#Necrotic Gnome

[vintagerpg]

This is the bookplate that accompanied the Kickstarter for the Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy books (2021). The gorgeous art is by @DavidHoskins. The signature is, I assume, OSE mastermind Gavin Norman’s, but it could also be the EKG of the demon creature, I guess?

Why is this in a binder and not, like, in the book? Well, its gigantic, for one — I am not sure it would fit. For two, it doesn’t have an adhesive backing, so I’d have to glue it in and…look, a binder is easier and less messy, OK?

[dmtreasury]

Old School Essentials (Basic Rules) + More by Necrotic Gnome

[guidedbynors]

Guided Adventure: 01: Mischief in WaleGate for Old School Essentials

Mischief in WaleGate is out! Download it as a Pay What You Want title on DrivethruRPG.

Mischief in WaleGate

Welcome to WaleGate a town of Whaling and strange happenings. Here, Whalers harvest Deepdive Whales to carve out Deephearts, a glowing golden crystal within each whale. These Deephearts are magically powerful and can be used for all types of magical doings.

But something strange is going on. Peoples swords have been turned into fish. The Harbord Lodge was robbed but with no sign of entry. Little winged people have been seen at times in the streets--but they are gone before anyone can point them out.

[greenbirdrpgs]

Gaming Update No.1

Over the last few months I've been playing more D&D than ever before, even more than in my teen years. We have two campaigns running in slightly different systems: D&D5e and Old School Essentials.

5e players have adjusted well to the Old School Essentials re-writing of B/X and its different play style. So far we have explored The Jeweler's Sanctum, which is an adventure that accompanied last year's Kickstarter.

It took three sessions to play through it (roughly 3-4 hours each session). Within the first session the adventurers met, picked up the job and started to explore the dungeon. After dealing with some traps that are nicely signposted they started to explore the first few rooms. Now, this is a 1st level adventure and the monsters are generally very weak, but there is one beast in here that, if it is handled badly, will almost certainly kill one adventurer. Guess what? It did. The illusionist dragged a cape that was covered in Yellow Ochre Mold off of a chair and was hit by an explosion of spores. Fortunately, pre-game, I suggested that everyone make two characters, just in case this kind of thing occurred.

How to introduce a new character. With a 15 minute aside, a bold dwarf had found the sign asking for adventurers, talked to the gentleman who had the job, and started on their way into the dungeon. What a coincidence that this occurred shortly after the Illusionist choked to death... very handy for all concerned.

However, then they were attacked by centipedes, whose bite renders an adventurer stricken with poison for up to ten days. Utterly brutal. A little DM work around here, a Goblin Shaman in a nearby market was able to provide a cure for this, but at a price. This proved to be an invaluable contact later on, when most of the party were poisoned by randomly encountered centipedes.

The game was a success though. After three sessions they had found most of the loot and explored the entire place, although they didn't manage to figure out the story behind the random noises.

They also developed a healthy respect for giant centipedes. As a reward they were provided with a large tome, which had a treasure map tucked inside. They took the bait and traveled to the place depicted, a sullen forgotten hamlet. Once part of a wealthy estate, now decrepit and bereft of economy. In a field behind the ruins of a manor house, stood a pyramid tomb - the folly of Tun the Younger.

Here treasure lay, somewhere beneath this strange building. They prised open the door and found a large sarcophagus. Lifting the lid revealed a descending staircase.

Now, after their last adventure, they got wise and bought themselves a large variety of adventuring tools, including a 10ft pole. With a new sense of caution, they explored the rooms below, falling foul of both traps and then having a brutal fight with four skeleton guardians. Woe befell them, as the cleric suffered a mortal wound on the first round of combat, just before he was going to use his Turn Undead ability.

The group decided to re-seal the tomb and flee back to town to lick their wounds and find new allies.

[highshelfcollective]

GAME 4 of our #HSCharity event is happening NOW!

We’re playing Old School Essentials from Necrotic Gnome ran by @highshelfrich to raise money for #TheTrevorProject! Boons and Banes are in effect so you can donate and change elements of the game! Also, each $10 donation gets you entered into win tonight’s giveaway -  'Old School Essential Classic Fantasy Rules Tome' from @necroticgnome, Custom dice from @rwdice, 'DnD 5th Edition Essentials Kit' from Friends of HSC!  Plus, you're entered in to win our BIG giveaway at the end of the event - a physical book bundle of all things #CyberpunkRED from @officialrtalsoriangames!

[juddgeeksout]

What is Inspiration Goat precariously balanced upon?

As heard on the Daydreaming about Dragons podcast, the Inspiration Goat helps me process media and take parts that are useful for the gaming table. This isn’t about the hottest new thing or the crowdfunding with the biggest payday; it is just a few geeky things that are inspiring me. It might be weekly; it might be monthly. It all depends on how fast the inspiration goat chews on media and who…

[inonibird]

That time the druid bought presents for the rest of our party and decided to give my death cleric flowers.

[hifi-walkman]

huh, must have misread the price-listing and thought print on demand was the digital price. Yeah definitely just get the B/X rules.

