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The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 6895899" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 22: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE PRINCESS</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 8</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Aithanar Ivenheart, elf fighter 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 7 (Moradin)</p><p></p><p>Game Session Dates: 2 July 2016 and 10 September 2016</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>It had been weeks since the latest assault on Kordovia by a band of orcs and goblins. As always after such an attack, the time was spent burning the bodies of the enemies, laying to rest those who had fallen while keeping Kordovia safe, and generally getting things back to normal. Darrien had spent quite a bit of time with Caliandra learning the basics of the Draconic language, and while he'd have been perfectly content continuing on with his lessons for as long as the shapely sorceress was willing to tutor him, at last the time had come for the adventurers to move on. With a saddened heart, the half-elf ranger bid farewell to the human sorceress and her shocker lizard familiar, and they each went their separate ways - Darrien to meet up with the rest of his band at the castle and Caliandra to meet up with the adventurers of her own small kingdom to the south.</p><p></p><p>The others were packing up when Darrien arrived. He threw his gear into the back of the Vistani wagon as Castillan and Aithanar made sure enough feed was loaded up in the back of the mule-driven wagon. Once everything was in readiness, Ingebold climbed up into her father's wagon and grabbed the reins of Franco and Tantrum, while Aithanar climbed up to the front seat of the Vistani wagon, ready to drive Castor and Pollux off into unknown adventure. But first....</p><p></p><p>"Pishutant?" said Aithanar in surprise, picking up a folded bit of parchment that had been lying on the seat.</p><p></p><p>"What's this?" asked the bounder, taking the parchment from his little brother.</p><p></p><p>"What what?" groused Gilbert from the back of the wagon. "Why we not going yet?"</p><p></p><p>"Somebody left a note for us," replied the bounder, flipping the parchment over and noting the seal in the wax holding the paper folded consisted of the seal of Kordovia. "Looks official," he added, popping open the seal with his dagger.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink and Finoula were already on their respective riding mounts, so rather than dismount they steered Obvious and Daisy over by Castillan. "What does it say?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>Castillan unfolded the parchment and read aloud. It said:"Well, that's pretty straightforward," noted the bounder.</p><p></p><p>"Is it signed?" asked Binkadink.</p><p></p><p>"Nope. Got the royal seal on it, though."</p><p></p><p>"That's definitely a woman's handwriting," pointed out Finoula. "Could it be from <strong>Princess Kaelanna</strong>?" King Galrich had rescued Kaelanna as a newborn, as her elven mother wanted nothing to do with a half-dragon daughter. Opting to raise her himself, she had lived almost all of her life in Castle Kordovia, and as she was Galrich's adopted daughter, when he was elevated to king he made her a princess as one of his first royal decrees.</p><p></p><p>"Who cares?" piped up Gilbert from the back of the wagon. "We not decide which way to go yet, royal note says go to south part of forest. We go to south part of forest. Let's go!"</p><p></p><p>Without further discussion, the group got underway. As usual, Ingebold led the way in the mule cart, followed by Aithanar in the Vistani wagon, while Finoula and Binkadink trailed off to each side, Finoula's wolf loping along after Daisy. Castillan often walked ahead when exploring new territory, but as they were traveling through the kingdom to get to the Vesve Forest, he opted to sit in the open mule wagon with Darrien and Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>It was an uneventful trip, for the first hour or so. Then Gilbert, sitting in the back of the covered wagon reading through his <em>Omnibook</em>, got a surprise when the hidden hatch in the middle of the wagon's floor popped open and a young woman started climbing out.</p><p></p><p>"Phew!" she sighed. "It's stuffy down there! Not to mention I could feel every bump in the road!"</p><p></p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" cried Gilbert, leaping up from his seat and pulling out a wand. He had it aimed at the blond woman before she turned to the sound of his voice and he finally recognized her.</p><p></p><p>"Your Highness!" he said, awkwardly lowering his wand. "What you doing here?"</p><p></p><p>"We're on a secret mission," Princess Kaelanna responded. "But enough time has passed, and we've put a sufficient number of miles behind us, so I no longer need to hide my presence."</p><p></p><p>"Shombick fleedle scrimbooly?" asked Aithanar through the open windows on either side of him. He was certain he could hear Gilbert talking to some lady, and the fighter was sure the portly wizard had been alone when they started their journey this morning....</p><p></p><p>Gilbert approached the front window, stuck his head out, and called to the others. "Everybody stop! We have situation here!"</p><p></p><p>Several minutes later, everyone stood in a circle behind the back door of the Vistani wagon, while Princess Kaelanna held court of a sort while sitting in the open doorway. It was the closest any of the group had gotten to the princess, as she spent most of her time alone in her tower in the castle attending to her studies. <em>She's quite beautiful,</em> Finoula noted to herself - despite the slight greenish tinge to her skin, she had classically sculpted elven features and a head of hair so blond it was almost white. It took close scrutiny to notice the crown of narrow spikes she wore on her head was not actually a crown, but a series of thin horns jutting up through her hair.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert started the discussion. "This not a good idea! Anything happen to princess and king have our heads."</p><p></p><p>"Quite the contrary," argued the princess. "First of all, nothing is going to happen to me, as I'm traveling under the protection of the finest of Kordovia's adventuring heroes. Secondly, Father would never have you killed simply because I came to harm on this mission."</p><p></p><p>"May I ask what this mission is, Your Highness?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"It is a mission of the highest importance to Kordovia," replied Princess Kaelanna. "I would prefer not to say anything more until we get there."</p><p></p><p>"Get where?" demanded Gilbert, belatedly adding, "...Your Highness."</p><p></p><p>"I will direct you as we travel. It should only be another four or five hours. And I should like to get a move on, so we can get to where we're going, I can have my discussion, and we can be back to the kingdom before nightfall."</p><p></p><p>"Discussion? May we ask with who, Your Highness?" asked Binkadink.</p><p></p><p>"If'n she wanted ye t'know, likely she'd've told you," snapped Ingebold. "She is King Galrich's daughter; it's our responsibility to do as she says, an' t'see her safely there an' home again."</p><p></p><p>"Ingebold is correct," replied Princess Kaelanna. "As a Princess of the Kingdom, you are technically bound to obey me. And furthermore, me risking my life out here is no different than Ingebold risking hers. If Aerik Battershield can allow his daughter to go out on adventures, then how can King Galrich do any less?"</p><p></p><p>"I no sure..." mused Gilbert.</p><p></p><p>"Plus, if you don't take me on this mission and return me to the castle instead, I'll just sneak out on my own. Then I'll be gone much longer, exposed to greater dangers by myself, all alone, without a band of heroes to keep me safe."</p><p></p><p>"Wait, 'sneak out'?" repeated Darrien. "Your Highness, does King Galrich know you're on this mission?"</p><p></p><p>"Well...no," admitted the princess. "But if he knew about it, I'm sure he'd agree it's in the best interests of the kingdom for me to go meet him!"</p><p></p><p>"'Meet him?' Your Highness, you aren't trying to elope or anything, are you?" asked Finoula, imagining how angry King Galrich might be at those who helped his daughter sneak off to get married without his knowledge.</p><p></p><p>"Married? Don't be ridiculous! He's my brother, you don't get married to--" Princess Kaelanna stopped her sentence right there, aware that she'd probably just given too much away. <em>Maybe they won't pick up on it</em>, she thought to herself.</p><p></p><p>No such luck. Gilbert not only picked up on it, he took it one step further with a leap of conjecture. "This brother of yours, he not a <em>dragon</em> by any chance, is he, Your Highness?"</p><p></p><p>The princess's guilty expression told all. "As it happens, yes, he is," she admitted. "But he's really nice! And Kordovia would greatly benefit having a green dragon as an ally!"</p><p></p><p>"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" repeated Gilbert. "Green dragons -- they evil!"</p><p></p><p>"<strong>Clauguthrax</strong> is not evil!" objected Princess Kaelanna. "And I'm part green dragon! Are you saying I'm evil as well, wizard?"</p><p></p><p>Gilbert quickly thought through the ramifications of King Galrich finding out he'd tarred his daughter as evil because of her draconic heritage. After all, the King of Kordovia himself had orc blood running through his veins, and orcs were nothing but a scourge on the kingdom, but none would dare say King Galrich was evil as a result. "No, Your Majesty," he muttered quietly.</p><p></p><p>"Then we're done discussing it," she said, standing up to signify an end to her impromptu court. "We will press on and meet with Clauguthrax; I will get him to ally with Kordovia; and we'll all be back to the castle by evening. Father won't even know I've been gone, and in the event he does find out I promise I will shield you from all blame. Now then, back to your positions! Let's get back on the road!"