The Lost Book of Grudges: Deep Three – Sanctum of Blackfang

(Quest Prologue)
(Continued from Deep Two - The Spider Pits)

The Warriors continue their penetration of the Blackfang Orc lair.  This underground complex was once the Hold of the Stonebrow Dwarf Clan, and the Warriors were hired by one of the last living members of that old Clan, Galius Stonebrow, to find the Clan's Book of Grudges.  The Book is supposed to lie somewhere here in Deep Three.  But this Deep also happens to be the Sanctum of Blackfang, monstrous leader of the Orc tribe.  The Warriors will need to either avoid, or eliminate Blackfang in order to succeed.

Note: This adventure is intended to be run with a Gamesmaster, as it contains information that should not be provided to the Warriors until the proper time.

Moving from Deep Two to Deep Three

• The Warriors are able to find a resting place between Deeps, and enter Deep Three at full Wounds and Power.
• Remember, if the Warriors had to retreat to a Settlement during their explorations, add 1D6 Orcs to the first Unexpected Event.

Setting up the Dungeon Deck

• Reserve Gorgut's Lair and the Forgotten Chamber, then draw 12 random Dungeon Cards.
• The GM should randomly pick a Dungeon Room from these 12, and note down which Room it is.  This Room contains the secret door leading to the Book of Grudges!
• Build the Dungeon Deck normally, using Gorgut's Lair as the Objective Room.  Keep the Forgotten Chamber to the side for later.

Special Rules

Locating the Door of Frost

In one of the rooms in the dungeon is a secret, magical Door of Frost, beyond which is the resting place of the Stonebrow Clan's Book of Grudges.  The Door is concealed by a thin layer of masonry.  Through various clues in the prior Deeps, the Warriors might become aware of the Frost Door.

• When the Warriors enter the room that the GM secretly determined contains the Door of Frost, the GM should next randomly determine which wall the hidden Door is set into.
• If any Warrior moves adjacent to that wall, the GM should indicate that they feel a strong cold emanating from the wall.
• If a Warrior brandishes the Granite Orb Scepter (a Deep Two Special Treasure Card), it will begin to glow when the Warriors enter the room containing the Door of Frost, and glow brilliantly as soon as the Warrior steps adjacent to the wall containing the Door.
• If a Warrior indicates that they are searching in the area that contains the Door, the fragile masonry quickly crumbles away, revealing the frozen Door.  Place a Doorway on the board to represent the Door of Frost.

The Door of Frost appears to be made from faintly glowing, blue ice.  In the center of the frost-encrusted door is engraved a circular depression about 2 inches deep and a foot in diameter, icicles dangling from the top.

• The Door radiates such extreme cold that any figure that begins their turn adjacent to it suffers 1D3 unmodified Wounds.
• The Door is magically sealed, but could be battered down with enough force.  It has a Toughness of 5 and can sustain 30 Wounds from hand weapons or Magic Spells (Fire attacks do double damage).
• An easier way to open the Door of Frost is to insert either the Dwarf Stone RuneDisk (Special Treasure Card from Deep One) or the Granite Orb Scepter (Special Treasure Card from Deep Two) into the circular area of the door.  Doing so causes the Door to open with a crackling of ice.

Objective Room - Sanctum of Blackfang

It is quite possible for clever Warriors to discover the Book of Grudges on their own without even needing to enter the Objective Room.  However, if the Warriors manage to defeat Blackfang and his minions, the reward is great.  Doing so also provides a clear cut clue leading to the Book of Grudges in this Deep.

• Place Blackfang on the throne on the upper level of the Room.  He and his minions will use the height to their advantage as much as possible during the battle.
• Next to Blackfang, place his Ogre bodyguard, Morg (assuming Morg was not killed in an Unexpected Event).
• If Tarantalus survived his encounters with the Warriors in Deep Two, place him in the room next to Blackfang as well.
• Along with this cast of colorful characters are 1D6 Black Orcs and 1D6 Orc Archers.  Roll 2 dice for each group of Monsters and use the higher number.

Reward

• If the Warriors defeat the Monsters, they discover an Objective Room Treasure, as well as the Black Stone RuneDisk (Deep One Special Treasure Card) if they do not already possess it.
• Additionally, the Warriors find ancient stone tablets that describe how the Book of Grudges was sealed behind a hidden Door of Frost located somewhere in this Deep.  Any Dwarfs in the party can read this information.  If there are no Dwarfs in the party (pity!) then the Warriors will need to make a trip back to a Settlement with the documents so they can be translated by Galius.  Based on this information, the Warriors may desire to start searching rooms for the Door.  If so, use the Search Rules described here.  When they Search the room that contains the Door, reveal it to them after the Warriors are repositioned.

The Book of Grudges

When the Warriors Explore through the Door of Frost, place the Forgotten Chamber board section.  Inside they discover the ancient Book of Grudges sitting atop a pedestal made of crystal.  Any Warrior can pick up and lug the Book with them, but it is bound in iron and extremely heavy and bulky.

• The Warrior carrying the Book of Grudges suffers a -2 to their Movement rate.

Completing the Quest

After making it back to a Settlement, Galius spends the next 2D6 days combing through the Book and carefully communicating his findings to his trusted contacts in Dwarven society.  Something big is surely on the horizon ... a shake up of Dwarven politics of a titanic scale!

