Oscar Ironforge and the Council of Moradin

[Twinkerfell]

A rusty shield - part I

Exerpt from a letter sent from Oscar to all the members of the Council of Moradin, detailing the latest events.

Fellow councilors!

On my way from Jiyyd to Norwick did I recently come upon a Calimshan cloth merchant under attack by greedy bandit wenches. In the name of the Silverbeard I charged the bandit archer and chased her back to her lair, then returned to see to the safety of the merchant.

His guard had fallen in the battle, so Aegir and I escorted the merchant South, to Norwick, only to be greeted by a bandit officer trying to stop us right behind Samâ€s Hill.

With a cleave of my trusty dwarven axe and a few well-placed arrows the Officer succumbed to the might of the Silverbeard and we made haste for Norwick.

Relieved to have escaped, the merchant insisted on rewarding us, and I was given a scroll –
which upon closer inspection, showed a place deep in the caverns of the giantspire mountains marked with a big red X.

I gathered a group of archers, wigglers and a bard to set out and inspect said cave.

Progress went fairly well until a mighty Polar Bear ripped out Elrins throat with his sharp claws. I was forced to turn around and have Daisy take care of the fallen lad, at which time I met Tagnar and hired another wiggler to reinforce the group of skinnies.

We made it past the Polar Bears this time, and entered a secluded cave.

For hours we traveled along narrows tunnels, and a fierce wind blowing through the caverns made it impossible to rest and gather strength. A foul stench filled the air, originating from monsters of rotten flesh and undead creatures who would not fear the Silverbeards holy power.

Deeper and deeper did we explore into the windy caverns, following the indications on the map.

Almost woren down by countless traps and lack of ale, we came upon an old tomb which was being guarded by a creature of enormous size, a bonemonster taller than Thorvins house, with two heads…possibly the undead leftovers of a centuries old Ettin.

The companions battling against the two-headed boneling

With a trick we drew it away from the tomb it was guarding and not much later salvaged the treasure from the lair. We hurried out through the tunnels, the bonemonsterâ€s roar right behind us.

…

Upon splitting the treasure back in the Mermaid among us, I traded a powerful scroll for a rusty shield which had cought my eye. Strange runes of dwarven kind were ingraved on it, and upon closer inspection, the shield actually showed a map of another place in Narfell!

The wiggler used ink and quill to draw a copy of this map, while I continued to inspect the clan markings on the shield.

The markings are of Clan Steelbrow, whose dwarven hero Thorek Steelbrow must have been buried deep in the heart of the spires, together with his trusted shield and mace.
As Tagnar pointed out, question remains why a bonemonster would be guarding a dwarven tomb, but nonetheless this a sign of dwarven activity long past in the heart of the giantspires, and step towards the discovery of the dwarven stronghold promised by the Soulforger himself.

I recommend a meeting of the Council be held as soon as possible to further inspect the shield, the map on the shield and make preparations to explore wherever it may lead us.

May Clangeddin aid us in our quest.

Signed in runes

Oscar Ironforge

[Twinkerfell]

The faith restored

During most of the winter and early spring, Oscar had been gone. Noone could be certain as to where to, except for the few who had witnessed one of the many attacks on him and his friends by a mighty bugbear blackguard. The blackguard had even tracked Oscar back to his hometown of Jiyyd, and one day attacked him right outside the town gates, with the help of a succubus. Oscar was lucky to have Holgar, Miss Cotton and Kaona with him, and the fight came to a draw when both sides retreated from the battle, heavily wounded.

At that point Oscar realized nonone would be safe around him, so he went away, north, deep into the region of the spires. The footprints of his heavy boots in the snow would make it easy for the blackguard to follow him, but he didnâ€t mind. Instead, he kept mumbling prayers to the Silverbeard, to grant him strength for this final battle.

And so it came ontop of a mountains peak, that the two warriors faced off in a gruesome battle. The sound of the heavy steel of their axes clashing shattered through the mountains, but noone was able to deliver the decisive blow. Thunder struck around them, and it was as if the gods were fighting among themselves.

In a sudden turn of luck, Oscar used the hilt of Amn, his magical axe, to push the bugbear over the edge of the mountains side. Expressing a loud howl of surprise mixed with anger, the huge bugbear tumbled down the side of the mountain.

