A traditional subterranean Dwarven stronghold, Stonekeep has a single primary portal to the surface. It likely has other entrances as well, but inquiring seemed impolitic; the residents are very conscious of their security. The surface area is mountainous and, during the winter, snowy. Some dangerous wild creatures were seen in the area. More dangerous were the tribe of Giants living south of the area controlled by the Dwarves...relations between the two seem poor.

Stonekeep has tunnels to adjoining Dwarven clan strongholds, though it was unclear how long these tunnels are or how distant the neighbors. Additionally, it opens onto the shore of an enormous underground lake; the far side of the lake was too distant to see.

Stonekeep Stronghold is presently home to approximately 150 Dwarves, four of whom are Priests of Earth.

Clan Chief and Chief Priest of the Stonekeep clan; a Life-aspected Priest of Earth.

An apprentice Earth priest.

A ranger and scout; he patrols the surface area around the Stronghold.

Prior to the Forsaking, the Stonekeep clan was called the Stoneaxe clan, and was a prosperous dwarven community engaging in trade with much of the surrounding area. The Forsaking itself had relatively little impact here; in fact, the residents were largely unaware of it. Stories of the plagues and other afflictions seen on the surface were news to them. However, some time after the Forsaking, the clan - along with their neighbors - received a call from Moradin, God of the Dwarves, summoning them northward.

Long ago, when the worship of Moradin first became common among the Dwarves, the Priests of Moradin supressed the worship of Earth. The use of axes as a weapon was made traditional at this time because those who worshipped Earth would use only blunt weapons; their refusal to use axes made them easier to recognize. Earth-worship was driven underground (so to speak) and the tradition was continued in secret, passed down from generation to generation among a small number of families.

When the call came to join Moradin to the north, most of the Dwarves obeyed, but a few remained behind. In the Stoneaxe clan, those who stayed included - of course - all of the secret worshippers of Earth. With the priests of Moradin gone, the Chief Priest of Earth, Orlaf, took charge of the Stronghold. Those who had remained for other reasons were offered the choice of staying under his rule or departing after the rest. Once those who wished to leave had done so, the gates were barred against any returning. They display concern over the thought that those who left might come home in force.

Something exceptionally dangerous is said to have taken over one of the neighboring strongholds. The gateway has been sealed, but guards near it have still died.

A large creature of some sort is said to live in the underground lake; we were advised against entering it or venturing too close alone. While crossing the water, we were attacked by a large plant-creature that proved quite resilient; Hanno was finally able to bash it into quiescence with his flail. Perhaps this was the creature the dwarves spoke of...or perhaps it was simply another resident of the lake who happened to be large enough to cause trouble.

To record the whole tale as it occured would consume too much space; instead, the simple details. The neighboring stronghold was occupied by a mind-flayer - of even stranger appearance than its usual hideous kin, with a vast array of smaller tentacles instead of the relatively few larger ones they are said to typically have. The mind-flayer's mental powers, I believe, are what slew the dwarves guarding the door. It had support from three sources: a clan of giants, a doppelganger, and a strange creature that seemed to be a melding of spider and black-skinned elf.

According to the testimony of the three giants who survived the eventual battle, the mind-flayer seems to have been the origin of the plot. It recruited the giants and brought them into the abandoned stronghold (they likely needed little convincing, as it made an excellent home for them once they were aware it was available). The spider-creature was said to have been in its pay. It is unclear at this point what the doppelganger's motivation might have been. The mind-flayer wanted the giants to present an external threat to the dwarves, but forbade them from actually attacking. The doppelganger replaced Ordlaf for a time, and used the external threat as a justification for leading the entire clan of dwarves against the giants (and into a trap from which they only narrowly escaped, and with great losses).

Though it is supposition, I believe the mind-flayer's aim must have been to draw the dwarves into a position where they could be eliminated entirely in a single strike, rather than attacking them with main force in a frontal assault. I do not know what caused the creature's emnity, beyond the reputed appetite for pain the things are said to have. Unfortunately, the mind-flayer and the doppelganger both escaped the battle before the end, so it is entirely possible that we may have another opportunity to discover what their purpose was....