Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 9058796" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 26: FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 8</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Orchid, elf druid 8</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Skree Mauldrive, stone giant</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Talus Legturner, stone giant</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 28 June 2023</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>The five heroes had returned to Ghourmand Vale to report back the slaying of the raiders who had been attacking farmhouses in the general vicinity, much to Karl Armbust's relief. Then they returned back to the Stone Keep the following day to observe the internment of the bodies of Father Brewster and Brother Caspian, two Cuthbertians who had been slain and turned into undead minions by the vampire blackguard Balaur. The adventurers were surprised to see the return of Father Kilkenny and his entourage, who had spent the past few weeks up in Mitrek. They had some interesting news, too, upon their return: Veluna and Celene had come to an agreement; Ghourmand Vale was to be a Free City, officially under the suzerainty of the Archclericy of Veluna but allowed to govern itself. As part of this agreement, the Stone Keep was to be expanded upon, to accommodate a full temple and training compound as part of their increased mission.</p><p></p><p>"It's that last bit we wish t' talk t' ye about," said Father Kilkenny after giving the adventurers the news. "Our numbers've been depleted by the past actions and the increase in duties here in the Vale. I ask ye t' carry a written contract an' a partial payment into th' Lortmil Mountains, t' th' Karkaletch Stone Giant Clan and return wit' their reply. This clan provided the original stone for the Keep an' we 'ope this contract'll expand our relationship an' enrich th' clan. Whaddaya say, then? Will ye do it?"</p><p></p><p>Harlan looked to the others for confirmation before replying, "Of course. We can leave as soon as we have the items in question." The Cuthbertian cleric motioned for a few of his underlings to approach; one handed over a sealed parchment envelope and another a small iron chest. "Last I heard tell," Kilkenny offered, "th' stone giants're workin' deeper than ever, an' they been hittin' pockets o' magma an' such. Inside th' chest's a <em>medallion o' fire resistance</em> fer their boss, <strong>Krag Splitshriek</strong>, an' five scrolls o' <em>fire resistance</em>; that oughta be enough fer his spellcasters t' figure out how t' cast th' spell themselves!"</p><p></p><p>Harlan accepted the offerings and passed them over to Chaevaris, who activated the door to their extradimensional dwelling just long enough for her to drop them off inside and return back to the Stone Keep courtyard. "Ready as ever," she advised the half-elf paladin.</p><p></p><p>"Then we will be off!" remarked Harlan, summoning forth Nova from the heavenly realms. The celestial pegasus manifested before his master and allowed Harlan to climb up into the saddle. Orchid climbed up into the saddle of Law, Harlan's original warhorse, and the other adventurers each climbed up upon their respective mounts. Then they were off on their two-day trek southwest to the Lortmil mountain range.</p><p></p><p>The first day of travel was uneventful and Chaevaris, after ensuring the mounts and Shushitan had everything they needed, activated the door to their extradimensional dwelling upon the ground. When so configured, the door opened to a set of stairs leading down to the interior; when activated upright, the door opened directly inside. It was one of the oddities they'd discovered since gaining possession of the magic amulet linked to the extradimensional living area. But they spent a peaceful night resting up, resuming their trek in the morning.</p><p></p><p>It was during their second day of travel that events came to them. They were heading west down a road, with open meadow on either side. Harlan figured they still had about an hour's ride ahead of them before they got to the quarry at the base of the Lortmil Mountains - quite visible in the distance ahead - when cresting a hill before them staggered four stone giants, one supporting another who could barely walk. All four wore charred, tattered clothing and had no weapons. Upon seeing the approaching heroes, they cried out (some in Common, some in Giant), "Run! He's hunting!"</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris leaped off her horse Talkacha and readied an arrow into her bow as Alistair sent Ambrose flying up to the top of the hill to see what was hunting the stone giant quartet. The grackle returned and reported back, "Big, red sky-lizard!" Blanching at the thought of a sudden combat with such a powerful foe, Alistair yelled out to the others, "We have a red dragon approaching!"</p><p></p><p>The elven archer swatted Talkacha's rump and the mount understood that as a signal to "get to safety." There was no cover anywhere about, but the horse trotted off perpendicularly from the road. Ageratum dropped from Munson's saddle and likewise sent her pony off to safety. She placed one of her "pebboulders" into her sling and got it ready to fling at the dragon once it showed. The giants hobbled on down the hill, making their best time given one of them was limping as if it hurt to put weight on one leg. "It's <strong>Akai Uzumaku Shi</strong>!" one of the giants called out, as if that meant anything to the heroes - it was apparently the red dragon's name.</p><p></p><p>Harlan took a moment to cast a <em>bless</em> spell on the group - including the four stone giants - then sent his celestial pegasus winging into the air to get a better look at the incoming dragon. Akai Uzumaku Shi was flying about 20 feet above the surface of the road, keeping low, hidden from view by the others by the intervening hill. The paladin judged he was still a good 600 feet or so away, but his powerful wings were eating up the distance quickly. It was difficult to tell by the distance involved, but Harlan estimated the dragon's body was as least the size of his pegasus, and that wasn't counting its lengthy neck or tail. So at least it was a relatively younger one; he realized dragons could end up taller than a house and there was no way they'd be able to take on a creature of that size!</p><p></p><p>Orchid dismounted from Law and cast a <em>speak with animals</em> spell, specifically so she could talk to Shushitan, her trusted timber wolf companion. "Look after the horses," she instructed. "Keep them safe, and keep them together." Shushitan, pleased as he always was when his mistress figured out how to talk (he was still a bit puzzled as to why she couldn't do it all the time), trotted over by Munson and Talkacha to do her bidding to the best of his ability. "Stay together!" Orchid called to the horses. "Shushitan will protect you!" Fortunately, frequent time spent with the wolf during travel had gotten the mounts over their instinctive fear of this particular wolf, and they had already accepted him as a part of their group, not a predator out to eat them.