Into the dragon's lair
Having found their way to the mountain, the adventurers surveyed the scene. Somewhere to the left, in the white moss forest, the soldiers were doing their drills and night time exercising. On top of the mountain, there was a beacon, guarded by two soldiers who indulged in ale and watching the poor comrades working. The group left Perrima to guard the cart and took to the right, walking quietly through the white moss forest and around to the backside of the mountain. From there, they could climb over one of its ridges and get down just on the other side of the dwarven watch tower, well hidden from view.
While the door to the tower was locked, they did have Nabakos, the black sword, which they used to cut through the lock, with Tindri using her magic to keep things quiet. Inside was an office, torched by the dragon. Walking through the door in the back led them down some stairs. Eventually, they found a sacred dwarven crypt, where two statues were mounted in the middle. They were made from different metals, and after some thinking, they realized that lighting the fire in the fireplace at the statues' feet would reveal the secret passage for them.
So far, so good.
Emerging on the other side of the passage, they made their way through more chambers, avoiding the dwarven traps, and into the mine itself. The cave was huge and pitch dark, but they did manage to hear the sound of dripping water to the left, and Albrich, who had the best eyes for this type of environment, led them that way. There, they found a wide shaft, almost 10 metres across, with a stair spiraling down into the darkness. Albrich started down the stairs when Rowri stopped for a moment. He had heard something behind them and suspected goblins might be about.
Albrich didn't care and continued, the others following behind. The stair spiraled around the wall of the shaft, ever deeper and deeper. Eventually, the wall disappeared. Albrich found himself on the next level, but it was flooded by still standing, foul smelling water. Still, he could see corridors in the glittering dark, leading further into the mountain, so the place was not completely submerged. As he took his first step into the water, a giant amoeba attacked him. Everyone prepared for battle, but Albrich had to fight alone, as the others could get past him down the stairs. Both Rowri and Tindri had heard about this type of creature before and knew that fire was key. Tindri started her spell working and Rowri emptied a flask of oil into the water, while Albrich fought off the pseudopods and harpoon stingers the creature attacked him with. Sir Rolande did his best with the greatsword Ebharing, but was still not used to it.
Having summoned her magical fire, Tindri dove into the war, setting the oil on fire when she hit the surface of the freezing cold water. The fire burned explosively, and submerged under the water, she could see the amoeba pull pack spasmodically and then quickly make its escape. She came back up for air, her eyebrows singed.
With the monster banished, Albrich decided that they should try for the closest corridor first and waded into the water. It was just shallow enough for his head to remain above the surface initially, but soon, the cave floor sloped downwards. The tall Sir Rolande pressed forward to try the ground out and found that the water only rose to about his chest level before it shallowed again. That would leave both Albrich and Tindri completely submerged for a short stretch, but not further than they could make it.
Beyond that was the corridor, its entrance blocked by a wooden door, swollen by water. Rowri kicked it in without much trouble, and inside they that their luck held: it was the mercury storage. A dozen barrels were in there, each weighing about 300 kilos. They would have a long night of hauling these barrels up to the tower.
They decided to organize themselves with Albrich and Sir Rolande doing most of the barrel pushing and carrying, Tindri holding the lantern for light, and Rowri was sent up the stairs to scout for and guard against possible goblins.
The moment he got all the way up the stairs, the goblins attacked. Half a dozen of them stormed him, naked and armed only with clubs. Rowri took his weapons, the black Nabakos sword in his right hand, and his old, trusty handax in the left. For a while, he managed to hold them off, as they could only attack him three at a time. He felled one of them, but then one of the goblins found a gap in his defense and hit him right in the solar plexus. He staggered and then struck back, burying his ax deep in the spine of a goblin, and there it got stuck. When the yanked it to get it out, the goblins pounced, and rained down hits on his head. It was too much. He wobbled, lost his balance and fell into the mine shaft.
Further down the stairs, Albrich shouted a question: "How is going up there?" when Rowri fell past him and into the water with a splash. Tindri dove down after him, taking the time only to hand Sir Rolande the end of a rope she tied around her waist. As poor a swimmer as she was, luck was with her and she found him, slowly sinking, drawn down by his equipment. she grabbed a hold of him and pulled the rope, and Sir Roland could pull them up.
