The Vault 18 graffiti covers the walls of the hallway of Vault 18 in the sealed Underforge Vaults beneath Argentum, all the way along it. It is written in Dwarvish in a white, chalk-like substance.1
Text
Luma translated it for the party. Among the writing are these lines:1
- “…s Moat is frozen.”
- “Orcs in the Circle.”
- “Thorin was here”, written small.
- “The surface is lost. We hold below.”
- “Hlin fell yesterday.”
- “The Everfire burns strong. So do we.”
- “Stone Shields gone. Watchful gone. Remember the names.”
Beside a tally of marks are two columns of names:1
- Adrik Torunn
- Veit Torunn
- Vistra Balderk
- Orsik Balderk
- Torgga Battlehammer
- Liftrasa Battlehammer
- Rurik Battlehammer
- Mardred Strakeln
- Thoradin Hulduro
- Morgran Dankil
- Eldeth Dankil
- Ilde Fireforge
- Hlin Ironmark
- Taklinn Forestone
- Diesa Forestone
- Oskar Deepdraft
- Traubon Lyndhelm
The Chalk
The graffiti is written in a chalk that dwarves developed for marking stone. It resists wear from the elements and repels water, but can still be rubbed off or dissolved. Undisturbed, it can last a very long time, so the chalk alone does not show how old the writing is.1 Luma scraped some off and studied it, and could not tell whether it had been there for tens of years or for hundreds and hundreds.1
Interpretation
None of the names meant anything to Luma in full, but she knew the family name Hulduro from the historian Rurik Hulduro, and the name Deepdraft from the note Riswynn Deepdraft left in Vault 17.1 Argentum has a moat, and Luma knew it is not frozen.1 She also knew that the Sun-Glass that carries Everfire through the city’s lamps and tubing could not have existed before the Starfall.1
History
Session 11
The party found the graffiti when they opened Vault 18 on the Vigil of Remembrance, 1714 PSF, and Luma wrote down all the names.1 Hazel stood in the hallway with her hand on the wall while the others searched the apartments along it.1