31: White Plume Mountain - Whelm

The heroes pondered the meaning of a message to Felnar so far from home, and why written in blood? Too many things about White Plume Mountain were questions without obvious answers.
Moving to the door Aardgal and Morgrim shouldered it open. Beyond was a ledge, with an overhang leading down 50’ to boiling mud. The ceiling rose 50’ above this natural chamber. The walls and ceiling of this very large cavern were covered with a phosphorous lichen which lent a small amount of low light to the entire place. From this ledge to another across the chamber were hanging 4’ diameter wooden platforms suspended from the ceiling with sturdy iron chains. Each disk lay about 5’ apart.
To make matters worse, every 15-30 seconds a geyser of boiling mud would erupt showering the a portion of the cavern with super heated mud.
Jumping from disk to disk was deemed too perilous, so Azrael cast 2 fly spells on Morgrim and Bornir. Bulls Strength and Fire Protection spells were also cast on them. They then ferried the party across the chamber. A few members of the group were hurt by the geysers. Morgrim spell deflected only a portion of the heat and he also suffered several burns.
On the far side of the chamber was another ledge and another door. This one led to a 5’ wide passageway 50’ deep. Lath and Shaft were first down the hallway, as they moved down it’s length they noticed the last 30’ of the passageway’s ceiling was home to a large community of bats, normal sized bats. At the end of the passageway was a wooden door, and not 10’ feet from the door, was a figure huddled in a ball up against the wall.
Aardgal moved up and hailed the figure and it stirred. Indeed it was a grimy and bloodied dwarf. Dressed in tattered clothes and soiled leather armor. He clutched a heavy pick in both hands and seemed to have a deadened look to his gaze, as if in shock. The group recognized him as Ragnolin Dourstone, the dwarf they had rescued from confinement by Balabar Smenk in Diamond Lake.
Aardgal detected no malice or evil intent in Dourstone, though he did warn there was ‘trouble beyond the door’. He then helped Dourstone towards the back of the group. Dourstone seemed unresponsive to questions. Under the grime covering his body his skin was a mass of scarred and burned skin, though mostly healed. The blood on him seemed to be his own, but only minor cuts were immediately visible.
By this time the rest of the group had crossed the cavern and people had healed the burns they had received on the passage. After a few rounds of spell casting Lath tried the door, and then Morgrim moved to the fore front of the group to shoulder it open. As he heaved the door open, a bank of mist rolled into the passageway obscuring all vision beyond 5’. Lath strode past Morgrim into the room.
Aardgal stepped past Lath further into the mist enshrouded room. The group heard Aardgal suck his breath in as a creature attacked him. Whatever was attacking him was unseen, except for a faint hint of an outline as it attacked him with thunderous blows which cracked off his breast plate. He cried in pain and confusion as the life force was stolen from his body by the unseen attacker.
Before long more figures attacked from the mist. A fanged and clawed pale skinned human woman in torn and soiled leathers. She had unkempt lank red hair, and bestial red eyes. She tore at Aardgal.
An older pale human man, with thinning hair and a slight paunch, attacked Lath. He had fangs and glowing clawed hands, and was dressed in soiled and stained dark brown leather garments.
At this time the bats along the ceiling of the hallway launched themselves at any and all nearby. Edgrin and others were forced to either go into the mist filled room or back into the hall. Feldrin backed up, and as he did so a misty figure detached and floated from the mist along the hallway towards him. As it moved forward he heard “Felnar, it’s me, Terra.” He recognized the young druidess he was dating from Diamond Lake. She was under the effects of a gaseous form spell, but he recognized her. As her form coalesced, Ragnolin Dourstone cluthched his heavy pick and attacked Felnar, saying “For the master!” Felnar was forced to cast a mirror image spell and strike the wretched dwarf with an acid arrow spell. Dourstone cried in pain but swung vicious attacks at Felnar all the same.
Meanwhile in the room Lath recognized the enemies as vampires and turned the older vampire with the glowing hands. The man, who would later be identified as Master Dannen, screamed in rage and flung himself away from Lath turning into a mist as he withdrew.
Morgrim pressed into the room and Bornir cast an invisibility purge spell which negated the invisibility of the creature attacking Aardgal. Azrael had summoned his servant air elemental which he commanded to go into the mist and get rid of it. The elemental turned into a small whirlwind and flung itself into the room reducing then destroying the obscuring mist.
Bornir’s spell had revealed the attacker to be a pale dwarf in full plate befitting a dwarven noble, wielding an elaborately carved war hammer. The dwarf was also a vampire, a fact he proved as he struck at Lath and drained some of his life force with a well placed strike.
Lath battled the dwarven vampire, sensing he was wielding a legacy weapon as well, but the vicious blows of the vampire forced Lath to drawback and cure himself. Aardgal and Moregrim had destroyed the female red haired vampire, whereupon Aardgal looked for healing for he had taken grevious blows and felt a portion of his life force still missing.
Meanwhile Felnar withdrew from Terra, though speaking with her warily. She flung aside Dourstone with bone breaking force and he lay in a heap in the hall. Felnar turned his attention to the dwarven vampire and flung a spell at the vampire with sent a roiling ball of acid towards him. He screamed in agony as the acid scoured him and he fell apart into a misty cloud which moved quickly towards a large sealed urn.