</p><p></p><p>Chaevaris switched from a normal arrow to a <em>sleep arrow</em>, having forgotten the dragon immunity to <em>sleep</em> magic, when Alistair called over to her. "Elfy! Can we let the giants in the door?" The one helping the wounded stone giant looked an awful like the description of Krag Splitshriek, the leader they were to have sign the contract with Ghourmand Vale, and it wouldn't do to allow him to be slain by this red dragon. Chaevaris lowered her bow and touched the amulet around her neck, softly calling out, "Brother." A door materialized in the middle of the road, and she pulled it open, indicating for the stone giants to squeeze inside. Krag helped his wounded companion inside and then turned to the other two stone giants before he entered himself. "Stay to help fight the dragon," he commanded, and <strong>Skree Mauldrive</strong> and <strong>Talus Legturner</strong> each thumped a fist to their chest, a sign of obeisance. Then Krag ducked through the doorway and closed the door behind him.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum looked around for some cover, realized there was none at hand, and then realized that she had the means to create some herself. Fishing out another "pebboulder" from her pouch, she dropped it onto the road before her and it resumed its full size, a boulder perfectly sized for a small halfling to crouch behind. She still had another of the magically-shrunken boulders in her sling, but at least now she felt like she had some protection, for her <em>bespoke armor</em>, while perfectly suited to help her blend in with surrounding vegetation, made her look like a shrub incongruously growing in the middle of the road.</p><p></p><p>Alistair finally realized the wisdom of allowing his horse Zephyr to seek the relative safety of "not right here in the middle of the upcoming fight with a dragon" and sent him off to join the others. He took a moment to cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell on himself and then said to Ambrose, "You'd better stay back as well." Ambrose didn't need any further prompting; he was off like a shot flying in the vicinity of the horses and wolf.</p><p></p><p>Harlan had Nova fly even higher, and the dragon locked eyes with the paladin, seeing him as a potential threat to his game with his four released stone giant captives. Akai Uzumaku Shi opted to deal with this new threat first, for he could see the paladin's gleaming armor and flaming sword - not that he had anything to fear from the blade's flames, but where there was one adventurer there were usually others. He began to rise above the hill, making a bee-line for Harlan and Nova. The other adventurers had yet to get their first sight of him, as the hill was still in their way, but that wouldn't hold true for too much longer.</p><p></p><p>Orchid wildshaped into an eagle and took wing, speeding as quickly as she could towards Harlan, praying she could get to him in time. Chaevaris backed away from the now-closed door in the road, giving herself plenty of room before the dragon would be able to reach her with its flaming breath. But she lined up an arrow shot, ready to track the dragon's movement through the sky once it came into view. Alistair cast a <em>shield</em> spell upon himself, as was standard practice for the sorcerer, when he recalled he knew the <em>resist energy</em> spell as well. He hadn't had much reason to cast it before during his adventures, but if ever there was a time to protect oneself from flames, this was it!</p><p></p><p>Nova dropped altitude as Harlan cast a <em>bull's strength</em> spell upon both himself and his aerial steed. The dragon veered to match course. And then Orchid, in eagle form, dropped briefly upon Harlan's shoulder - just long enough for her to cast a <em>resist energy</em> spell upon the paladin, helping to protect him from the fiery breath weapon she knew red dragons could bring to bear in a fight. Then she was off again, flying back towards the others on the ground: Alistair and Chaevaris standing their ground where they stood, Ageratum crouched behind a boulder with her sling at the ready.</p><p></p><p>Alistair cast a <em>resist energy</em> spell upon himself, granting himself (he hoped) the ability to withstand the red dragon's horrid breath. He looked behind him at Ageratum and Chaevaris; they were too far away for him to reach easily and provide them the same protection before the dragon would likely be in range. He swore quietly at himself for his lack of preparation and forethought. This was hardly the best footing of a Trained Professional Adventurer!</p><p></p><p>The dragon suddenly rose up over the hill that had been blocking sight of him, and the heroes on the ground got their first look at the first red dragon they'd ever encountered. It was impressive in size, but had fortunately not yet reached the size by which mere sight of it turned a foe's limbs to jelly and shattered his resolve against daring to combat so majestic a creature. Skree, however, wasn't looking skyward at the moment; the two unarmed giants were frantically looking about for any kind of weapon and Skree had noticed Ageratum's boulder. He snatched it up, despite an aggrieved "Hey!" of complaint from the halfling, and hefted it to throw at Akai Uzumaku Shi when he came within range.</p><p></p><p>At Harlan's direction, Nova quickly landed and the paladin leaped off his aerial steed, telling Nova to keep the other mounts safe. Then he swung about in place, flaming sword held high, and confirmed what he pretty much already knew: that the red dragon was evil in nature. Orchid dropped low to the ground, casting a <em>resist energy</em> spell on herself while she did so. Chaevaris sent her <em>sleep arrow</em> flying at the red dragon, but it bounced off the great beast's scales and fell harmlessly to the side. Still, the red dragon was seemingly surprised at the sudden attack, for he was well out of the range of most bows. That green-leafed elf (what <em>was</em> she wearing?) was a greater threat than he'd first assumed. The archer quickly fitted another arrow to her bow and lined up her shot, but its erratic movement as it flew made it difficult for her to lock on a shot.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum, feeling exposed without her boulder to hide behind, sprinted towards the door in the road and pulled it open. She scrambled inside, telling herself she wouldn't have been able to deal much damage to a dragon of that size with her little sling in any case, pebboulder or no. She checked to see how the wounded stone giant, <strong>Hauler Bagfull</strong>, was doing, trying to tell herself she came into the safety of the extradimensional dwelling to see to the giants they had rescued. She pulled a pair of healing potions from her belt, handing them over to the two wounded guests.