Aloha Island

With the ship partially out of the water, Captain Raccan and his crew were able to assess the damage. To fix the damage, we would need to find metal fittings, strapping, and sealant. We were discussing the possibility of people on the island when we heard an explosion and saw a plume of smoke rising in the air. As we watched, the smoke changed colors in an orderly pattern. Friendly or not, the explosion was our best chance at help and we followed a small stream inland.

The stream led us into a bit of swampy lowland. Over the whine of mosquitos, we heard several voices arguing in draconic. One voice said, “This is a good kill.” And a second slurred, “Go to the clearing.” Yvala shrugged off her pack and snuck to the edge of the tree line. She reported back that six lizardmen were standing around a large animal they had hunted. They didn’t seem all that friendly, but it’s not unheard of for such lizardfolk to be open to trading with non-swamp dwellers. Karel stepped forward with his longbow nocked, but held loosely in his hand, his other arm raised in a greeting. Markas followed him, also giving a friendly wave. Alas, the lizardmen were unimpressed and they charged across the open swamp with an ease born of traveling through it their whole lives.

Kalena threw up a cloud of stinking gases, which did a great deal in blocking their movement and allowing us to get a few extra hits in. The lizardmen were no match for us and we soon defeated them. A path on the far side of the clearing led to higher ground. Eager to avoid more of the lizardmen, we followed it. Happily, I noted that it was steadily climbing up above the treeline to the spot where the smoke signal had been released.

The trail ended at an outpost two-thirds of the way up the island’s central peak. Three wooden buildings sat on a natural shelf, with a cave leading into the mountain beyond. The cave mouth had a series of intricately carved totems depicting splashing waves, huge flowers, and angry little men with big heads and sharp teeth.

Ten dwarfs milled around. They were by far the strangest dwarfs I had ever seen. Their hair was cropped short and the piles of braids on the females’ heads were far shorter than expected. Their clothing was brightly colored cloth, there was barely any armor on any of them. The loose shirts and skirt were decorated with the same motifs as on the cave mouths, favoring the flowers.

Naturally, they’d been watching our progress and yelled something in dwarven at us once we reached the ledge. Karel stood firm at the head of the group and replied, “I am sorry but we do not speak that language.” “Then you, friend, are a barbarian,” says the same dwarf that spoke before. Vixi looked curiously at the dwarfs and whispered to me, “I’ve never seen a dwarf before. They don’t all look like this, do they?” “These are the only ones I’ve seen dressed this strangely,” I said with a laugh. Poor Vixi, her father never let her out much. At least she’s exploring now, I thought.

By now, Karel had gotten frustrated with trying to talk to the dwarfs. He waved a hand back at the dwarfs, muttered, “Fine” and started back down the trail. I grabbed his arm as he walked by. “Come on, don’t leave.” “They think I’m an idiot.” “You know that’s not true,” I replied.
Up the hill, Kalena noticed that the dwarfs were watching Karel with interest. “Hey, would you like to meet him?” she asked. Another dwarf bobbed his head enthusiastically. “He is the color of the fiery ones.” “See, they do want to meet you,” I told him as he went back to the dwarfs. Several of the braver ones came forward and oohed and ahhed over his color. They kept going on and on about the fiery ones.

Meanwhile, Yvala was getting frustrated with their lack of forthcoming. She adjusted her armor for a bit more exposure and sauntered up to one of the dwarfs. “We’re lost and stranded and could really do with some help and information.” “Aye, lass, go on,” he said as he stared unashamedly at her breasts, which were right at his eye level. “We saw a signal come up. Was that you?” “Yes, we saw the ship come in and we signaled to the main village on the other side of the island.” “Is the village large? Our ship is badly in need of repairs.” “Well, why didn’t you say that. We can lead you through the passage in the morning. But now we will have a feast to honor the fiery ones!”

Strange though they looked, the dwarfs definitely knew how to party. They brought out a smoked pig to heat over the fire and spent half the night dancing and singing songs of praise about the fiery ones. Turns out that these dwarfs had been like most others long ago. They had lived on a continent to the south, but 100 years ago, creatures of all sorts began attacking their homeland. Creatures with mottled skin and twisted limbs. They fled north until they found this island. Naturally, the creatures followed, but the fiery ones came to their rescue, hurtling fire and driving away the enemy. The dwarfs settled and now mine inside the volcano and worship the fiery ones and the volcano as gods.

In the morning, one of the dwarfs led us to the entrance. “I can only go with you so far, as I must return to the guardpost.” A couple hundred yards in, he opened a secret passage in the rock wall. This will lead you through the mines in the heart of the volcano. It’s a 2 day walk, but the village is easily spotted on the other side. They know you are coming. As long as you stay away from the fiery ones and others, you’ll be fine.” With that, he turned and left us in the passage.

We began the slow hike through the warm passages. It was easily 100 degrees inside and I was sweating inside my armor. It was easy to see why the dwarfs wore cloth. We took short breaks as we walked, making sure to drink as much as possible. Sometime around what would have been nightfall, we debated about stopping for the night, but the temperature was so uncomfortable that we decided it was better to walk through the night.

