At nightfall group encounters a dragonborn, Ghesh, at the mountain lake, who joins the party.
3/4/717
Group enters Tanheim. Ambushed by earwig-infected zombie ogre who kills Arjen. Ambush and wipe out a group of goblins, then kill the goblin king and his worgs. Encounter a dwarven trapmaster, whose trap collapses his chamber. He retreats after an exchange of shots as rubble fills the room.
The Forges at Tannheim - Messoria Account
Only minutes after we arrive at the mountain lake next to the newly revealed entrance to Tannheim, we see a heavily armoured dragonborn step out to meet us. Arjhan greets him as an old friend and introduces him as the warlord Ghesh Stormbringer. It seems that he too has been drawn by the rumours surrounding Tannheim so we invite him to join us in our exploration. We also receive a message that Mirabelle is hurrying to catch up with us so her sister Leleth offers to wait outside for her. The rest of us agree to leave markers along our route for them to follow us.
Before we rest for the night Aelar spends a few minutes searching the area for any recent tracks. He finds signs that dwarves and even two ogres have been going in and out of Tannheim though he can see nothing from the past couple of days. We go to sleep to the sound of strange dwarven chanting being carried on the wind.
The next morning we approach the gate. Aelar’s preternatural senses soon locate the trap created by wedging a collapsed door across a pit where fire beetles live. Knowing it’s there we are able to avoid it and enter the gatehouse. In each corner of the gatehouse is a statue of a dwarf from which the chanting seems to emanate, rising and falling in tune with the wind. We inform Leleth of the route past the fire beetle trap and then enter Tannheim itself.
Beyond the gatehouse the route skirts a fast flowing stream and we spot the remains of a bridge crossing the stream leading to a similar but narrower path on the far side. Rather than try to vault the gap, we remain on our side of the stream where the path quickly rises. A narrow stairway is cut into the rock in the side of the path leading into the mountain, and as it looks too small for an ogre to use we decide to take that route.
After about ten minutes wandering through tunnels cut into the rock we find the way blocked by a crude hide panel and there’s the unmistakeable stench of rotting meat. Aelar proceeds cautiously but is ambushed by the enormous zombie ogre who had managed to elude his senses. A single mighty blow sends Aelar crashing unconscious into the stone wall. Messoria dashes forward to cover Aelar, calling upon Sehanine’s power to strike the foul undead who turns out to be vulnerable to Sehanine’s searing moonlight.
Ghesh shouts encouragement at Aelar who is able to gather his wits and get back on his feet while he, Arjhan and Messoria tag team the ogre. It falls under their combined assault, but wise to the ways of the undead Messoria knows it is not yet finished. With a roar it gets back to its feet and strikes at Arjhan who had just dealt the blow that felled it. Already wounded, the dragonborn warrior is unable to block the ogre’s crushing fist and falls to the ground, his neck broken.
The ogre does not long survive our rage at seeing our comrade cut down and it is somehow only fitting that Arjhan’s pet drake Draco lands the fatal blow. We take Arjhan’s body down one of the tunnels and commend his spirit to Bahamut, leaving him wrapped in a blanket until we can return his body to Fallcrest for an honourable burial.
We cut off the ogre’s head to make sure it’s not coming back again, and while we do Aelar notices a worm crawl out from its ear. He identifies it as a Dread Earwig, a parasite that eats its way into a creature’s brain, eventually killing it and turning it into a zombie under its control. Knowing to avoid the corpse we search the ogre’s lair and find a huge wooden cudgel studded with bloodied spikes in amongst the debris that we think was perhaps the ogre’s favoured weapon while it was alive. Ghesh is the only one strong enough to wield it and is able to determine that the Bloody Cudgel is magical.
From the next room Aelar hears the sound of goblin chatter so with Messoria in the lead we go in. The goblins are armed as archers so we quickly close to melee range and are able to easily defeat them. Having gone through the ogre zombie’s lair has enabled us to come in to the rear of the goblins’ killing zone. Searching their room we find a potion of healing, a few coins and an ornate scroll case worth 75gp.
The adjoining room is the stable for the goblins’ wargs and the throne of their chief who surprises Messoria as she enters the room to fight the wargs. She kills the leader and the wargs soon fall. At the far end of the room is a throne surrounded by a pile of gold coins that Aelar is quick to spot are no more than painted copper coins. In amongst the hoard are a Thundering Longsword of Eladrin manufacture, a magical crossbow, and a silver chain worth 5gp. Inside a painted skull are two eldritch candles shot through with lines of crimson and silver that we take with us. A loose flagstone under the throne reveals two potions of healing, 250sp, 55gp, 3pp, 2 silver ingots worth 10gp each, a cat’s eye gem worth 50gp and a small plank of wood with “Oz-reax” marked on it.
As the door leading onward is water soaked and riddled with Dread Earwigs we backtrack to where we fought the goblins and take the other passage. This leads to a room lined with tapestries in which is a muttering dwarf of apparently dubious sanity armed with a fearsome crossbow. The ceiling of this room appears to be rigged as a deadfall and Aelar spots a well-hidden cord leading from the dwarf’s belt to the trigger mechanism – a dead man’s switch to set off the deadfall should the dwarf fall to the ground.
Even as he decides to use his formidable skill with the bow to cause the dwarf to stumble and thus fall victim to his own trap, Aelar is shot by a poisoned crossbow bolt and the dwarf’s raven allies flap around him in an attempt to distract him. It doesn’t work and Aelar’s arrow strikes the dwarf in the leg causing him to lose his balance and stumble, setting off the deadfall trap. Falling rocks kill three of the four ravens but the dwarf manages to escape through the opposite tunnel with only a few glancing blows from the falling rocks. To give the rocks time to settle we pull back to the goblins’ room for a rest.
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