Recap
For a full recap, refer to Campaign VII's Mission Two.

After reviewing Campaign V, Mission 8, I've concluded that Grythe is no more. The troll was well and truly destroyed by the powerful guardian of the treasury (mistakenly labelled as 'armory') in the map. I've also found many of the original maps for the first venture into the ruins of Tymarell.

Currently, Taryn and Sammeth are caught near a vortex that leads down into the dwarven ruins -- through the huge spider Adjantis.

What's to Come
The Deepsmiths have until this point had no reason to believe anyone was in their tunnels. The players may discover them as they explore the ruins, though, and things could turn ugly: the Deepsmiths that remain were all slaves of Grythe, beaten by Doom Rex, harassed by the miners (one of whom was named Gaelin), ensorcelled by the 'blue elf' Saya T'saarachk, popped by the will o'wisp (the Deepsmiths being it's primary meal), and occasionally bothered by Adjantis and her husbands or children. Not to mention their having lost their city long ago to 'the lightning below ground', their allies to a volcano, and more.

They are not a happy-go-lucky bunch, and are quite willing to kill first and ask questions later. They are also Neutral and not Evil in outlook. Many are mad, but the few that have regained their wits the past few years without Grythe's slavery, have begun exploring their former home of Daggoneth.

The leader of the Deepsmiths is Trorgil, a wizened old dwarf that walks with a cane. Trorgil understands that some of his kind are borderline crazy, battle-ragers, and more -- but they are a tough people that have fallen on hard times. Trorgil leads from Grythe's old home, the tower remnants of the mage of Tymarell.

Deepsmiths (two score of them) - CR 1ea
Male and female deep dwarves, 1st-level warriors
L/CN MED (4'8", 180lbs) Deep Dwarves
Init +0; Listen +3, Spot +3
Dwarven, broken Common, broken Elven, broken Trollish, Terran
AC 18 (+6 banded mail, +2 heavy shield)
HP 6 (HD 1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will 0
+3 vs spells and spell-like effects, +3 vs poisons
Weakness: Light Sensitivity
Spd 20ft, even with armor
Attack +2 melee (masterwork battle axes, 1d8+2, crit 19-20x3)
or +1 ranged (shortbow, 1d6, crit20x3, RI 60ft)
or +2 ranged (masterwork daggers 1d4+3, crti20x2, RI 10ft)
SA deep dwarven traits
Str 13, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 6
SQ darkvision 90ft, deep dwarven traits
Feats: Weapon Focus (battle axes)
Skills Appraise +2, Craft (blacksmithing) +2, Craft (stonemasonry) +2
Dwarven Traits: Stonecunning, Weapon Familiarity, Stability, +1 attack bonus against orcs, +4 dodge against giants, +2 on metal / stone Craft checks.

Trorgil and the others would be willing to enlist Sammeth and Taryn's aid in exploring Daggoneth, and even willing to consider accepting the population of Takanal in exchange for recognition, gold, gems, workers, and more.

Most likely, Trorgil would ask Sammeth and Taryn's help in killing Adjantis, and making it easier to get into Daggoneth, as opposed to the other, longer ways they have of getting in -- ways in which moving mining equipment or debris removal is made difficult. Trorgil would be willing to pay from the wizard's tower's and Grythe's treasures:

Deepsmith Treasure: spined shield (2,670 gp), brass mug with jade inlays (281.2 gp), carved ivory statuette (90.8 gp), jeweled anklet (3,917.4 gp), sapphire pendant on gold chain (1,654.7 gp), 2,059 Karatikan-proof gold coins, woolen tapestry #1, 4'x16' of the story of the wizard of Tymarell (412 gp). woolen tapestry #2, 4'x4' a map of Tymarell and the surrounding environs, in its prime (297.2 gp), 198 Tymarell-proof gold coins, gold sheen obsideian (65.3 gp), potion of reduce (at 5th level) (250 gp) in a small vial -- smells of naptha and tastes of sulphur.

The ruins themselves are infested with lightning-like creatures only closer to the draw-shaft that was hewn to 'the old city'. The ruins of Daggoneth would be as alien and as big an unknown to the players as it is to the Deepsmiths that have been away for so long.

The lightning creatures come in a variety of sizes and powers, but are all essentially the same species of incorporeal ghost-like creature. They likely cannot be harmed or destroyed by conventional means -- though Sammeth's blade Ghost could do so. The creatures can even inhabit corpses -- though attempting to inhabit a live body kills it. The ruins of Daggoneth are thus full of what appear to be undead, but cannot be turned, and also deal electrical damage -- the amount depending on how mature the electrical 'zapper' (as the Deepsmiths have named them) is.

Zappers - CR 5 or +2
Parasitic Outsiders
T/CN FIN (4", 0lbs) 'electrical entities'
Init +4 (Dex); Listen +4, Spot +15
Lectrical, languages of their hosts
AC 20 (+16 size, +4 Dex)
HP 12 (HD 2d8)
Fort +2, Ref +4, Will 2
Weakness: electrical / heal / undead spells disorient them for 1d4r
Subject to damage from ghost-touch weapons
Spd fly 50ft (perfect)
Attack +4 ranged (electrical discharge, 1d8, crti20x2, RI 30ft)
SA Electrical Discharge
Str 1, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 6
SQ darkvision 60ft, semi-incorporeal (75% chance of being hit)
when struck by metallic weapons, may shock the bearer of the weapon
Feats: None
Skills: None

Many spells may work on Zappers, especially on the bodies they may possess. Possessed bodies appear as undead, but cannot be turned -- but they are sensitive to critical hits. Oddly enough, heal-type spells on possessed bodies disrupts their energy patterns, and can force them out of the body, as can possession spells. Possessed creatures also deal an additional 1d8 electrical damage, and may act very oddly, as the Zappers are truly alien to conventional ways of thinking.

Zappers are capeable of animating even skeletal remains, but the remains may act very strangely, and may not even be organized properly, as the skeleton was in life. Such skeletons will probably leak a blue-white light from where the Zappers are powering them. Zappers 'eat' charge, including bioelectric charge, so anything living is a food source, as is anything that sparks. If they were to get free and into the atmosphere where storms could 'feed' them, then they could very well destroy the world. Luckily, they don't know a 'world' exists, and cannot follow the static charges through solid objects, 'incorporeal' they may be.

Possible encounters in Daggoneth include (but are not limited to): Deepsmith bodies, their pets (cats, dogs), their food sources (goats, sheep), their mounts (donkeys, velosciraptors), and other animals associated with them (birds from the mines, rats from their kitchens, etc).