Reaping 22, 594 CY
Exag

We got a bit waylaid— I remember Janet falling in a pit; the next thing I remember is the sounds of someone shrieking (Fash?) and I found myself standing on top of a dead umber hulk. I have to assume that I killed it single-handedly with my sword to save my cousin while Elizair was keeping an eye on Fash elsewhere.

We continued to wander through the mines. It appears that Fash is no longer chummy with the illithid (and doesn’t really seem to know why he switched sides in the middle of the fight). We occasionally bump into miners, all of which are happily carting iron to the “Forges of the Mountain King.” We followed a group of them, and saw them roll a cart filled with ore into a circle covered in arcane runes, and disappear. They reappeared moments later sans iron. Needing someone to take a look at the forges, I volunteered, and Elizair cast invisibility on me. I cast silence on myself as well, and stepped into the circle.

The first thing I noticed was the heat and the stench of the duergar forge operators. There were mounds of iron piled up everywhere, and some ogrish monstrosity was hauling baskets of the metal to drop down chutes to the forges. At least a dozen forges were in operation, and while I watched, I saw a group of orcs and that mindflayer (or, possibly a different one, hard to tell) receiving the finished product from some of the duergar— shields, weapons and armor. No way I could take out seventy-two duergar, an illithid, the orcs and the ogre, so I teleported back to my companions to give them the news.

We headed towards the only tunnel we hadn’t checked yet, and luckily, it led to a shaft going straight up and out of the mines. Better still, we were on the outside of the wall around the mining camp, so we are able to leave without having to deal with the miners families— it’s hard to know who to trust.

Still, we have to trust someone, so when we got back to Exag, we told Commander Bragus (I’m told to call him “Allister”) about the situation. Elizair seems to be forming a plan of attack to thwart the illithid and his little army. I find myself more interested in the watch commander….