While Salrod and Hilda were in the Southern Seas and Grettir was occupied with bringing order to South Sequarl, now liberated both from the Protectors and from endemic raids by orcs from the Wood of Itaen, Paradoxides had been thinking. Specifically he had been thinking about dragons. To this end, he researched a spell that would detect dragons and made a mighty wand to give the spell great power and range. In addition he learnt to make flying carpets, using Imperial lore found in the grimoire of an ancient sorceror called Lorius. He wove two of these. When he had wrought all this he went to Grettir and suggested that it was time to return to Morthrandil. Grettir agreed. Together they went once more to Dain Ironhelm – for though they could have simply returned to the ancient dragon-haunted dwarven hold themselves, they had sworn oaths to the Dwarven King (E4 Dragon Hunting). Once more they agreed terms with the Lord of Katelgroth over the dispersal of any loot discovered and bounties upon the heads of any dragons slain. Prince Gror (of the Nine Fingers) returned with them, along with his henchman Naan and the tunnel scouts Bifur and Bofur.
Paradoxides instructed Hilda in the use of the second flying carpet and the wizards teleported everyone back to Morthrandil. Thus the second exploration commenced with a great deal more speed and comfort than the first. Paradoxides quickly established that there seemed to be six dragons of varying size. Two were small, one was very large and three were in between. One of the medium sized dragons was quite near and they soon encountered it. It breathed a great gout of snow and ice upon the party and then tried to flee. They caught up with it and slew it. Salrod gave it its death-blow and Grettir realised that Salrod’s black sword – the Heart of Darkness – was sucking its soul as it died. Grettir cared little for the soul of a dragon, but he was pretty sure that a soul-eating sword was not a Good Thing.
As they gathered up the dragon’s hoard, Paradoxides announced that the three largest remaining dragons appeared to be converging towards their position. It was time to leave. The magicians teleported them out with the treasure. When they reported in at Katelgroth, Dain was delighted and ordered a mighty feast prepared to celebrate. His previous arrangement with Pharazon Lore-hunger had not produced even a single dead dragon, Grettir and his crew had now produced two. At the feast there was some talk of the disappeared Chittagong Guild Master. It seemed that Pharazon had relied more on sorcerors and elves and recommended a more cautious scholarly approach to exploring Morthrandil. Dain approved of this new, more smash and grab approach and was keen for a swift return.
After a few days of rest and recuperation, they did indeed return. Apart from anything else, they had abandoned two flying carpets and Paradoxides was keen to retrieve them. On their return, Paradoxides discovered that the dragons were now all together. This effectively made it impossible to kill any more. However, it provided an excellent opportunity for exploration, since they could be fairly sure they were not going to meet a dragon. They found a fortified enclave that the dwarves named as the Tower of Nain and discovered that someone else – most likely Pharazon Lore-hunger – had used it as a base. They had obviously found themselves unable to return since they left some useful equipment, including a set of intricately carved fans that the magicians in the party thought must be some sort of cunning device to quickly establish a teleport point. They suspected that Pharazon – or at least some of his people – had been making unauthorised expeditions to Morthrandil without agreeing them first with Dain.
They too used the Tower of Nain as a base and the tunnel scouts searched for routes from the Tower of Nain into the main citadel. Hilda used her new powers from Yarma to reconnoitre in the spirit world. She returned saying that she thought the dragons were summoning other entities to their aid. She had seen some sort of troglodyte sniffing around. This rather challenged the notion that while the dragons were clustered together the party was safe. Moreover, Paradoxides noted that the largest dragon would periodically leave the cluster and disappear from his magical detection. He speculated that it might be going hunting outside the mountain for food, but it made him uneasy. They decided that the time had come to leave and return when the dragons were in a less heightened state of alert. They never did retrieve those carpets.
F-10
OE Date: Winter 692
Characters: Paradoxides, Grettir, Salrod, Wilf, Jason NPCs: Hilda, Gror, Naan, Bifur, Bofur
Real World: January 2000 ; Where: Surbiton?
See also Salrod’s Diaries