The stained glass design above the sleeping Lord of Ardendale explodes and a cascade of glass rains down around
the party as the dragon above (which has caused the shadow) blasts the keep. Wynter races to a window and notes
that an army of undead is attacking the city.
The party quickly moves into action, as Tigra dives to protect Thundrack. The others grab the two city leaders and
quickly retreat to the basement. Thundrack begins to wake, and mumbles something about “the prophecy coming
to pass.” The party decides to wake him, which they do. He hands Luthien a glass ball and whispers a word to
him, then also tells him that the
crystal ball will take them to a safe place where they should look for a dwarf named Darktooth. He then
turns to leave apparently having
decided to accept his fate and fight the dragon.
At Luthien’s behest the party members each grab ahold of the glass ball. Luthien utters the command word
Thundrack had whispered to him and the party finds themselves to be in a very dark place. It is a large tree,
hollowed out inside to accommodate a fair number of people. There are supplies and a place to sleep, as well as
scrolls and a mirror. Fathan pages through the parchment and discovers how to make the mirror, which appears
to be a scrying device, work. He mutters a few words of magic and the mirror flickers to life, and the party watches
as the undead horde moves in on the city of Eat. There is a sudden blast from the center of the city, and it seems apparant that Thundrack has sacrificed himself to destroy the undead dragon.
The group decides to rest and wait for the siege to finish. Half way
through the night a new force is seen moving in - a force which Tar-Nak and Wynter surmise is the army of the
Goblin King. Shortly the Goblin King himself arrives on a chariot pulled by wolves. He is, surprisingly, not a
goblin, but a very robust, pale man with a billowing black cloak writhing which things can be seen moving. He
also has a very special sword at his side which Tar-Nak takes interest in.
The goblins attack the undead, and the battle seems to even out. Veblen notes at one point that the Goblin King is
talking to a woman; red hair, a tiara of some sort, and very fine clothing. Her images disappears, and the Goblin
King acts upon her instructions.
The part, at Tar-Nak’s insistence, decides to attack the Goblin King. With Tar-Nak in the lead they rush him.
Very quickly it is realized that the party doesn’t stand much of a chance against the King and his forces. Luthien
instead tries a new approach and offers the King some explanation of why the party is here and what is happening,
as well as why they want his sword. A trade is ultimately made; the sword for the fairie coins of wishing that
Luthien had on him. The party then heads back to the tree and find Fuzzy, who has managed to catch up to them
after being missing. She claims that all she remembers is being hit on the head and then waking up...
The party heads back into the tree and discover a trap door leading down. They take the ladder and find
themselves wandering through a maze of some sort under the tree. Eventually they wander into a chamber where
they discover a dwarf who turns out to be the Darktooth that Thundrack had spoken of earlier. He listens to their
tale and then offers to lead them through the maze and hopefully to safety. The party is following him through the
tunnels when they feel a rumble. There is an explosion of dirt as something bursts through the ground...
