The Agency gives the party a lucrative mission.
They are to escort a Dwarf named Narvi on an expedition into the Underdark to look for a lost Dwarven mine. The
mine was abandoned at the time of the
Great Darkness and its location relative to the surface
world has remained lost for centuries. Just recently, however, the Dwarves have obtained a few clues as to where it might be.
The party are paid 250gp each up front out of which they must equip themselves for what might well prove to be a dangerous journey.
In addition to the usual hazards of their job Elwin has decided to drop a new recruit to the Agency on the party
who is on probation. He was apparently found delirious and in a bad way by a hunter in the
The Waste. His name is Horatio and he wears strange looking armour. He claims he comes from a country called 'Zandia'
who were at war with another country called 'Marakora'. He was in a battle but was knocked unconscious. The nuns
who nursed him back to health and bought him to
Pell's Hold say he spoke a strange language when they first treated him. They also
say he has suffered from a blow to the head.
The first major encounter on their journey finds the party in a huge cave filled with strange animated fungi.
A walking blue toadstool named Timaloo greets them and takes them to their king. He releases spores which
the party can inhale to establish telepathic communication with all the fungi in the cave. The king is a huge
brown toadstool and his bodyguard of similar appearence crowd around the party. Narvi says he brings greetings and
gifts from the surface and also gifts from one who previously passed through the cavern. The king says that the gifts have arrived too late to appease the anger of the fungi against the surface dwellers. This response
produces considerable disagreement around the cavern. The king appears to have taken power in a recent coup and
now the party have become a focal point for the resistance to his power. A skirmish
follows and the king and his bodyguard are defeated. The other fungi are pleased, accept the gifts and let the party
pass through the cavern.
Passing through the cave the party are making a long trek through miles of uneven passages when they notice holes
that appear in the side walls generally about two to three feet in diameter. They then come to a dificult 'squeeze'
point where a collapse has led to a restricted opening being the only way forward. Horatio has to remove his plate
armour to wriggle through and the party are still divided when a number of small chitin-covered reptiles swarm
out of the small side tunnels and attack them. The creatures are, however, clearly used to easier prey and are
quickly defeated.
The next major cave according to Narvi used to contain a lake which has dried out leaving a large crystalline deposit on the cave floor. The party have to cut through spider webs to enter and exit the cave. As they are
crossing the lake bed they discover a skeleton of a dead dwarf (of an evil kind according to Narvi) still
holding a magic warhammer. Attempting to leave the
cave they are attacked by several spiders that deliver a nasty bite but the creatures are swiftly repulsed.
As the party enter the third major cave on their journey they notice that about a score of people are situated along the path
that winds through the cavern. There is, however, something not quite natural about the scene and the
party spend some time puzzling about what this might be. Eventually they notice that each of the people in the cavern has behind them a slime trail leading away from the path into the darker reaches of the boulder strewn
cavern floor. Following one such trail they think they can see an ooze of some kind hidden in the rocks and
proceed to destroy it with their spells. As the ooze dies so does the 'person' at the other end of the 'snail trail'.
Now the party understand they are not dealing with real people they drive the rest of the crowd away from the
path and cross the cavern safely.
By now the party are several thousand feet underground and the fourth major cave they come to contains the ancient and legendary city of Cantal Derath a trading city which is considered neutral ground by the Underdark
inhabitants. There are, however, so many exits from this cave that Narvi thinks it best to make discreet enquiries
to see if anyone knows the way to the dwarven mine. Eventually the party meet a Deep Gnome, a svirfneblin, in
an alley who offers to lead them to the mine if the party agree to help the gnomish community who have taken
up residence there. The gnomes have been living in the mine whose location they have kept secret for hundreds
of years but several months ago part of the mine was occupied by some orcs. To make matters worse in the last fortnight another level of the mine has been occupied by the hated Grey Dwarves, the duergar.
The party agree to help the gnomes evict the orcs and grey dwarves and travel to the mine. They are quickly in action ambushing a
group of orcs and routing them with a particularly effective spell combination from Nameless and Arlan.
