Page 35 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

TRACK THE BROKEN BLA DE and brought it back for questioning. Under the influence
of a charm person spell, the ore divulged the location of
Baron Althon, a local noble, hires the party to search
the monsters' lair, a lonely hill called the Stone Tooth.
for the legendary cache of weapons forged by Durged-
The mayor offers a bounty of 25 gp per ore, dead or
din the smith. He shows the characters a broken blade
alive, and the gratitude of the townsfolk to any who can
bearing the smith's mark, and tells them that it was dis-
permanently end the threat.
covered near a rocky hill called the Stone Tooth. Baron
Althon provides directions and promises to reward the APPROACHING
characters richly for each of Durgeddin's blades they
recover. He will pay the characters 20 gp each just for KHUNDRUKAR
bringing back information about the dwarven complex,
At the start of play, the characters are trekking through
and an additional 100 gp if they provide detailed maps.
the wilderness and have just reached the outskirts of
VANQUISH THE 0RC RAIDERS Blasingdell (or some other community), When you're
ready to begin, read:
In the mining town of Blasingdell, the characters learn
that ore raiders have been pillaging isolated farmsteads
and camps in the hills north of the town. The local mili- Durgeddin was a master smith who forged blades of sur-
tia captured an ore warrior left for dead by its comrades passing quality and power. Centuries ago, his home was
sacked by ores. Durgeddin led the remnants of his clan
THE MINING TOWN OF BLASINGDELL to the mountains north of the town of Blasingdell and
Blasingdell lies about 30 miles south of the Stone Tooth, established a small, secret stronghold somewhere in the
a journey of three days on foot or two days on horseback
trackless wilderness.
due to the surrounding rugged terrain and dense forests.
Although it isn't close enough for the characters to use From his hidden redoubt, he waged a decades-long
as an overnight rest stop while they explore Khundrukar, vendetta against all ore-kind, until his enemies dis-
Blasingdell is still useful as a place to purchase equip- covered his fortress and attacked it after a long siege.
ment, stock up on supplies, and train between excursions
into the caverns. Durgeddin and his followers perished, and much wealth
The town's population of around 2,000 is quite diverse; was carried away by the conquering hordes. But it's said
although humans are the largest group, almost any player
that the deepest and best-hidden vaults and armories es-
character race can be found here.
caped the looting, and that some of Durgeddin's extraor-
The town's mayor is Sir Miles Berrick (male hu-
man noble) . dinary blades still wait in the darkness for a hand bold
Sergeant Grendar Kuln (male half-ore veteran) is in enough to claim one.
charge of the town watch; Constable Dara Whitewood (fe-
male human veteran) is the senior officer. The town watch You've come to Blasingdell, a small mining town on
consists of two full-time guards in addition to its officers. the northern frontier, to see if there's anything to these
A militia force of around l 00 commoners can be mustered stories. Your map shows that the old dwarf-hold lies
in emergencies. about three days' march to the north of the town. Dark,
Kheldegan Tolm (male dwarf commoner) owns Tolm's
Superior Outfitting and Dry Goods. deeply forested hills rise beyond the town's outskirts
Sarel Bankdown (female half-elf commoner) is the pro-
prietor of the Griffon's Nest inn and tavern.
Sister Alonsa (female human priest) heads up the town's The characters can spend time interacting with the
small temple (its primary deity is left to you). Sister Alonsa townsfolk, gathering equipment and provisions, and oth-
is assisted in her duties by two acolytes . erwise preparing before they set out.

•

ABOUT THE ORIGINAL
The Forge of Fury, by Richard Baker, was designed as a follow-up to it.
was originally published in 2000 as Characters who succeeded in that
an adventure for the third edition of mission and advanced to 3rd level
the D&D game. were now ready to take on the chal-
The adventure was published lenges of a ruined dwarven fortress.
shortly after The Sunless Citadel and

CHAPTER 2 I THE FORGE OF FURY
34