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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Flynn" data-source="post: 4254569" data-attributes="member: 1836">Session Notes - 05/28/08Good Morning, All:Another week has passed, and last night, the group began a new adventure. Having taken the hook from an encounter the previous week, they are now actively pursuing a mystery that is wrapped up in one of the character's backgrounds. We also formally welcomed a new member into the group, and are five strong once more. And now, on with our tale...The Synopsis:Considering the red clay found on the boots of the Black Dawn assassins, as well as their new interest in the Warlord Andrus and their renewed interest in the elven priest Anzjin, the party elected to travel south to investigate the Red Clay Canyon and its potential occupants. The warrior Eidolus decided that walking into what might be the homebase of a cult of assassins may not be the most prudent choice, and so gave his farewells to the party, leaving them with a need for at least one warrior to compliment their abilities, and fill the gap left behind when Yngvar departed the band to deliver the Sword of Dwarven Kings to the Triumvirate.Fortunately, a number of mercenaries had started arriving in Moonwell, seeking positions as part of the local militia and town guard in this slowly recovering village. One of the first to seek out the Lord Mayor of Moonwell, an accomplished warrior going by the name Roland, was effectively hired on the spot to join the band in their investigation of Red Clay Canyon and its potential cult of assassins. A militaristic man of regimented behavior, Roland accepted the position and began the slow process of adapting to the looser command structure of the brave band of adventurers. On that day, Anzjin the elven priest healed the permanent injury that had afflicted the Magus Chrysander since their bout with the brigand Rendrus outside Greenfell two months prior.On the second morning after the attack, the party, now five strong, began to make their way south, leaving the proprietor of the local general store, Naius of Moonwell, acting as the Lord Mayor's reeve during his absence. Their progress south was uneventful, until the party left the road under the midday sun. After a little over an hour of travel, the band came upon the nest of a large macetail, a massive reptilian beast with a mace-shaped tail and natural armor upon its back. Curious as to the contents of its nest, Calyt snuck forward in the hopes of seeing the dinosaur's eggs. However, the Magus Chrysander stepped on a dry twig, and the cracking sound drew the mother's attention.Much as a bull paws at the ground, the mother macetail huffed and glared at the nearby intruder, scratching at the earth with menace. As Calyt retreated back up the hill towards his comrades, the macetail charged, barely missing him. Chrysander tried in vain to use his webs against the macetail as the party began to scramble away from the irate beast, but the creature continued to chase the adventurers away from its nest. Finally, a well-placed spark of fire in the mouth of the macetail, generated by Calyt through the magic of one of the red dragon rings, caused the mother to stop in confusion, long enough for Chrysander to more fully encapsulate the beast in webs and insure the party's escape.After catching their breath, and ascertaining that no one had been injured in their mad dash from the macetail's nest, the party headed on towards Red Clay Canyon. Finding a river that ran red with the clay floating in it, the party followed the river upstream, towards a box canyon from which it sprang. As the day was drawing to an end, the party decided to settle down for the night. After setting up vigilant guards, the five adventurers began to sleep in shifts.In the early hours before dawn, Anzjin awoke as soft cloth brushed lightly across his arm. As he opened his eyes, he noted a black-clad assassin stealthily opening his backpack. Raising the alarm, Anzjin grabbed his weapon and rolled up to face the assassin, who had by this point in time recovered the letter for Anzjin's master that he had been carrying for the last ten years. The assassin ran into the woods, drawing a dagger as he moved, but Anzjin followed quickly behind to strike at the assassin. After a brief exchange, as the others in the camp awoke and began to arise, the assassin saw that he would be outnumbered soon, and risked fleeing from combat. His penace for his mistake: Anzjin's spear through his back before he had made three steps.Anzjin recovered the letter and returned to the camp, where all were now awake and ready for a fight. Anzjin filled in his comrades on the assassin and his letter, as they searched about the campsite for any that might be lurking in the shadows of the false dawn. When the party deemed that they were safe for the moment, they ate a brief meal and entered into the canyon with the rising of the sun, backtracking the assassin's tracks in hopes of finding the abandoned monastery.It was an hour or so before the party noted that the trail led away from the river, towards one of the canyon's walls. As they drew closer, they observed a monastery with a walled courtyard, and a large cleared area in front of the gates. Two posts provided the only distinctive features at this distance. As the party slowed down to stealthily approach the monastery, Calyt travelled ahead in the form of a wolf to observe the location.What he saw intrigued him, for a large, black reptilian creature resembling a dragon somewhat guarded the gate. Bound to a post near the gate entrance through the use of a thick iron chain, the beast was acting somewhat like a mouse, pouncing on a small animal and playing with it. From his vantage point, Calyt could tell that the wings of the dragon had been cut away from the body, leaving only scarred stumps behind. In addition, the rogue-in-wolf's-body noted that the skull of the dragon had been cut into, and scabs covered a spot where knives had recently dug into the head of the creature. It touched Calyt's heart that a noble beast such as dragon would have been treated thus, only to serve as a guard for this cult of assassins. After considering the idea of trying to free the