And I would guess the 5e person based it on Marcille's available spells and spell power and its equivalent in 5e. But aside from just the base Idea of race as class from B/X as justification for it being more like those rules in terms of the structure of its world: Chillichuk uses a bow, and specifies that being a half-foot makes him naturally better at it, Senshi is a vaguely competent fighter who's most useful trait is navigation, trap detection, and general comfort underground and in the dungeon, and even through Marcille is all in on using magic, they explicityl call out falin as the group's "Magic User" (literally namedropping the class name), with marcille just being "an elf". Though, it's got a bit of OD&D nonsense going on with some NPCs clearly being of race/class combos, but none of the main cast (including like, Kabru's party) who would represent "player characters" have anything like that. lots of "There are Dwarf Clerics, but only NPCs" happening.

"it's a DM issue" is a very silly defence of the limitations of D&D when it comes to genre, not only because it puts a lot of extra pressure on the DM to bend the game into a format that the players will find more acceptable (with little consideration made as to whether the experience provided by the game as written might actually have merit), but also because "choosing to run a conventional heroic fantasy narrative in the dungeon crawler engine" is also very much a DM issue

[nottragic-stilltoothsome]

Everything I found in Szarr's palace, for all your fanfiction-writting needs. I haven't found any other post like this one, so i hope i m not copying anyone. Posting it here, because editing the official wiki feels intimidating. Feel welcome to add anything I missed.

Astarion's siblings (the other spawn):

Petras - one of the two you meet in the Flophouse.

Dalyria - the other one from the two you meet in the flophouse. Her diary can be found in the "guest room". Before Cazador turned her, she was a doctor, a "Physician General to the Parliament of Baldur's Gate". She thinks vampirism is a disease and plans on curing herself of it by drinking blood of someone young and healthy - other spawn's daughter, Victoria.

Leon Onufrio - before Cazador turned him, Leon was a sorcerer. He is the one whose daughter's (Victoria's) body is found, cursed, in the room where with the Kozakuran dictionary.

Leon put a protective counter-curse on her, to discourage other spawns from attacking her. Despite his efforts, Dalyria bit her, hoping it'd cure her vampirism. Needless to say, it didn't and Victoria died @easterlingwanderer found out that if you use "speak with the dead" on the body, it turns out that it was a random urchin and Leon did get Victoria out of the city on time. After removing the curse inflicting you with necrotic demage, you can loot a letter of her body from her father instructing Victoria to read said dictionary, so she can freely move around the castle.

In the favoured spawn room, you can learn that Leon was the one usualy occupying it (along with his daughter). His diary reveals that he put extra effort to be Cazador's best hunter, so he can keep Victoria away from others and that he came up with a plan with Figaro to disguise and sneak Victoria out of the palace.

He also notes that he doesnt like the way Violet looks at Victoria and Cazador's wicked smile, when Leon asked him what his master was planning to do with his daughter.

Violet - you can find her Diary in the Dormitory of Spawn. She notes that she put garlic in Yousen bed as a prank.

Aurelia - a tiefling

Yousen - @neophytepagan noticed he is a gnome

Other:

The chamberlain of Cazador was Antwun Dufay. In his diary, which can be found under his bed in his room after a successful passive perception check, it says that he had a lover Lurianna (a werewolf, who can be found dead by walking through fake north wall of chamberlain's office, or through another fake wall in Chamberlain's private room). He knew about Cazador's Black Mass enough to fake his death in order to avoid the threat of taking Astarion's place. Unfortunately for him, it seems he confused the actual death potion and fake death potion, and really died. His lover drank the other potion, which melted her guts. The actual fake-death elixir can be found in his desk, which puts the player in 10-turn coma. He ordered the elixir from Bonecloaks', where he also ordered most of the things the palace needed to function (like bloodstain remover, candles and food for "guests").

Godey - Cazador's right hand. Astarion says that while Cazador was the master of the palace, the kennels (the room where the spawn d be tortured, when they did something Cazador didnt approve of) was the domain of Godey. Godey tortured the spawn when Cazador didnt feel like it. Cazador trusted Godey with the key to the sealed ballroom for the duration of the ritual.

Through the palace, fanatic-servants cleaning the palace: Syrin - human, Greenfern - wood half-elf, Vilhelm - human, Varderola - also human. All of them are servants, who Astarion said are devoted to Cazador and came to the palace of their own will, beggining Cazador to turn them into vampires. Vilhelm is most noteable, as you can talk to him and he asks Astarion why isn't he downstairs, that he is late and the ballroom is already locked. If pressed, he informs that Godey has a key and that the Cazador is going to punish Astarion for missing the ritual (and from his expression, he seems to quite like the thought).

Chamberlain Dufay wrote a blooddonnors ledger, instructing the Spawn to favourite the lower class as prey, as too many missing patriars may drow too much attention.

The language Cazador uses is Kozakuran, from a distant land of Kara-Tur. Astarion notes that they were strictly forbidden from learning it. From Cazador's Journal you can learn that Astarion was not an unreliable narrator when he said Cazador liked torturing him the most: Cazador paid the most attention to him in the journal.

In the favoured spawn room, there is a ledger with the list of spawns who have been favoured (its only Leon and one time Violet).

