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
The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
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: 7920588" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 71: <em>THE CLAW OF BAHAMUT</em></strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Darrien, half-elf ranger 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Gilbert Fung, human wizard 19</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 19</p><p></p><p>NPC Roster:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Colin Danderville, human paladin 10</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jinkadoodle Dundernoggin, gnome illusionist 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Malrin Ivenheart, elf druid 13</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> MARCI, humanoid construct</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 15 February 2020</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>Darrien woke up, stretched, and pulled on his clothes. Then, deciding to go see about some breakfast - Helga Battershield almost always provided quite a spread each morning - he went down the stairs of the northwestern tower in Battershield Keep and exited the door, stepping into the courtyard. As was normal, the drawbridge was down but the portcullis was also lowered; that had been deemed adequate protection in the past. And there, kneeling in prayer on the wooden drawbridge spanning the moat, was a human man in plate mail armor with a heavy steel shield strapped to his arm. The half-elf ranger could see a longsword sitting in its scabbard at the warrior's belt.</p><p></p><p>"Um, hello?" Darrien asked tentatively. "Can I help you?"</p><p></p><p>The man finished his silent prayer and then opened his eyes, smiling up at the half-elf. "I sincerely hope so. My name is <strong>Colin Danderville</strong>, a paladin in the Order of <strong>Bahamut</strong>. I seek another paladin of my order, a knight by the name of <strong>Sir Morgan Brightshield</strong>. Do you by chance know of his whereabouts?"</p><p></p><p>"I've...never heard of him," admitted Darrien. "But maybe some of the others might know. Hang on a minute, will you?"</p><p></p><p>The door Darrien had just exited moments ago opened up again and Binkadink Dundernoggin approached. "What's going on?" he asked. Colin repeated his query while the two adventurers pulled on the chains that raised the portcullis. Colin rose to his feet and stepped inside the keep.</p><p></p><p>"What all this racket?" demanded a bleary-eyed Gilbert Fung, entering the courtyard from the same door. "Who this, and why you letting him in?" From the other tower stepped Finoula, Hagan, and Malrin, having also heard the portcullis being raised.</p><p></p><p>"I did not wish to wake you," said Colin, "so I stayed outside and prayed until you awoke. But I am on a quest, to find Sir Morgan Brightshield, a paladin of my order. He and a band of young paladins went on a mission several years ago to slay a white dragon named <strong>Turakkandusk</strong> and never returned. I have been sent to find out what happened to him, to return his body if he has been slain, and to retrieve the weapon he wielded: <em>The Claw of Bahamut</em>, a glaive forged to slay evil dragons." Binkadink's eyebrows raised upon hearing of a magical glaive, until he realized the wielder was likely a human and thus the weapon would likely be too big for the little gnome to wield effectively himself. But that was okay; he'd recently had Pentaclus the Weapon-Crafter build him a new glaive patterned after the <em>Titanslayer</em>, capable of overcoming most creatures' magical defenses against damage.</p><p></p><p>"So why you come here?" demanded Gilbert. "We never hear of this Brightshield guy before."</p><p></p><p>"All attempts to <em>scry</em> upon Sir Morgan have failed," Colin admitted. "In desperation, the clerics of my order stopped trying to find him directly and took a more roundabout approach: using divinations to determine the best way to find him, wherever he might be. Those divinations have led me to your doorstep."</p><p></p><p>"Where was this...Turakkandusk?...supposed to have been?" asked Finoula.</p><p></p><p>"In the coldlands far to the north," admitted Colin. "It was, admittedly, somewhat of a surprise to have been directed here, of all places, so far from where Sir Morgan and his band had been heading."</p><p></p><p>Binkadink rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute..." he began. "Wasn't there...wasn't there a white dragon hibernating in the <em>snow globe?