Welcome back, adventurers of Esthia! Today’s session takes us away from the manicured lawns of Stonewall and into the rocky crags of the Loknoq mountains as the party continue to follow their crystal compass in their search for nullstone, all the while feeling the shadow of the black dragon speeding ever closer.

In this entry, you will find the full EBC Radio Dispatch featuring a harrowing eyewitness account from the mountain passes, the detailed Campaign Diary covering the party’s delve into a once-abandoned dwarven fort, and a look at the mini for Freja!

Session 3 – The ghost in the forge

Having rested after the fight in the glade, the party continued deeper into the forest, following the magical compass on their continuing quest to obtain the nullshard. 

Before long, they came across another clearing, this one occupied by makeshift watchtowers manned by a handful of rough-looking thugs. An initial attempt at discussion soon broke down, thanks in no small part to repeated cries of “Why?” from Nug’gg,  and battle ensued. 

Once victory was achieved, a search of the area revealed a dwarven pickaxe featuring the Fireforge crest, strangely pitted and corroded by some odd agent. 

The compass led the party to the fort, guarded by several bandits out front, but a search of the perimeter revealed a crumbling wall. Freja quickly sent her familiar, Torelle, in to investigate and discovered three bandits seemingly enjoying a meal. Lead by Dwoin, the heroes broke through the dilapidated edifice and set about the bandits, scattering blood and lunch everywhere. 

To the North, a barracks was discovered, along with several sleeping bandits who were quickly and heroically dispatched before they could blink the sleep from their eyes. In a locked chest, the remains of a diary were discovered, belonging to one Durin Fireforge, a blacksmith from many years prior. It spoke of a group of Fireforge dwarves creating something dark and twisted, creating alloys out of nullshard and metal, and losing their minds in the process. He mentions a teleportation circle used to bring in materials, a circle whose key he had hidden and runes he had defaced. 

The search continued, as echoing cries of the approaching dragon begin to ring over the walls. The party made their way into the old armoury. In here, a man shackled to the ground told them he had dared to try to leave the bandit group and for that, he had been punished to remain near the haunted smithy to be feasted upon by the angry spirit inside. The man was freed and sent on his way with a dagger and coin from Nug’gg, despite his obvious distrust of the former bandit, and the party turned to the barred smithy door. 

After making quick work of the trap, the door gave way to the heroes. However, upon entering the cold smithy, Nug’gg was hit by a powerful vision: 

 
The air grew heavy and stagnant. The familiar rhythm of the fire and hammer echoes around him, but is soon replaced by a sound like grinding teeth. The ground itself feels wrong, as if the stones beneath his feet are screaming. 

Suddenly, the world around him shatters. The walls of the forge shimmer and fade, replaced by a chaotic blur of past and present. The clatter of metal fills his mind, but it is not the sound of honest work; it’s the shrill clang of a blade against stone. 

He saw a group of men in the very room in which he was standing, their outlines hazy. One is their leader, obvious in the way he stands, his hand flicking as he barks orders, his back remaining towards Nug’gg. He tells the last of the men “Go. Tell the others we ride for Galangholm tonight.” 

The final order given, he turns and his face is revealed to Nug’gg for the first time. It is a face he knows well, burned into his memory by the very fire that now lights his face. The forge has gone, replaced with the familiar trees of his home in Willowhaven. The man, now sillouetted against the burning village, raises his arm, and then, a figure falls. Elara, not as he remembers her, but twisted in a silent, final scream, her outstretched hand beckoning him from the black emptiness of a newly formed chasm. The man laughs, a sound that echoes in Nug’gg’s mind. 

He blinks, and the world rushes back into focus. He is standing in the middle of the forge, his heart pounding in his chest. The smell of burnt wood and rust fills his lungs. 

Though he does his best to hide his reaction from his companions, the others are concerned for his wellbeing. Shrugging off their empathy, he begins to search the room in which the skeleton of a dwarf long dead is encountered.  Clearly a Fireforge by his armour, a master smith’s hammer, likewise emblazoned with the clan rune also lies beside him, which Dwoin reverently picks up. While examining the dead forge, Dwoin also discovers a subtly carved Fireforge symbol in the wall, subtle enough to easily be mistaken for naturally occurring patterns by the untrained eye. 

