Narrative

Day 53 began in Bridged’s domain. Bridged said the party’s friend intrigued her and asked why they helped one another. She warned that a dragon she had banished was coming back and that there was only one way large enough for that return. She nodded at Invar and said the dragon would act soon, having taken the opportunity to get more hands that channelled the power of the silver. Bridged said the information needed for the party’s decision was now available. Eliana needed to understand, “I am Eliana and Eliana. I can’t be both.”

Bridged asked where the party wanted to go, and they chose the dwarf city by Papa Illmarne’s dome. When they appeared there, the High Priest King said his job was to keep Papa Illmarne’s dome. Two dwarves by the dome said the party were wanted criminals for liberating a prisoner.

The party entered a council chamber where the High Priest King, General, Advocate, Ambassador, and Guild Mistress sat around a table. Anya Blakedurn, the Guild Mistress and Infestus’ daughter, came from the renowned Blakedurn family, had purple eyes, and represented the party before the council. She questioned them about dragons, dragonborn, automatons, and gnomes. Rubyeye was known as a liar, possibly affected by Wrath. Blakedurn wanted more information in exchange for representing them. Geldrin told her that Perodita was trying to get back into the dome through the city.

Other council figures arrived or were identified: Ambassador Grunged Thundersinger, who also wanted to speak privately and offer things; Advocate Trinchel Rhinebeard, who spoke for minorities; General Tussil Pebblegrinder; and High Priest King Calthid Metalshaper. Calthid was unhappy that the party had brought or introduced Garadul’s armour, believing they had summoned a creature of darkness. Blakedurn said that had not been the party.

The council would not discuss why Rubyeye had been imprisoned, but named his crimes as treason, responsibility for the death of the princess, and demon pacts condemning souls to death. Perodita was treated as the pressing emergency, though the party remained under investigation. The Advocate wished to contact his kin. The party agreed to fight Perodita, and the General went to gather the army.

The party checked Blakedurn’s ear. It had no worm, but the canal looked wrong: too small, with no hair. Dirk or Thamia checked her and determined she was not a Thamia. The party went to Blakedurn’s house, whose odd, broken, poorly repaired door seemed strange for someone of her standing. The house had Sierra aspects and Dunnen styling. Blakedurn confessed that she was not a dwarf but a black dragon. She wanted the dwarves to succeed, but her deal was also for herself, jewels, and similar interests. Rubyeye had been her prisoner and she wanted him back. She would help defeat Perodita if the party helped restore the Dwarven kingdoms.

Blakedurn did not know exactly what had happened to the dwarves. She had been responsible for the black smoke incident, which was a smaller version of the hockey pack. Her father had made the device to summon Rubyeye, and mastering it had taken her years. Perodita claimed the goliaths’ suffering was her tribute to Noxia. The people in power were inept, and their instructions were inept, with the general population made inept by those instructions. The situation had begun about twenty years earlier with a hole in Papa’s Dome. Blakedurn knew of black dragons, green dragons, a silver dragon whose identity she did not know, dead blue dragons, and the white dragon Icefang.

At Papa’s Dome, guards tried to take the party’s weapons but were too easily persuaded to let them through. The party found the hole could not be repaired without pylons. Papa had more freedom lately and was using that freedom to break the dwarves as they had treated him. The party decided they could not resolve the dome immediately. About two hundred dwarves were well equipped, and the full army counted roughly one thousand. Blakedurn, the General, and the Ambassador came with the party.

Roll call counted 1,017 soldiers. Dirk inspected the wagons and found the army badly supplied: no water, much wine, one day’s food, and no weapons, arrows, or other supplies. The party got a dwarf promoted to Quartermaster, since the last had died two years earlier and had not been replaced. As he began taking notes, he became glassy-eyed and hopeless. Lesser Restoration returned him to normal. The party attempted the same with the General, but a malevolent presence seemed to stop it. Greater Restoration made his eyes go black; dark smoke rose from his shoulders, flew to the ceiling, dissipated, and he returned to reality and organised the army.

At 12:00 the army moved. Morgana flew ahead to notify the town. The party noted that Bridged might not be dwarven construction but elemental. Morgana encountered a small wagon train of about forty ebony dwarves. They shot her and damaged her, but she continued. She then stopped to speak with envoys from the city who had come to meet the army, then continued to the city. Blood lay around the outside of the city door, and buildings were visibly damaged. A lone dwarf called from a building, warning her she should not be in the streets. Inside, the dwarf turned into a llamia with ratmen companions. Morgana fled back over the bridge. Tendruts followed her and said, “Come back any time.” The party then tried to get Morgana back to them.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures mentioned include Bridged, Invar, Eliana / Eliana Hartwall, Papa Illmarne, the High Priest King, Anya Blakedurn, Rubyeye, Wrath, Perodita, Geldrin, Grunged Thundersinger, Trinchel Rhinebeard, Tussil Pebblegrinder, Calthid Metalshaper, Garadul, Thamia, Noxia, Icefang, Papa / Papa’s Dome, Dirk, Morgana, the promoted Quartermaster, Tendruts, and the lone dwarf / llamia.

Groups and factions mentioned include the party, Bridged’s domain and kin, dwarves, the Dwarven kingdoms, the council, Blakedurn’s family, guilds, dragonborn, automatons, gnomes, black dragons, green dragons, blue dragons, goliaths, ratmen, ebony dwarves, the army, and city envoys.

Places mentioned include Bridged’s domain, the dwarf city, Papa Illmarne’s dome / Papa’s Dome, the council chamber, Blakedurn’s house, the city approached by the army, the bridge, and the damaged city door.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Items and resources mentioned include Garadul’s armour, Rubyeye’s prison history, demon pacts, the ear-bug check, Blakedurn’s Rubyeye-summoning device from her father, the hole in Papa’s Dome, pylons needed to repair the dome, poor army supplies, wagons, Greater Restoration and Lesser Restoration, and the city convoy.

Strategic resources and obligations include Blakedurn’s bargain to help defeat Perodita in exchange for restoring the Dwarven kingdoms, the need to recover Rubyeye for Blakedurn, the army of 1,017 soldiers, the restored Quartermaster and General, and Morgana’s reconnaissance of the city.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Bridged’s warning that a banished dragon is returning through a route involving Invar and silver remains an urgent clue.

Eliana’s identity problem is sharpened by Bridged’s statement that Eliana must understand being “Eliana and Eliana” but cannot be both.

Papa Illmarne’s dome has a hole and cannot be repaired without pylons. Papa’s increased freedom is being used to break the dwarves as revenge.

Blakedurn is secretly a black dragon, not a dwarf or Thamia. Her father made the device for summoning Rubyeye, and her long-term goals for the Dwarven kingdoms remain only partly aligned with the party.

Perodita’s tribute to Noxia, the goliaths’ suffering, and the approximate twenty-year start of the dwarven decline are connected but not fully explained.

The malevolent smoke that resisted restoration in the General, the Quartermaster’s hopelessness, and Blakedurn’s black smoke incident suggest a wider control or corruption affecting dwarven leadership.

The llamia and ratmen inside the damaged city show the city’s occupation or infiltration is active as Day 53 closes.