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Forgotten Realms Campaign NEW (UPDATED 7/17/06)
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<blockquote data-quote="Ranger5" data-source="post: 2927784" data-attributes="member: 17981"><p><strong>Red Hand of Doom - Part 5</strong></p><p></p><p>With the help of Aslan's magic, the companions were able to travel as swiftly on foot as if they had horses, which they did not. With a rough map of the area, along with Tala's knowledge of the region, they knew the Old Forest Road became a trail that lead into the Wyrmsmoke Mountains near the ruins of Vraath Keep. Within four hours they were approaching the ruins when they met up with a Red Hand warband.</p><p></p><p>The companions quickly engaged the enemy and within a minute had killed all the hobgoblins except one. They managed to capture one and keep him alive. They then interrogated the creature on the whereabouts of the Fane of Tiamat. In typical religious fanaticism, the hobgoblin did not give anything up. That is until Grull decided to handle the interrogations himself. A few punches to the head and gut and a cut off finger later, the hobgoblin was extremely compliant with answering Tala's questions about the location of the Fane which turned out to be just over three days journey into the Wrymsmoke Mountains along the trail that was the Old Forest Road.</p><p></p><p>So armed with this, the companions set out for the Fane. And on the morning of the 25th of Flamerule they found themselves approaching what could only be the Fane of Tiamat. The structure was in the shape of a rearing five-headed dragon that was seemingly coming out of the stone of the mountain itself. The companions could see a large stone door near what was the belly of the huge dragon. The door itself was also surrounded by five stone-worked rearing necks and heads, each the color of a chromatic dragon. And high above the door was the opening a large cave.</p><p></p><p>As the companions approached, five booming voices bellowed out of the five large dragon heads. "Who seeks entrance to the Fane of Tiamat? Only the faithful may approach and pass. All others will be destroyed!"</p><p></p><p>However, something did not ring true. As they listened to the voices, the companions were able to realize that it was in truth one voice and not five. So they continued forward along the pathway, a stone bridge flanked by a hundred and fifty foot drop, towards a ledge and the stone door.</p><p></p><p>As they approached the ledge, they heard the words, "So be it" come from the five dragon heads. A moment later, a large blue dragon leapt out of the cavern high above them and moved to attack.</p><p></p><p>The companions readied weapons and spells but the dragon flew out level with the bridge and ledge but thirty feet from them and hovered. It then let loose with its breath weapon doing serious damage to those caught in its blast. The companions, not prepared well for a ranged assault - besides Tala that is - could do very little at first. And even Tala, with her deadly bow, found it difficult to penetrate the dragon's hide and do any real damage. Meanwhile, the dragon, with the advantage of the air, blasted at the companions with both his breath weapon and a wand of fireballs. Aslan was able to deal some damage with his spells when he could defeat the creature's resistance to magic. Both Grull and Mishka had little in the way of ranged attacks. And Barros was attempting to heal his companions after the devastating initial attacks of the dragon.</p><p></p><p>Finally Barros cast a targeted dispel magic at the dragon and was able to strip away one of its magical defenses. With that gone, Tala was finally able to score some devastating hits on the creature with her bow. In the flow of the battle though she found herself somewhat separated from the rest of the group. The dragon, knowing he could not damage her with his breath weapon or wand - she always seemed to jump out of the way unscathed - flew down for a melee assault on the ranger and scored some viscous hits upon her. She fell back but that one moment was all Grull needed.</p><p></p><p>Charging the now within reach dragon, his sword bit deeply into the creatures flank. The dragon howled with pain, attacked back and then moved out of reach. Bloodied and gravely wounded, the dragon flew off into the mountains, disappearing behind a far off ridge.</p><p></p><p>It was during the battle, Mishka, unfortunately learned the stone door was trapped. If the door was opened the five smaller dragon heads breathed their various breath weapons upon those in front of the door and then the door slammed shut. As the companions healed, and Aslan flew up to the dragon's cave with the use of Tala's potion of flying, they formulated a plan to get past the door. After much discussion it was decided that Mishka would again open the door but this time instead of diving out of the way, he would take the damage and hold the door open. With his natural immunity to electricity, he also donned Barros's red dragon plate armor, which gave him some resistance to fire, and wore a ring that afforded him minor protection against cold damage. So all that was left was the acid damage. He hoped it would not be so bad.</p><p></p><p>So with all the preparations in place, Mishka opened the door, held on tight and took the damage. Once the blast was over, the rest of the group leapt through the door and Mishka quickly followed. Just inside the door, they found themselves in a long wide hall that ended in stairs going up and that ended in a pair of double doors. After returning equipment and healing Mishka, the companions set out and went through the doors. They found themselves in a large room with several side doors and two more double doors opposite the ones they just entered through.