Session 22 Conquest of the Horned Hold 7/10/17 Thunderspire #6

Messoria Account:

The Defeat of the Duergar 

We rest briefly before continuing onwards. Concerned about the risk of getting surprised by an unexpected group of Duergar so deep in their stronghold, Andraste scouts the area before finding a spot where she can keep watch and warn us of any approaching threat.

The rest of us move forward cautiously, entering an antechamber with two doors. Through one of them we see the Duergar leader Murkelmor and some of his aides, so Aelar takes position by the door while the rest of us charge in. The theurge who had been talking with Murkelmor falls before us while Murkelmor himself is seriously injured.

Clearly deciding discretion to be the better part of valour, Murkelmor retreats to a fireplace blazing unusually hot – even Messoria can feel the heat of the flames - and ducks through a secret door behind it into the large room beyond.

Deducing that the other door from the antechamber leads to the same large room we divide our forces rather than try to force the bottleneck through the fireplace where there would be a risk of us getting trapped in the flames.

We successfully force the door and Steven is able to push his way into the room. We see Murkelmor supported by a group of Duergar guards, another theurge, who we find out is named Framath, and a pair of Spined Devils. The room comprises several pits in which are the prisoners we have been searching for.

Framath the theurge calls on his magic and manages to severely injure, blind and/or poison many of the party. Murkelmor himself is caught in the theurge’s attack, and in his seriously wounded state, it is enough to kill him. Framath calls out to rally the surviving Duergar that with Murkelmor’s death, he is now their leader.

Murkelmor’s death is a turning point for the Duergar and their defences start to crumble. One of the Spined Devils, seeing the way the fight is going, decides to take out its frustrations on the helpless prisoners and manage to kill three before Messoria can reach it to challenge it. Framath too is on the run but before he can escape Aelar’s arrow trips him into a flooded pit where he has no choice but to surrender.

In all we rescue seven prisoners including Herlof the Prospector and Grue the Goblin, sold to the Duergar by the Bloodreaver Goblins. Two further prisoners are missing, apparently taken by Black Fang Gnolls two or three days ago. Not wanting to be encumbered by prisoners, we leave Framath and the surviving Duergar tied up in one of the slave pits. A dagger placed nearly will allow them to free themselves but will give us time to get away.

We return to the Seven Pillared Hall with the rescued prisoners. Grue seeks refuge there while we escort the others back to Fallcrest. We remain in the town several days while Nimozaran uses much of the treasure we have found to fund upgrades to our equipment: Aelar and Andraste’s weapons are improved as is Messoria’s armour. He is also able to resize Murkelmor’s giant flaming maul to a more manageable size so that Messoria can wield it as a Warhammer.