Remembering the lines from the diary, Freja quickly pieces together part of Durin’s final message, and encourages Dwoin to place the hammer against the symbol on the wall. Doing so opens the secret compartment behind it, a compartment that holds a metallic box, a box that holds three small nullshard crystals within, along with a key to the teleportation circle that the party believes will serve as their way out. 
 

Above the fort, a winding staircase delivers the party to one of two towers separated by a long walkway flanked by shallow walls. The cries of the dragon are louder out here, and the party decide to send Torelle once more to investigate. The other tower contains the teleportation circle, but the small familiar cannot relay the complex information required. A daring dash across the bridge and a narrowly avoided encounter with the dragon reveals that the runes have indeed been defaced, and Dwoin suggests that they re-carve it with the pickaxe they found. Garz calls attention to the vein of silvery metal running along the bottom of the carved runes, stating that this will likely need to be replaced also. In a flash of inspiration, he suggests using his familiar to quickly process and smelt fresh metal in its place. 

But how to address the problem of the dragon? 
 
Unknown to the others, Dwoin slipped quietly back down to the entrance hall of the fort. Through the ajar front doors, he spied the handful of defenders milling about in front of the structure. Reaching into his pack, his hands fumbled around before realising, he had left the alchemist’s fire with his comrades back upstairs. Stifling a roar of frustration, he tore his hand from his pack, noticing the scroll that came with it. A scroll of fear. Though he had shown no prior interest in magic, Dwoin was particularly adept in the act of creating fear.. Through sheer force of will, he tore the spell from the page, sending it outwards towards the collected bandits. He heard the screaming begin as he pounded his way back up the stairs. 

The thudding of his boots caught the attention of those still discussing potential plans at the top of the stairs. They turned as one to see the dwarf’s thundering ascent. A cry of “RUN!” Escaped his throat as his arms churned, propelling him across the narrow bridge, the dragon roaring overhead as it dived towards the crowd in front of the fort. The party followed, stone chips spraying as Dwoin chipped away with the pockmarked pickaxe. As the new rune took shape, Garz flipped two silver coins to his familiar, watching as they lost their shape, a liquid stream now threading through the familiar’s form before being used to line the base of the newly formed rune.  

Slamming home the key, a hum of power sprang from the circle. As they party crammed into the small space, the claws of the dragon crested the dividing bridge, pulling the rest of the dragon with it. Craning it’s head into the cramped area that housed the circle, it’s throat swelled with its poisonous breath. Throwing its head forward, a burst of green flame leapt from its mouth at the instant the world turned to black. 
 

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FIELD NOTES & ARCHIVE STATUS The teleportation circle has closed, leaving the dragon snapping at empty air, but the questions remain. Who were the “DarkForge” outcasts? What exactly is the “silver-black rot” weeping from the dwarven masonry? And most importantly, where—or when—has the teleportation circle taken our heroes?

Miniature Spotlight – Freja

The forest does not forget a slight; it simply waits for the rot to settle before reclaiming what was stolen

An interesting fact about Freja’s mini – the base was created by her actual player. Also, the sword was added as a custom weapon, inserting a thin metal wire to add structure through the hand and hilt. Yes, she has another sword sheathed on her back, but who doesn’t need more pointy things?

Druids in Pathfinder 2e

Unlike many other systems where a Druid is just a “nature mage,” PF2e Druids belong to specific Orders that grant completely different playstyles—and each comes with its own “taboo” (Anathema) that creates fantastic roleplay opportunities. Freja, for example, is a member of the Leaf order, meaning she gets a leshy familiar at level 1. At level 2, Freja also took the “Order Explorer” feat, meaning she has access to a second order. For this, she chose the “Untamed Order” meaning she now has access to the classic Druid wildhape abilities that will evolve as her character grows.

Painting Techniques

With this mini, the cloak was painted using basic layering techniques going from dark to light green, mixing in a little light yellow for the top highlights to avoid desaturating the colour. For the leather components, I used citadel’s Snakebite Leather contrast paint, which I think does a great job. I do try and avoid using contrast paints heavily in my minis, but as with any tool, they do have their uses.

This brings us to the metal parts of the model. The sword(s), and metal parts of Freja’s armour were all painted using a Non-metallic metal technique that I am still struggling to master. Honestly, being aware of how the shape and position of the item being painted affect the reflections and light placement can be very confusing. Add to that making sure there is a high contrast that cannot be too abrupt, but sometimes can, and it makes a technique that is difficult to master.

If you’d like to see more of my minis, you can find me on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky by hitting the buttons below!