"Beast of Burden" & "Into the Fire"

Posts 1-56 "Beast of Burden"
Played as Module #120, 9 Games, Sept. 7th to Dec. 21st 2003. Module Source: Dungeon 100 "Beast of Burden"

Posts 57-61 "Beast of Burden Sequel: The One that got Away"
Played as Module #125, 2 Games, April 11th & May 31st 2004. Module Source: Dungeon 108: Map of Mystery "Stone Giant Caverns".

Post 62 "The Birth"
Played as Module #128, 1 Game, Sept. 26th, 2004

Posts 63-up "Into the Fire" & "Preemptive Strike"
Played as Module #130 beginning Oct. 31st, 2004. Module Sources: Dungeon 1 "Into the Fire", Dungeon 74 "Preemptive Strike" & Dungeon 117 "Istivin: City of Shadows".


Source Material

“Beast of Burden” is from Dungeon Magazine #100 (August 2003), written by Michael Kortes, with minor modifications by the DM to fit into the campaign world. Due to the higher PC levels the full scaling options have been employed, as well as increasing the size and leadership of the enemy ground forces.

The NPC adventuring team “The Dragonstalkers” are from Polyhedron Magazine #35 (October 1987), created by Michael Lach, and have been an established group on this campaign world for the past five character years. To better ground this module in the campaign world, this team has been substituted for the Knights of Heironeous NPC group in the introductory pages of the module.


Background

This campaign is set on the continent of Phlooredah, which is an oval-shaped island approximately 600 miles east to west by 400 miles north to south. The continent is divided into nine autonomous Lordholdings. The nine Lordholders elect a ruler to serve a 15-year term of office, with the ruler’s authority limited to the defense of the continent, the issuing of a common currency, and the arbitration of disputes between the Lordholders.

The current ruler is Queen Jennifer, the wife of the previous King, and she is serving her first year of office. Unlike her predecessors, she does not maintain a large military for the defense of the continent. She relies instead upon three adventuring teams to serve that role, and has named a member of each of these teams to act as her a liaison, with the title General of the Queen’s Army.

The setting where “Beast of Burden” has been placed is the Kralt Lordholding. This is the northeastern most land on the continent and the third largest Lordholding in regards to territory. Kralt is primarily remote wilderness and is lightly populated. Its long northern coastline is lined with rocks and high cliffs, experiences very rough seas, and has only a few barely accessible harbors.

The Kralt Lordholder is a charismatic monk, who rules from a large monastery situated a day’s travel from the land’s only coastal city, Kralton. Community and location names from the “Beast of Burden” module have been retained, although the east-west orientation of the module’s map has been reversed to increase the potential threat of the invading monster (with it moving in the direction of the more populated sections of the continent rather than away from them).


Cast of Characters

Narg, male 8th level half-elf fighter.
(Played by Biz1489) Chaotic Good. Founding member of the Silver Moon Adventurers, 14 years earlier. Is the unofficial leader of the Silver Moon Adventurers. He is charismatic, optimistic, and likes to make the most out of life. He has exceptional strength, but a below-average wisdom, which along with his alignment sometimes leads short-term planning without consideration the long-term consequences. Despite this flaw, he serves on the Jawlt Council as the Minister of Military Strategy. He recently married the elvan archer-ranger Vallessa, who is currently pregnant with their child. He wields a sword of sharpness that also protects him from fire, which he has named “The Nargblade". He often goes on trips with his Pooka friend Monty, who usually brings him to watch baseball games on a planet called Earth.

Mojo, male 8th level elf fighter.
(Played by ttenchantr) Chaotic Good. Sidekick and former roommate of Narg. Mr. Mojo Rising has a sly wit and sharp tongue, making a joke or comment about anything. Has exceptional strength. He was recently appointed a General in the Queen's Army, and is also her secret lover. He likes to think of himself as still being reckless and irresponsible, although that has been slowly changing in recent years. He has been with the Silver Moon Adventurers for 13 years. His favorite magic items are a Hammer of Throwing and a Ring of Invisibility.

Mark, male 8th level half-elf ranger.
Neutral Good. Quiet and thoughtful, he is the party's senior ranger and a very skilled tracker. Likes to be left alone, and lives by himself in the Island’s deepest forest, miles from his nearest neighbor. He has been with the Silver Moon Adventurers for 14 years, having joined them early into their first mission. He never takes any type of leadership role unless giants or other humanoid monsters are around, when he then won’t hesitate to lead the party into battle. His key magic items are a +4 Longsword. His body has been altered to assume an aquatic form when triggered by a Dispel Magic spell, his form being an aquatic elf.

Cassie-Andra, female 10th /8th level* half-elf wizard/cleric.
(Played by kriskrafts) Lawful Good. She is a fanatic about reading, learning and spell casting. She has wonderful surgery skills, dissecting most monsters that the party kills to harvest components for spells and magic items. She has been with the Silver Moon Adventurers for 11 years. She is their most powerful spell caster, being both a formidable wizard and a cleric of the God of Knowledge and Time. She is the girlfriend of the elvan archer Aradyn. Cassie has an owl familiar named Deanna, and a pet wyvern named Maynard. *Her key magic item is the Crown of Might, the powers of which include increasing each of her ability levels (her actual levels each being one lower than stated above) and the crown will also throw massive fireballs twice daily.

Alton, male 9th level human druid.
(Played by Celticwolf) True Neutral. Alton F. Wadsworth was a hippie and student at U.C.L.A. Berkley on the planet Earth in the year 1967. While attending a Renaissance festival he was inadvertently captured by a dimensional traveler looking for Medieval-era adventurers, and was then dropped into this D&D campaign world. He has now been here and with the Silver Moon Adventurers for 12 years. Alton had always grown his own plants (most of which he smoked) so decided to become a druid. He has a laid back personality (bordering on ‘burned-out’) with occasional short-term memory lapses, but as less of an attitude than the party’s other druid so the group keeps him around. He lives in the city on Silver Moon Island where he often travels around on 20th century vehicles that the group had acquired on some of their more unusual missions.