</p><p></p><p>They also found a pair of undead wyverns and two blue abishai guarding the room. The creatures leapt to the attack and the companions answered in kind. After a fierce battle, the companions realized that even though the abishai were dead they were not defeated. The creature’s natural regeneration kept them coming back. So while they creatures were regenerating back to consciousness, the companions braved the trapped door once more while Mishka dragged the bodies out to the ledge outside the Fane and threw the two devils over it. The figured it would be awhile before they came back from that despite their regeneration.</p><p></p><p>The companions deciding that time was of the essence, opened the side doors from the large room and found only small hallways and more doors. The two large double doors revealed and long hallway that ended in stairs leading down. They took that route deciding it must be the most direct to where their enemy, Azarr Kul, was.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the hall, and down the stairs, they found a massive chamber that was obviously the main worship room for the Fane. There were pews setup in front of a massize stone altar to Tiamat. Five large alcoves in the far wall and sixty feet above the ground were just big enough to hold dragons they noticed. Upon entering though, dragons did not fly out of the alcoves, but five live wyverns did. The wyverns’ employed fly-by attacks while the companions scrambled to get into position to get hits on them as they passed by. The battle was fast and furious but soon enough was over. As the companions took stock of what was in the chamber, they realized there was no High Wyrmlord chanting to Tiamat to open a gate to Avernus here. They did a quick search of the massive room but found nothing. So they decided that Azarr Kul must lay somewhere behind them. They turned back and began exploring the corridors of the Fane.</p><p></p><p>The Fane seemed strangely quiet, even with all the noise they were making. They finally came upon the resting chambers of a group of hobgoblin clerics and warpriests of Tiamat. The hobgoblins themselves seemed exhausted but fought fiercely. The companions tried to once again capture one but in the confusion, all were eventually slain. The companions then came across what appeared to be the kitchen of the Fane and it was not empty. Busily cooking away, the companions found a night hag. As they entered, she asked, "What is it you want? Dinner is not ready yet. And make sure that Azarr Kul eats this time!"</p><p></p><p>It was obvious to the companions that the night hag was not aware they were intruders. Jumping at the chance, Aslan asked if she knew where they could find Azarr Kul. His bluff worked as she asked, "Well did you go through the concealed door at the back of the worship room? The one on the far wall?"</p><p></p><p>He said they had not, thanked her, and the companions made their way back to the worship hall. Once there, they did a more detailed search of the far wall, and Mishka eventually found the concealed door. Opening it, they found a rough passageway leading into darkness.</p><p></p><p>(To be continued next post...)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ranger5, post: 2927784, member: 17981"] [b]Red Hand of Doom - Part 5[/b] With the help of Aslan's magic, the companions were able to travel as swiftly on foot as if they had horses, which they did not. With a rough map of the area, along with Tala's knowledge of the region, they knew the Old Forest Road became a trail that lead into the Wyrmsmoke Mountains near the ruins of Vraath Keep. Within four hours they were approaching the ruins when they met up with a Red Hand warband. The companions quickly engaged the enemy and within a minute had killed all the hobgoblins except one. They managed to capture one and keep him alive. They then interrogated the creature on the whereabouts of the Fane of Tiamat. In typical religious fanaticism, the hobgoblin did not give anything up. That is until Grull decided to handle the interrogations himself. A few punches to the head and gut and a cut off finger later, the hobgoblin was extremely compliant with answering Tala's questions about the location of the Fane which turned out to be just over three days journey into the Wrymsmoke Mountains along the trail that was the Old Forest Road. So armed with this, the companions set out for the Fane. And on the morning of the 25th of Flamerule they found themselves approaching what could only be the Fane of Tiamat. The structure was in the shape of a rearing five-headed dragon that was seemingly coming out of the stone of the mountain itself. The companions could see a large stone door near what was the belly of the huge dragon. The door itself was also surrounded by five stone-worked rearing necks and heads, each the color of a chromatic dragon. And high above the door was the opening a large cave. As the companions approached, five booming voices bellowed out of the five large dragon heads. "Who seeks entrance to the Fane of Tiamat? Only the faithful may approach and pass. All others will be destroyed!" However, something did not ring true. As they listened to the voices, the companions were able to realize that it was in truth one voice and not five. So they continued forward along the pathway, a stone bridge flanked by a hundred and fifty foot drop, towards a ledge and the stone door. As they approached the ledge, they heard the words, "So be it" come from the five dragon heads. A moment later, a large blue dragon leapt out of the cavern high above them and moved to attack. The companions readied weapons and spells but the dragon flew out level with the bridge and ledge but thirty feet from them and hovered. It then let loose with its breath weapon doing serious damage to those caught in its blast. The companions, not prepared well for a ranged assault - besides Tala that is - could do very little