Amanita Szarr - on her 13th birthsday, invited by her Uncle Cazador. She was invited to the ballroom. She became a vampire, but was not happy about it. She rejected her family name Szarr and named herself Lady Incognita. She claims she stays in the attic and writes stories. One of the books written by her can be found on Cazador's desk.

Mrel Alkam - vampire mastress from Athkatla that Cazador wrote a letter to.

[alfynnlin]

The RE8 × BG3 crossover has returned

It's time for our lovely House Beneviento to shine

Behold: Lady Donna Beneviento in Baldur's Gate 3

She is a half-drow (they are usually discriminated against in the lore of DnD for their bloodline, and thus most of them prefer solitude) wild magic sorcerer (to reflect the unpredictable nature of her powers in RE8)

To better match her theme, her powers are focused on illusionary, psychic, and necrotic magic, with the occasional random effects caused by her wild magic surge that might unintentionally add to the chaos

And of course, we cannot go without her emotional support doll gnome, Angie

She is a forest gnome (she talks to all the critters in my head canon) shadow monk. Imagine a 4 feet tall, cackling little gremlin teleporting all over the battlefield, kicking people in the shins and stabbing them on the toes (she gets along so well with Shovel). Terrifying, right?

She gets into all sorts of shenanigans, like doodling a goofy face onto the portrait of an undying lich queen, but shhh, nobody snitch on her

Look at that little face, she's so proud of herself

These two shall conquer the world with their autistic social anxiety & ADHD chaotic energy combo

And as per usual, group photo!

yes, I put Astarion in a trench coat because he shares the same voice actor as Heisinberg, so just a tiny reference to that

Prev: House Dimitrescu in Baldur's Gate 3

[tkilian]

Some of my earlier Dolmenwood monster entries. I believe these are the barrowbogey, boggin, madtom, and scrabey.

(Dolmenwood Monster Book, Necrotic Gnome)

[rpgsandbox]

The 10 Most Anticipated TTRPGs For 2024!

EN World's annual vote on the most anticipated titles of the coming year, and yes, some games have appeared on this list in previous years.

10 Tales of the Valiant (Kobold Press)

1st appearance Kobold Press joins the 'alternate 5E' club with this rewritten, non-OGL version of the game! A million dollar Kickstarter last year, and a new one for the GM's book going on right now, Kobold Press announced this as 'Project Black Flag' during the OGL crisis of 2023, but being unable to trademark that name opted for Tales of the Valiant instead. The system, however, is still called the Black Flag Roleplaying System.

9. Mothership 1E (Tuesday Night Games)

3rd appearance On this list three years running, the boxed Mothership 1E game should be coming out this year! This is sci-fi horror at its best -- you can play scientists, teamsters, androids, and marines using the d100 'Panic Engine'. Yep, it's Alien(s), pretty much.

8. Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Program (Exalted Funeral)

2nd Appearance Exalted Funeral made quite a splash when they announced this game last year, which went on to make neary $2M on Kickstarter. And how could they not? It's Monty Python fergoodnessake! A rules-lite gaming system, spam, a minigame with catapults, spam, coconut dice rollers, spam, and an irrepressible Python-eque sense of humour. Did I mention the spam? It was at #10 on this list last year, but it's claimed to #8 this year.

7. Daggerheart (Darrington Press)

1st appearance From the Critical Role folks, Daggerheart is a new fantasy TTRPG with its own original system coming out this year with "A fresh take on fantasy RPGs, designed for long-term campaign play and rich character progression."

6. Cohors Cthulhu (Modiphius)

1st appearance It's Ancient Rome. It's Cthulhu. It uses Modiphius' in-house 2d20 System. You can be a gladiator, a centurion, or a Germanic hero. Did I mention Cthulhu?

5. Dolmenwood (Necrotic Gnome)

1st appearance The British Isles, a ton of folklore, and a giant Kickstarter--Dolmenwood is a dark, whimsical fantasy TTRPG drawing from fairy tales and lets you "journey through tangled woods and mossy bowers, forage for magical mushrooms and herbs, discover rune-carved standing stones and hidden fairy roads, venture into fungal grottoes and forsaken ruins, battle oozing monstrosities, haggle with goblin merchants, and drink tea with fairies."

4. Pendragon 6E (Chaosium)

4th appearance Last year's winner was on this list waaaaay back in 425 AD, and it's still here! Well, maybe not that far back, but it's shown up in 2021 at #4, 2022 at #3, 2023 at #1, and now 2024 at #4! What can we say? People are clearly anticipating it... still.

3. 13th Age 2nd Edition (Pelgrane Press)

2nd appearance 13th Age is over a decade old now, and was our most anticipated game way back in 2013. Now the new edition is coming! It's compatible with the original, but revised and with a ton more... stuff! 13th Age 2E was #3 in last year's list!

2. The Electric State Roleplaying Game (Free League)

1st appearance Free League is always on these lists, and for good reason. This gorgeous looking game is described as "A road trip on the verge of reality in visual artist and author Simon Stålenhag's vision of an apocalyptic alternate 1990s".