On his way back south, Oscar would make sure to walk in a circle every now and again, to make sure the bugbear wasnâ€t following anymore, trying to read the tracks on the soft ground.
After a few weeks, he was certain that the bugbear was dead.

Upon arrival in Norwick, and many a celebration, Oscar still was in doubt. So he set out south, to the bugbear camp, to see if he had finally gotten rid of the evil pursuer. And it was as he had feared – he was greated by bugbear shaman and clerics, clad in animal skin, dancing around the fire, as well as elite archers. Luckily, he met Uthger, a friend of the Council of Moradin, as well as Deacon the pirate and Jeff the whiner, in the woods. Together, they dispatched the furrballs, and suddenly, there he was. He seemed to have grown even stronger, with red-lit eyes and a massive greataxe glowing like lava, he towered above Oscar: the blackguard.

“Dwurf, ye killed me muther an†father, even me bruther! You makes me angry!” he cried.
Oscar offerend him a warriors gift, a masterfully crafted iron sword, to make up for the loss, but the bugbear wanted something different. “You will replace me bruther an†be me bloodbruther. We makes a pact.” Then the mighty bugbear spoke a word and a sudden light appeared. Oscar stepped in and immediately vanished.

The moment he awoke he knew he should not have trusted this evil menace. This new place was hostile, hot and dead. What plane he had been brought to, he did not know, but it sure seemed like the bugbear had taken him straight to one of the nine hells of Baathor.

And there was it, where the bugbear showed its real, twisted face.

Oscar talks to the twisted render

The render would make him believe his gods had left him, and that all hope was forsaken.
The Council a shambles, his friends slain. Then, Oscars deity appeared, Clangeddin Silverbeard himself. He accused Oscar of having lost his faith, and fallen from the righteous path. Thus, he took away his clerical powers and denied him for ever a seat at Moradins table.

Oscar talks to Clangeddin

Right when all seemed lost, Amn, Oscars holy axe, began to glow in a cold blue light.
Raising it in the air, way above his head, he called upon his domain powers and charged the twisted beast. If he would go down, it would not be without a fight.

Oscar charges the Render

A gruesome battle it was, as the Render kept regenerating, healing the slashes from Oscars axe almost quicker than he could dish them out. Pulling together all his strength, the brave dwarf struck the Render in the side of its body, causing his axe to slide right across its waist.
With a gurgling sound, the Render dropped to the ground.

A flashing light appeared for a brief moment, and Oscar threw himself into it.
Minutes later he awoke in complete darkness. His darkvision let him pierce the night, and the place had a somewhat familiar smell. But more important was what he heard… a whispering voice darted through his mind…offering consolation, and reassuring him of his faith.
“The evil will never prevail”, he vowed, “an†we will pursue da search fer da lost stronghold. Da faith shall be restored”.

Oscar hears the voice of a simple dwarf

[Twinkerfell]

A rusty shield - part IV

A final time, the dwarves engaged in the long and perilous journey towards the tiny island north of Peltarch – this time though, they were ready for what was to come, with the help of Miss Eo and Lady Ayanie, as well as the dwarf Ronus, Miss Tala, Tagnar, Rodi, Aegir and Oscar…

…or so they thought.

The first troubles arose as the boat had not yet left the docks, with the dwarves boasting to be able to operate the ship by themselves, as they shorthandedly let Capâ€n Wavebreaker dismiss his whole crew… but after some instructions on how to scrub the decks, loosen ropes and hoist the sails, the ship set sail – heading directly into a bad thunderstorm!

The rain poured and lightning struck the deck, as Miss Tala was trying to shout something down from atop of the crowâ€s nest: PIRATES!

The much bigger vessel drew near, and soon the pirates boarded ship – thinking they had come across a good catch. They boarded ship and a fierce battle arose, more of a tumult actually, with Tagnar fighting the Pirates in his underwear, and most of the dwarves more concerned about keeping balance on the deck of the ship rocking in the waves.

Cries for help mixed in with the death cries of the pirates being cut down by cleaving axes, but the companions left none of the pirate scum alive. They set fire to the pirate vessel, and set forth on their journey to the tiny island with grim determination.

After the fight with the pirates

Arrival on the island

Making their way through the deep tunnels

Upon reaching the island, they fought their way past the wild animals, down through the dark and creepy corridors populated by the undead, until they found their way blocked by a massive cavein.
Thus, they had no other choice, as to try and pass through the chamber of the guardian machine, and to try and convince it somehow to let them through to the tomb of the dwarven king.

