D&D Campaign One: Scalebreakers - 014
The First Rock
Deep in a hidden niche of the Middle Slab, the group met the Stone Singers. The blind speaker of the ancient dwarves, Bazalt, revealed to Jebeddo his true destiny: he is the Thavax, the Echo-Bearer. In a haunting narrative, Bazalt revealed the ancient legend of the creation of this vessel, which is intended to preserve the rhythm of the world. Through the singing of the dwarves, Jebeddo and Skarn were pulled into a shared vision. They saw a gigantic drill in the sealed-off Sector 9, eating its way relentlessly into the depths. Obsidian Solutions—the cover name of the Kuori Clan—is drilling into the "First Rock" out of seemingly sheer greed.
The vision brought a terrifying realization: the machine is powered by perverted versions of those runes that Skarn's master, Baldric, had once designed. However, the drill rages blindly. The missing control piece is exactly that ignition mechanism Skarn had recovered from the ruins of the Anathema. Bazalt issued a dire warning: if the First Rock breaks, Kraghammer will not only sink into the lava, but an ancient prison from the time of the Calamity will also be broken open. While the Stone Singers continued to hum to soothe the mountain's pain, the group moved on.
In the magic shop "The Starry Anvil," they met Olema. The quirky, direct dwarf already knew of the group through Brogan and made no secret of her dislike for the Kuori Clan. She sold the group essential magic crystals worth 500 gold (including 300 gold for a life-saving Revivify spell) and handed them the keystone to Balder's hideout.
The subsequent descent into Carver's Cut led the group deep into the Bottom Slab, an oppressive world of heat, soot, and omnipresent propaganda. When they promptly ran into a strict inspection by Obsidian guards and their cover threatened to be blown, Arrin reacted lightning-fast: he manipulated one of the gigantic propaganda loudspeakers in the distance into a deafening feedback loop, allowing the group to escape in the ensuing chaos.
Having reached their destination, they first had to solve a riddle at the magical door before the keystone cleared the way into a dusty refuge. Amidst chaotic notes and blueprints of Sector 9 cowered a terrified dwarf with a drawn crossbow: Balder. When Skarn revealed himself, Balder collapsed in relief. He confirmed the worst fears: Drakon Ironlash, a leader of the Kuori, had stolen Baldric's research, presumably during the attack that cost Skarn his arm.
The way to Sector 9 seemed impossible, as the magical gates are sealed and the only key hangs around Drakon's neck. However, Balder presented a solution in the form of a flyer: the propaganda tournament CLASH OF THE IRON, the winner of which ceremonially receives the Obsidian Key. The group quickly saw through the true reason for the tournament: no previous champion has ever returned from Sector 9. The Kuori are apparently using the tournament to send capable fighters into the depths as cannon fodder to clear away a terrible danger that they themselves are failing against.
But there was no time for long plans; Balder had been mistaken about the date. The tournament did not begin tomorrow, but in exactly one hour! In a breakneck sprint, the group rushed to the arena of Kraghammer and managed at the very last second to put their names on the list of participants.