1. Shadow of the Weird Wizard (Schwalb Entertainment)

3rd appearance First announced by Rob Schwalb a couple of years ago, this is a more family-friendly version of his acclaimed RPG, Shadow of the Demon Lord. SHADOW OF THE WEIRD WIZARD is a fantasy roleplaying game in which you and your friends assume the roles of characters who explore the borderlands and make them safe for the refugees escaping the doom that has befallen the old country. Unsafe are these lands: the Weird Wizard released monsters to roam the countryside, cruel faeries haunt the shadows, undead drag themselves free from their tombs, and old, ancient evils stir once more. If the displaced people would rebuild their lives, they need heroes to protect them. Finally at the top of the list after being #7 in 2022, and #6 in 2023!

[guidedbynors]

StartPlaying Isle of Ixx, Old School TTRPG

Hey all if you like small press ttrpgs, this evening I will be running Isle of Ixx, a rules lite, fast paced, TTRPG. We still have 2 spots open, and it’s not too late to join.  @indiepressrevolution

Check it out here.

[greenbirdrpgs]

Forever DM to Player!

For years I was the 'forever DM', since my mid-teens in fact, which is a long time ago now. We started with Basic, moving to 2nd Edition for a long time, and then onto 3rd. About this time, I got more into music and spent many years touring and releasing records, but come 2013 I moved countries to Latvia.

One of my partner's friends asked me one day whether I'd heard of this game called Dungeons & Dragons. I was kind of surprised, but this kicked off a conversation I'm still having to this day.

I ended up DMing a one-shot in 5e for a few friends, with only one of them having played before. This turned into a campaign that petered out in the way these things do... But converts were made.

The amazing thing was I kept discovering people who had heard of the game, but not played. This was unlike when I was a teenager and no one knew of this game, apart from a tiny handful of individuals who spoke about it in hushed tones.

More campaigns and one-shots followed. Friends were made. A little group of us got together and started publishing homebrew material on the DMsGuild. However, I'd still not actually played as a player in D&D5e, being the one always networking, organizing and DMing. That is until a few weeks ago, when that first friend, who asked if I knew what Dungeons & Dragons was, started to talk about running a game. I jumped at the opportunity to play, and I'm very glad I did because he's running a neat little mystery adventure. I'm hoping that once we finish this adventure, he'll want to do more, so I can take my Kenku Rogue to new places with their new found group of chaotic friends.

In the mean time, I'm waiting for the Necrotic Gnome kickstarter to drop the Old School Essential rules through my letterbox, plus a new OSR adventure from Harry Menear called The Beast of Borgenwold. Exciting stuff!

[its-jaytothemee]

Until I Met You - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Forged in Fire

Pairings: Halsin x Tav

Word count: 4,709

Rating: Currently M, will be Explicit in later chapters.

Read on AO3

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Summary: Our heroes make one last trip into Grymforge to find the adamantine forge. Karlach and Halsin stay behind to make sure her engine doesn't overheat again. Part 19 of the slow burn fic. Tav and Halsin POVs.

Tags: Slow burn, mutual pining, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual love confessions, eventual smut, angst, implied past rape/non-con and abuse, graphic description of injuries, brief suicidal thoughts.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Astarion since he insisted on stepping in the lava CONSTANTLY during this playthrough. One more chapter to go before we move to act 2 and it will be up shortly! Thanks so much for continuing to read and for the fun comments, I've really enjoyed reading through them!

Wandering around Grymforge again brought back too many memories. The Sharran armor and weapons, the details of captured Harpers. Many of the journals and notes she found detailed the torture of her former allies, bringing her hatred of the wicked goddess to a simmer in the back of her mind. Records of those imprisoned here crept into her mind throughout the day. She and Shadowheart had been even more tense than usual during their time here.

Nymla Gharis, half-elf, Harper captain. Refuses to give up the location of their leader. But we will break her.

Tav shuffled around in a hazy stupor, it was as if she could hear the screams still echoing off these tainted walls. She could hear the sharp snap of whips, the subtle tearing of flesh with knives and saws, the crack of bone under heavy blows. How many of her allies had met their terrible end here?

Wood elf, male, low ranking. Likely has little information of worth to share. Will continue questioning.

Shadowheart was flourishing, feeling close to her dark and twisted goddess, excited at the prospect of learning more about the Dark Justiciars that fell here. She took every opportunity to stop and offer quick prayers to Shar. And now, she even wore the armor of a Dark Justiciar. They had found one set that was still intact among the fallen and Shadowheart cleaned it up to replace her basic chainmail. The armor looked exactly as she remembered it all those years ago when her arrows were finding the weak spots at the neck, just beneath the arm, the inner thigh…

“Tav?” Gale whispered. “Are you alright?”

She realized she had started crying, and her face must have been bright red judging by the heat she felt rising under her skin.

“Hm? Oh, yes. I’m fine.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and forced her attention back to the task at hand. Or at least she tried. Every soft clink of Shadowheart’s new armor kept threatening to drag the memories back.

Tav saw her loathing mirrored in Halsin at camp. The two elves made a point not to sit too close to Shadowheart around the fire. Lunari helped with that, given her fear of wolves.

Human, cleric of Selûne, missing one finger, stinks of silver moon magic. Will remove more digits to draw information. Punishment should be severe and excruciating for her choice in worship.