</p><p></p><p>Alistair cast the spell he'd been waiting to cast, and an <em>ice storm</em> suddenly dropped pieces of hail onto the red dragon, buffeting its body and causing it to wobble a bit in midair under the onslaught. Then the sorcerer moved laterally across the road, away from the stone giants (in case the dragon was still focused on taking them out first). It was definitely headed their way, about 50 feet away now and back to around 20 feet above the surface of the road. Skree yelled and threw his stolen boulder with all of his might. It hit the dragon in the side but bounced off without having dealt much damage at all. Harlan began charging the dragon, intending to meet him when he landed, but the flying beast soared over his head, still maintaining its elevation above the road, and the paladin had to spin in place and run back the way he had come, now chasing the dragon from behind (and still well below).</p><p></p><p>Orchid flew behind the dragon as well, casting a <em>greater magic fang</em> spell upon herself as she did so; the ability to cast spells while in the form of an animal was one of her greatest combat strengths. She did a full arc and was now behind the dragon, struggling to catch up.</p><p></p><p>At this distance, Chaevaris had no trouble getting a strong bead on the dragon with her aimed arrow; now it was a matter of just fine-tuning the shot until it went exactly where she wanted it: right at the base of the throat. Alistair cast one more <em>ice storm</em> spell up at the dragon, before he got too close to the sorcerer's allies and the spell would no longer be prudent. Once again, he could tell its effects were felt - and felt hard - by the flame-breathing lizard; cold-based spells were often the best to use against those with an innate affinity to fire. Chaevaris let loose with her arrow, but the shot went wide; whether it was true or not, the archer was willing to blame it on having been deflected by a hailstone from Alistair's spell. But then the dragon breathed out a gout of flame encompassing both stone giants and Alistair (who hadn't skedaddled far enough away, it seemed), before passing over them and ending up directly before Chaevaris, who was scrambling to get another arrow into place at her bow. The giants howled in pain, taking the full brunt of the fiery attack; Alistair's <em>resist fire</em> spell lessened the effect drastically, but he was still singed rather badly.</p><p></p><p>Unarmed but thirsting for vengeance, the stone giants leaped up at their tormentor. Skree got hold of the dragon's tail and tightened his grip, while Talus was kicked away when he tried getting a grasp upon the dragon's back right leg. But Skree's extra weight was not only slowing the dragon's flight speed, it was dragging him down to the ground. Harlan increased his speed towards the dragon, seeing his chance to deal it some damage with his sword.</p><p></p><p>Orchid was still pretty far back from the dragon, so she cast a <em>summon nature's ally</em> spell, calling forth a pair of giant eagles, which manifested on either side of Akai Uzumaku Shi's head. They shrieked in rage as they scratched at the reptile with their curved talons, to no great effect. Chaevaris activated her <em>boots of speed</em> and sent three arrows racing toward the dragon in rapid succession, one of them burying itself deep into the beast's rugged hide.</p><p></p><p>Ageratum, feeling a tad guilty at having hidden inside in safety, opened the door again and peered outside. To her surprise, the dragon was now down at ground level, with one of the stone giants hanging almost prone with a death-grip on the reptile's tail. Well, that certainly changed things! Slamming the door shut behind her, the little halfling unsheathed her silver short sword and readied it for bloodshed.</p><p></p><p>Alistair cast a <em>magic missile</em> spell at the dragon and was surprised to see it absorbed harmlessly by a <em>shield</em> spell; what on earth had ever possessed a dragon of that size to cast a <em>shield</em> spell upon itself when hunting down four wounded stone giants with no spellcasting abilities among them? He was almost certain it hadn't cast the spell since the sorcerer had seen the dragon - and by logic, since the dragon had first spotted the sorcerer among the foes it was now up against. Strange, indeed!</p><p></p><p>Akai Uzumaku Shi shrugged and twisted, trying to get rid of Skree Mauldrive's unwanted extra weight so he could regain the freedom and safety of the skies, but to no avail; the stubborn stone giant was hanging on for dear life - a quite apt phrase, for it was completely true. Talus stepped up to the dragon and pounded at it with his fists, but was unable to connect as it thrashed about, seeking its freedom. The giant eagles fared a little better, one of them managing to slash its talons along the dragon's face, drawing blood as red as the reptile's scales.</p><p></p><p>Then Harlan charged in at full speed, his <em>flaming burst longsword</em> sliding in deep between the dragon's scales - and while the flames along his blade did no extra damage to the great reptile, the additional smiting energy he had channeled through it from the God of the Sun certainly did. Coming up behind Harlan, Orchid dropped to the ground and wildshaped again, this time to a small viper. Chaevaris pumped another three arrows at the dragon, two of them finding their marks and the other being deflected off a hardened scale. Then Ageratum got within striking range, sliding her small blade between a pair of scales along the dragon's spine, near the base of the tail.</p><p></p><p>Alistair advanced towards the dragon rather slowly, grumbling to himself. There was no way he could cast another <em>ice storm</em> spell without similarly blasting most of his friends; the reptile's <em>shield</em> spell made <em>magic missiles</em> pointless; <em>scorching ray</em> was a non-starter against a creature that spewed raw flames from its mouth. He could try <em>touch of idiocy</em> spells, but he feared it would take quite a lot of them before they had any noticeable effects. Stab it with his rapier or pull out his crossbow? He didn't like the apparent thickness of the creature's scales. Oh, bugger all - he finally cast an <em>acid splash</em> spell at the irritating beast and watched as one of its scales started bubbling. Alistair had no doubt he'd barely even damaged the dragon, but he held out hope that maybe the simple spell had at least <em>hurt</em> a bit.