While Tindri gasped for air, Albrich grabbed his ax and shield and made his way up the stairs, muttering something to himself. When he got to the top, he could just make out a group of goblins dancing a wild victory dance, led by what was likely a priestess. He banged his ax against his shield to get their attention. Emboldened by their recent victory, they charged, screaming wildly. Albrich, however, was well armoured, unlike Rowri, and could easily fend them off
Just then, a wall of flame shot down across the shaft, setting the opposite wall on fire. Glancing up, Albrich realized that the dragon was up there, about 20 metres above them. His voice echoed down the shaft: "I say, what are you doing with my goblins".
Albrich had no time to mind the great worm, and kept his attention on the goblins. While kept fighting them, Sir Rolande ran up to his side to distract the dragon from his friend. When Albrich had dispatched two of them, and seen the other two run away, Sir Rolande had managed to engage the dragon in a conversation. The monster realized that Sir Rolande was from the Copper Sea, and was eager for news from those parts. The knight kept talking to keep it distracted as Albrich went down to help Rowri, now healed by Tindri, with the barrels.
When Albrich joined Rowri, he asked: "Four goblins, Rowri? Really?" Rowri swallowed the shame and the two started working hard on getting as many barrels up as they could before the dragon would tire of the conversation with Sir Rolande. The knight's training at the capital's court now served him well and he drew upon all his knowledge of eloquence and rhetoric. Minutes of conversation stretched out and became a quarter of an hour and more.
The dragon, however, grew tired of shouting down the shaft, and invited Sir Rolande to a game of chess. The knight, desperate to keep the dragon calm and continue the distraction, accepted. The ascent of the stairs to the level above was the longest of Rolande's life. Seeing that he was going, Tindri recalled that the dagger Dementius had expressed great interest in boardgames, and decided to join him, as Rolande would not understand the dagger's elven speech.
The chessboard, Rolande found, was carved into the very rock by the dragon's claws, no doubt. The pieces consisted mostly of burned skeletons of different kinds, and the dragon's terms were that if the dragon lost, Rolande would win 5 000 goldpieces from his hoard, glinting behind him in the dark, but if Rolande lost, the dragon would eat him. Rolande accepted himself as a prize, but did not want any of Blatifagus' treasure. Instead, he requested that the dragon would help him free his brother from the Shagulites. This pleased the monster, as he would win regardless of the outcome.
It was a good thing that Tindri joined him, because the dragon would have beaten him easily. When Blatifagus saw the dagger, he did not protest its involvement, snorting instead in disgust as the pretensions of the small artifact. But Dementius proved not just his equal, but his superior in the game. It dragged out for hours and hours, allowing Albrich and Rowri, now shivering and bitterly cold from repeated exposure to the frigid waters of the mine, to recover half of the stock.
The game was drawing to a close in the small hours of the night, and Blatifagus was headed for a loss, when the old worm suddenly knocked over the pieces, a "mistake", he claimed. Apparently, they'd have to start over again. Dementius was furious, but Rolande and Tindri played along, as this would give Albrich and Rowri even more time.
The second game was about mid-way, when a voice cried out from the front porch. A man approached, silhouetted against the brightening night sky. Under a beggar's cloak and hood, he wore armour, and he wielded a bastard sword and shield, face protected by a full helmet. Strangely, he spoke with a slur and challenged the dragon. When Blatifagus saw this person, he was filled with rage, and hurled invectives at him. The man presented himself as Arn Dimbrink, knight, who had sworn an oath to slay a dragon. Sir Rolande would not accept that and stepped between the two. He was first in line, he argued, and he had sworn an oath to free his brother. Reluctantly, Sir Arn stood down, and let them continue their game.
The knight's presence distracted Blatifagus, and once more, he was headed for defeat. As dawn came outside, Dementius was very pleased to announce "check mate". The dragon looked at the board, at Sir Arn, and then Sir Rolande, and fury blazed in his eyes....
To be continued.