Into the Valley of the Black Tower (Tuesday-Wednesday, Abadius (I) 14th-15th, 4708 AR)

The Valley of the Black Tower was named for the ominous spiked edifice that stood as a lone sentinel over the valley's riverside boundary. The Valley of the Black Tower was relatively small, and Jorgenfist dominated the view within. When the heroes first arrived, they took in the view.

The mountains gave way to a wide valley perched on the upper edge of a cliff overlooking the Muschkal River. At the western edge of the valley entrance, a lone watchtower stood upon a low hill, but this structure was overshadowed by the larger one that loomed in the valley proper. There stood a ring-shaped stone wall, fifty feet in height and surrounding several buildings, the most impressive of which was a looming black tower with bladelike crenelations that overlooked the river gorge. Within the ring, a one-hundred-fifty-foot stone spire rose, surrounded by three low buildings. Apart from the black tower, five smaller towers were built into the fortress wall - one of these towers was wider than the others and seemed to be the only gateway into the courtyard within.

The fortress was not the only sign of life in the valley, for surrounding it were seven large camps of towering tents, yurts, and stone shelters. Smoke rose from campfires and the sound of grating laughter and the clash of weapon training filled the air, competing with the periodic trumpeting of large and angry-sounding animals from somewhere within the fortress itself. The heroes decided to explore the caves around Jorgenfist before tackling the fortress itself, especially since according to Tsela's spirits, one of these caves connected to Mokmurian's abode.

Longtooth's Cave

This cave entrance was difficult to reach except from the air. The entrance was 450 feet up the side of a near-vertical mountain face. Shattered skeletons of dozens of animals, wyverns, and even a few rocs littered the ground far below the cave entrance. Within, the cave was a simple affair, 200 feet deep and 50 feet wide. The final 50 feet of depth were strewn with thousands and thousands of coins (mostly copper). Footing there was treacherous, as the coins slipped and slid underfoot for Medium or smaller creatures.

This cave was the lair of one of Mokmurian's allies, the red dragon Longtooth. Longtooth killed a half-dozen of the lamias that were travelling with Mokmurian, after which he offered Longtooth a job. Longtooth agreed to serve Mokmurian as a hero in his army. The prospect intrigued the dragon, and now, years after the initial confrontation, he and Mokmurian had become grudging friends.

Longtooth had survived the raid on Sandpoint and managed to make it back to this cave. so he was bitter and foul-tempered and nursed a grudge against the heroes. Although he had gathered much treasure for himself since joining the giant, he had seen how much more Mokmurian had claimed for himself over the years. Longtooth had grown discontented with his role as Mokmurian's minion.

When the heroes confronted the bitter dragon in his lair, Longtooth recognized them at once but did not attack. He instead offered them a truce. He would tell them everything he knew about Jorgenfist and Mokmurian, if in return the heroes promised to leave him alone and grant him a share of any treasure they take out of Jorgenfist. The heroes refused and a battle ensued where they killed the dragon.

Although a carpet of coins covered the innermost section of Longtooth's cave, most of these coins were copper pieces. In all, the coins consisted of 350,055 cp, 23,145 sp, 3,403 gp, and 23 pp. In addition, the collection of treasure included several gemstones: a water opal worth 1,000 gp, a rich blue diamond worth 1,600 gp, a black opal worth 8,000 gp, and 53 additional gems worth a total of 3,500 gp. A fine linen tapestry depicting monks sparring in a courtyard was rolled up and leaned against the wall - this tapestry weighed 50 pounds but was worth 600 gp. Finally, a set of solid silver idols sat on a ledge on the innermost wall. These idols were each worth 600 gp - they depicted a wyvern with a human rider, a human warrior trampling a demon underfoot, a centaur dressed in plate mail armor, and a leaping fish with a wide mouth filled with teeth. A fifth idol was in fact made of platinum. It depicted Runelord Karzoug, and was worth 5,000 gp.

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