[Mar 08, 2020]

Large fire elemental erupts from the hearth. Aneirin feebly attempts to break through a heavily rusted water grate to try and extinguish its flames as Shael attempts to communicate with it through Common, which it does not seem to understand. Ceiba readies herself, and Mal shifts his Dwarven form to include the crest on the ruin’s doors and attempts to communicate using Dwarven. Mal manages to convince the elemental that the group are friendly, and the creature then splits into three smaller elementals (possibly not yet fully mature).

With Mal playing translator, the group are told that there are intruders further within the ruins and the elementals escort the party towards a heavily damp room that may have once been barracks. Chests are placed at the end of each bed, but only some appear to be unbroken.

Whilst in the barracks, Shael casts detect magic and senses two objects: one magical presence registering as illusion, and the other as evocation. Aneirin inspects the chest registering as an illusion, and the chest itself appears to be real. Inside it there is a well-made cloak with some small scuff marks and tears that could use some repair, but this item continues to radiate illusion-based energy.

Mal kicks open the chest registering as evocation based, and a mimic takes a bite out of Mal’s leg in its toothy chesty glory. Despite Mal suffering the most part of its aggression, the party is able to kill the mimic with Shael’s toll the dead melting the mimic’s body into a watery consistency.

After dealing with the mimic, Ceiba successfully unlocks another chest and finds a decently well-kept pair of boots before passing to Mal. Mal then throws both boots at two other chests, triggering a second mimic that attempts to chew on his leg before it is finally put down by Aneirin slicing through its center of mass. All mimic remains turn to the same watery consistency, including the slice of green-blue tongue that Aneirin was hoping to carry him through dinner.

Rifling through the mimic-goop, Mal pulls out a greatclub and a leather hunting cap which both register as evocation according to Shael’s spell. The other chests after inspection yield two semi-precious gemstones, one a deep reddish-brown color and the other a more opaque orange-red color. Shael casts identify on the magical items, and the loot is distributed and attuned as the party takes a short rest in the barracks.

Backtracking up from the dining area where the fire elementals had spawned, the party comes back to the same hallway leading to the entrance of the ruins. After following a rightward turn, the party encounters a thick iron door that appears to be locked. As Aneirin fails to locate an unlocking mechanism, Shael uses his thieves’ tools to unlock the door successfully after a few attempts.

Inside, this room is filled with workbenches and crafting tools used for blacksmithing, leatherworking, and crafting bows including wood, blacksmith’s tongs & quenching tongs, a mallet hammer, and three bags of nails. The party also discovers around 10 iron ingots and a gold necklace missing a stone, but looking through the room it appears that most valuable items have likely already been taken.

Eventually, the party becomes aware of the faint sound of work in the smithy and sees a faint dwarven figure working at the forge — some kind of echo from the past. It does not seem aware of the party, and does not hear any noise including the dropping of solid metal until Ceiba calls out ‘Firlota’, the name on the urn opened by Mal previously.

Aneirin casts divine sense, sensing an undead presence other than the dwarven spectre that the party had seen. A faint skeletal figure with purple, fiery eyes emerges behind the group as they’re filled with a deathly chill. The party jumps into melee with the creature, and Shael once more deals the killing blow with his dagger.

The party continues northward from the smithy, having to remove wood that has been used to barricade a couple of doors shut before coming to what looks to be a medical room. Dried blood seems to be heavier in this room, and after investigation the party finds some bandage containers, three bottles of spiced wine, bone sewing needles, and a bolt of heavy canvas.

There is a tub of fresh water, though this one is stained with blood. Ceiba dunks her head into the water, and is attacked by a blood-colored ooze. Ceiba’s transformed claws rend the ooze apart. After the ooze has been defeated, a tarnished silver ring is recovered and the party comes to the next barricaded door.