</em> Yeah! The frost giant we rescued said something about it!"</p><p></p><p>"Snow globe?" asked Hagan, puzzled.</p><p></p><p>"Before your time with us," explained Darrien. "I'll fill you in later." But that seemed the most likely explanation: the Bahamut clerics' divinations had led Colin to Battershield Keep because the adventurers living here could transport him to where the white wyrm Turakkandusk could be reached - in fact, via the <em>only</em> way he could currently be reached.</p><p></p><p>"I'll gear up and let Jinkadoodle know," Binkadink offered. But Helga intervened on the group's plans to head out at once, insisting they stay long enough to get a good, hearty breakfast inside them before traipsing off into the arctic once again. (In truth, it took very little arm twisting, especially by those who had already experienced Helga's breakfast spreads before.) But immediately <em>after</em> finishing the morning meal, the adventurers took the dragonfly vessel north beyond the Clatspur Mountains to land just outside Pentaclus's weapon shop. Pentaclus and Sabra were there to greet them and the weaponcrafter offered to let them all explore inside the <em>snow globe</em> without hesitation. "Don't think I'll be joining you, though," he added. "Once was plenty enough for me - plus, I've got projects here that need my attention."</p><p></p><p>"We cast prep spells now," decided Gilbert. What followed was a string of <em>endure elements</em>, <em>longstrider</em>, <em>barkskin</em>, <em>stoneskin</em>, <em>resist cold</em>, and <em>protection from cold</em> spells, plus the obligatory <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell Gilbert cast upon all of the Kordovians; able to fit just one more member into the mental link, he opted to include Obvious over Colin, partly because he knew Binkadink would appreciate being able to communicate silently with his riding mount and partly because Gilbert was slow to trust anyone - even paladins - he didn't personally know well. And then, on a whim, Binkadink used his innate gnomish ability to cast <em>prestidigitation</em> on his jackalope mount, turning Obvious's fur a clean, fresh white. He now had the appearance of a snow hare - albeit one much larger than normal, and one sporting an impressive rack of antlers.</p><p></p><p>"Okay, we ready now," Gilbert announced and Pentaclus, looking over their shoulders, raced down the hallway away from his study, not wanting to be close enough to the <em>snow globe</em> to be pulled into the teleportation effect once the command word was spoken aloud. Binkadink picked up the globe, shook it, and then while the fake snow was flying all around the scene depicted within he flipped the globe over and read aloud the two words written on the bottom of its base: "Taiga Forestscape."</p><p></p><p>Instantly, the entire group disappeared from Pentaclus's study and reappeared in the midst of a winter scene, with snow-covered trees in the distance. Malrin began the words to her <em>find the path</em> spell, the group having earlier decided that was the best way to learn the location of Turakkandusk's lair. "This way," she said, trudging through the ankle-deep snow.</p><p></p><p>They didn't encounter any obstacles on the way to the lair; they'd already dealt with several of the larger predators the first time they'd entered this sealed-off habitation and given the limited supply of food inside the invisible dome of the <em>snow globe</em>, most of the predators would have likely died out in the meantime. (As an indication, they group heard no howls of wolves during their lengthy trek to the glacier housing the white wyrm's hibernation lair. They did, however, see the tracks of many snow hares; apparently they were able to find enough food beneath the snow to continue to create offspring at their normal rate and there were now not nearly as many predators cutting down their numbers.) Before long, a dark opening in the ice-wall of the glacier ahead of them provided what Malrin said was the way into to the wyrm's lair.</p><p></p><p>"It's likely to be dark inside," Finoula conjectured, passing out sunrods to those who wanted them. Colin and Darrien each took the elven ranger up on her offer; between those, the flames from Finoula's <em>flaming burst whip of thorns</em>, and the twin <em>everburning torches</em> tied to the antlers of Binkadink's helmet, they figured they had plenty of illumination.