Purge, 5th level human monk (NPC)
Lawful Neutral. This quiet and rather secretive man came from a monastery in the remote Kralt Lordholding. He first joined the Silver Moon Adventurers eight years ago, serving as an active and productive party member for many years. He has spent the past two years away on solo travels, and has just now returned for an annual visit. Since the current mission is in his homeland he has decided to join them on this quest. The Kralt Lordholder is the leader of Purge’s monastic order.

Game #1 - 9/07/03

Chapter 1, “Call for General Mojo,” September 12th, 1019, 10:30 A.M.

The half-elvan fighter Narg and his elvan sidekick Mojo have just sat down for a late breakfast at Jerry’s Tavern, the largest eating establishment in the harborside town on Silver Moon Island. The town is home to half of the island’s 300 residents, including the crews of the four ships that call this port their home. The two fighters had been drinking at the tavern the previous evening and spent the night at the adjacent inn, being too drunk to make their way up the mountain to their homes.

Jerry, the middle-aged gnome proprietor of the tavern and inn, brings them some plates filled with eggs, meat and potatoes along with a full pitcher of beer for each of them. Midway through the meal a loud buzzing sound emanates from Mojo. Narg’s hangover is pretty bad and he finds the noise is rather aggravating. He snaps “What the hell is that?” “It’s the Queen phone,” is Mojo’s reply.

The elvan fighter then retches into the pocket of his tunic and takes out a wooden and metal bottle opener. He moves the corkscrew and pulls the metal bottle prier up a few inches, then brings the device up to his face. “Hello!” he says enthusiastically. Mojo’s facial expression then changes to one of frustration, and he says, “Yes, I’ll hold.” Jerry asks Narg “Is there any particular reason he’s talking to a bottle opener?” Narg replies, “It’s Mojo. Does he need a reason?”

Mojo then begins talking again, saying “Uh huh……..Yeah…….Of course they did…...Well I could have told you that………….How big? WHAT!…… What does it look like………Where did you say…….Where is that……Damn…..Okay, that makes sense…….Okay, fine I’ll get a team there right away. Talk to you tomorrow.” He then closes up the bottle opener and puts it away.

“Dare I ask?” Narg inquires. Mojo replies, “That was the Queen.” Jerry says “The Queen is now a bottle opener?” Mojo answers “No. She spoke to me through a magical communication device.” “In a bottle opener?” Narg exclaims. Mojo answers, “She could have had the enchantment placed upon any item. She figured that if she put it on something I might actually use then I wouldn’t misplace it or throw it away.”

“So what’s going on?” Narg asks. Mojo replies, “She needs me to get a team up to the Kralt Lordholding to stop a giant monster. It apparently looks like a cross between an ox and a crocodile.” “Oh no!” Narg exclaims with a shocked look on his face. Jerry comments “What? Afraid of fighting a crocodile-like monster?” Narg replies, “Hell no, I just don’t want to go to Kralt.” Mojo comments, “Well, this is apparently a big one. She says it’s 100 feet tall and half-mile long.”

Jerry comments, “Wait a minute Mojo. That’s not one of the Lordholdings you and the Silver Moon Adventurers have been appointed to look after?” Mojo replies, “No, the Donkey Feet Team has that one.” “Do you mean the Dragon Stalkers?” Jerry comments. Mojo answers “Yeah, them. I was close. Anyway, she already sent them and the creature took them out.” Narg quips, “Of course it took them out. They’re incompetent! A 100-inch tall monster would be too much for those chumps. She should have called the “A” Team to begin with.” Mojo replies, “She told me to go and get the best and the brightest.” Jerry quips, “Do you want me to go and try to find some of them? That sure doesn’t describe you two guys.”

Neither of the fighters are motivated to move, so they decide that the best way for them to recruit a team for this mission is to just stay in the tavern and drink, and take whoever happens to walk in next. The first person to arrive is Mark, the party’s most senior ranger. Narg says, “Hey, It’s Mark. Should we get him?” Mojo says, “Yeah, we should get him…to go find somebody else instead.” Narg then says of his half-elvan colleague, “Okay, I’ll admit that he’s not the most exhilarating person we have in the group.” Mojo answers, “The barnacles on the bottom of the ship are more exhilarating.”

A large cloud of dust and dirt then appears outside the tavern, and Mark quickly closes the door to keep the dust outside. Looking out the tavern window Mojo and Narg see that a large golden colored wyvern with rainbow hued winds has just landed. The female half-elf wizard/cleric Cassie-Andra dismounts from her flying pet, and heads into the tavern. “Well that’s more like it,” Mojo comments. Narg and Mojo call both her and Mark over to their table. “What’s up?” she asks.

Narg says, “Trouble in Kralt. The Queen just contacted Mojo, and she wants a team of us to get there as soon as possible to stop a giant monster.” Cassie turns to Mojo and then interrogates him for a word-for-word summary of his conversation with Queen Jennifer. Mojo explains that the monster first appeared in Kralt a few days earlier and has thus far destroyed three small settlements, the latest being the town of Szaphdra’s Rest. That was where the Dragon Stalkers fought the creature and lost. That team’s liaison, General Teakas, contacted Queen Jennifer to request more help. The Queen said she would take care of that and ordered the Dragon Stalkers to begin an evacuation of the large crossroads town of Gheldaylin, the next community in the monster’s path.”

“Any idea where that town might be?” Mark inquires. Cassie replies, “Yes, I’ve heard of it. It is about halfway between the Monastery of the Kralt Lordholder and the East Lordholding land of Northumberland. We’ve adventured at both of those places nine years ago, and could teleport to either.” Mojo comments, “Yeah, I went on both of those missions.” Mojo then points to the door, and comments, “He went on both of those missions too.” They turn and see that the druid Alton has just entered the tavern. The scruffy, disheveled and rather filthy robed human staggers over towards the others. They smell him well before he reaches the tables as he reeks of the various plants that he recreationally smokes, and comments “Hey Man. Saw your flying lizard outside Cassie. What’s happening?”