Tagnar, who had been carrying the axe this far, became to suffer more and more under its burden, the nearer the companions drew to the kings tomb. The axe emmited a strange heat, and caused him to halt on his way now and again, to catch his breath and drink water.

Worse, as they came around a bend leading into the guardians chamber, the guardian strode right for him and crushed his body under the weight of its heavy metal fists. Then it grabbed the holy axe from his liefeless body, but not before knocking out Aegir and Oscar too with a single blow of its tonweight mechanical arms.

The others managed to get passed the guardian, only to run into the Rock guardian which was still there from the last expedition into the tomb. Somehow, the few remaining heroes under the command of Rodi, managed to clear the way to the kings tomb, passed the three gates, but Miss Eo fell in the endeavour.

Still, the axe was in the firm hands of the warmachine, as it stood there in the middle of the chamber, and there seemed no way to even get near it.

…

Hours later, Aegir and Oscar regained consciousness. Both severly injured, with blood trickling over their faces, they managed to crawl into a corner of the guardians chamber and examine the machine more closely.

Some runes were etched onto its back, but they had been damaged from earlier fights – that had to be the explanation why the machine was malfunctioning and killing everything in sight!

Aegir remembered spotting technical drawings and explanations of such machines, and that some were controlled by stones, some by words of command.
They had to take the risk and approach the machine, command it to STOP! In the ancient dethek language. It worked and with the help of hammer and chisel, and some magic by Aegir, the two dwarves managed to repair the machine and restore its power for a few seconds, jus enough to command it to let go of the axe – HOORAY!

Aegir commands the machine

The companions now hasted down the corridors, rushing through gates and down windy paths, not wanting to let anything more interfere with their quest to return the axe to the ghost of King Steelebrow.

And finally, Oscar laid Amn to the Kings feet.

The ghost of King Thorek Steelebrow

The relieved sighs of a thousand lost souls could be heard echoing through the grand halls of the Kings tomb, but the King did not lift the axe from the ground – instead he used his great power to revive the ones who had fallen in the dark tunnels, and then solemny motioned to Oscar with the words:
”It has been returned to the death, but it must go back to the living, wielded by a Steelebrow”. Oscars jaw dropped for a moment, unsure if he had heard right. Only a Steelebrow could wield the axe, so the ghost had said the first time … and then it dawned upon him…thinking many months back, how they had discovered the shield, the dangers they had been through…Clangeddin had pointed him to a meeting with his own destiny!

But all of a sudden Tagnar dropped to the floor … the curse had struck him, for only a Steelebrow could wield the axe… Oscar tried to give Amn back, but the Kings ghost already started to vanish …”only a Steelebrow shall wield the axe…”…nothing could be done for Tagnar, who had succumbed to the burden he had carried so bravely earlier.

The travel back to the mainland went smoothly, as if the gods had been calmed, and Priestess Daisy at Peltarchs temple was strong enough to call Tagnars soul back. Overwhelmed by the strain of the events of the past days, but even happier to have achieved a massive victory for good over evil, the companions parted ways for their well-earned rest.

The End…

… for now.

[Twinkerfell]

A rusty shield - part III

In the following days, the events came thick and fast.

Oscar and his friends managed to track down this Marek Tilverborn, a rich collector in Peltarch, with connections to the underground. Greedy as he was, he would not hand out the axe, lieing about its mere existence.
The encounter ended in a catastrophe, with the dwarves having to escape the mansion through an underground tunnel and some of the companions even being imprisoned.

Here is a report of the grim events, sent by the dwarf Ronus Ironford to the members of the council of Moradin.