</p><p></p><p>Everyone hurried to comply. Some stole quick glances at each other, managing to express "I've got a bad feeling about this!" without saying a word. But they were soon back on the road, winding their way through the Vesve Forest, headed south. As promised, Princess Kaelanna directed them where to go whenever they approached a fork in the road; nobody dared ask her how she knew where she was going, or how she had been in contact with a green dragon many hours from home when she seldom even left the castle, let alone the kingdom.</p><p></p><p>About four hours later, they were ambushed.</p><p></p><p>The small wagon train turned a corner on the dirt road they'd been following, and there was a downed tree ahead of them, blocking the path. Castillan, who'd been riding in the mule wagon, leaped down and raced up to check it out. Thinking to get a good vantage point from atop the downed trunk itself, he dashed forward with all his speed, leaped high into the air - snapping his fingers in mid-flight to bring his blades to hand - and only during his descent onto the trunk realized this was no tree at all. Instead, it was a mock-up constructed of intertwined webs and covered in places with branches and leaves. The bounder landed on both feet, sank into the construct nearly up to his knees, and was held fast in place.</p><p></p><p>"It's a fake! I'm stuck!" he called back to the others.</p><p></p><p>Both wagons had come to a halt at the sight of the obstruction. Darrien stood up from the back of the mule wagon and notched an arrow to the <em>Arachnibow</em>, looking around for danger. He spotted a spidery leg from behind a nearby tree and called out a warning to the rest of the group. And then, as if on cue, the attackers leaped out as one.</p><p></p><p>An ettercap dropped from a tree next to the mule wagon and immediately fired a strand of webbing connecting the wagon to the trunk of a sturdy tree. Another dropped down onto the top of the Vistani wagon and did the same. A third of these spider-creatures dropped down onto the false tree they had made out of webbing and moved to attack Castillan.</p><p></p><p>Inside the Vistani wagon, Gilbert hurriedly cast a <em>false life</em> spell on himself. "We got trouble, Your Majesty! I think you better go hide in trap door in floor!"</p><p></p><p>"What? I can help fight!" Princess Kaelanna argued.</p><p></p><p>"Spindooky flammajam!" called Aithanar as he scrambled into the wagon by crawling through one of the front windows.</p><p></p><p>"What is he saying?" asked the princess.</p><p></p><p>Aithanar had opened the trap door and was beckoning for the princess to hide inside. "He say 'Gilbert absolutely right, like always!'" the hefty wizard replied, guiding Kaelanna to the opening in the floor. Reluctantly, she dropped down into the hidden compartment and Aithanar closed the lid and stood atop it, sword raised as ready to be the last line of defense, if it came to that. "Good lad," Gilbert commented and, opening the back door to the wagon, stepped outside into a combat zone.</p><p></p><p>Three massive spiders, with leg-spans of 10 feet or more, had darted forth from their hiding spots behind trees and gone for the mules. Franco had been bitten and was rearing up, and Tantrum was doing his very best to keep another one at bay by kicking at it with his forehooves. The third had been intercepted by Binkadink and Obvious, and before the gnome could bring his glaive to good use his mount had bitten deep into one of the multijointed legs, then used that grip to bounce it up and down into the air, finishing up by jumping up and down atop the wounded spider. Binkadink took the opportunity to slide off of his mount right before the vigorous stomping began, not wanting to subject himself to that level of rodeo showmanship - past history indicated he'd likely have been thrown from the saddle in any case.</p><p></p><p>Up on the fake tree, Castillan was battling it out with one of the ettercaps. They'd traded blows a few times, but Castillan's general immobility limited his ability to get in any truly devastating strikes. He was managing to get a stab in here and there, however, while avoiding the spider-man's own venomous bites.</p><p></p><p>Finoula and Wrath were fighting the ettercap on the ground by the mule wagon, while Ingebold's attention was on a <em>spiritual hammer</em> she had attacking the spider that had been going for Tantrum. Darrien took a moment from shooting arrows at the spider attacking Franco to summon his giant praying mantis, and it manifested immediately behind Franco's assailant. In a blur of motion, the mantis struck out with its claws and grappled the massive spider, pinning it in place long enough for Binkadink to finish it off with his glaive. Likewise, the spider under assault by Obvious decided it had had enough and attempted to retreat back into the forest. But the jackalope was having none of that; it raced after the fleeing arachnid and stabbed it to death with his antlers, leaving its legs twitching in post-death spasms.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert saw the third ettercap was still on top of the wagon. It had managed to attach strong webbing from the wagon's top and sides to no less than three different trees, ensuring it wouldn't be going anywhere soon. The wizard blasted up at the spider-being with a charge from his <em>wand of burning hands</em>. In response, the ettercap shot webbing down at the wizard, immobilizing him. He then leaped down off the wagon, landing perfectly in place before Gilbert, its mandibles open wide, venom dripping from the ends of its fangs. But while Gilbert was entangled in webbing, he still had his <em>wand of burning hands</em> in one hand - and a <em>false life</em> spell providing him an extra bit of padding from true harm. He fired off a blast at point-blank range, burning through the webbing and blasting the ettercap right in its spidery face.</p><p></p><p>Ingebold stepped down from the wagon, approaching the last remaining spider with her warhammer in hand. While her <em>spiritual hammer</em> continued attacking the spider from the back, she did likewise from the front. Before long, it too was dead.</p><p></p><p>After she and Wrath had killed the ettercap they had been fighting, Finoula used her magic longsword to slash through the webbing adhered to the mule wagon by her now-dead foe. Then she turned and went to do the same to the webs anchoring the Vistani wagon in place. At the front of the wagon train, Castillan finally managed to slay the ettercap he'd been fighting, and then spent some time extricating himself from the web-tree.</p><p></p><p>That left only the singed ettercap by Gilbert of the original ambush party. It looked behind it and saw at a glance that all of its partners were now dead. Deciding that the mules and horses were no longer worth the effort - or the danger! - it shot a web-line into the tall branches of a nearby tree, intending to haul itself up into the trees and flee. But by then, Finoula and Wrath had approached the back of the wagon, and the wolf bit hard on the ettercap's leg as it tried to jump up onto its web. The wolf didn't manage to trip the ettercap but it held it in place just long enough for Finoula's blade to cut deep into its side. Hissing in pain, the ettercap pulled itself up onto its web and fled up to a high branch. Then, spilling a yellowish ichor from its wounds, it hissed down at its would-be prey in anger and staggered away through the branches.</p><p></p><p>After making sure that everyone was okay, the rangers used their healing skills on the mules while Gilbert burned away the fake tree made of webbing. Princess Kaelanna was released from her hidey-hole, given a full explanation as to what had occurred, and then the group was once again off to their unknown destination to meet with a green dragon that the heroes were all afraid they'd end up having to fight for their very lives, Princess Kaelanna's reassurances notwithstanding.</p><p></p><p>- - - [The first gaming session stopped here] - - -</p><p></p><p>After another half-hour of travel, Princess Kaelanna led the wagon train to a spot in a small clearing. "We shall leave the wagons and animals here," she commanded; as per the normal routine, Aithanar remained behind as well. Exiting the wagon, she led the way through the forest as if knowing exactly where she was going, although to the best of the group's knowledge the princess almost never left the castle in Kordovia.</p><p></p><p>"I still not like this!" hissed Gilbert, certain they were walking into a trap. Darrien lagged behind, far enough so he could quietly cast a spell on himself that would partially shield himself from the effects of acid-based attacks.</p><p></p><p>Finally, after about a ten-minute hike, Princess Kaelanna turned to the rest of the group and said, "Be ready, but there should be no danger. I will do all of the talking." And then she strode forward past some bushes into a small clearing, calling out "Clauguthrax! I am here, as we discussed!"</p><p></p><p>Almost immediately, a reptilian head rose up from a cave opening in the forest floor some fifty feet before her. As the great beast exited his subterranean lair, the heroes marveled at his size; Gilbert blanched, realizing this gargantuan dragon was much more than they'd be able to handle, if it came to a fight.</p><p></p><p>"Kaelanna, my dear little half-sister, it is good to finally meet you in person. So, you're an elf – how exactly did that come to be?" asked the green dragon good-naturedly. He didn't even seem to have even noticed the rest of the group.</p><p></p><p>"How did I become dragonblooded?" asked Princess Kaelanna. "My first father was an elf, of whom I know nothing; the green dragon <strong>Antharvalos</strong> was my second father, by imbuing his essence into me while my elven mother was still pregnant; and now King Galrich is my third father."</p><p></p><p>"<em>King</em> Galrich, you say?" asked the dragon, bemused. "Then I am in the presence of royalty?"</p><p></p><p>"Adopted royalty, in any case, but yes," replied Kaelanna.</p><p></p><p>"And these others?" the dragon asked, finally looking at the assembled heroes for the first time. "Did you perchance bring them to me as a snack?"</p><p></p><p><em>Here we go!</em> thought Gilbert. <em>If I start with an Evard's black tentacles spell, I can hopefully immobilize him, so all we have to worry about is his breath weapon....</em> But before he could start the words to his spell, Princess Kaelanna made a "calm down, I've got this" motion with her hand. "These are my loyal retainers from the Kingdom of Kordovia," she responded. Clauguthrax seemed a bit miffed at that.