</p><p></p><p>"I'll go in first," Colin offered, thinking it only right that he lead the way to find the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> since it was his quest putting everyone's life in potential danger. Before any of the heroes could argue the point the young man had stepped inside the tunnel opening. Finoula followed just behind, noting the tunnel bore into the glacier for a good 30 feet or so before opening into a much larger area; the tunnel was nearly 20 feet wide and nearly that high, surely large enough to allow passage of a white wyrm.</p><p></p><p>Once into the cavern proper - which was so big she couldn't see the further edges in any direction - she noted a line of simple carvings on the ice wall to her left. There seemed to be a series of four primitive carvings of some type of humanoid figure: frost giants, perhaps, given these sculptures were about 10 feet tall. But they were humanoid only in the sense they had a head, two arms, and two legs; there wasn't much in the way of symmetry or proper scale between the misshapen limbs. And, Finoula now noted, they had no beards - probably not frost giants, then.</p><p></p><p>While Finoula was busy examining the ice carvings in the wall, Hagan wandered off to the west, exploring in that direction; with his half-orc heritage, he didn't need any illumination at all to be able to see just fine in the dark. Perched on his shoulder, Wezhley - who didn't share the sorcerer's darkvision - snuggled down to keep warm. Darrien followed the sorcerer, his <em>Arachnibow</em> out and an arrow all ready to fire if the occasion warranted it. Outside the glacier lair, Malrin cast an <em>animal growth</em> spell on Obvious and then, while Binkadink settled himself into the now-oversized saddle, the elf druid entered the cavern proper. She also took a right, following behind Hagan and Darrien.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert cast a <em>fly </em>spell on himself and his familiar, then commanded Mudpie to precede him into the vast cavern. The earth elemental did so hesitantly, not liking being separated from the ground even if it was a sheet of solid ice instead of the earth and rock he preferred. The two soared just barely off the ground, moving to just behind Finoula who at this point had advanced to examine the fourth and last of the ice-carvings. None of them, she noted, were depicted with any weapons, like were often found in primitive cave paintings. She wondered if this might be the ice-cavern equivalent. Having been left behind once again, MARCI walked forward, following the human Gilbert Fung, her sole eye scanning the area for danger.</p><p></p><p>Obvious, now the size of a small elephant, hippity-hopped rapidly into the cavern, darting past Colin, past MARCI, past Gilbert and Mudpie, and then past Finoula in the lead. That, apparently, was the trigger mechanism for the ice golems, for as soon as the jackalope and his gnomish rider got past the fourth ice sculpture embedded in the wall, all four of the figures exploded outward from the imprisoning glacier wall, sending shards of jagged ice flying at all nearby. The one farthest from the cavern's exit grabbed at Finoula with a primitively-carved hand, gripping her by her left arm in a vicious set of claws. The next in line grabbed Mudpie's arm as he floated past, even though the earth elemental was larger than the ice golem by the height of a grown man. The third one tried grabbing MARCI, who just happened to be standing directly before it and was preoccupied with wiping away the ice covering her optical sensor and temporarily blinding her, but MARCI immediately activated a defensive shield upon the creature's unwanted attack, which sent a quick burst of electricity coursing into the ice golem's animated structure. The last ice golem - the one closest to the exit - didn't have anyone standing near enough to grab, so it settled for just freeing itself from the surrounding ice. All four constructs had their orders printed into their primitive consciousnesses: slay all intruders!</p><p></p><p>Hearing the commotion behind them, Binkadink spun Obvious around and saw the four ice golems beginning to step out from the wall of the glacier's interior. The gnome attacked the one holding Finoula with his new glaive, setting the twin pieces of the blade resonating - an effect that would thereafter cut through any potential damage reduction as if it wasn't even there. Binkadink was eager to see the effects of his new glaive in action! But he wasn't the only one fighting off this particular ice golem; Finoula, no mere damsel in distress, used her longsword <em>Tahlmalaera</em> to carve into the solid ice making up her foe's misshapen form. And from across the cavern, Hagan sent a <em>scorching ray</em> blasting into the side of the ice construct holding the elven ranger in its frozen grip.