Rael, Mike, Dawn, Lethe, and Jym pressed on towards the Halls of Tannheim. Beyond the guardhouse was a rocky defile cut into the mountain-side with a wide river rushing down the center and rushing over the edge of the cliff. The sound of a crashing waterfall came from somewhere further up the river. Two paths presented themselves, a wide path climbing up the ravine and out of sight, and another path crossed over a ruined bridge to the other side of the river and followed the shore around a corner. They opted against attempting to cross the bridge and headed up the ravine path. The path was lined with grisly trophies, and a pair of ancient rooks perched and picked at them. Before the suspicious party killed the birds that they suspected were spies, the mountain shook and a deep rumble followed scaring the carrion creatures away.
Vismund seemed overcome for a moment and in a strange voice said “The fools have broken through! Freedom... at last free from my imprisonment!”. When asked what the hell he meant by that he seemed confused and said “I was just overcome by a sudden surge of rage, similar to what has been in my dreams lately, but it's passed now. We should continue on.”
The path ended before another cascading waterfall where a cave cut into the mountainside sheltered a set of huge copper portals flanked by a pair of massive statues depicting dwarves with weapons at the ready. Taking cover behind the statues a couple of dwarves with crossbows guarded the doors. Chained to the base of the statues by their spiked collars were a matched set of dire wolves lounging at the feet of the dwarves. The party stealthily surveyed the scene and then backed off to make a plan of attack.
Sharp eyes had picked out pressure plates set into the floor of the cavern before the gates and they had seen a conspicuous lever near one of the dwarves. They decided to try to avoid the plates and take out the dwarf near the lever first. They launched their attack and managed to daze the dwarf, but he was still able to pull the lever to fire up the automated defenses. The other dwarf released the first of the wolves that was straining at its leash to get at the adventurers. The party was surprised when the statues blew forth a mighty wind knocking them back and prone. Unluckily, Jym was near the cliff when he was pushed back, missed his grab for the edge, and fell 40 feet into the river below. The water cushioned the blow so he survived, but he struggled out of the water and began climbing back to the top of the cliff. Vismund lowered a rope to help.
Meanwhile the rest of the party struggled with the wind trap, the wolves, and the dwarves with their crossbows. Rael was able to get in behind the statues with his feystep and take out the dwarves before throwing the switch to turn off the statues. Mike, Lethe, and Dawn battled the dire wolves into submission and then chased them away. Once the guardians were dealt with they regrouped and pushed open the doors.
Inside they found a square hall with a circular tile mosaic pattern in the floor. Another pair of gates faced them on the other side. A series of low grates lined the walls and the whole room was cold and damp. The sound of rushing water came from somewhere above. Once the party was inside the room the doors slammed shut behind them and locked. They tried the other door and found it barred against them. A magic mouth appeared on the door and spoke a pre-programmed message: “The Mountain King welcomes you to the Halls of Tannheim. Enjoy your stay. Sincerely, Yrgüt the Trapmaster.” The party heard the shifting of stone and gears above them and then the sound of water flowing. Cold water began pouring into the room through the low grates and the room began to fill. The party frantically began searching the room for a route of escape. Vismund used his skills in dungeoneering to discern that there was a slight curve to the middle of the room and that there must be a drain somewhere. With help from the rest of the party he was able to find the seam hidden in the mosaic, but opening it proved to be more difficult as the room gradually filled with water. Eventually the strongest members of the party were able to yank the drain open. Once opened, the suction of the draining water sucked the adventurers down with it. Dawn took the brunt of the battering on the way down.
The party landed in a shallow underground lake of sulfurous smelling warm water. Those with knowledge of nature determined that it was a caldera, heated by a volcanic fissure somewhere in the cave. An slow current flowed out of the cavern and down a passage towards the dim light of day. The sound of the waterfall could be heard from that direction. On the opposite side of the cavern was a passage leading up out of the lake, but was blocked by a rusty iron gate. Seven statues, depicting large dwarves with demonic visages, were carved into the walls of cavern. Vismund identified them as the Septych, a pantheon of dark dwarven gods often worshiped in secret. At the base of one of the statues was an iron-bound chest, tempting the adventurers to further explore the cavern.
As the adventurers began to move about the cavern, the previous victims of the flood-gate trap began to surface and shamble toward the party. A host of rotting goblin zombies and a pair of hobgoblin zombies advanced on the party while a corpulent and bloated dwarven zombie hurled gobs of its own viscera at them. Lethe blasted the undead by brandishing his holy symbol. Dawn and Mike dropped powerful bursts of magic on the group. Rael, Jym, and Vismund closed in to cleave them with their weapons. The zombies were soon decimated.
Lethe checked the chest for locks and traps and then searched its contents. He found it filled with severed and rotting heads, from previous adventurers, but buried underneath them were a pair of useful magic items for the party. The gate was rusted beyond use, but Dawn was able to easily snap off enough of the bars to allow them to pass through. Beyond was a slimy and foul smelling passage that gradually led upward. Lethe scouted ahead and then came back to get the party.
At the top of the passage was a low ceiling hall filled with squat columns that seemed to have been abandoned long ago and re-purposed as a haphazard sewer system, complete with a series of streams of foul fluid criss-crossing the floor. The sounds of squeaking and crawling vermin echoed about the chamber, causing Vismund to recoil in terror due to his aversion to small furry things. As the party entered the room, Jym noticed long shallow cuts in the ground between the columns, but before he could piece together what they meant Lethe stumbled and fell into one of the streams drawing the attention of the chamber's inhabitants.
Two swarms of ravenous rats came out looking for a new meal, and an amorphous but semi-intelligent blob of ooze came flowing out from a side passage to attack the party. Mike jumped a stream and charged the first of the rat swarms, but tripped a well hidden wire and heard the tell-tale sounds of a trap gearing up to strike. After he pounced on the rats a scything blade came slicing down from the low-ceiling, slashing him, knocking him down and back and causing him to bleed. The rats and the ooze seemed unaffected by the trap. The party spread out to engage the scavengers and avoid the trap.
During the battle Mike was struck several more times by the pendulum blades, almost killing him, but the party rushed in to heal and support him. The rats were destroyed by coordinated blast attacks from Dawn, Rael, and Mike while the ooze was beat back by Lethe, Jym and Vismund. Before it was killed the ooze split in two in order to attack on multiple fronts, but the party soon closed in on it and finished it off. Vismund was viciously struck by the scything blade trap before it was all over. The party hide safely behind the columns until the trap finished its cycle. Afterwords they carefully searched the room and found a discarded and forgotten magic item buried in the refuse.
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