</p><p></p><p>"Well then," he decided, "if I'm not to eat them, then perhaps I can put them to good use while we have our little chat. See if they can do something about these blasted squirrels! Their incessant chattering drives me crazy!" The heroes listened carefully, but nobody could hear any squirrel chattering - it must be true, what they said about enhanced draconic senses.</p><p></p><p>"You want us to leave, go hunt squirrels?" reiterated Gilbert, relieved at the opportunity to get away from this dangerous threat.</p><p></p><p>"Whatever it takes to get them to be silent!" agreed Clauguthrax.</p><p></p><p>That sounded like a great idea to Gilbert Fung; he'd be willing to go square-dancing with squirrels if it meant getting away from the presence of the immense green dragon who might change his mind at any moment about gobbling them down as a snack.</p><p></p><p>"We cannot be leavin' ye behind, me Princess," argued Ingebold.</p><p></p><p>"I am perfectly safe here, with my half-brother to protect me," replied the princess. Ingebold couldn't think of a good way to voice her concern that it was the half-brother she was worried about, but the dragon interceded on her behalf, amused at the thought that the little dwarf thought she could actually protect Kaelanna from him, if it came down to that. "You're certainly welcome to keep your bodyguard close at hand," said the dragon.</p><p></p><p>"Then I'll be here, at the end of th' clearing," offered Ingebold, stepping out of earshot to allow them their privacy, but still near enough to come running at the first sign of trouble.</p><p></p><p>"Are you sure about this?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"I cannae leave th' princess," replied Ingebold. "Ye go on; I dinnae think ye'll be needin' much healin' in a fight against squirrels. An' if'n ye do, ye've plenty of potions t' tide ye over."</p><p></p><p>"She right - let's go!" suggested Gilbert, ushering the rest of the group away from the dragon's lair. Once at a sufficient distance, he said, "Okay, how we deal with squirrels? Kill them all?"</p><p></p><p>"What?" replied Finoula, shocked at the thought. "Slaughtering squirrels, that's your solution? What will that solve?"</p><p></p><p>"Dragon gets good night sleep, we get plenty of meat for cookpot."</p><p></p><p>"Squirrel meat's pretty good," admitted Darrien, who had killed his fair share of them in the past.</p><p></p><p>"There's got to be a better way."</p><p></p><p>"Why don't we see what the squirrels have to say?" asked Binkadink, elevating himself up to his highest with his <em>gnomish stilt-boots</em> and making chattering noises up at the trees. His queries, in the language of burrowing mammals, were quickly answered; although the others hadn't picked up on it, the further away from the dragon's cave the group had walked, the louder the squirrel-chattering had become.</p><p></p><p>"What seems to be the trouble?" asked the little gnome. Given their relative intelligence, their answer was provided in little snippets of words.</p><p></p><p>"Snakes. Men. Both. Badsnakes. Sing. Bad. Badsong. Sing badsong. Climbers die. Gulp! Eaten. Climbers run. Climb. High. Badsnakes climb. Badsong. Fall. Die. Eaten. Bad. Warn climbers. Badsnakes come!" The squirrels were visibly shaken at the memories, and several fled at the repetition of the events of recent days.</p><p></p><p>"Can one of you lead us to where we can find the badsnakes?" asked Binkadink, but the squirrels all fled, screaming their warnings to their neighbors. The gnome translated his findings to the others.</p><p></p><p>"You think these are the same snakemen from the Henderson farm?" asked Castillan, thinking back to the group's very first adventure together.</p><p></p><p>"They called 'yuan-ti'," replied Gilbert. "And who knows? Could be. They not normally found here, anyway - like hotter climate. Weird to find one group, weirder to find two. They probably same ones."</p><p></p><p>Wandering around and letting Binkadink call up to the trees, the group eventually found a squirrel of braver demeanor willing to lead them to the "badsnakes." He was only willing to get as close as eight or ten trees away, though, before pointing out "that way," and scampering away in the opposite direction at maximum speed. The group headed in that direction with weapons drawn, the rangers Darrien and Finoula leading the way. Before long, they found a small pile of assorted bones, not only of numerous squirrels but also small woodland creatures like the occasional badger or woodchuck. Darrien recalled for the group that many snakes swallowed their prey, digested them whole, and then disgorged the bones.</p><p></p><p>"The lair's probably close by," offered Finoula - and she was right, for hidden in the shadows of the surrounding trees was a hole, not quite three feet in diameter, angling down into the earth from between the roots of a great oak tree. "This looks like it," said Binkadink, crouching down and walking in, only to return after a few moments, crestfallen.</p><p></p><p>"What's the matter?" asked Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"Sharp turns," replied Binkadink. "My glaives are too long to fit."</p><p></p><p>"Give 'em here," offered Castillan, taking the two ten-foot-long polearms and balancing them across a pair of low branches. "We'll come back for them after we've dealt with whatever's inside."</p><p></p><p>Binkadink made do with his greatclub in hand, then crouched over and re-entered the low tunnel. Finoula followed, crawling on hands and knees. "You coming?" she asked the others, but they opted to let the first two check it out first.</p><p></p><p>The low tunnel of hard-packed dirt made frequent dips and turns but eventually opened up into a larger chamber. The twin <em>everburning torches</em> tied to the antlers of the little gnome's helmet lit the way; just ahead, Binkadink saw a stick lying across the floor in the place where the tunnel opened out into the greater chamber. Not trusting it, he reached in and tried pulling it into the tunnel with it, and doing so he triggered the trap: one end of the stick jostled one of a pair of upraised sticks on either side of the tunnel entrance, allowing the small branch they were supporting to come crashing down - on the spot Binkadink would be occupying had he simply walked or crawled into the chamber. The branch had several sharpened rib-bones sticking out of it in all directions, which could have done him some harm - but it hadn't, so Binkadink congratulated himself as doing as fine a job of trap-avoidance as Castillan could have done. He stepped into the empty chamber, beckoning to Finoula that it was safe to follow.</p><p></p><p>Looking around, the two were in a roughly circular chamber with a curved ceiling, about eight feet tall in the center. There was the occasional root coming out from the ceiling, but the ranger noted there wasn't enough materials to work with to fuel an <em>entangle</em> spell. The only other feature was another low tunnel leading north.</p><p></p><p>"It's safe to come on down, you big sissies!" Finoula called up to the remaining heroes - and simultaneously alerting the rest of the inhabitants of the underground den that there were intruders about.</p><p></p><p>Once Darrien, Castillan, and Gilbert had entered the larger chamber, Binkadink scouted head through the low tunnel to the north. Behind him, Finoula, Darrien, and Castillan got down on hands and knees to follow, while Gilbert loitered around at the entrance, examining the crude workmanship of the bone-branch. As the gnome approached the end of the short tunnel, he could see it opened into a much smaller chamber, with a diagonal tunnel leading down to a lower level - and a guard popping around a corner from the right!</p><p></p><p>The snakeman slithered along the floor of the chamber, bent low to face the tunnel, opened its mouth wide, and gave forth a sonic howl that rattled the teeth in the little gnome's head. He, along with those behind him (except for Gilbert, who was safely out of range), cried out in pain, while the snakeman doubled back the way he'd come. By the time Binkadink entered the small guard chamber, the snakeman was gone. The gnome raced down the sloping tunnel - the only way the snakeman could have gone - and very nearly lost his balance, as the tunnel dropped at about a 45-degree slop, before angling straight down for a few feet, finally opening into another round chamber from the ceiling. </p><p></p><p>Binkadink plopped onto the floor of this lower chamber. It too was about eight feet tall at its highest point and had a large steel shield propped up against the northern wall, but the gnome's attention was focused on the two snakemen in the chamber with him, one to the north and one to the south. Each held an odd-looking weapon, a long, metal shaft with a small, round ball on the end, rather like an extra-long mace. Binkadink got to experience these "floggers" in action, as each of his serpentine foes closed and whacked the gnome with their weapons. Binkadink raised his arms to fend off the blows, and was completely surprised by the direction of his next attack. Finoula, having entered the diagonal tunnel behind the gnome but having opted to travel head-first, lost her balance along the steep slope and came crashing down onto the befuddled gnome. The yuan-ti applied their floggers to the elven ranger with vigor, causing her quite a bit of damage, for her armor wasn't metal like that of her gnome companion. She got out a hit against one with her longsword, but was disappointed to note that the additional sonic damage didn't seem to faze the serpent.</p><p></p><p>Castillan was the next to enter the chamber; using his training as a bounder, he managed to land on his feet along the western edge, Snapping his fingers as he landed, his blades popped into his hands, ready for combat.</p><p></p><p>In the guardian chamber above, Darrien took the time to unstrap his <em>Arachnibow</em> from his back, allowing Gilbert to enter next. The heavyset wizard cast both <em>expeditious retreat</em> and <em>spider climb</em> upon himself, then sped-crawled down the sloping tunnel, scampering along the ceiling of the lower chamber once he got there. Behind him, Darrien followed Finoula's earlier example and entered the sloping tunnel head-first, hoping it would widen at the bottom and he could shoot arrows at the enemies below. It didn't work out that way for him; he had to forego his bow-shots in the cramped tunnel, and thus did the only thing he could do from his current position: raise a hand to his amber necklace and summon forth the giant praying mantis stored within.</p><p></p><p>In the chamber below, the yuan-ti Binkadink had chased into the chamber bellowed forth a sonic attack that once again hit all but Gilbert (and the mantis that was just now forming along the eastern side of the chamber); the gnome, crawling out from underneath Finoula and receiving a bash from a flogger for his efforts, belatedly recognized this as the "badsong" described by the squirrels topside. Finoula collapsed into immediate unconsciousness from the sonic attack, having already suffered many blows by the odd flogger-weapons. Seeing this, Gilbert cast a hasty <em>fire shield</em> spell on himself and dropped from the ceiling, positioning himself between the southern snakeman and the unconscious ranger. Hoping to draw the yuan-ti's attacks onto himself, he grabbed up a magic wand - his <em>wand of false life</em> - and waved it in the reptilian foe's face.</p><p></p><p>Castillan took the opportunity of the yuan-ti's concentration on Gilbert to stab his blade between the reptile's scales. It slid in deep, sliding back out covered in deep, red blood. At the same time, the mantis struck from the other side, catching the snakeman in its claws but failing to purchase a hold. Binkadink stood up and slammed his greatclub into the yuan-ti as well; everyone was hoping to kill it before it could produce its own blast of "badsong."</p><p></p><p>Given a plethora of enemies, the yuan-ti did just what Gilbert had hoped and struck at him, slamming him twice with his metal flogger weapon. Each blow activated the wizard's protective <em>fire shield</em> spell, but Gilbert was disappointed to see the reptile shrug off the effects of the retaliatory fire attacks. <em>These sonic yuan-ti resist fire as well!</em> he thought to himself.</p><p></p><p>Castillan got in another good attack against the southernmost snakeman; this attack was enough to finally slay it. Gilbert took the opportunity to apply his <em>wand of false life</em> to Finoula's unconscious form; the elven ranger woke up with a splitting headache from the sonic attacks, but struggled to her feet with her blades in hand.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink focused his attention on the remaining of these sonic yuan-ti, smashing his greatclub against the beast's side, while it returned a couple of blows with its flogger in retaliation. Heavily wounded by this time, Gilbert, Finoula, and Castillan each took a swig from their potions of healing in an attempt to stay in the fight, each fearing the remaining snakeman's next "badsong" might otherwise take them down.</p><p></p><p>The mantis struck out at the yuan-ti with blinding speed, grasping it in its foreclaws and biting deep as it grappled the snakeman. Gilbert looked around and his eye caught what looked like a hole behind the shield propped along the north wall. "This not good!" he called, kicking the shield away and revealing another narrow tunnel sloping upward to the surface.</p><p></p><p>Darrien dropped to the chamber, just as the last remaining yuan-ti was slain. Pointing to the revealed tunnel, Gilbert said, "There might still be third yuan-ti alive!" The truth of his statement was indicated by an angry hissing from the tunnel coming from the ceiling above, as the third sonic yuan-ti, having escaped from the chamber before the heroes entered, had raced back to the front entrance in hoped of catching the intruders in a pincer maneuver.</p><p></p><p>Darrien quickly deployed his mantis to the upper tunnel; the great insect flew up into the tunnel just as the third foe crawled into view. The mantis snatched out with its grasping claws, catching the surprised reptile in a grapple and then biting at it with its mouthparts - but then it simply vanished, its duration having expired. Looking down at his amber amulet, Darrien saw the mantis had returned to its normal stasis within.</p><p></p><p>However, the temporary reprieve had given the heroes time to magically mend their wounds with more frantic swigs of healing potions. The sonic yuan-ti surprised the heroes by not entering the chamber to fight them; rather, it kept the bulk of its serpentine length in the tunnel above and dropped its humanoid torso down from the hole in the ceiling, swing at the nearest target - Finoula - with an oversized scimitar. Once again, the elf dropped to unconsciousness from the blow, and Gilbert swore under his breath at their lack of a cleric on this "perfectly safe squirrel-hunting" mission. He cast a <em>grease</em> spell up at the tunnel, causing the surprised snakeman to come plopping down in a heap of serpentine coils onto the hard-packed floor of the lower chamber. The air knocked out of it, it didn't stand a chance; ringed by angry adventurers, it was pummeled by various weapons until slain.</p><p></p><p>As Gilbert carefully pulled one of Finoula's healing potions from her belt and poured its contents down her throat, Castillan checked out the large steel shield. It had a scroll tube wedged in a compartment on its inner surface. He pulled it out and removed the sheet of parchment from inside, but it was covered in arcane runes he couldn't read. Passing it along to Gilbert, he focused his attention on the exit passageway. It was lined with sharp sticks pointing towards the exit, apparently so that exiting would be a simple matter but the sonic yuan-ti need not worry about anyone sneaking in from that direction.</p><p></p><p>"Bah!" scoffed Gilbert, after having cast a <em>read magic</em> spell to determine the scrolls' contents. "It a <em>reincarnation</em> spell, for druid! What we do with that?" But by then Finoula had awakened yet again, and slowly sat up, looking all around her. "What happened?" she asked.</p><p></p><p>"You asleep on job again!" groused Gilbert, hiding the fact that he had worried about her safety throughout this entire battle. Finoula noted his arm was still wrapped protectively around her shoulder; with a look at the wizard, he quickly removed it. "Let's get back to dragon, see if he eaten our princess and cleric yet!" he said.</p><p></p><p>Fortunately, both Princess Kaelanna and Ingebold were in fine health upon their return. Binkadink had called out to the squirrels during their return, telling them the "badsnakes" had been killed and they need not worry any more, and that furthermore they should avoid nesting in the vicinity of the dragon's den.</p><p></p><p>"Are you sure you need <em>all</em> of your retainers?" asked Clauguthrax. "I could do with a snack." The group, not sure if he was just kidding, offered to bring him forth the slain bodies of the trio of sonic yuan-ti. Doing so meant slogging back over to their den, but the <em>portable hole</em> - which they had to grab from Ingebold before they set off - made the job much easier than it would have been otherwise. Satisfied with his snack, Clauguthrax said his farewell to his half-sister and the group returned to the wagons, eager to get the princess back to the castle before she was missed. Inexplicably, Princess Kaelanna's white-blond locks turned a bright pink on the way back to the Vistani wagon.</p><p></p><p>"So, were you successful, Your Highness?" asked Finoula as she rode Daisy back alongside the Vistani wagon as they trundled on home to Kordovia.</p><p></p><p>"I think so," Princess Kaelanna gushed. "He said he'll think about it, but I think he can be swayed to assist the kingdom in times of need."</p><p></p><p>However, once Princess Kaelanna had been successfully smuggled back into the castle - her hair having returned to its normal color after an hour or so of its sudden pinkness - the group was faced with another dilemma. Before they let her depart, Finoula - who the group had tasked with being the one to give her the ultimatum, thinking because they both shared an elven heritage Kaelanna might heed Finoula's advice where she might not if it were given by someone else - asked for a final word.</p><p></p><p>"Your Highness, you have to tell King Galrich about what we've done today," Finoula said.</p><p></p><p>"I will, in time, once I've received Clauguthrax's final decision. He will be pleased with our efforts, I think."</p><p></p><p>"I'm not sure that will be his first reaction," argued Finoula. "I can't imagine he'll be too happy with your sneaking away from the safety of the kingdom - or with us having assisted you."</p><p></p><p>"I've already told you, I'll make sure Father does not punish you for assisting me."</p><p></p><p>"And you're assuming the dragon will agree to aid us," added Finoula. "It's possible that he may opt not to assist us, or - worse yet - to attack us. That Antharvalos -- isn't he the green dragon that King Galrich helped slay as an adventurer? Isn't it possible that Clauguthrax will seek revenge, especially now that he knows where King Galrich is to be found?"</p><p></p><p>"He'd never do that -- he's my brother!" replied Kaelanna. "He'd never do anything to harm me!"</p><p></p><p>"Your Majesty, I hope that you're correct. But King Galrich needs to know about what we've done, at the very least so that he may make preparations for the worst - even though that'll likely never come to pass," she hastily added, seeing the anger rise in the princess.</p><p></p><p>The half-dragon seemed to think on Finoula's words. And then the elven ranger added the ultimatum: "If you don't tell His Majesty, Your Highness, then I'm afraid we will have to do so ourselves."</p><p></p><p>Princess Kaelanna's eyes narrowed in anger. "You would do what I expressly forbid?"</p><p></p><p>Finoula was resolute. "Our loyalties are to the kingdom, and to King Galrich, before to yourself, your Highness."</p><p></p><p>The half-dragon princess seemed to be exerting a great effort to calm her emotions. Finally, she trusted herself to speak. "Very well," she conceded. "I will talk to Father myself."</p><p></p><p>"Very good, Your Highness," Finoula responded, bowing low at the princess's exit.</p><p></p><p>The others sidled up to Finoula after the princess had stormed out. "Hey, nicely put," offered Castillan.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah, good job!" added Darrien.</p><p></p><p>"Yeah - it almost make up for you sleeping on job during fight with snakemen!" interjected Gilbert, earning him a swat on the arm.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Wow! When we played the first half of this adventure on the 2nd of July, I had no idea it would be a full ten weeks before we'd have another opportunity to game. But we had all kinds of things pop up to block our potential gaming weekends, and it was only last Saturday before we were able to finish the adventure. We gamed for a full six hours, finishing this adventure and then going through the adventure that follows. And we've already set the next game day for two weeks from last Saturday, so hopefully we can avoid ten-week gaps between sessions in the future.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: We started this adventure at the end of the same session that we had run through "The Evil Eye," so I was still wearing my Red Cross T-shirt. But that was still thematically appropriate, as Kaelanna was seeking a "blood relative." For the second gaming session, I went for broke and wore a black T-shirt with a green dragon on it - there was no need to keep it a surprise, since by that time the players all knew they were headed into an encounter with a green dragon.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 6895899, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 22: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE PRINCESS[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Castillan Ivenheart, elf bounder 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Darrien, half-elf ranger 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Gilbert Fung, human wizard 8[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Aithanar Ivenheart, elf fighter 1[/INDENT] [INDENT] Ingebold Battershield, dwarven cleric 7 (Moradin)[/INDENT] Game Session Dates: 2 July 2016 and 10 September 2016 - - - It had been weeks since the latest assault on Kordovia by a band of orcs and goblins. As always after such an attack, the time was spent burning the bodies of the enemies, laying to rest those who had fallen while keeping Kordovia safe, and generally getting things back to normal. Darrien had spent quite a bit of time with Caliandra learning the basics of the Draconic language, and while he'd have been perfectly content continuing on with his lessons for as long as the shapely sorceress was willing to tutor him, at last the time had come for the adventurers to move on. With a saddened heart, the half-elf ranger bid farewell to the human sorceress and her shocker lizard familiar, and they each went their separate ways - Darrien to meet up with the rest of his band at the castle and Caliandra to meet up with the adventurers of her own small kingdom to the south. The others were packing up when Darrien arrived. He threw his gear into the back of the Vistani wagon as Castillan and Aithanar made sure enough feed was loaded up in the back of the mule-driven wagon. Once everything was in readiness, Ingebold climbed up into her father's wagon and grabbed the reins of Franco and Tantrum, while Aithanar climbed up to the front seat of the Vistani wagon, ready to drive Castor and Pollux off into unknown adventure. But first.... "Pishutant?" said Aithanar in surprise, picking up a folded bit of parchment that had been lying on the seat. "What's this?" asked the bounder, taking the parchment from his little brother. "What what?" groused Gilbert from the back of the wagon. "Why we not going yet?" "Somebody left a note for us," replied the bounder, flipping the parchment over and noting the seal in the wax holding the paper folded consisted of the seal of Kordovia. "Looks official," he added, popping open the seal with his dagger. Binkadink and Finoula were already on their respective riding mounts, so rather than dismount they steered Obvious and Daisy over by Castillan. "What does it say?" asked Finoula. Castillan unfolded the parchment and read aloud. It said:"Well, that's pretty straightforward," noted the bounder. "Is it signed?" asked Binkadink. "Nope. Got the royal seal on it, though." "That's definitely a woman's handwriting," pointed out Finoula. "Could it be from [B]Princess Kaelanna[/B]?" King Galrich had rescued Kaelanna as a newborn, as her elven mother wanted nothing to do with a half-dragon daughter. Opting to raise her himself, she had lived almost all of her life in Castle Kordovia, and as she was Galrich's adopted daughter, when he was elevated to king he made her a princess as one of his first royal decrees. "Who cares?" piped up Gilbert from the back of the wagon. "We not decide which way to go yet, royal note says go to south part of forest. We go to south part of forest. Let's go!" Without further discussion, the group got underway. As usual, Ingebold led the way in the mule cart, followed by Aithanar in the Vistani wagon, while Finoula and Binkadink trailed off to each side, Finoula's wolf loping along after Daisy. Castillan often walked ahead when exploring new territory, but as they were traveling through the kingdom to get to the Vesve Forest, he opted to sit in the open mule wagon with Darrien and Ingebold. It was an uneventful trip, for the first hour or so. Then Gilbert, sitting in the back of the covered wagon reading through his [I]Omnibook[/I], got a surprise when the hidden hatch in the middle of the wagon's floor popped open and a young woman started climbing out. "Phew!" she sighed. "It's stuffy down there! Not to mention I could feel every bump in the road!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" cried Gilbert, leaping up from his seat and pulling out a wand. He had it aimed at the blond woman before she turned to the sound of his voice and he finally recognized her. "Your Highness!" he said, awkwardly lowering his wand. "What you doing here?" "We're on a secret mission," Princess Kaelanna responded. "But enough time has passed, and we've put a sufficient number of miles behind us, so I no longer need to hide my presence." "Shombick fleedle scrimbooly?" asked Aithanar through the open windows on either side of him. He was certain he could hear Gilbert talking to some lady, and the fighter was sure the portly wizard had been alone when they started their journey this morning.... Gilbert approached the front window, stuck his head out, and called to the others. "Everybody stop! We have situation here!" Several minutes later, everyone stood in a circle behind the back door of the Vistani wagon, while Princess Kaelanna held court of a sort while sitting in the open doorway. It was the closest any of the group had gotten to the princess, as she spent most of her time alone in her tower in the castle attending to her studies. [I]She's quite beautiful,[/I] Finoula noted to herself - despite the slight greenish tinge to her skin, she had classically sculpted elven features and a head of hair so blond it was almost white. It took close scrutiny to notice the crown of narrow spikes she wore on her head was not actually a crown, but a series of thin horns jutting up through her hair. Gilbert started the discussion. "This not a good idea! Anything happen to princess and king have our heads." "Quite the contrary," argued the princess. "First of all, nothing is going to happen to me, as I'm traveling under the protection of the finest of Kordovia's adventuring heroes. Secondly, Father would never have you killed simply because I came to harm on this mission." "May I ask what this mission is, Your Highness?" asked Finoula. "It is a mission of the highest importance to Kordovia," replied Princess Kaelanna. "I would prefer not to say anything more until we get there." "Get where?" demanded Gilbert, belatedly adding, "...Your Highness." "I will direct you as we travel. It should only be another four or five hours. And I should like to get a move on, so we can get to where we're going, I can have my discussion, and we can be back to the kingdom before nightfall." "Discussion? May we ask with who, Your Highness?" asked Binkadink. "If'n she wanted ye t'know, likely she'd've told you," snapped Ingebold. "She is King Galrich's daughter; it's our responsibility to do as she says, an' t'see her safely there an' home again." "Ingebold is correct," replied Princess Kaelanna. "As a Princess of the Kingdom, you are technically bound to obey me. And furthermore, me risking my life out here is no different than Ingebold risking hers. If Aerik Battershield can allow his daughter to go out on adventures, then how can King Galrich do any less?" "I no sure..." mused Gilbert. "Plus, if you don't take me on this mission and return me to the castle instead, I'll just sneak out on my own. Then I'll be gone much longer, exposed to greater dangers by myself, all alone, without a band of heroes to keep me safe." "Wait, 'sneak out'?" repeated Darrien. "Your Highness, does King Galrich know you're on this mission?" "Well...no," admitted the princess. "But if he knew about it, I'm sure he'd agree it's in the best interests of the kingdom for me to go meet him!" "'Meet him?' Your Highness, you aren't trying to elope or anything, are you?" asked Finoula, imagining how angry King Galrich might be at those who helped his daughter sneak off to get married without his knowledge. "Married? Don't be ridiculous! He's my brother, you don't get married to--" Princess Kaelanna stopped her sentence right there, aware that she'd probably just given too much away. [I]Maybe they won't pick up on it[/I], she thought to herself. No such luck. Gilbert not only picked up on it, he took it one step further with a leap of conjecture. "This brother of yours, he not a [I]dragon[/I] by any chance, is he, Your Highness?" The princess's guilty expression told all. "As it happens, yes, he is," she admitted. "But he's really nice! And Kordovia would greatly benefit having a green dragon as an ally!