Campaign Journal 13 - Part 2, Frayka and the Dawnstone

Our heroes had just returned to Linden...

Ravar's Map (North)

After arriving back in Linden, the party regrouped and took care of a few minor errands. Near dusk, as Thalmyr (dwarven Paladin) was heading to the Wagon Wheel Inn to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner, a shadowy cloaked figure called to him from an alleyway. The figure was roughly Thalmyr's height, and proved to be a dwarf with gray skin and snow white braided beard and hair. The figure introduced himself as Frayka, and proved to be a Granite dwarf, a rarely seen sub-race of dwarves. Granite dwarves almost always have gray skin, white beards and hair, and are often heavily tattooed. They are reclusive, and live in remote areas.

Frayka asked if Thalmyr and his group would escort him to a place he was looking for called the Dawnstone. He was evasive and would not say why, but kept saying that it was urgent, and promised to make it worth their while. He seemed agitated. Thalmyr (and some of the others) were a bit wary, but Frayka appealed (successfully) to his dwarven heritage to help him out. It was agreed that the party would help Frayka find the place.

Based on Ravar Kelt's sketch map and other information, the party had a decent idea that the Dawnstone might be a large site of the Ancients W/NW of the Red Barrows. They had not yet been that far north, judging that if Ravar's notes were accurate, this place should be ~25 miles north of Castle Langborne, or ~45-50 miles north of Linden.

The party left Linden on the morning of Tuesday May 28, a sunny and warm day. About 2 miles outside of town, Frayka stopped near a roadside copse of trees, told the party not to be alarmed, and whistled loudly several times. After a moment or two, another Granite dwarf emerged from the trees. He looked similar to Frayka, but was a twisted hunchback with a pronounced limp. He was more heavily tattooed than Frayka, and was introduced as Meerak. He nodded greetings, but did not speak. Frayka explained that Meerak would not come into town, and had camped in the woods waiting for Frayka's return.

The Dawnstone site

The party headed north in good weather, making decent time. The Granite dwarves were polite but quiet. On the third day of their trip, the party passed east of the hills containing Castle Langborne, and continued north. Early on the fifth day (Saturday June 1), the party saw rolling hills off to the northeast, which they guessed must be the Red Barrows. Skirting these to the west, they came upon another fragment of old Onorian paved road, which they followed north. Late in the day, their destination came into view - a large, complicated and well-preserved site of the Ancients. It was unlike anything the characters had ever seen.

Frayka and Meerak were extremely excited.

From the legends that the characters had heard of the Dawnstone, it was obvious that they had found what they were looking for. A central hillock has a number of round pillars (10' tall) and large upright rectangular slabs (12' tall). In the center is a 6' diameter and 20' tall black stone pillar, carved with faded symbols. At the foot of this pillar, on the east side, is a large table-like rock - this is the Dawnstone itself. The Dawnstone is of a different type of rock than is found locally, and is a semi-translucent white in color. Radiating out from this central formation are ancient stone paths flanked by rows of 10' high pillars, at the end of which is a huge rectangular block facing inward. There are other lines of pillars on the diagonal. At the end of each diagonal line of pillars is another small hillock on which stands another huge rectangular block, also facing inwards.

Legends say that each day at sunrise, for a short period of time, the Dawnstone glows with a red light coming from deep within the stone.

Next - At the Dawnstone.

GM Commentary - I hope the players enjoy this kind of session as much as I do. There was some combat, but also some good roleplaying and storytelling. I'm very much looking forward to developments in the next session.

As for more practical matters, a couple of our characters (Duncan the wizard and Malachy the barbarian) are teetering on the brink of level 4, and are guaranteed to reach that milestone in our next session. Several others are also closing in, and could theoretically make it...