Further explorations beneath the Halls of the Mountain King lead to an encounter with a mysterious demonic entity that cast an impenetrable blackness around it and wielded some kind of force-blade. Grettir covered the party retreat until they arrived at a point where Hilda could block its passage with an Ice Wall. Grettir discovered that there were notches in his magic sword and marks upon his magic shield where they had parried its arcane weapon. Subsequent researches led to an hypothesis that this was a Grell, but it has never been confirmed. None, including Grettir laid eyes upon it in the darkness it cast around itself. On the way back to the enclave under the mountain controlled by Nickar and the Rangers, the party were attacked by a couple of Minotaurs whom they slew.
Venturing into unknown areas of the mountain tunnels again a few days later, they encountered and slew no less than eleven gargoyles (marked upon the Mountain Troll’s map as Stone Crows), harvesting their hearts, for which the magicians in the party assured the others that there was a strong market amongst the alchemists of Chittagong. The most memorable encounter was with a rock-eating worm-like demon called a Xorn, that burrowed out passages by magically softening rock and consuming it with its fearsome mouth-parts. It was a fearsome opponent to encounter in a tunnel, but Jason distinguished himself by vaulting up upon its back and stabbing down repeatedly on its neck until it was slain.
The alchemists of Chittagong were grateful enough for the gargoyle hearts to part with a talent for each one, and together with the requisites from the Xorn and treasures from the Minotaurs, each participant made a fine haul.
F-8
OE Date: June 692
Characters: Grettir, Paradoxides, Wilf, Salrod, Jason, Fillir NPCs: Hilda
Real World: August 1999 ; Where – Cambo House
See also Salrod’s Diaries