Their party had combed through the stronghold, hoping to find a working moonlantern and a path to the adamantine forge. They had already fought off a couple more duergar slavers that were whipping a group of deep Rothé senseless, a group of acid oozes, and they talked a gnome down from martyrdom to leave them all blessedly unexploded. But still no moonlantern.

She continued leading her group through the dark hall, the bodies from their previous encounters left a burning, necrotic stench in the air. The noxious fumes made her stomach churn as she hurried past the worst of them. They stumbled upon more skeletons strewn about the ground, once again dressed in armor bearing Shar’s symbol.

“Well, hello!” Astarion shoved part of the armor aside, revealing a mold for some type of armor. “Another mold for the forge.”

“Let’s bring it along and we’ll see what we can make.” Tav held her bag open for him to stash it away. They had already gathered several other molds for various weapons and armor.

Just past the chamber where they faced Nere, she spotted another overlook that they had missed before. At the top sat a small stone slab with three different levers.

“Hmm, it would probably be best if we don’t start pulling random levers until we’re sure of their purpose.” Gale had one hand rubbing his chin as he lost himself in his thoughts.

“According to the notes we found on the drow, the forge should be just up ahead.” Tav looked ahead over the river of lava flowing beneath them.

“Yes, but how to traverse this crevasse?” Gale took a few steps back to take in more of their surroundings. His fingers stroked his beard as he considered their options.

“Look up there.” Shadowheart pointed to a few platforms suspended above them. “The tracks appear to run across the entire chamber. If we can figure out how they move, we may be able to cross safely.”

“Hmm…” Gale looked at the platforms, then back to the levers. He reached out and pulled one towards them. In response, one of the metal platforms began to move, the old and rusty wires squeaked across the chamber.

“Aha!” He yelled with a small pump of his fist. “We just need to find out how to get over to that specific platform. There looks like there could be others as well, likely controlled by the other levers here.”

“Or we could just jump.” Lae’zel pointed across the river of lava to the nearby ledge.

“Across the lava?!” Tav’s startled yell echoed off the walls. She peered over the edge at the river of lava far below them.

That’s a long way down.

“Why not? Have Gale hit us with a handy Feather Fall spell, and we should be able to make it over without issue.” Astarion shrugged.

“We’re awfully high up…” Tav countered.

“Yes darling, that’s what the Feather Fall spell is for.” Astarion rolled his eyes. “Can you really tell me you’d rather go higher up to those old, wobbly platforms and cross the lava that way?”

“I guess not.” Tav gulped as her legs started to shake.

“Wizard?” Lae’zel shot Gale a sharp look.

“You know, a simple ‘please’ wouldn’t go unappreciated.” Gale chided her.

“Never.” She crossed her arms in response.

Tav took in a sharp breath as Gale cast the spell. Her body felt almost weightless, as if the lightest breeze could carry her away. Lae’zel made the leap across the chasm first, landing with the graceful poise of a warrior. The others followed not far behind, jumping with ease, and landing as light as a feather for which the spell was named.

Wyll was the only one left with her.

“Come on, Tav. We’ll jump together.” He held his hand out for her with a smile, ever the gentleman.

“Okay, together.” Tav exhaled through clenched teeth.

He gave her a countdown as she said a silent prayer to any god who would listen. She kept a tight grip on his hand as they crouched down together before pushing off the warm stone beneath them. Not two seconds later, they were across the divide and standing with the rest of their friends.

“See? Nothing to worry about.” Wyll let go of her hand, but she grabbed his arm again until she could walk further away from the edge.

“And look! Another one of those molds.” Gale picked up the large metal casting with a grunt. “Seems to be for a sword of some kind.”

“I still think we should go with the armor. Or the shield.” Shadowheart suggested. “We have lots of weapons, but our other gear could use some upgrades for the journey ahead.”

Tav had to admit her logic was sound.

More Sharran armor littered the ground around them. Dark Justiciars struck down in their own dreadful fortress.

Dwarf, male, captured outside of Moonrise Towers, put up a fight. Now his knees have been crushed using the hammer he used to resist.

“First things first, we have to find the ore before we can craft anything.” She reminded them. “It seemed like the drow were convinced they would find some veins near the forge itself.”

They had to fight their way past a small army of magma mephits and enchanted armor to find a meager two chunks of raw mithral ore. Still, it was at least enough for a couple new pieces of equipment.

“Circle up, everyone. Let me take care of some of these burns.” Shadowheart offered. The singed hairs sticking out from her braid matched Tav’s. Familiar soothing waves came over them, taking care of the minor cuts and burns from the past couple of fights.

“Thanks mate.” Wyll patted Shadowheart on the arm.

The heat became more and more insufferable as they descended further into the forge. Lava churned and bubbled on the surface far below the forge – the sight made Tav grateful Karlach had remained in camp today. This chamber was easily three times as hot as the smaller one where they fought Nere.

The stairs that took them below were crumbling, but the adamantine forge itself was as pristine as it could be in a harsh environment such as Grymforge. Like everything else in the fortress, there was a healthy layer of ash and dust, but otherwise it appeared to be in perfect condition.

“I’ll go down and check it out. Let’s see if this forge still works.” Tav pulled out the journal they had found on the dead drow with instructions for operating the machinery.

