October 18, 2026
7th Crelmynth
The party entered the tomb, and came into the chamber from which the sarcophagi had fallen. Dozens of sarcophagi still stood in a serried grid; Samuel believed that they would not stir if deference was shown to the tomb. They passed through the burial chamber and entered a hall with two more exits. To the north, a staircase bent upwards past a statue; to the south, a narrow but decorated hall continued into the dark.
They investigated the statue. It was an archetypal dwarf warrior, honoring and invoking the protection of dead generations past whose ranks the interred were now joining.
The southern hallway continued past a side door which read, “Only the purified may pass.” They turned back, seeking a ritual bath or censer that might make them eligible to continue.
Returning and passing up the stairs, they came to a mural showing the victory of a great captain of the dwarves (presumably the one interred) over a horde of goblins. The mural had been recently defaced with mud.
They listened at a door and heard the cackling of cavorting goblins. Opening the door, they found a scroll repository, which the goblins were gleefully burning. They had smashed the shelves and were feeding wood and scroll alike into an ashy bonfire in the center of the room. Most of the goblins were lounging around this, using strips of scrolls to roll cigars of a peaty plant that, it turned out, has no effect on the body but smells very bad. Two other goblins were taking turns crumpling balls of paper, setting them alight, and throwing them at each other.
A final goblin sprang onto an overturned bench at the door and waved a learner’s wooden sword, demanding the party’s business. They parleyed that they had come to join the goblin revel.
They spoke with the goblin leader, Bugbug, a grizzled figure wearing a broad hat. He told them that the goblins had come to the tomb in search of riches. After conferring among themselves, the party offered to lead the goblins to greater riches if they ceased the looting of the tomb. Bugbug made a goblin promise that Annais was the new Boss, a rank which seems to be roughly the equivalent of pirate captain.
They asked if the goblins knew of any pools or fountains. Bubug answered that he did, and led them downstairs, past the “Only the purified” door, and to a grand set of double doors with a fountain and basin built into them. They manipulated the knobs, filled the basin, and washed themselves, but there was no effect. They returned to the “purified” door and realized that it said “pass,” not “enter.”
They opened the door and found a bath chamber. They scrubbed themselves. Investigating the apparatus, they found it was powered by heatstones, which are carved with runes and glow red-hot for one minute after being struck. They took a dozen of these.
They returned to the stone door and filled the basin. In the basin these words appeared:
To enter the resting place of Therkahm Silverbreath, answer this riddle: The riders of Durizmig Ironback must meet the army of Hosid Strongarm, 26,000 paces away, in time to meet the orc armies against the Earthwetting of 1158. Durizmig departs Narbadul moving at 7,000 paces per day. Hosid moves to meet Durizmig at 6,000 paces per day. At what time do they meet?
They laughed at the dwarven conception of riddles, but Harrom sputtered that it was a perfectly valid way to sift out trained and disciplined minds. Oskraks provided the answer, “Two days later,” and the door opened.
Inside, they found a treasure chamber the like of which the party had not seen in a long time. Aside from silver and gold, the room held the glass-topped sarcophagus of General Therkahm Silverbreath. His body still held a magical axe, and on his finger was a ring set with an opal. Upon the edge of the opal were carved dwarf-runes declaring the bearer one who had done a great service to the dwarves.
They all agreed that Calloway needed that stone as a sign of absolution from the dwarves; for, though she had not been in command, it was her army that had destroyed Varn Lodihr.
Gingerly, fearing that the general would rise at any moment, they moved the lid aside. When Aida reached in to take the ring, the merest brush of her finger dislodged the opal, which fell heavily into her palm.
Figuring that this was the clearest sign they could receive, they talked Annais down from taking the battleaxe, and replaced the lid.
Leaving the dungeon, they returned to the army and gave the opal to Calloway. She ordered Harrom to set it for her.
8th Crelmynth
The next part of the party’s marching orders were to blaze a trail bending south and east through the moor. They set out without incident.
9th Crelmynth
They reached a line of hills bounding the moor and continued along it, looking for an entrance to the old road.
At the end of the day, they realized that they had become lost and were on the wrong edge of the moor.