</p><p></p><p>Unable to dislodge Skree, Akai Uzumaku Shi did the next best thing: he craned his pliant neck around and belched another gout of flame at the offending stone giant. Of course, Alistair, Harlan, and Ageratum were all within the blast area as well. Alistair survived - just barely - by the protection of his <em>resist fire</em> spell, although he was woozy on his feet and he felt as if his entire face and hair were covered in soot, a most uncomfortable feeling indeed. Ageratum had seen the blast coming and dived to the side at the last moment, taking a smaller blast than normal. Harlan was also protected by a <em>resist fire</em> spell, and this was his first blast of fire-breath - he was fine, although a lesser man might have fallen under the attack. But poor Skree, wounded as he'd been from the get-go, succumbed to the full fury of the blast, and his lifeless limbs released the dragon's tail, freeing it to make for the skies again where it could fight off these foes in its own element.</p><p></p><p>Talus wasn't about to let that happen. He lunged forward, attempting to replace Skree in pinning the dragon down with the weight of his own body. But the dragon's wounds actually helped him out here, for the giant couldn't get a good grip on the reptile's blood-smeared scales. Harlan performed another smiting attack with his longsword, hoping to slay the beast before it could take flight. His blade struck true and struck deep, but the dragon still lived. Orchid's viper fangs slid past the creature's scales, but the venom she pumped into him had no apparent effect, for dragons were sturdy creatures with hearty constitutions. The giant eagles attacked in a frenzy, but they couldn't seem to pierce the dragon's scales with their talons and beaks. Chaevaris shot another three arrows into the beast, and these at last made the red dragon stagger a bit on his feet and nearly stumble. Finally, it was the group's smallest hero, Ageratum Purslane, who got in the final blow that took down Akai Uzumaku Shi: crawling underneath the frantic reptile, she stabbed upwards with all of her might and cut right through his belly scales (then had to scramble to safety before the collapsing dragon's body crushed her beneath it!).</p><p></p><p>Due to the presence of the <em>Blood Mirror</em>, Akai Uzumaku Shi wasn't dead, merely unconscious, his bleeding wounds already sealing up to prevent him from dying while lying there.</p><p></p><p>Due to the presence of Ageratum, the dragon's throat was slit within a minute of it having been downed, and there wasn't a whole lot the <em>Blood Mirror</em> could do about <em>that</em>.</p><p></p><p>Harlan went immediately to the body of Skree, feeling for a pulse. No such luck - the final blast of fiery breath had pushed the wounded stone giant well over the threshold of the <em>Blood Mirror</em>'s ability to keep him alive and breathing. "Somebody go tell the other stone giants it's safe to come out," the paladin said sadly, feeling bad that this giant, a stranger to him mere minutes before, had fallen so the rest of them could live. Orchid resumed her elven form and went over to comply with the half-elf's wishes.</p><p></p><p>Once everyone was back outside, Krag was able to fill the heroes in on what had transpired. "The red dragon attacked us three days ago," he said, spitting to the side of the road in disgust. "He came in with a bunch of hill giant minions, taking us by surprise and overwhelming us with sheer numbers. We'd have been able to fight off the hill giants ourselves, but against a red dragon? We were outclassed, sure and simple. Our women and children were separated from us and locked away, while the damned dragon had sport with the rest of us. In groups of four, he released us, with the following options: fight him, or try to flee. If they could remain safe from him for a full day, he'd let them live, and if they could manage to kill him, he had orders for the hill giants to let everyone go. The first two groups tried to fight him, and they were taken down rather quickly. We tried to flee, thinking we could get word out to someone capable of helping free the rest of us." He smiled down at Harlan and the others. "It's a good thing we happened to meet up with you lot on the road."</p><p></p><p>"It wasn't entirely happenstance," replied the half-elf paladin, gesturing for Orchid to bring him the chest and sealed parchment. "We were sent here by the clerics of the Stone Keep, over by Ghourmand Vale...." And Harlan filled them in on Father Kilkenny's proposal.</p><p></p><p>"Well and good!" agreed Krag. "But before we can get Kilkenny his stone, we'll need to free my tribe!"</p><p></p><p>"And we'll all be there at your side," promised Harlan. He looked towards the others for confirmation, but Alistair had just summoned Ogilvy with an <em>unseen servant</em> spell and was having him comb out the sorcerer's hair and retie the ribbon that held it on place (with a new hair ribbon, as the first had been burned too much to be salvaged); Ageratum was watching the fussy sorcerer with amusement as she cleaned dragon blood from her sword with a rag; Chaevaris was picking through the arrows she'd shot at the dragon, seeing if any of them could be salvaged; and Orchid was heading over to Shushitan to thank him for watching over the mounts and keeping them safe during the dragon attack.</p><p></p><p>"They all agree," Harlan assured Krag with a smile.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>There was a little disgruntlement at the set-up of the dragon fight, because in Dan's mind the dragon had always been hidden behind the hill, 750 feet away, but in his description to us it seemed as if the dragon was high in the sky, looking down for the prey to which it had given a head start. Once he said it was 750 feet away, I looked up the range of an <em>ice storm</em> and voiced aloud I could cast it from 720 feet away, and Logan was commenting how his archer PC's sniper skills could (finally!) be used in the way in which he'd always intended, to shoot at enemies from a great distance. Then, when Dan said, "No, no, you can't even see the dragon yet, he's flying down low and there's a hill in the way." it sounded to all of us as if he'd suddenly changed the parameters of the fight once he realized we'd be able to get in four rounds of attacking it before it could attack us in turn. Then, the fact that it had a <em>shield</em> spell already active when we fought it seemed like an additional way to make sure we didn't kill his precious dragon too soon. (Dan claimed after the fact the dragon only cast <em>shield</em> on himself when he spotted Harlan and Nova.) In any case, it was a difficult fight, and we confounded Dan by not using the <em>resist energy</em> scrolls (and medallion) he thought he'd cleverly seeded into the adventure. (I informed him the next day at work we all considered using those as a non-starter, for to use them for our own protection we'd be breaking the contract with Krag before he even got a chance to sign it.) I guess we'll have to chock it up to different views and poor communication, but the encounter almost killed two of us. (Alistair was down to 3 hp and Ageratum almost didn't survive the blast of its fiery breath weapon at the end of the fight.