She replies, “We’re going to be heading up to the Kralt Lordholding. Care to join us?” “Him?” Narg comments, with a distasteful look on his face. Cassie replies, “We could use a second spell caster. And a druid might come in handy for this mission.” Alton asks, “This isn’t another vacation is it?” (Remembering a prior ‘vacation’ to another world that turned out to be an unpleasant trek through several hundred miles of desert. Mojo replies, “No you’ve been asked to go help fight a giant monster.” “Great. Sounds real groovy,” is the druid’s reply.

“Shouldn’t we also bring along somebody who has thieving skills?” Mark comments. “Good point,” Narg answers, “Hey Jerry…..” They all notice that the gnome rogue tavern owner is nowhere to be seen.” “Guess he saw that one coming,” Mojo comments. Cassie suggests, “How about Purge?” “That weirdo?” Mojo states. Cassie answers “Yes. He’s currently back on the island for a visit, and he originally came from Kralt. In fact, the Kralt Lordholder is the head of Purge’s Monastic Order and he knows that Monastery well.” “Fine, at least he’s quiet,” Narg states.

“How do we get there?” Mark asks. Cassie says, “We’ll have to borrow either the Ring of Teleportation from Serita or Helm of Teleportation from Kharole.” “Will either loan one of them to us?” Alton says. Mojo quips, “You could probably get the one from Kharole, but you might have to sleep with her first.” Narg says, “Right! Be back soon.” Cassie yells, “Hold on Mister! Need I remind you that you’re recently married.” He says, “Oh yeah, and to a very pregnant archer. She’d kill me without hesitation in her current disposition. Better send Mark instead.”

Cassie says, “Okay, Mark. Go find Purge and then get the Helmet and your equipment together. We’ll leave from outside of my library just as soon as you can get there.” Mark gets on his horse and rides off. The others climb upon the back of the wyvern Maynard, for a quick flight back up to the mountaintop city where the four of them reside.

Chapter 2, “Off to Kralt, September 12th, 1019, 11:30 A.M.

The Wyvern ascends above the forested mountainside, soon reaching the summit and the cliffs of the crater surrounding the city below. Two hundred feet below the half-mile round crater walls is a plateau filled with approximately one hundred buildings that were the ruins of the ancient city of Parthalis. During the past decade that the Silver Moon Adventurers have renovated the stone buildings, with about one-fifth of them now being occupied by the party and their associates. (Note: This city is from the classic TSR Module #I1: “Dwellers of the Forbidden City”.

The wyvern Maynard lands outside of Alton’s house and all three men dismount. Cassie then flies Maynard down the street to her home. Mojo and Narg head inside with Alton, and each grab a cold beer from his refrigerator (powered by energy from deep beneath the dormant volcano – don’t ask) Alton haphazardly tosses a bunch of items into his backpack. They head back outside and Mojo then goes into his house next door while Alton tosses the pack into the backpack of his Jeep. “We’re only going to the library down the street,” Narg comments. Alton replies, “So? We’ll probably be doing a lot of walking later. Why wear ourselves out before we have to.”

Mojo soon returns with his pack and is dressed in his General of the Queen’s Army uniform. Alton drives them the short distance down the street to Narg and Vallessa’s house. “Care to come inside?” Narg asks his companions. Mojo answers, “Yeah right! You’re just afraid to face her alone since you didn’t come home last night” “We’ll stay here,” Alton interjects. Narg cautiously makes his way into the house and looks around. His wife does not appear to be home and he then notices that her pegasus Magnificence is not in the stable behind the house. Narg breathes a sigh of relief and quickly gathers his things together. Alton then drives them to the library.

Cassie still hasn’t finished gathering together the assorted group-owned magic items as well as whatever books she thinks she might need to consult, so the others decide to impatiently wait by the vehicle. Mark and Purge eventually ride through the cave opening into the city and down the street to the library. They dismount and Purge then speak to the horses, commanding them to return to their homes.

Cassie eventually emerges from the library, carrying two Bags of Holding, one full of magic and equipment, the other for the party to ride in. Alton complains about not being able to bring the Jeep, but it is pointed out that the Kralt wilderness is a bit too rugged for it to travel through and that Cassie also wants to save her Reduce spells for the monster.

Everyone climbs into the bag except for Purge and Cassie’s owl familiar Deanna. Purge places the Helm of Teleportation on his head, and pictures in his mind a familiar memory of a meditation area not far from the Monastery where he was originally trained. The 500-mile teleport is instantaneous, with him arriving without incident. The park-like area is currently unoccupied, and he spends a few minutes in silent meditation before letting his associates out of the Bag of Holding. Mark, Mojo and Narg are all a little dazed after spending time in a confined space with Alton, and taking in his unique 'aroma'.

Narg immediately complains, “What took so long and where the hell are we? I thought we were going to a Monastery?” Purge says, “We are near it. Coming here first was safer, as Monks don’t always react well to people teleporting into their home.” They travel through the park and soon see the large stone building before them. The building is surrounded by massive trees, which block most of the sun from reaching the structure. “Geez, no wonder you’re always pasty white,” Narg comments to Purge. “I thought it had something to do with him being an albino,” Cassie comments.

As the approach the building Mojo comments, “Hey Purge, these monks are pretty tough, right?” “Indeed,” he replies. “Well it’s their Lordholding. Why don’t we just tell them to go and slap the monster, and save us the trouble”. Purge responds with “I believe that the Queen assigned you the task. Now please be respectful to the Lordholder.” Narg replies, “Sure, we’re always respectful.” Cassie rolls her eyes and threatens Narg with “If you screw this up I’ll get your wife to make you wear socks.”

They approach the monastery gates, which is guarded by a pair of robed human monks. One appears to recognize Purge, but makes no attempt to move aside to allow him to enter. Purge and the monks just stare at each other until Mojo loses his patience, and pushes his way through saying, “We’re here to see the Lordholder.”

“Wait one moment sir,” the older monk that is apparently in charge states, and he then and the other monk move back into the entranceway. The two then have a whispered conversation, which the keen elvan hearing of most of the party members are able to pick up. The younger monk says, “Who are they?” The older one says, “I’m not sure. One is Brother Purge, but I have never seen his companions before.” The younger one replies, “Should we let them in. That uniform looks official.” The other answers, “Yes, part of the royal army I believe. But I’m not sure about letting him in. He’s an elf, so he’s probably going to prance or something.” “PRANCE!” Mojo angrily yells out.

Chapter 3, “Audience with the Lordholder,” September 12th, 1019, 1:15 P.M.

Mojo charges up towards the monks, balling up his fists. Narg very quickly charges forward, inserting himself between them. Narg tells the monks, “We don’t do a whole lot of ‘prancing’ anymore. Look, it is really important that we see your Lordholder right away. The Queen sent us here to stop a giant monster.”

They are brought in to a lobby room, and told to wait a very short while. One monk leaves, and returns shortly thereafter stating, “Please follow me.” They are led down a number of small stone corridors lit by candles, until they finally reach a large hall. There are around two-dozen monks in the room, and it appears that some sort of meditation ceremony has just ended. Most of the monks depart, and Purge leads his party forward. Cassie, Mojo and Narg recognize the monk leader, having seen him most recently at the Queen’s Coronation in January. Alton barely remembers any details of his prior visit to this monastery nine years earlier, and does not remember this man at all.

The monk welcomes the party, addressing each of them by name including Mark who he has never met before, and thanks them for coming to the assistance of the Kralt Lordholding. “You know why we’re here?” Mojo asks. The monk replies, “Yes. We have heard about this giant creature that has devastated three communities in our land.” Cassie asks the man to tell them everything he knows about it.

The monk tells them “It is said to be some type of large gray scaled reptile, a hundred feet high and perhaps five-hundred feet long. It apparently has some type of occupied castle strapped onto its back.” “Occupied, by who or what?” Cassie interjects. “An army of hairy monsters,” is the monk’s reply. “But what type? That description could fit a lot of creatures?” she answers. “Or even some of us,” Narg comments, staring at Alton.

The monk apologizes saying, “I am sorry but I do not have those details. All that we know about this we received yesterday through messages sent by distant signal mirrors. I wish I could have found out more, but I only had one mage at my disposal who could teleport, and I sent him to contact the Queen.” “Which is why we are here,” Mojo interjects, adding “But I wish we had a better description. It sounds like we’re after a group of Muppets riding on a giant armadillo.”

The monk says, “You are the second team who she has sent. The Dragon Stalkers were here yesterday, and headed south to fight the creature.” “And those losers got their butts kicked,” Narg states. Cassie asks, “Could you give us a better idea of where this creature might be?”

The monk leads them into another chamber of the monastery, where a large tapestry depicting the Kralt Lordholding is affixed to the wall. The tapestry’s vibrant colors are a sharp contrast to the plain earth tone colors of the monks’ attire and the remainder of the building. Alton stares at the tapestry and comments “Wow! That’s impressive.” The monk fidgets and appears to be somewhat embarrassed by Alton’s comment. He replies, “This woven wool map was found in the castle of the previous Lordholder. It really is far too opulent for this location, but I have yet to find a better map of the land that I have been led to rule, so I keep it here for reference.”

He points to an area this is not even depicted on the tapestry, but is marked by a pointed needle has been carefully inserted into it. He states, “The Monastery is located here.” His finger then travels forty miles southwesterly on the map to a town depicted along an east-west roadway. “This is the town of Gheldaylin. It is a fortified trading town at a crossroad between the main road depicted here, and a north-south road not on the tapestry that goes north of Gheldaylin to here, and south from that town to the East Lordholding land of Northumberland.

He next points to a large mountain range east of the town. The mountains are depicted as running approximately ten miles east-to-west, and through the entire length of the Lordholding north-to-south. The Lordholder tells the party “The settlements that the monster destroyed were to the east of the mountains, and we believe that the monster still is on that side of the mountain range. We have no evidence that it plans to cross the mountains to head towards Gheldaylin, but since that is the largest community in the immediate vicinity of the creature we have decided to assume the worst case scenario.”

The party debates if the best course of action would be to now travel southwest to Gheldaylin, south to the mountains, or southeast to where the monster was last seen. The tapestry depicts an east-to-west road through the mountains located around thirty miles south of the monastery. Alton suggests that they start there, and check the mountain pass for the monster tracks. He adds, “From the higher vantage point of the mountains we should also be able to spot the monster.” The group decides that it is a good idea, and Narg comments “Incredible. Alton actually came up with a plan and it doesn’t involve smoking anything.” Mojo adds, “Well, we all must have been smoking something if we’ve agreed to it.”

Cassie comments, “I believe that there is no immediate need to go to Gheldaylin until we know the monster is actually heading there.” Mark says, “Right, plus the Dragon Stalkers are already handling there, so they can warn the people.” The Lordholder adds, “Well, they certainly have the incentive to. That team’s leader, Gellyath, was originally from the town of Gheldaylin, and his family still resides there.” Mojo comments, “That explains it! I was wondering why those losers would have risked their necks on this mission. That type of bravery is uncharacteristic of them.”

The party thanks the Lordholder for the information, and head outside. The Helm of Teleportation cannot be used again until the following day, so they discuss ways to get there. Cassie suggests that one of them use her Belt of Shape Change to polymorph into a flying creature, or that Alton could do so using his druidic transformation ability. Mojo says, “I say that Alton should. That way we won’t have to share the Bag of Holding with him again.” Narg interjects, “You’re going to trust him to get us to the right place?” “Good point. Somebody should go with him,” Mojo adds.

Cassie suggests, “I am experienced with riding a wyvern. If Alton uses his reptilian transformation to become one then I could ride on his back. “Cool, That form also can talk,” Alton adds. “What if you fall off?” Narg asks. She replies, “Then I use the Belt to become a flying creature.” “Sounds like a plan,” Narg says. The three fighters and Purge climb into the Bag of Holding. Cassie takes the bag as Alton begins his transformation. He models himself from memory of Cassie’s pet wyvern, so that his size will be comparable to what she is used to riding. She climbs onboard, and is thankful that as part of the transformation he included ridges simulating a saddle, footholds and handholds. They take to the sky and head south, soon seeing the mountain range.

