect his secrets, the cult would mystically bind the “secrets of the mountain” into items of finely-wrought dwarfcraft and then make offering of it to Dumathoin by securing them within ceremonial vaults. Harlsnod (whose symbol was indeed HN) had designed these ceremonial vaults as part of this cult.. The ruins of Undermountain, the dungeon which could be accessed through the Yawning Portal, was originally the home of the Melairkyn clan thousands of years ago, and he was eventually laid to rest somewhere in that complex. He also left the treasures in the hidden room as his tribute to Dumathoin, as he believed they contained his secrets. However, the biggest revelation was yet to come in the story being told of Dumathoin, Ladaguer and Ilsensine... it was here that Harlsnod kept information that, if made known to the modern world, would be like dropping a fireball on the doctrine of the Mordinsamman. These were his records of this ancient friendship: When the world was much younger than it is today, Dumathoin and Laduguer explored the roots of the world together. There they met Ilsensine. Or, at least, one of his ganglia – the “tentacles of infinite length” that stretch from Ilsensine throughout the many worlds. It was believed that, In doing so, they may (or may not) have been responsible for mind flayers coming to Faerûn for the first time. In any case, the three of them became friends, joined by a common interest in the secret paths of knowledge, the hyper-mental patterns by which knowledge itself is birthed into the world, and the deep places of the world. At a much later point in time, Laduguer approached his two friends with thoughts on how the dwarves Moradin had created could be improved. To perfect these ideas still needed much work, and the three friends fell to work. When the Morndinsammar discovered what they were doing, however, they were outraged. Laduguer covered for Dumathoin, but he and his daughter, Duerra, were cast out of the Morndinsammar. Laduguer continued his work, straining his relationship with Dumathoin. Things fell apart completely, however, when Laduguer discovered that Ilsensine had appropriated “his” work and actually begun having his illithids experiment on captured populations of dwarves. (This would eventually lead to the creation of the duergar.) Laduguer felt betrayed, the gods fell to war, and the acrimony between them became irreparable. During their conflict, Duerra was secretly captured by the illithid and became part of the duergar experiments. This information would have potentially earth-shattering ramifications on the surface. Some thought it might be best to let a higher authority, such as Laeral Silverhand, know about these findings, as just throwing the information out willy-nilly might cause too much of a stir and potentially cause trouble for the team. They had to set aside these revelations for now though and focus on their mission of finding Dagult Neverember's stolen funds. After getting a quick meal in them thanks to the Magnificent Mansion of the Mordinsammar, the team moved out of the portal, which Valetta was able to close behind her, making it disappear. The team moved to the bridges, and found that they looked rather dangerous to cross... fortunately, Enigma was in a perfect position to move freely, as his Shadow Step allowed him to move where ever he pleased. Getting everyone else across was kind of an issue, though... Jalester surveyed the area and came to a conclusion - both the south and north bridges were relatively intact, however the middle bridge had fallen apart, likely from use. He concluded that this must have been the bridge most recently used and likely lead to their goal. Enigma also found that on the ends of each bridge was a sturdy adamantine door. Yuan would find out the hard way after jumping the gap in the middle bridge that they were not structurally sound, and the stone gave way under his weight, nearly sending him and Enigma into the room below, but they were able to shuffle out of the way in time before that part of the bridge collapsed. Well, nobody was definitely making that jump now... After experimenting a bit with some rope and having Ray cross the southern bridge (which also collapsed), the team hit upon an idea - using Jarlaxle's Portable Hole, and Enigma's ability to teleport in darkness, they could easily make their way across! He would have to make several trips, but the portable hole folded up neatly like a handkerchief when not in use, although he did have to carry Sigurd's bag of holding separately to ensure the team would not accidentally rip a hole in the cosmic fabric and send everyone hurtling to an adventure-ending trip to the Astral Plane. They were able to make their way in front of the middle door, and Yagra tried to shove the door open, but was unsuccessful. Yuan showed off his prowess and managed it himself, although it took a considerable amount of effort. Inside, they found a room with four rusted suits of armor, sans helmets, in the corners, a dwarf's face with eyes and mouth closed, and an inscription on the wall: “A secret never before told will part Dumathoin's lips.” More riddles... Enigma admitted that he used Yuan's toothbrush, which came off as disturbing and weird to the rest of the party. This didn't seem to qualify, though - either it was untrue or maybe someone else already knew about it. Ray decided to take the plunge and admitted that, early on, he had a crush on Renaer Neverember, much to Renaer's surprise. With this admission, never told to anyone, the face of the dwarf on the floor moved aside to reveal a passage leading further down into the vault! Renaer was honestly flattered by the statement though and it received approval from Marcellus, leaving Ray rather flustered and wanting to move on from the embarrassing moment to continue the adventure. At last, finding themselves in a narrow corridor leading north and south, the team waited a moment to survey the area. Yuan listened closely and heard a faint, off-key humming coming from the other end of the room... someone else was here! But who? Quietly rounding the corner, the team peeked in, and found a yellow-bearded, elderly dwarf crouched over a small pile of gold and gems, wearing a fine red robe... and clutching a staff, painted to resemble two intertwined dragons, one gold and one red, facing each other. The dwarf's humming stops as the team rounds the corner. “I wasn't expecting anyone..." He says as he stands himself up straight, using the staff as a walking stick, turning toward the party. Despite the dwarf's age, his eyes are steady and bright. " As you can see, the place is a mess. Perhaps you should come back later, after I've tidied up a bit...” Enigma's eyes flashed as he stared at the staff the dwarf was holding...! Who was this mysterious dwarf? What was the staff in the dwarf's possession? Find out what happens next time, in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist!!