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 9058796, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 26: FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Ageratum Purslane, halfling rogue 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Alistair Mandelberen Pastlethwaite, human sorcerer 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Chaevaris Noarunal, elf archer 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Harlan Starblade, half-elf paladin 8[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Orchid, elf druid 8[/INDENT] [INDENT] Skree Mauldrive, stone giant[/INDENT] [INDENT] Talus Legturner, stone giant[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 28 June 2023 - - - The five heroes had returned to Ghourmand Vale to report back the slaying of the raiders who had been attacking farmhouses in the general vicinity, much to Karl Armbust's relief. Then they returned back to the Stone Keep the following day to observe the internment of the bodies of Father Brewster and Brother Caspian, two Cuthbertians who had been slain and turned into undead minions by the vampire blackguard Balaur. The adventurers were surprised to see the return of Father Kilkenny and his entourage, who had spent the past few weeks up in Mitrek. They had some interesting news, too, upon their return: Veluna and Celene had come to an agreement; Ghourmand Vale was to be a Free City, officially under the suzerainty of the Archclericy of Veluna but allowed to govern itself. As part of this agreement, the Stone Keep was to be expanded upon, to accommodate a full temple and training compound as part of their increased mission. "It's that last bit we wish t' talk t' ye about," said Father Kilkenny after giving the adventurers the news. "Our numbers've been depleted by the past actions and the increase in duties here in the Vale. I ask ye t' carry a written contract an' a partial payment into th' Lortmil Mountains, t' th' Karkaletch Stone Giant Clan and return wit' their reply. This clan provided the original stone for the Keep an' we 'ope this contract'll expand our relationship an' enrich th' clan. Whaddaya say, then? Will ye do it?" Harlan looked to the others for confirmation before replying, "Of course. We can leave as soon as we have the items in question." The Cuthbertian cleric motioned for a few of his underlings to approach; one handed over a sealed parchment envelope and another a small iron chest. "Last I heard tell," Kilkenny offered, "th' stone giants're workin' deeper than ever, an' they been hittin' pockets o' magma an' such. Inside th' chest's a [I]medallion o' fire resistance[/I] fer their boss, [B]Krag Splitshriek[/B], an' five scrolls o' [I]fire resistance[/I]; that oughta be enough fer his spellcasters t' figure out how t' cast th' spell themselves!" Harlan accepted the offerings and passed them over to Chaevaris, who activated the door to their extradimensional dwelling just long enough for her to drop them off inside and return back to the Stone Keep courtyard. "Ready as ever," she advised the half-elf paladin. "Then we will be off!" remarked Harlan, summoning forth Nova from the heavenly realms. The celestial pegasus manifested before his master and allowed Harlan to climb up into the saddle. Orchid climbed up into the saddle of Law, Harlan's original warhorse, and the other adventurers each climbed up upon their respective mounts. Then they were off on their two-day trek southwest to the Lortmil mountain range. The first day of travel was uneventful and Chaevaris, after ensuring the mounts and Shushitan had everything they needed, activated the door to their extradimensional dwelling upon the ground. When so configured, the door opened to a set of stairs leading down to the interior; when activated upright, the door opened directly inside. It was one of the oddities they'd discovered since gaining possession of the magic amulet linked to the extradimensional living area. But they spent a peaceful night resting up, resuming their trek in the morning. It was during their second day of travel that events came to them. They were heading west down a road, with open meadow on either side. Harlan figured they still had about an hour's ride ahead of them before they got to the quarry at the base of the Lortmil Mountains - quite visible in the distance ahead - when cresting a hill before them staggered four stone giants, one supporting another who could barely walk. All four wore charred, tattered clothing and had no weapons. Upon seeing the approaching heroes, they cried out (some in Common, some in Giant), "Run! He's hunting!" Chaevaris leaped off her horse Talkacha and readied an arrow into her bow as Alistair sent Ambrose flying up to the top of the hill to see what was hunting the stone giant quartet. The grackle returned and reported back, "Big, red sky-lizard!" Blanching at the thought of a sudden combat with such a powerful foe, Alistair yelled out to the others, "We have a red dragon approaching!" The elven archer swatted Talkacha's rump and the mount understood that as a signal to "get to safety." There was no cover anywhere about, but the horse trotted off perpendicularly from the road. Ageratum dropped from Munson's saddle and likewise sent her pony off to safety. She placed one of her "pebboulders" into her sling and got it ready to fling at the dragon once it showed. The giants hobbled on down the hill, making their best time given one of them was limping as if it hurt to put weight on one leg. "It's [B]Akai Uzumaku Shi[/B]!" one of the giants called out, as if that meant anything to the heroes - it was apparently the red dragon's name. Harlan took a moment to cast a [I]bless[/I] spell on the group - including the four stone giants - then sent his celestial pegasus winging into the air to get a better look at the incoming dragon. Akai Uzumaku Shi was flying about 20 feet above the surface of the road, keeping low, hidden from view by the others by the intervening hill. The paladin judged he was still a good 600 feet or so away, but his powerful wings were eating up the distance quickly. It was difficult to tell by the distance involved, but Harlan estimated the dragon's body was as least the size of his pegasus, and that wasn't counting its lengthy neck or tail. So at least it was a relatively younger one; he realized dragons could end up taller than a house and there was no way they'd be able to take on a creature of that size! Orchid dismounted from Law and cast a [I]speak with animals[/I] spell, specifically so she could talk to Shushitan, her trusted timber wolf companion. "Look after the horses," she