The Keys of Telku / Into the Fire pt. 7 / Von the 21st, 3593 CE / 8-29-21

Outside the crumbling gates of Kragarak, the ancient dwarven stronghold now long-abandoned, the Adventurers prepare for their most perilous venture yet; luring the mighty dragon Brazzermal the Burning from his lair in order to secure the powerful artifact known as a Key of Telku and hopefully locate two missing Knights of Amarath. As the brave desert warrior Dhakab ventures into the ruined halls of Kragarak, the others prepare for the inevitable conflict, until suddenly Baijo's divine powers tell him that the stealth party, tasked with searching the horde while Brazzermal is absent, has run into trouble. As the interminable minutes tick by and there is still no sign of Dhakab, Adrienne and Doctor Marrow volunteer to go in after him. The pair find Dhakab stymied by a massive door that has been locked in clever dwarven fashion, but Adrienne is able to deduce the solution to disengaging the mechanism which secures the door, and the three Adventurers are able to pass deeper into Kragarak. As they wander the ancient halls, a voice begins insinuating itself into their hearing. It is the voice of Brazzermal himself, taunting them, but when he finds the heroes insufficiently cowed by his threats, he goes into a rage, revealing himself just moments after Adrienne and Marrow find cover. Though it seems the dragon, blinded by age or some ancient accident, is aware of the hidden party members, he nonetheless pursues Dhakab straight into the trap that has been set for him. As the desert warrior races into the pale light of day, Sultar sends a fireball hurtling towards the stone gates of Kragarak, which collapse in the explosion, burying the dragon in the rubble. After failed attempts to detect whether the dragon is dead or alive in his rocky tomb, the party outside the gates decides to enter Kragarak in search of their missing comrades. But just as Bladehelm, John, and Baijo have ascended to hill of rubble to enter through an upper gallery, there is a great rumbling, and then a blast of fire and lava shooting from out of the rocks which injures Dhakab and instantly incinerates the hapless magician Argent. The shaking of the rock pile causes John and Baijo to tumble back down to the ground, confronted with the terrifying sight of glowing eyes and hot breath from the gaping hole melted through the rocks. Brazzermal yet lives! Meanwhile, Marrow and Adrienne have traced the dragon's path back to his hoard, in a cave overlooking an underground lake. But just as they are crossing the stone bridge leading to the massive pile of gold and treasure, they encounter the band of kobold's coming from the opposite direction, with their prisoners still in tow. A fight breaks out, as the Adventurers battle to overwhelm the kobolds and resolve their quest.