Castles & Crusades Dwarven Glory ...

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Dwarven Glory
“Looking Stones”
Author:
Stephen Chenault
Editor:
Nicole Chenault
Cover Art:
Peter Bradley
Interior Art:
Peter Bradley, Sarah Walker D’Avanzo
Cartography:
Peter Bradley
Art Direction/Cover Design:
Peter Bradley
Interior Design/Layout:
Troll Lord Games
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This module is designed for
characters of 4th-6th level
with a challenge level of 5.
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15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Authors
Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary
Gygax and Dave Arneson.
Castles & Crusades: Players Handbook, Copyright 2004, Troll Lord Games; Authors
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Assault on Blacktooth Ridge, Copyright 2005, Troll Lord Games; Author Davis
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Castles & Crusades Players Handbook, 2nd Printing, Copyright 2006; Authors Davis
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Castles & Crusades: Monsters & Treasure, Copyright 2005, Troll Lord Games; Authors
Robert Doyel and Stephen Chenault.
Dwarven Glory: Looking Stones, Copyright 2006, Troll Lord Games; Authors Stephen
Chenault.
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Dwarven Glory “Looking Stones” 1
Looking Stones
Dwarven Glory is intended as a series of fast play adventure
stories. Each of the adventures are playable as one shot scenarios.
Some are loosely linked. Dwarven Glory takes place in the world
of Aihrde (Erde, Earth, etc), in the southern Rhodope Mountains,
the Smoking Giants. These mountains lie on the far western edge
of the map as presented in the Codex by Troll Lord Games. Usage
of Dwarven Glory in other settings or transplanted elsewhere in
Aihrde is as easy as inding an old mountain chain on your map.
from the mountains’ heights. Their buildings grew ever greater
until the greatest dome was peaked with a high point as a inger
made to reach for the heavens. They built beneath the ground as
well, tunneling great caverns where they captured water and built
underground worlds of atriums, huge galleries, grottos and the
like. They prospered for two thousand years, ruled by the Uthkin
Kings.
They were a prosperous and powerful folk. But as with all great
peoples, war came to their homes and hearths. Their irst great war
was fought with their close kin from Gorthurag. The Kindship
Disputes lasted 200 years. After that the goblins came with war,
pestilence and famine; that war lasted much longer. In time,
Grausumhart succumbed to the weight of the world and fell into
ruin. Her proud towers and walls were pulled down. Her cities and
towns burned. Her underground grottos looded and left foul and
dank. The greater part of her people were slain or scattered.
Looking Stones
pits a group of adventurers against a feliul stone,
a large boulder animated by the lingering spirit of some long dead
dwarf. In this case, the feliul stone has taken up residence in a
long abandoned bath house. The bath house stands upon one of
the great roads that once connected various dwarven towns and
outposts in the mountains. These bath houses were common
enough and very elaborate in their usage of water and steam and
brought great comfort to those who spent their lives on the road.
The dungeon is mall and not elaborate at all. Play should be no
more than one normal spaced session.
This is an adventure for a smattering of characters of levels 4-6. It
is designed for the Castles & Crusades® Role Playing Game.
But those days, mired as they are in the depths of time, are but
echoes heard now by few and remembered by only the oldest and
most learned of the lore drakes. Grausumhart’s cities have all but
vanished from the face of Aihrde; only ruins remain, and even
these have become as much a part of those ancient mountains as
the stone and are faded now, as is much of the Dwarven Glory.
Vocabulary
To make a verb past tense, the verb is followed by “-eth”. So the
past tense of the dwarven word “ish” (is) is “ish-eth” (have or
has).
For the Castle Keeper
In ages past, the dwarves built many roads over the Rhodope
Mountains, for trade between the kingdoms was vital and this
huge chain stood between the Dwarves of Grausumhart and the
Brass Halls of Norgorad-Kam. The remnants of many these roads
criss-cross the Rhodope Mountains. The trained eyes of rangers,
dwarves, druids and the like can detect these roads as they snake
up and down the jagged hills. Doing so makes travel through the
hills and mountains a much less onerous task.
Althip
adj
:
back, to return to
Crusp:
high plateau
Feliul:
magic
Feld
v
:
to dig with hands, burrow
De