instructed. "Keep them safe, and keep them together." Shushitan, pleased as he always was when his mistress figured out how to talk (he was still a bit puzzled as to why she couldn't do it all the time), trotted over by Munson and Talkacha to do her bidding to the best of his ability. "Stay together!" Orchid called to the horses. "Shushitan will protect you!" Fortunately, frequent time spent with the wolf during travel had gotten the mounts over their instinctive fear of this particular wolf, and they had already accepted him as a part of their group, not a predator out to eat them. Chaevaris switched from a normal arrow to a [I]sleep arrow[/I], having forgotten the dragon immunity to [I]sleep[/I] magic, when Alistair called over to her. "Elfy! Can we let the giants in the door?" The one helping the wounded stone giant looked an awful like the description of Krag Splitshriek, the leader they were to have sign the contract with Ghourmand Vale, and it wouldn't do to allow him to be slain by this red dragon. Chaevaris lowered her bow and touched the amulet around her neck, softly calling out, "Brother." A door materialized in the middle of the road, and she pulled it open, indicating for the stone giants to squeeze inside. Krag helped his wounded companion inside and then turned to the other two stone giants before he entered himself. "Stay to help fight the dragon," he commanded, and [B]Skree Mauldrive[/B] and [B]Talus Legturner[/B] each thumped a fist to their chest, a sign of obeisance. Then Krag ducked through the doorway and closed the door behind him. Ageratum looked around for some cover, realized there was none at hand, and then realized that she had the means to create some herself. Fishing out another "pebboulder" from her pouch, she dropped it onto the road before her and it resumed its full size, a boulder perfectly sized for a small halfling to crouch behind. She still had another of the magically-shrunken boulders in her sling, but at least now she felt like she had some protection, for her [I]bespoke armor[/I], while perfectly suited to help her blend in with surrounding vegetation, made her look like a shrub incongruously growing in the middle of the road. Alistair finally realized the wisdom of allowing his horse Zephyr to seek the relative safety of "not right here in the middle of the upcoming fight with a dragon" and sent him off to join the others. He took a moment to cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell on himself and then said to Ambrose, "You'd better stay back as well." Ambrose didn't need any further prompting; he was off like a shot flying in the vicinity of the horses and wolf. Harlan had Nova fly even higher, and the dragon locked eyes with the paladin, seeing him as a potential threat to his game with his four released stone giant captives. Akai Uzumaku Shi opted to deal with this new threat first, for he could see the paladin's gleaming armor and flaming sword - not that he had anything to fear from the blade's flames, but where there was one adventurer there were usually others. He began to rise above the hill, making a bee-line for Harlan and Nova. The other adventurers had yet to get their first sight of him, as the hill was still in their way, but that wouldn't hold true for too much longer. Orchid wildshaped into an eagle and took wing, speeding as quickly as she could towards Harlan, praying she could get to him in time. Chaevaris backed away from the now-closed door in the road, giving herself plenty of room before the dragon would be able to reach her with its flaming breath. But she lined up an arrow shot, ready to track the dragon's movement through the sky once it came into view. Alistair cast a [I]shield[/I] spell upon himself, as was standard practice for the sorcerer, when he recalled he knew the [I]resist energy[/I] spell as well. He hadn't had much reason to cast it before during his adventures, but if ever there was a time to protect oneself from flames, this was it! Nova dropped altitude as Harlan cast a [I]bull's strength[/I] spell upon both himself and his aerial steed. The dragon veered to match course. And then Orchid, in eagle form, dropped briefly upon Harlan's shoulder - just long enough for her to cast a [I]resist energy[/I] spell upon the paladin, helping to protect him from the fiery breath weapon she knew red dragons could bring to bear in a fight. Then she was off again, flying back towards the others on the ground: Alistair and Chaevaris standing their ground where they stood, Ageratum crouched behind a boulder with her sling at the ready. Alistair cast a [I]resist energy[/I] spell upon himself, granting himself (he hoped) the ability to withstand the red dragon's horrid breath. He looked behind him at Ageratum and Chaevaris; they were too far away for him to reach easily and provide them the same protection before the dragon would likely be in range. He swore quietly at himself for his lack of preparation and forethought. This was hardly the best footing of a Trained Professional Adventurer! The dragon suddenly rose up over the hill that had been blocking sight of him, and the heroes on the ground got their first look at the first red dragon they'd ever encountered. It was impressive in size, but had fortunately not yet reached the size by which mere sight of it turned a foe's limbs to jelly and shattered his resolve against daring to combat so majestic a creature. Skree, however, wasn't looking skyward at the moment; the two unarmed giants were frantically looking about for any kind of weapon and Skree had noticed Ageratum's boulder. He snatched it up, despite an aggrieved "Hey!" of complaint from the halfling, and hefted it to throw at Akai Uzumaku Shi when he came within range. At Harlan's direction, Nova quickly landed and the paladin leaped off his aerial steed, telling Nova to keep the other mounts safe. Then he swung about in place, flaming sword held high, and confirmed what he pretty much already knew: that the red dragon was evil in nature. Orchid dropped low to the ground, casting a [I]resist energy[/I] spell on herself while she did so. Chaevaris sent her [I]sleep arrow[/I] flying at the red dragon, but it bounced off the great beast's scales and fell harmlessly to the side. Still, the red dragon was seemingly surprised at the sudden attack, for he was well out of the range of most bows. That green-leafed elf (what [I]was[/I] she wearing?) was a greater threat than he'd first assumed. The archer quickly fitted another arrow to her bow and lined up her shot, but its erratic movement as it flew made it difficult for her to lock on a shot. Ageratum, feeling exposed without her boulder to hide behind, sprinted towards the door in the road and pulled it open. She scrambled inside, telling herself she wouldn't have been able to deal much damage to a dragon of that size with her little sling in any case, pebboulder or no. She checked