Martaugh the Mad
The heroes teleport to the designated meeting place where the silver dragon vampires Lashonna agreed to meet them for their exchange. Lashonna had agreed to acquire Prince Zeech’s shard of the Rod of Seven Parts in exchange for the heroes finding and retrieving the phylactery of Dragotha; her master that she desperately wants to be freed from. The heroes inquire as to what she will do with the phylactery and, surprisingly, she says nothing. She tells the heroes that she cannot take the phylactery because Dragotha will instantly know if it is in her possession and will force her to bring it to him. Instead, she tells the heroes that she will need for them to destroy it and the only way to do that is to trick Dragotha into breathing his dragonflame on the phylactery. She reminds the heroes that they need to get the shard of the Ro7P that is in his hoard and that a confrontation with Dragotha is inevitable. She tells them what they can expect in the lair; lots of Kyuss spawn in and around the lair, lots of dragons, and, of course, Dragotha himself. She also says that the Black Obelisk that Kyuss is imprisoned within is also in the lair, last she heard, but it can only be destroyed with the whole and fully functional Rod of Law. She tells the PCs that they are not yet ready to face Dragotha, then turns into her gaseous form, dropping the shard of the Ro7P, and leaving them to decide their next move.
The heroes return to Magepoint with the new segment of the Ro7P attached and mull over what to do next. They could go to Dragotha’s lair, where the next segment of the Ro7P is located; or they could go meet with the dwarf king Martaugh who has another shard of the Ro7P and is also in possession of another item the heroes need – the Sword of Annihilation; or they could go to Greyhawk and try to acquire the last shard of the Ro7P from the ziggurat where it lay and that is likely guarded by the Faceless One and all manner of Kyuss spawn. They decide to meet with Martaugh the Mad to try and convince him to give them both the shard and the sword to help save the world. Halimyr does some scrying in Martaugh’s throneroom to get an idea of what they would face and sees that he has a host of dwarves within his halls, a priestly advisor and two pet black dragons. They grab some items from Tenser’s treasury in case they need to bargain with Martaugh and then they teleport to the Kingdom of Ratik where Martaugh’s fortress is located.
The heroes arrive on the trade road that leads to Martaugh’s mountain fortress. The road is busy with all manner of merchants, traders and slavers moving along it. They see the fortress nearby and the trade road that zig-zags up the mountain pass to the entrance to the fortress that is carved in the likeness of a dwarf king’s head with the mouth being the entrance. Three dwarf soldiers notice the heroes arrival and approach them asking their business. Micah addresses the dwarves, demanding an audience with King Martaugh. The lead dwarf laughs at her and she punches him right in the face, flooring him. The soldier’s two companions burst out in laughter at their comrade being humiliated by a woman and an elf at that. The soldier gets up to retaliate, rage turning his face bright red, but his companions hold him back and say that perhaps they should take her to the king and see how he deals with an elf in his kingdom. The humiliated soldier seems to like that idea, so the three take the heroes up the trade road and into the mountain fortress.
Inside the mountain is an expansive dwarven city and the heroes are escorted to Martaugh’s throne room. Micah is initially looked upon with suspicion but she had donned a Belt of Dwarvenkind prior to leaving Magepoint and its magic seems to mitigate the dwarven animosity against elves enough to allow the group to pass without difficulty and to approach the throne room. Within, they find Martaugh on his throne, massive mug of ale in one hand, his two dragons on either side, and his advisor behind the throne. Micah moves swiftly to the steps leading up to the throne and beseeches Martaugh, asking for his assistance in dealing with the threat posed by Kyuss that, although has not yet reached this coast, will eventually consume the world if not stopped.
