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Command Level
Our heroes enter Sunblight Fortress's smoke laden halls, stealthily moving from the throne room to the command level with the aid of Muzgardt-aligned duergar. Azgul and Tetro suffer independent psychic episodes in their exploring: Azgul listening to the calculated, simmering rage of Levistus and Tetro feeling the brain-splitting agony of a nearby lifeform. They learn that Sunblight's army is positioned to strike Ten Towns in two days, prompting them to send a message of warning to Captain Imdra Arlaggath in Easthaven. Finding Xardorok's War Room, the party uncovers the flight path of the chardalyn dragon. Gadget manages to scramble the chardalyn dragon's route, securing Ten Towns several more hours in case it falls under siege. Fern loots Xardorok's bedside chest, gleeful but cautious. Their stealth turns into bloodshed as they stumble into a patrol and skirmish in the dining halls, reuniting with Olpha Muzgardt.

Note: I haven't edited this one, so pardon the writing below.

Sunblight Fortress: Throne Room to Command Level

#battle #ADuergarPlot The trapdoor led to an alcove behind Xardorok's Black Ice throne within Sunblight Fortress, sitting in a long, desolate great hall. Black dust and soot covered the upper walls as smoke hung below the tall ceilings. A set of high windows set in the brutal architecture hinted at two scenes outside the hall: the cavernous expanse of the Underdark to the west and the red bellows of a forge on the east. Two duergar entered from the west doorways at the rear staircases, leading to a scuffle that was eventually settled as a misunderstanding. These two were Olpha Muzgardt's men. They retold how a manic Xardorok had taken made preparations for Olpha to dine on the central Command Level of the fortress. The throne room was on an isolated side of the lowest level, the Forge Level, though direct access to the forge would require breaching a fortified portcullis from the outer yard. Instead, the duergar named Bruvo warily suggested they hurry to the elevators. He was worried because some of Xardorok's newer recruits were only a room away: quaggoths, low intelligence, hyper-violent humanoids from the Underdark which Xardorok was able to subjugate. The heroes took his advice, heading to the lift.
#TheDevilYouKnow #ADuergarPlot Azgul's patron, the archdevil Levistus, once again reached into his psyche. The speech was fragmented, as though the chardalyn dust in the air disrupted his concentration. "There's no mistake. I taste his acrid vileness permeating the very smoke. Such ego! End his foothold in the North, and I will deliver you to power. To the doorstep of the Netherese." As the chardalyn smoke filled his lungs, he felt his connection weaken. And, for now, silence.
#ADuergarPlot The automated elevator led from the Forge to Command to Ice Gate Levels. The party rode the west elevator upwards to the Command Level and was told the east elevator on the other side of the fortress would be their best access to the forge. Bruvo, asked about the chardalyn dragon, says the launch date is in two days, prompting the party to send warning to Captain Imdra Arlaggath via their sending stone. Pointing to an empty office that Fern wandered toward, Bruvo notes that the duergar guard captain had been taken to be "interrogated" for treachery. Was she one of Olpha's? No, Bruvo replied. She was set up by them. Olpha's supporters have multiplied in the castle with most at the forge level, but their loyalty is conditional, he says. More interested in survival than Sunblight, they would likely support the heroes if they deemed their mission's success probable. Otherwise... they may as well be enemies.
#ADuergarPlot Avoiding patrols from on the Command Level and steering clear of the barracks, the party stealthed into Xardorok Sunblight's war room. A model of Ten Towns was mapped out with a miniature chardalyn dragon was present on the war table. Operated by a lever, it demonstrated the programmed flight path of the construct, as it swept counterclockwise over the towns. Gadget pored over a table of runes to try and reset the dragon's programming. With Fern assisting in arcane decoding, and the rest keeping watch, they managed to swap a couple towns in the order, locking in: Caer Dineval - Bremen - Easthaven - Dougan's Hole - Caer Konig - Termalaine - Lonelywood - Good Mead - Targos - Bryn Shander.
#ADuergarPlot Xardorok Sunblight was not in his war room, nor was he in his bed chamber. Fern gingerly cracked open a hefty iron padlock on a chest. While Azgul was unable to detect any magical trap, something was amiss about its base, which bobbed up and down while they lifted out an extremely expensive platinum and star sapphire hookah. It spooked them out enough to leave along, and they shouted at T-Rex when he poked around the gem-encrusted dwarven smoking jacket, causing the chest's base to rattle further.
#ADuergarPlot #TheSignal Opening Xardorok's closet, Tetro discovered a shrine. A chardalyn idol of the duergar demigoddess Deep Duera was central, surrounded by six skulls. The tortle druid quickly identified them by their anomalies. These were mindflayer. Recalling the ancient illithid skull he removed the psionic crystal from in the Termalaine mines, Tetro focused on the crystal. He was able to hear the distress call he heard earlier... that ping and warbled plea for help. And suddenly, a more proximal feeling penetrated his head: pain. There was someone, or something, within this fortress anguishing. Tetro felt as if his brain was literally being cut in half. As quickly as the sensation came, it ended. Tetro was unharmed.
#battle #ADuergarPlot A duergar patrol was up ahead in the long corridor of the Command Level. As the party advanced, they saw one duergar begin to turn around. Tumbling into the privy, the party set up to ambush the soldier. As his patrol companion came to investigate, their cover was blown. The soldier ran down the corridor to call for reinforcements, dodging nearly every attack thrown at him. Thrown off by an illusion of his dead companion, the party managed to land an attack to put him down in the nick of time.
#battle #ADuergarPlot Entering the dining hall, Fern locked eyes with Olpha Muzgardt and one of her companions. They were dining with several other duergar. The companion, Ulkin, took note and Fern noted him slowly wrapping his fingers about his war hammer. He started making some loud, pointed statements, asking each of the Sunblight-aligned duergar in the room how their meals were, identifying the enemy for the party. A member of the kitchen staff walked out, dropping a tray with a clatter, upon which Ulkin swung at the dwarf across the table. The party rushed in and took care of the rest.

XP

Total XP: 15301

1000 ~ Rerouted the Chardalyn Dragon's Flight Plan

Loot

Platinum Star Sapphire Hookah worth 2500 gp ~ Sunblight Fortress ~ Fern
100 gp in gems ~ Sunblight Fortress ~ Gadget