</p><p></p><p>Back toward the entry shaft, Colin raced up to the first ice golem in line and attacked it with the blade of his enchanted longsword. Then Darrien brought his magic bow to bear, sending a cluster of arrows at the ice golem threatening Finoula and then, changing targets, set another arrow at the space in the wall between the alcoves where the first two ice golems - those closest to the entrance to the lair - had stepped out of. This last arrow he turned into a vertical <em>web</em> spell as it struck the ice, covering the two golems who had yet to step fully out of their imprisoning alcoves. Darrien wasn't sure how long the <em>web</em> would hold them, but any amount of time where the heroes could concentrate their fire on a smaller number of foes would likely be to their benefit.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert pulled out his <em>slingshot of rock shrinking</em> and hit Mudpie squarely on the back with it; instantly, the 16-foot-tall earth elemental shrunk down to the size of a small pebble. Then, the <em>fly</em> spell still in effect, Gilbert had his familiar follow him over the edge of a crevasse in the floor, a pit some 40 feet deep by the look of it. The pit was wide enough the two of them should be safe from even the extended reach of the 10-foot-tall ice golems, should they attempt pursuit. Then, safe for the moment, Gilbert had Mudpie fly into his pocket for safekeeping; the earth elemental was only too happy to comply. A pocket might not be the same thing as solid ground but it sure beat flying through the air! Gilbert took the moment's respite to cast a <em>fire shield</em> spell on both wizard and familiar.</p><p></p><p>Seeing her fellow elf's predicament, Malrin wildshaped into an owl and flew across the chamber to land briefly onto Finoula's shoulder, casting a healing spell through her talons during the momentary contact. It looked like it was necessary, too, for the ice golem continued squeezing Finoula's arm, nearly crushing it in its unrelenting grip. It then punched her with its free hand, causing the ranger to grunt in pain and almost drop her longsword.</p><p></p><p>The second ice golem stepped out fully from its alcove, turning to face Finoula, Binkadink, and Obvious ahead of it. Of the two trapped behind the <em>web</em> spell, only the one closest to the glacier's exit tunnel managed to rip its way free; the other one tried to do the same but failed. And then, while Colin resumed his attack upon his now-freed foe, Binkadink slew the one holding Finoula with his new magical glaive. Pentaclus had done a great job crafting the <em>reverberation glaive</em>, which the gnome had had placed upon the same <em>retractable shaft</em> upon which his former blade had been mounted; with Obvious at his current size, the gnome had the weapon extended to its greatest length.</p><p></p><p>Dropping to the floor as the ice golem shattered into pieces by the blow of the gnome's weapon, Finoula steadied her grip upon her longsword and whip, then spun to face the second ice golem, even now bearing down upon her. A <em>chain lightning</em> spell went flying across the chamber to strike this ice creature, but Hagan's spell had no effect; belatedly, the sorcerer recalled many golems were immune to a vast majority of spells.</p><p></p><p>Darrien repeated his earlier strategy, sending a flurry of arrows at one ice golem (the one fighting Colin) and a <em>web</em> arrow to seal off the second and third, even though one of them was already bound up in webs - a second coating surely couldn't hurt, the half-elf thought to himself. This allowed MARCI to walk past the webbed ice golem unscathed, to inject Finoula with a stimdose - the medical construct had long since run out of her healing mixture and hadn't been able to locate the plants needed to create more in this strange land, so far from where she'd originally been built. But she well knew the stimdose would increase the "designated human's" stamina and reaction time, helping her to survive the battle in which she was presently engaged.</p><p></p><p>Malrin flew about the cavern, keeping an eye out for any of her team who might need healing. From her aerial vantage she could see there were quite a few chasms in this cavern, each looking to be about 40 feet deep. Several ice bridges made a slick-looking way to cross over and the druid judged them thick enough to likely hold the weight of the white dragon who was supposed to lair here, although thus far they'd seen no sign of him.