to see how the wounded stone giant, [B]Hauler Bagfull[/B], was doing, trying to tell herself she came into the safety of the extradimensional dwelling to see to the giants they had rescued. She pulled a pair of healing potions from her belt, handing them over to the two wounded guests. Alistair cast the spell he'd been waiting to cast, and an [I]ice storm[/I] suddenly dropped pieces of hail onto the red dragon, buffeting its body and causing it to wobble a bit in midair under the onslaught. Then the sorcerer moved laterally across the road, away from the stone giants (in case the dragon was still focused on taking them out first). It was definitely headed their way, about 50 feet away now and back to around 20 feet above the surface of the road. Skree yelled and threw his stolen boulder with all of his might. It hit the dragon in the side but bounced off without having dealt much damage at all. Harlan began charging the dragon, intending to meet him when he landed, but the flying beast soared over his head, still maintaining its elevation above the road, and the paladin had to spin in place and run back the way he had come, now chasing the dragon from behind (and still well below). Orchid flew behind the dragon as well, casting a [I]greater magic fang[/I] spell upon herself as she did so; the ability to cast spells while in the form of an animal was one of her greatest combat strengths. She did a full arc and was now behind the dragon, struggling to catch up. At this distance, Chaevaris had no trouble getting a strong bead on the dragon with her aimed arrow; now it was a matter of just fine-tuning the shot until it went exactly where she wanted it: right at the base of the throat. Alistair cast one more [I]ice storm[/I] spell up at the dragon, before he got too close to the sorcerer's allies and the spell would no longer be prudent. Once again, he could tell its effects were felt - and felt hard - by the flame-breathing lizard; cold-based spells were often the best to use against those with an innate affinity to fire. Chaevaris let loose with her arrow, but the shot went wide; whether it was true or not, the archer was willing to blame it on having been deflected by a hailstone from Alistair's spell. But then the dragon breathed out a gout of flame encompassing both stone giants and Alistair (who hadn't skedaddled far enough away, it seemed), before passing over them and ending up directly before Chaevaris, who was scrambling to get another arrow into place at her bow. The giants howled in pain, taking the full brunt of the fiery attack; Alistair's [I]resist fire[/I] spell lessened the effect drastically, but he was still singed rather badly. Unarmed but thirsting for vengeance, the stone giants leaped up at their tormentor. Skree got hold of the dragon's tail and tightened his grip, while Talus was kicked away when he tried getting a grasp upon the dragon's back right leg. But Skree's extra weight was not only slowing the dragon's flight speed, it was dragging him down to the ground. Harlan increased his speed towards the dragon, seeing his chance to deal it some damage with his sword. Orchid was still pretty far back from the dragon, so she cast a [I]summon nature's ally[/I] spell, calling forth a pair of giant eagles, which manifested on either side of Akai Uzumaku Shi's head. They shrieked in rage as they scratched at the reptile with their curved talons, to no great effect. Chaevaris activated her [I]boots of speed[/I] and sent three arrows racing toward the dragon in rapid succession, one of them burying itself deep into the beast's rugged hide. Ageratum, feeling a tad guilty at having hidden inside in safety, opened the door again and peered outside. To her surprise, the dragon was now down at ground level, with one of the stone giants hanging almost prone with a death-grip on the reptile's tail. Well, that certainly changed things! Slamming the door shut behind her, the little halfling unsheathed her silver short sword and readied it for bloodshed. Alistair cast a [I]magic missile[/I] spell at the dragon and was surprised to see it absorbed harmlessly by a [I]shield[/I] spell; what on earth had ever possessed a dragon of that size to cast a [I]shield[/I] spell upon itself when hunting down four wounded stone giants with no spellcasting abilities among them? He was almost certain it hadn't cast the spell since the sorcerer had seen the dragon - and by logic, since the dragon had first spotted the sorcerer among the foes it was now up against. Strange, indeed! Akai Uzumaku Shi shrugged and twisted, trying to get rid of Skree Mauldrive's unwanted extra weight so he could regain the freedom and safety of the skies, but to no avail; the stubborn stone giant was hanging on for dear life - a quite apt phrase, for it was completely true. Talus stepped up to the dragon and pounded at it with his fists, but was unable to connect as it thrashed about, seeking its freedom. The giant eagles fared a little better, one of them managing to slash its talons along the dragon's face, drawing blood as red as the reptile's scales. Then Harlan charged in at full speed, his [I]flaming burst longsword[/I] sliding in deep between the dragon's scales - and while the flames along his blade did no extra damage to the great reptile, the additional smiting energy he had channeled through it from the God of the Sun certainly did. Coming up behind Harlan, Orchid dropped to the ground and wildshaped again, this time to a small viper. Chaevaris pumped another three arrows at the dragon, two of them finding their marks and the other being deflected off a hardened scale. Then Ageratum got within striking range, sliding her small blade between a pair of scales along the dragon's spine, near the base of the tail. Alistair advanced towards the dragon rather slowly, grumbling to himself. There was no way he could cast another [I]ice storm[/I] spell without similarly blasting most of his friends; the reptile's [I]shield[/I] spell made [I]magic missiles[/I] pointless; [I]scorching ray[/I] was a non-starter against a creature that spewed raw flames from its mouth. He could try [I]touch of idiocy[/I] spells, but he feared it would take quite a lot of them before they had any noticeable effects. Stab it with his rapier or pull out his crossbow? He didn't like the apparent thickness of the creature's scales. Oh, bugger all - he finally cast an [I]acid splash[/I] spell at the irritating beast and watched as one of its scales started bubbling. Alistair had no doubt he'd barely even damaged the dragon, but he held out hope that maybe the simple spell had at least [I]hurt[/I] a bit. Unable to dislodge Skree, Akai Uzumaku Shi did the next best thing: he craned his pliant neck around and belched another gout of flame at the offending stone giant. Of course, Alistair, Harlan, and Ageratum were all within the blast area as well. Alistair survived - just