Session 4.5: "Metal in the Mountains" Report

General Summary

A quiet, sunny midmorning found the Bleeding Blade empty except for three bright-eyed, hopeful new adventurers: Nirmala, the snow elf Bard; Ventrana, the half-elf Sorcerer; and Xander, the drow Warlock.
Bored and feeling playful, Karina enticed the three into a few friendly rounds of gambling, which Nirmala easily won. However, the fun was interrupted by the entrance of Kari Grimtank - a former adventurer and current co-owner of Hardpike & Grimtank Forge. While Karina cheerfully fetched Kari a drink, Kari approached the three untried adventurers with a task.
The job was simple enough: venture into the mountains north of city and investigate the area where a meteorite was rumored to have fallen a few days before. Kari, hindered from going himself by a prosthetic leg and other permanent injuries from his own ill-fated adventures, offered the group 20gp for every gram of meteor retrieved; Xander negotiated him up to 25gp per gram. Kari expressed gratitude for the group's willingness to fulfill this task for him, and promised to wait for their return at the Bleeding Blade each evening.

"Do not come to the Forge," he warned them seriously, but was unwilling to give a reason for such evasiveness, stating only, "my business is my own."

Eager to prove themselves and happy for something to do, the adventurers set off immediately. With the help of a crude map provided by Kari, the group quickly made their way into the mountains... only to be stymied by an 80ft sheer cliff that none of them were willing to attempt to climb. Instead, the group meandered their way through the gorges and rocky crevices of the tumultuous mountain terrain until dusk before eventually circling back around to the path marked on the map.
Undeterred by the lack of sunlight - or relieved in Xander's case - the party continued onward until they found what appeared to be an ancient occult site frequented by the local Orc tribes. A crumbling archway of Orcish make led into a natural circular area enclosed on all sides by tall cliff-faces. At the center of the area stood a 30ft tall plain, unmarked stone of mysterious origin - or rather, used to stand. The tip of the Standing Stone had been broken off by the hurtling path of the falling meteor, leaving a deep skid mark in the earth and the top of the Standing Stone nearly 50ft away from its other part.
As Nirmala went to examine the skid mark and broken piece of the Standing Stone, Xander and Ventrana went to investigate the still standing portion of the Stone. However, before even reaching the stone Xander and Ventrana were gripped by an unshakeable and inexplicable terror, forced to retreat back to the edges of the cliffs. Ventrana chose to leave the area entirely, moving back out through the crumbling archway until the Standing Stone was completely out of her sight.
While Xander attempted to skirt his way around the enclosed area, and Nirmala continued to examine the landing site of the meteor - now sans meteor remains of any kind - the party was alerted just in time by the arrival of two Wargs on the top of the cliffs above them. The Wargs attacked, and though the party fought back valiantly and managed to take out the Wargs, not before both Nirmala and Ventrana were knocked unconscious. Xander, attempting to flee the battle - or take cover - in the narrow back entrance he'd discovered found himself face to face with an enraged Orc. However, before the Orc could do much more than threaten Xander with his massive great axe, a stream of acid blown from around the corner and out of Xander's sight instantly melted the Orc into a puddle of goo. Stunned and uncertain, Xander took cover and could do nothing but watch while a shadowy reptilian form skittered down the cliff-face, scooped up Nirmala's unconscious body, and vanished. Unable to follow the mysterious figure, and stymied in his attempts to help Ventrana by his pervasive fear of the Standing Stone preventing him from approaching where she fell at its base, Xander could do nothing but settle himself to rest at a reasonable secure spot on top of the surround cliffs where he could both watch the direction he suspected Nirmala had been taken, and look down into the ritual space where Ventrana's body lay. Eventually, Ventrana regained conscious and joined Xander on the ledge to rest and recover her strength before the two could set off after Nirmala.
Meanwhile, Nirmala woke to find herself alone in a cave - the entrance of which hung a good 30ft above the path below. A little exploration found a wealth of boxes, barrels, and other mundane items piled haphazardly around the cave. To her pleasure, she found a delicious blend of tea among the random collection of objects, and settled herself in to rest and await what would become of her next.
She only had a few hours to wait before Xander and Ventrana found their way up the path below the cavern entrance. However, just as she began to call down to them, intending to use the ladder she'd found in the cave to rejoin them and escape, and skittered from the back of the cave drew her attention, revealing the existence of a second opening in the cave wall - the one going deeper into the mountain - as a copper dragon wyrmling crawled out of it to greet her.

"Finally you're awake!" the dragon greeted excitedly, "And two more friends too! Oh we're going to have fun. Do you like riddles?"

