The once-again large stonelord dashes towards the foe, eager to smash them down!
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Stauntram swings his mighty weapon and brings it crashing into the halfling, who groans in pain and drops from the sky, dead. Seeing their former master brought down, the two elementals shrug and merge back into the Forge. You have ended the threat to the local area, and perhaps secured the power of the Forge for yourself?
Kaalul spits on the halfling.
"Well done, everyone. He was a threat to the people of the area, and now he's gone."
Kaalul walks over to the Forge and slowly places his hand on it.
"What have you learned?" he asks Martel.
“I’m not quite sure yet,” Martel says, staring into the Forge intently, “I was able to distract the elementals, but any kind of real control is going to take some more study.”
“What does he have on him?” he asks, indicating the dead wizard, “Some kind of key item maybe, or some notes?”
Fizz sits down cross-legged with a sad look as he removes his hat. "'Tis a shame.."
Fizz sits down cross-legged with a sad look as he removes his hat. "'Tis a shame.."
"What's a shame, Gnome?"
"Killing. Death."
Stauntram stomps over to the halfling corpse and stares at it, as if daring the mage to stand up and continue fighting.
Satisfied that he will not, the Stonelord intones:
"Against my people’s enemies, I will show no mercy. I will not allow their surrender, except when strategy warrants. I will defeat them, yet even in the direst struggle, I will act in a way that brings honor to Torag."
He turns to the others.
"Once it was clear that he was an enemy and not simply a misguided fool, I had to act. We had to act. And may that be an end to the shaking of the earth and the disappearance of dwarves. We must see if there are any remains to be found, as well as a route out of here."
Martel finds the wizards notes but they are in code and will take time to decipher. Similarly, he is able to tell that there is much magic left coursing into the Forge through the four elements. Apparently, it is fed by a subterranean river, a hot magma inclusion underground, and conduits feeding deep into the earth and up into wind-catching tunnels high in the mountain.
Exploring the area, you find that the entrance has re-opened so that you may simply walk back out should you wish.
Kaalul seems ready to respond to Fizzbinner, but he closes his mouth and nods briefly before turning back to the Forge.
"It's not truly a forge of creation, but it's ties to the earth's depths are still of significance to Torag's Children. I will take the wizards' notes and the Forge's location back to my clergy. You may make copies of the notes, if you wish.
"I am ready to leave."
Martel determines the Forge has become inactive now that it is no longer being manipulated.
"Aye Kaalul. The clergy must be informed. I believe that they will see worth in securing this place for dwarf-kind."
"Yeah, this thing is safe now, but I'd like to disable it somehow, so no one wanders in here and has an accident." Martel says, looking the forge over. "If I can remove part of the Forge, perhaps we could keep the part as a 'key' of sorts. We could hold on to it for safekeeping, or give it to some trustworthy authority, like your church."
With his hand hovering over the Forge, Martel stimulates it to disgorge a crystal as if it were a drop falling up out of the Forge's smooth stone surface. He believes it will not function without the balancing energies of this crystal.
Stauntram nods approvingly at Marten's actions.
"A wise proposal, Marten. It makes this complex far safer in the interim."
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Your business finished, you pass out of the Cavern of the Elemental Forge and head back toward the Blue Ogre Inn to share the tale of your success. When you get there, everyone is impressed by what you've accomplished and they thank you for making the region safer. Then a bedraggled man short on breath bursts in and calls out between gasps "Dragon... this... way..." and collapses onto the ground, breath coming in heaves. The patrons of the inn begin looking at each other in alarm while the four of you simply grin at each other.