</p><p></p><p>With a sudden ripping noise, one of the ice golems escaped from the <em>web</em> spell, although the one behind the double-layer remained trapped. The newly-freed ice golem was immediately attacked by Binkadink and Obvious, the gnome striking with his glaive and the jackalope biting with his sharp incisors. Colin's blade chipped away at the one he fought down at the other end of the cavern. Finoula ran over to assist the paladin, figuring he'd be more likely to need her help than the gnome and his jackalope mount. Darrien pumped arrow after arrow into the broad and jagged back of the ice golem facing off against Binkadink, careful to disable his <em>Arachnibow</em>'s ability to imbue the arrows it shot with cold energy; no point in possibly aiding the ice golems by providing them with additional cold - that might even heal them!</p><p></p><p>Ready to re-enter the combat, Gilbert cast a <em>maximized scorching ray</em> at Colin Danderville's ice golem foe, slaying the construct immediately. The only golem currently on the battlefield struck at Obvious with its icy fists, while the other one still struggled to free itself from the <em>web</em>. Binkadink's glaive put a quick end to the one and then Obvious moved into position so when the other finally got free, they'd be there to greet it.</p><p></p><p>It did finally get free, only to be taken down almost at once by a gnomish glaive, a pair of longswords, and a <em>flaming burst whip of thorns</em>. Gilbert and Hagan, standing by to send spells flying in its direction if the physical attacks failed to bring it down, were glad to see their spells weren't necessary after all. The four lair guardians finally all destroyed, the heroes moved deeper into the vast cavern - cautiously, for they were well aware the combat had been a noisy one and if Turakkandusk had still been alive and hibernating (and that was assuming he'd not been slain earlier by Sir Morgan and his band of paladins), he was surely aware of the intrusion into his lair by now, so where might he be? Gilbert flew over the various chasms and peered into each, suspecting the white wyrm might be below the surface of the cavern and ready to spring up at them at any moment. Darrien activated his <em>ebony fly</em>, pulling MARCI up into the saddle behind him to help check out the numerous pits.</p><p></p><p>At Mudpie's request, Gilbert loaded him into his slingshot and fired his familiar at the icy ground before him, restoring the earth elemental to his full size. <Look, Master!> Mudpie called over the link, pointing to a column of ice stretching from floor to ceiling further down the open lair. As the group approached (with their various light sources), Gilbert could see what his familiar had spotted: the dark silhouette of a humanoid figure embedded in the ice pillar. The figure held something long in one hand; its tip pierced out of the ice column about ten feet up.</p><p></p><p>"The <em>Claw of Bahamut!</em> exclaimed Colin, his face breaking into a wide grin upon seeing the object of his quest. But then he frowned, for if this was Sir Morgan Brightshield inside the ice column, the paladin was surely dead.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert was frowning too, for similar reasons: his magically-enhanced eyesight was registered an undead aura coming from within the column of solid ice. <Think our boy in there undead,> he told the others, confident Colin wasn't able to hear them as they were communicating telepathically and the paladin wasn't a part of the <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell.</p><p></p><p><We've got to let him know,> chided Finoula, then called the paladin over to her. "Can you sense any evil coming from within the ice pillar?" she asked him. Colin concentrated and his brow furrowed. "Yes," he admitted. "But how can this be?"</p><p></p><p>"Let's find out," suggested Binkadink, chipping away at the column of ice with his magic glaive until the top length of the weapon - the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em>, according to Colin - was exposed enough for the gnome to reach down and grab it. He pulled the weapon toward him...</p><p></p><p>...and from within the ice, Sir Morgan Brightshield pulled it back.</p><p></p><p>A sudden explosion of ice shards send the heroes staggering backwards a step or two as the undead form of Sir Morgan Brightshield strode forward. "The blade is <em>mine!</em>" he insisted; his desire for glory, to be the one to wield the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> to take down the white wyrm Turakkandusk, to earn all of the glory for himself, had trapped his mortal soul in his own remains after his death. Now the death knight would do whatever was necessary to keep this holy weapon for himself.</p><p></p><p>The <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> came swinging at Obvious, carving a slash of blood across the jackalope's white fur. With a roar of rage, Colin Danderville attacked his erstwhile hero, the man he'd looked up to, a man whose greed and lust for glory had brought him down to this low state - it was a stain upon the honor of the Order of Bahamut! "You betray our very Order!" Colin snarled, bringing his longsword slashing across the death knight's armor. "Release the weapon to our care, so it can be used for the purpose for which it was crafted: to slay the evil dragons plaguing our world, that the good dragons can usher in a new era of wisdom and understanding!"</p><p></p><p>"NEVER!" replied Brightshield. "You will NOT take this blade from me!"</p><p></p><p>Hagan cast another <em>chain lightning</em> spell and was pleased to see the death knight was not immune to it as the ice golems had been. Gilbert cast a spell as well but in his case it was a <em>magic circle against evil</em> spell, centered upon himself and Mudpie. Malrin flapped over to Obvious's back, just behind the saddle, and channeled healing energy into the wounded jackalope. Binkadink slashed at the death knight with his glaive and Obvious snapped at the undead thing with his teeth, yanking him forward and causing him to fall to the icy floor, where the jackalope found it all too easy to pounce upon him with a massive paw. But the death knight managed to wriggle free, escaping from the antlered rabbit's pinning grip and standing back up, his holy weapon at the ready to slay these heroes to their last member if that's what it took to keep the weapon for himself.</p><p></p><p>Seeing how Hagan's spell had affected the death knight, Finoula activated her <em>lightning amulet</em> and blasted through Sir Morgan's corporeal form, little more than a mummified skeleton in plate mail. Darrien sent a close cluster of arrows plinking off - and occasionally through - the metal of his chestplate, while Colin continued his attacks with his own longsword. But it was Gilbert Fung who slew the undead thing, sending another <em>maximized scorching ray</em> to burn the undead flesh still adhering to the death knight's bones. Sir Morgan Brightshield stumbled, his limbs flailing around as he fell to a heap upon the icy floor of the chamber. The <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> clattered to the floor beside him.</p><p></p><p>Colin Danderville bent over and picked up the weapon so important to his order. Gilbert, recalling what the paladin had said while fighting the death knight, called over the mental link to the other heroes, <Maybe best we don't mention Clauguthrax to Colin here. Don't need Order of Bahamut deciding to kill Queen's dragon brother.></p><p></p><p><Or Queen Kaelanna herself!> added Darrien.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink had noticed a thick wall of ice over in the far corner of the cavern and decided to check it out. It was, he decided, the size and shape to easily conceal a creature the size of a white wyrm - and it made perfect sense for a white dragon to seal itself up in a block of ice before embarking on a decades-long slumber; it would hear if anyone tried chopping through the ice to try to slay it. Well, here was one way to test that theory: the gnome started doing just that, chopping away at the block of solid ice with his glaive from his jackalope's saddle. If Turakkandusk was in there, he for one was ready for it to come out and fight him!</p><p></p><p>But Turakkandusk was no longer inside the ice partition he'd created with his own breath a few years ago, when his hibernation had been disturbed by the approach of those pesky paladins seeking his death; through the air-holes at the top of the wall, he'd heard the sounds of battle when this newest band of intruders fought off his ice golems and made his preparations for the battle to come. Cloaked in a bevy of spells: <em>protection from fire</em>, <em>shield</em>, <em>haste</em>, and, most importantly, <em>greater invisibility</em>, he had cast a <em>dimension door</em> spell sending him to the far side of his lair.</p><p></p><p>And now, seeing these intruders lined up before him, he exhaled a frosty blast of his icy breath upon all but the gnome and jackalope (who were too far away) and the owl (who was behind one of the ice columns - but not the one in which Turakkandusk had sealed the foolish human who'd tried to slay him with that glaive of his, certain of its power). All of the others were affected, their frail bodies covered in a layer of frost. The giant fly collapsed at once into a statuette; Turakkandusk recognized it as a <em>figurine of wondrous power</em> and vowed to add it to his treasure pile buried in the ice beneath his hibernation cave once he'd dealt with the rest of these pests.</p><p></p><p>The heroes spun around to face their attacker but saw nothing. Colin charged anyway, racing forward to try to find the dragon who had to be there somewhere. Find him he did, by running straight into his invisible leg and having his forward charge come to a sudden halt.</p><p></p><p>But that at least gave the others a general idea of where the dragon must be. <It's invisible!> reasoned Finoula, activating her <em>lightning amulet</em> again and blasting herself to the far side of the cavern, hoping her path would take her through the unseen wyrm. Her guess was accurate; she could feel the impact as her electrified bolt form passed through the dragon immediately before she regained her elven form on the far side of the cavern.</p><p></p><p>That, in turn, helped narrow down the dragon's location to Hagan. He cast a <em>delayed blast fireball</em> spell at a spot where he calculated he'd hit the dragon but not Finoula. He also saw no need for an actual delay; the <em>fireball</em> exploded at once, eliciting a roar of rage from Turakkandusk.</p><p></p><p>Darrien shot a <em>web</em> arrow at the dragon but missed. He realized it would have been unlikely to have imprisoned the wyrm for long even had it hit, but it had been worth a try.</p><p></p><p>Gilbert cast a <em>see invisibility</em> spell and was aghast to see just how close he actually was to the dragon; with a suppressed bleat of terror he moved away from it at full speed, Mudpie following in his wake (and for once actually glad to be able to fly, for it allowed him to get even farther away from the dragon than he could have on the ground). MARCI, calculating the likely location of a large, invisible creature intent upon doing them all harm, backed away from it, joining Malrin behind the ice pillar.</p><p></p><p>Turakkandusk snapped its jaws at Colin, who stood just before him. He also swiped at him with one set of claws and it was only the <em>stoneskin</em> spell Hagan had cast upon the young paladin before they entered the wyrm's lair that kept Colin from being slain right then and there. Turakkandusk also hit Hagan and Finoula with his wings for good measure.</p><p></p><p>Hearing the combat - and the cries of terror over the mental link - Binkadink and Obvious stopped trying to break into the white wyrm's hibernation space and went to join the battle. <Over here, Bink!> called Gilbert. <I got another <em>see invisibility</em> spell - I can cast it on you!></p><p></p><p>Colin stabbed the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> at the white wyrm holding him in its jaws but didn't have the strength or the proper positioning to do Turakkandusk much damage. Finoula activated the <em>dispel evil</em> power of her <em>angelhelm</em> and moved to try to help; she could see Colin's mangled body dangling above the floor and could only imagine what the dragon was doing to him. Hagan cast another <em>delayed blast fireball</em> spell, this one almost at ceiling level so it would rain down on the dragon but allow the wyrm's own body to shield Colin from the spell's effects. Darrien rushed forward and, unsure of what else to do, cast a <em>cat's grace</em> spell on his fellow ranger; maybe it would help Finoula take out the dragon.</p><p></p><p>In the heat of battle, Gilbert had already forgotten he'd promised to cast a <em>see invisibility</em> spell on Binkadink, who was rushing up to receive it. Fortunately, Gilbert's replacement plan of attack had much the same effect: he cast a <em>quickened dimensional anchor</em> spell on Turakkandusk, ensuring he couldn't <em>teleport</em> or <em>dimension door</em> around the cavern any more. But the spell surrounded the massive dragon in a greenish glow, which allowed everyone in the cavern to not only see the wyrm's location but its actual size and power; the blood drained from more than one face as they realized just how <em>big</em> of a fight they'd started!</p><p></p><p>But Gilbert Fung wasn't done just yet. He followed up his <em>quickened</em> spell with another of his favorites: one that had taken out more than his fair share of dragons in recent days. Racing up to the white wyrm, he slapped a meaty hand onto his scales and activated one of his more effective spells: an <em>Otto's irresistible dance</em>. All he had to do was hope he'd make it past the dragon's inherent spell resistance and they'd have most of their work already done for them.