NPC:


Shadow consumed him.

All around him, darkness reigned.

A tower made of black glass.

A tower frozen in time.

A face in the storm.

Bedlam Mayhammer suddenly sat up, drenched in sweat. The face, he could recall it, though it faded rapidly from his dream - it was the Wizard who'd told him to watch the Kender!

The Kender!

Bedlam sat up now more frantic than ever. Braid Lockpick was no longer sitting across from him going through his own pouches and looking for a map of Blödehelm! He quickly ran upstairs and saw the half-elf, his name was Tycus, whom the wizard had appointed to watch the Kender. "Where is the Kender?" Bedlam asked.

"Beats me," Tycus admitted. "I took my eyes off of him for one second because I heard an explosion and came to the top. He came with me. I saw, what looked to be a catapult suddenly crumble to the ground in the port city. No idea what's going on. When I looked next to me again, the blasted Kender was gone."

"This isn't good," Bedlam admitted. "The Wizard doesn't seem like the kind of gentleman you want angry at you."

"We should make our way into Blödehelm," Tycus admitted. "I've got a bad feeling that's where he may have headed because he was curious about the explosions." 

Both of them knew Kender possessed an insatiable inclination to explore, investigate, and interact with their surroundings, often leading them to acquire items or "handle" possessions that aren't theirs, and this curiosity made them virtually immune to almost all forms of fear.

"One problem," Bedlam muttered beneath is breath. "Ogres and Dwarves have a long history... of dislike. If they see me..."

Tycus shared beyond the boat, down the pier and into the port city. There were Ogres everywhere.

"There's no way to sneak past them," Tycus growled. Then he remembered - during the sound of the explosions, he'd seen dwarves among them, with dark to grey complexion. He turned towards this new Dwarven companion, "What do you know about dwarves with grey skin?"

"The Duergar," the words came out of Bedlam's mouth with hatred.

"There were some in this port city when the explosions were going off," Tycus said, "they were with the Ogres."

Tycus looked around and with Bedlam's help, created a grey mask, using ash and soot from the candles and torches, to give the appearance that Bedlam was one of the Duergar. Together, they then quickly left the ship, leaving it in command of one of the rebels from Schallsea until they returned. They moved through the port city, only occasionally stopping to talk to an Ogre or Human to avoid suspicion, learning that their companions had gone to the mountains to investigate the Tinker Gnomes.

"That must be where the explosions are coming from," Bedlam said. "Damn, Tinker Gnomes."

Tycus had met several Tinker Gnomes, as a matter of fact, it'd been a Tinker Gnome - Innleachadhspreadhaidh – though most simply called him ‘Innly’ - who had shown his father, Creid, how to harvest magic from the fragments of the mountain that had been a part of the Cataclysm. Tycus' father had been one of the Wizards of High Sorcery and deeply interested in what the Tinker Gnome had discovered. He had left Qualinesti with this gnome and together they traveled north to Goodbay, where they booked passage towards Haligoth and from there traveled into Estwilde, where Creid assumed there would be far more fragments being closer to the impact of the Cataclysm – and he was not disappointed. While traveling across Estwilde with the gnome, collecting these unique fragments, he would surprisingly fall in love with one of the human native women there, who was both strong as a warrior as she was in her faith of the old gods, named Alienea  Stormcloud. When Alienea bore Creid’s son, Creid, along with their gnome companion, Innly knew they could not keep roaming the Estwilde with a child in hand and moved north to the capital city of Maelgoth, between the Plains of Solamnia and Nightlund. It was there that Creid and Innly opened a store, while Alienea helped raise their son, Tycus. She taught Tycus that the old gods may seem to be gone, but they’re in slumber, like the great bears of Estwilde; waiting to awaken when the time was right. Creid taught his son the ways of what became known as ‘artificer’ – centered on extracting magic from these ancient fragmented artifacts from the Cataclysm’s impact.

Inside the cave, Tycus and Bedlam quickly find evidence of their friends having passed through the cave. The minotaur heavy steps left deep imprints in the dirt, making them easy to follow. Descending down the path, Tycus and Bedlam found a small, underground lake, surrounded by giant mushrooms. "Avoid the mushrooms," Bedlam warned. "They're shriekers." In his mountain caves, Shriekers were often harvested both by dwarves and goblins alike, to grow and use as alarms.

Tycus nodded, recalling his own encounter with Shriekers with his companions, when all of this madness began. (See Session 01 - The Awakening )


Up ahead, Thalia turns her head, hearing a sound behind them. She quietly moved backwards and saw Tycus and he appeared to have been captured by a Duergar. She turned quickly and returned back to the others, whispering, "Tycus has been captured a Duergar."