Their gnome hosts inform the them that there is a 'waste shute' which may have once connected to the surface
and which very occasionally rubbish is thrown down. Over the centuries the incidence of this happening has lessened
but twenty three years ago a sword was thrown down the shute and shattered. The gnomes kept the shards
of the blade and the hilt which still detects as 'magic'. An inscription on the sword reads 'The Sword of Erin'
which is interesting because that would make it part of the royal heirlooms of Cambria.
Narvi takes possession of the sword saying he doubts that it is genuine but he needs to investigate its background.
Narvi goes in search of the secret entrance to the Temple of Moradin within the mine and having found it
promises the party another 250gp each when they reach the surface.
Eyeing the vertical shaft Beorthric reckons he could climb it despite Narvi's estimate that it is probably several
thousand feet in height. After discussions with Narvi Beorthric attempts this incredible climb and after a few minor encounters with the local wildlife makes it to the top where he is met by a group of dwarves including
Dwain's sister Dia. It transpires that Narvi has had a way of communicating with dwarves on the surface and Beorthric was expected. Beorthric finds the return journey rather easier and Dia implies that she might climb
down the shaft herself sometime in the near future.
While the party rest up the gnomes report that there has been a steady 'rain' of body
parts from giant spiders and other monsters during the night indicating probable dwarven activity in the 'waste shute'
The next day the party are in action against the orc chieftain and his elite guard who the gnomes isolate from
the rest of the orcs. Although the orcs have taken precautions against the 'Spiked Growth' spell they still
come off worst and after a brief encounter between the party and the other orcs the whole tribe flee from the mine entirely. Flushed with success the party then take the battle to the duergar. The Grey Dwarves have the ability to turn themselves
invisible and to enlarge themselves. This makes them formidable combatants but Horatio has the ability (given by his armour) to see invisible figures. The party take a strategic hall in the mine defended by six duergar guards. They
then use a secret door to bypass the other duergar and ambush their chieftain with his guards in a tough battle.
The gnomes are ecstatic at the party's victory and give each member a bag of jewels. Dia arrives having climbed
down the shute and secured ropes and pitons down the whole way making for a relatively safe climb to the surface by
the party. The dwarves at the surface are also impressed with the party and hand out a bag of 500gp to each member.
A few days later the party are again given a mission to accompany Narvi beneath the city. This time to assess
the risk presented by two ancient temples whose presence beneath the City has recently been discovered. Superficially one looks as if it was relatively benign while the other is relatively foreboding. The party
choose to investigate the more benign one first. Entering through impressively carved doors the party see
a large statue of a crowned human behind an altar. The walls are decorated by what turns out to be a
narrative in
an ancient script which is just about decipherable. The script, which is describes ancient history with an anti-Elvish slant, magically beguiles some of the party. Those that resist this effect are then attacked by the
statue which comes to life. The party destroy the statue but then have to face a wraith-like being that emerges from
it. Once the party attack it with their magical weapons, however, the undead apparition retreats through the temple walls.
The party find nothing else of interest in the temple and retreat with Narvi saying he will get the dwarves to
seal the entrance.
The party find the second temple which has an eerie look and is dimly lit as if it is actually still in use.
Beorthric has an immediate intuitive thought that this is a temple dedicated to the Dark Fey, the Raven Queen.
He warns the others to tread carefully. The party notice movement in the darkness beyond the pillars down the
side of the entrance hall and Arlan goes to investigate. Thinking he spotted a creature that looked liked a drow and having been affected by the script on the wall of the first temple, he attempts to attack the creature. Meanwhile Beothric is examining the writing on the double doors at the end of the entrance hall which confirms his suspicions.
Before a brawl can break out, however, a dark skinned fey opens the doors and commands the party to 'stop their tomfoolery'. She then ushers the party into the inner sanctum where another of her kind sits cross-legged before
the altar as if in a trance. She says that the Raven Queen has granted them the rare privilege of an audience
and the Queen will speak through her. The party are permitted to ask three questions and ask for the whereabouts
of the original Sword of Erin (a dragon's horde), the reason the fake
swords were made (King Wulfhere was worried the original might be stolen), and the whereabouts of the other fake
sword (the Royal Treasury). The audience is then ended and the party are warned they will never be able to find the temple again. They then return to the surface.