Game #2 - 9/14/03

Chapter 4, “Into the Mountains,” September 12th, 1019, 3:30 P.M.

Alton had been flying for a couple of hours now. One advantage of his flying above mountains on a warm sunny day is that he had the benefit of hot thermals rising up from below, allowing him to glide with a minimum of effort. Cassie eventually notices an east-to-west chasm in the mountains below, and signals for him to descend. The fly parallel the cliffs and ledges of this mountain notch, seeing that the bottom follows a path of what had once been a river, that is now dried out. They fly lower, seeing that wagon ruts and horse tracks cover the riverbed. “Makes for a convenient road,” Cassie comments. “Except for during spring thaw, when it’s probably a raging river,” Alton adds.

Seeing no evidence of giant beast tracks, they conclude that the monster hasn’t reached this section yet. They assume this is the same mountain road that they saw on the map, but also consider that it may be a different road, as not all roadways were depicted on the tapestry. They decide to head east, exiting the notch and then looking towards the forested lands to the east. They do not see the monster they are looking for, and continue to fly for several more miles in that direction. The flying is now much harder on Alton, with the benefit of thermals, and he starts to complain about becoming tired. Seeing no evidence of either the monster or destroyed settlements, Cassie recommends that they turn back towards the mountains. She suggests that they go back through the pass and then head west towards Gheldaylin, where they can find the Dragon Stalkers and question them about the beast.

Inside the Bag of Holding, Mark is taking a long nap and Purge is meditating. This particular Bag is large enough to comfortably hold six party members, and temporarily hold up to eight in an emergency. With only four inside, there is enough oxygen to last for a few hours, perhaps even longer as the ranger and monk are exerting a minimum of energy.

Mojo and Narg however, are becoming quite bored, playing cards to pass the time away. “Aw crap!” Narg exclaims. “What?” asks Mojo. Narg replies, “I forgot to leave behind a note for Vallessa telling her I was going. She’s going to kill me when we get back.” Mojo tells his companion, “Calm down. I’m sure Jerry will get the word out about where we’ve gone. She’ll certainly understand your being summoned away by the Queen of Phlooredah, since she was once one herself.”

“Shouldn’t we have gotten to where going by now? How long have we been in here?” Narg asks. Mojo glances at his wristwatch, a souvenir from a 20th Century world he once spent some time on, and says “We’re going on three hours now.” Narg exclaims, “Geez, how long does it take those guys to find a hundred foot tall lizard?”

As if on cue, the top of the Bag of Holding opens up, letting them glimpse out through the dimensional opening. They see Cassie on the other side, with mountains and clear blue sky in the background. “Well, it’s about time! Let me out of here!” Narg exclaims. Cassie says through he opening, “Stay put. We’re only stopping for a few minutes so that Alton to rest his wings. I just opened this up to let in some fresh air.”

“What’s taking so long?” Narg calls out. Cassie replies, “Either this is the wrong road or the monster hasn’t reached here yet. We’re going to head to that town to check with the Dragon Stalkers.” Mojo comments, “I don’t know. Wandering around aimlessly might be better than trying to talk to them.” Cassie replies “Typical man. You’d rather waste time than stop to ask for directions.” The wyvern’s head then passes over the opening, and Alton says inside “I just flew in from northern Kralt, and boy are my arms tied.” Hearing that, both Mojo and Narg say in unison “Shut the bag.” The Bag is closed up again and Narg tells Mojo “We’ve got to find ourselves some other mode of transportation!”

Alton and Cassie soon reach the western edge of the mountain pass. The road then turns to the south and slightly west, running parallel the mountains. Alton flies along the outer edge of the mountains to take advantage of the warmer gusts of air, doing his best to also keep the woodland road within view. They fly for another hour, covering an estimated fifteen more miles. A large lake is seen in the distance, situated between the mountains and road. “I’m beat, let’s stop there,” Alton comments. Cassie agrees, telling him “You’ve flown a lot farther than Maynard ever has in a single day.” “He must be smart enough to tell you no,” the druid replies.

They land alongside the large L-shaped lake and Cassie dismounts. She lets the others out of the Bag of Holding as Alton’s wyvern form drinks over twenty gallons of water and then collapses backwards into the lake to cool off. The four men exit the Bag, and begin to stretch their muscles. “About bloody time,” Narg comments. “What are you complaining about? I’m the one who has been doing all the work,” the wyvern exclaims. “At least you picked a scenic place to stop,” Mark comments.

Cassie heads over towards some nearby trees and bushes, cutting off branches of types that she knows to be good for a wyvern’s digestive system. She piles it up near the water, instructing Alton, “Eat up.” “Eat that?” he replies. “Just think of it as a wyvern salad,” she answers. He does as instructed, but thinks that the assorted food that the others are now eating looks much better. “Hey, how about some of your food?” he yells. Cassie laughs and says, “Guess again. In that form you’d eat everything we brought with us and still be hungry.”

Narg asks, “Why doesn’t he just change back?” “Because we’d then have to smell him again,” Mojo comments. Cassie says, “We may need him to fly some more today.” “No way, I’m done,” Alton replies. “I don’t think so,” comments Mark, now standing on the nearby roadway and examining several sets of tracks.

“What did you find?” Purge asks. Mark replies, “A group of approximately ten horse drawn wagons accompanied by another ten or so mounted riders. They appear to have traveled past here heading south around an hour ago.” “Probably refugees from the settlements the monster destroyed.” Cassie comments. “Could be. Based on the wagon wheel indentations I’d say they were heavily laden,” the ranger replies. “Let’s Go!” Narg exclaims. Cassie glances at the exhausted Alton, and says “Let him eat and rest a while longer. Alton can fly a lot faster than that caravan, so should be able to catch them quickly enough.”