“Me too. I want to be the first to see this shiny new armor.” Astarion giggled as he hopped onto the massive platform behind her. The others gathered at the edge of the stairs, waiting with bated breath for the forge to be put to use.

“Here, make yourself useful, then.” Tav handed him the journal as she dug through her backpack for the molds.

“Okay let’s see…” Astarion read the words carefully before reciting them back to her.

“Place the mold in that chamber there.” He pointed to a rectangular block of metal a couple steps away.

“Armor or shield first?” Tav asked, holding both up in her arms to display.

“Armor, definitely.” An excited smile tugged at his lips. She held it up to the mold chamber and it slotted in perfectly. “Next, we need the ore, and it goes…yes you’ve got it there.”

Tav placed the ore in the large compartment in the center of the platform. Looking up, it appeared this is where the forge hammer would come down.

“Okay, now the hammer?”

Tav looked around for the lever which was on the other side of the platform from them. She peered over the edge.

“That’s a long way down…” She swallowed hard.

“Oh, come on, Tav,” He waved his hand in the air, “this is so much sturdier than that rickety elevator and you survived that just fine. Not to mention that nice little leap across the river of lava.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before pulling the lever. A booming clang echoed all around them. The platform sank with a slight jolt, drawing a startled yelp from Tav. After the initial drop, it continued its way down in a much slower and smoother motion. Just to be safe, she took a few steps toward the middle.

They landed at the bottom after a short ride with the platform hydraulics giving a soft hiss.

���Is that it?” She asked.

“Give me a moment, I’m reading…” Astarion’s eyes darted across the pages. “Ah! We need to open the valve for lava to flow past the chamber.” They spotted the wheel across the way, Tav assumed that it would open a valve of some kind.

“Wait…” She held out a hand as they reached the wheel, recalling what she had read earlier in the journal. “What about the guardian? The journal mentioned there was something guarding the forge.”

“Well, I don’t see any guardian, do you? Perhaps it was the animated armor we fought before. And that was no small amount of mephits that we dispelled.”

Fair enough.

She took another look around, checking above them for any traps or anything around the valve. As a precaution, she also peered inside the large pipe that would bring the lava to them. It was dark inside, nothing out of the ordinary that she could see.

“I doubt it’ll be an issue. Given the state of the rest of this fortress I don’t see how a guardian could have survived all this time. Besides, what guardian would have let us make it this far?” Astarion gestured toward the valve wheel. “Go on, then! Let’s make us some pretty new armor.” Another eager giggle escaped his lips.

Tav took a deep breath as she turned the valve for the lava. It was surprisingly easy for her to move. She was expecting it to be rusted in place due to its age. The eerie creaking of the wheel rang through the walls of the fortress, now empty except for her and her friends.

Or so she thought.

A low groaning echoed in the large pipe in front of her as metal gears grinded and clicked against each other, waking up after decades of rest. When the giant metal monstrosity emerged from the tunnel, it stood no less than ten feet tall.

“What…the…fuck…” Tav and Astarion cursed at the same time.

A familiar squirming in her head briefly distracted her from the looming construct.

“Tav! What in the hells is going on?” Wyll’s voice soaked into her psyche.

“Something just woke up down here…” She opened her mind further to allow Wyll and the others to see through her eyes.

“By Elminster’s ashen beard…” Gale’s voice drifted into her thoughts next.

“W-Whizbangs?” Astarion stuttered, already taking a step back.

Tav jumped back on the platform just as the guardian slammed down a giant metal foot boasting a couple of metal claws. The force of the movement shook the entire forge. She ran across the raised parts of the platform, jumping across the narrow gaps that now had lava flowing through them. As the construct started stomping after her, she drew her bow and took a shot. It bounced off the metal, the pitiful arrow falling into the lava.

“What the fuck, Tav?! How is an arrow going to pierce metal like that?!” Astarion screamed from behind her, his hands starting to rifle through his bag.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but shooting things with arrows is kind of my thing! I don’t see you trying anything better, you dick!” She snapped back at him as the forge guardian kept its focus locked on her.

Astarion just growled in response as he pulled a small smokepowder bomb out of his pack.

“Why would you want to use a bomb in an area covered with lava? That can’t be a good idea!” Tav shrieked at him, her hands gesturing wildly around her.

“Well, we don’t exactly have a lot of other options, darling! If your arrows can’t pierce it, I doubt these little daggers on my hip will do much better!” He chucked the bomb with a grunt as far as he could across the platform. The explosion was much larger than Tav had anticipated, and it knocked them both to the floor. Luckily, it also seemed to cause the construct to stumble as well. Even so, it made a quick recovery and took another quaking stomp in the lava in front of them. The reverberation from the move knocked their already prone bodies back a few feet.

“We need to split up.” Tav wheezed as she pulled herself back up before helping Astarion to his feet.

“On three?” He asked, she nodded back.

“One.”

“Two.”

“Three.” They said in unison as they dashed in opposite directions around the platform. The construct paused for a moment before following Astarion.

CLANG!

She whipped around to see an object bouncing off the construct’s head before falling into the lava. To her surprise, it looked like it even left a small dent. It turned its attention back to Tav.