"That stone collecting idiot," Feroz growled. "Arrigus told him to keep an eye on Braid." (See Session 09: Ogres and Humans )

Ronalyn nodded, "We need to make a trap to capture the Duergar and free Tycus. It's only one, we got this."

And so, the trap was sprung, and quickly revealed that it was no true Duergar, but a dwarf named Bedlam.

"You've gotten yourself into something," Feroz said, shaking his head. "The two of you were supposed to watch the Kender, Braid. Where is he?"

"We don't know," Tycus admitted. "We heard explosions and he and I went to the top deck to see what was happening. By the time I looked back down the kender was gone."

Feroz shook his head. "This could be bad if there's a kender running around Blödehelm," though Feroz was slightly amused by the idea, as he gave it more thought. A spry kender dodging Ogres, picking pockets, and creating chaos.

"So what's your story," Breara asked. 

Bedlam explained, "My name is Bedlam Mayhammer. I was in Haligoth when the Blue Dragons attacked. I've had unusual visions and," he looked at his hands, then back to Breara. "The black robed wizard you travel with - he's been in my visions. I've seen him. And there's a tower of black glass, shaped like a dagger... and then... a tower I see frozen in time. I want to talk to your wizard friend, I'd hoped he'd be here with all of you now."

Feroz shook his head, "He's back in Blödehelm speaking to one of the human commanders while we came here to deal with the Tinker Gnomes."

"I was there with all of you, in the fight across Schallsea to drive back the Draconians," Bedlam said, "along with other survivors from Haligoth who'd been on the wrecked ship and rebels from Schallsea. I saw all of you kill Draconians and goblins alike, so I know you're not evil or agents of the Dark Queen - yet you follow commands of a Black Robed Wizard, and now you're here to 'deal with' the Tinker Gnomes who are not evil. They're the ones blowing up the Ogre miliatia weapons, like the ballista and catapults. You can't truly be here to kill them."

"We're not," Breara assured him. "We just need to keep the ruse up for as long as we can. We're looking for information about a prisoner they have."

"So what are you able to do? I see no daggers or swords on you, traditional to your kind," Ronalyn gestured towards Bedlam.

"There is a power in me that I do not understand," Bedlam confessed. "I suspect that the Black Robed Wizard may be able to answer some of those questions. I hail from Thorbardin - and there'd been a Theiwar," he paused, looked at the others, who were ignorant of Dwarven lore. He cleared his throat, "The Theiwar dwarves are one of the races of Dark Dwarves. Known for the conniving and scheming they are often plotting to overthrow the Hylar and rule Thorbardin themselves. " He paused for a moment before speaking the next words, because of his own situation. "The Theiwar are also a clan of dwarves who have come to use magic. While most dwarves mistrust or hate magic, the Theiwar have embraced the art."

Bedlam continued, "There had been a Theiwar there with a large lizard beast, they'd been talking in secrecy when I stumbled upon them. I know now, from my time with the rest of you on Schallsea, the beast that Reaglar had been speaking to had been a Draconian. I hadn't known at the time, it'd been the first time I'd ever seen such a horrific beast. I'd run as fast as I could - my speed compared to the Draconian's was no contest - it'd been quickly gaining on me when I stumbled into a room with a pale, grey light that shone down on an alter of Reorx the Forge God. However, it was a dead-end, I had nowhere to go. So I drew my dagger and faced my attackers. Then the grey light burst - and I instinctively held out my hands and watched as magic channeled through me, striking the Draconian - killing it - it's body turning to stone, and next to it, the Theiwar had also been turned to stone. I know now, it had been because of the Draconian's death - that some of their kind turn things around them to stone upon death - usually trapping their attacker. I turned to the alter to thank Reorx, but then there was a flash - and suddenly I was outside of Haligoth. I made my way inside, and the next think I knew, a few hours the city was attacked by the Blue Dragons, I ran into a ship that happened to be the one you'd all been on. Ever since then, almost every night, there's been unusual dreams of towers, and of your Black Robed companion."

"It would seem the gods have brought you here for a reason," Tharrom said, brandishing his symbol of Gilean, behind the Dark Queen emblem he wore. "As one who follows the God of Knowledge, I hope I can help you find whatever answers you seek."

Ronalyn suddenly appeared out of the shadow and whispered, "I missed some of what you said. While you were talking I heard something coming down one of the caves." He turned to Breara, "Shall we go take a look?"

