The Kinstrife

Part 36

In which we finish searching through Celebrindor’s desert fortress at the Tears of Niennor, destroying more warrior automata and acquiring considerable amounts of loot; we then enter the tunnels beneath the fortress, returning Miriman to her village and discovering Celebrindor’s hidden underground fort; then we return to Umbar to liquidise our loot and ask Neithan for a lift home while Ilviren takes command of her ship.

July 9^th 1441

We pass a peaceful night in soft beds and clean, white (though slightly stale) sheets and we all wake refreshed save for Aerin, who is still feeling very poorly indeed. We must ensure she stays out of trouble and does not over exert herself.

We search the glassware workshop: much glassware is smashed, the shards crunching under our feet; a small portion of the glassware has survived but it would be difficult to transport and of value only to a fellow practitioner of the dark arts, but the shelves on the far side of the room are intact and full of jars of powders, compounds and other substances, including five carboys of a liquid metal!

There are also five unlabelled pots: one is clearly of sulphur (even I recognise the bright yellow flowers); one is of raw spirit; another of a soapy paste that Aerin believes to be a cleansing agent. But the last two are full of a foul-smelling paste that reminds me strongly of the some of the more exotic cages in Queen Murabeth’s menagerie. We cannot identify the substance and cannot imagine anyone paying money to own such foul stuff so we leave it behind but Brand and Pimm together reckon the lot should prove quite valuable.

There are still three automata left in each of a storeroom and the clockwork mechanism workshop. Our tactics now honed to perfection, Brand and Pimm stand in the doorway and loose 3 arrows each at the oncoming automata before falling back to let Ilviren, Misternil and I deal with them individually at close range.

The automata in the storeroom are dealt with Ilviren taking just a scratch to her arm. In the storeroom we find sundry materials as well as a small stock of gold, silver and base metals as well as artisan’s tools, crowbars and rope. Some of the sundries we will find a use for in the tunnels below but, as the son of a merchant prince, I reckon the base metal and bullion to be worth a shade under 90 crowns.

The automata in the clockwork mechanism workshop hurt no one, despite the third landing a bloodless hit on my arm – it didn’t even bruise. This workshop is full of mechanisms in various states of repair and diagrams, such as that for the trapped room off the rear of the main hall. There’s a fair amount of metal here but it’s doubtful if it’s worth the trouble of looting. If we change our minds, we could always come back, or perhaps we could sell the information to someone interested in salvage?

With the surface building cleared and thoroughly ransacked we turn our attention to the tunnels we discovered beneath the storeroom under the kitchen. We light two lanterns and take the stairs to the storeroom. Ilviren ties some knots in a looted rope and we all take turns in shinning down.

It proves to be a natural cave system, considerably enlarged, especially in a south-easterly direction with roof-props and paved floor. I lead with Ilviren behind and Brand holding a lantern; Misternil guards the rear with Aerin and Pimm just in front and Miriman in the middle.

After a while the tunnel widens in to an H-junction, the middle branch stretching to the south-west to another tunnel apparently in parallel to ours. Misternil detects a draft from the south-west branch but, seeking to keep navigation as simple as possible, we continue ahead.

The tunnel curves steadily to the left. Brand presently observes that we must be heading due north by now and it feels as if the passage slopes steadily upwards. Soon we see daylight ahead and emerge in the desert to find a village a mile or so to the north. Miriman recognises her village and we happily wave her on her way home before re-entering the tunnels.

Back at the H-junction, we take the short passage to the parallel passage. A brief exploration to the north-west reveals unworked tunnels increasingly hard for all but the smallest of us to follow so we return to the last passage, which quickly veers from south-east to south before descending some steps to an enormous cavern.

The sheer size of the cavern is breathtaking. It is largely natural with few signs of finishing but with buildings inside, laid out in a grid, like any Gondorian fort. Holes high in the dome of the cave let in light enough to see. There’s no sign of inhabitants.

On the far (southern) side the walls are much more heavily worked with huge gates 30-40 feet high. These must let out on to the cliffs beneath the bluff on which the surface building stands. Since we rode past those cliffs, evidently the doors are heavily disguised from outside.

Misternil thinks this is a supply depot. Brand thinks it the work of a madman but I think it could be a fort in which to hide a small cadre of elite troops. They would also serve as a convenient ‘back door’ to the fortress above (I had wondered about the lack of any postern).

We search the buildings – they are all ready for occupation yet have clearly never been used. Even the bunks have been laid! There is accommodation for perhaps 150-200 men.

Doubtless Brand is right and Celebrindor was surely mad (isn’t any dark cultist insane?) yet I feel a method in this madness. I wonder if this chamber wasn’t prepared with a specific eventuality in mind. Legends abound with secret fortresses of all sizes; Nargothrond is perhaps the most famous but I know Gondor has similar refuges scattered discretely. With such a small force concealed in a desert known to be infamous for scattered worship of dark cults, this could one day prove a real thorn in Gondor’s side.

The last tunnel left is the north-west branch where we first descended. The tunnels are more natural and unpaved, which is why we didn’t go this way first. Ahead we soon hear running water and presently we emerge on the shore of a large underground pool.

I try the water but it is too deep to wade so Ilviren doffs her armour and swims across holding a lantern out of the water (not a trick I think I’d like to try – I would have enough work keeping my head above water). She’s gone for a few minutes but quickly returns all-a-tremble, claiming she heard something she didn’t like. Listening to her description, Misternil thinks she might have heard sand-spiders.

However her description of the far side reveals a lack of working so it seems this branch is merely Celebrindor’s link to a water supply (which means he had everything needed to keep a regiment of soldiers).

It doesn’t seem worth exploring any further so after eating lunch we spend the afternoon loading the wagon with loot. With one last sleep in comfort we should return to Umbar hopefully in time to catch a lift in Neithan’s boat.

July 10^th - 16^th

Misternil has decided to come with us to Pelargir but needs to visit his family first so we take a detour from our tiëvanda [literally ‘straight path’]; Misternil’s family entertain us in style. July 10^th is payday for Brand; July 12^th for Aerin.

We reach Umbar on the 16^th where (having sworn my companions never to tell father) I arrange the sale of our loot, netting each of us 48 crowns. Neithan is still here so I send word that I will be grateful for passage to the Ethir Garrison. Ilviren will take command of her new ship and sale in convoy.

To do list:

Discuss with Neithan his intentions vis-à-vis the ‘3^rd Candidate’ and the Umbar portion of the Key of Fuinur’s Well

Advise Father that coins used to pay Khoradôr may have come from The Straight Man and that Neithan may be the ‘3^rd Candidate’

Ask Granny Serni why she gave me the jewel?

Who was Tevildo from the Benish Armon tomb in the Ethir Anduin?

Inquire after Perhaladin – might be a cult for Ragnor