poor creature himself, Calyt returned to his comrades and told them of what he had learned.Most of the party felt sorry for the beast, but the Warlord Andrus kept his friends focused on their true mission: to investigate the Cult of the Black Dawn. With some reluctance, the band stealthily moved forward, skirting the clearing before the main gate. Sadly, both the Warlord Andrus and the Scholar-Magus Chrysander are not known for their stealth, and guards upon the wall became aware of the team as they came within a reasonable arrow range. The first flight of arrows informed the adventures that they had been detected, and were regarded as intruders.As they stepped out to return fire, both magically and mundanely, the dragon spied the party and bounded towards them. Reaching the end of its chain, the mutilated beast breathed a cone of acid upon them. Both Roland and the Warlord Andrus leapt aside to avoid the spray, but were encouraged to be more mindful of their position relative to the dragon on the end of its chain. Chrysander used a sonic blast to slay the guards on the walls, but the noise alerted the assassins within the compound to the presence of the party.Anzjin hesitated only for a moment, and then leapt to a decision. Sprinting forward, he touched the dragon and cast a greater healing spell upon it, asking his beloved goddess to heal the mutilated mind of the dragon. Through the benevalence of Fate, Anzjin's act of faith struck true, and the green healing light of Alonna, goddess of the Arcadian elves, repaired the damage to the dragon's frontal lobes that had been wrought by the Cult of the Black Dawn.This changed the tide of the battle very quickly. Chrysander launched an empowered sonic blast against the assassins rushing out of the gate, slaying many of them. The dragon, noting the party's aid and support of him, cried out in a challenge to the cultists in an ancient draconic tongue, the gleam of intelligence returning to his eyes. The remaining assassins outside the gates fell to the dragon's acidic breath, and the master of the compound called for a retreat of his people back into the fortified monastery.As the party accompanied the dragon back into the courtyard, they noted that this area had been converted into a training ground for the Black Dawn, with wooden sparring dummies and other equipment. The dragon breathed on the mob of cultists at the door, as those inside struggled to close it. As the party moved forward, the doors of the monastery slammed shut, with a few cultists abandoned on the outside to the vagaries of the dragon's rage.And that's where we ended the session...The Commentary:As you can tell, it was a fun session, and the PCs surprised me with their decision to heal the dragon. This will definitely change the events of the remainder of the adventure, so I am glad I've got a breather to work through the rest of this from this new perspective. More on the dragon in a moment.First, I'd like to start with the macetail. I have dinosaurs in the Kintara campaign world, mostly because I like the "lost world" flavor they add to the setting. I was inspired to offer this wilderness encounter by an anklyosaur mini that WOTC released for D&D. (I think it is called a macetail, incidentally, but I cannot recall for certain.) For stats, I grabbed the triceratops entry from Savage Beasts, changing the gore attack descriptively into a bludgeoning tail strike, but otherwise ran with it. This encounter was off the cuff, but it was fun watching the PCs flee the encounter instead of killing it. I think the mother aspect of protecting its nest added a bit to the scenario, and I appreciated the PC reaction in the spirit of roleplaying that it was intended.In regards to the young lobotomized, mutilated black dragon, I simply used the drake stats from the Explorer's Edition, because the party's been talking about facing a dragon soon, and I thought they'd enjoy a taste of what it could be like. Looking at the major differences between the drake and dragon entries, I came up with an interesting story element (well, I think it's interesting), in which the Cult of the Black Dawn have mutilated a young black dragon. Its animal intelligence and poorer tactics came from the lobotomy, and the lack of flight came from the severed wings. In this way, I took the drake stats and turned it into a new element that emphasizes how evil the Cult of the Black Dawn could be. Instant flavor!What I had not counted on was Anzjin deciding to heal the black dragon's brain. The party empathized with the dragon's plight, and a number of them wanted to save the creature. Anzjin made a quick decision in the middle of combat, and spent two bennies to make the roll count. From there, it was a frantic rush of breaking the dragon's chains, slaying assassins and following the dragon into the courtyard. It was a very satisfying scene for me as a GM, and I hope the players enjoyed it as well.As a side note, the drake is not a Wild Card, so I started our little dragon guardian off as an Extra. When the party restored his intelligence, the players assumed he would immediately become a Wild Card, but I kept him as an Extra. He is young, after all, and besides, I wanted to see how the Warlord Andrus would react to having a dragon as an ally for his leadership Edges without having to spend a bennie to do so. Once that sank in, the excitement level raised a little bit.I also hope that keeping the dragon as an Extra will allow the PCs to shine more, instead of feeling like they are playing second fiddle to an NPC they effectively created with the greater healing of the dragon's brain. Nothing sucks worse than watching the GM's NPCs have all the fun, and once that happens, nobody will remember that they were the ones to create the problem themselves. Such are the vagaries of gamemastering.Next week, I should be able to wrap up this adventure, and then I have to take two weeks away from the table for family vacations and related stuff. Still, I'll keep you all in the loop and let you know what happened to the party. And when I'm back, the game will continue at the end of June with more updates and more Savage Worlds Fast, Furious, Fun!Wish Them Luck,Flynn</blockquote>

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