Both dwarven hammers miss the leader, who steps aside twice to avoid the strikes aimed at him.
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Grint & Sivar
Elsa
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Leader (-34)
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Father Burdock
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Seeing as the dwarf didn't respond to his last insult Sivar is slightly miffed and gets a bit angry and tries to bring the Fauchard Down on him
Sivar catches the evil dwarf bu surprise, cleaving his head down the middle, his weapon only stopped by the edge of the metal armor he was wearing.
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Sivar tries cleaning off his fauchard on any clothing of the dwarf... "Gah!.. I got dwarf goo on it.."
Actually yes, because you didn't say that combat was over. This was the last dwarf right?
Elsa calls out I've been blinded. By the Gods above, someone cure this!
With the leader and his men dead, you have time for a more thorough search.
A bookshelf hold a tome with a sigil of an anvil on it, and a chest nearby contains some potions, a sack of valuables (2500gp worth of coins and rare minerals), and a buckler of seemingly very very old crafting.
CMW x2
Shield of faith (CL 1)
Burdock looks over the shield, definitely curious. He checks if it is magical, then also tries to appraise it with his skills.
Afterwards, he reviews the tome with the anvil.
The shield isn't magical, but has been masterfully polished, better than the sort he's used to seeing in his crafting career. A property most unlikely for a duergar to do, but perhaps kept as inspiration for something, or as a trophy.
Father Burdock gets the impression it may provide some unusual resistance vs piercing weapons.
With such a smooth surface, piercing weapons have a 30% chance of sliding off, reducing impact by 50%.
The book, written in old dwarven dialect, describes methods for smithing, as well as examples of older runes, currently not used in crafting, used for crafting +1 weapons.
This is what his brother was looking for!
Sivar examines Elsa "I'm here, I may not be able to help, but... i'll try."
What can cure the blindness.. lesser restoration?
Clerics can generally pray for the gift to restore eyesight lost by magical means.
"Well, I think this outta do it!", Burdock exclaims excitedly as he peruses the tome.
The portal the bard came through still active, the team decides it's the quickest way to escape the duergar lands.
At that moment, a familiar group of dwarves and two taller folk come charging up the stairs.
It's the expedition?!
Elder Orc-Hammer:
"By Torag's beard, we dig through a cave in and the tunnel leads to this ancient stronghold. Duergar EVERYWHERE!"
Their cleric heals some of the warriors' sustained wounds.
He stops his nervous speech when he sees you guys.
"Well i'll be... i didn't dare to expect to find you here. HAH!
It's mighty good to see familiar faces in this place."
While normally it'd be a few easy minutes to relay past events, a battlehorn sounds outside, and quite close.
Preferring caution and safety over a fight with an army of duergar, everyone gets through the portal, which closes thereafter.
....
........
...........
[Everyone stumbling on exit]
You find yourselves back in Janderhoff, well, a back alley thereof.
Nearby is a tavern that smells of alcohol and salt, a typical watering hole for sailors who make port in the great city.
The bard ducks away behind you.
"Back here again.... i erm, seem to have lost a bet, which i could not pay. Maybe we'll meet again in the future."
He casts a vanishing spell and is gone.
Do we have stuff to sell, Sivar checks through all the stuff
"Well, we got the diamond to return Thorn to the living... but I wonder if it has been too long now. In either case, I must return to my brother briefly, but then we should rest up and plan our next move."
The time of day in the afternoon, the Orc-hammer brothers lead you back to their shop.
Elder Orc-hammer: "Splendid. Not too much on the 2nd, but i've gotten documentation on the two sites now. If you would be so kind and accompany me to present these findings at the hall of scholars,"
Younger Orc-hamer: "You mean -sell to- the scholars."
His older brother dismisses that.
"Present these to the scholars."
While the elder brother is enthusiastically going on about the wonders he's seen down there, wandering around the shop, the younger brother motions you to come to the back of their shop where the counter is.
"The scholars will likely pay well for this documentation, and we now have material to craft our own special items, with inspiration from what we found. As such..."
He opens a solid safe, and takes out several pouches, handing you one each.
"Lets get to escorting you then, nothing better than an honest businessman." says Sivar with reverence after stowing his loot.
Elsa is ready to get back to the business at hand....
"Yes, best we finish our agreement first before we get to other actions on hand."
After your pay, you accompany the dwarves to the Hall of Scholars, which is a huge library with a great variety of topics.
