Taking a good amount of time, Krynn's Vanguard rested, regaining their strength, gathering supplies, planning, and making sure they were completely prepared before heading out towards Thorbardin.
Using Armantaro's Teleport they took the safe option of going back to Qualinost and taking a bit of a trek to Thorbarding. Their journey was fairly uneventful but as The trail wound up through the rugged foothills, the air grew colder with each step. Shadows stretched long across the rock, and the last light of the sun caught on the distant peaks. Rounding the final bend...the party could see it.
The Gates of Thorbardin.
Or what's left of them.
Once a marvel of dwarven engineering—towering metal doors etched with ancient runes and sealed for centuries—they now lie twisted and mangled. The iron has been warped, not smashed from the outside, but forced open from within. The left gate has buckled inward. The right hangs loose, its bottom edge peeled like paper.There are no scorch marks. No signs of a siege. No evidence of dragonfire or battering rams. No camps, no bones, no blood.
Just... silence. A deep, unnatural stillness.
The closer they got, the worse it gets. The iron reeks faintly of rot, like something long sealed away has been let loose. The stone walls surrounding the gate are clawed in places—deep gouges you don’t remember being part of the dwarven carvings.
This wasn’t the work of the Dragonarmies. This came from inside.
As they steped closer, a gust of cold air pushed out from the dark entrance. It carries the stink of old, wet stone and something else—something wrong. You feel it in your chest. A pressure. Like the mountain itself is holding its breath.
Somewhere deep beyond the gate, a faint scraping sound could be heard. Stone on stone.
Whatever sealed Thorbardin shut… is gone. And something else came out.
Investigating deeper, the party came across three dwarves near the entrance, one Cleric of Reorx and two guards who were badly injured. Helping out the cleric, they gave the party a bit of information. They were suddenly attacked. Only theories about how it happened but nothing confirmed. Suddenly demonic creatures rampaged their way through Thorbardin and something broke through the gates. There were possibly more pockets of survivors, but the outlook was grim.
Combing the area, the party encountered a number of demonic beasts such as Hezrous, Glabrezu, Vrocks, and Marlilths. Certainly there were more. They did find one dwarven survivor who was managing to hold back intruders by shutting the gates to other areas and locking himself in. He was hesitant, but eventually escaped with the others as the party continued to investigate. What happened here that the city is overrun with Demonic creatures? And how did they get in? Only time will tell.