The day after Captain Gauldrin was escorted back to High Gate, Bertil and Zunn received a message from Boggart asking them to return there too (see PC profiles here). Upon arrival at High Gate, they learned that Lord Durrow had died from poisoning while in custody. Together with Lorca, who had now recovered, they trio went to join Boggart, who had gone to seen Shaper Dromin to learn the cause of Lord Durrow's death... only to find him and Shaper Dromin also poisoned in the latter's office!
Bertil was able to stabilise Boggart, but unable to revive Dromin. It seemed, however, in his dying breath, Dromin had scribbled the words: "my sarcophagus" on his tabletop.
Our heroes searched Dromin's office, and found inside a secret compartment in his drawer ancient Shaperate records which documented the discovery of the red lyrium they had seen in the mines. It was recorded that the dwarves at Khundara Thaig had tried to refine the red lyrium, but exposure to the substance had caused madness in those who worked with it, and the king had given orders for the section of the mines to be sealed off and the records of the work done of red lyrium to be sealed too.
Our heroes then sought out Dromin's sarcophagus, and within it they found a letter apparently from Lord Harrowmount of Orzammar, instructing Lord Durrow to put into action the plans they had hatched together to destabilise Khundara Thaig before it can gain the recognition of the Assembly.
The party mulled over the information they had gathered, and the next day they decided to confront Captain Gauldrin with the letter they have found in the barracks which implicated his involvement in the attack by the shadow demons. Gauldrin admitted that the handwriting in the letter resembled his, but that it was a forgery made to frame him, as he would not had given any such order in writing, or that his co-conspirators would have destroyed the letter before carrying out the attack even if he had done so.
Convinced by Gauldrin, our heroes decided to follow-up on Dromin's involvement with red lyrium. They made their way to the old tomb complex, accompanied by Balkis the Junior Shaper, where they hoped to investigate the embalming rooms, to see if they could find traces of red lyrium there.
Soon after they entered the old tomb complex they were attacked by a shadow demon, whose deathly touch produced symptoms of the mysterious poison Bertil had not been able to identify. Venturing deeper into the tomb complex, they at last arrived at Dromin's resting place... to find that he had turned into an undead. Lorca was able to draw Dromin into a conversation and made the undead Shaper reveal his involvement in the chain of events: it seemed that the Shaper had come across records of red lyrium and was able to obtain some of the substance from the mines. The red lyrium allowed Dromin to communicate with demonic spirits, and he soon struck a bargain with a demon - for hidden knowledge, he would do the bidding of the demon. Sensing that Dromin was working for Lord Durrow to destabilise the thaig, the demon induced Dromin to put into action the plans to release shadow demons in the thaig, and to frame Captain Gauldrin for the attacks, and eventually arrange his own death so he can become an "immortal" undead.
After they made certain that Balkis had heard the undead's confession, our heroes leapt into attack, but as Dromin appeared to fall to their blows, his body began to shift and blur... until he assumed the form of a huge winged demon. A desperate battle ensued, and our heroes were eventually victorious. They then returned to High Gate, where Balkis reported the tale to Captain Gauldrin.
Captain Gauldrin gave orders for associates of Dromin to be hunted down and arrested, and for the curfew to be lifted. Things, it seemed, would finally return to normal in Khundara Thaig...
Prepping and Running the Game
Once again, one player (Boggart's this week) was unable to make the session, and I had to invent a reason for the character to be out of action.
The players were obviously running into a lot of dead-ends, and I was unsure how to provide them with a clue that didn't seem like a gift... and then they rolled really well on searching Dromin's office, which made me pause for a few minutes. I decided that they would find some evidence of Dromin's involvement with red lyrium. That was eventually enough for them to investigate his resting place once more, and reach the concluding scene.
I think I did not execute the module well enough to make it a satisfactory investigating experience for the players, but the tension in dwarven society brought about by the events did allow them to act heroic, which for me was worth the time we spent.
Next session should see the finale of the campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment