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Aftermath - Campaign after the War
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<blockquote data-quote="Rybaer" data-source="post: 1089" data-attributes="member: 118"><p>Session #3.2 – The Green Blight</p><p></p><p></p><p>Following a day of rest and recuperation, the group followed the treant several miles into its forest. There was no mistaking the blighted area of which it had spoken. A wide ranging area was brown and sickly looking. No animal chatter could be heard and a yellowish haze blotted out what little sunlight tried to filter down through the brown canopy.</p><p></p><p>The treant pointed into the heart of the blight. “About a quarter mile further in is a spring,” it said. “I expect the source of the problem to be near there. I appreciate your help in this matter and wish you to take care. I will wait for you here.”</p><p></p><p>It took them little time to find the spring, and the stench of chlorine and decay was powerful here. On the far side of the spring they spotted a large hole dug into the side of an embankment. They cautiously approached. Nigel thoroughly searched the area around the entrance and had little difficulty in finding large, clawed footprints leading both in and out of the cave. Weapons ready, they quietly entered.</p><p></p><p>The cave appeared to be freshly dug in the soft earth, not a natural feature. About fifteen feet in, it split left and right, both passages with twists and turns blocking sight of anything of interest. No sound came from either side and the clawed prints only down the right hand passage, so they decided to follow in that direction.</p><p></p><p>Following the winding tunnel another thirty feet back, it opened up into a roughly circular, domed chamber about thirty feet in diameter. The walls and ceiling were all rough earth and sandstone. The only noteworthy feature they could discern by their lantern light was a fifteen foot diameter pool of water in the middle of the room. The smell of chlorine was almost overwhelming in there, causing their eyes to water.</p><p></p><p>Very cautiously, they approached the pool and shined their lanterns down into its depths. It was moderately deep, perhaps about ten feet, and at the bottom rested a dark form. They couldn’t make out the exact size or shape, but they were fairly confident that it was a creature of some sort. While they quietly began to develop a plan of action, Boaz wandered away from the group back to the water’s edge. He was intently curious as to just what it was sitting at the bottom of the pool…and he started poking the tip of his sword into the water, making the slightest splashing sounds. (You all know that this can’t lead to anything good.)</p><p></p><p>At the first sound of splashing, everyone turned on Boaz to tell him to stop. It was too late. The creature on the bottom had awoken and launched itself directly at the half-orc, bringing with it a wave of acidic water. The group immediately began to suspect (and later confirmed) that this was a very young dragon, a green one to be more specific. It was somewhere between a large dog and small alligator in size. The beast’s front claws ripped clean through Boaz’s armor and from its maw came forth a blast of corrosive gas.</p><p></p><p>Boaz was immediately dropped precariously low on hit points and was absolutely stunned by the speed and ferocity of its attacks. Of the rest of the group, everyone failed their saves and took the full brunt of the chlorine gas with the sole exception of Nigel, who had positioned himself far enough to the side to avoid a direct hit. The tight quarters of the chamber, however, didn’t allow the gas to dissipate very well, and everyone was dealing with burning eyes, nose, and throats.</p><p></p><p>Boaz’s first instinct, after the pounding he took, was to flee for his life. And so, just like that, the party’s up-front muscle fled the cave, taking another claw rake across his back for good measure on the way out. Everyone else, however, flew into action. Nigel started pumping the dragon full of arrows. Amblin, along with his two dogs, braved direct confrontation and closed to melee. Rurik, likewise, tried to get close enough to bring his axe into range. Zalman, trying to maximize his spellcasting effectiveness, decided to summon a creature.</p><p></p><p>The dragon fought hard, but it took at least as well as it dished out, and started to get worn down. It likely would have tried to flee, except that the entire group was between it and the exit. Amblin and Rurik both took hits and one of Amblin’s dogs, if I recall correctly, was beat to within a whisper of death. Then Zalman’s summoned creature appeared – a giant squid in the water right behind the dragon. It immediately lashed out at the dragon with its tentacles and initiated a successful grapple and tried to start dragging it back under the water. While the dragon fought back and managed to break the squid’s grip, the momentary distraction was all that the beleaguered party needed to pound on it mercilessly. Amblin, as he would continue to be bring up forevermore, was the one who dealt the fatal blow to the creature…with his bare fist. </p><p></p><p>As the squid disappeared, they dragged the dragon’s corpse back out of the pool. Nigel inspected the rest of the chamber and found a small stash of treasure buried in the soil near the back wall (including a magic greatsword, several vials they later identified as a potent acid, a masterwork short bow, and a few other trinkets, coin and gems). Meanwhile, outside, Boaz had fled a couple hundred feet away before collapsing on the ground to strip his armor and take stock in his injuries. When satisfied that he wasn’t in immediate danger of dying, he started to head back to the cave. It had been at least a minute since he left them and no one had followed him out. This made him a bit worried, but he had to find out whether they were still alive or not.