Editing Chronicle - Zundar (section)

== Halls of Zundar ==

The key opened the door easily, and we entered a now familiar scene of Dwarven skeletons and discarded weapons scattered around a once opulent hall. The Dwarves' equipment bore the mark of Balem. The ceiling was domed and covered in gold gilt, whilst the floor was smooth beneath the debris. Carvings adorned the walls.

To the North was Loki wearing a black komodo, drinking wine and holding a dagger dripping blood. At his feet was a mountain range with the symbol of Emras under the mountains. To the East was an off-white wolf snarling from the wall, unchained. To the South was Odin looking with disdain at Loki with his arm around Lastar's shoulder. To the West the Sun was rising behind an oak tree, beneath which was scribbled some Elven script:

For all it is worth, a stone it remains,
Cold, black and with lifeless veins;
A priceless gift from Unglak we hear,
A terrible torment and misery we fear.

The answer to our Elven prayers
Dragged from the depths and evil lairs;
What use is rock when wood's alight?
What use riches against a Devil's might?

Gelmir

On the floor was a large carving of a violet rose. The centre was bright violet, and someone had scratched an inscription there that read:

First fire, for Rantor has shown me its power
And with it I will burn that pallid flower
I have seen the webs Marilliath doth weave
But without the Ring she can no longer deceive.

Then water, hidden under the Dragon's Tower.
Artefacts were not meant to be bartered for power,
With their Ring I will cause Dor's doom
And use it to drown their petty bloom.

Earth will be next with Lei Kung's aid,
And the worshippers of light will be repaid.
Hamar's house will not keep darkness out
For Dwarven greed makes them less devout.

Led through darkness by Dwarven hand,
The Dark Wolf's death I will command.
Finally, the very air you breathe,
Will be mine to do with as I please.

Iki-Moko

Looking for a way forward, we could just make out a door in the Eastern wall that would have been all but invisible if not for the fact that it was slightly ajar. Beyond this door a short corridor lead to another room where we disturbed a lair of huge two-headed trolls that charged at us with feral ferocity. Backing into the corridor to restrict their advance, Lanzi launched a fireball at them. Whilst this enraged the trolls it did not seem to slow them down! We fought them at the entrance to the previous hall, and just managed to hold them there. Then one of the foul creatures managed to bite into Merc's shoulder, and to our horror he turned to stone before our eyes!


This loss gave the trolls an opening, and one surged past our defences towards Lanzi. Lanzi launched another fireball into the press of trolls we were fighting - a selfless act that turned the tide of the battle in our favour. However, the scream of shock and horror he gave as the other troll closed on him suggested that he might not have realised the danger he was in. In a moment Lanzi too had been petrified. Fortunately, Hintzu was able to despatch this last troll, allowing us to consider how we could help the two unfortunate statues.

After a period of bewilderment, we were able to use Merc's ring of regeneration to bring life back to their flesh, and before long they had made a full recovery.

Cautiously, we advanced into the room where the trolls had been lurking. There was treasure, bones, half eaten bodies and other bits of meat all over the room, and it had obviously been the lair of the creatures for some time. A damaged tapestry hung from the wall opposite the entrance that depicted a meeting of Dwarves with Lastar. Lastar was at one end, with a dwarf bearing the symbol of Balem opposite him. The houses represented, clockwise from Lastar, were Ishtur, Olga, Maedus, Balem, Dor, Hamar and Emras (as shown in the sketch below).


The sight of this tapestry started some discussion about the significance of the houses and some of the lore we were still trying to work out. It was clear that there were colours associated with the Dwarven houses, and these seemed to match the colours of the Rainbow, but we had yet to determine the significance of these colours.

Red - Ishtur 
Orange - Olga/Maedus 
Yellow - Olga/Maedus 
Green - Hamar 
Blue - Emras 
Indigo - Dor 
Violet - Balem

Eagerly, we continued on down a corridor in the far corner of the room. After turning to the right, this corridor passed through a carved archway into the base of an old tower. The ceiling was out of view above, but the tower was in a state of disrepair; the stairs that had once wound upwards now lay in ruins around the floor, amongst all manner of other debris. Opposite where we had entered from were a number of arrow slits from two to six foot above the ground. An interesting mural had been painted on the wall to our right, and a door was set into the left hand wall.

