Vath and Dwarfhold

Vath and Stalagbite

Vath's occupation has cut Dwarfhold off from the Alliance, so you seek a way inside through Snowbeard, an escaped dwarf recovering at the nearby inn. Comfortably cared for by seven sisters and in no hurry to return, he explains that the gates require a weapon made at the Heartstone Forge. He will lend you his battleaxe, though only after a few favors.

After helping Snowbeard's rescuers and collecting Donna Charmer's gambling debt, you finally receive his Heartstone-forged axe and use it to open Dwarfhold's gates.

Inside, the dwarves are forced to mine gold and gems while hunger and illness weaken them, sustaining Vath's power even as he seeks more than ordinary treasure from the mountain. Elder Ironfist shows you the conquest through the Stone of Memory, then asks you to bring supplies and hidden weapons to the miners before he helps you reach their captor.

Geopetal guards the Heartstone Forge, whose safety Vath uses to compel her obedience. She tries to replace the confiscated Upper City key with materials you gather, but when the copy breaks in the lock, you must defeat Amadeus for a proper mold. With it, she makes a working key and opens the Upper City to you.

There you meet Jorxlol, an assassin whose services Ironfist has bought at a better price than Vath. Borrowing his invisibility cloak, you overhear that the occupation is producing Chaos weapons for Drakath and Gemeralds for Vath's Beast. Once you have helped weaken the garrison, Jorxlol supplies a drow disguise to get you into the keep.

Disguised as a drow, you enter the keep and strike the waiting Vath, only to discover a decoy as a cage drops around you. The real Dragonlord knew you would try to stop his summoning, and Snowbeard appears to accept payment for your betrayal. Vath has you stripped of your possessions and imprisoned.

Jorxlol reaches you in prison, returns your possessions and sends you to Mick Guyver, who turns scavenged materials into a way out. With his help, you open the cells, defeat Warden Elfis and blast a route through the prison. Only after the escape does Snowbeard explain that he, Ironfist and Mick arranged your capture so you could free the dwarves from within.

Although the prisoners are free, Vath has gathered enough Chaos Gemeralds to awaken the Rock Roc. You seize the Chaos Dragon Amulet and leap onto Stalagbite, turning the dragon against the new Beast.

The aerial battle brings the Roc down, but the stolen amulet cannot overcome the Legendary Sword of Dragon Control still in Vath's hands. He orders Stalagbite to throw you off, leaving you to defeat the Rock Roc without the dragon's help.

At the summit, Vath boasts that his sword and amulet have made Stalagbite no more than a weapon, while you remind him that the dwarves are already free and fighting his army. Even after you defeat both him and his exhausted mount, he orders the dragon to attack again.

You throw Vath's sword and strike the amulet, breaking his hold over Stalagbite, although you later admit that Vath himself was your intended target. The freed dragon thanks you for liberating it and the dwarves, then carries Vath away despite his protests. His army remains and Dwarfhold still needs repair, but the city is free of its master.

Vath's departure does not persuade his remaining soldiers to surrender. The Chaos Drow and Draconians rally around D'wain Jonsen, the King Scorpion Lord, and begin tunneling into the mountainside for a surprise attack. Snowbeard calls you back to stop the former general before he can turn the dwarves' hard-won freedom into another siege.

The dwarves' hunger for revenge threatens to make them careless. Their earlier defeat serves as a warning not to let pride and complacency expose them to Chaos again.