ROF-002-SVA-002: Dûm-Korath

  The tracks leading away from the The Northern Light have been partly filled with blowing snow, making them appear as small depressions. Once the characters get about 50 feet away from the inn and its outbuildings, they discover that the tracks have been completely obscured.   If the characters wait until morning to set out, they find a set of fresh footprints left behind by a lone Duergar scout. This duergar didn't enter any buildings, but simply looked around the village before leaving close to morning. Following the footprints leads to a different set of tracks, which were made by an ogre zombie pulling a dogsled. These new tracks begin where the duergar tracks end, a quarter mile outside of town. (The ogre zombie waited all night for the duergar to return. The duergar hopped onto the dogsled before ordering the ogre zombie to march.) Any character who examines these tracks and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check identifies the creature tracks as belonging to an ogre. The characters can follow these fresh tracks, which head towards the mountain and then veer towards the duergar outpost, Dûm-Korath hidden in the eastern foothills of Analor's Cairn.   Once the characters get within a mile of Dûm-Korath, they discover that the wind has erased the tracks they've been following, making it difficult for them to find the exact destination. For every hour the characters spend searching the foothills, have them make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) group check. Jartha Farzaash contributes to this group check, if she's present, and has advantage on her roll. If the group check succeeds, the characters find the outpost. If the group check fails, they didn't find the outpost during the hour but can try again. If they fail two of these group checks in a row, the characters have a random encounter in the wilderness, possibly during a blizzard.      

Approaching Dûm-Korath

  Dûm-Korath, a recent addition to the foothills east of Analor's Cairn, was carved out of a hillside. Although the duergar are based mainly in Xardorok Sunblight's mountain fortress, they come to this outpost to resuplly and rest before searching nearby settlements for Chardalyn.   When the characters find Dûm-Korath, read:   A blocky stronghold bereft of warmth or charm juts out of a hillside in a rough crescent shape. Only part of its construction is visible; the rest is buried in the stone.   A large double door of stone serves as the main entrance. The terrain leading to it is a gently upward-sloping plain covered with fresh snow. A stream used to flow out of a barred culvert northeast of the main entrance, but the waterway has frozen. Two other barred openings can be seen along the stronghold’s northern wall. Anyone positioned behind these openings would have an unobstructed view of the hillside.   Closer to you, separated from the rest of the stronghold, is a snow-covered stone bunker perforated by arrow slits.   Two duergar watch for approaching intruders. One is stationed in the D1: Bunker, the other in the D3: Overlook. These duergar are tired and bored, but they notice characters who are so incautious as to carry light sources or otherwise announce their presence.   If the overlook duergar sees what she perceives to be a threat, she sounds the alarm as she runs down the D2: Main Keep to pull up the drawbridge, taking 2 rounds to do so. The duergar in the bunker is armed with a heavy crossbow (1d10 piercing damage) and takes pot shots at visible threats.   Characters who succeed on a DC 10 Dexterity (Stealth) check can approach the stronghold undetected by hugging the north cliff and moving behind the bunker and below the openings of the overlook. Once they reach the mouth of the frozen river, they can crawl through the culvert (which leads under D2: Main Keep) or quietly approach the main entrance without being detected.  

Dûm-Korath Locations

   

D1: Bunker

  This stone bunker stands fifteen feet tall. The rough edges of its construction indicate that it was cut from a single piece of stone.   A duergar stands guard in the bunker and shoots his heavy crossbow through the arrow slits at any creatures he sees. He carries this crossbow in addition to his regular weapons.   Underground Tunnel. This 5-foot-high tunnel is 20 feet underground and has a 20-foot-long ladder at each end. The ladder at the north end leads up to D4: Armory.  