The mural showed Thor to the left (South) looking tearful and clouds in the shape of a hunting pack of wolves over a low Sun to the West. A mountain range was to the South and the rest of the mural showed Dwarves embarking on ships, presumably to sail to the Western lands. Underneath this was a tale told in pictures chronologically from left to right. On the far left was the head of a red dragon, then an elderly Dwarf bearing the symbol of Dor was passing a ring and a pouch to a younger Dwarf, further to the right the same younger Dwarf was passing only a pouch to an even younger Dwarf, who then got onto a ship to sail to the West.

While I was studying this scene, a cry came up that a foe was upon us. Turning quickly and readying my weapon I was faced with a terrible sight. A winged beast had swept into the room from an opening above us; at first I thought it to be a dragon, but then saw that it had a head of a lion and a metallic black bull beside it's dragon head and was smaller than a dragon would be.

Fire roared from the dragon head, engulfing Lanzi in flames. I swear that if there is a magical fire in all the land then Lanzi will find a way to walk into it, such is his luck with the element. I hear that he is commissioning a tower to be built for him in Sutur - I must mention to the architect that any fireplace should be sufficiently guarded to prevent accidents. Unfortunately this was the last I saw of this battle, as the bull head snorted out a noxious gas that enveloped me. Choking, I felt my limbs stiffen and lock and then fell into blackness.

I was revived after the battle and told that I had been turned to stone by the fumes I breathed in. The same ring that revived my companions earlier had done the same for me, thank Odin. The beast had been brought down by Hintzu and Merc, and Lanzi had survived his latest toasting, albeit with the loss of yet more of his possessions.

Mindful of Lanzi's loss, Hintzu remembered that we had not checked the last room for anything of value, and went off to do so. I passed a scarab of protection to Lanzi to help him in future battles; he was not as well protected as the rest of us and his dweomer was of much use to us, so it would not bode well if we did not look out for him. Hintzu returned having found a few items, one of which was a potion of fire resistance - a little too late now! Another item that was unusual was a carved ebony flt, and Lanzi scried that it would turn into a flying steed with the right command.

Having done all we could to recuperate, we readied ourselves and opened the door that lead to the South. Unexpectedly, we found only a small room that smelt and looked like a midden after the Winternights feast. On the East wall was a great carving of a tower, with the symbol of Hamar upon it, besieged by Elves, Men and Dwarves. The men fought under a banner with a rampant horse, whilst on the tower was a red flag with a black wolf. Beneath the tower, on the left was depicted a dwarf leading a man in a black kimono (Iki-Moko we believe) into a labyrinth, presumably a secret way into the tower. To the right of this, the same two figures were depicted confronting a tall man with a gaunt face and moustache, dressed in black. He was recoiling from them as Iki-Moko cut off two of his fingers, and two rings (with light blue and green gems) and a sword (Rakos?) were falling to the ground. A third scene was to the right of this, showing the dwarf opening a chest with his right hand and pulling out a dark, glowing shard with his left. This dwarf was not known to us, but seemed to be from the house of Hamar. The carving may well depict the corruption of Iki-Moko, due to the shard.

We began to move forward to inspect the carving more closely, but as we did so the ground began to shift under our feet and tentacles began to erupt from the filth. It seemed that we had disturbed the creature that fed on the detritus in the room. Knowing that Lanzi was vulnerable, I physically lifted him up and bundled him through the door to safety, despite his protestations. Recovering his dignity, he let fly with some magically conjured missiles into what seemed to be the body of the beast. Hintzu and Merc hacked at what remained until it stopped moving.

Abandoning the putrid remains, we retreated into the trolls' lair to rest. However, as we tried to get some sleep we were set upon by giant beetle with great horns that seemed intent on eating whatever they could, including our party! After a fireball from Lanzi and much fighting we were able to kill them, but it was hard work penetrating their hard carapaces. Although we tried again to rest, it was not to be. Creatures started to rise straight from the floor into our midst! Although we were able to despatch them quickly, it was clear that it was not safe to rest here.

With no way to rest and no way to proceed, we were confused as to what we could do. Then it was suggested that we use the key that had guided us here, and that it might reveal a hidden way. This proved to be the case, as it lead us to a doorway that we could never have found without it so well was it hidden. The key also opened the door so that we could proceed within.

