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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 3916820" data-attributes="member: 3448">[Session 4]On the 5th of O-Tar:After the day I spent binding Alveera, our group met to plan our next strike.  I was surprised that neither the Temple nor the rightful government of the Count in exile gave us specific orders, but they must have their reasons.  In addition to myself, the group included Duranic, the strange siblings Buzz and Spring, our kobold companion Twang, and a newcomer, Sideh.  Sideh is a Tarkenian follower of Glor’diadel, not of the Lord of Orderly Darkness.  Indeed, he is even a member of a religious and knightly order, the Order of the Shield of Light.  But while he is among the heathen, he appears to be dedicated to fighting the Shadow and bringing Caldefor back into Orderly Darkness.We discussed several possible next targets.  While we had been involved in the destruction of two of the dragonholds, three remained.  Striking at one of the remaining dragonholds, ideally before they have had a chance to truly increase their guard, would offer a major victory.  In particular, if we could defeat the forces of Dragonhold Ripgut and defeat Lord Bastion, a vampire noble who betrayed Caldefor during the Grand Count’s apostasy, we would be in a position to permanently liberate a portion of Caldefor along the coastline.  That possibility also raised a second possible target:  rather than striking against Dragonhold Ripgut, we could launch an attack on Lord Bastion’s manor.  Finally, there was some discussion of conducting further operations near the fallen Hastur towers at the far south of Caldefor, hoping to capitalize on the recently restored area surrounding the tower from which we rescued the matrix.  After some discussion, we agreed that we would begin with an attempted strike at Ripgut, to be followed rapidly by an attack on Lord Bastion. We pooled the knowledge we had and consulted with the minions of the Hastur to learn more of Ripgut’s defenses.  The five dragonholds were not of equivalent strength.  All were strong, but Blackgleam, the dragonhold destroyed in the bronze dragon’s deathflight, was the weakest.  Ripgut could be expected to be substantially more heavily defended.  At one point the Trodheim, the oldest and most powerful of the doyles, was stationed at Dragonhold Ripgut, but the Hastur informed us that it was recently drawn back.  The doyles are the great worms of negative energy and destruction that serve the accursed Borsh’tro, may he and all his minions be delivered to Lord Paranswarm’s righteous punishment.  The Hastur reported that the Trodheim was drawn back south to the mountains, beyond the historic borders of Caldefor, to guard the doyle young. They told us that that was because of a major event recently involving the doyles, but the Hastur either knew no details or did not see fit to inform us.  Nonetheless, the assumption can be made that Dragonhold Ripgut is one of the more powerful dragonholds, possibly the most powerful besides Talonstrike, which has always been acknowledged as the strongest.  We asked the Hastur what forces besides the Trodheim were stationed at Ripgut.  They stated that the most powerful defender would be Ripgut himself, the elder dragon in charge of the dragonhold.  Each dragonhold is named after a great elder black dragon.  However, Ripgut might not be present at any given moment.  Rumor also placed a dracolich at the dragonhold.  There are always eum at the dragonholds, of course, and there are sometimes demons, although more often if there is an attack plan.  The description of Ripgut himself gave us an idea.  Ripgut does his own hunting and thus ranges further from his dragonhold than many of the other great dragons.  Indeed, he favors hunting human-raised food, such as cows and horses, and has been know to cross into the Borderlands from time to time.  The Hastur always respond to cross-border incursions, of course, but have never yet arrived in time to dispatch Ripgut.Based on this information, we form a plan to lure him to attack great, blessed steer.  We could position a great black steer, ostensibly blessed by Lord Paranswarm with great size and vigor, and lure him to attack.  Ripgut is one of the least intelligent of the great dragons, having survived on raw brute power.  He is unlikely to be able to resist such bait.  There is the danger that his advisors will intervene-- the Hastur could not say for certain who he relies on, but the dracolich is a likely possibility.  Nonetheless, he is likely to believe that a quick raid will go unnoticed.  But if we are prepared, that will allow us to hammer him when he crosses the border.</blockquote>

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