Felnar announced the other auburn haired female vampire was Terrra, whom he knew and she was under his protection. The group turned towards her ready to destroy her, but when Aardgal sensed no evil in her, despite her clearly being a vampire, the group was forced to pause. Felnar explained that somehow Master Dannen, and his apprentices Terra and Willow had been turned into vampires by the dwarven vampire Ctenmiir.
Upon announcing the name of Ctenmiir, Bornir and Morgrim were incensed, since Lath’s divination had named Ctenmiir as Dulok Blitzhame’s murderer! They being charged to serve Dulok Blitzhame knew that Ctenmiir must die.
Lath turned toward the urn and struck it with Nenharna, breaking the large ceramic urn. Inside tumbled out black dirt mixed with various trinkets and the very dead body of a dwarf – Ctenmiir. Aardgal announced they must strike it’s head off and stake it’s unbeating heart to destroy it. Morgrim sharpened a torch while Lath took careful ai and with a single stroke of his blade swept the head off the drawf. Ctenmiir’s eyes opened in shock and rage before clouding over for good. Lath was handed the sharpened torch and with a few taps from Morgrim’s hammer he had it through the vampires heart. A terrible scream erupted from the still vampires form and it convulsed, then blew apart into streams, then fragments of dust, then was gone. All that was left in his place was his armor and war hammer. Edgrin named it ‘Whelm.’
After destroying Ctenmiir everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Terra’s status seemed unchanged, still a vampire, and still not evil. Master Dannen never returned and Terra told the group the cracks in the ceiling eventually lead outside.
Felnar still protected Terra, but the group distrusted her. Sensing this she vowed to leave and meet Felnar soon back in Diamond Lake, if the fates and Obad Hai allow. She turned into gaseous form and flowed through the ceiling.
The group examined the remains of Ctenmiir’s urn. Inside they found some coins, a gem stone and a simple wand made from willow wood. The wand, stone, Ctenmiir’s armor and the war hammer detected as magical.
Edgrin examined the war hammer and gave the following information: The war hammer was made long ago by a dwarven woman named Dagnal Mightyhammer, from the Dankil clan from the Kingdom of Karkast. She forged the war hammer at a time her clan was beset by a foul band of goblins led by a clan of bugbears. She made the hammer for her husband and shield mate, Taubon, to use in a counter attack against the trolls. She placed all of her love for her huband and her dedication to Moradin into crafting the war hammer. Taubon and his warriors proved victorious and their skill much praised.
More recently the war hammer resurfaced, this time in the hands of Ctenmiir, a mighty dwarven warrior and brother the Fionor ‘the Rude’ laird of the Greysmere Covenant. He used the war hammer which he named ‘Whelm’ to stop a horde of rampaging ogres. He then left his clan to become an adventurer.
Edgrin believes it can only be wielded by a dwarf, and to unlock it’s least legacy abilities a dwarf must slay a goblinoid which is tougher than the wielder. The group also saw the head of the hammer glows when it gets close to gold.
Seeing how difficult it was to traverse the mud pit and group decided to stay in Ctenmiir's lair and rest for the remainder of the day.
Felnar cast an identify on the wand and found that it was a wand of cure light wounds with the command word of 'Cauterize'.
After casting healing spells and with a full complement of spells the dwarves recieved fly spells, along with bull's strength and resist fire spells to avoid the worst of the scalding mud, and they flew the rest of the party to safety.
They made their way to the sphinx room, and then headed to the west after saying the safety word of 'River'.
The passage changed direction, and Bornir dropped into an underwater pit, which the group manuevered around with ropes. The next area was a long hallway which heated up the metal of anyone traversing it. Metal plates were on either side of the hallway walls, and Aardgal was able to disable them by grounding the plates to each other and the water which lay on the floor. It took several minutes to disable each section of the trap, and by the time he had disabled the whole hallway, the fly, resist and strength spells had waned.
The next room was non-descript with a set of stairs on the far wall. As the group ascended the stairs and the trail end of the 9 man party was still in the room, a secret door opened up in a wall, and several ghasts poured into the room. A quick fight killed the 4 ghasts, and the group found a little in the way of coins and treasure.
The hallway beyond the stairs was dry for a change, and a 20' wide hallway. As the group walked forward the floor gave way, another pit trap, this one with poisoned spikes. The dwarves in front were hurt but uneffected by the poison. Lath took to the walls with his slippers of spider climbing. Aardgal tried to figure out how to disarm or disable the trap door.
Just then a beautiful siren song came from down the hallway. The captivating effects enspelled Krech and Shaft and they wandered forward. Krech tumbled into the pit, oblivious to the danger. Shaft wandered forward as well enraptured. Edgrin started singing and after a few songs he had countered the effect of the enchanting song. Meanwhile Morgrim and Bornir had used a rope lowered by Lath to climb the far side of the 10' pit. The other side they found was completely smooth and frictionless, and they had a hard time standing much less walking.
Felnar cast a light spell on a crossbow bolt and fired it down the darkened hallway. Lath saw the bolt pass through the far wall and illuminate the end of the hallway.He suspected an illusionary wall.
Lath, Azrael under a fly spell, and Azrael's summoned air elemental went past the illusionary wall and found a high ceilinged area with an alcove 15' off the floor. In the alcove was perched a harpy, the source of the music. Between the emenetal, Lath's sword and Azrael's flail they made short work of the cruel beast. They returned to help the party past the pit trap and a second pit trap Morgrim had fallen int. Beyond the second pit trap and the illusionary wall was a side door, and the only exit from the trapped room.