at first. And even Tala, with her deadly bow, found it difficult to penetrate the dragon's hide and do any real damage. Meanwhile, the dragon, with the advantage of the air, blasted at the companions with both his breath weapon and a wand of fireballs. Aslan was able to deal some damage with his spells when he could defeat the creature's resistance to magic. Both Grull and Mishka had little in the way of ranged attacks. And Barros was attempting to heal his companions after the devastating initial attacks of the dragon. Finally Barros cast a targeted dispel magic at the dragon and was able to strip away one of its magical defenses. With that gone, Tala was finally able to score some devastating hits on the creature with her bow. In the flow of the battle though she found herself somewhat separated from the rest of the group. The dragon, knowing he could not damage her with his breath weapon or wand - she always seemed to jump out of the way unscathed - flew down for a melee assault on the ranger and scored some viscous hits upon her. She fell back but that one moment was all Grull needed. Charging the now within reach dragon, his sword bit deeply into the creatures flank. The dragon howled with pain, attacked back and then moved out of reach. Bloodied and gravely wounded, the dragon flew off into the mountains, disappearing behind a far off ridge. It was during the battle, Mishka, unfortunately learned the stone door was trapped. If the door was opened the five smaller dragon heads breathed their various breath weapons upon those in front of the door and then the door slammed shut. As the companions healed, and Aslan flew up to the dragon's cave with the use of Tala's potion of flying, they formulated a plan to get past the door. After much discussion it was decided that Mishka would again open the door but this time instead of diving out of the way, he would take the damage and hold the door open. With his natural immunity to electricity, he also donned Barros's red dragon plate armor, which gave him some resistance to fire, and wore a ring that afforded him minor protection against cold damage. So all that was left was the acid damage. He hoped it would not be so bad. So with all the preparations in place, Mishka opened the door, held on tight and took the damage. Once the blast was over, the rest of the group leapt through the door and Mishka quickly followed. Just inside the door, they found themselves in a long wide hall that ended in stairs going up and that ended in a pair of double doors. After returning equipment and healing Mishka, the companions set out and went through the doors. They found themselves in a large room with several side doors and two more double doors opposite the ones they just entered through. They also found a pair of undead wyverns and two blue abishai guarding the room. The creatures leapt to the attack and the companions answered in kind. After a fierce battle, the companions realized that even though the abishai were dead they were not defeated. The creature’s natural regeneration kept them coming back. So while they creatures were regenerating back to consciousness, the companions braved the trapped door once more while Mishka dragged the bodies out to the ledge outside the Fane and threw the two devils over it. The figured it would be awhile before they came back from that despite their regeneration. The companions deciding that time was of the essence, opened the side doors from the large room and found only small hallways and more doors. The two large double doors revealed and long hallway that ended in stairs leading down. They took that route deciding it must be the most direct to where their enemy, Azarr Kul, was. At the end of the hall, and down the stairs, they found a massive chamber that was obviously the main worship room for the Fane. There were pews setup in front of a massize stone altar to Tiamat. Five large alcoves in the far wall and sixty feet above the ground were just big enough to hold dragons they noticed. Upon entering though, dragons did not fly out of the alcoves, but five live wyverns did. The wyverns’ employed fly-by attacks while the companions scrambled to get into position to get hits on them as they passed by. The battle was fast and furious but soon enough was over. As the companions took stock of what was in the chamber, they realized there was no High Wyrmlord chanting to Tiamat to open a gate to Avernus here. They did a quick search of the massive room but found nothing. So they decided that Azarr Kul must lay somewhere behind them. They turned back and began exploring the corridors of the Fane. The Fane seemed strangely quiet, even with all the noise they were making. They finally came upon the resting chambers of a group of hobgoblin clerics and warpriests of Tiamat. The hobgoblins themselves seemed exhausted but fought fiercely. The companions tried to once again capture one but in the confusion, all were eventually slain. The companions then came across what appeared to be the kitchen of the Fane and it was not empty. Busily cooking away, the companions found a night hag. As they entered, she asked, "What is it you want? Dinner is not ready yet. And make sure that Azarr Kul eats this time!" It was obvious to the companions that the night hag was not aware they were intruders. Jumping at the chance, Aslan asked if she knew where they could find Azarr Kul. His bluff worked as she asked, "Well did you go through the concealed door at the back of the worship room? The one on the far wall?" He said they had not, thanked her, and the companions made their way back to the worship hall. Once there, they did a more detailed search of the far wall, and Mishka eventually found the concealed door. Opening it, they found a rough passageway leading into darkness. (To be continued next post...) [/QUOTE]
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