barely - by the protection of his [I]resist fire[/I] spell, although he was woozy on his feet and he felt as if his entire face and hair were covered in soot, a most uncomfortable feeling indeed. Ageratum had seen the blast coming and dived to the side at the last moment, taking a smaller blast than normal. Harlan was also protected by a [I]resist fire[/I] spell, and this was his first blast of fire-breath - he was fine, although a lesser man might have fallen under the attack. But poor Skree, wounded as he'd been from the get-go, succumbed to the full fury of the blast, and his lifeless limbs released the dragon's tail, freeing it to make for the skies again where it could fight off these foes in its own element. Talus wasn't about to let that happen. He lunged forward, attempting to replace Skree in pinning the dragon down with the weight of his own body. But the dragon's wounds actually helped him out here, for the giant couldn't get a good grip on the reptile's blood-smeared scales. Harlan performed another smiting attack with his longsword, hoping to slay the beast before it could take flight. His blade struck true and struck deep, but the dragon still lived. Orchid's viper fangs slid past the creature's scales, but the venom she pumped into him had no apparent effect, for dragons were sturdy creatures with hearty constitutions. The giant eagles attacked in a frenzy, but they couldn't seem to pierce the dragon's scales with their talons and beaks. Chaevaris shot another three arrows into the beast, and these at last made the red dragon stagger a bit on his feet and nearly stumble. Finally, it was the group's smallest hero, Ageratum Purslane, who got in the final blow that took down Akai Uzumaku Shi: crawling underneath the frantic reptile, she stabbed upwards with all of her might and cut right through his belly scales (then had to scramble to safety before the collapsing dragon's body crushed her beneath it!). Due to the presence of the [I]Blood Mirror[/I], Akai Uzumaku Shi wasn't dead, merely unconscious, his bleeding wounds already sealing up to prevent him from dying while lying there. Due to the presence of Ageratum, the dragon's throat was slit within a minute of it having been downed, and there wasn't a whole lot the [I]Blood Mirror[/I] could do about [I]that[/I]. Harlan went immediately to the body of Skree, feeling for a pulse. No such luck - the final blast of fiery breath had pushed the wounded stone giant well over the threshold of the [I]Blood Mirror[/I]'s ability to keep him alive and breathing. "Somebody go tell the other stone giants it's safe to come out," the paladin said sadly, feeling bad that this giant, a stranger to him mere minutes before, had fallen so the rest of them could live. Orchid resumed her elven form and went over to comply with the half-elf's wishes. Once everyone was back outside, Krag was able to fill the heroes in on what had transpired. "The red dragon attacked us three days ago," he said, spitting to the side of the road in disgust. "He came in with a bunch of hill giant minions, taking us by surprise and overwhelming us with sheer numbers. We'd have been able to fight off the hill giants ourselves, but against a red dragon? We were outclassed, sure and simple. Our women and children were separated from us and locked away, while the damned dragon had sport with the rest of us. In groups of four, he released us, with the following options: fight him, or try to flee. If they could remain safe from him for a full day, he'd let them live, and if they could manage to kill him, he had orders for the hill giants to let everyone go. The first two groups tried to fight him, and they were taken down rather quickly. We tried to flee, thinking we could get word out to someone capable of helping free the rest of us." He smiled down at Harlan and the others. "It's a good thing we happened to meet up with you lot on the road." "It wasn't entirely happenstance," replied the half-elf paladin, gesturing for Orchid to bring him the chest and sealed parchment. "We were sent here by the clerics of the Stone Keep, over by Ghourmand Vale...." And Harlan filled them in on Father Kilkenny's proposal. "Well and good!" agreed Krag. "But before we can get Kilkenny his stone, we'll need to free my tribe!" "And we'll all be there at your side," promised Harlan. He looked towards the others for confirmation, but Alistair had just summoned Ogilvy with an [I]unseen servant[/I] spell and was having him comb out the sorcerer's hair and retie the ribbon that held it on place (with a new hair ribbon, as the first had been burned too much to be salvaged); Ageratum was watching the fussy sorcerer with amusement as she cleaned dragon blood from her sword with a rag; Chaevaris was picking through the arrows she'd shot at the dragon, seeing if any of them could be salvaged; and Orchid was heading over to Shushitan to thank him for watching over the mounts and keeping them safe during the dragon attack. "They all agree," Harlan assured Krag with a smile. - - - There was a little disgruntlement at the set-up of the dragon fight, because in Dan's mind the dragon had always been hidden behind the hill, 750 feet away, but in his description to us it seemed as if the dragon was high in the sky, looking down for the prey to which it had given a head start. Once he said it was 750 feet away, I looked up the range of an [I]ice storm[/I] and voiced aloud I could cast it from 720 feet away, and Logan was commenting how his archer PC's sniper skills could (finally!) be used in the way in which he'd always intended, to shoot at enemies from a great distance. Then, when Dan said, "No, no, you can't even see the dragon yet, he's flying down low and there's a hill in the way." it sounded to all of us as if he'd suddenly changed the parameters of the fight once he realized we'd be able to get in four rounds of attacking it before it could attack us in turn. Then, the fact that it had a [I]shield[/I] spell already active when we fought it seemed like an additional way to make sure we didn't kill his precious dragon too soon. (Dan claimed after the fact the dragon only cast [I]shield[/I] on himself when he spotted Harlan and Nova.) In any case, it was a difficult fight, and we confounded Dan by not using the [I]resist energy[/I] scrolls (and medallion) he thought he'd cleverly seeded into the adventure. (I informed him the next day at work we all considered using those as a non-starter, for to use them for our own protection we'd be breaking the contract with Krag before he even got a chance to sign it.) I guess we'll have to chock it up to different views and poor communication, but the encounter almost killed two of us. (Alistair was down to 3 hp and Ageratum almost didn't survive the blast of its fiery breath weapon at the end of the fight.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Ghourmand Vale (3.5 campaign)
Top