Session 2: The Hidden Door
A manticore at Umbrage Hill, goblin ambushes, and a shocking betrayal reveal the true horror lurking beneath Ulfandor.
Umbrage Hill
After departing Gullborey, our journey took us to Umbrage Hill—a place named for two feuding dwarf clans whose ancient grudge has been lost to time, leaving only cairns of the dead.
At the hill’s stone windmill, we found a manticore attempting to break through the door while a woman cried for help from the second-story window. Rather than fight, we negotiated—offering the beast gold to find elsewhere to lair.
The grateful Adabra Gwynn, an apothecary, rewarded us with healing potions and entrusted us with a letter for Townmaster Riglid.
Ambush in the Night
En route to Ulfandor, Rudiger triggered a trap that showered pebbles from the trees—a goblin alarm. Torches emerged from the darkness as goblins attacked. We made quick work of them, but during the skirmish, we noticed something peculiar: Dain dressed his wounds with a handkerchief bearing the same symbology as the Bell of Shavras.
He claimed he’d lifted it from the thieves at the hot springs. We had our doubts.
The Mining Town of Ulfandor
Ulfandor proved to be a bustling mining town—a stark contrast to sleepy Gullborey. The local tavern, the Stout Arrow, revealed that businesses were being extorted by an orc horde camping near the abandoned eastern mines.
We followed the orcs to the mine entrance and confronted them. Inside the abandoned mines, strange symbols covered the walls, leading to a circular room with a stone door marked by an etched sigil.
Dain lingered at the door, running his fingers over the carvings with an expression we couldn’t read—reverence? Dread? He muttered something in an unfamiliar language.
Betrayal Revealed
Suddenly, orcs and goblins burst into the cavern, led by a hulking chieftain and a terrifying robed figure—hovering, pale as death, with sunken eyes and tattered, bloodstained robes. The Fallen Priest.
The orc leader addressed Dain directly: “You’ve done well bringing them here, dwarf. Your debt is repaid—but your treachery ends now.”
The Fallen Priest’s command echoed through the chamber: “Kill them all, secure the bloodline, and bring me the girl!”
Dain insisted his family had been held captive, forcing his conspiracy. But before he could name who they sought, the Priest raised two fingers—and Dain’s tongue was ripped from his mouth, falling to the floor in a bloody mess. The Priest vanished.
Greeve’s Testimony
Despite his grievous wound, Dain fought alongside us as we defeated the remaining orcs and goblins. The Bell of Shavras opened the sealed door, revealing a captive man amid a room of symbols, bloody candles, and a bowl of smoldering eyeballs.
Greeve. Weak and dirty, he kept repeating that he was “not the one” and needed to “find Aidin before they find her.”
His explanation chilled us to the bone: Aidin is the last of the bloodline of the ancient temple of Shavras. Her sacrifice will open the gateway.
The Fallen Priest seeks to use Aidin’s blood to unlock something terrible. But where is she? And what gateway does he mean to open?
Next Session: Into the cursed Whisperwood Forest we must go…