DnDNerds!

Jendri leads Gemwin, Grom, and Vindalf (Hokan is missing) to go talk to the Ironvein Duergar and explore a deeper level. Jendri offers Nimira and the other duergar some of the treasure they've gained, and they get a tour of the kitchens and the forge, which has a stream running into a deep chasm. Several of the duergar agree to hire on with the dwarves when they come back with a caravan in a few months, including the smith Snurriven and the alchemist Vorla. The party explores the chasm, first stopping on a ledge on the far side from the forge, where they discover a chimney with a rope and an escape bag. Delving into the chasm, they have a couple of close calls with Grom on the chain ladder. At the bottom, they discover another portion of the underground river, that leads to a dark lake with vines and algae. There they are suddenly attacked by a green dragon, who rises to breath poison on them before disappearing underwater again. They flee, but it breathes on them a few more times before they ascend the chasm to escape. Back up on the forge level, they recover, strategize, and offer a share of treasure to some of the duergar to help fight the dragon in its watery lair. Snurriven accidentally ruins Grom's new armor trying to repair it, and the party finds many situations in which Hokan would have been helpful.

Grom guides Gemwin, Vindalf, Jendri and Hokan as they explore a secret level that was the home of the gnome trapmaker of Khundrakar. After some trickiness with the first trap in a crawlspace, they encounter some hungry rust monsters and Grom's new plate mail is damaged. Further exploration reveals secret connections to the Glitterhame level and the mountain door, though most are gnome-sized and require dwarves to squeeze through without heavy armor. A bit of treasure, including a magical dagger, is recovered, and the party begins to consider how much of it to share with the Ironvein Duergar occupying the Forge Level.

Vindalf leads Gemwin, Jendri, Hokan and Grom as they continue to explore the former dwarfhold in Dragonfang Mountain, which they discover was called Khundrukar. They cast Speak with Dead to ask the former lord and master smith Durgeddin 5 questions, including "Can Grom use your Plate Mail?" Hokan does a bit of plumbing investigation on a derelict well, and they get more of the story of how the dwarf halls fell to orcs many years ago as they explore room to room. They speak with a half-crazy ghost, discover a portal room and the key word to unlock one of the portals to somewhere called Greywatch, and discover some secret passages that seem to lead to the duergar-controlled portion of the level. They discover a library and end up fighting an imprisoned lamia calling herself Idalla, and find a few scrolls and bits of dwarven lore to add to their collection.

After some discussion on the direction of the campaign, Gemwin leads Grom, Vindalf, Jendri, Hokan, and the freed duergar Veyra back down into the Glitterhame area, where Gemwin solo-fights two gricks, and then the party is attacked by carrion crawlers. Hokan fails to pick the Iron Door's lock, but luckily a duergar party emerges and the party negotiates up the duergar bureaucracy chain to Morga Ironvein, second-in-command of the gray dwarves. Morga agrees to let them explore parts of the halls the duergar aren't using, but forbids them access to the smithing areas. The party starts with a dwarven shrine where they battle an orc wight and two ogre skeletons, and discover the remains of the great smith Durgeddin.

The dwarves, led this session by Gemwin, take steps to secure the Mountain Door portion of Dragonfang Mountain. They bring Grom's porter Dhosus and the giant goats indoors (keeping them separate from new dire wolf friend Thrag), investigate the other commodity loads the orcs had, and strategize about how to engage the troglodytes below. They hire one of the former captives (Serena Vale), and descend down into the Glitterhame level. Instead of a full-on assault, Gemwin and Hokan negotiate with the troglodyte chieftain Khargaaz for the release of the duergar prisoner he's holding. They agree to pay in metal weapons and armor, and free duergar scout Veyra Blackflint, who tells them about the duergar leader Nimira and the other gray dwarves deeper in the dungeon.

Jendri leads Grom, Gemwin, and Hokan in an all-out assault on the Broken Tusks orc tribe. They offer the former leader Old Yarrick a deal, but end up with a two-fronted battle! Yarrick and an ally fight Jendri and Hokan, while Gemwin and Grom take on the rest of the horde. After she falls unconscious, Yarrick uses Jendri as a hostage, securing his own release from the dungeon. The party explores the rest of the level, including some hidden archer areas where the party rests while guarding against the possible return of the Broken Tusks.

Grom takes the lead in exploring the dungeon ruins within Dragonfang Mountain, with Hokan, Jendry, and Gemwin (Vindalf missing). We playtest our new Dungeon Turn rules for tracking party actions in the delve, and Grom leads the party up to the orc-infested halls. First they battle the shaman and her apprentices, one of whom is allowed to escape, then they withdraw for Grom to heal from the wounds inflicted by her spear. They discover and free two prisoners, and then engage a large orc war-party including an ogre and a dire wolf. We pause mid-moment just after the first few waves of attackers have been slain.

Vindalf leads Gemwin, Jendry, and Grom on an exploration of several levels of Dragonfang Mountain. First, they discover a secret room where a dwarf druid lived, and his magical treasures, then they discover some scary creatures the gnomes were keeping as mounts. They find a hidden entrance used by the gnome cultists. They descend back down to the river level, and find a saferoom guarding a spot where an elevator once worked. Vindalf becomes a giant frog to go across the river and bring back a boat there, and they all cross back together. They ascend a tunnel that takes them back up near their original entry point, where they find several dwarven tombs. They explore a streambed and find a nest of stirges and an old adventurer corpse. Ascending up another staircase, they find a dwarven trap that spews fire, and a blocked off iron gate with some orcs beyond it. Descending again, they go all the way back down to the storeroom level by the river, explore a flooded storeroom, and hole up for another short rest.

Happy 100th episode of the campaign! Jendri takes the lead of the dwarven expedition into the ruins within Dragonfang Mountain, with Gemwin, Grom, and Vindalf (Hokan has wandered off). First we discuss some rules changes, proposed adventuring company bylaws, and various rooms and teams efforts. Then the expedition finds a storage room with a vertical shaft, then a room with an underground river and a hidden crawl-tunnel, which they follow. At the other end, they fight some rats and a hook horror, then make their way across the river and up some stairs into more dwarven ruins, where they encounter some gnomish cultists of Urdlen the Crawler Below. They end up in a big battle with the cultists and their pet umber hulk, which Gemwin is able to lock down with his paladin abilities (leading to some rules consternation that we'll discuss out of game).

Gemwin leads a dwarven expedition with Grom, Vindalf, Hokan, and Jendri in search of the ruined dwarfhold of Dragonfang Mountain. They visit Llorkh and the other PCs, then follow the road East toward the Dawn Pass, discovering the Valley of Huvrathe (with its weird plants) on the way. Once there, they discover several possible ways into Dragonfang Mountain. When they are spotted by orc guards, they opt for a hidden tunnel, which brings them in to a series of natural caves. They battle some troglodytes and a bear, find a magical sword in a mold-infested corpse, investigate some fungi, and descend near a waterfall to a section where they hole up in an abandoned storeroom.