The following text was translated from dwarvish to common…
I was woken by the sound of heavy footfalls outside of my tavern room. There was a quiet knock on the door and then someone whispering that they needed to speak to me in my native language. I began to gather myself and walk to the door as I recalled my mission to find the missing young Hammerdown clansman warrior. I was hoping this may be further information to help me on my way.
As the door swung open I noticed a fellow dwarf slightly older than myself standing there dressed as a traveler and a look of urgency on his face. He quickly asked me if we could go somewhere more private to discuss news regarding my mission. We left the inn and as we walked the ambassador from Harkwood informed me that the importance was not so much the return or confirmation of the whereabouts of the missing young warrior but the retrieval of a necklace and pendant he carried around his neck. It turns out the pendant held the key to the history of the Hammerdown clan. The old dwarf continued to inform me that if I could retrieve the pendant, my reward would be a thousand silver pieces on top of what was already offered me. I told the fella to rest assured I would do what I could.
I returned to the Inn a short time later to find out my traveling companions had vanished. I didn’t think much of it and went to the bar for a drink or two before falling asleep.
Once again I was woken from a deep sleep as two of my companions burst into my room acting hysterically. Morax finally calmed himself long enough to inform me that everyone had left to head for the orc lands without me when they couldn’t find me last night. The other three adventurers had been either killed or captured. I gathered my gear as the other two ran about town trying to enlist the help of some men at arms.
The three of us and our newly hired help set off as quickly as possible in search for our friends. Not far from the Keep on the Borderlands we came across an approaching kobold patrol. We quickly got off the road in hopes to surprise our opponents but did not succeed and the battle ensued. The six kobolds were quickly dispatched and we continued on toward the valley my companions said they had previously run into trouble. As we approached cautiously we came to find the valley looking rather deserted during the daylight hours. We did some investigating to find several cave entrances. We picked one in hopes it may lead us to our friends or at the very least some answers.
Our shady magic-user (I believe he has been practicing his thieving skills lately) led the way searching for trouble. Not far from the entrance he found another small group of kobolds guarding a hallway which he quickly cast sleep on. As he walked toward them the floor gave out below him and he fell into a pit trap. We then were quickly overtaken by about a dozen large rats as I and two of our hired hands made our way to the kobold alcove. My new friends held off the rats long enough for me to dispatch the sleeping kobolds before they woke. Unfortunately by the end of the fight the only survivors were Morax, myself and two companions stuck in the pit. We healed the wounded and headed back out to a hermit’s house in the woods to prepare for the night and try to make another attempt the following morning. The next morning we attempted to cautiously approach the valley clearing again but with much less desired results. Five orcs had positioned themselves behind a defensive wall and noticed our magic-user at the same time he noticed them. He was quickly felled by a volley of arrows. The rest of us quickly ran to cover not far from our fallen friend. Half of the party rushed the now rushing orcs and delayed them long enough for us to heal the fallen and head into the fray. Once again the group prevailed with several new scars and help from magic. This time we took a captive and returned to the Keep. We didn’t learn much from our interrogation other than what some of various races of foes we could expect to face in the future. After turning over our captive to the keep guard they quickly strung him up and let him hang from the outer wall.
We returned to the same cave and this time our scout did not fall into the pit trap but did find another set of kobold guards in the same alcove. He dispatched them and dumped their bodies into the trap which triggered the secondary trap again. This time a giant rat appeared but our hired companions used their range weapons and killed it before it could reach our magic-user. We slowly made our way deeper into the cave and found a large common room full of several dozen of kobolds and our captive companions held nearly naked in cages on the far side of the room. Once again, to my disdain, magic served us well in putting all of the warrior type kobolds asleep. Our party quickly filed into the room and began a quick battle that seen kobolds die and flee in terror as their chieftain fell to the floor dead. The missing companions were freed, more kobolds were found and released and lots of treasure was found.
The last area we explored was where the rats had been coming from where we found a large pile of feces lay. Quickly investigating the room and the pile revealed a chain and pendant with the Hammerdown clan insignia on it. I asked the group if I may keep it safe to return it to the clan. They did not have a problem with that. Once the group returned to town I returned the chain and pendant and received my reward. I have taken my first steps in becoming a hero in the eyes of my kinsmen.
