Jendri leads Gemwin, Grom, and Vindalf (Hokan is missing) to go talk to the Ironvein Duergar and explore a deeper level. Jendri offers Nimira and the other duergar some of the treasure they've gained, and they get a tour of the kitchens and the forge, which has a stream running into a deep chasm. Several of the duergar agree to hire on with the dwarves when they come back with a caravan in a few months, including the smith Snurriven and the alchemist Vorla. The party explores the chasm, first stopping on a ledge on the far side from the forge, where they discover a chimney with a rope and an escape bag. Delving into the chasm, they have a couple of close calls with Grom on the chain ladder. At the bottom, they discover another portion of the underground river, that leads to a dark lake with vines and algae. There they are suddenly attacked by a green dragon, who rises to breath poison on them before disappearing underwater again. They flee, but it breathes on them a few more times before they ascend the chasm to escape. Back up on the forge level, they recover, strategize, and offer a share of treasure to some of the duergar to help fight the dragon in its watery lair. Snurriven accidentally ruins Grom's new armor trying to repair it, and the party finds many situations in which Hokan would have been helpful.
Grom guides Gemwin, Vindalf, Jendri and Hokan as they explore a secret level that was the home of the gnome trapmaker of Khundrakar. After some trickiness with the first trap in a crawlspace, they encounter some hungry rust monsters and Grom's new plate mail is damaged. Further exploration reveals secret connections to the Glitterhame level and the mountain door, though most are gnome-sized and require dwarves to squeeze through without heavy armor. A bit of treasure, including a magical dagger, is recovered, and the party begins to consider how much of it to share with the Ironvein Duergar occupying the Forge Level.
Vindalf leads Gemwin, Jendri, Hokan and Grom as they continue to explore the former dwarfhold in Dragonfang Mountain, which they discover was called Khundrukar. They cast Speak with Dead to ask the former lord and master smith Durgeddin 5 questions, including "Can Grom use your Plate Mail?" Hokan does a bit of plumbing investigation on a derelict well, and they get more of the story of how the dwarf halls fell to orcs many years ago as they explore room to room. They speak with a half-crazy ghost, discover a portal room and the key word to unlock one of the portals to somewhere called Greywatch, and discover some secret passages that seem to lead to the duergar-controlled portion of the level. They discover a library and end up fighting an imprisoned lamia calling herself Idalla, and find a few scrolls and bits of dwarven lore to add to their collection.
After some discussion on the direction of the campaign, Gemwin leads Grom, Vindalf, Jendri, Hokan, and the freed duergar Veyra back down into the Glitterhame area, where Gemwin solo-fights two gricks, and then the party is attacked by carrion crawlers. Hokan fails to pick the Iron Door's lock, but luckily a duergar party emerges and the party negotiates up the duergar bureaucracy chain to Morga Ironvein, second-in-command of the gray dwarves. Morga agrees to let them explore parts of the halls the duergar aren't using, but forbids them access to the smithing areas. The party starts with a dwarven shrine where they battle an orc wight and two ogre skeletons, and discover the remains of the great smith Durgeddin.
The dwarves, led this session by Gemwin, take steps to secure the Mountain Door portion of Dragonfang Mountain. They bring Grom's porter Dhosus and the giant goats indoors (keeping them separate from new dire wolf friend Thrag), investigate the other commodity loads the orcs had, and strategize about how to engage the troglodytes below. They hire one of the former captives (Serena Vale), and descend down into the Glitterhame level. Instead of a full-on assault, Gemwin and Hokan negotiate with the troglodyte chieftain Khargaaz for the release of the duergar prisoner he's holding. They agree to pay in metal weapons and armor, and free duergar scout Veyra Blackflint, who tells them about the duergar leader Nimira and the other gray dwarves deeper in the dungeon.
Jendri leads Grom, Gemwin, and Hokan in an all-out assault on the Broken Tusks orc tribe. They offer the former leader Old Yarrick a deal, but end up with a two-fronted battle! Yarrick and an ally fight Jendri and Hokan, while Gemwin and Grom take on the rest of the horde. After she falls unconscious, Yarrick uses Jendri as a hostage, securing his own release from the dungeon. The party explores the rest of the level, including some hidden archer areas where the party rests while guarding against the possible return of the Broken Tusks.
Grom takes the lead in exploring the dungeon ruins within Dragonfang Mountain, with Hokan, Jendry, and Gemwin (Vindalf missing). We playtest our new Dungeon Turn rules for tracking party actions in the delve, and Grom leads the party up to the orc-infested halls. First they battle the shaman and her apprentices, one of whom is allowed to escape, then they withdraw for Grom to heal from the wounds inflicted by her spear. They discover and free two prisoners, and then engage a large orc war-party including an ogre and a dire wolf. We pause mid-moment just after the first few waves of attackers have been slain.