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" repeated Gilbert. "Green dragons -- they evil!" "[B]Clauguthrax[/B] is not evil!" objected Princess Kaelanna. "And I'm part green dragon! Are you saying I'm evil as well, wizard?" Gilbert quickly thought through the ramifications of King Galrich finding out he'd tarred his daughter as evil because of her draconic heritage. After all, the King of Kordovia himself had orc blood running through his veins, and orcs were nothing but a scourge on the kingdom, but none would dare say King Galrich was evil as a result. "No, Your Majesty," he muttered quietly. "Then we're done discussing it," she said, standing up to signify an end to her impromptu court. "We will press on and meet with Clauguthrax; I will get him to ally with Kordovia; and we'll all be back to the castle by evening. Father won't even know I've been gone, and in the event he does find out I promise I will shield you from all blame. Now then, back to your positions! Let's get back on the road!" Everyone hurried to comply. Some stole quick glances at each other, managing to express "I've got a bad feeling about this!" without saying a word. But they were soon back on the road, winding their way through the Vesve Forest, headed south. As promised, Princess Kaelanna directed them where to go whenever they approached a fork in the road; nobody dared ask her how she knew where she was going, or how she had been in contact with a green dragon many hours from home when she seldom even left the castle, let alone the kingdom. About four hours later, they were ambushed. The small wagon train turned a corner on the dirt road they'd been following, and there was a downed tree ahead of them, blocking the path. Castillan, who'd been riding in the mule wagon, leaped down and raced up to check it out. Thinking to get a good vantage point from atop the downed trunk itself, he dashed forward with all his speed, leaped high into the air - snapping his fingers in mid-flight to bring his blades to hand - and only during his descent onto the trunk realized this was no tree at all. Instead, it was a mock-up constructed of intertwined webs and covered in places with branches and leaves. The bounder landed on both feet, sank into the construct nearly up to his knees, and was held fast in place. "It's a fake! I'm stuck!" he called back to the others. Both wagons had come to a halt at the sight of the obstruction. Darrien stood up from the back of the mule wagon and notched an arrow to the [I]Arachnibow[/I], looking around for danger. He spotted a spidery leg from behind a nearby tree and called out a warning to the rest of the group. And then, as if on cue, the attackers leaped out as one. An ettercap dropped from a tree next to the mule wagon and immediately fired a strand of webbing connecting the wagon to the trunk of a sturdy tree. Another dropped down onto the top of the Vistani wagon and did the same. A third of these spider-creatures dropped down onto the false tree they had made out of webbing and moved to attack Castillan. Inside the Vistani wagon, Gilbert hurriedly cast a [I]false life[/I] spell on himself. "We got trouble, Your Majesty! I think you better go hide in trap door in floor!" "What? I can help fight!" Princess Kaelanna argued. "Spindooky flammajam!" called Aithanar as he scrambled into the wagon by crawling through one of the front windows. "What is he saying?" asked the princess. Aithanar had opened the trap door and was beckoning for the princess to hide inside. "He say 'Gilbert absolutely right, like always!'" the hefty wizard replied, guiding Kaelanna to the opening in the floor. Reluctantly, she dropped down into the hidden compartment and Aithanar closed the lid and stood atop it, sword raised as ready to be the last line of defense, if it came to that. "Good lad," Gilbert commented and, opening the back door to the wagon, stepped outside into a combat zone. Three massive spiders, with leg-spans of 10 feet or more, had darted forth from their hiding spots behind trees and gone for the mules. Franco had been bitten and was rearing up, and Tantrum was doing his very best to keep another one at bay by kicking at it with his forehooves. The third had been intercepted by Binkadink and Obvious, and before the gnome could bring his glaive to good use his mount had bitten deep into one of the multijointed legs, then used that grip to bounce it up and down into the air, finishing up by jumping up and down atop the wounded spider. Binkadink took the opportunity to slide off of his mount right before the vigorous stomping began, not wanting to subject himself to that level of rodeo showmanship - past history indicated he'd likely have been thrown from the saddle in any case. Up on the fake tree, Castillan was battling it out with one of the ettercaps. They'd traded blows a few times, but Castillan's general immobility limited his ability to get in any truly devastating strikes. He was managing to get a stab in here and there, however, while avoiding the spider-man's own venomous bites. Finoula and Wrath were fighting the ettercap on the ground by the mule wagon, while Ingebold's attention was on a [I]spiritual hammer[/I] she had attacking the spider that had been going for Tantrum. Darrien took a moment from shooting arrows at the spider attacking Franco to summon his giant praying mantis, and it manifested immediately behind Franco's assailant. In a blur of motion, the mantis struck out with its claws and grappled the massive spider, pinning it in place long enough for Binkadink to finish it off with his glaive. Likewise, the spider under assault by Obvious decided it had had enough and attempted to retreat back into the forest. But the jackalope was having none of that; it raced after the fleeing arachnid and stabbed it to death with his antlers, leaving its legs twitching in post-death spasms. Gilbert saw the third ettercap was still on top of the wagon. It had managed to attach strong webbing from the wagon's top and sides to no less than three different trees, ensuring it wouldn't be going anywhere soon. The wizard blasted up at the spider-being with a charge from his [I]wand of burning hands[/I]. In response, the ettercap shot webbing down at the wizard, immobilizing him. He then leaped down off the wagon, landing perfectly in place before Gilbert, its mandibles open wide, venom dripping from the ends of its fangs. But while Gilbert was entangled in webbing, he still had his [I]wand of burning hands[/I] in one hand - and a [I]false life[/I] spell providing him an extra bit of padding from true harm. He fired off a blast at point-blank range, burning through the webbing and blasting the ettercap right in its spidery face. Ingebold stepped down from the wagon, approaching the last remaining spider with her warhammer in hand. While her [I]spiritual hammer[/I] continued attacking the spider from the back, she did likewise from the front. Before long, it too was dead. After she and Wrath had killed the ettercap they had been fighting, Finoula used her magic longsword to slash through the webbing adhered to the mule wagon by her now-dead foe. Then she turned and went to do the same to the webs anchoring the Vistani wagon in place. At the front of the wagon train, Castillan finally managed to slay the ettercap he'd been fighting, and then spent some time extricating himself from the web-tree. That left only the singed ettercap by Gilbert of the original ambush party. It looked behind it and saw at a glance that all of its partners were now dead. Deciding that the mules and horses were no longer worth the effort - or the danger! - it shot a web-line into the tall branches of a nearby tree, intending to haul itself up into the trees and flee. But by then, Finoula and Wrath had approached the back of the wagon, and the wolf bit hard on the ettercap's leg as it tried to jump up onto its web. The wolf didn't manage to trip the ettercap but it held it in place just long enough for Finoula's blade to cut deep into its side. Hissing in pain, the ettercap pulled itself up onto its web and fled up to a high branch. Then, spilling a yellowish ichor from its wounds, it hissed down at its would-be prey in anger and staggered away through the branches. After making sure that everyone was okay, the rangers used their healing skills on the mules while Gilbert burned away the fake tree made of webbing. Princess Kaelanna was released from her hidey-hole, given a full explanation as to what had occurred, and then the group was once again off to their unknown destination to meet with a green dragon that the heroes were all afraid they'd end up having to fight for their very lives, Princess Kaelanna's reassurances notwithstanding. - - - [The first gaming session stopped here] - - - After another half-hour of travel, Princess Kaelanna led the wagon train to a spot in a small clearing. "We shall leave the wagons and animals here," she commanded; as per the normal routine, Aithanar remained behind as well. Exiting the wagon, she led the way through the forest as if knowing exactly where she was going, although to the best of the group's knowledge the princess almost never left the castle in Kordovia. "I still not like this!" hissed Gilbert, certain they were walking into a trap. Darrien lagged behind, far enough so he could quietly cast a spell on himself that would partially shield himself from the effects of acid-based attacks. Finally, after about a ten-minute hike, Princess Kaelanna turned to the rest of the group and said, "Be ready, but there should be no danger. I will do all of the talking." And then she strode forward past some bushes into a small clearing, calling out "Clauguthrax! I am here, as we discussed!" Almost immediately, a reptilian head rose up from a cave opening in the forest floor some fifty feet before her. As the great beast exited his subterranean lair, the heroes marveled at his size; Gilbert blanched, realizing this gargantuan dragon was much more than they'd be able to handle, if it came to a fight. "Kaelanna, my dear little half-sister, it is good to finally meet you in person. So, you're an elf – how exactly did that come to be?" asked the green dragon good-naturedly. He didn't even seem to have even noticed the rest of the group. "How did I become dragonblooded?" asked Princess Kaelanna. "My first father was an elf, of whom I know nothing; the green dragon [B]Antharvalos[/B] was my second father, by imbuing his essence into me while my elven mother was still pregnant; and now King Galrich is my third father." "[I]King[/I] Galrich, you say?" asked the dragon, bemused. "Then I am in the presence of royalty?" "Adopted royalty, in any case, but yes," replied Kaelanna. "And these others?" the dragon asked, finally looking at the assembled heroes for the first time. "Did you perchance bring them to me as a snack?" [I]Here we go![/I] thought Gilbert. [I]If I start with an Evard's black tentacles spell, I can hopefully immobilize him, so all we have to worry about is his breath weapon....[/I] But before he could start the words to his spell, Princess Kaelanna made a "calm down, I've got this" motion with her hand. "These are my loyal retainers from the Kingdom of Kordovia," she responded. Clauguthrax seemed a bit miffed at that. "Well then," he decided, "if I'm not to eat them, then perhaps I can put them to good use while we have our little chat. See if they can do something about these blasted squirrels! Their incessant chattering drives me crazy!" The heroes listened carefully, but nobody could hear any squirrel chattering - it must be true, what they said about enhanced draconic senses. "You want us to leave, go hunt squirrels?" reiterated Gilbert, relieved at the opportunity to get away from this dangerous threat. "Whatever it takes to get them to be silent!" agreed Clauguthrax. That sounded like a great idea to Gilbert Fung; he'd be willing to go square-dancing with squirrels if it meant getting away from the presence of the immense green dragon who might change his mind at any moment about gobbling them down as a snack. "We cannot be leavin' ye behind, me Princess," argued Ingebold. "I am perfectly safe here, with my half-brother to protect me," replied the princess. Ingebold couldn't think of a good way to voice her concern that it was the half-brother she was worried about, but the dragon interceded on her behalf, amused at the thought that the little dwarf thought she could actually protect Kaelanna from him, if it came down to that. "You're certainly welcome to keep your bodyguard close at hand," said the dragon. "Then I'll be here, at the end of th' clearing," offered Ingebold, stepping out of earshot to allow them their privacy, but still near enough to come running at the first sign of trouble. "Are you sure about this?" asked Finoula. "I cannae leave th' princess," replied Ingebold. "Ye go on; I dinnae think ye'll be needin' much healin' in a fight against squirrels. An' if'n ye do, ye've plenty of potions t' tide ye over." "She right - let's go!" suggested Gilbert, ushering the rest of the group away from the dragon's lair. Once at a sufficient distance, he said, "Okay, how we deal with squirrels? Kill them all?" "What?" replied Finoula, shocked at the thought. "Slaughtering squirrels, that's your solution? What will that solve?" "Dragon gets good night sleep, we get plenty of meat for cookpot." "Squirrel meat's pretty good," admitted Darrien, who had killed his fair share of them in the past. "There's got to be a better way." "Why don't we see what the squirrels have to say?" asked Binkadink, elevating himself up to his highest with his [I]gnomish stilt-boots[/I] and making chattering noises up at the trees. His queries, in the language of burrowing mammals, were quickly answered; although the others hadn't picked up on it, the further away from the dragon's cave the group had walked, the louder the squirrel-chattering had become. "What seems to be the trouble?" asked the little gnome. Given their relative intelligence, their answer was provided in little snippets of words. "Snakes. Men. Both. Badsnakes. Sing. Bad. Badsong. Sing badsong. Climbers die. Gulp! Eaten. Climbers run. Climb. High. Badsnakes climb. Badsong. Fall. Die. Eaten. Bad. Warn climbers. Badsnakes come!" The squirrels were visibly shaken at the memories, and several fled at the repetition of the events of recent days. "Can one of you lead us to where we can find the badsnakes?" asked Binkadink, but the squirrels all fled, screaming their warnings to their neighbors. The gnome translated his findings to the others. "You think these are the same snakemen from the Henderson farm?" asked Castillan, thinking back to the group's very first adventure together. "They called 'yuan-ti'," replied Gilbert. "And who knows? Could be. They not normally found here, anyway - like hotter climate. Weird to find one group, weirder to find two. They probably same ones." Wandering around and letting Binkadink call up to the trees, the group eventually found a squirrel of braver demeanor willing to lead them to the "badsnakes." He was only willing to get as close as eight or ten trees away, though, before pointing out "that way," and scampering away in the opposite direction at maximum speed. The group headed in that direction with weapons drawn, the rangers Darrien and Finoula leading the way. Before long, they found a small pile of assorted bones, not only of numerous squirrels but also small woodland creatures like the occasional badger or woodchuck. Darrien recalled for the group that many snakes swallowed their prey, digested them whole, and then disgorged the bones. "The lair's probably close by," offered Finoula - and she was right, for hidden in the shadows of the surrounding trees was a hole, not quite three feet in diameter, angling down into the earth from between the roots of a great oak tree. "This looks like it," said Binkadink, crouching down and walking in, only to return after a few moments, crestfallen. "What's the matter?" asked Darrien. "Sharp turns," replied Binkadink. "My glaives are too long to fit." "Give 'em here," offered Castillan, taking the two ten-foot-long polearms and balancing them across a pair of low branches. "We'll come back for them after we've dealt with whatever's inside." Binkadink made do with his greatclub in hand, then crouched over and re-entered the low tunnel. Finoula followed, crawling on hands and knees. "You coming?" she asked the others, but they opted to let the first two check it out first. The low tunnel of hard-packed dirt made frequent dips and turns but eventually opened up into a larger chamber. The twin [I]everburning torches[/I] tied to the antlers of the little gnome's helmet lit the way; just ahead, Binkadink saw a stick lying across the floor in the place where the tunnel opened out into the greater chamber. Not trusting it, he reached in and tried pulling it into the tunnel with it, and doing so he triggered the trap: one end of the stick jostled one of a pair of upraised sticks on either side of the tunnel entrance, allowing the small branch they were supporting to come crashing down - on the spot Binkadink would be occupying had he simply walked or crawled into the chamber. The branch had several sharpened rib-bones sticking out of it in all directions, which could have done him some harm - but it hadn't, so Binkadink congratulated himself as doing as fine a job of trap-avoidance as Castillan could have done. He stepped into the empty chamber, beckoning to Finoula that it was safe to follow. Looking around, the two were in a roughly circular chamber with a curved ceiling, about eight feet tall in the center. There was the occasional root coming out from the ceiling, but the ranger noted there wasn't enough materials to work with to fuel an [I]entangle[/I] spell. The only other feature was another low tunnel leading north. "It's safe to come on down, you big sissies!" Finoula called up to the remaining heroes - and simultaneously alerting the rest of the inhabitants of the underground den that there were intruders about. Once Darrien, Castillan, and Gilbert had entered the larger chamber, Binkadink scouted head through the low tunnel to the north. Behind him, Finoula, Darrien, and Castillan got down on hands and knees to follow, while Gilbert loitered around at the entrance, examining the crude workmanship of the bone-branch. As the gnome approached the end of the short tunnel, he could see it opened into a much smaller chamber, with a diagonal tunnel leading down to a lower level - and a guard popping around a corner from the right! The snakeman slithered along the floor of the chamber, bent low to face the tunnel, opened its mouth wide, and gave forth a sonic howl that rattled the teeth in the little gnome's head. He, along with those behind him (except for Gilbert, who was safely out of range), cried out in pain, while the snakeman doubled back the way he'd come. By the time Binkadink entered the small guard chamber, the snakeman was gone. The gnome raced down the sloping tunnel - the only way the snakeman could have gone - and very nearly lost his balance, as the tunnel dropped at about a 45-degree slop, before angling straight down for a few feet, finally opening into another round chamber from the ceiling. Binkadink plopped onto the floor of this lower chamber. It too was about eight feet tall at its highest point and had a large steel shield propped up against the northern wall, but the gnome's attention was focused on the two snakemen in the chamber with him, one to the north and one to the south. Each held an odd-looking weapon, a long, metal shaft with a small, round ball on the end, rather like an extra-long mace. Binkadink got to experience these "floggers" in action, as each of his serpentine foes closed and whacked the gnome with their weapons. Binkadink raised his arms to fend off the blows, and was completely surprised by the direction of his next attack. Finoula, having entered the diagonal tunnel behind the gnome but having opted to travel head-first, lost her balance along the steep slope and came crashing down onto the befuddled gnome. The yuan-ti applied their floggers to the elven ranger with vigor, causing her quite a bit of damage, for her armor wasn't metal like that of her gnome companion. She got out a hit against one with her longsword, but was disappointed to note that the additional sonic damage didn't seem to faze the serpent. Castillan was the next to enter the chamber; using his training as a bounder, he managed to land on his feet along the western edge, Snapping his fingers as he landed, his blades popped into his hands, ready for combat. In the guardian chamber above, Darrien took the time to unstrap his [I]Arachnibow[/I] from his back, allowing Gilbert to enter next. The heavyset wizard cast both [I]expeditious retreat[/I] and [I]spider climb[/I] upon himself, then sped-crawled down the sloping tunnel, scampering along the ceiling of the lower chamber once he got there. Behind him, Darrien followed Finoula's earlier example and entered the sloping tunnel head-first, hoping it would widen at the bottom and he could shoot arrows at the enemies below. It didn't work out that way for him; he had to forego his bow-shots in the cramped tunnel, and thus did the only thing he could do from his current position: raise a hand to his amber necklace and summon forth the giant praying mantis stored within. In the chamber below, the yuan-ti Binkadink had chased into the chamber bellowed forth a sonic attack that once again hit all but Gilbert (and the mantis that was just now forming along the eastern side of the chamber); the gnome, crawling out from underneath Finoula and receiving a bash from a flogger for his efforts, belatedly recognized this as the "badsong" described by