Date: 28 August 2025
Chronicle Day: Day 152
Abercrombie’s recollection, frae the stone‑script o’ Mount Druitt tae the watery deathtrap below.
The Vault Beneath Mount Druitt
Andor and Alistair had spoken at length about the Mount Druitt vault.
We were led doon tae the first floor, where the air grew still and the walls began tae whisper.
Script covered the pillars and stonework — ancient, deliberate, and dwarven in origin.
Andor was greeted by the workers, Alistair, and Rymnal — a scholar o’ runes and vault‑lore.
The Rune Crew
Aye, that’s what we call ourselves now —
The Rune Crew.
Alistair mentioned the runes we’d found in our travels.
I’d already begun an analysis, usin’ dwarven runes as a control set.
Rymnal asked tae see my sketches.
I handed over the page.
He confirmed they were similar, but crude versions o’ the vault glyphs.
The Rune Codex — Field Glyphs
Here’s what we’ve documented so far — drawn by hand, matched tae their magical effects:
- Thunder — upward arrow wi’ forked base
- Acid — angular shape wi’ twin upward points
- Cold — asterisk‑like snowflake
- Fire — angular flame wi’ central dot
- Force — T‑shaped glyph
- Lightning — circle wi’ three downward lines
- Necrotic — omega‑like symbol
- Poison — Y‑shaped branch
- Psychic — circle wi’ vertical line and two side strokes
- Radiant — angular shape wi’ diamond centre
These are our field glyphs — simplified, battle‑grade versions.
The vault’s runes are older, more refined, and likely ritual‑bound.
Demonstration and Warnings
Rymnal demonstrated the Thunder rune on a hammer.
He hurled it at a nearby wall —
a deafening crash of thunder echoed through the vault,
and the hammer was destroyed.
He warned us:
inscribing these runes on an item destroys it — single‑use only.
Ryn asked if runes could be combined.
Rymnal attempted it.
The next hammer disintegrated entirely.
That answered that.
Mapping the Vault
Rymnal handed us parchment and asked us tae map the vault as we explored.
We descended the stairs into a dusty chamber, debris scattered across the floor.
Sconces lit themselves as we entered — magical, steady, and silent.
Ryn inspected them, but learned nothing of their workings.
Rudy hugged the wall and found a bent silver rod, about his size, with a ball in the centre.
It could be tightened or loosened.
Kaz loosened the fastener.
Sergei moved ahead into a tunnel at the far end — stairs rising upward toward a stone wall carved with a silver bull’s head.
It looked like the rod belonged there.
Kaz flung the ring toward it — nothing.
Sergei tried to affix it.
Ryn attached it properly, with my help.
The wall lifted.
Automatons and Gemstones
Beyond lay a chamber with torches lit, a stone door on the left, stairs on the far wall, and metal grating around the room.
The left door opened.
Dwarven automatons marched out — red gemstones set in their helms and shields.
The door closed behind them.
One was destroyed — I dinnae recall who struck the final blow —
but we discovered that holding a gemstone 5–10 feet from the door caused it tae open.
Kaz gathered all four gemstones.
Ryn, using sleight of hand, pocketed three — not just his own.
He, Kaz, and I now each had one… though I didnae know it yet.
We chose the stairs.
Ryn, however, slipped through the gemstone door alone.
A hallway, another door, and a gold bull’s head on the right wall — a grand dining hall beyond.
The Library Deathtrap
Meanwhile, the room the rest of us entered had holes in the walls and ceiling —
a small library, bookshelves at the far end.
Kaz and Rudy moved ahead.
Ryn held the door open as we followed.
A golden bull’s head was mounted on the left wall, the silver ring attached.
Kaz and Rudy removed the ring.
Immediately:
- metal spikes extended from roof and walls
- a grid formed
- a ceiling hatch opened
- water began flooding the room
I climbed a bookshelf — it crumbled — I fell into the rising water.
A pentagram on the floor began to glow.
The room flooded again.
I tried another shelf — it crumbled too.
Ryn opened the stairway door — water spilled down the stairs.
The ceiling opened again — twice as much water poured in.
Anyone in the water when the pentagram glowed took lightning damage.
I’d taken several jolts by now.
Ryn used his G‑Spot tae reach the door.
Throsh shouted at Kaz: “Put the ring back!”
Sergei was about tae beat the tar out of him.
Kaz put the ring back — nothing happened.
I shouted: “Take the ring out again and get it tae Ryn!”
More water.
Sergei melted the door with acid.
We retreated toward the stairs.
Ryn secured the ring to the other bull’s head and returned.
The trap reset.
We escaped what could’ve been a watery grave.
I drank more healing draught — lightning had taken its toll.
Nine vials remain.
We dumped the remains of the eel from the bag of holding into the library.
We removed the bull’s head and dumped it back on the first floor.
Dining Hall and Automatons (Again)
We returned tae the large dining hall and fought more automatons.
We all had gemstones now — though I still didnae know I carried one.
Stairs led one way, the bull’s head corridor another, and a kitchen lay beyond — broken furniture everywhere.
The bull’s head was removed, revealing a long hallway with a bronze bull’s head at the far end.
The Kitchen and the Fall
Sergei found a trapdoor in the kitchen — a ladder descending into darkness.
He climbed down.
The ladder gave way.
He fell 30 feet.
At the bottom:
a hallway, mushrooms, and the smell of damp stone.
Rudy was lowered down tae him.
Oozes attacked.
The rest of us remained in the kitchen as Rudy and Sergei fought them off.
They defeated the oozes, and we hauled them back up.
