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Eberron PbP Story Hour – Chapter 9: The Forge is Found

As the party moved forward, a constant background noise rose from walls and ruins around them. It took a moment to recognize, but eventually the sounds of chittering and buzzing could be picked out from among the cacophony. It was not unlike the sound of insects in the King’s Forest, except that the chamber seemed to amplify and echo the noise in disturbing ways.

Continuing into the blackness, a dark carpet suddenly slid across the dusty floor and moved toward them. No, not a carpet, but a mass of squirming, chittering, shiny black beetles that were moving with a hungry purpose.

“Who’s got a great idea here? Some way to spread the torch fire around?” Lealani asked, before casting mage armor on herself. Ilyra also activated her mage armor.

“I don’t have to outrun the swarm… I just have to outrun some of the fleshbodies,” proclaimed Shrapnel.

Jebber detached a pint of oil from his backpack, hefting the heavy liquid. “Oil’s ready, someone prepare to ignite it!”

“I will do it, I’m in the front anyway,” said Lealani. She reached out to Rathan and said with a grin, “If you do not protest,” and took the torch from him, knowing he wouldn’t. “It may be wise to find another one of these, just in case. And pointy blades don’t look to do well here, bashing may be better.”

Ilyra drew her own vial of oil and threw it at the swarm, hitting it squarely. “I think I got them. Lealani, NOW!!!”

Lealani threw her torch at the group and they lit up, casting moving shadows throughout the cavern. This did not stop their approach, however.

“Good throw, Lealani!” complimented Rathan.

“Thank you mellon, now it’s your turn to be in the front!”

Rathan turns to Jebber, “Did she just call me a melon?”

“What the hell, it’s worth a shot…” Shrapnel says as he stomps on the bugs that aren’t on fire. They seem to take the message and break up, scattering to the darkness.

“By the Host, burnt beetles smell disgusting. I’m just glad we ate earlier,” coughs Jebber.

Lealani turned to the group. “Lle ume quel everyone. Are you alright Jebber? You seem full of cough lately.”

“I’ll be fine, milady, it’s just a tad”*cough*”more dank than I prefer.”

“Ah, yes, it is quite… unfresh down here. Let’s get what we came for then and be done with it, although I imagine we have more tests to overcome first before we can accomplish our goal.”

“Damned bugs. Ah well, probably not the only creepy-crawlies we’ll see down here. Shall we press on?” asked Kolthak.

Jebber answered. “Lead on, master Dwarf.”

Rathan lit another torch. The group slowly made its way towards where its goal. Shadows flickered as the light from the torches and lanterns played against the ruins that were scattered about. From the shadowy rubble to the right of the group, Rathan thought he heard something moving. He pointed to the rubble and he, Jebber, Ilyra all saw shadowy figures moving in their direction, obviously trying to hide from view. They couldn’t make out what they were. Suddenly, two hideous creatures that looked like demonic rats jumped out of the shadows!

Shrapnel was the first to speak. “OOOH! A doggie! I just want to pet it!”

“Wretched things! Know your place in the food chain!” Jebber yelled as he drew his cold iron dagger.

Lealani let go with a bright cone of energy that washed over both rats. They both suddenly fall over, as if in a deep sleep. After that, they finished them easily.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad,” Lealani said, swiping her hands together if that was easy work. She didn’t want to admit to the others how pleased she was that her spells were working in practical situations. “Let’s keep going.” Lealani continued to lead the way in the direction they were heading.

The group eventually made its way to a large building that, for its age, was in pretty good shape. As they walked around its outskirts, they saw that it was completely intact. The double doors on the western wall were large and looked to be made of thick, black metal. The same icon that was on the cover of Bonal’s journal spanned both side of the doors.

“Well, I guess this is the place. Let’s see if these doors open the same way as the rest.” So saying, Kolthak touched the symbol on the journal cover to the symbol on the door. Nothing happened. “Well, that’s a bit odd. Lass, would you mind checking this door for traps before any of us give it a push?”

“Certainly,” Lealani said as she searched the door for traps. After a few moments of studying the door thoroughly, Lealani stepped back from it. “There are no traps, per say, but there is a
magical effect, an arcane lock spell. I do not have the means of unlocking that.” She was still surprised no one has wondered why a singer would have the skills to search for traps and pick lock, but she knew better than to question her luck.

“Perhaps we should look for another way in,” Rathan suggested.

“We could do that. Or Ilyra might be able to do something with that spell, I’m not sure. There may be a key of some sort – a word – that opens it. But we’d have no way of knowing it unless it’s in the book or they were silly and wrote it on the wall somewhere around here.” Unfortunately, Ilyra shook her head. She had no spell for the current circumstances.