Faced with little other choice, the adventurers agreed to gamble their freedom in a game of riddles - if they lost, they would remain and be "friends" with the dragonling forever, if they won, the dragon would give them the shiny pieces of meteor rock that he had collected.
Clearly young and naive, the dragon - who introduced himself as Gloomtoes - seemed delighted to have someone to play with besides "stinky Orcs who only know how to play tag... and they aren't very good at that." The dragon's enthusiasm was dampened when the adventurers successfully answered his 3 riddles and won the game; dejectedly, the dragon agreed that fair was fair and retrieved the meteor rock from his true lair hidden behind the main cavern.
Heart softened by the sadness and apparent loneliness of the young dragon, Nirmala and Ventrana invited the dragon to come back to Redstone with them, aware the copper dragons - like most metallic dragons - are known to sometimes take the guise of the humanoid races and live amongst them. Gloomtoes refused, however, insisting that people in the city didn't like him, although he didn't know why, only that they shot at him if he tried to approach. Still, the party was exhausted and unprepared to make the return journey in the wee hours of the morning after all they had endured. So Nirmala, promising to still be Gloomtoes' friend and to return "soon", earned them a safe place to rest within the dragon's cave for the remainder of the night; Gloomtoes eagerly cuddled up against Nirmala, not unlike an attention starved puppy.
In the morning, the party set off back toward Redstone - after Nirmala reassured Gloomtoes several times that she would definitely return to visit him soon, and that he would know her approach when he heard her blow her warhorn. Gloomtoes let the party go without further complaint, though the skittering of claws over rock warned them that he followed them for some distance after they left his cave.

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Epilogue

Returning, victorious but wary to Redstone, Xander insisted on learning more about the Starmetal that they'd retrieved before handing it over to Kari. The whispers of a dream he'd had in the night still echoed in his ears.

"You can have a piece of me with you always," his patron had whispered in his sleep.

While Ventrana and Nirmala waited outside, Xander visited the temple which serves as a front for the Cult of the Ancient One to which he belongs and spoke to the High Richtoress within. The Richtoress had little new information to offer: Starmetal is rare, found in meteorites of unknown origin, and can be used for many things that make it highly prized by artisans and magicians alike. If Xander wished to pursue use of the Starmetal himself, the Richtoress told him he could seek someone named Omynae, who could be found, ironically enough, at Hardpike & Grimtank Forge.
Both satisfied and unsatisfied, Xander rejoined the women and they returned to the Bleeding Blade, where soon Kari arrived to meet them. Xander, the only one to inspect and carry the meteor metal - thanks to Ventrana and Nirmala's trusting natures - handed over only 20 out of the 32 grams of metal that Gloomtoes had given them. However, Nirmala's keen perception picked up on his attempt at deceit. Although Kari seemed too delighted to have any of the precious metal at all to notice the discord between the group, Nirmala prevailed and revealed the deception to Kari. Although disappointed, Kari agreed that, as the party had retrieved the meteorite at great peril to themselves, he could not argue if Xander wanted to keep some of the metal for himself as his reward instead of the money that Kari had offered him. It was therefore decided that Ventrana and Nirmala would uphold their original deal, handing over the 20 grams of Starmetal in return for the 250gp each that Kari had promised, while Xander kept his third of the metal in lieu of financial payment.
Kari admitted that the metal was mostly meant to be a gift for his husband and partner at Hardpike & Grimtank Forge - Othil Hardpike - first as new wedding bands to celebrate the pair's 25th anniversary, and the remainder given to Othil to craft with. However, when Xander inquired about a smith in the employ of Hardpike & Grimtank - one called Omynae - Kari's affable demeanor as a mild mannered husband and accountant vanished.

"Never come to my Forge," he warned Xander darkly, adjusting his grip on his cane that while beautiful would certainly land a hefty blow. "And stay the fuck away from Omynae."

Calming himself again, Kari once again thanked Ventrana and Nirmala, pointedly inviting them to visit the Forge any time they liked, and left the Bleeding Blade to get home. In his wake, Nirmala leveled her "mom-friend eyes" on Xander sternly and warned him that she would be watching him; although Xander pointed out that she hadn't been entirely honest either, having alluded to Kari that they'd made a new "friend" out in the mountains but refusing to elaborate on this friend's nature or identity.

Rewards Granted

Nirmala - 250gp and an open invitation to visit the Hardpike & Grimtank Forge
Ventrana - 250gp and an open invitation to visit the Hardpike & Grimtank Forge
Xander - 12 grams of Starmetal

Character(s) interacted with

Kari Grimtank
Karina Osmond
Gloomtoes
High Richteress of the "Cult of the Ancient One"

Notes

What will become of these three fresh adventurers? What are Xander's intentions with the Starmetal and will he ignore Kari's warning to stay away from Omynae? How long is "soon" and will Nirmala really return to visit Gloomtoes? These questions and more may yet be answered another day.

Report Date

28 Dec 2019

Secondary Location

The Bleeding Blade