The Drow War Book Two. The Dying Of - RoseRed

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Genesis of the Ironclads
Drozen Vellish has passed on some critical
information. The Darkspears are not the only
magical constructs that Rannirak has been busy
with. Vellish produces a scroll of blueprints that shows
the drow’s latest project.
They have designed magic-powered spider-craft that
clamber across enemy defences with ease, crushing
warriors underfoot. They slice straight through armoured
opponents with their razor claws and exude clouds of
poison gas. Human armies will be defenceless against
these vehicles, and strongholds that depend on sheer
walls for protection will be easy prey, as the spider-craft
will just climb straight up the outside.
Under the Dolorous Peak in the southeast of Svarth, the
forges of the grey ones are burning hot and bright. So
far the duergar there have produced only prototypes, but
soon the finished craft will be ready to deliver.
Working from Drozen Vellish’s information, the Player
Characters must travel to the Dolorous Peak, find the
source of these ghastly weapons and destroy it. The
duergar, frequent allies of the drow, are the most
numerous occupants of the factory – relatively weak
individually but capable of causing trouble in numbers,
even for high-level characters.
This is a long subterranean adventure: it involves
infiltrating and destroying an underground factory,
design workshop and testing ground. The immense
machines in the duergar forges are just as lethal as the
grey dwarves are…
Plot Event: Finding the Factory
This adventure can come anywhere after the Player
Characters rescue Drozen Vellish. Once the Conclave
has the information about the Ironclads, the next step
is to find out where they are being built and see if the
Player Characters can do anything to stop it.
Using Discern Location: If the Player Characters were
able to slip a familiar item in amongst the iron pigs,
then they (or a Conclave member) will be able to use
discern location to find out where it has gone.
Using Previously Received Information: Alternatively,
if the Player Characters brought back information from
the Council of Trees (see Chapter 5, The Warriors of
Winter), the Conclave can put this information together
with what Vellish has told them and work out which
installation is being used to make the Ironclads. The
more the Player Characters are shown to be responsible
for finding out where the Ironclads are being made, the
better.
Following On from ‘Traitor’s Gambit’: The Player
Characters can also opt to stay at the Mines of Mencarth
and use invisibility or some similar method to trail the
iron delivery to the Dolorous Peak.
Deus Ex Machina: Finally, if there are no other leads to
go on or some disaster befalls the party (such as Vellish
being killed before he can divulge the information), the
Games Master can always have one of the Conclave
members use contact other plane to find out the
necessary information.
What the Conclave Knows about the
Factory
The Conclave can only tell the Player Characters the
following information about the factory at the Dolorous
Peak, based on rumours that the members have
gathered.
• The factory is definitely a duergar operation.
• As the top-secret Ironclad project is taking place
there, security is likely to be very high. The Player
Characters should expect to encounter the most
elite defence forces the drow have to offer. Stealth
will be preferable to confrontation, at least at first.
• There have been rumours for a while now that the
duergar have some sort of souped-up mechanical
manufacturing process in place to enable large
amounts of metal objects to be manufactured
quickly.
• The Player Characters should try to cripple the
factory if they can. Destroying the finished
Ironclads is important, but destroying the enemy’s
ability to make more of them is most important.
Ibon Presno Gonzalez (order #73006) 8