The day prior to this, the heroes had done some research on Martaugh to get a better understanding of the dwarf king and how to deal with him. They learned that 100 years earlier Martaugh, as well as a relative of Micah’s, had been part of a band of heroes that operated out of the southern country of Sunndi and were known as the Flames of Sunndi (FoS) after having stopped the machinations of a corrupted Heironeous priest from summoning Orcus and his host of demons and undead. The FoS had quested to forge a mighty weapon that could destroy the mighty demon lord and cast him back into the Abyss. The weapon, the Sword of Annihilation, successfully destroyed Orcus’ physical form and the killing blow was dealt by Martaugh. Afterwards, Micah’s relative (also named Micah) and the party’s paladins Jhixal and Caltosh, had tried to convince Martaugh that the Sword of Annihilation was too dangerous and that it needed to be unmade now that the threat of Orcus had passed. Martaugh refused to listen to reason and, according to some bard’s tales, this was partially due to the friction between he, Jhixal and Micah, who the dwarf seemed to have a fondness for. Micah and Jhixal were said to have been involved with each other and Martaugh’s jealousy, coupled with his belief that the sword was his legacy, resulted in a fight. Martaugh managed to overpower the others and took the Sword of Annihilation and left the Flames of Sunndi.
Over the next several decades, Martaugh and the Sword of Annihilation traveled the lands, acquiring followers and amassing an army in which he used to conquer the lands to the north of Sunndi, finally settling in Ratik. Martaugh consolidated his power there and his bloody trail earned him the moniker of “Martaugh the Mad”.
Now, Martaugh looks down upon the figure kneeling at the steps leading up to his throne, and sees the likeness of his former companion, who he has not seen in 100 years. Intrigued, King Martaugh asks who this bold and foolhardy elf is that barges into his throne room bearing the countenance of his long lost love and demanding his aid. Micah says that she is the great niece of the Micah that Martaugh knew and again tries to convince him to help them stop the Age of Worms from spreading into his lands. Martaugh seems unconcerned with this, but he stands and tells Micah that if she is who she claims to be then she may touch the Sword of Annihilation without fear of being consumed by it, for the sword would not harm the bloodlines of those who participated in the forging of the weapon. Micah was initially hesitant but reached out and touched the blade and passed Martaugh’s test. Satisfied that she was who she claimed to be, the dwarf king told her that he is unconcerned with matters outside of his kingdom. Micah tried to reason with him, offering him the items that they had taken from Tenser’s treasury, but Martaugh wanted none of it. The king did tell Micah that there was one thing that she possessed that he wanted from her and was willing to give her the shard of the Ro7P in exchange for the exact whereabouts of Micah’s aunt.
Micah knew that her aunt had left the Flames of Sunndi 100 years ago and went to serve Queen Yolande of the elven nation of Celene, but had disappeared some time ago. Knowing of Martaugh’s fondness for her, Micah had used one of Tenser’s scrying crystals the night before to see if should could locate her aunt in case she needed her help. She did manage to locate the elder Micah in the Feywild in the service of the Erlking – Master of the Wild Hunt. But the Erlking did not take kindly to the magical scrying into his domain and the scrying crystal shattered.
Before she could respond to him, Martaugh told his advisor to create a zone of truth around them to ensure that the elf spoke truthfully. The priest did as he was bade and Micah told Martaugh that her aunt was in the service of the Erlking in the Feywild. Martaugh seemed pleased with this information and gave Micah the shard of the Ro7P. He rose from his throne to make preparations to invade the Erlking’s realm when Micah asked for one more favor – to borrow the Sword of Annihilation so that Kyuss may be destroyed with it. Martaugh scoffed, saying that the sword will never be held by another, and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, Micah’s companions watched this scene from behind her. When King Martaugh turned to leave, refusing to give up the Sword of Annihilation, Halimyr pulled out his Talisman of the Sphere that the group had acquired in their very first adventure together back in the Whispering Cairn, and used its power to gain control of the sword, which had a Sphere of Annihilation embedded within it. Martaugh, unsuspecting of any attempts to wrest the weapon from him was unprepared with Halimyr used the talisman, and as a result the sword flew from Martaugh’s hand and landed in Halimyr’s. An enraged Martaugh turned at this treachery, his face red with rage, and the heroes then realized that they were about to fight a legendary warrior in his own throne room, with dozens of his servants and two black dragon pets.
End of session.
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