“Did we hit it?” Shadowheart’s voice called to her through the tadpole.

“Yes! Do it again, it seemed to hurt it!” Tav responded.

So, we need some serious blunt force to do any damage here.

Of course, the two of them down here with the monster didn’t have hammers or any other kind of bludgeoning weapon.

Think…think…

A pained cry from Astarion interrupted her thoughts. She peered around the guardian to see him lying on the floor, clutching his leg. His foot was horrendously burnt, molten drops fell back into the lava.

“Why would you step into the lava?!” Tav screamed at him.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Astarion shrieked as he crawled along the platform. His curses echoed off the metal surroundings.

CLANG!

Another weapon bounced off the construct as Tav narrowly avoided another attack.

“What’s going on down there? Is everything okay?” Wyll’s voice reached out through the tadpoles.

“No! Everything is not okay! Astarion walked into the fucking lava!” She used their shared connection to yell back. The giant construct made a swipe at her which she dodged, but it knocked her off balance and nearly into the lava herself.

“Astarion, lava may just be melted rock but that doesn’t mean you can roam its surface safely!” Gale’s voice glided into her thoughts.

“ISAIDIDIDN’TDOITONPURPOSE!” Astarion’s exasperation could be heard in his psychic shrieking. He was still dragging himself toward the lever that controlled the massive forge hammer.

The hammer.

“Astarion!” Tav shouted over to him. “On my mark, pull the lever and bring that hammer down!”

He looked at her like she had just sprouted an additional head. “Have you lost your mind, Tav?! That thing will grind you to a pulp!”

“Just trust me!” Tav growled.

“What’s happening? I hear more shouting.” Lae’zel’s voice came across her mind.

“I have an idea. I think that giant hammer could crush this thing. I’m going to lure it over and have Astarion bring it down.”

Tav cast a quick Misty Step to get herself on top of the chamber holding the armor casting. The intolerable heat in the middle of the lava pit caused sweat to drench the thin clothes under her armor and make her hands slick. Her other companions continued throwing any weapons they could down to hit the monster from above. Most attacks appeared to barely phase it.

Please gods let this work…

Tav fired another arrow at the forge guardian to get its attention. It turned around to face her and began stomping its way through the lava.

“That’s it you metal fuck…just a little closer…”

After only a few steps, its towering metal frame was looming over her. It took one last step placing it directly beneath the hammer. A giant lava-heated foot came up, ready to crush her.

“Now!” She screamed.

Tav heard a grunt of effort from Astarion as he pulled the lever beside him. The hammer came down with a sickening crunch on the construct. She cried out in pain as the sound threatened to burst her eardrums. The force of the impact caused her to fall over, luckily still laying on the armor chamber.

The guardian of the adamantine forge fell defeated beside her, crumpled up into a mangled ball of metal. As the lava retreated away from the platform, a loud hissing sound came from the chamber where she was laying.

***

Halsin was getting anxious waiting for the others to return. They had been gone for an especially long time today. Scratch, Sniff, and Lunari followed in his footsteps as he paced around the fire.

“It’s okay, Halsin. They always make their way back.” Karlach smiled at him from the rock where she was perched. She had opted to stay in camp today while the others went to look for the adamantine forge.

“Of course they do. I’m just merely nervous for…other reasons.” He shook his head at the response.

Smoothly handled, Halsin.

Karlach snorted. “And what reasons are those, bear man?”

“Just thinking about…” Halsin panicked as he tried to come up with an excuse. After a few moments he just let out a resigned sigh.

“You know, it’s okay to just say you’re worried about her.” She ran a whetstone down the blade of her giant sword.

“Who?” Halsin feigned confusion.

“Ha! You’re so bad at this.” Karlach cackled. “I think it’s sweet.”

“I’m bad at what, exactly?” Halsin stopped pacing for a moment to look back at her.

“This.” She gestured up and down at him with a laugh. “Pretending you don’t care. Pretending you’re not going to run over to Tav the second you see her and heal the two tiny scratches she has on her arms even though Wyll will probably have a broken arm or something.”

“I would never let someone sit around with a broken arm.” Halsin mumbled. Karlach just grinned at him.

“Oh, you big loveable bear.” She shook her head softly while she laughed at him. “You don’t have to worry so much. Tav adores you.”

“A…Adores…” Halsin stuttered a bit, causing more laughter from Karlach. He could feel himself blushing.

“Oh, this is fun. I should stay in camp with you more often.” She had such an infectious laugh.

“Okay you’ve made your point. I’m glad I can at least provide some entertainment.” He took a seat next to her. “Why did you decide to stay here today?”

“Eh, there was quite a bit of lava where they were headed. I figure I’m burning up enough as it is, no need to add any extra heat.” She tried to keep a smile up, but her voice had quieted and was now laced with worry. “And after yesterday…”

Right.

Over the last few days, Karlach had slowed down a bit from when he first met her. Tav said she seemed more sluggish in a fight, and quicker to excuse herself to rest in the evenings. Whatever contraption she had in place of her heart was starting to wear her down.

“Is there nothing that can be done?” He asked quietly.

“Maybe. We’re going to find Dammon in Baldur’s Gate and hope he has something else figured out by then.”