D2: Main Keep

  The outer doors aren't locked, but they are heavy. As an action, a character can pull the doors open by succeeding on a DC Strength (Athletics) check. A 30-foot-deep pit just inside these doors is spanned by a 20-foot-square wooden drawbridge that can be raised by a simple pull-chain mechanism in times of danger.   This hall is devoid of decoration. A frozen well stands hear a hallway to the east, and three iron cages are pushed against one wall. One contains a malodorous ogre with rotting, half-frozen skin and an empty right eye socket. It howls in despair at the sight of you. Another cage holds a pair of nervous goats. The third cage is empty. Leaning against a wall near the cages is a wooden dogsled with ice clinging to it.   The two goats were stolen from Svarholt, and the duergar plan to eat them. The duergar use the ogre zombie to pull their dogsled. The zombie has been enslaved and browbeaten by the duergar and does as they command. Inside its cage, it can do no harm to anyone.   If they haven't already done so, the duergar from D1: Bunker and D3: Overlook run down to release the ogre zombie from its cage and attack intruders who breach this hall. The zombie sides with the duergar in any fight. Duergar that fall below half their hit points move behind D5: Chokepoint leaving the ogre zombie to cover their retreat if it comes to that.   Well. The well descends 10 feet to an underground cistern. The sides of the well are icy and require climbing gear or magic to scale.  

D3: Overlook

  The door opens into a large, nearly empty room. Snow has drifted into the corners, and frost covers the stone walls. Three barred openings overlook the snow-covered grounds outside the stronghold.   Unless they have cause to leave the overlook and raise the drawbridge in D2: Main Keep, a duergar stands guard here, stamping her feet to fight off the cold.   Barred Openings. Vertical irons bars 6 inches apart are embedded in the stone frames of three 5-foot-tall rectangular openings. As an action, a character can try to bend the bars to create an opening big enough for a Small creature to squeeze through, doing so with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check.  

D4: Armory

  Piles of equipment are pushed against the walls of this room. In the southern end of the chamber, an open hatch reveals a route leading underground.   The armoury holds equipment used by the duergar, including two suits of scale mail sized for dwarves, two steel shields, three war picks, nine javelins, two climber's kits, and four mess kits.   Underground Tunnel. This 5-foot-high tunnel is 20 feet underground and has a 20-foot-long ladder at each end. It connects D1: Bunker and D4: Armory.  

D5: Chokepoint

  A long room, divided in the middle by two open doorways, stands empty. In the far southwest corner, an iron lever sticks out of the wall.   Nildar Sunblight (see D6: Commander's Quarters) investigates any loud noises in this area. Once summoned, he stands next to the lever and waits for one or more intruders to move into the chokepoint, whereupon he moves the lever to trigger a trap.   Trap. When the lever is pulled, iron spikes spring out from the floor and ceiling to form barriers across each doorway. A creature in either opening must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) piercing damage from the spikes and be restrained until the spikes are retracted or the barrier is destroyed.   The spikes can be retracted only by pulling the lever a second time.   This trap is designed to isolate a single enemy in the western part of the room, blocking it from its allies with the spikes. Creatures can see through the gaps between the spikes, but the gaps aren't big enough for a character to slip through. The barriers of spikes grant three-quarters cover to creatures behind them. Each barrier has AC 15, 18 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.  

D6: Commander's Quarters

  A stone-carved bed and desk occupy this drab room. Atop the desk are several shards of dark crystal, as well as a crumpled-up piece of paper and a burlap sack draped over a glowing object that emits colored light that shifts from blue to green to red.   If the characters made it through D5: Chokepoint without getting into a fight, they catch Nildar Sunblight, a duergar, seated at the desk, studying his collection of glassy shards. He attacks the characters when they enter.   The glowing object on the desk is a magic lantern, which Nildar Sunblight has covered with a burlap sack to dull its light. The lantern is one that was stolen from the The Northern Light in Svarholt. It shifts in color from blue to green to red but has no other magical properties.   The crumpled-up piece of paper on the desk bears a message from Nildar Sunblight's older brother, Durth Sunblight, written in charcoal and in Dwarvish. The letter reads as follows:   ᛒᚱᛟᚦᛖᚱ, ᛁᛟᚢ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚠᛁᚾᛞ ᛗᛖ ᛟᚾ ᚦᛖ ᚠᚱᛟᛉᛖᚾ ᚠᛖᚱᚱᛁ ᛁᚾ ᚱᚢᚾᛖᛒᛟᚱᚷ. ᚠᚱᛟᛗ ᚦᛁᛊ ᚾᛖᚹ ᛒᚨᛊᛖ, ᚦᛖ ᛊᛖᚱᚲᚺ ᚠᛟᚱ ᚲᚺᚨᚱᛞᚨᛚᛁᚾ ᚲᛟᚾᛏᛁᚾᚢᛖᛊ. ᛚᛟᛜ ᛗᚨᛁ ᛟᚢᚱ ᚠᚨᚦᛖᚱ ᚱᛖᛁᚷᚾ ᛟᚢᛖᚱ ᚦᛁᛊ ᛞᚨᚱᚲ ᛚᚨᚾᛞ! ᛞᚢᚱᚦ   Brother, You will find me on the frozen ferry in Drakay. From this new base, the search for chardalyn continues. Long may our father reign over this dark land! Durth   The characters can visit the ferry of give Durth's letter to the authorities in Drakay and let them deal with them.  

