Beyond the Light of Reason

December 21, 1202: While held up in the temple of Moradin, the group decides that Nomad, Vallador, and Natasha should travel to the village of Rutherton, a day’s trip away, with the body of Finnous Fuddledumper to see if, by chance, this last true guard of Thunder Mountain can be restored to life. High winds and driving rains pound the group as they travel to Rutherton.

Tired and soaked, the party arrives in Rutherton to find the entire village bathed in a soft, warm, welcoming light coming from a lantern hanging the village's bell tower. Seeking a warm meal and shelter from the storm, the party finds an inn where most of the village's residents have gathered to ride out the storm. After a short while, the party is introduced to a priestess of Isis is also waiting for the storm to clear. The priestess introduces herself as Lady Lauren Vale and agrees to raise the fallen Finnous Fuddledumper.

As the storm rages outside, the village's bell tower is struck by lightning and collapses. The lantern falls in the mud and its flame goes out. A local cleric, a young and attractive priestess named Tatiana, tells the party that the lantern is magical and its light has protected the village from evil for over 50 years. As the party pulls the lantern from the mud, lightning streaks overhead revealing a long, reptilian shape struggling across the sky. As the party looks up, the great dragon looks down and breathes a cone of flame towards the village. They watch in awe as crimson beast struggles through the storm and disappears in the darkness. Once back inside, Tatiana asks for the party's help and makes this plea: "You must help us, for without the lantern we shall surely be doomed. The Light of Reason has guarded our village from harm for fifty years, its holy flame preventing evil from harming us. For years the flame stopped evil creatures such as that wyrm from causing us harm, although now with the light dead, it will surely return and deliver its wrath on us. My fellow villagers no longer believe in the power of the flame, and are more scared of the danger that this dragon will bring come morning; however, I believe the lantern can be repaired. The lantern itself is only a little damaged, and if you could take it deep into the mountain where the flame was born you could re-light it and return before the village is harmed. But you must make haste, for without the lantern we have no defense against the creature. The source of the flame resides in the heart of Mount Rantoloch. Please, help us!"

The party consisting of Dane, Nomad, Renchor, Natasha, and Lady agree to help the village and re-light the lantern. While in Mount Rantoloch, the party discovers that the mountain has magical properties and that evil creatures who enter the mountain cannot leave. While exploring the mountain's many caverns and passages, the group battles Frost Giants, Manticores, Grimlock Barbarians, and a host of other evil beings.

Deep within the mountain, the party discovers an ancient temple of Pelor. Although this temple was once dedicated to the forces of good, it had been defiled and defaced. While exploring the temple the party discovers some old journals and manages to piece together the following information:
   Fifty years ago, Rutherton was the center of terrible power struggle, for their cleric of many years had just passed away. The clergy of Pelor then sent a new priest to supply guidance to the villagers.
   Narhalm was a young man of much experience. He had adventured for several years, struggling to rid the world of unholy menaces. His retirement in Rutherton was to be a peaceful one, but less than three days after his arrival, he discovered evil brewing in the small village.
   The villagers lived in squalid conditions, under the constant harassment of bandits and humanoids. After some investigation, Narhalm identified the local burgomaster as the source of many of the village s troubles. This man, Vargnin, was revealed as a cleric of the dread deity Nerull, and he was responsible for weakening the community with bandit raids so he could eventually sacrifice the entire village to his dark lord without resistance.
   Vargnin fled into the nearby mines of Mount Rantoloch when confronted; Narhalm followed in fast in pursuit. Deep within the mines, the two met for the final time as an epic battle ensued. During the great conflict, a great rift in the bedrock opened, venting natural gas into the chamber where they fought. Thus, when Narhalm smote Vargnin with holy fire, the gas exploded violently rocking the mountain and its surroundings. Many in Rutherton thought that perhaps the mountain was in fact a volcano thundering to life, but the rumbling ceased as quickly as it occurred.
   Three days later, Narhalm appeared from the mines carrying an elegant silver lantern, in which a holy white flame burned brightly. He told the story of his battle with Vargnin and related that the flame within the lantern would bring peace to the village as along as it shed its light across the village from the chapel's bell tower.
   Created in the final battle between Narhalm and himself; the flame sprang from a source born as a result of the conflict deep within the mountain—a holy pyre of good, pure energy. If the flame was ever extinguished from the lantern, it could only be re-lit by returning it to the chamber in which the original font still burned. Narhalm warned the people of Rutherton to be vigilant in the guardianship of the lantern and its flame, which he dubbed the Light of Reason.
   Narhalm bid his final farewell and returned to the mines to secure the sacred flame that burned brightly within. He never returned. So the Light of Reason burnt for fifty years, keeping the forces of darkness at bay.

In this temple, the party discovers Pelor's Pyre a magnificent, 40-foot-tall, 70-foot-long gout of white flame erupting from the earth. The source of the Light of Reason. They also discover Vargnin who is now a Lich. Like the other evil residents, Vargnin is trapped in the mountain, but is performing an evil ritual in hope of extinguishing Pelor's Pyre and thus attaining freedom from the mountain. The battle between party and Vargnin is an of epic proportions. Vargnin summons Beriliths, Slaads, and Demons. During the battle, Dane is paralyzed, Renchor tries to jump a wide crevasse and is killed, and Dirk and Nomad are badly injured. As success slips from the party's grasp, Vargnin offers a resolution. He will allow the party to light the lantern, gather their fallen comrades, and leave without further bloodshed. The party agrees. They light the lantern, gather their party, and return to Rutherton. Vargnin completes his ritual, extinguishes Pelor's Pyre, and leaves to spread his evil.

The Lower Mines Map

The Temple

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