n/m
:
she (pronoun)
E

n/m
:
he (pronoun)
Iar
n/m
: cut
Graus
adj
:
grey
Let
n/o
:
bones
Onu
n/m
:
stone
Umhart
n/m
:
layer
The roads were once thriving avenues, illed with great caravans,
marching soldiers, traveling troops and so forth. The Kings of
Grausumhart looked upon the great babbling concourse in dismay.
They maintained the roads and the fortiications at great expense;
an expense that tolls never seemed to cover. So it came to be that
one enterprising monarch, Austcun II, thought upon an idea that
would both make travel easier, and turn a proit. He ordered the
construction of a series of inns, taverns and bath houses along the
roads. They were frequently made of wood and stone, but were
sometimes built underground, fashioned into lavish abodes and
illed with all manner of luxury. This was particularly the case in
the eastern mountains (to the dwarves of Grausumhart the Rhodope
Mountains were on the far eastern edges of their domains) where
natural hot water springs were plentiful. These rest areas were well
received and illed the coffers of good Austcun King II, making
him wealthy beyond measure.
“He has returned to stone” translates to “Althip ish-eth e

Onut..”
“He has stone in his bones” translates to “Ish e

Onu e

lett.”
Introduction
In the far west, upon the slopes of the Umhart Mountains lie the
ancient remains of a once great dwarven civilization. In those
far lung days the Kingdom of Grausumhart echoed the greatest
of dwarven glories. Her people were strong and built many fair
cities and towns upon the slopes of the Umhart mountains and
colonized much of the world’s mountains to thier east and south,
coming even to the edges of the Rhodope. They worked with
natural stone and woods imported from the lands of the Muen in
their building and ever their works mirrored the thoughts of the
All Father as they sought to mimic his skills. So in time their cities
and towns were marvels; wondrous facades of stonework, walls,
towers, bastions standing as strong guardians for the sumptuous
palaces, courtyards, temples and sprawling homes that rose
The greater part of these rest areas were destroyed in the Kinship
Disputes, when Norgorad-Kam stood with Gorthurag against
Grausumhart and later in the Goblin Dwarf Wars. The rest
areas were used as mustering points for troops, or in the case
of underground structures, hiding places for supplies. Secret
chambers were made, doors hidden and locks fashioned. All this
was to keep safe the monies and magic needed by the battle-lords
2 Castles & Crusades
The feliul stone did not only brood however, but haunted the road
as well. He took great sport in rolling down on passing creatures
big or small, man, monster or dwarf, and crushing them to a
boney pulp. There he sits even to this day. Those who trafic in
that country know to keep from that road, but those strangers who
pass by are often crushed and ground to gristle, eaten by the crows
that always inhabit the area.
The Narrows
You a narrow track which winds up and into the mountains.
The road was once heavily traficked, as the cobbles and stones
testify, but it has been long abandoned as time and weather has
wasted away much of the smooth surface. The track offers the
only egress into the tumbled boulders and jagged rocks of this
stretch of the Rhodope.
Following the track soon leads the party into “the Narrows,” a
sliver of a canyon which cuts through towering cliffs. The canyon
is deep and offers much shade from the sun, but too, its high sides
and close walls offer the party dangers from attackers above. A
watchful eye reveals nothing, however, as this stretch of mountain
is much deserted and visited by little but the ravens of the higher
elevations. This stretch of road ropes its way into crags and hills
for many miles.
Wandering Monsters
Rolls should be made on a d12. Six rolls in the day and 4 at night.
A “1” indicates an encounter occurs. Use the following chart for
the encounter. The encounter can be placed either on the cliff
above the party or in the narrows.
1
Stone Giant
2
Assassin Vine with resident pixie
3
Giant Eagle
4
Bones, heap of bones where some battle took place; humanoid
and one giant, nothing of value
5
Hobgoblins, 15, a small raiding party
6
Mountain Lion
7
Sudden rainstorm, minor lood in the Narrows. The party should
be pushed and tumbled and some equipment ruined or washed
away, but no lasting damage.
8
Avalanche. The noise of the party causes a minor avalanche
to occur and rocks and shale to fall into the narrows. Anyone
failing the requisite dexterity save takes 1d8 points of damage.
of Grausumhart. In time of years, these places faded from the
memory of the folk, so that only tell tale rumors were left; rumors
of a past wealth unimagined by men of today.
Some of these abodes, particularly the bath houses, survived the
cataclysms, if not whole, at least in part. Dwarven works are made
to last and though greatly weathered, beaten and often illed with
the refuse of passing monsters - giants and other vermin take up
residence in many of these places - they can still be found by those
who know how to look for them. Many became refuges for the
weary soldiers and houses for the dead.
So it was in the case of Jar’ed of the Spleen. Ages ago, the Jar’ed, a
battle lord commanded a troop of a hundred shields (as the dwarves
style their soldiers) and met his end ighting a great horde of
goblins in the Stone Wars. His body was laid to rest upon a slab of
granite overlooking a deep crevice through which an old dwarven
road ran and before the mouth of a lavish, if long abandoned
bath house. “Ish-eth e

