At last, a mission!

We are to find Kelium, a member of the “Scrappers” here in Dragon’s Bowl, and a prospector. He apparently went out West to the Sword Mountains to, well, prospect. And he’s missing. Hence the finding mission. The bar (The Finery and Chafery) is commissioning this venture, and our reward is not just gold, but naming a drink in our honor!

So, we set out to find some other Scrappers that know Kelium, and here’s an odd tidbit: the “city guards” we run into are all half-giants, and all seem to be named “Ta” – a bit odd if you ask me. But, maybe makes things easier. Who knows.

We come across a pair of Scrappers – Dane & Mal – and after earning some goodwill by having Rokka do some quick quality work on a sled, they tell us that Kelium had apparently discovered a monastery in the Sword Mountains, and had heard the sounds of mining. They even point out on a map for us where it allegedly is.

Once we get to the edge of the mountains, a dust storm kicks up – a nasty one too. We find a small cave for shelter, but unfortunately four lizard men find it, too. It’s a vicious battle that sees Tylorre carried off and Ghirgaz and I chasing after. I stumble quite fantastically, and Ghirgaz takes care of the remaining lizardman. And since we have a shelter and 25 extra pounds of meat, we decide to spend an extra day to rest.

Once in the mountains, we come across a Thri-kreen in a tent. Not taking a chance, K’aryk K’lii set it on fire with an arrow, while I quickly close in and crunch it before it can attack us.

Anyone for some *puts on sunglasses* Kreen Barbeque?

Ahead, we find a cavern. If it weren’t for my native affection for stonework, we would have passed right by an all-but-invisible wall. Beyond it we find the Monastery. We simply knock on the heavy wooden doors, and are greeted by a person in a golden gargoyle mask – a mask that has that same “Earth” symbol. We ask for Kelium only to be met with stubbornness time and time again. So, we decide to look around a bit. And shortly after that, we learn of two masked people and a minotaur are now guarding the front door. I guess that was is closed to us now.

And, ever so faintly deep in my dwarven bones, I can feel the rhythmic pinging of mining through the earth below me. It is so precise, so methodical that it can only be dwarven work, too. I take my metal dagger, and with the pommel, tap out on a rock in a dwarven morse code the name “KELIUM”. And sure enough, I get the very subtle reply of “SOS”. I reply with “MINE ENTRANCE” and they return with “MONASTERY”.

We find along a run-down side of the building a well-fortified door. Ghirgaz does some strange trick of his where he can somehow bend some of the sections of the door, and I reach in to lift up the log that bars it shut. We enter, barring the door behind us and leaving no trace, as the new gap in the door re-seals itself.

Behind one door, we hear a shuffling, and others, sounds of fighting. Or, perhaps training. And we do hear a name in that training room – Sepu Hellenes. We avoid opening unnecessary doors, and find ourselves at the top of a set of stairs.

It would seem that we need to descend to find Kelium.