AD&D Session 81 - Of Kings & Queens
16th of Duscar, 835 PD
The party concluded their sweep of Blackcloak’s hidden mountain laboratory beneath the Cinderrest range. With no intention of carrying volatile arcane substances back into the world, they gathered the remaining experimental potions and emptied them into a large pool of water, hoping dilution would blunt or neutralise whatever unstable effects they carried. Texts deemed too dangerous to preserve—notes on planar breaches, ritual amplification, and reckless manipulation of the Weave—were burned carefully in a contained hearth rather than scattered or collapsed, a deliberate attempt to limit unforeseen consequences in an already heavily warded structure.
Before leaving, the group briefly investigated a previously ignored stairway leading downward. Its construction and direction suggested it likely descended into a natural cave network connected to the Underdark rather than another controlled section of the complex. Judging the risk too high and the lead too uncertain, they chose not to pursue it and instead withdrew fully from the site, retracing their steps back to the surface and the Cinderrest Sanctum.
Once back at the forge, the party reported what they had uncovered to Master Smeltborne. While he listened, his response was restrained; though clearly concerned, he declined to involve himself directly, instead directing them to bring their findings to higher authority.
17th of Duscar, 835 PD
The party secured an audience with surprising ease after asking the local guard to verify their claims via magical Sending to Smeltborne. They were escorted to the throne room almost immediately, and within roughly half an hour were received by Uthodurn’s shared crown—both the elven king and the dwarven queen. The dwarven queen seemed detached at first, but the moment Blackcloak’s name was mentioned, both rulers took the report seriously; each had apparently believed the laboratory destroyed long ago, and neither was pleased to learn it remained intact.
The king pressed for the reason the party had entered the lab in the first place, and they explained the thread that had led them there: the investigation into the recently forged and stolen magical dagger tied to Smeltborne’s apprentice and the forge’s efforts to bury the incident. The rulers echoed Smeltborne’s insistence on discretion, asking the party to keep the matter quiet while divulging what they knew. Alongside the account of the laboratory, its surviving documents, and the discovered residuum font—and the party’s decision to destroy only what seemed immediately dangerous—the discussion returned briefly to the dagger. Marcus attempted to use Locate Object again, but this time found nothing: within the last few days, the dagger had apparently left Uthodurn entirely. That fact unsettled the king, yet the tone of the exchange made it clear the crown did not intend to keep the party involved in pursuing it.
By the end of the audience, the party had been given no new mandate and little insight into what Uthodurn would do next, beyond the strong impression that the crown would handle Blackcloak’s legacy internally. With their part concluded, the group withdrew to rest, with preparations underway to leave Uthodurn behind—teleporting closer to Molaesmyr the following morning and carrying forward the broader implications of what they had uncovered.