She slung her bow from her shoulder and Ronalyn and Breara moved down one of the passage ways. It did not take long for Breara to recognize what had been coming down the dark passage way - she'd both seen, heard and smelled their kin before. "Bugbears," she whispered. A taller, more aggressive, cave dwelling goblin-kin, Bugbears stood seven feet tall upright, though they were often hunched over naturally, hiding their towering height until they engaged into combat, when their height and ferocity became more apparent.

Ronalyn gestured for Breara to return to the others, even as Ronalyn quietly released ball bearings in the passageway between him and the Bugbears. The Bugbears slip and fall on the ball bearings, cursing the Tinker Gnomes and their traps. Rounding the corner and seeing Feroz and the others with their weapons drawn, the Chief Bugbear among them raises his hands, "What are you doing down here?"

"We're here to deal with the Tinker Gnomes," Feroz said, not lowering his axe. "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing," the Bugbear replied. "Damn Ogres are too damn big to crawl down into these caves, so they sent me and my squadron. Several of them died by stepping on the damn explosive traps the Tinker Gnomes have scattered around the cave. I can in with ten, and this," he gestured to the three other bugbears behind him, who looked surprisingly skittish, "this is all I have left." Looking around the bugbear then asks, "Have you had any luck finding the Tinker Gnomes?"

"We've not," Feroz answered.

"I was afraid of that," the bugbear sighed. "Let us make camp and search for them as a group."

Feroz nodded, before the others could speak, "I agree, together we might do better."

The others looked at Feroz.

What is your plan? Feroz heard Bedlam's voice in his head, as if the Dwarf had sent him a mental message.

We stick with the bugbears, and if we find the Tinker Gnomes, we turn on the Bugbears and earn the Tinker Gnomes trust. They're not likely to believe us otherwise, wearing Blue Dragon Army Armor, Feroz thought, hoping Bedlam heard his thoughts.

Bedlam then nodded, "Yes. And perhaps we can find my fellow Duergar, and help with the hunting."

This had let Feroz know that Bedlam had indeed heard his thoughts.

As they settled, the bugbear looked at Bedlam. "I feel as if Captain Rel Twomoon has some special arrangement with your kind," he began.

"What do you mean," Bedlam asked.

"An elf was brought to the Duergar," the bugbear explained, "to be thrown into the pits. Captain Rel Twomoon got whatever information out of this elf they'd abducted. Your kind has a long hatred for Elves," the bugbear smiled, "but then, a few days later, Rel was far more confident - and then within a week, a human Dragon Highlord was appointed to Coal. The Ogres had been confident that it would have been Bloodmaul, but somehow Rel pulled off something to gain favor with the Dark Queen, and he was given the choice to anoint a Dragon Highlord for Coal. He picked a human named Herric."

Breara clenched her bow, thankful that Ketharion had been in insect form. It could be a coincidence or it could not - but the word Herric was the Elven word for "heretic" or "forsaken." A name someone was given when they committed such an atrocity to their Kin that their name was stricken away.

"As you can imagine," the bugbear shook his mangey head, "that only escalated tensions between the Humans and the Ogres that much more. Rel knows that the majority of Ogres rely on brute strength. Rel, he relies on his human cunning and his charm, and he's very good at it. I hate him, and think he's weak, but I can appreciate his cunningness and how he usurps the Ogres."

As the night wound on the bugbear shared more, "I've seen passages open and close and I am convinced the Tinker Gnomes are behind it, creating virtual mazes so we move in circles or find ourselves at passages that are dead-ends now but open only moments ago."

"If you can take me to one of these passages," Bedlam said, "I can take a look. My dwarven keen eye is made for that kind of thing."

After several hours, the bugbear rose to his feet. "Let's go see this moving wall. I know where one of them is."

Moving to where the bugbears had seen the wall shift, Bedlam touched the wall and immediately knew what it was - it was not the Tinker Gnomes, it was a humanoid race known as the Galeb Duhr (which had meant Living Grey Stone in ancient Dwarven), who were living stone, said to have been created by the chaos of the Grey Gem. Bedlam realized that perhaps it was the Galeb Duhr working with the Tinker Gnomes that had kept the gnomes safe. He then assumed that the Galeb Duhr being here meant they were watching. Without saying another word, he turned on the Bugbears and released a firebolt spell, which caught the bugbears unaware.

"What are you doing?" Ronalyn asked, quickly drawing his weapons.

"It's not Tinker Gnomes moving the wall," Bedlam shouted, "trust me - we need to take down the bugbears now."

The exhausted bugbears were quickly overwhelmed and slain, and as the battle ended the very stone turned. "Why do you betray your own?"

Bedlam bowed, "Galeb Duhr," he said, "we are not with the Blue Dragon Army, despite the ornaments my companions wear. It is a ruse to earn the trust of the Dragon Army. They are looking to gain their trust because they seek a prisoner."

