Week 5 – Urik? Urik isn’t… here… anymore…

Back in the city, the group found that the plague victims were not getting any sicker, so the assumption was that they would get better over time. The group went to visit with Tar'ul to let him know that the deed was done, and mentioned to him that there had been another passage beneath the Surin's altar. Tar'ul seemed more than a little concerned about this information and the group was able to draw out of him information regarding a far greater evil that lurked below the ruins… an evil that had been there since before the Sundering. He fervently warned that the band of adventurers simply was not prepared for what lurked below those caves. He drew Strom in close as the team was leaving and whispered something to him… when asked about it, Strom said that the Mage had said he was Caer Culphos’ best hope…. Apparently his extended stay in prison wasn’t making Tar'ul any less insane.

The group headed back to the Barrel's Bottom to assimilate this information, and over the course of about a week, Strom forged a set of plate armor and two fine maces from the metal found beneath the tomb. Brom received a letter near the end of this week from his order and was commanded to make his way back to Kirkengaard with all due haste.. and to bring the Smithing hammer and anything crafted by it. He kept most of this information to himself (and possibly shared it with Strom), but simply let the group know that he needed to return to the Kirkengaard mountains at the request of his order. Interested by this, both Lynus and Del’anoth decide to stick with the two. Fortunately for them, who should be at the tavern but their previous guide, Urik Haarken, the dwarven Bolt-catcher.

Urik was hired to take them back into the mountains and return them to the city of Kirkengaard, where, for whatever personal reasons, each of them had been coming from a week and a half earlier when the story began. Urik and his team of mules set out to bring the group from Caer Calphos, across the surrounding farm land, through the forest, and up the mountains into Kirkengaard. Along the way, the team is ambushed by a Gnoll and his pack of Hyenas while in the woods. The beast put up a good fight, but was dispatched fairly quickly… his hyenas being put down as well. The team left his stinking corpse (either finding no loot, or being stupid enough to not even bother checking – which is what happens when they leave their…trusty… rogue behind).

Arriving in Kirkengaard, the team splits up… Brom and Strom being required to report to the Temple of Moradin, with Del’anoth following out of interest in the Dwarves, a race he has previously had very little interaction with. Lynus stayed behind with Urik Haarken to mind the beasts of burden.

Arriving at his order's Temple, Brom asks to speak to Brother Anton (their leader), alone. They have a brief conversation where Brother Anton tells Brom that he needs to give the Smithing Hammer and everything crafted by it to the temple for safekeeping. Brom simply accepts this information, and calls Strom to him, leaving Del’anoth alone in this Temple Annex in a foreign city. Strom is willing to give the items over, but is obviously hesitant… getting caught in a white lie regarding what he’s crafted.

Anton tells them that they can earn the right to keep their weapons by trying to deal with some hideous evil that has appeared beneath the temple… a fissure in the stone itself where priests have been disappearing, leaving nothing but blood and the echoes of screams… one such scream is heard by Del’anoth at this point, who is pretty furious to have been left alone in such a strange place… unsure of what is going on and feeling cut out of the group. When Strom and Brom come out and refuse to give any info to Del’anoth, he is asked to go find Lynus. Feeling more like a servant than a fellow who had recently helped save their lives from Goblins and the Undead, Del’anoth returns to Lynus to find Urik and the Donkey team gone, with Lynus in some very fancy new gear. He asks where Urik is, and is told quite simply “Urik… isn’t here anymore. He had business to attend to elsewhere.” After ascertaining that the groups items are all still there, he begins to question Lynus, but is quickly ‘persuaded’ that sometimes Ignorance is indeed Bliss and lets the issue drop.

The two return to Brom and Strom, whereupon Del’anoth begins to raise hell about being cut out of the loop and demands to know what is going on. Brom lets the team know that he and Strom are being asked to turn over the Smithing Hammer, Armor, and Maces. Del’anoth asks why they should need to turn over such fine items, discovered by their hard work… and is told that the smithing hammer is important, but that Brom knows nothing else about it… Del’anoth can clearly see through the lie and demands to know what the importance of the hammer is and why he specifically seems to be being treated as untrustworthy, a sore spot for the Half Elf. He demands to know what is going on in this crazy temple… with it’s crazy screams from the basement. This raises Brother Anton’s concern, and Del’anoth relates what happened while everyone was off without him. They rush to the basement and find a trail of blood leading into a fissure.

The group quickly descends, Del’anoth giving Brom trouble about lying the entire time, and brings up what Brother Kristof had told him on the way back to Lynus… that this whole thing started soon after Brother Anton had disappeared into his rooms for several days, and that the whole thing seems very suspicious… Brom seems a little concerned about this, but quickly gets knocked unconscious by some sort of toxic pollen before falling through a thin sheet of moss into a cavern below while the group looks on.