Tales from Etheraz: 4/26/26 Dungeon Crawl Recap

Greetings, cronies, coalitions, and children!

I, ATLAS THE BARD, have returned after an “extended vacation” away from my correspondences!! (Grandma’s birthday party took a turn for the deadly: after being attacked by Hollowed, Grandma Atlas killed six of them, and I smashed some heads in with my lute. I may have lost a chunk of my foot, but it was the best birthday ever!) Many extended thanks to KYRAN GREYLING for continuing to herald the deeds of the group of adventurers known as the PC Party to the good people of Arancis!! I have given him much payment (fame and fortune) in gratitude. 

[Transcript: Hello Atlas,

   We got Duncan’s weapon to the West Gate, we had to make bridges across the ditches to get it across. Blakka had explosives similar to the ones Myr Galdur was using, but this time they were in trap form. We’ll have to watch our steps from now on. We found a note with instructions for storing and using the explosives as well as medical reports. The explosives seem very volatile, water seems to trigger them, which is interesting. The traps are activated by something similar to a tripwire. The explosives cause burns, fire resists might be able to help but they can only do so much.

   We also found a journal from a Blakka soldier. It said that as of Tri. 296, early Third Phase, the explosives are only at the West Gate, though that may have changed by now. Hopefully when we take over the West Gate that’ll be the last we have to see of the explosives but I doubt it. The soldier who wrote the journal had a family. If we found it I’m assuming she’s dead now. We were probably the ones who killed her. I hate that we have to kill them but if we don’t they’ll kill us. Even if some of them could be convinced to leave Blakka it’s not worth the risk to us. Ez and ASTE managed to convince one of them to leave though, so that’s one less that has to die. I just wish we could do more.

   We also found a journal from Sergeant Varric Thorne saying that Amon Luv’s execution was a trap for us. Erath knows how we think and he knows that we wouldn’t just leave him there. According to Sergeant Thorne they didn’t know we could cure Amon. Erath knows we have the Hollowed Cure so either he forgot or didn’t tell Blakka for some reason. Did they not know Amon was parasited? Do they not know that the Lord Commander is a Coltar Spawn?

   We launched the weapon at the entrance to the Delves enough times that it collapsed, cutting off their supplies. We didn’t have any deaths on our side. We are going to go back to Bradvlad and wait until their supplies run out.

-Kyran Greyling]

But now I’ve returned, and I come to tell you that the party has begun the siege of the West Wall!! Yes, dear readers, that colossal House Blakka fort helmed by none other than Myr Galdur (a former friend to the party) is now under attack! Hooray!! But it was not an easy feat to get there. Let me regale you all of the journey… 

As Kyran so eloquently wrote, the party received a weapon from Duncan Luv, a renowned smith and dubious ally to the party. The weapon was made out of a mysterious substance called “Rusecryst,” which some clever party members helped gather when they were in the Vault of Karna, but the weapon was unstable and required quite a lot of work for it to fire. Upon arriving at the West Gate, the party found a series of ditches occupied and protected by House Blakka soldiers (who probably weren’t thrilled about the enemy attack or about being in the ditches). The party couldn’t bring their weapon across the ditch without constructing defenses, which meant they had to split their forces: some people, such as the heroic alchemists and smiths, had to focus on preparing the weapon to fire it, while the fighters and rogues had the task of fending off the Blakka soldiers. The goal was to strategically fire upon the mountains above the West Gate to cause an avalanche, allowing nature to do the hard work of killing the numerous Blakka soldiers. 

It was a great plan!! Usually, this is where I would say something sarcastic but no, honestly, this was a good plan. Not an easy plan, though, as preparing the weapon to fire took some extensive preparation, and upon realizing they were under siege, the Blakka soldiers called for reinforcements. In addition, the party realized they would have to fire it more than once; as the first mass of destruction hit the mountains (fired by Blitz, lockpicking extraordinaire), the mountain shook, and rocks fell, but it was NOT ENOUGH to cause their desired avalanche. Drat!!

The party did what they always did: they did not give up. They healed themselves and each other, fortified their armor, and set about trying again. They’d already made the first move, and they just had to do it again! 

The situation was getting tougher, though. The weapon had to be cooled off between rounds, and the only way to do it was for an alchemist to do some complicated alchemy shenanigans. Meanwhile, Blakka was bringing out the reinforcements for realsies, largely in the form of a well-armored squad captain. And by well-armored, I mean WELL-ARMORED. This guy was sporting custom-made armor, and they were shouting about someone named Ferus (I wonder what that means…). The soldiers were also yelling about Myr Galdur, but that was to be expected, as it is his gate the party was attacking. 

Gentle readers, I will not lie to you: this was a tough and brutal fight, with the soldiers of House Blakka fighting desperately for every inch of ground they gathered. The fighters and rogues of the party were operating at their peak performance, guarding the crafters who were doing the essential work of priming the weapon for another shot. And it was a GRUELLING process!! Not only did the weapon have to cool off, but it had to be reinforced by party smiths using pieces of armor stolen from dead Blakka soldiers. Only then could they work on firing it onto the mountains again. The soldiers were closing in, their fighters heavily armored. Could they fight faster than the party could prepare? 

With one final push, Blitz fired the final shot. It soared, and the party waited with baited breath… and watched it CRASH into the side of the mountain, setting off the avalanche they had so waited for!! 

With that, the Blakka soldiers stopped storming, and the party made swift work of the remaining enemies. Readers, the siege of the West Gate had BEGUN!! With that crashing avalanche, the party declared war on the West Gate, and they weren’t stopping until it was free. 

That is the last I have heard, dear readers, and as we speak, the party prepares for the siege. Will they be successful, and Arancis will have another victory against the nefarious House Blakka? Or will they die trying?? Only time will tell. Until then, readers, offer a prayer up to the Gods, and remember: fight together, or die alone.

Signed,

Atlas the Bard