Its ceiling stands 30ft high, and the area itself is wide and long.
Sure enough, the dwarf in charge of the library is negotiating prices, which eventually turn out satisfactory to both parties.
Once outside, the Orc-hammer brothers bid their goodbyes.
"It was an interesting expedition. If at any time you'd find yourselves nearby, you are most welcome any time."
After your shopping and resupplying, you head towards the big church of Torag, where Father Burdock's brother is pleasantly surprised to see his brother.
(A firm hand on Burdock's shoulder)
"Good to see you again, brother, Torag be praised."
"Did you find what you were looking for? And, incidentally, found anything for me as well?"
Grint does his shopping in town as well as inquiring Father Burdock if he could restore his strength to him.
"Father Burdock? Ever since we've encountered those dwarves with noxious gases and such down below, my strength hasn't been what it used to be. Could you help to restore that?"
Father Burdock's brother will have taken care of Elsa's blindness.
As well as str dmg recovery for Grint.
"Yeah, but it'll be up to you to keep your arrows safe. I've heard about some specialty arrows that may be up to your thing. Supposedly treated by alchemists to still be fully reusable even after shooting someone in the skull with it. Pretty durable stuff if that's true."
To his brother, Burdock places his gloved palm in suit on his brother's shoulder. "Indeed, glad to be able to enjoy the vestiges of light that our fallen brethren seems to loath."
"And yes, we did find a matter of interesting items.", Burdock showing the holy symbol of Torag blessed by his ancestor, the large diamond for Thorn's resurrection, and the copy of the runes and other inscribings found below.
Sivar wanders around town buying stuff as he needs, after buying them he looks at people with the death watch spell from his crystal lenses.
He will try and strike up conversations with the merchants that he buys from hoping to get the feel of the place
The dwarf priest takes the items with great interest.
"By the Forgefather's sacred hammer, this is a wonderful find, dear brother. I'll get the archivists to help me with this. Come back tomorrow, i think i'll have some answers then."
While browsing the markets, Sivar hears some talk of unease. A feeling of something bad in the air.
The following morning, you make your way towards the church to Torag.
But something is amiss. The sky is a dark grey, as if a great thunderstorm is approaching.
You hear shouting from several directions, and you see Z'Kthorplu running in the streets, met with city guards and passing warriors, and melee ensues. Clerics rush out to keep the other dwarves standing, while waiting for reinforcements.
One cleric notices you, and shouts over.
"Something is very wrong with the artifact you brought back. It has summoned a horrible creature inside the church, hurry!"
Elsa imperiously points for the others to lead the way, she will follow, her fingers trailing ice.
"Head to the church, let's take on whatever it is we brought about."
Sivar starts moving to the church
He will stop before going in for buffingness
Burdock, worried that they may have brought terror instead of knowledge, hurriedly heads to the church. Torag, keep him safe., he prays to himself, hoping his brother has not been harmed.
As the party arrivés at the church of Torag, they find several clergy tending to their own injuries. A few are in foetal position, arms round their knees while rocking back and forth, their eyes staring at the ground.
As the normal dwarves try calming them down, they motion for you to enter.
.
..
...
....
The heavy doors creak as you push them open, and the candles that usually illuminate the reception in the church, have all gone out. It is eerily quiet, and a feeling of a horrible situation grips your chest.
Only the front desk with a ledger and extinguished candles stands before you. Two corridors lead further inwards, both having a door towards storage rooms.
If they are gesturing us in, they are talkable to?
"What happened here? " he says to a member of the clergy
"Priest Turk Burdock brought items and a sealed tome into the archives. When he deciphered how to open it, and did so, otherworldly noises came from it. As if there was a trap within, a safety of some sorts?"
"A rift opened up, tearing parts of the ground near it into itself, before a number of 'things' came through' and started rampaging all nearby. Even getting further into the church. The doors to the great hall are locked, you'll have to force them open."
"And whether is Priest Burdock? Is he further inside?", the forgepriest asks, not hiding his concern.
The dwarf nods.
"Aye, he's somewhere inside. He was making sure as many of us got to safety.. (looks sideways briefly at rocking dwarves), ..relative safety. Last i saw, he had somehow erected a holy barrier around himself, drawing some attention, keeping him safe, but it left him immobile."
"It is time to return the favor to him then.", Burdock affirms.
He then spends a few seconds to place runes on both Siivar's blade and Grint's bow.