User:Zeromaru X/Project Neverwinter/Campaign outline/Summary 5

Dates
Kythorn 28 – Flamerule 17, Year of the Ageless One, 447 NR

Summary

 * On Mirtul, the Abolethic Sovereignty advanced their plans to conquer Gauntlgrym by releasing toxic slimes and oozes to attack the duergar living in the ancient city. However, this drew the attention of the Ashmadai, that have had been searching the ancient city for a while, and soon both factions began to fight over control of Gauntlgrym.
 * A few days before the siege of Neverwinter, the dwarf fighter and heir of Delzoun Norin Hammerhand is approached by Rodrik, a regular of the Beached Leviathan. Rodrik has discovered, thanks to his friend, a cleric of Sehanine Moonbow named Mayara Sulbrandil, that his rival and twin brother, Gustaf, has been selling spoils of an expedition into Mount Hotenow. Rumors say the items came from a dungeon complex that leads into Gauntlgrym. He also sold information on where the spoils came from to a group of Ashmadai. Coupled that with rumors of dire corbies attacking people in Neverwinter Wood, Rodrik assures Norin that an entrance to Gauntlgrym has been found. Knowing Norin has reasons for finding the ancient city, Rodrik ask him to investigate the Ashmadai expedition as he believes a missing elf may have been part of the Ashmadai. Norin hires an adventuring band composed by the moon elf wizard Alara Moonwell, the human fighter Garek McGann, the rogue half-elf Bendis, and Nig Azai, a gnome cleric of Oghma, to follow the rumors and find fabled Gauntlgrym.
 * After a tenday exploring Neverwinter Wood, the adventurers find the entrance to Gauntlgrym: a natural cave found near Mount Hotenow. However, just in front of the entrance, the Ashmadai have made an encampment, and the adventurers have to fight with the devil worshipers before having an opportunity to enter to the cave.
 * The Ashmadai had built an elevator system to enter into the city below. After defeating the cultists, the adventurers use the elevator to reach Gauntlgrym.
 * After reaching the subterranean chamber, the adventurers have to defeat another group of Ashmadai encamped there. Those Ashmadai were the forward group tasked to deal with the duergar living in Gauntlgrym.
 * As the adventurers question the cultists, they find that a fair amount of cultists died in confrontation with traps and monstrous spiders. Tremors have been felt in the depths, and the cultists fear that these may cause tunnels to collapse, closing down entrances to Gauntlgrym. A few cultists investigated the deeper caverns to verify, but did not return, and are presumed slain. Among the missing cultists was a sun elf, as Rodrik had surmised.
 * The adventurers advance into the labyrinthine caverns that lead to Gauntlgrym. However, those caves are inhabited by terrible monsters and the adventurers have to defeat them in order to advance. They also find a group of straggled duergar trying to flee from the toxic ooze. However, the duergar don't want anyone, much less a dwarf, to enter Gauntlgrym, so they attack the adventurers as well.
 * A ragged chasm opened by Hotenow's eruption has slowly filled with slime bubbling up from deeper layers. An enormous statue, uprooted and toppled in the same earthquake, is the only means of negotiating the crevasse. The adventurers have to cross this improvised bridge while dealing with a black pudding that has its lair in the cave.
 * While fighting the black pudding, a team of duergar begin to blast shut the final passageway that leads out of the contaminated area of the city. The powerful explosions reverberate through the stone of nearby chambers, causing the ground to leap and already weakened stonework to collapse, sealing that path into Gauntlgrym for good, while trapping the adventurers in the now sealed tunnels. This chamber has a secret passageway that lead to the surface, luckily for the adventurers, and soon they are able to escape.
 * Before reaching the exit of the tunnels, the adventurers run on the duergar group that sealed the cavern. After defeating them, Norin finds a coded missive, written in an strange dialect of Dwarven, in one of the duergar's belongings. While the actual instructions are a jumble of vague references, code phrases, and allusions, they appear to be a guide for getting the demolition team from the surface back to Gauntlgrym proper. With the missive in their power, Norin and the adventurers return to Neverwinter to talk with Rodrik and try to decipher it.
 * They return to Neverwinter almost two tendays after Valindra Shadowmantle had besieged the city.

Characters

 * PCs


 * Norin Hammerhand (Dwarf fighter-Slayer-) / Heir of Delzoun
 * Garek MacGann (Human fighter-Knight-)
 * Alara Moonwell (Moon elf wizard-bladesinger-)
 * Bendis (Half-elf rogue-thief-)
 * Nig Azai (Gnome cleric of Oghma)


 * NPCs

Rodrik
 * Mayara Sulbrandil • Gustaf • Valindra Shadowmantle


 * Organizations

Ashmadai
 * White Griffons • Abolethic Sovereignty • Red Wizards of Thay

Locations
Toril/Faerûn/Sword Coast/Sword Coast North • Neverwinter • Blacklake District • Beached Leviathan • Neverwinter Wood • Mount Hotenow • Gauntlgrym
 * Thay • Iliyanbruen • New Sharandar

Misc
Siege of Neverwinter

Encounters

 * Ashmadai cultists (humans, devils—seared devils)
 * Stirges
 * Giant spiders
 * Gelatinous cube
 * Slimes
 * Ochre jellies
 * Duergar
 * Black pudding