Arden Vul - Session Twelve (Looking For loot)

The Chronicles of Session 11: Deep in the Halls of Stone and Shadow

Deep in the halls where torches burn,
We took the road of no return.
A creaking cage, by troll-hand made,
Bore us down where shadows laid.
Down, down we swayed, through yawning deep,
Past vaults where silent spirits sleep.
Our errand lost, our purpose gray,
But deeper still we made our way.
Was it for books? A wizard’s theft?
A forge long-lost, in ruin left?
Or was it folly, ale-born bold,
That led us down the halls of old?

***

### Hakrim's Welcome & The Inn of the Lost

In gloom we came to Hakrim’s hall,
Where echoes spake of feast and brawl.
He bade us hear, he named the ways,
To inn of rogues and arena’s fray.
The Inn of the Lost, where firelight gleamed,
With iron-clad doors and ale that steamed.
Yet ere we knocked, a rogue we met,
Battered, bound, in cloaks beset.
A stranger bold, his name ill-spoke,
Cast from the hall by jest or joke.
Yet wrapped in rags, with whispers low,
We let him lead—what harm could grow?

***

### Scoundrels, Smiths, and the Call of the Forge

The inn was thick with murk and smoke,
With knaves and brutes and dwarves who spoke—
Not of plunder, gold, or fight,
But of forges lost to darkest night.
For halls of fire and anvils grand,
Where once rang hammer, now dust and sand.
And so we drank, we listened well,
For secrets whispered, tales to tell.

***

### The Arena’s Blood and the Drow’s Call

Yet sport and silver drew our feet,
To where the bold and doomed compete.
Bets were laid, the air grew tight,
As men and scorpions joined the fight.
The blades flashed swift, the blood ran red,
The sand drank deep, the dying bled.
And when the battle met its close,
The drow arose—dark priestess bold.
A hunter knelt, her heart struck wide,
Her voice near failed, her face turned shy.
Yet words were spoke and hands were stayed,
And to the inn they turned their way.

***

### To the Forge, To War, To Fate Unknown!

So drink, my kin, and mark it well,
The halls still call, the forges dwell.
The lost remain, the road is set,
And deeper yet, our fate is met!
Deep in the halls where torches burn,
We take the road of no return!