Roleplaying Nilder

  Nildar's main goal is to please his father, whose obesseion with chardalyn he shares. When he is not leading raids, Nildar spends most of his time examining goods stolen from Svarholt and elsewhere. The shards on the table include several pieces of ordinary tinted glass and three dagger-sized pieces of chardalyn. With a successful DC 16 Intelligence (Arcana) check, a character can determine that the chardalyn, despite its crystalline composition, is malleable, making it an ideal raw material for those who can fashion items from the substance. No other properties can be discerned with an ability check. These chardalyn fragments contain no magic and are safe to handle.  

Defeating Nildar

  If the characters capture Nildar and try to talk to him, he snarls and threatens the characters in Dwarvish:   vulridir jr ar thjel lurl avor tho zigrimar glogti. Tho vortzandan eth wuldor avor dath, eth rik undith e eth frok. Ninn avor tho goth. Dokk tho monmur vljaedlik genogan aved mot vulridir hja fravavor ! joth herolstor frarth vangr!   “My father is more powerful than any of you filthy creatures could imagine. You don’t understand the glory of it, the power found in the ice. None of you do. But you will learn soon enough when my father unleashes his terror upon Frostheim! Your doom soars on dragon’s wings!”   If the characters let Nildar Sunblight go or if he escapes, he leaves Dûm-Korathusing the ogre zombie and dogsled in D2: Main Keep; if that's no longer an option, he flees on foot. He returns to his feather's fortress in the mountains, swearing revenge on the characters and vowing to inflict great pain on them if their paths cross again.  

Treasure.

Characters who toss the room find a small coin purse stuffed in Nildar's bedroll. The purse contains 24 gp and 17 sp.  

D7: Spore Servants

  This chamber appears to be a cellblock lined with stone doors that have small, barred windows set into them at dwarf's-eye height. Snow and wind enter the room through a barred window in the northeast corner that looks out toward the snow-covered bunker that guards the main entrance.   The barred opening in the northeast corner is similar to the ones in D3: Overlook.   The three cells along the west wall are empty at present. Each of the five cells along the south wall holds one prisoner, formerly Fjallkin villager or Rehegian nomad who was abducted and killed by the duergar. Using the animating spores of a myconid sovereign, the duergar have turned two of these dead prisoners into myconid spore servants covered with fungal growths. The spore servants emerge from their cells to attack intruders who enter the room.  

D8: Duergar Quarters

  Small rooms flank a central common area where crates and sacks are stashed against the west wall. The doors of the two southern rooms are open, and each room is empty except for a tattered bedroll and a chair. From behind the closed doors of the northern rooms, you hear the faint sound of snoring.   Each of the northern rooms has one duergar sleeping in it. If the characters move around without making nay loud noises, the duergar stay asleep. If awakened they attack the intruders. The duergar sleep in their armor, keeping their shields and weapons in reach.  

Treasure

  The crates and most of the sacks contain basic supplies, including blankets, rations, hempen rope and other equipment. One small sack holds the stolen valuables from Svarholt: twenty-five pearls carved into decroative beads (5 gp each). Another sack contains three daggers, a set of woodcarver's tools, a set of navigator's tools, fishing tackle, and a potion of healing hidden in a leader pouch along with 73 sp.  

Concluding the Quest

  When the characters return to the The Northern Light, they find Trovus passed out in a padded armchair while Allie Shorard and Cori Shorard go about their work. If the characters tell Allie Shorard about the duergar outpost, she admits to knowing nothing about duergar and is disturbed to learn that they can turn invisble and grow themselves to ogre size.   If the characters retrieved the inn’s lantern, Allie offers them a few flagons of ale as a reward. She has prepared rooms for them, even if they didn’t bring back the lantern. Allie can also help the characters return other stolen goods to their proper owners in Svarholt.