Vindalf leads Gemwin, Jendry, and Grom on an exploration of several levels of Dragonfang Mountain. First, they discover a secret room where a dwarf druid lived, and his magical treasures, then they discover some scary creatures the gnomes were keeping as mounts. They find a hidden entrance used by the gnome cultists. They descend back down to the river level, and find a saferoom guarding a spot where an elevator once worked. Vindalf becomes a giant frog to go across the river and bring back a boat there, and they all cross back together. They ascend a tunnel that takes them back up near their original entry point, where they find several dwarven tombs. They explore a streambed and find a nest of stirges and an old adventurer corpse. Ascending up another staircase, they find a dwarven trap that spews fire, and a blocked off iron gate with some orcs beyond it. Descending again, they go all the way back down to the storeroom level by the river, explore a flooded storeroom, and hole up for another short rest.
Happy 100th episode of the campaign! Jendri takes the lead of the dwarven expedition into the ruins within Dragonfang Mountain, with Gemwin, Grom, and Vindalf (Hokan has wandered off). First we discuss some rules changes, proposed adventuring company bylaws, and various rooms and teams efforts. Then the expedition finds a storage room with a vertical shaft, then a room with an underground river and a hidden crawl-tunnel, which they follow. At the other end, they fight some rats and a hook horror, then make their way across the river and up some stairs into more dwarven ruins, where they encounter some gnomish cultists of Urdlen the Crawler Below. They end up in a big battle with the cultists and their pet umber hulk, which Gemwin is able to lock down with his paladin abilities (leading to some rules consternation that we'll discuss out of game).
Gemwin leads a dwarven expedition with Grom, Vindalf, Hokan, and Jendri in search of the ruined dwarfhold of Dragonfang Mountain. They visit Llorkh and the other PCs, then follow the road East toward the Dawn Pass, discovering the Valley of Huvrathe (with its weird plants) on the way. Once there, they discover several possible ways into Dragonfang Mountain. When they are spotted by orc guards, they opt for a hidden tunnel, which brings them in to a series of natural caves. They battle some troglodytes and a bear, find a magical sword in a mold-infested corpse, investigate some fungi, and descend near a waterfall to a section where they hole up in an abandoned storeroom.
Grom (a life cleric) leads fellow dwarves Gemwin (paladin), Hokan (rogue), and new adventurers Jendri (warlock) and Vindalf (druid) to explore the regions around Runedarth in the Greypeak Mountains. The dwarves fight off a goblin ambush and learn the location of a crag cat lair, they find the grave cairn of a cloud giant, and they nearly lose some of their mounts to recurring manticore Karg, who is always hungry for a meal or a story. They discover a ruined garrison where they suspect Duergar are hiding, then make their way north to Axeholm to collect supplies before venturing in search of new dwarfhold ruins to liberate and explore.
Hokan leads VS, Neville, Kain, and Render (and his shield guardian M.I.C.H.A.E.L.), along with paladin of Mystra Valorean, in a search for the evil wizard Sikhil and his associate Chingis in the Salt Mine Seclusium. They explore some tunnels, investigate some strange machinery, tangle with the Yellowbone Goblins a bit, and eventually end up on the lower levels of the complex. In a large pool, they fight some aquatic ghouls, and then eventually find the lair of Chingis and the lich-aspirant diviner Sikhil (and their pet ogre). Render gets banished to a maze demiplane, which drives M.I.C.H.A.E.L. crazy. Chingis drops Hunger of Hadar on the Party, Sihkil drops a Fireball, Neville turns invisible and drops Darkness on Sikhil, who teleports across the room to cause more havoc. With several players on the edge of death, they manage to defeat Sikhil and Chingis and claim some spellbooks, a Robe of Tongues, a Crossbow of Whispers, and a few other items and treasure. Valorean guides them back to town where they can recover from their adventures for a while.
Neville leads VS, Hokan, Render, and Kain on an exploration of the underground complex they arrived at by magical portal. Taking refuge to rest in a chapel of the divination god Savras, VS discovers a magical wishbone and Hokan gives in to dwarven greed to steal a few (possibly cursed) platinum pieces. They find some creepy corpses, try to navigate across a bridge (Hokan falls down the chasm), and eventually explore upward and out to the surface, where they are in an unknown locale. They return in to the mines, find a really fun slide, and take refuge with Valorean, a dragonborn paladin of Mystra hunting the heretic Sikhil, who he believes is pursuing lichdom somewhere in the Salt Mines of Savras.
Render, Neville, VS, and Kain are low on hit points and stripped of their gear as prisoners of the Yellowbone goblins in the weird bolthole laboratory of the wizard Haronin, an insane worshiper of the divination god Savras. The goblins want them to activate the portal pool, but Kain plays for time and Render, who they assume is property because he's a construct, works with M.I.C.H.A.E.L. his shield guardian to find another way in. Neville smooth-talks his captors, and he and Kain get VS to recover some of the wizard's books. Neville starts reading the Savras religious texts, and the party is able to activate the portal, sending Neville through first. The Yellowbones all rush into the portal pool, followed by the party. Still low on health and abilities, they face an unknown danger on the other side of the portal!