While the rest of the group stared at the front door, Rathan walked around the perimeter of the building and looked for another way in. While he didn’t see any openings, he did notice that the walls looked like they’d be easy enough to climb if they were so inclined.

“Well now, that’s an obstacle. Let’s see if that book tells us anything.” Kolthak looked through the journal for anything about this room. Of course, the book was still blank. “It was too much to hope that the book would give us a password. It seems odd that they go to the trouble to lock the door but make it easy to get in through the roof. Anyone want to climb up and take a look?”

Rathan volunteers. “I can climb up and look.” He easily climbed to the roof and noticed a very large hole in the northwest corner. “I’ve found a way in. There’s a large hole here in the roof,” he yelled to the group.

“Part of the roof collapsed?” Kolthak shook his head sadly. “All the powerful wards and locks you like, but if you let the building collapse it doesn’t help ya much.” He looked at the rest of the group. “Well, everyone up for a climb? I can stay for last in case any more beasties come calling while we’re climbing.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Lealani tried to climb up the building the way Rathan did and found it easy enough to do so. After a few minutes, everyone was on the roof.

Kolthak made his way to the hole in the roof and looked inside the building. A large chunk of the ceiling had fallen in, crushing cabinets and shelves beneath the weight of brick and stone. The remains of what appeared to be a metal dog that was also caught in the falling stones jutted from the debris. Dusty shelves, intact, line the southern wall, and a huge forge and furnace filled the eastern part of the room. Neither appeared to have been used in centuries.

“Well, I don’t think this will be so easy to climb. Let’s see if we can find something to tie some ropes to so we can make things easier on ourselves.” Kolthak looked for something secure to tie a couple of ropes to by the hole, with the hopes of being able to use the ropes to rappel or as a brace against the climb rather than just having to shimmy up the ropes. He found an area to tie off the rope and tugged on it after. It held firm. He looked up at the rest of the group. “Well, it looks like the rope should hold. Let’s see what’s down there.” He started to descend into the building and Rathan followed.

As they made it down to the bottom of the rope, two sets of red eyes appeared in the darkness. Out of the shadows approached two mechanical dogs, each growling menacingly.

Kolthak jumped off the rope and moved out of the way for others to climb down. “Get down here! There are Iron Defenders down here; constructs and they don’t look friendly!”

Kolthak let loose a wave of color that washed over both creatures but seemed to have no effect on them. Both beasts moved up. One of them bit at Rathan but its teeth hit on a piece of shattered table instead. Kolthak was not as lucky and teeth sank into his flesh.

“Oh look, doggies! I want one!” Shrapnel said as he descended the rope.

Ilyra moved to the edge of the hole and fired with her crossbow but missed wildly.

Jebber walked to the top-left corner of the structure and cast light into the dark chamber, taking care to illuminate both visible opponents.

Lealani moved to a better position at the top of the hole and cast daze on one of the beasts, to no effect.

Rathan swung his heavy mace and crunched into the nearest metal dog.

“Son of a bitch!” Kolthak swung at the creature that bit him but missed. “Bastard!” He stepped behind the warforged to avoid a second, fatal chomp. “Laddy, I need a healer!”

The beast, sensing that Kolthak was wounded, moved quickly to attack, hitting with a vicious blow that nearly severs his leg. Kolthak fell where he stood, bleeding profusely. The other beast attacked Rathan this time and hit.

“Looks like I’ll have to teach them some discipline! I’ll smash one!” Shrapnel hit the metal dog that felled Kolthak. He reached over and touched Kolthak on the chest. His eyes immediately opened and he sucked in a great deal of breath before standing up.

“They are just regular constructs,” Ilyra shouted to the rest of the group “Try magics that will work on that!” She cast magic missile at the dog threatening Kolthak. The magic slammed into the creatures body, obviously hurting it.

“What kind of magics work on constructs???” yelled Lealani.

“I know what does NOT work! Don’t try to confuse them or affect their minds, because they have none. Something that dos right direct damage can work for sure.”

Jebber cast cure light wounds and held on to it, hoping to get to Kolthak in time to help. Unfortunately, he slipped while climbing down the rope and fell to the floor below. Fortunately, he landed right next to Kolthak’s unconscious form.

Lealani pulled out her bow and fired. Her arrow went wide, missing its target. Rathan attacked the beast in front of him and connected solidly!

The metal beast in front of Rathan attacked but missed. Shrapnel was not as lucky and the creature’s teeth tore into him.

