Re: Boss Fight - The King of Cragmaw Castle
Gundren seemed to appreciate the story of your rescue, and the effort required. He thanked you all again for saving him, then answered Akyra's question, "Like I told you at the tavern before, we have looked for decades for any clue that might lead us to the entrance of the mine. This map was the key to all of that. I shows locations that we know, and names that we recognize, things you could find on a current map today. You'll also see some names referenced that we have never heard of before, some on locations we know today by other names, and some locations that I have personally been to and found no sign of anything at all."
He started to say something else, then waved a hand painfully but dismissively, "Sorry, getting carried away a bit. Most of that doesn't matter. Anyway, back to the places we know, but with different names. South of Phandalin is an old dwarven fortress, known as Axeholm."
Gundren had a bit of a coughing fit, so Don-Jon stepped in while the dwarf composed himself, "The site was abandoned decades ago, when it became haunted by a banshee - the restless spirit of a moon elf ambassador named Vyldara, who had tried to stir up trouble with the dwarfs and pit 'em against each other. The dwarves locked her up and sent word back to her people, to come and claim her. But before they got there, Vyldara had killed two of the dwarf guards and tried to escape. She had magic, but not enough to fight off that many dwarven axes."
Gundren took over once more, "She had come on her own, purely to set the dwarves against one another. With her goal unfinished, and her soul full of spite, her spirit arose within the fortress walls. She began to wail, killing many of the dwarves outright with her deadly screams, driving others mad, and causing the rest to abandon their post. Those that died arose as ghouls or other foul undead, endlessly prowling the halls of the abandoned fortress."
"As recently as just three years ago, Vyldara was confirmed to still hold dominion over the halls of Axeholm, with the undead dwarves still serving as her guard."
Don-Jon threw in quietly, "The map."
"Right. So, Axeholm exists on the map, but not by that name. Here it is listed as a cave, with a name written in part gnomish, part elvish. The direction translations don't really make any sense, but roughly it translates to 'Cave of Waves and Echoes'. The mine that we are searching for, we knew by several names, one of which was Wave Echo Cave. My brothers and I have explored every cave we could find, throughout that entire mountain range. Nothing ever fit the descriptions we had, and we certainly found nothing even remotely like what we were lead to believe was there."
"And nobody's taken a good, solid strike at Vyldara in over twenty years. The fortress was built there for its position, seemed like a good place to hold, but mostly just to take advantage of the location, not because they really needed it for anything. Taking it back would cost lives, so the dwarves left it to rot."
"That's what the stories said, anyway. But this map shows us the location of Wave Echo Cave, and that it's right there where Axeholm sits today. Rumors of treasure at Axeholm have circulated for as long as I can remember, but it was always ambiguous. No one knew what treasure it could possibly hold, so most people brushed it off as hopeful rumors."
"But now we know the truth."
"Aye. Now we know the truth. My brothers and I have started the expedition, they're working on getting everything set up for us right now, and you've brought the supplies that we really need to get everything started off in earnest. A magical forge that can craft magical armor and weapons without the need for casting spells or for any special materials other than what you're making things out of to begin with."