For sessions 8-13 of our “Storm King’s Thunder” campaign, the party took a trip to the classic D&D adventure “Forge of Fury” from Tales from the Yawning Portal. We had a blast.

Here’s the Adventure Report:

Session F1: To the Forge! (11/3/19)

The day after the Battle for Triboar, our heroes Sir Frost Breaker, Mavthos, and Ikkibirel are enjoying some ale and other refreshments in the Triboar Arms tavern. Everyone thanks them for their heroism in defeating the Fire Giants yesterday, and a dwarf named Kheldegan Tolm (“Boring name!” sniffs Sir FB) approaches the heroes with a request: Could they visit the caves near his hometown of Blasingdell, two days hike west of Triboar, in the Sword Mtns? There have been orcs coming from the caves, and Kheldegan is convinced the caves are actually the ancient dwarf stronghold Khundrukar.

Of course the party agrees, especially when the dwarf gives Mavthos a dagger that appears to have been bitten in two. The dagger has the legendary smith mark of Durgeddin, the ancient founder of Khundrukar.  Mavthos recalls that Durgeddin’s weapons were especially damaging against giants, so the party hustles on their way to Blasingdell.

Using Kheldegan’s map, they find the old dwarven path through the wilderness to the Stone Tooth, and after inspecting the smoking chimney nearby (too slippery!), they find the ledge leading into the caverns. (Location 1)

Normansk distracts the two orc guards with poop and garbage long enough for Sir Frost Breaker to smack and push the first (poor Thark) over the ledge without a sound. Mavthos uses his trusty Eldritch Blast to send Wark after his fellow orc guard.

The party climbs deeper and higher into the caverns, and do a Group Stealth under the two arrow slits fifteen feet above them. Luckily nobody was paying close attention! (Location 2)

They peek through the open double doors on the eastern edge of the big hall and see torchlight and a very spindly looking rope bridge across a 35-foot chasm. Mavthos peeks in with his darkvision and spots two orcs at the far end of the bridge, keeping watch with javelins in their hands. “What do we do now?” Mavthos whispers to his friends, and we run out of time for this session…

Session F2: Through the Mountain Door (11/9/19)

Right before Mavthos can make his move on the orcs guarding the bridge, the crew is joined by their old friend Hatrix Stonebridge the lightfoot halfling rogue. He helps them knock out the orcs along with the four other orc reinforcements that come charging through a secret door. They make it across the bridge (which was cut on one side by the orcs), and they cut the bridge loose from the eastern side vbefore moving deeper into the caves.

They free two villagers, Geradil and Courana, and give them extra weapons when the two refuse to leave the party. Hating is agitated by their presence, and tries to get rid of then whenever possible. He soon has his chance when they find a secret door, and he sends the two eager villagers into the Shaman’s Lair. Greadily gets fried by the Eye of Gruumsh shaman with a flask of alchemist fire, and soon the rest of the party catches up, and the shaman and her two fellow orcs are defeated. One flask of alchemist’s fire remains, along with two bags of silver that the party hasn’t found yet…

Session F3: Traps and Orcs and More (3/15/20)

In the Shaman’s Lair, Sir FB, Mavthos, and Hatrix remain, while Ikkirbirel leads the prisoners to safety. They find 2 flasks of highly combustible alchemist’s fire in the lair, and then they head north to the room with the trapped statue. The team foils the trap, though Sir FB gets a red neck from the fire shooting from the dwarve’s face. Mavthos finds 2 more flasks of AF, and then the team heads west to a room full of 6 orcs and and org. They defeat the orog and half the orcs, but they raise the ire of Great Ulfe and his two dire wolves, who chase them into the next room.

Session F4: To the Glitterhame (3/17/20)

The trio charges down the narrow steps with Ulfe and his 2 wolves behind them. The team leaves a trio of burning orcs on the steps as they continue downward (minus some alchemist’s fire and some poison gas). The team leap over a rushing river that cuts into the stairs, and then they enter the Glitterhame. 

Session F5: (3/19/20)

The trio make it deeper into the Glitterhame, past the stream, and do a water slide into the troglodyte caves. They kill four troglodytes and face Great Ulfe and his dire wolves outside the cave. After defeating them, they follow the river into the  Long Cavern with the slime-slick floor. Sir FB and Mavthos slip, but regain their footing before sliding down into the whirlpool leading down. They find the Dwarven Sepulchres and snag the warammer with Durgeddions mark! 

The team continues into the huge GLitterhame cavern, avoiding the gricks, and Hatrix picks the lock to the metal door leading to a narrow stairway up. The team takes a long rest, with Hatrix on watch.

Session F6: (3/21/20)

Mavthos, Sir Frost Breaker, and Hatrix encounter no critters during their long rest, but they do venture out one last time to see what’s in the final passageway on the Glitterhame level. They run into a roper impersonating a stalagmite, and after lots of tendril-grappling and biting, the trio slays the roper and retrieves Hatrix’s sword (and some gems and a Ring of Spell Storing) from the roper’s guts. Then it’s up the steps to the Foundry level!

They avoid the statue traps and the fake doors when Hatrix notices the dusty trail on the floor heading east to the secret door. Their luck doesn’t hold out when a magic mouth announces their presence to the three Duergar waiting in the Great Hall. The dark dwarves are invisible and call out a warning in Dwarvish, which Sir FB understands, and with some back and forth, he manages to bribe their help with some gems recently harvested from the roper. Ghared, the duergar leader, briskly shows them the way to the next level, but of course the trio have to peek into the haunted temple first (one look at the dead dwarf and the bones starting to assemble themselves below it make them slam the door shut FAST). 

The duergar show the trio how to get down the sinkhole to the final level, and they tell them about the young black dragon that lives down there. The team climbs down and carefully makes their way through the cave and over the two bridges, avoiding any accidents or making noise. Just when they’re near the island covered in treasure — Nightscale’s hoard — the dragon shows up and blasts Mavthos with acid. After a wild battle, it’s Hatrix who makes the killing blow (after dodging what should’bv been a fatal claw-claw-bite attack from the dragon). They find the 4th weapon with Durgeddin’s mark, a +2 great axe, along with a pile of gold, a potion of healing, a potion of flying, a wand of magic missiles, and a +1 shield for Hatrix. Lugging their goodies, the party finds a passageway leading out to the Dark Mere on this side of the Stone Tooth, and they start heading back to Blasingdell and then to Triboar to find Kheldegan the dwarf for their reward…