NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 4693119" data-attributes="member: 99">Well last night's session promised to be an exciting one and it did not disappoint (not me at least).  A scream came from inside the cloud of rancid darkness that was suddenly cut off.  A moment later a reptilian maw snapped outward from the cloud and barely missed chomping down on Eshik.  As it withdrew an instant later into the cloud of darkness it left drips of acidic saliva smoking on his leather vest.  A moment later the darkness cleared and they could see the horse-sized black dragon crouched in the doorway.  It's shoulders bore huge scars where it may once have had wings.This fight was back and forth with the dragon inflicting some vicious damage but taking some attacks that did 20 HP or more in a single hit sometimes.  At one point it withdrew and climbed up onto the rotting upper floor of the tower.  Astavian thinking quickly pulled up the ladder that led down to the basement and used it to climb onto the upper floor (the old staircase had rotted away at some point in the past).  Unfortunately the dragon purposefully collapsed the roof on top of he and Eshik the following round.  Zanne kept after it with Eldrich Blasts and Hellish Rebukes but it was the critical hit by an arrow (one that she had wet in a nearby puddle and then coated with the purplish dust they found in the basement) from Mialain that finally sent the dragon fleeing from the tower.  They looked around for the wounded creature in the darkness but it was nowhere to be seen.It was still a couple hours before dawn and they settled into an uneasy rest as Lord Harrix stood guard along with the slaves they'd rescued during the night.  By morning's light they could see a large building a couple hundred feet away.  It was fairly newly built but showed some signs of having taken some damage with the front door ripped open and a couple of large holes in the roof and walls.  They approached cautiously.The stench that met them at the door reassured them that the dragon had been here and may be here now.  Inside they could see that the building was divided into a front and back half by a wall that went to the rafters but had a doorway in the center that had been ripped open into a somewhat wider hole.  Astavian went in first by himself.  He hoped that if the dragon lurked within that he could prevent the entire group from being engulfed in the dragon's acidic breath.  Looking around what had been a storage room he saw that everything within had been piled into one corner along with a dozen or so dead bodies that smelled of a week of rotting.  But no sign of the dragon itself.A moment later Astavian was lifted off of the floor and into the jaws of the beast by its strong but nimble tail.  Astavian chopped at it with his greatsword that bore a thin coating of the purple dust they'd found in the tower and it left a wound that oozed with a thin, acrid smoke.  Eshik ran in to aid him, having to leap into the air in order to bring his blade to bear on the dragon that was entwined in the rafters.  The others ran in to attack as well and the battle was joined.Similarly to before the dragon dealt considerable damage but the PC's were fresh from a rest and had their Daily powers back.  Astavian kept constant pressure on the beast and took most of its attacks in the early going.  Mialain kept up a constant stream of healing, bolstered further by her Beacon of Hope.  It was the attacks by Eshik and Zanne however that were the true hallmarks of this battle.  Eshik managed to scramble onto its back while Astavian had it Dazed with Radiant Delium and stab both swords into the scars on the dragon's shoulders with Dire Wolverine Strike.  After that the dragon focused all its attacks on Eshik, ignoring the damage it took from Astavian's Divine Challenge.That was until Zanne hurled a fistful of the purple powder onto its back and seared it into the beast's scales with the Flames of Phlegethos.  The dragon screamed in pain and rage before breathing out another cloud of stinking darkness.  Astavian, Eshik and Zanne all surrounded it and could feel it turn to flee through a hole in the wall of the building and they struck out at it blindly.  Its tail lashed at the pair of Dragonborn before wrapping around the waist of the Warlock and dragged Zanne through the hole after it.As the darkness faded the rest of the party gave chase as the dragon barreled across the plateau with Zanne still blasting at it even as it had her held by its tail.  Mialain was the only one fast enough to keep up with the beast but she wasn't close enough to help when it flicked its tail and tossed Zanne down the 60 foot deep shaft where they had first emerged from the mines below.  She reached for the edge but missed and plummeted to her death, her own corpse added to those of the diggers they had found there during their ascent.Mialain stopped at the hole and the others rapidly caught up as the dragon fled over the gradual hill of the plateau.  As they stood at the edge of the shaft, helpless to do anything for their fallen ally, they spotted an approaching airship.  Surmising that this was the supply ship they had read about in the Black Moon journal they waited for it to arrive while Eshik climbed down into the hole to retrieve the body of Zanne.A few minutes later the ship landed and turned out to be crewed by goblins, the captain of whom was named Tornear.  Surprised to find that the Black Moon were all dead, and still wanting to make a buck on the trip, he negotiated with Astavain for passage aboard his ship (the "Rat Bastard") back to Opkhar for the PC's, Harrix and the rescued slaves.  The status of these slaves upon reaching Opkhar was uncertain since slavery was recently legallized there but they seemed more concerned with the PC's not revealing the cannibalism they had been forced to resort to when they were trapped in their cell with no food.Before departing the plateau Mialain performed the Gentle Repose ritual on Zanne's body while the Dragonborn searched through the dragon's "hoard".  They did discover a scimitar and some chainmail that seemed in good condition and these turned out to both be magical.  With that they departed on the three day sail upwind to Opkhar.GM Comments:So the dragon was their first Solo of the campaign and I found the mechanics very interesting.  I liked that the dragon had different and interesting things to do each round that still all surrounded a central theme.  I will note here that this was a Young Black Dragon (level 4 solo) in all respects except that I swapped its defenses with those of a Young White Dragon (level 3 solo).  Otherwise the PC's would have had a very frustrating time hitting it.They probably did a better job working together as a team in this battle than any other they've had.  Despite the fact that this thing had 224 HP, the battles didn't drag on and on.  The first took around an hour and a half and the second was about the same.  Although it may not seem like it from above, Astavian probably did at least as much damage to it as the Strikers did thanks to his Divine Challenge.  What I didn't anticipate was how that would interact with its Tail Lash interrupt attacks whenever somebody missed it with a melee attack.  This put Eshik in the position of damaging it on every swing whether he struck it or not since it either took damage from his swords or Astavian's Challenge.  I like how those design elements work together.If you've been reading along then you know that Zanne's death is the first one of the campaign.  I honestly didn't plan or anticipate that.  It's pretty impressive how many things had to fall the wrong way for it to happen.  If the dragon had fled with any fewer hit points then Zanne probably would have killed it with Eldrich Blasts before it could throw her down the hole.  If she'd made the saving throw then obviously she'd have caught herself and Mialain could have helped her out when she got there.  As it was the falling damage she took killed her by two hit points.  If she could have survived that by even one point then Mialain could probably have gotten to her with healing before she failed the Death Saves.Fear not however as, thanks to Mialain's Gentle Repose, you've probably not seen the last of Zanne.  As I told the player, "Some interesting things are going to happen to you while you're dead."</blockquote>

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