"An Irda," Breara added. "If you can help."

"Irda," the stone figure said. "Come."

The Galeb Duhr parted revealing a passage, further down there'd been sounds of excited voices and explosions; the voices Tycus quickly recognized as Tinker Gnomes, as did, Bedlam.

Tharrom stood next to Bedlam, "It would seem that Reorx had plans for you to be here and aid us. The gods are guiding our hands."

Venturing inside, the Galeb Duhr seal the door behind them. A tinker gnome approached, "Whatareyoudoinghere?"

"We came to speak with you," Feroz said.

"Whydidtheguardiansletyouin?" the tinker gnome asked.

"Because we killed the bugbears who were looking for you," Breara explained.

"We are not with the Ogres," Thalia added.

The tinker gnome looked at Thalia. "IwouldhopenotIhadseenyourkindenslavedbytheOgres."

"My companions and I," Ronalyn began, "are looking for a prisoner - she's an Irda. The Galeb Duhr seemed to know about her."

"Indeedweknowabouther," the tinker gnome said excitedly, then forced himself to try and slow down. "My... name.... is...." in his attempt to talk slower, he had drastically decreased his speech, "Tinkerpopper... I... know..."

"You can talk a little faster," Thalia said, impatiently.

"I know the Irda," the tinker gnome named Tinkerpopper said, trying to match their pace of speech. "Before we rebelled, we used to be slaves of the Ogres, forced to make their ballista and catapults and engineer things for them. Before her ruse as a wizard was discovered, she'd given me blueprints from another tinker gnome named Gnimish." Tinkerpopper held out a device, "I am just missing three gem-stones to represent past, present and future."

Tinkerpopper looked at the strange contraption he'd made. "She said she needed this to find out about some Tower of High Sorcery that had exploded. But she believed there was more to this explosion. Some hidden truth that had information she needed for a coming war." The tinker gnome shook his head, "Sounded like madness to me."

Tycus pulled three of the Cataclym stones from his guantlet and handed them to Tinkerpopper. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Tinkerpopper's eyes widened. "Cataclysm stones! This will work! These stones are infused with magical energy! Yes! Yes! ThisisexactlywhatIneededtofinishthis!" His words ran together as excitement took over.

"How long would it take you to make this device?" Bedlam asked.

"Days? Weeks? Hours? I am not sure! It is delicate work," Tinkerpopper explained.

"Do you know where the Irda is?" Tharrom asked.

"The Dark Room,"Tinkerpopper said gloomily.

"Where is the Dark Room?" Tharrom pressed.

"Eastern part of the Blödehelm port city," Tinkerpopper answered. "You will see a lone, stone chamber above ground. It is a spiral staircase that goes down several hundred feet. At the very bottom are several prisoners that the Black Dragon Army finds of high importance. That's where she was taken."

"We will need some of your clothes," Feroz suddenly said.

"Iamsorrywhat," Tinkerpopper asked, surprised.

"We came up here under the ruse that we were going to kill you," Feroz explained. "We need you to stop retalliating against the Ogres and humans. They need to believe we've killed you and your kind. Give us some of your clothes. We will smear it in the bugbear blood in the hall. At some point, the tensions between the Ogres and the Humans are going to escalate. We want to pit them against one another. When we save the Irda, that will be our plan. Then unleash your attacks. But you will need to stop for now or our ruse is ruined."

Tinkerpopper nodded in agreement.

"Do you have any extra bombs?" Tycus smiled. "I'd like to see how you engineered them."

Tinkerpopper handed Tycus three of them.


Descending down the mountain, a wild sense of fear swept over them - a sensation they'd become all too familiar with here - it was the Dragon Fear that Coal emanated. Coal circled the Arena several times before landing, just as they had entered the town. They watched as a rider, adorned in black armor, from head to toe, dismounted Coal and clutched hands with Rel Twomoon.

"At least the bugbears weren't lying," Breara whispered.

"That must be the Dragon Highlord," Bedlam added.

Feroz and the others waited for the crowd to disperse before throwing the bloody Tinker Gnome clothing at Captain Rel Twomoon's feet. "The Tinker Gnomes won't be a problem anymore," Feroz said, and walked past Captain Rel Twomoon and headed for the same tavern the Dragon Highlord had gone to.

Inside the tavern, no one sat with the Dragon Highlord. He sat in a corner, by himself, the black armor, the helmet, omniously looking around the room. Finally, he slid off the helmet, his long black hair flowing around his shoulders, his piercing blue eyes scanning the room.

Ketharion, still insect form recognized the Dragon Highlord.

It was Kolvar.

To Be Continued...