As we advanced we were met with a discharge of lightning that, thankfully, was reflected by a magical artifact or it would have blasted us all. Emerging from the gloom ahead was a huge snake-like creature with a long jawed head and scales that were many shades of blue. It half slithered, half walked using many legs to propel itself towards us. In a sudden attack it's jaws opened wider than seemed possible, and snapped down around Mers, swallowing him whole! This enraged the rest of us, who set about attacking the thing, but it proved hardy and even seemed to ignore the effects of Lanzi's dweomer.

The beast seemed uncomfortable with its last meal, though, and cried out in pain even when we did not strike it. Merc was fighting the beast from within! I wondered what hellish experience it must be to be still living whilst being digested by such a creature, but soon regretted my musing as the thing snapped down at me and I found myself forced down its gullet. Despite the searing pain, I kept my wits (and my eyes closed) and lashed out with my weapon as best I could. Fortunately, and with Odin's grace, fate smiled on us and Merc managed to penetrate the belly of this wyrm, sending us both sliding out in a wash of its stomach juices. Once we had found our feet, and drawn a relieved breath, we discovered that the monster had fallen on Hintzu in its death throes, and we helped him out from under its mass. We were all exhausted but alive, barely, and that is once experience that I never wish to repeat.

Now that we finally had time to take in our surroundings, we found that we were in a large room with carvings on the West and South walls. There was a pentagram here before another door that drew Lanzi's attention in particular. In the centre of the floor was carved and painted a large, partially opened violet rose with Balem's symbol in the very centre.

On the South wall was a carving of a mountain range embossed with the symbol of Zem. Armies of Elves, Men and Dwarves were gathered at the base of the mountains around a Minas in the centre, atop which was a great winged demon with the symbol of Demogorgan beside it. Amongst the allies were the symbols of Findor and Bavarik (a boat on a light blue background with a crescent moon). Chiselled in later, and not by a Dwarven hand, was the figure of a hunched evil creature with wings and scales leaving the battle scene to one side; it was clutching a four pointed crown set with green gems.

On the West wall was a carving of another mountain scene, this time with Ishtur's symbol. A human figure with a dark cloak and moustache was on one knee, lifting a six pointed crown with indigo gems. Above and to the left of the mountains was a constellation of stars in the shape of wolves climbing into the sky. To the right could be seen Elves firing arrows at the wolves.

Lanzi called out a warning - there was a face visible in the pentagram. The face was very gaunt with a wispy moustache and was wearing a six pointed crown with indigo gems. Then the image wavered, almost as if we were looking into water, and salamander-like creature emerged to attack. It was severely outnumbered and was quickly killed, but we decided that we should press on before more started to enter via the portal.

Bursting into the next room we were confronted by four dragon-like creatures, but wingless and with six legs. Merc blew into a horn that sent a resounding blast vibrating through my spine, but my heart lifted as Norse warriors appeared to stand beside us to meet this new threat. My heart quickly sank again, as when the creatures turned their baleful eyes on these newcomers they began to turn to stone. 'Tis a wonder that these halls are not full of statues, the number of creatures that seem to turn everything they meet to stone. The Gods only know how anything survives long enough to be eaten. The beasts were hit by an icy storm, summoned by Lanzi, which gave us time to avert our eyes to avoid being petrified. Attacking was difficult without being able to look at your target, and some of Hintzu's arrows came uncomfortably close! Deciding to try a new approach, I took a draft of growth potion and drew the large hammer from my pack. Whether the sight of a giant sized priest of Odin dishearted them I do not know, but we were able to overcome them soon afterwards.

A creature had appeared in the room behind us, and we quickly shut the door, Hintzu locking it to slow any pursuit. Meanwhile, Lanzi had discovered something amongst the loot that the creatures had been guarding. It looked like a large mirror, but apparently contained some strong dweomer. He spent some time determining its use and announced that it was a portal to other planes that we could use to escape. Muttering some incantation, the mirror surface became as liquid would look in a bowl. Lanzi called for us all to follow him into the mirror, and I did so immediately. However, Merc had delayed to ensure that we were safe and eventually Hintzu grabbed him and ran into the mirror a few seconds behind us.