SLUMBER OF ANCIENTS
The lowest level of the iron Tabernacle is a seemingly
endless collection of crypts. Laid out according to
patterns or traditions now lost to time, the tombs
contain thousands of Gauntlgrym's honored dead.
Some crypts are simple biers; others are intricate
sarcophagi. All include names. titles, and lineage carved
into the stone. A number of scholars have been drawn
to Gauntlgrym in response to Bruenor's call. hoping
to record a complete lineage of the great families of
Gauntlgrym, including their possible connections to
modern bloodlines, from an exhaustive study of the
records carved in the crypt's stones.
Unlike the rest of the Iron Taber nacle, the tombs are
unmarred. Spectral dwarves arc common in this area,
though their spirits remain quiet as long as visitors are
respectful of the dead. lf any creatures attempt to deface
or steal from the sarcophagi, a mob of dwarven ghosts
quickly attacks. Start with a tot<! I number of ghosts
equal to the number of intruders present, then add two
new ghosts for each ghost destroyed.IRON TABERNACLE RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
The l ron Tabernacle is close enough to some of the
lower reaches and fissures in the Underdark that
monsters from below occasionally find their way in
and set up lairs in one shrine or another. The dwarves
impress upon the characters to be on their guard. or
to take guards with them, if they visit. From time to
time, the sound of combat rings through the tabernacle
hallways, a contrast to the chanting voices of the priests
and a sure sign that something unwelcome has made its
way into this most sacred of places.
Check for a random encounter once every hour
of travel in the Iron Tabernacle by rolling a d20 and
consulting the table below to determine what, if
anything, the characters meet.
IRON TABERNACLE ENCOUNTERS
d20 Encounte r
1 -12 No encounter
13 1 cloaker
14 1d2 driders
15 1 dwarf ghost (friendly unless attacked)
16 Patrol consisting of six shield dwarf veterans
17 1 shield dwarf priest and 1d4 + 1 shield
dwarf acolytes
18 1d6 + 1 gargoyles
19 1 grick alpha and 1d4 + 1 gricks
20 1d 4 rust monstersTHE GREAT FORGE
The Great Forge is a cavernous chamber divided into
smaller sections housing furnaces and anvils. Some
areas of the cavern arc raised on daises of stone, while
others stand in shallow pits. Layers of stone catwalks
crisscross the chamber, providing not only vantage
points but also anchors for pulleys transporting buckets
of ore and water throughout the forge. The Great Forge
is about a half mile south of the Iron Tabernacle and
several hundred feet below it, and can be reached by
mine cart or on foot.
Ir was said of old that the Iron Tabernacle was
Gauntlgrym's heart. the Vault of Kings its mind, and
the Great Forge its mighty hands. Here, on adamantine
anvils blessed by Moradin's priests, wonders were
hammered from iron, milhral. silver. and steel.
When Gauntlgrym thrived. the forge echoed with the
hammering and songs of a hundred smiths working at
once. In time, it might do so again.
It was the furnaces of the Great Forge that made
this place the apex of the dwarf smiths' art, for those
furnaces are driven by the power of Maegera the
Dawn Titan a primordial imprisoned below them.
Slumbering within the stone. Maegera exudes an
unnatural heat that the dwarves tap into by winding
coils of copper and adamantine throughout the forge
like webs and using them as conduits to transfer
magical heat to their furnaces. Runes of power carved
into the walls and etched into the coils allow them
to withstand the intense energy. Metals melt almost
instantly in the furnaces of the Great Forge. and tools
cast from those metals are enchanted with motes of
primordial essence.
When Maegcra awoke in the last century. the earth
shook, and many of the furnaces' conduits were severed.
Today, lengths of twine-thin metal hang limp and broken
throughout the rubble of the Great Forge. which lies
upon the bones of those unable to escape the collapse of
bridges and walls. Other coils remain in place, and the
furnaces to which they are linked burn as hot today as
they did in centuries gone by.THE FIERY PIT
Heat and ruddy light emanate from a pit in the depths
of Gauntlgrym. Chambers and tunnels lead away from
this chasm at different heights. Despite channels built
into the walls to carry water to the magma below. the
heat from the pit is ferocious. Gouts of steam billow up
through cracks in the stone to fill the chambers above
this area, and the earth r umbles in a pulse like labored
breathing.
The Fiery Pi t is the prison of the primordial known as
Maegera, who s lumbers fitfully in its depths. The only
sign of the entity's presence is a whirlpool of white-hot
magma that resembles a great eye. set in the center
of the lake of molten rock at the pit's bottom. Maegera
sleeps and dreams, half conscious of its surroundings
and half delirious with whatever dreams haunt a being
of pure destruction.
When the mages of the Arcane Brotherhood first
tapped into Maegera's power. they used water magic
to bind elementals that cooled the primordial's rage
and kept it asleep. This bond lasted for centuries until
the channels of water were closed through trickery by
agents ofThay. With the pit's cooling mechanism shut
down, Maegera stirred in its slumber, and its dream of
ruination was enough to destroy Gauntlgrym.
In the years following, Maegera groggily awoke
from time to time, causing earthquakes throughout
the region. Eventually, the primordial was returned
to its slumber through the efforts of Bruenor, DrizztC IIAP! J::R 8 I AUDIENCE I N C AUNTLG RYM
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