“Well this isn’t going to be any fun.” Shrapnel said as he drew a vial of oil, took a single step to the southeast, and attacked. His blow hurt the creature greatly. It looked as if one more solid hit would take it out.

Ilyra fired her crossbow but missed. Jebber reached out and healed Rathan before moving to get out of direct combat. Lealani again fired her bow but missed. Rathan missed as well.

Kolthak looked at his leg and the fact that he’s standing again, then glanced at Jebber. “Thank ye lad! I hate to be inconvenient, but I could really use another one of whatever ye gave me.” He turned back to the Iron Defender that chomped him and said “As for you ya tin-plated son of a bitch, have a bite of this!” Kolthak’s axe buried itself deep in the creature’s neck and it dropped to the ground.

The other creature attacks Rathan but misses. Shrapnel hurled himself at a dog, yelling “God I hope they didn’t notice that! I’ve gotta look brave in front of the fleshies or else they might figure out that I’m not in full working order!” His blow bounces off the dog’s hide.

Once again, Ilyra missed with her crossbow, cursing under her breath.

“Master Dwarf, I’m afraid that’s all the Host has graced me with today,” Jebber said as he moved to fire a shard at the remaining beast. His attack missed.

Lealani began to climb down the rope. As she did, Rathan swung one last time and connected with the beast, sending it to the ground. He put away his mace and lent a hand to Lealani as she climbed down the rope. “Watch your step, it is a bit rough down here.”

She took his hand and let him help her down, having seen the final blow up close. “Thank you for the help Rathan. You felled that creature easily like a mighty warrior. But you are injured?” she asked.

“I was, but thankfully I got some healing help. I feel fine now. Perhaps we should both scout together in case there are any other surprises.”

Lealani nodded, “I’m not certain how quiet you are but I will need light so that is probably for the best. Let’s go together.”

“I think it is reasonable to say that I will be much quieter than our metal friend there.” Rathan said with a twinkle in his eye.

Lea smiled. “Yes, of that I am sure.” Making sure there were two torches, one for the others and one for them, she said to the rest, “We will return shortly. Stay here and rest.”

Jebber looked at the remaining group. “Friends, I propose we either make camp now, or proceed stealthily and retreat at any hints of trouble.”

Leanlani and Rathan ventured out. They had a torch and while not exactly quiet they try not to make too much noise. They scouted out the area, gathering information as they go.

Searching the area, they found something that no one noticed previously; each iron defender now had a metal rod that had popped out of its forehead. One rod was rectangular, the other triangular. They weren’t sure if the iron defender that was currently buried under the collapsed roof also has a rod in its forehead. The shelves on the southern wall were mostly empty, though there were a number of objects wrapped in ancient oilcloth.

In the easternmost section of the room was a huge forge and furnace. It took up the easternmost 10 feet of the room. Directly in front of the forge lay metal tiles covering 10 feet of the floor. Three depressions, evenly spaced atop the forge, showed a pentagon, a triangle, and a square.

“Over here, Rathan, I think we may have found something. We’ll need to get to that buried guardian too.” Lealani pointed out all that was found and indicated she would spend a good amount of time on the shelves.

Rathan retrieved the rods from the defenders and set about to dig out the one under the debris. “Kolthak. Shrapnel. I need your help moving this stone.” With all three of them lifting, they were able to move the stone that was covering the third metal dog. It, too, had rod in its forehead; this one was pentagonal in shape.

“Tula sinome Rathan,” Lealani said. “Look what I found. None of it is magical but it will probably be helpful or at least we can sell it for gold to help with our adventure. I would suggest staying clear of the area by the forge, there is magics there that can injure.”

She pointed out a suit of chain mail, a very nice chain shirt, three small steel shields, a heavy mace, a longword, a very nice rapier, a very nice heavy mace, and two sunrods. Lealani lifted the rapier and started twirling it around. “This looks like good quality, perhaps better than my own
practice weapon.”

Kolthak will moved over to take a look at the swag Lelani found and see if that nice chain shirt might fit him; he seemed rather disinterested in the rest of it.

Lealani made her way to Rathan, “Heruamin, My Lord can you tell if this is well made?” She held up the rapier for him to look over.

“It appears that you have found a fine blade, dear lady. Can you wield it effectively?” Rathan asked.

“Not as impressively as you can wield your weapon but I would say I’m passable. Care to find out?” she teased.

“Show me,” Rathan said back.

The corner of Lealani’s lip turned up into a mischievous grin and before he knew it Rathan had a rapier come swinging quickly towards him.

