Side Story 1: Visitors from Duerok (The Dwarf Capital)

As the PCs rest for the night at the Dragon Burial site, they see something odd...

The night sky is clear, but way off to the North, you see a meteor shower striking the ground. You recognize the phenomenon as the Lunar Rains, which you encountered first hand just over a month ago. The meteor shower lasts roughly 2 hours. Near the end of the shower, a huge object speeds past you and heads towards where the lunar rains have just ended. Orla recognizes an insignia on the side of the vessel that the object originates from the Dwarven Capital of Duerok (far to the West).  The vessel is a woodenship with a ballon on top of it and flame jets shooting out the back.

After two days of travel towards shadowfell keep, the landscape turns from the lush vegetation of trees and grass that you are use to, to a grey suet of space dust and the blackened char of fiery impacts. None of the trees that were once here remain, instead, only scorched stumps. With the way the surroundings look, you can easily guess that anything under the lunar rains here suffered a blazing hell before meeting their ultimate death. Ahead, there is a valley and from the valley, you can see the purple top of the vessel that speed past you earlier. Black smoke channels up from the valley.

Pippens and the Rangers sneak up to the area and see many dwarfs investigating the lunar rocks. The head back to the group to report and Selena approaches the dwarfs.

Upon spotting you, all of the Dwarfs raise their weapons on you. In the immediate area, you see 12 plain clothed dwarfs holding spears at you as though the spears are crossbows, four heavily armoured Dwarfs in full-plate holding crossbows unlike any you have seen before, and one extremely armoured Dwarf in a thick full-plate suit with two smoke stacks on his back. This dwarf holds a large maul and a shorter but wider version of the spears that the unarmoured dwarfs carry. Near the middle of them is an unarmed male Dwarf sitting on top of a weird contraption wearing some of the finest clothes you have ever seen.

The vessel they came from is on the other side of them. It appears to be a 20’ by 60’ by 30’ tall sailing ship. You have heard stories of Elves having sailed the high seas before the fall of their empire; however, the stories that you have heard have never described such a thing with a large purple floating object attached.

Irontooth! Men! Stand down! I don’t think these people are here to hurt us.

Who are you?

Selena Answers.

NPC…

I am Stenian, a scientist and engineer from Duerok and this is my crew and hired guards. I am here investigating the lunar rains. Do you know anything about this stuff?”

He olds a meteor the size of Osgrym in the claw of his contraption and gestures it forward to you.

Selena Converses…

NPC…

 “These rains are very dangerous and have already destroyed many cities and civilizations in our empire. From the air, we can see that roughly 40% of the land has already been covered in this grey suet. Oversized Lunar dragons more powerful than any known creature on Earth laid siege and now nest in Rook, one of humanity’s only two metropolises. While Duerok and most Dwarven settlements are standing up well to the Lunar rains and these new monsters, we have found our new greatest threat is surface dwellers. That is why I am here, to study the lunar rains to find the key to ending them. Once they are ended, the surface races will hopefully stop invading our homes. Because of how readily desperate surface dwellers attack our homes and vehicles, my brothers took up arms quickly upon spotting you. You will have to forgive use for that.

Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to work.”

Stenian begins investigating the newly fallen rocks again.

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