</p><p></p><p>Just as he started to slip down the right side passage at the fork, a creature that had been aroused by all the noise of the fight was slinking down from the other fork. A violet fungus, all six feet tall and four lashing tentacles of it, assaulted the surprised fighter. Three of the four tentacles connected, and the resultant damage was enough to drop him unconscious. Two failed poison saves later (each for d4 Str and d4 Con loss), he was beyond death’s doorstep. So, Boaz’s first fate point intervenes, and the scene is replayed with the fungus getting the surprise on him, but all of its tentacles just barely missing him. Boaz retaliates with his longsword and scores a critical. His one attack nearly slices the fungus in two. The purple mass manages to lash out once more and scores one hit on the half-orc, who again fails his poison save. This time, however, it isn’t enough to drop him. The others had heard the commotion and arrived just in time to watch Boaz finish off the fungus with one more well-placed blow.</p><p></p><p>After a bit of (somewhat) good-natured abuse directed at Boaz for fleeing like a girl, they heal him up and carefully inspect the passage from which the fungus had come. It turned out to dead end at a small hollowed out chamber not too far back with no other signs of habitation (or treasure, to their disappointment).</p><p></p><p>They dragged the dragon’s corpse back to the treant, both for proof of the kill and to strip the creature of any body-part that might have some value – claws, teeth, hide, even it’s meat for grilling out over the campfire that night. The treant was overjoyed at their success and hoped it was all that it would take to ease the blight on that area. Zalman, using his prodigious alchemical knowledge, suggested that the use of some of the local minerals might help speed up neutralization of the dragon’s acid in the spring waters and surrounding soil. While the most battered of the group rested up, the others worked with the treant and it’s animated minions to find and haul back various neutralizing agents to the spring.</p><p></p><p>That night, while eating dragon steaks around the fire (everyone admitted that it tasted surprisingly like chicken), the treant returned to them to again offer its thanks for their assistance. It also offered them a small sack of items that it had recovered some time ago and for which it had no use. Inside, they found a mighty masterwork elven longbow (which Nigel gawked over and promptly claimed as his own), and an unidentified potion and magic ring.</p><p></p><p>The treant had a pretty good idea of where the village that the group sought was, though it was fairly sure that no one still lived there. Regardless, it agreed to point them along the path in the morning, indicating that they weren’t much more than another day’s ride away.</p><p></p><p>And with that, they got a good night’s sleep – what would turn out to be their last for a while…</p><p></p><p>Next Session – The dogfight of epic proportion, Goblinfest ’01, and Kisty Goodbread…</p><p></p><p></p><p>-Rybaer</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rybaer, post: 1089, member: 118"] Session #3.2 – The Green Blight Following a day of rest and recuperation, the group followed the treant several miles into its forest. There was no mistaking the blighted area of which it had spoken. A wide ranging area was brown and sickly looking. No animal chatter could be heard and a yellowish haze blotted out what little sunlight tried to filter down through the brown canopy. The treant pointed into the heart of the blight. “About a quarter mile further in is a spring,” it said. “I expect the source of the problem to be near there. I appreciate your help in this matter and wish you to take care. I will wait for you here.” It took them little time to find the spring, and the stench of chlorine and decay was powerful here. On the far side of the spring they spotted a large hole dug into the side of an embankment. They cautiously approached. Nigel thoroughly searched the area around the entrance and had little difficulty in finding large, clawed footprints leading both in and out of the cave. Weapons ready, they quietly entered. The cave appeared to be freshly dug in the soft earth, not a natural feature. About fifteen feet in, it split left and right, both passages with twists and turns blocking sight of anything of interest. No sound came from either side and the clawed prints only down the right hand passage, so they decided to follow in that direction. Following the winding tunnel another thirty feet back, it opened up into a roughly circular, domed chamber about thirty feet in diameter. The walls and ceiling were all rough earth and sandstone. The only noteworthy feature they could discern by their lantern light was a fifteen foot diameter pool of water in the middle of the room. The smell of chlorine was almost overwhelming in there, causing their eyes to water. Very cautiously, they approached the pool and shined their lanterns down into its depths. It was moderately deep, perhaps about ten feet, and at the bottom rested a dark form. They couldn’t make out the exact size or shape, but they were fairly confident that it was a creature of some sort. While they quietly began to develop a plan of action, Boaz wandered away from the group back to the water’s edge. He was intently curious as to just what it was sitting at the bottom of the pool…and he started poking the tip of his sword into the water, making the slightest splashing sounds. (You all know that this can’t lead to anything good.) At the first sound of splashing, everyone turned on Boaz to tell him to stop. It was too late. The creature on the bottom had awoken and launched itself directly at the half-orc, bringing with it a wave of acidic water. The group immediately began to suspect (and later