DM Crispy's Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition

Game Master Lufien "Silvertongue" Loamin

At the sight, Nover covers his mouth. He's seen some things, but this is just horrible. He feels his breakfast lurch in his stomach.

"Oh boy" the dwarf coughs a few times trying to hold back his breakfast. "I think we have a problem. These goblins should not be permitted to leave this place alive after this."

Elaina grips Enna's arm. If Nover was worried about little goblins things must be pretty bad. "Wh-what is it? Is it Ameiko? I don't wanna look."

Moving closer, you do see that the figure inside the glass is indeed Minkai in descent. However, it appears to be Lonjiku, Ameiko's father. From the slashes across his face, throat, and torso, it appears he was dead before the glass was poured over him.

His face still green Nover breathes a sigh of relief.

"Good news, it's not Ameiko, bad news we've seen this man before, worse news it's Ameiko's father. If we don't find her, this could make our favorite innkeeper look very guilty with the scene that happened last night. We can give him proper burial rights later, I don't think he's going anywhere, let's keep moving and hope the dead don't rise like they did in the crypt."

I have placed you guys at the opposite end of the furnace room, assuming that is where you wanted to go. The room directly before the furnace room was not explored well either, I believe.

Elaina exhales loudly and visibly relaxes. "Oh good. No one I know." She no longer seems bothered by the horror before them. "Ready to go?"

"The dead do not suffer," Togog agrees. "Save those whose souls are irredeemably damned by their sins. We must tend to the living." I pause. "Which rooms have you yet to explore?"

Based on the size of the building, even taking into account the massive furnace room, you probably have not explored half of the structure. You basically came in, explored a couple of rooms, progressed to the hall, went right (north), heard the goblins, then opened the double doors.

"We haven't explored too much yet, just the main room we entered and the storage closets and office off of that, then into and hallway that led up to this room. I have never been in this building before and have no idea how many rooms are in or if there is even a basement to explore as well. That could double our search efforts if there is. Right now I am wondering if her father is the person that Ameiko was supposed to meet. It seems kind of odd if so considering their spat the other night."

Thinking back, the letter stated the writer was a sibling, and was signed Tsuto. It might be misdirection, of course.

"We should finish clearing this floor, to avoid being outflanked," I reply, "then sweep upwards. If we have to pursue goblins into their crude tunnels, then we can't leave a nest behind to terrorise the village whilst we do."

"Let's sweep quickly before Ameiko turns to glass too." Elaina opens the eastern door.

The dwarf with the short beard smiles.

"Next room ready? I really wish Herri had given us some healing before he left, but beggars can't be choosers. Zella, whenever you are ready we burst in alright?"

His warhammer and shield at the ready, the dwarf steels himself for the next room.

I thought I had said he healed you up before he left.

I definitely thought that too, and not at all because I don't want to use up my spells and things on healing...

Ah, missed that then.

Not meaning to railroad things so much, but I am sure you don't want to spend the next week exploring rooms with little in them besides my wonderful descriptions, so...

Your group spends the next hour slowly sweeping over the Glasswork's main level. You find that the place has been ransacked quite thoroughly, and if the note is to be believed, the son of Lonjiku would likely know where anything of worth was.

Finally, you find yourself back in the room leading into the furnace room where the terrible battle took place not long ago. The door to the north opens to reveal a staircase leading downwards...

Togog will try and push things along as fast as possible during the search. He's being influenced by two recent events. 1) That he was late to the town for the goblin attacks, pushing him to hurry and rescue everyone. 2) That he pursued his own preference, of investigating giant attacks, rather than properly fulfilling his duty - pushing him to make sure he searches the glassworks properly. Especially he will make sure there are no goblins in any of the rooms, and walk all the walls using his natural dwarven stonecunning to know if there are any secret rooms or similar where goblins are hiding, and trusting Angradd would guide him to them if they were there. He'd hope to spend not more than one or two minutes searching each room - balancing the risk of missing something with the risk of being too late.

"There's nothing here," I growl. "The foul goblins have slipped back into their warren, no doubt. If lives are to be saved, we must hurry and pursue them," I continue, hefting the comforting weight of my axe. "Do you wish to lead the way, cousin?", I ask. "This time, I'm right behind you."

"Just want to get this over with so we can get out of here, the stench of goblins and death is becoming oppressive."

Zella sighs. "Of course all that is left to explore is a basement. No one ever retreats anywhere well-lit and airy. Instead they must go somewhere dark and dank and likely full of spiders."

Zella will go with the group down into the basement.

How wide are the stairs and is there any light source coming from down there?

5 ft, and no light source.

"Caverns hewn from solid bedrock are far superior," Togog agrees. "The rewards of honest toil are delved only by those who labour at honest toil. The man who builds his home upon the sand has no true home at all."

"Oh my gosh Trogog what are you talkin' about?" Elaina summons her lights to send ahead of the group.

"Well-made basements are neither dank nor full of spiders," I reply, "and anyone can build a well-made basement. It matters not if the body walks in darkness, if the soul bathes in firelight."

Good choice in my opinion, DM Crispy. There's no reason to spend the next four weeks exploring this floor if there's nothing to find.

"Nover, Togog is saying dwarf things I don't understand. It's very rude."

The group descends the staircase, the stalwart Nover in the lead, the lovely Zella guarding the rear. The halls remain ominously quiet since you quelled the goblin infestation up above. Walking down a short flight of steps, you come into a small storage area. Two wheelbarrows sit against the southern wall. To the east is a passage strewn with shattered and broken bricks. It can be easily inferred that this passage was bricked over not too long ago.