the squirrels topside. Finoula collapsed into immediate unconsciousness from the sonic attack, having already suffered many blows by the odd flogger-weapons. Seeing this, Gilbert cast a hasty [I]fire shield[/I] spell on himself and dropped from the ceiling, positioning himself between the southern snakeman and the unconscious ranger. Hoping to draw the yuan-ti's attacks onto himself, he grabbed up a magic wand - his [I]wand of false life[/I] - and waved it in the reptilian foe's face. Castillan took the opportunity of the yuan-ti's concentration on Gilbert to stab his blade between the reptile's scales. It slid in deep, sliding back out covered in deep, red blood. At the same time, the mantis struck from the other side, catching the snakeman in its claws but failing to purchase a hold. Binkadink stood up and slammed his greatclub into the yuan-ti as well; everyone was hoping to kill it before it could produce its own blast of "badsong." Given a plethora of enemies, the yuan-ti did just what Gilbert had hoped and struck at him, slamming him twice with his metal flogger weapon. Each blow activated the wizard's protective [I]fire shield[/I] spell, but Gilbert was disappointed to see the reptile shrug off the effects of the retaliatory fire attacks. [I]These sonic yuan-ti resist fire as well![/I] he thought to himself. Castillan got in another good attack against the southernmost snakeman; this attack was enough to finally slay it. Gilbert took the opportunity to apply his [I]wand of false life[/I] to Finoula's unconscious form; the elven ranger woke up with a splitting headache from the sonic attacks, but struggled to her feet with her blades in hand. Binkadink focused his attention on the remaining of these sonic yuan-ti, smashing his greatclub against the beast's side, while it returned a couple of blows with its flogger in retaliation. Heavily wounded by this time, Gilbert, Finoula, and Castillan each took a swig from their potions of healing in an attempt to stay in the fight, each fearing the remaining snakeman's next "badsong" might otherwise take them down. The mantis struck out at the yuan-ti with blinding speed, grasping it in its foreclaws and biting deep as it grappled the snakeman. Gilbert looked around and his eye caught what looked like a hole behind the shield propped along the north wall. "This not good!" he called, kicking the shield away and revealing another narrow tunnel sloping upward to the surface. Darrien dropped to the chamber, just as the last remaining yuan-ti was slain. Pointing to the revealed tunnel, Gilbert said, "There might still be third yuan-ti alive!" The truth of his statement was indicated by an angry hissing from the tunnel coming from the ceiling above, as the third sonic yuan-ti, having escaped from the chamber before the heroes entered, had raced back to the front entrance in hoped of catching the intruders in a pincer maneuver. Darrien quickly deployed his mantis to the upper tunnel; the great insect flew up into the tunnel just as the third foe crawled into view. The mantis snatched out with its grasping claws, catching the surprised reptile in a grapple and then biting at it with its mouthparts - but then it simply vanished, its duration having expired. Looking down at his amber amulet, Darrien saw the mantis had returned to its normal stasis within. However, the temporary reprieve had given the heroes time to magically mend their wounds with more frantic swigs of healing potions. The sonic yuan-ti surprised the heroes by not entering the chamber to fight them; rather, it kept the bulk of its serpentine length in the tunnel above and dropped its humanoid torso down from the hole in the ceiling, swing at the nearest target - Finoula - with an oversized scimitar. Once again, the elf dropped to unconsciousness from the blow, and Gilbert swore under his breath at their lack of a cleric on this "perfectly safe squirrel-hunting" mission. He cast a [I]grease[/I] spell up at the tunnel, causing the surprised snakeman to come plopping down in a heap of serpentine coils onto the hard-packed floor of the lower chamber. The air knocked out of it, it didn't stand a chance; ringed by angry adventurers, it was pummeled by various weapons until slain. As Gilbert carefully pulled one of Finoula's healing potions from her belt and poured its contents down her throat, Castillan checked out the large steel shield. It had a scroll tube wedged in a compartment on its inner surface. He pulled it out and removed the sheet of parchment from inside, but it was covered in arcane runes he couldn't read. Passing it along to Gilbert, he focused his attention on the exit passageway. It was lined with sharp sticks pointing towards the exit, apparently so that exiting would be a simple matter but the sonic yuan-ti need not worry about anyone sneaking in from that direction. "Bah!" scoffed Gilbert, after having cast a [I]read magic[/I] spell to determine the scrolls' contents. "It a [I]reincarnation[/I] spell, for druid! What we do with that?" But by then Finoula had awakened yet again, and slowly sat up, looking all around her. "What happened?" she asked. "You asleep on job again!" groused Gilbert, hiding the fact that he had worried about her safety throughout this entire battle. Finoula noted his arm was still wrapped protectively around her shoulder; with a look at the wizard, he quickly removed it. "Let's get back to dragon, see if he eaten our princess and cleric yet!" he said. Fortunately, both Princess Kaelanna and Ingebold were in fine health upon their return. Binkadink had called out to the squirrels during their return, telling them the "badsnakes" had been killed and they need not worry any more, and that furthermore they should avoid nesting in the vicinity of the dragon's den. "Are you sure you need [I]all[/I] of your retainers?" asked Clauguthrax. "I could do with a snack." The group, not sure if he was just kidding, offered to bring him forth the slain bodies of the trio of sonic yuan-ti. Doing so meant slogging back over to their den, but the [I]portable hole[/I] - which they had to grab from Ingebold before they set off - made the job much easier than it would have been otherwise. Satisfied with his snack, Clauguthrax said his farewell to his half-sister and the group returned to the wagons, eager to get the princess back to the castle before she was missed. Inexplicably, Princess Kaelanna's white-blond locks turned a bright pink on the way back to the Vistani wagon. "So, were you successful, Your Highness?" asked Finoula as she rode Daisy back alongside the Vistani wagon as they trundled on home to Kordovia. "I think so," Princess Kaelanna gushed. "He said he'll think about it, but I think he can be swayed to assist the kingdom in times of need." However, once Princess Kaelanna had been successfully smuggled back into the castle - her hair having returned to its normal color after an hour or so of its sudden pinkness - the group was faced with another dilemma. Before they let her depart, Finoula - who the group had tasked with being the one to give her the ultimatum, thinking because they both shared an elven heritage Kaelanna might heed Finoula's advice where she might not if it were given by someone else - asked for a final word. "Your Highness, you have to tell King Galrich about what we've done today," Finoula said. "I will, in time, once I've received Clauguthrax's final decision. He will be pleased with our efforts, I think." "I'm not sure that will be his first reaction," argued Finoula. "I can't imagine he'll be too happy with your sneaking away from the safety of the kingdom - or with us having assisted you." "I've already told you, I'll make sure Father does not punish you for assisting me." "And you're assuming the dragon will agree to aid us," added Finoula. "It's possible that he may opt not to assist us, or - worse yet - to attack us. That Antharvalos -- isn't he the green dragon that King Galrich helped slay as an adventurer? Isn't it possible that Clauguthrax will seek revenge, especially now that he knows where King Galrich is to be found?" "He'd never do that -- he's my brother!" replied Kaelanna. "He'd never do anything to harm me!" "Your Majesty, I hope that you're correct. But King Galrich needs to know about what we've done, at the very least so that he may make preparations for the worst - even though that'll likely never come to pass," she hastily added, seeing the anger rise in the princess. The half-dragon seemed to think on Finoula's words. And then the elven ranger added the ultimatum: "If you don't tell His Majesty, Your Highness, then I'm afraid we will have to do so ourselves." Princess Kaelanna's eyes narrowed in anger. "You would do what I expressly forbid?" Finoula was resolute. "Our loyalties are to the kingdom, and to King Galrich, before to yourself, your Highness." The half-dragon princess seemed to be exerting a great effort to calm her emotions. Finally, she trusted herself to speak. "Very well," she conceded. "I will talk to Father myself." "Very good, Your Highness," Finoula responded, bowing low at the princess's exit. The others sidled up to Finoula after the princess had stormed out. "Hey, nicely put," offered Castillan. "Yeah, good job!" added Darrien. "Yeah - it almost make up for you sleeping on job during fight with snakemen!" interjected Gilbert, earning him a swat on the arm. - - - Wow! When we played the first half of this adventure on the 2nd of July, I had no idea it would be a full ten weeks before we'd have another opportunity to game. But we had all kinds of things pop up to block our potential gaming weekends, and it was only last Saturday before we were able to finish the adventure. We gamed for a full six hours, finishing this adventure and then going through the adventure that follows. And we've already set the next game day for two weeks from last Saturday, so hopefully we can avoid ten-week gaps between sessions in the future. - - - T-Shirt Worn: We started this adventure at the end of the same session that we had run through "The Evil Eye," so I was still wearing my Red Cross T-shirt. But that was still thematically appropriate, as Kaelanna was seeking a "blood relative." For the second gaming session, I went for broke and wore a black T-shirt with a green dragon on it - there was no need to keep it a surprise, since by that time the players all knew they were headed into an encounter with a green dragon. [/QUOTE]
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