_Oscar, Foilir, myself an' a lass named Tala went up to Peltarch a day er two ago. Foilir had gotten word from Oscar that he needed some kin te help with somethin', so we went. I dinna know the full story, but Oscar were worked up 'bout an axe that he said this Peltarch fella had. Oscar had a note that implicated this fella in the theft of the axe from the tomb. We went inta the fella's house and tried to get him to give up the axe. He claimed he dinna have it, which only made Oscar madder and then this Peltarch guard (er whatever they is) came in an' tried to kick us out, sayin' we had no authority er business. We tried some more to convince the guard to let us at leas' search the house fer the item, but she was havin' none of it. After some more parley, Oscar had had enough and whacked the fella down to an inch of his life. In the meantime, the guard started te get involved. I tried to get in the way without causin' too much damage, but then Tala put an arrow inte the back of the fella and the guard went berserk, attackin' Tala. I provided some of Haela's blessin' to her and we proceeded to search the house, but coulda find the axe an' more guards was showin' up. The word was out and Oscar and I escaped the city a bit beat up. Foilir had gotten sep'rated from us, but also make it out. Unfortunately, the lass Tala was struck down by the guards, but we later found out she wasna killed, but was put inte jail in the city.

Oscar an' me are currently wanted men in Peltarch. Foilir wasna recognized, apparently – I'm not sure how I was -- an' he can still come an' go as he pleases.

So... the axe still be missin' an' Oscar an' I canna go inte Peltarch anymore. The lass Tala is in jail and the fella who supposedly has the axe is dead... or was when we left him._

The following days, the dwarves gathered evidence and used it to prove that this Marek Tilverborn was in truth an evil assassin.
With the help of the friends fromthe Council of Moradin, especially Tagnar Baldforge, and a truely immense sum paid to repair the damages, the fellows were set free again and allowed to continue their quest.

They managed to track down the holy axe once more, trying to acquire it through the means of Gildor Feather, honorary dwarf of Norwick and Samman (=dwarven friend) to the Council of Moradin.
The first attempt failed, but finally they managed to exchange the axe for another priceless artifact, an ancient spear called Cold Sting.

[Twinkerfell]

A rusty shield - part II

The next evening, they met at the Mermaid in Peltarch -
Tagnar, Cadoc, Thorvin, Aegir, Rodi and Oscar.

Tagnar laid the old rusty shield down on the table, and the elder dwarves immediately started to murmur … the runes of a long lost dwarven clan and what appeared to be a map of a small island to the north were soon discovered.

While the idea of having to go on a boattrip didnâ€t seem appealing to any of the dwarves, the mistery of the rusty shield had their curiosity wash away the doubts of having to spend five long days at sea. Only Thorvin refused to even go near a boat if not for a matter of life and death.

The waters were stormy and most of the dwarves spent their time hanging their heads over the rail, but after what seemed like an eternity, the captain steered the boat towards a tiny island.

Ashore, the dwarves were immediately greated by packs of wolves and polarbears, but they managed to fight their way to a circular area surrounded by rocks and old dwarven runestones. There seemed to be a message engraved on one of them, which the party of dwarven heroes almost had deciphered ((wink)) when precisely at four oâ€clock in the afternoon, the last rays of sunlight struck a nearby statue of a Manticore, revealing a small gap between its paws….a path leading deep down into the dark bowels of the island.

Along endless tunnels the dwarves strode, the walls depicting images of epic battles between dwarves and undead foes, with one particular dwarf on the images wielding an axe of magnificent splendor. As more runes were deciphered, it dawned on the dwarves that they had discovered an ancient dwarven location…a tomb for a king.

Three guardians would keep the undead and graverobbers from disturbing King Steelbrows peace, if anyone bold enough would manage to solve the dethek riddles on each of the three gates towards the kings tomb.

Neither riddle nor guard could stop the dwarves on their holy mission to solve the rusty shields mistery, although they were on the verge of death more than once facing foes impossible to overcome for any mortal.

Fighting the guardian elementals

Finally, they chose the correct path and ended up being granted an audience by King Steelbrows ghost…by this time, only three of the dwarves still standing to hear his words.

The loss of his axe the king mourned, and his eternal peace disturbed by a band of greedy longleg graverobbers. By Clangeddin the dwarves vouched to return this holy dwarven artifact, and through a thievery contract discovered earlier, they had a name for where to start their search – Marek Tilveborn.

Somehow, the three dwarves managed the escape from the ancient Warmachines and Rock Monsters with their lives – but not much else. Beat down to an inch of their lives, the dwarven guardian devices stripped them off their shields and axes, possibly mistaking them for more dwarven artifacts stolen from the tomb.
With neither trusted shield nor axe, and most of their gold spent for the charter of the boat, in a dire state and barely able to crawl ashore, the dwarves arrived back in Peltarch.
What kept them going was their mission - to return the missing axe to King Steelbrows tomb.
But not without an ale first.