Tip of the Diceberg

Session 15: Cart, Crow, and the Fire Newt Forge

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From the session journal

Session 15: Cart, Crow, and the Fire Newt Forge

Session date: 2026-08-25
Campaign: Tip of the Diceberg
Status: Canon summary with review flags

Provisional Hrakhamar forge study: an empty magma workshop with rails, one minecart, overhead hoists, two ore buckets, workbenches, an anvil, tools, chains, debris, and magma channels; the party, firenewts, dwarves, TNT carrier, casualties, combat, and definitive layout or object counts are not depicted

Previously on…

The party had killed Siegfried at the bottom of Wyrmheart Mine, but the victory fractured them. Faf, furious that the others rushed the dragon’s gold while he lay unconscious, withdrew to the entrance with Moghammer while Bodius, Isilrod, Bonzo, and Clarky remained at the hoard. Two chests, the quipper pool, and an elevated railway into the dark still waited below.

The Last Two Chests

The two disputed chests were real, and this time the party opened both. The first held a remarkably fine white fishing net and _The History of Shadowfang Keep_, an Ancient Aldani book by Lobolobolob that nobody present could read. Isilrod picked the second lock and found an Ancient Aldani heavy-armor recipe, a written Song of the Albino Dwarf, and 455 gp. The new gold and documents entered party inventory, but their exact carriers and final division were not settled.

Faf returned, but forgiveness required accounting. The others restored roughly the missing share of the earlier hoard, and Faf then contributed 500 gp from an older obligation to Moghammer’s party purse. The overlapping arithmetic is too noisy for an exact ledger, but the material result was clear: Faf rejoined the group, warning them, “No share, no shield.” The black dragon-scale scabbard remained unclaimed.

Quippers, Dreams, and Webs

Using a trace of manticore blood as bait, the party caught two live quippers in the fine net and transferred them into a water-filled jug. They then followed the elevated railway far enough to make camp. The DM allowed one final early long rest despite less than a full day having passed.

Bodius slept beneath the painting of his family and dreamed again of the happy home scene it depicts. When everyone woke, fresh webs filled the shaft ahead. A thrown sickle cut them away, but nothing revealed what had spun them.

The table also reviewed its larger promises. LeGrand had already been warned about Jabari’s threat and was searching for Artus Cimber. If the party finds Artus first, it must tell him about Jabari Muktow’s betrayal and recruit him for Oliver Watto’s coming fight. The expedition was estimated at roughly two weeks underway, but no exact countdown or death-curse loss was reconciled.

The Forge Below Wyrmheart

The railway did not lead outside. It climbed through a long, cold, wet, bone-strewn shaft toward machinery and a red glow, then opened onto an active magma forge with ore hoists, moving barrels, workbenches, trenches, and dwarven dead.

The party split to scout. Faf and Isilrod lured two magma-skinned firenewt warriors around a corner and killed them. Bodius used Disguise Self to become a horned mining cart while Bonzo rode along in raven form. Their branch led to two emaciated pale dwarves chained in side alcoves.

One prisoner, Simon, was nearly unresponsive. The other could speak, but his name was never established. He said he had been born in the forge and that the firenewts had arrived as flame-stoking workers before seizing the complex and torturing the dwarves for knowledge of its operation. Bodius gave the speaking prisoner a minor healing potion, then shattered both captives’ chains with Eldritch Blast.

The unnamed dwarf believed he could not survive a direct fight. After the party persuaded him to carry its last TNT barrel into the forge, he leapt into the magma and died in the explosion. Fire could not harm the firenewts, but the concussion shoved and injured two of them and drew the larger force toward the party. Simon’s final condition and location remain uncertain.

Provisional Cart-and-Crow illusion study: one decorative wheeled mining-cart illusion with a ram-like horned front and one black raven in an empty mine passage; Bodius's underlying body and limb arrangement, Bonzo's humanoid form, other characters, creatures, combat, and definitive cart, raven, or mine design are not visible

Cart and Crow

The party reunited above the forge. On the way, Isilrod staged a convincing fall from the overhead barrel route to test whether Faf’s loyalty had truly returned. Faf caught him, although Isilrod clipped the wall for one damage. It was an absurd test, but Faf passed it.

Their ambush plan was better. Isilrod dropped Stinking Cloud across eight gathered firenewts. Cart-disguised Bodius and raven-form Bonzo sold the approach, then Bodius used Misty Step to reposition while a real ore cart carried Faf and Bonzo into the attack. Bonzo tore through the cloud with acid claws from Primal Savagery, Faf carved through the formation with Debt Collector, and Bodius worked from range with Hex and Eldritch Blast.

The long fight ended with Isilrod firing Jim Henson and the Giant Slayer Hand Crossbow, then finishing the last firenewt with a Slashing Flourish. Together with the two scouts, the party killed ten firenewts in the session. With the immediate forge battlefield cleared, all four player characters advanced to level 6. Their individual level-six features, spells, feats, and hit points remain pending updated character sheets.

Outcomes

  • Both remaining hoard chests were opened, resolving their Session 14 state.
  • The party recovered the fine fishing net, The History of Shadowfang Keep, the Aldani heavy-armor recipe, the Song of the Albino Dwarf, and 455 gp.
  • Faf’s disputed hoard share was materially restored, and the party reunited.
  • Two live quippers were captured in a water jug.
  • The elevated rail was explored and found to lead deeper into Wyrmheart’s active magma forge.
  • Fresh webs appeared during the long rest; their source remains unseen.
  • Two pale dwarven captives were freed. The unnamed speaking captive died in the TNT attack; Simon’s final state remains unclear.
  • The party killed ten firenewts in total and cleared the immediate forge encounter.
  • Bodius, Bonzo, Faf, and Isilrod reached level 6.
  • Warn LeGrand is confirmed complete; LeGrand is searching for Artus.

Open Threads

  • Determine how far the active forge extends and who, if anyone, still operates its machinery.
  • Learn Simon’s condition and final location.
  • Identify the source of the fresh webbing in the rail shaft.
  • Translate The History of Shadowfang Keep and the Aldani heavy-armor recipe.
  • Audit the 455 gp, the new documents and gear, the two scimitars, and the earlier hoard reconciliation.
  • Confirm whether the Jug of Living Lightning survived the Siegfried fight. Resolved after Session 17: the DM confirmed the jug was consumed; thrown consumables are assumed not to survive.
  • Rejoin Jacques LaFleur and Summer Mooneyham for the Shadowfang Keep rescue.
  • Find Artus Cimber, recruit him for Watto’s raid, tell Flea about Mosquito, and keep the death-curse and Balm Bitdoom clocks moving.

Transcript note: Deepgram, the primary transcript, ends during Isilrod’s final attack. The supplemental Google Recorder transcript preserves the coherent tail in which the last firenewt dies and the party reaches level 6.

Transcript: Full session transcript

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