[Continued] - Bertram/Dwarven Ruins - 19 April, 1 VC

[Keehnelf]

The lid of the sarcophagus looks like it was lifted and dropped, causing it to shatter under its own weight.

[Keehnelf]

Martin stands between some of the large broken sections of stone and looks inside nervously. He sees a long, silver footman's lance lying under an angled kite shield with a sculpted lion's face staring out from it, with large emeralds for eyes.

[Marullus]

To Ulf and Bromric, she shows the map, asking, "Do these names mean anything to either of you?"

Bromric examines the map carefully and shrugs. "A thousand years ago, in the Northern Kingdom... long beyond thought of the Dukes of the Flint Hills, where I labored and fought." He pokes the map with his grubby finger. "It tells us much, however. I assume this is the Low Tomb; we are at the southwestern edge of their domain. We should expect to find this ring of defensive towers, which would be the limit of their boundary... beyond it are druids, caves of screams, and other signs of chaos and ruin which they identify as threats, not holdings. This. They have marked their capital city. We should treat that with much interest."

[Zhym]

"Which do you think is their capital city?" asks Ulf. "Eisenloch sounds elvish, and those structures on the drawing don't look like any dwarf dwellings I've seen. The Great Mountain must be the Finger," he adds, stating the obvious.

"If we are in the Low Tomb, then perhaps the message 'northeast one mile' left near the horses points to the Ruin of Southwatch?"

I tried to match landmarks on the map with known points of interest from our travels as shown in Spartakos's map here:

http://www.imageno.com/op14ffay0ayxpic.html

But they don't quite seem to be in the same places. Are we in the dwarven hold? The map from the tomb shows the low tomb as being south-southwest of the Finger, but our map has the dwarven hold to the Finger's southeast. I thought the druid's altar was further east than it's shown on the tomb map—Spartakos's map shows two of the towers pretty much due west of the standing stones. And does the tomb of the horse king appear on this map at all? Is it the Cave of Screams? Where would Vaul be on this map? In the lower lefthand corner? I wonder if we've actually come across the drowned mine or all the towers.

[Marullus]

Bromric considers thoughtfully. "Eisenloch looked like structures built under a mountain, within it. I presumed it indicated the Dwarfhome for this Kingdom..." He tilts the map, looking more closely. (Clarification?)

[Zhym]

"Wait, I think I know that word," says Ulf. "'Loch' means 'lake.' So those structures are on an island in the middle of a lake. The lines in that area to the upper right probably indicate water."

[Keehnelf]

Ulf's interpretation is correct.

[KingOfCowards]

"The dwarves mentioned a Crystal Lake east of here. I would assume that Eisenloch is an old Elvish settlement located there."

"If we are in the Low Tomb, then perhaps the message 'northeast one mile' left near the horses points to the Ruin of Southwatch?"

"I think now you are on to something. Perhaps that should be our next stop." Bertram scratches his whiskers, seemingly considering the level of danger in their next move. In the meantime, he will search the room for any treasure that have been left by the dwarves and the undead.

[Zhym]

On further reflection, the tomb map may not be to scale. The campaign map is about 12 miles per hex, so if the tomb map is to scale, the Ruin of Southwatch isn't likely to be just one mile away. I suspect it's more likely that the dwarves' map is more like the famous New Yorker Magazine map of the US:

steinberg-newyorker.jpg (119.31 KiB) Viewed 854 times

BTW, has anyone checked out the sword and shield Ulf took from the first sarcophagus? If not, Ulf will do that now.[/ooc]

[Marullus]

BTW, has anyone checked out the sword and shield Ulf took from the first sarcophagus? If not, Ulf will do that now.[/ooc]

The sword was non-magical but gem-encrusted and packed away with the other treasure. The shield is +1 and being carried by Bromric at the front of the party currently.

[Dogma]

While the others examine the map, Martin carefully reaches in and retrieves the lance and kite shield from the sarcophagus.

"Why would someone go through the trouble of removing that heavy stone lid only to leave these inside?" he wonders aloud?

[Keehnelf]

The lance is very lightweight but rigid--its length does not bend at all as Martin lifts it through the air in the way a traditional lance would have a bit of flex. The emerald eyes of the lion glitter oddly in the torchlight and he swears he hears the slightest sound of soft exhalation as he carries the shield clear of the sarcophagus.

[hedgeknight]

"This place gives me the creeps," Krysta says, holding her lantern high, her eyes wide as she watches the shadows.

[Zhym]

"Lots of free magical goodies and not a bit of resistance, at least not the type we can detect," replies Ulf. "You're right: it's creepy."

"Are we ready to find out what's northeast?" he asks.

[KingOfCowards]

While the others examine the map, Martin carefully reaches in and retrieves the lance and kite shield from the sarcophagus.

"Why would someone go through the trouble of removing that heavy stone lid only to leave these inside?" he wonders aloud?

Perhaps whatever opened the tomb has no need for weapons and adornment." To Ulf's question about leaving, Bertram answers, "There is one more stop I would like to make before we head out of here and to the northeast. Up the stairs where Fangir led us, that tomb looked like the most valuable...although it possibly poses the most danger as well. Still we've found little in the way of answers just yet, I propose we move on."

I assume Bertram's search of this room turned up nothing else. If so, we'll gather up the new items and carry on.

[Zhym]

"Let us investigate the other tomb, then," agrees Ulf.

[Marullus]

Bromric grunts in approval. "Agreed. They sought something else. I would rather see dwarven relics in our own hands than either unguarded or in the hands of foes. Let us reclaim your last room."

(With our navigation to specific rooms, how much do we feel we are missing? What is our perception of rooms and tunnels skipped?)

[KingOfCowards]

I'll let Keehnelf interpret further, but my feeling was that we were passing by a lot of potential rooms. From our other ventures here, I got the impression that you could get horribly lost by traveling the back passageways instead of sticking to the main halls.

[Zhym]

I'd go into full-on Ulf the Cartographer mode, but so far I've gotten the impression that detailed dungeon mapping isn't necessary or particularly appreciated. Last time I tried, in the fairly small and simple tomb of the horse king, the dimensions I was given ended up in a discrepancy on my map and a shrug from the DM.

[Keehnelf]

I think we just had some miscommunication on that one. I shrugged because ultimately it didn't make much difference. Let me know if you want to do detailed cartography and I'll slow you guys down appropriately and provide more detailed information.

And KoC is correct: you would guess you're seeing a small fraction of this place going by previously-followed routes.

Bertram found nothing else of interest, thought the sarcophagus itself does have a number of precious-looking gems set into it.