Narg exclaims. “Forget it. I spend too much time being stuffed in bags. Let’s just walk. I’m sick of sitting around in the bag!” Cassie says, “Narg. They have horses. We’ll never catch up with them by walking.” Narg turns to Purge and exclaims “Support me on this one. I know you monks are into walking.” Purge replies, “I believe that speed is of the essence in this situation, so would have to concur with the others.” Narg mutters, “What’s the world coming to when even Pajama Boy objects to getting some exercise!”

Chapter 5, “The Dragon Stalkers”, September 12th, 1019, 5:30 P.M.

An exhausted Alton is finally convinced to take flight again, and the men reluctantly climb back into the Bag of Holding. Alton comments, “Narg does have a point. We have a whole stable full of horses back on our Island, which we ride around there, but never think to bring any of them with us on adventure.” “Well it’s too late for that now. Get moving,” Cassie remarks.

Alton flies up well above the lake and again towards the currents of air rising up from the mountains that the lowering sun is now shining upon. He rises to a higher elevation than before, to begin a long gradual glide. He and Cassie now notice a second road around four miles to the west running parallel the road they are following. They fly southward, past the end of the lake, and on for another few miles. They notice through the breaks in the trees that the two roads turn and curve towards each other and link, it actually being the same road. They then notice some dust rising up from between the trees below, and descend more rapidly in that direction.

When they are about 300 feet away from the dusty area they see a series of wagons loaded with furniture, farm implements and other equipment. The dust is now dissipating and the wagons appear to currently be stopped. They then see a row of horse tied up off to the side of the road. They get closer and then see a group of around a dozen archers standing together with their bows drawn. A volley of arrows is released, flying up towards them. Most arrows miss, but two strike Alton’s wyvern form, one bouncing harmlessly off of his armor, the other penetrating for five points of damage. “Ouch!” the druid exclaims.

“Pull up, fast,” Cassie exclaims. Not needing to be told twice, the druid does as instructed. Two more volleys of arrows fly up towards them before they are completely out of range, but no arrows connect hard enough to inflict any damage. Alton yells out, “Hey, knock it off! Make love not arrows,” but his voice does not carry far enough. Cassie pulls out a piece of paper and quill, and writes out a note reading “Looking for information on the 100 foot high monster. Was sent by your Lordholder.” She then folds it into the shape of a paper airplane and lets it fly down to the archers below.

A female dwarf moves out from behind the archers and retrieves the note. She then rises up from the ground, flying in Cassie and Alton’s direction. She is wearing a uniform identical to that of Mojo’s and Cassie recognizes her to be Teakas, a fighter/rogue of the Dragon’s Stalker party who also serves as that team’s liaison and General in the Queen’s Army. Cassie has seen her during a battle two months earlier (Module #117, where Alton’s player had played her as an NPC) and remembers that she has a pair of winged boots that allow for limited flight. Teakas approaches cautiously, aiming her magical crossbow at the mounted wyvern.

Cassie yells over, identifying herself, and Teakas lowers her crossbow and flies alongside. Alton says “Hey, it’s just us with the Silver Moon. Why did you shoot at us?” The dwarf replies, “We thought you were working with the invading monster.” Alton says, “Yeah, well who else flies on a wyvern?” Teakas answers, “They do! They had at least two mounted wyverns as part of their attack group!” “Really? We didn’t know that,” Alton comments. (The DM comments, “No, but I did, which is why I loved it when you picked that particular form to head out in.”) Cassie suggests that Teakas head down and have the others hold their fire. Alton then lands on the road below. Cassie then helps her four allies out of the Bag of Holding.

The Silver Moon Adventurers look over at the people gathered around. Most appear to be refugees, with overloaded wagons also filled with women, children and livestock. The dozen men are a rag-tag assortment of fighters, with a hodgepodge of weapons and armor. Only three of the six members of the Dragons Stalkers team present, and all three appear to be wounded and rather disheveled in appearance. Teakas’s wounds appear to be minor. That team’s female human ranger Kela is wearing damaged leather armor and has her arm in a sling. That team’s leader, Gellyath, has a long bloody scar on his face, some rips and holes in his tunic and his long blond hair is in a state of disarray. This is contrast from the immaculate “pretty boy” image he normally projects, and Narg whispers to Cassie “Maybe you should offer him some hair gel.”

Mojo is the first to speak asking, “So, you guys tried to fight the creature?” Gellyath says, “Yes General, and we paid the price for it.” “Exactly what happened?” Cassie inquires. The fighter replies, “We began our assault by having our two most powerful spellcasters, the mage Asgorad and the cleric Mandize, fly at the head of the creature to distract it with spells. Teakas then flew up along the side and fastened grappling hooks onto the creature’s scales for the rest of us to climb. The plan then fell apart. Of the spellcasters, one was killed and the other became petrified.” “As in afraid?” Cassie asked. “No, as in turned to stone,” Teakas interjects.

Gellyath continues, “Actually, both were turned to stone and fell to earth.” Mojo comments, “Ah, I get it. One landed well, the other, not so much.” Gellyath says, “Yes. Asgorad’s form shattered as it struck the ground, and it was then stomped to dust by the creature’s foot. Mandize’s god Ukko must have been looking out for him, as he landed in a small pond and sank. One of the refugees later swam down and reported that his statue form appears to be intact, but is lodged deep into the mud at the bottom of the pond. We will head back later and retrieve him.”

“And your climbing assault?” Narg asks. Gellyath replies, “We were barraged by arrows, boiling pitch and rocks. The attackers then managed to cut the ropes attached to the grappling hooks. Teakas was able to help slow my fall, and Kela was fortunate that she only broke her arm when she crashed to the ground. Our gnome rogue Grelmak managed to grab onto the monster, and climbed up the side. That was the last we saw of him. While I carried Kela to safety Teakas flew back up to look for Grelmak. That is when they launched a pair of mounted wyverns from a deck above the creature’s flank, which flew at her. She got off a few shots from her crossbow, but they were far more maneuverable than she was. She reluctantly retreated and they did not pursue her. Teakas then got word to the Queen, and we’ve been traveling with the refugees ever since.

