A Paladin's Revelation
Being the Chronicle of Cadan Dalmas, Knight
BEING a BEGINNING to BOOK VI
A stark choice
stands before us. Do we follow our new-found map to lost Phandelver or march
against that dragon to the north? Both paths are truly perilous, we must make
our decision with care. After so many shared dangers, I can now disclose the
nature of my mission. Please forgive, if you can, my former silence, but
there is too much at stake, too many lives at risk, I had to be sure of
each of you before I revealed the truth. We are more than mere
adventurers chasing reward and renown, we seek a power which threatens every
settlement in the province. The Forge of Lazair Glas may be within our
reach.
You know the
old stories already. Those dwarfs and gnomes had dug deeply. Lost Phandelver
was famed for more than mere metal ore. Those miners had found a green fire, an
eldritch force. Any weapon, shield or mail hauberk tempered in the green flame
of Lazair Glas cut even keener or withstood damage undreamt of, this was the
secret of lost Phandelver.
Our enemies
were many our frontiers under threat. With stealth and care our Forebears
amassed their armouries, instead of a few heroes bearing magic blades, whole
companies could now wield weaponry far deadlier than anything carried by our
foes. When the Long Night fell five centuries ago, our salvation owed
much to the miners of Phandelver. You recall the defence of the Hot
Gates? The odds were impossible, defeat should have been certain,
but that outnumbered garrison bore magic spears from the Forge of Lazair Glas;
they defied each enemy onslaught and held their battered ramparts for the three
days our Marshalls needed. Only one battle from a thirty-year war but
demonstrating a truth stark and simple. The Secret of Phandelver gave us the means
of survival, without the Forge of Lazair Glas we never could have
endured.
Our Forebears endured thirty years of war, famine and madness. Victory came at last, but five centuries on we are still recovering. So much was lost,our ancestors needed all their strength to save the few settlements that endured, they had no time to search for empty places lost and burnt and heavy with dead, places where the land itself had convulsed and changed as great magics shattered the very stone. Nothing remained, the earth seemed to have swallowed Phandelver whole.. Centuries passed, even elves grow old; we thought the Forge of Lazair Glas was gone forever.
Until now,
until these rumours three Dwarven brethren had stumbled across the lost mine? Just
a narrow air shaft but maybe, if the Fates prove kind, still the means of
entering Phandelver once more. Nothing is certain but the stakes are suddenly
very high. If our foes find the Forge of Lazair Glas we are lost, the province
cannot withstand a second onslaught with orcs and trolls bearing enchanted
blades and mail. All our valour and skill will count for nothing, the
Great Shadow would overrun us all in days. That must not, will not ever
happen!
Yet there are
other risks from within our own lands. Too many petty lords place their
own advancement first and foremost; we have proud cities caring more for their
own trading rights than any shared defence, dwarven clans nursing old grudges
and disdainful elves standing aloof.
If any squalid
lord seizes the Forge of Lazair Glas our battered world will be torn asunder.
Neighbours will muster against their former friends, suspicion and greed will
make ‘limited’ wars a ‘reasonable’ venture; the first battles will be small but
the armies will only grow in size and savagery, feudal troops and civic musters
will be bolstered by mercenaries and then even orcs would be invited
within our lands to help each greedy princeling gain some petty
advancement. Some of us met surly Captain Anders along the road, you
remember his suspicion and those levelled lances? His Baron would snatch up the
Forge of Lazair Glas like a gorging serpent. You know what would soon follow
next. Our world barely survived before; we cannot sustain such Chaos ever
again. The Order of Athene hopes to preserve this power for the good of all. I
realise I am asking you all to trust the motives of my Masters, I can only ask
you to recall the good name of my Brethren and those days the Knights of Pallas
Athene were found in the forefront of every charge and among the last warriors
guarding any retreat.
Five centuries
ago my Order helped hurl the Great Shadow from our lands, but little of our old
strength remains. You can appreciate why we move secretly in this matter;
a novice Paladin may walk unregarded where a famed hero draws unwelcome
attention, and better to send a single Knight Errant into the Wilds than
proclaim our purpose too early by despatching an entire armoured company
without proven cause. You have seen the forces already ranged against our
enterprise: abductions along the road, goblins and uruk hai working in concert,
a town terrorised, a noble wizard corrupted. We face a dark and malign mind
with a long reach. Something else clearly seeks the same prize.
My mission is
to confirm if the Forge of Lazair Glas still exists. Our quest will run us to
the limits of our strength and skill. I am sure you can now see the
reason a Cleric and a Paladin are sent together; the Lost Mine of Phandelver
went back to the dark ten lifetimes ago but the dead in those echoing tunnels
may not be sleeping. The way ahead is truly perilous, yet we are less
alone than you imagine. I have a secret ally in Phandalin, a presumed
Halfling farmer south of the town. You have not seen her, but she saw us
arrive. Qelline Alderleaf has the means to contact our Order with a
scrying ball and the ciphers to conceal our findings. My Head Archon will march
in force if the Flame still burns and we can expect a dwarven retinue from
Dain’s Order to accompany them. We have avoided obvious contact
until now, but Mistress Alderleaf is to be trusted. So, I was
told and so I must believe. I planned to inform her of our discovery and then
move directly to investigate the mine.
I regret to
inform you there is still more to consider. If the Forge of Lazair Glas survives but we
cannot hold our ground the Flame must be destroyed. There is a steel framed pouch on my
belt. Within rests two phials of Holy Water. The alchemists of my
Order are certain one vial will be enough to dispel this power forever.
If I am unable to complete my mission, I ask you to take them and be ready
come what may.
This was my
hope but we have a complication. No one ever expected a dragon. Yesterday we
found that luckless cultist here in Cragmaw, a man so degraded he actually
hoped to serve Venomfang the Green! At least that wretch spoke before he died;
we know this dragon lurks in the ruins of Thundertree, a few score miles to the
north. We know this dragon is new to these lands and eager to claim a wider
territory. We know every person within Phandalin will helpless if Venomfang
attacks.
Any dragon is
death from above, their heart’s desire to hunt and harry their prey from the
air. This dragon will only fight on the ground when he knows we are already
dying or scattered in terror. The only mercy is this Venomfang has not
yet grown to full strength; he lacks the size to use his lashing tail as a
weapon, and he can hardly summon elemental magics against us. Yet.
Venomfang the
Green breathes poisonous vapours and you all saw the length of his teeth and
claws. If we move in the open he will see us and the first warning of his
attack will be his green breath burning away our flesh. If we keep to the
trees we have more chance to pass unobserved, but Green dragons are fully at
home in forests and whether on foot or flying Venomfang can move faster. I do
not relish the thought of stumbling into a woodland glade to find his baleful
eyes staring at us across the clearing.
So we can either run for the mine now or face this dragon first. We
saw him devour that company of Hobgoblins, we know this beast is sleeping with
a full belly. Do we march to Phandelver and risk Venomfang rising hungry and
vengeful in a few days time, or do we strike now while our mighty foe is off
guard?
If Venomfang
can initiate any fight we have no hope at all, some of us will be dead very
quickly, the rest will provide some sport before he finally eats them. We have
no chance at all if this dragon launches an attack, but if we choose the
ground, if we plan with care and the fates prove kind, we surely have a
chance to end his threat forever.
Venomfang is a
deadly foe; unknown dangers lurk in the cold tunnels of Phandelver. Both
paths are perilous and the odds are steep, but even if our lives hang in the
balance we are far from helpless while even a faint chance of victory remains.
We must stand
united whichever path we choose.
What will it
be?
Cadan Dalmas, Order of Athene
BEING an END to
BOOK VI
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