“I hope he does, my friend. If not, I’m sure we’ll find someone who can.” He tried to reassure her, but he had no experience with infernal machinery. To be honest, he wouldn’t even know where to start looking.

“You’re a terrible liar, remember.” Karlach’s sad smile broke his heart. “But I appreciate the optimism anyway.”

“Anytime.” He said, almost patting her on the shoulder and then thinking better of it.

“The hurting isn’t even the worst part.” She continued, pain evident in her voice. “I’ve finally made it out of Avernus after ten years. Ten years of torture and fighting, ten years of absolute loneliness. Now I’m back, and I can’t even shake the hands of my new friends. Gods the things I would do to be able to get a hug.” A few tears sizzled on her cheeks.

The loneliness she felt mirrored his own. It was a feeling that so far, only Tav had been able to break through. Much of his isolation was self-inflicted, but at least he had never lost the option to touch those around him. The thought alone made him shudder.

“Well rest assured that when we fix that contraption up, my arms will be open wide. Dark will be the day that I refuse a hug.” He offered. She smiled back as she wiped the tears away.

“Deal. Step one, fix my engine. Step two, giant bear hug.”

Giant bear hug. I like the sound of that.

“So, tell me,” Karlach continued, “what is it that’s holding you back?”

“The fire coming out of your skin, I’d say.” He reached over to pet the small line of animals that had been following him all day.

Karlach laughed and rolled her eyes at him. “What’s holding you back from Tav?”

“I…I don’t know what you mean.” She was right, he was a terrible liar.

Why do you bother hiding it?

“Ha! You’re blushing like a maid on her wedding night!” Karlach’s cackle echoed all around him.

Halsin just groaned. He didn’t have an answer to give her. Every day he fought his desires, and every day he looked for excuses to be close to Tav without getting close to her.

“I wish I could explain it, Karlach.” He shook his head, almost ashamed to admit it. “She’s lovely, and the first person to come to my aid in many years. I already consider her a dear friend.”

“But?” She prompted, setting her sword down on the ground beside her.

“But there are things that need to be done. Wrongs to right, a world to save.”

“Oh, there’s things that need to be done alright. Take Tav for instance…” Karlach grinned at him.

“Gods, you are tenacious.” Halsin laughed, doing his best to keep his mind from wandering due to Karlach poking his imagination.

“Just…don’t wait too long, yeah? Take it from someone who hasn’t felt a kind touch for ten years. You never know what could happen.”

Wise words. I just wish I could heed them.

“I’ll take that under consideration. Tav’s lucky to have you as a friend, Karlach.” Halsin smiled back at her. “And I hope I can consider you one as well.”

“Of course you can!” She sounded almost offended that he even had to ask.

Before he could say anything else, Scratch and Lunari jumped up from their comfortable position at his feet to trot over toward the edge of camp. The sound of footsteps cut through the sound of the crackling fire. Sniff perked up but seemed content to keep laying at Halsin’s side.

“Oh good, you’re back.” His face lit up as Tav walked back into the camp, her adventuring party trailing in behind her. Karlach let out a quiet, sputtering laugh at his outburst. He walked up to greet her, noticing that she looked a bit different than when she left this morning.

“Do you have new armor?”

“Yep. Fought a lava monster for it.” She said proudly. Singed hairs stuck out in all directions from her braid. Small burns and blisters speckled her neck and hands.

“A lava elemental?” He asked.

“Nope. Lava monster. It was a giant construct guarding the adamantine forge.” Everyone who left with her today looked to be varying shades of burnt. Gale, he noticed, had a new shield as well.

“Well, you certainly have the burns to prove your story.” He teased, earning another proud grin from her.

“Think you can help us out? Shadowheart and I are tapped out of spells for the day. Someone stepped into the lava rather than jumping over it.” She glared back at Astarion who appeared to be missing one of his boots. The bare foot was still badly burnt, he had to lean on Shadowheart’s shoulder for support.

“Of course. Gather close, everyone.” He placed a hand on Tav’s shoulder and muttered an incantation. A couple of waves of healing went out over those around him, eliciting soft groans of relief from each of them. He would have to take extra time with Astarion to heal that foot.

Just to be sure, he did take another quick look at Wyll, checking that he didn’t, in fact, have a broken arm. Everyone seemed to now be unburnt and content as they started making their way to their tents. Tav turned and smiled over her shoulder at him as she strode over to Karlach, Lunari trotting happily beside her. Gale helped Astarion over to a seat by the fire so Halsin could finish healing his burn.

“You know, druid, I happen to know that spell doesn’t require any physical contact.” Shadowheart had snuck up beside him and was smirking. Halsin just grunted in response as she walked away. He didn’t bother teasing her back. Out of all his new companions, he felt the least comfortable around Shadowheart. Her devotion to Shar was a constant reminder of the curse, of what they would have to face in the coming days.

Rather than let himself stew in his hatred for the wicked goddess, he let his eyes wander back to Tav as he made his way over to Astarion. Her soft smile as she began to regale Karlach with the story of their battle soothed him, keeping his chest warm and his mind light. He enjoyed the feeling while he still could, for tomorrow they would take the path to Moonrise Towers, and through the horrible shadows that awaited them there.