Rathan takes a step forward inside Lealani’s arc and grabbed her wrist while pivoting to her inside. He stopped just inches from her face, her rapier pointed down toward the floor. Without warning, he leaned forward and kissed her softly. “Yes, I think you can handle it perfectly.”

Lealani was caught surprised, and for a moment after the kiss she was lost in Rathan’s deep brown and soulful eyes. However, this gave him a warning – suddenly her eyes flashed with fire and instead of her sword it was her hand that flew towards his face with speed and force.

Rathan used his other hand to block Lealani’s slap just inches from his face. Seeing the fire in her eyes, he kissed her again then backed away with a smile on his face, “Yes, I believe you can handle things just perfectly.”

Standing only a few feet away Rathan could still see the fire in her eyes as she considered the man standing in front of her. Years of training and interacting with all different races and kinds of people had never put her in front of someone so brazen and cocky as this human was to steal such a kiss, twice! Her grip tightened on her rapier as she sized him up, much larger than she but for certain her small frame made her quicker. She raised her rapier and pointed it at the man. “Uuma ma’ ten’ rashwe, ta tuluva a’ lle,” passion brewing in her voice. Repeating in common, “Don’t look for trouble Rathan, for surely it will come to you.” She waited, readied, for Rathan to make the first move.

Rathan walked directly toward her, the point of her rapier near his chest. “Vanimle sila tiri.” With a simple gesture, he pushed the tip of her rapier away and walked toward her slowly, his eyes locked on hers. “You don’t really want to use this on me, do you?”

Leálani looked up at Rathan, almost towering over her as he walked confidently close. “Quena i’lambe tel’ Eldalie?” she asked, surprised he spoke Elvish, and let him push her weapon away.
“Cormlle naa tanya tel’raa. To steal kisses as you did and to not back down from such a challenge. Lle lava and wish to reap the reward of such bravery?” The anger is gone from her eyes and replaced with the same mischief from earlier.

Rathan looked at her, confusion in his eyes for a moment. “I admit that I only know a little Elven. But I do recognize when I am in the presence of someone who is my better and could capture my heart if I am careless.”

“Ah,” recognizing he had no idea what she just said. “Perhaps you don’t want to be careless with something so precious,” she says, running a finger across his chest where his heart resides. “Or perhaps you do,” she grinned slyly.

During all of this, Kolthak had taken it upon himself to study the forge more closely. He turned to the ladies. “Do either of you ladies have any experience dealing with magical traps? There seems to be a shocking grasp trap laid on the tiles and the forge.”

Out of the corner of her eye Lealani noticed the dwarf now digging around in the rubble. She stepped closer to Rathan, her breath in his face, her scent surrounding him, “I am intrigued by you, brave warrior. Shall we continue this conversation later?”

“I look forward to hearing what you have to say, my lady. Let’s go help our companion in the meantime, shall we?”

“Yes, we shall.” She stood looking into his eyes a few long moments before she moved away with a grin. “Ai’ atar,” she called to Kolthak. “Have you retrieved the last piece from the guardian? We need it here,” she points to the third hole. “Our brave warrior has the other two. If we each take one we can insert them and see what happens. But be warned, there is evocation magic here.”

After climbing around a bit on top of the forge Lealani said, “The trap is centered on the three depressions on top of the forge here. I can’t disable the magical trap but hopefully if we put the pieces in correctly it won’t go off. Still, I suggest the not strong of body leave the area before we try.”

Kolthak answers. “Fortunately, the trap only covers the metal floor plates and the forge itself, so anyone not standing on one of those should be safe. I would suggest we have one person place the rods so as to minimize the risks. Whoever volunteers should make sure they aren’t wearing metal armor or the like before trying.” Kolthak moved to make sure he wasn’t standing on or right next to the affected areas.

Jebber piped up. “Might I suggest we recuperate before attempting something that will either bring us harm, or open a door into danger?”

Lealani looked at him. “You were all supposed to be resting while Rathan and I searched around for clues. We weren’t going to be setting off traps or anything,” she grinned, “Not on purpose. I suggest we keep with that plan but I’m open to other ideas.”

Kolthak nodded. “Aye, rest and a chance to heal sound good. We should be fairly secure here, but we might want to have someone keep watch on the roof. If someone came on us unawares and cut the ropes we might have a hard time getting back out.”

Looking at the door to the building, it was barred from the inside. They could also see that the lock to the door turns. It looked as if they could unlock the door and open it from this side.

Kolthak made his way out and up to the roof. He untied the ropes from their anchors and made his way back down and inside, locking the door behind him. “We might want to take an opportunity to rest before we venture further. Anyone else interested?”

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