17 - 05/19 : The Specter's Path

As the Book Club neared the Tomb of the Grimhammer, they were beset with a powerful storm that muddied the roads, slowing their progress. Rather than attempt to push through the weather, the students waited out the storm in safety. As the worst of the storm let up, they continued on, but found that their path crossed the territory of a liondrake. Rather than face this beast, Zana suggested using the scent neutralizing incense she had brought to help them sneak past. The next morning, the party finally arrived at the site where the Grimhammer tomb was expected to be, but still needed to be excavated. Zana's divination specialty assisted in this, and she was immediately able to divine the location of the tomb. Snow, Adeline, and Thargut dug out the entrance, with Zana attempting in vain to help and Ezri supervising from a distance.   The tomb was locked with a magical blood sealed rune, which Thargut opened easily as a descendant of Grimhammers. The party entered the tomb and was immediately attacked by dwarven statues. Once the tomb's defenses were deactivated, they began to explore the tomb, attacked by more defenses and the specters of dwarves who fell as the tomb was lost. Further in, the students found the sarcophagus of Harlen Grimhammer, the first patriarch of the Grimhammer line. The students noted the reliefs of dwarves on sides of sarcophagus, which Thargut identified as depicting Harlen's children and described their roles and common iconography. In the next room, they found old an chapel and were attacked by more guardian statues. Once the threats were taken care of, the students collected the tapestries decorating the room for Thargut's archaeological research, and revealed a strange wall with similar patterns to the bloodrune doors. The students hypothesized that it was some sort of secret door, but it didn't respond to Thargut like the others, and seemed to need something more.   The party continued checked the lower pathway they had passed before, but as they did, it caved in, separating Ezri from the party. Ezri stayed put as she awaited rescue from her team, but on their way to assist her, Snow falls in pit trap on the stairs. Snow managed to escape by having Adeline reactivate the trap while Snow used her Ring of Jumping to escape. The others reconnected with Ezri, and were attacked by shadows and specters, but were able to dispatch them, with Zana showing surprising combat prowess with some of her spells. As they cleared the room, the students also found some coffins with arms of historic import.   Finally, the students found the Hall of the Ancestors, which was defended by yet more statues and shadows. As the party defeated these guardian, they were left with a puzzle, with statues of Harlen's children awaiting stone arms representing their specific skills. Once the puzzle was solved, the magic was activated again and Zana was able to tap into the divination ley line, awakening the spirits of the Grimhammer ancestors. The spirits revealed that Thargut's ancestor, Gloridom, had taken leadership of the clan by betraying the patriarch before him during a fierce battle with orcs. Thargut was shaken by this revelation, as such a past was a stain on his legacy in dwarven culture. The party managed to convince him to continue to the secret room that was accessible now and figure out his future later.   The locked door led to a vault, in which the party found piles of treasure, but also the revenant of Elrecc Grimhammer, who vowed vengeance on the descendants of Gloridom. The Book Club faced off against the vengeful undead, protecting Elrecc from it. They managed to destroy the revenant, but knew that it would come back eventually. Thargut was still shaken by the revealed history and now even more so by the looming threat of Elrecc's revenant. Ezri once more encouraged Thargut that this fact doesn't change his present. Inspired by her words, Thargut decided to face the truth with courage, and that his family's work would speak for itself. In addition to the payments for the artifacts the helped retrieve, Thargut also allowed the party to take a few items from the vault, giving them a Belt of Dwarvenkind and a Rod of the Pact Keeper.