Our orders and top priority is to get a warning to Gheldaylin We have another twenty miles to go, and anticipate reaching there at some point during the night. We hope to reach there in time, as the town is actually only about ten miles from the mountain pass.” Alton comments, “Yeah, whose brilliant idea was to put in forty miles of road to reach there?” Gellyath replies, “The road goes south to reach the lake, and also forks with another road south at the turn, before heading back north. A more direct road couldn’t be made between the town and the mountain pass because of some natural barriers. Those barriers, however, will be but a minor inconvenience to the monster.”

Narg then asks, “Exactly what type of hairy humanoid creatures were that manning the castle on the monster’s back?” Gellyath replies, “Gnolls.” Narg exclaims, “GNOLLS! Gnolls aren’t smart enough to even take a bath once a month. There’s no way they could have built something this elaborate. Someone else is behind this!” Teakas comments, “Perhaps, but that is all that we saw. It looked to be a small army of gnolls manning the buildings. And the structures are not only attached to the saddle on the creatures back, but on its neck yoke and head as well.” “Why could it need a yoke?” Cassie asks. “Probably to attach chains to and pull something,” Purge comments. “More like pull anything it wants, given the size of the creature,” Mark adds.

Gellyath says that he is anxious to get moving again to Gheldaylin. Before they depart Cassie says that she wants to question each of the three adventurers individually for a specific description of the creature. Narg volunteers to go talk to the very attractive Kela. Cassie again reminds him that he is now married. Narg replies, “Hey, I’m new at this.” “At what, fidelity?” Cassie retorts. Narg says, “Yeah, fidelity, responsibility, and all those other long words that I can’t spell.” Alton comments, “Yeah, but watch who you flirt with. Your wife is a skilled archer, and she only needs one arrow to permanently stop you from straying.” The DM wholeheartedly concurs, Narg’s wife Vallessa being one of his Playing Characters .

Chapter 6, “Back to the Pass”, September 12th, 1019, 6:00 P.M.

As Cassie talks to Kela and Teakas, Narg asks Gellyath about how it attacked the settlements. Gellyath says that his team arrived after the initial attack, and goes over to get one of the refugees with the most mental stability to talk to them. The man describes how during the attack on the village the monster opened its fanged gaping mouth to a full thirty-foot diameter and then swallowed whole an entire corral full of cattle. Alton comments, “Yeah, I guess that my hoping it was a herbivore was asking too much.”

Cassie also now questions the man for a full description of the beast, finding that Teakas’s memory of it being a half-mile long was an exaggeration, its full length from head to tail tip being in the 400 to 500 foot range. The caravan and the Dragon Stalkers then depart.

The party breaks into a discussion of strategy. Mark asks, “How are we going to stop something that large?” Mojo says, “The answer is obvious. We put out a giant trip wire.” “Made of what?” Alton comments. Mojo replies, “Hey, I’m just the idea man. You guys can work out the details.” Alton speculates that based upon the description the monster might be an enlarged and slightly mutated version of a Catoblepas.

Mark asks about the consequences of not stopping the creature. A continent map is produced, showing that if the monster continues in a westerly direction it will cross into the heavily populated parts of the East, Zalpar, and Thenossia Lordholdings. Cassie comments, “Hey, if it attacks Zalpar I might finally be able to get into their Mage’s Guild library.” Mojo states, “You’d allow this creature to cause thousands of deaths and millions of gold pieces of damage just so you could steal a book?” Cassie thinks for a minute and then replies, “I guess that would depend on the book.”

Assuming that she is only joking, the party continues discussing how to stop the monster. Narg again reiterates the stupidity of gnolls, and how somebody else must be behind it. They speculate that since there is a house atop the monster’s head that is probably where it is being controlled. An idea is thrown out about allowing the creature to swallow the party whole to attack it from the inside, but nobody is willing to volunteer for such an assignment.

They discuss making the creature change direction, with Mojo commenting “If we can keep it in western Kralt there isn’t much of value for it to destroy.” “I think the people of western Kralt might disagree,” Purge comments. “Forget them, I say we let it just go on a rampage around Kralt,” Mojo states. “How is that any different from what it is doing now?” Mark asks, adding, “It’s already destroyed three settlements and caused thousands of gold pieces worth of damage.” Mojo says, “Are you kidding? Did you look at the condition of the garbage those refugees had on their wagons? And that was the stuff they thought was worth keeping. You’d better revise that estimate to tens of gold pieces.”

Cassie reminds Mojo that several of the Silver Moon Adventures are originally from the western Kralt town of Byr. Mojo replies, “Yeah, but we left all of them back on our Island, so who cares.” “We can’t let it destroy Kralt,” Purge unemotionally restates. Narg interjects, “Yeah we will. Calm yourself down Pajama Boy. We just need to figure out a way to do this that won’t get us killed. It sounds like the Dragon Stalkers idea of a direct assault is right out.” Alton interjects, “Even we aren’t that stupid.” Cassie says, “Well, some of us are, which is why you brought the rest of us along.”

Further brainstorming concludes that the mountain pass is probably the best place to attack the creature in. Cassie and Alton mention to the others that some sections in the pass were fairly narrow, with high hanging ledges along the cliffs, which would allow the party to get close without being seen. Mojo tells Alton, “Saddle up Captain Bonghead, we’re heading back to the pass.” Alton complains again about being sick of flying. Cassie points out to him that it would be easier to go now rather than later, as the now setting sun is still creating hot thermals for him to ride. The party gets back into the Bag of Holding as Cassie and Alton again take to the air.

During the flight north Alton continues to complain about how exhausted he is. Cassie replies, “Earlier you said it was fun being a wyvern.” He replies, “That got old a few hours ago.” About an hour later they begin a slow gradual descent towards the area of the mountain pass. While still a few miles out and thousands of feet up they determine where the path appears to be the narrowest, about four miles in from the eastern side, and fly towards that spot.

They land on a large flat ledge area overlooking the pass, and the party is let out of the Bag. Alton remains in wyvern form, lying back and immediately falls into a deep sleep. Before they completely loose the last glimpses of sunlight Purge and Mark carefully find a way down to the roadway 150 feet below and check for tracks. The most recent tracks are those from the caravan that went that went through that morning. They return back up, and report back to the others that the creature still hasn’t reached this location yet.