althip Onu” as the dwarves say. His body
returned to stone. But his spirit, illed with rage and hatred for all
things, remained and he became a feliul spirit. In time he shaped
the stone slab into a great boulder, 25 feet in diameter with the
likeness of his face upon the rock. There he lingered, brooding on
the evil of the world and the wrongs done to him and his kin.
Two days travel inds the canyon narrows opening into more
open country. The hills become less stark and more weathered.
The party has risen some thousands of feet from the Shelves of
the Mist below and can see the expanse of open prairie, broken
hills, valleys and the like stretching for miles and miles behind
and below them. The Narrows are plainly visible below, curling
around and winding through the jagged cliffs that are the feet of
the mountains.
The sun is warm and offers little inconvenience to the travelers,
who must by their nature ind some refreshment in the open air.
The morning and noon pass without incident and the party inds
itself on little more than a ride through the country.
Dwarven Glory “Looking Stones” 3
Mal-Uk Upon Us
You are suddenly brought from your relaxed stupor by a low,
if inconsistent, growling. It comes from some distance in front
of the party and seems directed at something other than your
band of weary travelers. The further forward you go, the more
growling you hear. It seems more like a pack of dogs debating
the iner choices of their kill than anything else. Investigation
proves the truth and lie of these thoughts.
where stood the great north-south road. The cleft was a comfortable
place where travelers rested and refreshed themselves before
coming to the road. Water in the pool is cool and very refreshing.
The path is exactly two miles long and empties through a cliff as
stark as where the characters entered. Only one can walk abreast
on the path, and though a horse could it, it would not be able to
turn around.
Old Man Jar’ed
The Cut gives way to an open expanse that sits at the feet of a
gentle slop upon which sits a boulder of mountainous proportions.
The air is cool and a welcome relief from the stuffy paths and
mountain cliffs below. The slope rises about 100 feet above the
party and ends in a narrow ledge. The boulder, easily 25 feet in
diameter and perfectly round, sits upon the edge of the ledge.
There is a noticeable amount of shell and rock scattered all about
the small area before the cliff. Even a casual examination reveals
that the rocky surface of the cliff, particularly that around the
entrance to the Cut, is the source and it looks as if some form of
earthquake has dislodged the rocks and shattered the cliff. The area
around the entrance to the cleft is particularly damaged. But in all,
the small area is silent, with a heavy, fearful air about.
In a shell of a hole, not 300 yards from a saddle back in the road are
a score of thick-limbed, burly men and women. They are clothed in
furs and carry sharpened spears, stone axes and huge clubs. They
have lately slain a large goat and are presently arguing over who
gets what pieces. Their tempers are sharp with one another, but
there is plainly a pecking order and the greater of them is forcing
the others to wait their turn.
These are Mal-uk-Mein, or what the dwarves call the Wild Hill
Men, and are tribal and very territorial. They normally inhabit
the higher climes, but the late wars and thawing of the Winter’s
Dark have left whole regions without people and the Mal-Uk have
grown in number and migrated where there is more to eat and
drink. They are ierce in battle, but only if pressed. If the party
attacks them outright, they fall back to regroup and attack the party
further on up the road. If the party comes at them piece meal, they
will all swarm upon those who approach and rip them to shreds.