In Llorkh, Kain leads Render, Neville, Hokam, and VS in a search north into the hills looking for some ruins supposedly built by a wizard. They find the ruins in a valley of noxious gases, and have to enter the complex by way of the air vents - guarded by a spellcasting Yellowbone goblin. Once inside, they discover strange sigils and a pool that might be a portal, then get into a tangle with the Yellowbones - Render goes down, the others are captured. It's a cliffhanger!
Flip the Sorcerer leads Vond, Lysander, and Kathar back to the Grig Little Kingdom to help overthrow evil vizier Jhabshasid and restore power to King Flibnabmeister and his daughter Hollylollybon. Aided by former captain of guard Bentonkadonk, they infiltrate the Ogre Skull Palace and find the king missing. Princess Holly is found unconscious and attached to a fiendish device that is extracting her blood and transforming it into a serum. They fight the evil guardian and free Holly, then use the serum to get into the magic library of King Filbnabmeister. There they encounter the king's body and a portal to the Shadowfell, and the evil vizier Jhabshasid. Weak from their former battle, he downs most of the party quickly, leaving only Vond able to try to save who he can! Flip is saved, Kathar is slain, and Lysander and the villain disappear into the Shadow realm. Kathar's body is brought to Fort Heartwood, where the archdruid of Lurue is able to reincarnate her - as an orc. Lysander's fate remains unknown, but peace is restored to the grigs.
Floki asks satyr bard Lysander to go see why some grigs and sprites are searching the Dead Magic Zone, so he assembles a team of dragonborn monk Kathar Videro, feytouched human sorcerer Flip, and two new PCs: halfling wizard Vond Lightfoot and dragonborn ranger Balastair. After a nearly deadly encounter with a displacer beast in the night, they talk to the grigs, who seem to be looking for a way to cure their ailing King Filbnabmeister. The party travels to the Grig Little Kingdom, where they drink some "shrinky drinky" and talk to Princess Hollylollybon and the sketchy vizier Jhabshasid in the Ogre Skull Palace. King Filbnabmeister is afraid of the dark and the only person who can access a magical library of some sort, and the shadows seem to behave extra-strangely here. One of the servants, Nannyplumkins, shows the party where to find the now imprisoned former captain of guards, Bentonkadonk. The party manages to free Ben, but in so doing the alarm is raised and the Ogre Skull Palace gets locked down. Lysander sneaks in to find the Princess and King but triggers the alarm once more when Shattering a door. He and the rest of the party flee the village with Ben, and head back to the Dead Magic Zone, where they learn that the grigs and ravens were looking for something there that Jhabshasid wants.
Arty leads Sir Parrik, Bariq, Steven III, and MikMek back into the lair of the necromancer Chetiin to finish the job! They battle watery ghouls and the wraith of former cleric Cassius, then press their way in to discover the eldritch library where the spirit of former warlock Rasprax is held captive by the nefarious Chetiin! An epic battle commences, with clever use of Silence by Arty, Moonbeam by Bariq and Parrik, and other spells to keep Chetiin contained while Rasprax strikes at the characters from within the walls. Parrik summons spectral berserkers with his Horn of Valhalla, and Steven takes blow after blow while MikMek shoots from the shadows. When at last the evil necromancer is defeated, the players regain some old treasures and find a few new ones, including a Cloak of the Bat that MikMek is excited to use.
Sir Parrik leads Artvirious, MikMek, and Steven III into the lair of Chetiin the Goblin Necromancer, where they first fight several aquatic ghouls led by former chaos sorcerer PC Simple Jack. Delving deeper, they encounter a shrine of Orcus and a tight squeeze, where they fight several goblin zombies. In a ghastly feasting hall, they fight more ghouls and undead led by former bugbear paladin PC Raff, who has been dressed as the bride of Chetiin and who still weilds a magic greatsword. Wounded after the battle, the party moves more cautiously, but discovers a necromantic throne, presently unoccupied. They decide to make their way out of the dungeon with the bodies of the former PCs, but encounter and battle a zombie ogre on the way. On the surface, Bariq burns the bodies of the former PCs and the party withdraws to the safety of the Archdruid Saluk Noreaksey's grove to regather their strength.
Bariq leads Sir Parrik, Artvirous, MikMek, and STEVEN Mk III on a search for the lair of the goblin necromancer Chetiin, who some months ago killed a whole party of the Thorn River Company and then fled into the Southwood. Along the way, they stop at a statue of the unicorn goddess Lurue, and battle several shambling mounds who engulf Arty, Parrik, and Bariq, causing them to have to fight their way out from inside the plant monsters. Exploring further, they find (and avoid) a hydra, and come across a freshly-killed unicorn. They meet the alaghi hermit druid Saluk Noreaksey, with whom Bariq plays chess and who breaks Bariq's tender heart in the morning, after telling the party what he knows of Chetiin. The party find Chetiin's lair, a crumbling fortress, and fight their way in past the Bonepicker Goblin guards and the undead remnant of Swift Current, one of the former members of their party. Entering the underground portion, they reach a flooded room and we pause them on "dungeon time."