The Warriors need to remain in the Settlement while Galius spends this time planning and organizing.  After he is completed, he is able to pay the Warriors a handsome reward indeed ... a portion of the funding he has received to set in motion what needs to be done next to correct a grievous crime!  Each Warrior receives 500 Gold for completing the Quest!

Special Event Cards

To build the Event Deck for this Deep, draw 8 random Event Cards and mix these with the Special Event Cards below, as well as any unused Special Event Cards from Deeps One and Two.  Place these cards on top of the Event Deck.

1D6+1 Black Orcs and 1 Ogre.  The Ogre is Morg, Blackfang's bodyguard.  If he is killed here, he will not appear in the Objective Room.

Two-Pronged Attack!  A group of Blackfang Orcs have been tracking the Warriors and spring a well-planned attack.  Place two groups of Orcs, 1D6 in number each, on opposite ends of the Warriors.  Use a newly-explored board section if need be to place the second group.  Each group appears 1D3 squares away from the Warriors.

The Fang Door.  The next doorway that the Warriors uncover is engraved with a gaping, fanged mouth, and radiates foul magic.  The Warrior who attempts to Explore beyond this door must struggle against the enchantments of Tarantalus.  The Warrior must pass a Willpower Check or they reel against the Spell, suffer 1D6 unmodified Wounds, and are knocked unconscious for 1D3 turns.

Trap!  The Spiked Crusher.  A random Warrior sets off a trap.  A massive, spiked iron grating drops from the ceiling, doing 2D6 Wounds on all figure in a 2x2 area, pick an area that contains the Warrior who set the trap, plus as many Warriors and as few Monsters as possible.  Use a Pit of Despair marker to represent the trap.  Moving out from under this trap is also quite difficult and hazardous.  It takes a complete turn of movement, and inflicts a further 1D6 Wounds.  Moving into a square containing the trap requires a successful Initiative Check or the figure loses their footing and falls into the square, taking 1D6 Wounds, and remains prone until the start of their next turn.

Dwarf Wall Engravings.  The Warriors come upon a wall that is adorned with beautiful frescoes depicting life in the Dwarven Hold as it was before these delves were overrun by Orcs and Skaven hundreds of years ago.  The work is so inspiring that each Warrior gains +1 to hit during the entirety of the next (or current) combat, with any Dwarfs in the party also gaining +1 Attacks.

Trap!  Barbed Portcullis.  A heavy iron portcullis laced with razor sharp spikes drops from the doorway that the Warriors entered from, sealing them in.  To make matters worse, 1D6+1 Orc Archers take up positions behind the blocked portal and begin firing at the Warriors.  To lift the portcullis requires a full Warrior Phase, and a Strength Check at 9 difficulty.  But during each attempt the Warrior exposes himself to savage cuts from the barbs and spikes, taking 1D3 unmodified Wounds.

Dissenters.  The Warriors encounter a group of 1D6+1 Orcs who signal that they want to parlay.  Assuming the Warriors do not attack, this group reveals themselves to be dissenters who seek to topple Blackfang.  They see him as an abomination who needs to be wiped off the Greenskin map.  Since the Warriors are already running amok in the lair, the dissenters offer to juice things up if the Warriors can eliminate Blackfang.  Should the Warriors accept the offer, the dissenters will be watching from a distance (they cannot make their presence known to any of the other Blackfang Orcs.)  After Blackfang and his minions are killed in the Objective Room, roll below:

1-2. The dissenters pounce on the party, attempting to enslave them as they claim rulership of the tribe.  Should the Warriors lose this battle they are not killed but are subdued, and can reawaken in a holding cell which will set up the next adventure in which they need to escape.
3-4. The dissenters congratulate the Warriors and offer them half of a Gold cache worth a total of 2D6x100 Gold.  The Warrior can attack the dissenters if they wish to try and claim the entire cache, or can accept the reward at which point the shadowy Orcs disappear into the tunnels.
5-6. The dissenters proclaim the Warriors heroes, and the entire tribe is grateful to them for slaying the tyrannous Blackfang.  For the rest of the adventure, the Warriors can ignore any Event Card that results in Greenskins or Ogres.

Special Treasure Cards

To build the Treasure Deck for this adventure, draw 8 random Treasure Cards, and mix them with the 2 Special Treasure Cards below, as well as any of the unused Special Treasure Cards from Deeps One and Two.  Place this stack on top of the Treasure Deck.

Estalian Dueling Pistol (800 Gold)
This finely crafted dueling pistol looks like a valuable heirloom of ancient Estalia.  What it's doing here is anybody's guess, but if the noble family in Estalia could be tracked down, they would doubtless pay a fortune for its return.
The value of the item (800 Gold) represents what a normal Gunsmith would pay for the item.  The pistol is of no use in adventuring, being made specially for dueling purposes only.  If the Warriors could track down the noble family in Estalia that this Pistol originates from the reward could be much greater.

Map to a Chaos Cult Caverns
Tucked in leather satchel hidden under a flagstone you discover a brown, faded map with accompanying writings.  The map details the location of secret Chaos Cult in the World's Edge Mountains, and the writing claims that the Cult is in possession of a powerful artifact.
Draw an Objective Room Treasure Card and use this as the basis for a future quest.