They can be bartered with as they are semi-intelligent humans.
If characters examine the entrance to the Cut they should be
allowed to make a wisdom check (CL 5). If successful they
discover tiny bone fragments and pieces of leather or steel mingled
with all the rock and slate. A particularly clever character may note
the similarity between the shape of the boulder and the dent in the
cliff face. A successful intelligence check (CL 10) reveals this and
may serve to warn the characters of what lies in store for them.
Mal-Uk, Humans, 34 (
Their vital stats are HD 1, HP 6, AC
12. Their primary attributes are physical. They attack with
weapons, using a spear for 1d6+1 points of damage, or a club
for 1d6+2 points of strength damage. They have extraordinary
senses of smell and hearing. They are able to move through
mountainous terrain as if it were lat.
)
Here has sat, for many long years, the feliul stone - the boulder
on the ledge. It has sat brooding on its own pain and suffering and
watching the mouth of the Cut for any and all creatures that pass
through it. Upon discovery of the living, its suffering is unleashed
in rage and it rolls down the 100 foot slope to crush any would be
trespassers. For several hundred years it has carried out its grim
task, only recently growing weary and sleeping as much as it is
awake.
The Cut
The track winds into the hills for another few miles and the country
becomes increasingly more treacherous. Open sky gives way to
rocky walls and jagged cliff faces. After several hours, the track
empties out into a bowl shaped cleft that rests at the feet of a
massive wall of rock. The cleft is deep and surrounded on all sides
by the Rhopode. The smooth, obsidian cliffs tower over the cleft,
where cool shadows linger the whole long day. There is a small
pool of water here, cool to the touch. The remains of old benches,
worked into the very stone and walls, are on either side of the small
cleft. Murals, carved with skilled hands, can be discerned in the
cliffs, depicting dwarves at work and rest. But the path here has
long gone unused and sees little trafic, if any.
The stone is presently asleep, but any loud noise, such as a shouted
command or mad dash up the slope, will rouse the creature and
bring down its wrath. Upon waking, it immediately rolls down the
slope, gaining unnatural speed within the irst round of combat.
Within three rounds the feliul stone crashes into the cliff face
below. It awakens and begins moving on the irst round, rolls
down hill on the second and crashes into the cliff and victims on
the third. Anyone trapped below must react within that time frame
before the boulder strikes the mouth of the cleft. Leaping back into
the Cut is the most obvious defense as the boulder will bounce
off the wall, causing more structural damage to the mouth of the
Cut in the process. Leaping to the side is far more dificult as the
creature itself is so wide. Characters attempting to do this must
make a successful dexterity save (CL 3) or be crushed for the full
hit point damage of the Feliul Stone. The boulder drives straight
for the entrance. Once it has smashed into the entrance it rolls back
and forth crushing any and all it sees on the ground around it.
Once the stone has assured itself that those around the mouth of the
There is a narrow opening in the northern cliff’s face where
the track seems to continue on. Upon closer examination the
opening reveals a little path, whether cut by nature’s strange
chance or design none could say, that winds into the cliff face.
The cliff’s are so tall and stark and the path so thin that the way
is more like a tunnel than ought else.
The dwarves of old called this path the “Iar”, that is “the Cut,” for
it was the last obstacle before one came atop the mountain’s ridge
4 Castles & Crusades
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