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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DMZ2112" data-source="post: 6778512" data-attributes="member: 78752">Dragons of Menace Session Report 4 – 2015 Jun-AugDragons of MenaceSession Report 4 – 2015 Jun-AugBracha, the 12th of Deepkolt, 352 ACThe party left Rayne’s Drop on the morning of Majetag, the 8th of Deepkolt, and found their return journey much longer without the aid of the Tower of Wayreth.  Arriving back in Maelgoth almost five full days later, they found the town under much tighter control than when they left it.  Blue dragons wheeled in the skies and the gates were all barricaded Dragonarmy checkpoints.  The party had little luck at the west river gate, where the soldiers saw fit to have some fun at the expense of the elves and Uri, ill accustomed to city life let alone martial law, choked.  When asked what he was doing so far from elven lands, he announced himself as a forest trapper, failing to remember that Hinterlund was an arid place, where trees were a scant commodity.  When Uri was asked, cynically, to display his furs, Lea sought to intervene, pretending to be an agent of the Dragonarmy commander in Maelgoth.  Alas, he could not remember the man’s name, and the soldiers announced that the two were under arrest.Realizing that their appearances put them at greater risk of identification later, the other elves, Flynt and Tharivol, and the minotaur, Arn, shied away from the ensuing battle, apparent as it was that the rank and file soldiers at the gate were no match for their fellows.  The party managed to keep the soldiers from signaling for backup, and when the dust settled, they scattered into the city.By the time everyone but Lea had found their way to the Mead and Measure by varied and secretive routes, the innkeeper there had already heard word of their exploits at the gate and denied them custom, expressing gratitude for their actions against the Dragonarmy but citing fear for his other patrons’ well being.  He recommended the Steel Wheel in the Artisan’s District as a suitable but less conspicuous doss.  The party moved on, not realizing that they left Lea behind in the room the innkeeper had allowed him... Linaras, the 13th of Deepkolt, 352 ACFirst day back in Maelgoth; meeting with Hennihoya; Lea initiates his plansAwaking from an uneventful night at the Steel Wheel, the party was greeted in the common room by an unwelcome sight -- wanted posters in their natures if not their names, seeking a kender rogue, an elven ranger, and two men claiming to be priests of the gods who abandoned Krynn.  The innkeeper gruffly clarified that she was required to display the posters, but so long as they caused no trouble for her or her other boarders, the party was welcome to stay and use the back entrance.  Tharivol and Uri resolved to stay at the inn for the sake of security.  Dale and Poe concealed their holy symbols in their rooms and ventured into the city to gather supplies for the continuing journey.  Arn, Bryn, and Flynt -- Flynt with his robe on and his hood up -- headed for the Wizards’ Quarter to meet with the leaders of their orders in Maelgoth.Flynt met with Hennihoya the Wise, a young but well respected wizardess who led Maelgoth’s few white robes.  She arranged to retrieve the party’s hidden dragonlances and conceal them in a shipment of vallenwood lumber bound for Vingaard Keep.  The party could meet the barge at the wharf and travel with the wood that far, before they would have to make their own arrangements to travel overland and deliver the lances to the massing Whitestone Army at the High Clerist’s Tower.Bryn, on the other hand, had a last minute change of heart.  Fearing that the self-serving Amroth of the black robes might betray him to the Dragonarmy, he instead went to Iustus of the red robes, telling him of the party’s precious cargo and plans and asking for assistance.  Iustus advised Bryn of a route over the rooftops of the Wizards’ Quarter that he and his companions might use to escape the walls of Maelgoth, telling him of a certain magical butcher whose assistance they would require in order to access the top of the eastern wall of the Quarter.  Bryn sought out the butcher and gave the man a hefty bribe to leave both his front door and rooftop trap door unlocked for the night.In the meantime, Lea had set about exploring Maelgoth’s underworld, seeking out the thieves’ guild and alchemists willing to supply him with contraband smokesticks and flash powder, before disguising himself as the retired gnome tradesman Hodor Longfellow and taking a room at the Steel Wheel, unbeknownst to his companions a few doors down.Their tasks complete, the party -- sans Lea -- reconvened at the Steel Wheel to discuss what they had learned and formulate an escape.Palast, the 14th of Deepkolt, 352 ACHaving procured the necessary supplies the day before, the party laid low at the Steel Wheel during its second day in town, venturing out only in the evening to set their escape plan in motion.  They made it as far as the gates of the Wizards’ Quarter without raising any alarm, but passing the guards there without alerting them proved impossible.The party sprinted through the Wizards’ Quarter after incapacitating one of the guards who sought to fire a flare arrow into the sky, dodging patrolmen and draconians from narrow alleyway to narrow alleyway until they were all safely atop the roof of the specialty butcher shop.  From there it was a simple matter to creep along the rooftops to the archway over the southern road, onto the southern town wall and down into the wharf district.There, the party found its way blocked by a group of draconians harassing a human girl.  While they debated the relative morality of risking their quest to save her, a swashbuckling rogue by the name of Pieryan Salazar stepped in before them.  When the battle appeared to turn against the rogue, the party finally rose to the occasion, only to be berated by Salazar once the girl was safe.“I had them right where I wanted them!” Salazar protested, before departing with a wink and a grin.  Nonplussed, the party watched him go and then walked to the dock where their barge awaited.  They were welcomed aboard by stern-looking Solamnic rivermen, and the group shoved off for Vingaard.Majetag, the 15th of Deepkolt, 352 ACWhile the rest of the party fended off hungry trolls and waterlogged skeletons on the Vingaard River south of the town, Lea insinuated himself into Maelgoth as Hodor Longfellow.  From his room at the Steel Wheel, he observed his companions prepare and execute their escape but did not contact them, merely observing from the depths of a well-groomed traditional gnomish beard.Hodor arranged meetings with a number of power players in the town, including Major Clorphan of the Blue Dragonarmy (he was foisted onto the overworked Captain Methentt) and Lady Justcause of the Solamnic nobility, casing their homes and offices while professing shared interests.  While speaking to Methentt, he noted evidence of a planned attack on the High Clerist’s Tower in just a few days’ time.  Some quick mental calculations told him that afforded him only three days of plotting in Maelgoth before he would have to take to the road to warn his companions.Bakukal, the 18th of Deepkolt, 352 ACAt sundown on the 18th, the party’s barge arrived in Vingaard Port and the heroes wasted no time in hiring a large wagon to take their lumber up the Knights’ High Road.  The Blue Dragonarmy tried to stop them to inspect their cargo at both gates of the city, but Arn growled and threatened his way past both sets of guards, using his stature and the fearsome reputation of his people to intimidating effect.Meanwhile, back in Maelgoth, Lea made use of the time he had left in town to take on a contract from the thieves’ guild, tracking and eliminating the lieutenant tasked with monitoring organized crime.  He put a crossbow bolt through the officer’s head from 20 yards and gave his guild tail a nod and a bow before hurrying to the livery, borrowing a pony, and riding hard for the southwest.</blockquote>

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