Around midnight, the mountain began to shake. We huddled against one of the walls and luckily nothing fell on us. As we continued walking, Kalena remarked, “Is it just me, or is it getting warmer?” “I don’t know; it’s hard to tell in all this armor,” I moaned. “Possibly,” said Vixi. “It does seem to be glowing more than usual ahead,” I said. Sure enough, several chambers ahead, one of the walls had fallen, revealing a lake of magma. We walked around the chamber, sweat pouring off of our bodies. Everyone seemed nervous. “Do you think the fiery ones are angry with us being in their mountain?” I asked. “Why?” said Vixi, “would they be mad at us. They let the dwarfs mine.” “Yeah, but we aren’t worshippers!” “She has a point,” said Kalena. “Shush,” said Markas. “There’s another opening ahead.”

There was indeed another break in the corridor wall. This time 6 glowing creatures stood in the hallway. Their skin was dark with a multitude of glowing orange cracks running over their bodies. They were looking at something down the other way. “They’re magma beasts. They come from the chaos of volcanic areas,” Kalena said. “And they’re known to eat humans alive,” she added with a gulp.

“Guess we don’t have a choice to take them out first,” Yvala said as she pulled out a dagger and her crossbow. “Sure hope these aren’t the fiery ones.”

The beasts hurled balls of magma made of their own flesh, but they were slow and easier to avoid than other things we’d had thrown at us. It also helped that part of our group was fire resistant. At the end of the fight, we were a little crispier, but no worse for wear otherwise.
The bodies left nothing but coals and ashes behind, but we could see what they had been after. A door had been set into the stone wall. As we walked forward, the ground started to shake again. “I sure hope those weren’t the fiery ones,’ I repeated. The shaking subsided and we sent Yvala to check for traps. “Nothing I can find,” she reported. Karel pulled on the handle and we found ourselves looking at a hallway identical to the one we had entered through.

The sun was just setting as we left the confines of the tunnel. There were no dwarfs to meet us, something I found odd after our reception on the other side. A short way down the mountainside, we could see a small shrine. Even from where I stood, I could tell it was a combined shrine from the symbols of Moradin and the dancing flames and idols that intermingled on the walls. A path down to the harbor could be seen and we took it down to the harbor.

As we came around the corner, the harbor came into view. I gasped. I couldn’t help it. Smoke rose from various areas and fire balls were being hurled toward the harbor. The whole scene was lit by a river of lava flowing down the mountainside. “Oh no, we’ve angered their gods,” said Markas “Relax,” said Yvala, “the other guy said there would be hostile beasts inside the mountain. We did nothing wrong.” “Still,” added Kalena, “it may not be a bad idea to be cautious. The locals could be agitated.”

We walked carefully into the harbor town, bewildered by the fact that there were still no dwarfs to be seen as the six of us came smack into a group of something most of us never thought we’d see again-Foul Spawn. “Fires of the Host!” shouted Karel, “Where are my ballista?” The foulspawn were just as surprised to see us and bolted down the left hand alley. Karel charged after them with a growl and the rest of us followed. “This guy is worse than Kyri and the drow!” panted Kalena. “Give him a break,” I said. “He’s been fighting them his entire life.”

We shortly caught up with Karel, who was attacking the grue of the group with roars of pleasure. The fight was short. After having fought plenty of foulspawn in the tunnels, we knew all of their tricks. Karel seemed disappointed that the fight had been so short and dug idly through their packs of sea rations. “Cowardly spawn,” he grumbled. He looked up at us with a gleam in his eye. “I thought you had never seen their like before?” “And it’s still true,” said Vixi, “this is the first time we’ve ever been to this island.” “Perhaps the forces of the Crawler also followed them from the south,” I said. “It’s quite possible you are both of cultures that fled the Southern Continent,” Kalena added. “The only thing I ever saw before I joined with this lot was Asmodeous cultists,” Yvala chimed in as she cleaned her nails with the tip of her dagger. Karel nodded, “Ah, yes, another scab on the world that Asmodeous. You did well to escape from that place.”

Yvala’s answer as interrupted by a party of dwarfs coming down the street. “Excellent,” said one, “I see you have taken care of this lot.” The dwarfs were dressed in the same bright manner as the dwarfs on the other side of the island. “I expect that you just came through the mountain. “Yes,” answered Markas, “Is there a problem?” “No. We had warning from the outpost that you would be coming that way. It is fortunate that you have arrived as such a time for you are blessed to see the fiery ones in action. See how they throw their fiery balls at our enemies?” Indeed out in the harbor, 5 ships were burning merrily. Dwarfs on the beach were slaying any foulspawn stupid enough to go ashore.

The party brought us to the Dwarf High Lord. “Thank you for your work. My men tell me that you slew a party of foulspawn. Most excellent.”“Perhaps you have heard of the plight of our ship then?” Markas asked. “Yes. We can give you the strapping, metal fittings, and timber, but for the sealant you’ll have to travel to the eladrins on the other side of the island. But we can tell you more of that in the morning. Please, join us. Part of the cleanup is a party.” The dwarfs piled foulspawn onto a bonfire and danced all night. Roast pigs and fruit were brought out.
“Say what you want about the strangeness of these dwarfs, but they sure know how to throw a party,” said Yvala, as she left with another dwarf she had enticed.