Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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The dwarven king nodded to Enwynn and the others after she had spoken, " Up you get, everyone.", he smiled.
" I am King Gillibran Ironhelm III."
" Descendant of Nadarul Kazorian, Out of Haelsgarth and Founder of the holding of Redweed which is now called Firetop."
" Come inside, we will feast and drink and you will tell me of your findings and your troubles."
He alighted from the throne with a slight crack of his ancient joints, in his right hand appeared a heavy warhammer with a head of bronze and an ebony shaft which he carried with ease as he headed through the great oak doors which swung open at his approach.
The elder dwarves began to file in as well heading off into side chambers....
The elderly King took a seat and waved the companions over to join him. As he did so a number of younger dwarves began bringing out pitchers of mead and brannvin and platters of cheeses, wursts and preserved meats and vegetables.
Waiting until they were seated he looked at each of them in turn, " Speak what you will, you have an eager ear."
((Not clear if the feast is with all the dwarves or with the king alone))
Garet feeling a little overwhelmed in the presence of the King and feeling sure that his street Dwarvish with its colourful language would probably do more harm than good, had kept his mouth shut and let others take the lead here especially as Enwynn seemed to have kinship with elderly king.
Garet was impressed with the hospitality though and again waited to see how things developed.
( Only the king is sitting with you, but there are young servants milling about. The older dwarves have all retired to side chambers.)
Herman speaks in the basic dwarvish he knows, just to tell his appreciation for the feast and hospitality but, since he does not consider himself to be the best person for refined speeches, he just makes a sum-up of the situation, in common:
"Your highness, thank you again. We stepped upon an empty dwarven stronghold at the site of (NAME) but what was then a great hall full of labs, we found in a complete state of abandon. Later we understood why: a demon (an ice demon) that was bound in a great underground chamber with powerful elvish magic, has been set free willingly by someone because we found the magic broken. Our sources in Chalice tell us that it may be the work of some dark elves... Nonetheless, we bravely fought the demon many times and eventually we killed it...or, I mean, sent it back to hell. Just after the mighty demon was slain, these strange tattoos appeared on our skins, if I may..."
he gets up, gets close to the king and shows the tattoos
"Now, we are here for several reasons: to tell you that the dwarvish vaults are ready to get back to normal: it will be a huge task but we all know the strength of the dwarves. More, we have been told that some wise dwarf in your kingdom may help us to know more about our situation: we seek your assistance, I am very worried about these marks and I want to understand more about them. About the dark elves, we know little or nothing about them but, if what we have been is true, they could be a real threat"
He sits back and takes a long sip of water. He never spoke so much about important things, let alone in front of a king! He feels more tired than after a battle. He looks at the others, hopying someone will step in and add the proper words
Garet sits with his mouth agape he had never heard so many words so eloquently spoke from Herman's mouth he thought they would have to restrain him from sort of genital revealing dance, instead of a concise and accurate summary of their present position.
He sat with something of new found respect for his comrade awaiting the Kings response.
King Gillibran raises an eyebrow at the barbarian, " I have faced many of your ilk in battle over the years....but never one so eloquent. Are you Stormchild, Bloodied Eagle, Skyriders or another people?"
" A vault in the Moonstones...I know of an abandoned mine there but not a place of learning....perhaps a lost holding of Fangthane..established after the War of Wizards...most interesting. Can I have you study some maps and give us an exact location so that we may send a full division to settle this ruin?"
" Dark Elves....we've had run ins with them before out of Tìranduil Kelthas better known as Darkside."
" Now these marks I don't know much of but if you talk to old Caldwin...he may have a better idea. He'll be in the shrine."
Once the feast is over, Herman shows the point of interest in the map and illustrates how to spot it.
"Who is old Caldwin, lord?"
" Our resident god-botherer. He's in Kerellims Shrine, down the stairs to the left. Can't miss him."
He took the marked map and called out some of the elders to study it with him.
((If everyone agrees, or if they want to add something to the king, after I would go directly to the shrine))
Banzo follows the others to the shrine, hoping there is some answer to their strange tattoo markings they share.
Enwynn sits quietly and enjoys the refreshments, not wishing to interrupt Herman in a task that evidently so taxes his abilities, and more grateful for someone willing to speak in Dwarven to express thanks in the proper manner. The bare bones of Herman's telling make more sense to her than any other account she has experienced thus far, but she keeps that opinion to herself lest it ruffles some bardic feathers. It soon becomes evident the barbarian has little desire to remain in the Gillibran's hall though, and she does not wish to test his patience further.
"Thank you for both your fine hospitality and your understanding in this matter, your majesty." the elf says in formal tone "The matter of the sigils, and the need for swiftness in their undoing is one task that cannot be set aside for any other until it is dealt with. That has been made quite clear to me on the journey here, no matter what else comes out of the Darkwood."
She does mutter "And if Stoneshaper Caldwin can undo this curse, then I will gladly put up with their lecturing on the superiority of geology for now." pitched just loud enough for Gillibran to hear. Corwyn sits upon her shoulder and touches their feathered head with a wingtip in a motion that seem akin to a salute to the king then flaps off towards the shrine.
Enwynn also offers an opinion quietly to Gillibran before she follows the crow "If a young person by the name of Scupper turns up on your doorstep, give them a fair hearing. They've more talent than budget, and it would be a shame to see it go to waste."
Once heading for the shrine, Herman ask Enwyn
"Scupper?!"
Bidding goodbye to the King for now the companions headed down the tightly coiled stairway that wound down into the heart of the granite hill.
The stairs finally came out in a chamber carved out of creamy-silver granite, bracers held torches in quartz brackets and light danced around the chamber. A very elderly dwarf sat at a desk off to the side and the centre of the room featured a heavily bejewelled statue of a smiling dwarven woman surrounded by gemstones. A diamond motif spread across the stone floor tiles. The walls were lind with hundreds of diamond shaped carved niches containing pieces or parchment, items of jewellry and other things.
As you enter the dwarf looks up, " Oh! Uh....how can I be of assistance?"
Banzo holds up his marked arm, "At least it's not marring my shell. We got these after fighting a demon that had taken up residence in the lost dwarven academy. If those who have helped us before have the right of it then we are marked by some demon. Can you help?"
The old dwarf wandered over, " Not every day I have such an eclectic bunch in."
" Now lets have a look. Oh....nasty. Night Demon brand."
" Thats going to be difficult to excise....short of cutting off the effected limb."
" But not impossible.....I'll need as much detail about the circumstances as possible and what information you already possess."
"The young stablehand with interesting ideas?" Enwynn answers in a slightly distracted tone "Ideas that need space and materials to develop further. Their mother has strong opinions about that, but there's only so far she can help them find what they need to go further."
She explains quietly "I don't know much about statesmanship, but I do know that blocking the scuppers is the surest way to sink a ship, so I do what I can to keep them open." with a gentle smile.
The elf falls silent as the party enters the shrine to Kerellim, and bows her head in respect for the dwarven facet of Elluviel, sister to her own patron Erillia. Corwyn sits on her shoulder and looks about like a child in a sweetshop, but ultimately seems more interested in the dwarf sitting behind the desk.
Unless interrupted Banzo will relate their adventures sneaking through the lost dwarven academy trying to avoid the demon until they felt they were ready to deal with it. And how they finally won and then fond these marks on them, much like a tattoo.
(Banzo will cooperate with any investigation into these demon tattoo marks.)