Mojo and Cassie contemplate trying to collapse the cliffs on both sides to block the path. They eventually decide against it, as they have nothing to use to cause such destruction. Cassie reminds them of their dwarven mining associates from the orient, Clan Ming, who have mastered the use of a special powder that causes great explosions. Unfortunately, the party has no immediate way to teleport to the city of Chunming to get these demolition experts and their powder.

They decide to wait until morning to do anything, especially since it is unlikely that they would be able to get Alton to wake up. Watches are set up, although Mark points out that “We’ll probably hear that monster approaching long before we ever see it.”

Chapter 7, “Holy Crap!” September 13th, 1019, 6:00 A.M.

Cassie had been assigned the last watch and has spent the hour before sunrise finding and cutting various shrubbery and branches for the wyvern’s breakfast. She borrows Narg’s Decanter of Endless Water for Alton to wash this down with, and then wakes the sleeping druid. Narg comments about how it is pleasant morning, prompting Mojo to comment “What do you have to compare it to? You’ve never been awake before at sunrise.” Narg says, “Not true, there have been many mornings when I didn’t go to bed until after then.”

Everyone eats breakfast and the table conversation gets back to Narg not leaving behind a note to his wife. Both Mojo and Alton pass it off as being no big deal, and then leading to a number of remarks made at Narg’s expense. He finally gets fed up and declares “That’s it! Neither of you two are going to be Godparents to my kid.” Mojo is actually happy to hear that. Mark whispers to Cassie “Would they have even considered making either of them Godparents?” “Not if Vallessa has any say in this,” she whispers back.

The party decides that it might be best to get a good look at this monster prior to attempting to either board or fight it here at the narrow part of the path. They decide to travel east to the entranceway to the mountain pass and wait there for it. It is such a nice day that Narg refuses to get into the Bag of Holding, deciding instead that they should walk the three to four miles. Alton and Cassie decide to fly, with him flying below the cliffs so as not to be spotted by anyone outside of the mountain range. They keep flying quarter-mile sprints, then stopping and waiting for the others to catch up. As it is rather rugged and steep terrain it actually takes nearly two hours for them to get to a cliff atop the first mountain at the beginning of the pass.

From here they have an excellent vantage point, with visibility of close to thirty miles to the east. They see something large and gray about two miles out, standing well above the treetops. It soon becomes obvious that this object is move closer. The party finds concealment behind some rocks and low trees to keep from being spotted from below. Alton moves back a ways to use some large boulders to shield his wyvern form from view, peering his head over to see. Cassie suggests getting some of them down to the valley floor below to view up from that angle, but nobody decides to take her up on that suggestion.

The large gray mass begins to lumber forward. At a distance of about half a mile the group gets their first good look at it (At which point the DM shows the players the full-page illustration from page #72 of Dungeon #100)

The creature indeed stands at least 100 feet high, dwarfing the trees at its feet. It has gray skin with a mottled look that upon closer examination appear to be scales, each scale being between five and ten feet in diameter. It has a long spiked tail, with spikes also at the joints of its four limbs. Each of its four feet appear to be thirty to forty feet in diameter at the base, with each foot crushing the trees to splinters at its feet as it moves. There are spiked ridges about its two coal black eyes, set deep into the forehead. A long pointed snout extends from the center of its face. Alton notices that its maw bears a resemblance to a 20th century construction vehicle, with a large square shaped mouth with pointed fangs used to scoop up whatever is before it. Two more long sharp points extend out at sharp angles from the corners of the creature’s chin.

Encircling the creature’s entire torso is a leather harness. Two straps wind around the waist of the creature just before the hind legs. Another net-like series of straps runs up from the neck to center chest. Each strap appears to be between three and five feet wide, and look to be rather thick. Large metal bolts fasten together the straps where they intersect. All of the straps look to have additional metal reinforcement on them.

A large yoke extends out from the creatures neck, made from either metal or a heavy dark colored wood. The yoke runs nearly 100 feet between the large round holes on either end. A round multi-story building, some 25 feet in diameter, rests in he center of the yoke. A slightly smaller building, some 20 feet in diameter, rests atop the creature’s head like a cap.

The remainder of the structure rests atop and alongside the creatures back. This consists of half-a-dozen round multi-story structures, ranging between 15 and 30 feet in diameter. Behind the first four of these buildings is a long flat platform that is at least two stories high. Several cables and a metal winch can be seen running from this platform. A fiery reddish-orange light emanates from the windows of the various buildings, and a plume of smoke billows out from top of the first structure along the back. Around two-dozen larger than man-sized humanoids can be seen moving about on the structure, although the creature is still to far away to discern exactly what race they are.

Narg’s immediate reaction upon getting a close look at the monster is to proclaim “Holy Crap!” Mojo mutters “It’s like a Stegosaurus with a mansion on top of it.” Alton comments, “That’s like no dinosaur I’ve ever heard of before. And it is definitely not an enlarged Catoblepas.” Narg exclaims, “It is not of this world.” “I agree with that assessment,” Cassie states. She then comments that “If we kill it I could dissect it to make some control potions.” Mojo replies, “What good would being able to control it be if it’s the only one! I doubt we’ll ever run across another one like it.” “If we’re lucky,” Mark adds.

It continues to move closer, now only a quarter-mile away. Cassie comments “It looks like the buildings may actually be popping out of its skin.” Mojo says, “I know how they feel, I’m about ready to pop out of my skin.” Narg looks at him and says, “What are you complaining about? This is your fault in the first place! Why did you have to go and get friendly with the Queen?” Mojo replies, “Don’t blame me! She named our whole team as her being her military force.” Narg exclaims “Crud! That means that we probably aren’t even getting paid anything for this!”


(Break in Story: This module has been temporarily put on hold. I had to travel out-of-state for a family medical emergency, and another member of my group was nice enough to fill in with another module using characters from a different campaign. We'll get back to this module in a couple of weeks once he finishes.)

Bummer. Hope the medical emergy was not too dire. I'll be waiting impatiently for this story to continue.