Shield at the ready as always, he never had the ability to tell anything about worked stone like so many other dwarves.

"Should we go through, oh who am I kidding, let's get moving. I'm thinking we should check out this tunnel first. We don't want anything sneaking up on us from behind."

He points to the tunnel heading south.

"Embrace the light of Angradd into your life, and understanding will be yours, Bard Newberry," I reply. "I'd be happy to discuss this at greater length, once the goblins are slain and Ameiko rescued. Angradd's guidance be upon you," I murmur, tapping Nover on the shoulder, staying a footstep behind him as he leads.

Casting guidance on Nover... +1 to any roll within one minute

Zella follows at the back of the group. Since she can't see anything past everyone else in the narrow stairwell, Zella keeps casting glances behind her instead, just in case they somehow missed any goblins who might try to sneak attack them from the rear.

Zella dutifully looks behind the group for any potential trouble, but all is quiet on that front. On the other front, too.

Togog's continued speech continues to confuse Elaina and elicit indifference from the others.

Nover is quite bad at being a typical dwarf, so just chooses to go south.

Enna expresses her desire to escape the bloody mess the party helped create.

Checking his surroundings, Nover listens for any sound that would be out of the ordinary.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

"Keep your eyes and ears open. If we don't, we won't know when something comes for us. And based on the crypt and how many goblins we've found, that's a pretty fair assessment of the situation. Togog, you stay near the ladies Zella and Enna. I am unsure of you Ms. Enna but Zella has a penchant for being a damsel in distress. I punched a skeleton into dust a few days ago that tried to cut her. Ms. Elaina, you are with me near the front, stick behind me until we get a clear view of whatever's coming at us and take appropriate actions. Does this sound good to everyone?"

Feeling the weight on his warhammer, it felt off after that goblin left a dent in it. Under his breath he curses.

"Damn, I'm going to need to get this fixed back in town."

"What if there are giant goblins down here? Normal people sized goblins. Terrifying." Elaina attaches her weapons cord to her wrist. "Are you sure you don't want me to go first? The goblins fear me."

Nover listens intently in the small hallway, but hears nothing, not even the sounds of normal people-sized goblins. Giving the all clear, he slowly proceeds down the south (left) hallway. It seems to end at another small storage area, with another passage branching to the left (east).

"Why do the goblins fear you, Bard Newberry?" I ask, glancing over the storage area, particularly looking for secret hatches or trapdoors, or prisoners sealed within the crates. "It doesn't look like there's much here," I say, "we should move swiftly, whilst there's still a chance of rescuing Ms Ameiko alive," I pause. "Wait, I thought I saw-"

Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20

"I agree with the moving swiftly. We don't know what kind of condition Ameiko may be in right now."

"I dispatched a dozen goblins by myself the other day. They already have scary bedtime stories about me. Keep goin' Nover, now's not the time for bein' slow. Can't dwarves see through rocks?"

Enna mentally notches another point against Elaina in her book of bigotry.

As Elaina lets some more of her accumulated knowledge make itself known and Enna continues to build up a grudge against the eccentric dancer, the party continues down the hall. To the east, another hallway stretches, this one with two doors on the southern side. The passage apparently takes a turn north after a short distance.

"In the dark," I grunt back at Elaina, "about 60 feet, monochrome only. I'm also skilled at noticing stonework features, such as might disguise a hidden tunnel. An old family trait, though Nover doesn't have the gift. I can see how you'd conflate the two, though, but we can't see through walls." I pause. "Check the side-doors Nover," I remind him. "We'll do Ameiko no good if we're cut off and ambushed."

Nover nods to Togog.

"Not without the help of magic that any powerful wizard could learn. Many dwarves have the ability to notice worked stone and the like. I never had that talent, but I do possess the ability to move through rubble and the like much faster than normal. It's useful in the tunnels."

"Tunnels to the side, first door, if there's no enemies we move to the second, we do this fast and we do this hard. Let me know when you guys are ready."

I might have to go for stunning interruption just to play swat team dwarf.

"I'm ready. Let's go."

Zella has her bow ready in case a target presents itself.

This appears to be a store room that holds finished glassware, windows, and other glass inventory.

"Sir," I snap, "please come out. There's no need to be afraid - the goblins have been slain, and we've carved a safe route back to town. I swear it in Angradd's name."

Since they are looking for Ameiko, a female, Zella will follow Togog's gaze to see who/what he is looking that and points her bow in that direction.

She speaks quietly to Togog since he wasn't with the group this morning at the note reading. "Careful Togog, there may be a traitor here abouts and we do not know his identity for certain yet."

A soft male voice carries out, "Truly? I thought for sure they would find me down here. I'm an employee of the Lonjiku's, I sell their glasswares. I had just returned when suddenly all these goblins came into the forge, murdering everyone in sight! I happened to be close to the door, so I fled down here. I was sure that was them, but it was you, instead!"

"Have you seen or heard anyone else other than goblins? We are looking for a woman that came here to the glassworks earlier. We saw no sign of her upstairs and she has to be in this building somewhere. Since you work here, you must know if there are any other means of getting down here, is there another way out of the building at this level too?"

Elaina's tries sending her lights after the speaker. "We're with the guard. Come out now!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Nover fidgets a little bit. He'd like to believe the man, but he's not sure.

"Hmm, and what name do you go by? I am here with my companions investigating the property. We recieved a tip in town that lead us here."

Sense Motive: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 1 = 16

A young half-elf comes out from behind some of the finished glass. He responds meekly. "My name is Jensen. As far as I know, there are no other ways down here, although there is a tunnel that leads to the beach."

"Angradd's blessing be upon you," I tell the young man. "You are safe now."