confirmed) that this was a very young dragon, a green one to be more specific. It was somewhere between a large dog and small alligator in size. The beast’s front claws ripped clean through Boaz’s armor and from its maw came forth a blast of corrosive gas. Boaz was immediately dropped precariously low on hit points and was absolutely stunned by the speed and ferocity of its attacks. Of the rest of the group, everyone failed their saves and took the full brunt of the chlorine gas with the sole exception of Nigel, who had positioned himself far enough to the side to avoid a direct hit. The tight quarters of the chamber, however, didn’t allow the gas to dissipate very well, and everyone was dealing with burning eyes, nose, and throats. Boaz’s first instinct, after the pounding he took, was to flee for his life. And so, just like that, the party’s up-front muscle fled the cave, taking another claw rake across his back for good measure on the way out. Everyone else, however, flew into action. Nigel started pumping the dragon full of arrows. Amblin, along with his two dogs, braved direct confrontation and closed to melee. Rurik, likewise, tried to get close enough to bring his axe into range. Zalman, trying to maximize his spellcasting effectiveness, decided to summon a creature. The dragon fought hard, but it took at least as well as it dished out, and started to get worn down. It likely would have tried to flee, except that the entire group was between it and the exit. Amblin and Rurik both took hits and one of Amblin’s dogs, if I recall correctly, was beat to within a whisper of death. Then Zalman’s summoned creature appeared – a giant squid in the water right behind the dragon. It immediately lashed out at the dragon with its tentacles and initiated a successful grapple and tried to start dragging it back under the water. While the dragon fought back and managed to break the squid’s grip, the momentary distraction was all that the beleaguered party needed to pound on it mercilessly. Amblin, as he would continue to be bring up forevermore, was the one who dealt the fatal blow to the creature…with his bare fist. As the squid disappeared, they dragged the dragon’s corpse back out of the pool. Nigel inspected the rest of the chamber and found a small stash of treasure buried in the soil near the back wall (including a magic greatsword, several vials they later identified as a potent acid, a masterwork short bow, and a few other trinkets, coin and gems). Meanwhile, outside, Boaz had fled a couple hundred feet away before collapsing on the ground to strip his armor and take stock in his injuries. When satisfied that he wasn’t in immediate danger of dying, he started to head back to the cave. It had been at least a minute since he left them and no one had followed him out. This made him a bit worried, but he had to find out whether they were still alive or not. Just as he started to slip down the right side passage at the fork, a creature that had been aroused by all the noise of the fight was slinking down from the other fork. A violet fungus, all six feet tall and four lashing tentacles of it, assaulted the surprised fighter. Three of the four tentacles connected, and the resultant damage was enough to drop him unconscious. Two failed poison saves later (each for d4 Str and d4 Con loss), he was beyond death’s doorstep. So, Boaz’s first fate point intervenes, and the scene is replayed with the fungus getting the surprise on him, but all of its tentacles just barely missing him. Boaz retaliates with his longsword and scores a critical. His one attack nearly slices the fungus in two. The purple mass manages to lash out once more and scores one hit on the half-orc, who again fails his poison save. This time, however, it isn’t enough to drop him. The others had heard the commotion and arrived just in time to watch Boaz finish off the fungus with one more well-placed blow. After a bit of (somewhat) good-natured abuse directed at Boaz for fleeing like a girl, they heal him up and carefully inspect the passage from which the fungus had come. It turned out to dead end at a small hollowed out chamber not too far back with no other signs of habitation (or treasure, to their disappointment). They dragged the dragon’s corpse back to the treant, both for proof of the kill and to strip the creature of any body-part that might have some value – claws, teeth, hide, even it’s meat for grilling out over the campfire that night. The treant was overjoyed at their success and hoped it was all that it would take to ease the blight on that area. Zalman, using his prodigious alchemical knowledge, suggested that the use of some of the local minerals might help speed up neutralization of the dragon’s acid in the spring waters and surrounding soil. While the most battered of the group rested up, the others worked with the treant and it’s animated minions to find and haul back various neutralizing agents to the spring. That night, while eating dragon steaks around the fire (everyone admitted that it tasted surprisingly like chicken), the treant returned to them to again offer its thanks for their assistance. It also offered them a small sack of items that it had recovered some time ago and for which it had no use. Inside, they found a mighty masterwork elven longbow (which Nigel gawked over and promptly claimed as his own), and an unidentified potion and magic ring. The treant had a pretty good idea of where the village that the group sought was, though it was fairly sure that no one still lived there. Regardless, it agreed to point them along the path in the morning, indicating that they weren’t much more than another day’s ride away. And with that, they got a good night’s sleep – what would turn out to be their last for a while… Next Session – The dogfight of epic proportion, Goblinfest ’01, and Kisty Goodbread… -Rybaer [/QUOTE]
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