The party takes an hour in the secret Findon and Gitte tomb to dress wounds and plan the next move. Fortunately for the safety of Faerûn, if not the entire natural world, the next move is to continue exploration into the fire cult.
The party retraces its steps to search the sleeping quarters of the slain dullard and fire priests. Bloody drag marks down the halls indicate the slain were dragged toward the foundry. Scorch marks indicate not all the slain had sufficient remains to leave drag marks.
Soggy documents found in the living quarters invariably end with hails to Imix and Vanifer. The documents reveal that the forge produces weapons and armor for an army, specifically the army who attacked Shrine of the Iron Oath. Documents also reveal the extent of Enit’s annoyingness.
Theridan stealthily probes ahead to the foundry where the bloody drag marks terminate into the channels of lava that power the forge. A pair of guards conspicuously protect stairs exiting the opposite side of the foundry. Haerelben trips in a clatter of purloined hobgoblin half plate, attracting the attention of the guards nervously anticipating another wave of rampaging liberated salamanders. The guards relax when Theren offers the correct passphrase, Fire is Eternal. The guards tense again when Theridan, transformed into a fire elemental, crosses toward them crackling in ignan. Theren joins in the ignan convo. The guards beg forgiveness at their lack of diligence learning the ignan language so Haerelben translates: you are relieved, go away. That directive is countermanded by a supervisor who emerges between the guards. His ignan and spear are both sharp.
Supervisor demands to know why this unscheduled fire elemental is here, standing in his forge. Theren explains he has tamed a wild elemental. Supervisor is impressed but also ambitious. He looks forward to presenting this accomplishment to Vanifer personally. Theren would accommodate that desire if he only could, but the elemental only answers to Theren’s commands. Supervisor becomes suspicious. Theren shoots him with a couple of debate-ending bolts.
The cultists attack Fire Theridan, but fighting fire with fire is less effective than rumored. Bromsby erupts earth and ignited Lefty punches in with yet more fire. Fire Theridan jogs through the guards while the party focuses on Supervisor. Meega fatally plants Giant Slayer into Supervisor and he explodes. Bromsby calls up some lightning through the guards slaying one of them. The other goes to strike Meega, but Fire Theridan sentinals him dead.
Theren adds a looted flaming longsword to his collection. Haerelben looks around for a lava control panel to flood the forge but, to Meega’s relief, does not find anything. Fire Theridan begins opening doors in the now unguarded hallway. He finds a couple of rooms piled with junk, both sorted and unsorted. Fire Lefty and Theren poke around in the rooms. Theren comes up with a few gold pieces, but otherwise it’s really just junk.
Fast moving Fire Theridan backdrafts around the passage ahead. He impresses a couple of guards with his fiery presence, but the ignan language barrier prevents any meaningful contact. Theridan finds a decorative dwarven brazier and some furrows of ash. He reports the situation back to Theren who then translates back to the rest of the party. Theren is challenged by the guards but flubs the passphrase and then breaks a string trying to shoot them. Très awkward.
Bromsby erupts earth around the brazier to injure the guards. Fire Theridan and Fire Lefty rudely burn through the party to get to the guards. Lefty non-lethally fire claws down one guard while Meega and Theren lethally take out the other. Another guard enters. Lefty and Meega soften him up so that Bromsby can kill steal him with a thorn whipping.
A door opens allowing through a fireball that envelopes most of the party. The party attacks the fiery source of the fireball while Lefty engages a guard. Meega knocks the caster down but catches another fireball before Lefty extinguishes the priestess. Theridan, out of elemental form, shillelaghs the guard to death.
Haerelben revives the unconscious, unbound guard. The guard comes up swinging, gets knocked out again, and is bound. With everyone but Theren gathered around the guard, Haerelben casts zone of truth.
Sud the guard got here a month ago or so, drawn to the lifestyle by the cool, yet hot, weapons and armor. Prophetess Vanifer has the coolest weapon of all, a dagger named Tinderstrike that she uses in service to Imix, all hail Imix. Sud knows how to get to the fire temple, of course, but is terrible at giving directions to others. His schedule today was mostly to torture a water cultist there in the back room, breaking his wrists as one does. Theren drags the broken water cultist, Orgaal, into the zone of truth.
Orgaal serves Gar Shatterkeel who serves Olhydra. There does seem to be a satisfyingly symmetrical artifact of elemental water, and Orgaal proposes that it will be the party’s demise.