</p><p></p><p>"What did you think <em>that</em> was going to do...?" snarled Turakkandusk at the pudgy mortal thing before him. He looked like he'd make a decent snack before the wyrm retired for the rest of his hibernation cycle.</p><p></p><p>But then his front right foot started tapping.</p><p></p><p>And he dropped Colin Danderville, held in his front left claws, to the ground so he could tap with that foot as well.</p><p></p><p>"What--?" sputtered Turakkandusk as the <em>Otto's irresistible dance</em> proved to be...well, irresistible.</p><p></p><p>"Ha ha ha ha!" chortled Binkadink, spurring Obvious forward and slicing the dragon up with his glaive while the wyrm did nothing but caper about. Colin regained his feet but had to back off; not only was the paladin woozy from his wounds but Gilbert wanted him back out of range so the spellcasters could work their magic. Reluctantly, Colin stepped back out of battle with a chromatic dragon - the very enemy his Order had been created to destroy! But then, it looked like these Kordovian heroes had things well in hand.</p><p></p><p>Finoula blasted through Turakkandusk in living lightning bolt form again, returning to her elven shape over by MARCI and Malrin. Hagan and Gilbert, in communication over the <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell, coordinated their efforts and each cast a <em>meteor swarm</em> spell at the dancing white dragon wyrm. Turakkandusk, humiliated at having succumbed to the fat wizard's dancing-about spell, felt he was powerful enough to withstand whatever pain they could throw his way until the blasted spell had run its course - and <em>then</em> there would be Hell to pay! But in this Turakkandusk had miscalculated, for the twin <em>meteor swarms</em> pummeled his body and scorched his scales, burning through his magical protections and snuffing his life out like a flame. With a crash, his massive body fell lifelessly to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Colin gave only a weak cry of gratitude; Finoula helped support him while Malrin delivered some much-needed healing his way.</p><p></p><p>After that, Binkadink returned to his original plan of cutting his way first into Turakkandusk's hibernation area and then through the floor to get to the riches buried beneath the ice there. While the others helped pull out various pieces of treasure, Finoula and Malrin helped Colin place the body of Sir Morgan Brightshield into the <em>portable hole</em> for eventual return to his Order. (The treasure was placed into the <em>portable hole</em> as well, much of it having been items worn by the other members of the band of paladins, all of whom had apparently been slain and eaten by Turakkandusk before he returned to his slumber. Colin was more than happy to let the Kordovians keep it, as payment for their help in regaining the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em>.)</p><p></p><p>"Anybody remember the way out of here?" asked Binkadink.</p><p></p><p>"What, the cave? It's this way!" snorted Darrien, surprised the gnome would have forgotten how to get out of the glacier lair.</p><p></p><p>"No, the <em>snow globe</em> itself," replied Binkadink. "I remember it's in a room at the bottom of that ice tower that looks like a big, carved head - but any idea where that tower is? I don't like the idea of wandering around in the snow, hoping to stumble onto it."</p><p></p><p>"I cast <em>discern location</em> spell," Gilbert said, snapping his fingers. "Find it like that."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, good," said Finoula. "Let's go, then."</p><p></p><p>"...Don't have spell prepared today," Gilbert admitted sheepishly. "I cast it tomorrow. We sleep here tonight."</p><p></p><p>"Here? On the ice floor?" demanded Finoula. "We'll all freeze!"</p><p></p><p>"You forget," grinned Gilbert, pulling out a small, black item from a pocket of his robes. "We have <em>Daern's instant fortress</em>."</p><p></p><p>That made for much more comfortable overnight accommodations and the next morning Gilbert paged through his <em>Omnibook</em>, preparing the spells he'd need in the day to come. One of those spells was indeed a <em>discern location</em> spell, which led unerringly to Castle Frosthaven, the ice tower carved to look like a blue-tinged, oblong face.</p><p></p><p>Once there, Finoula used her magic boots to <em>spider climb</em> up the outer wall of the castle, climbing through one of the eye-hole windows. There was a winding set of stairs before her, which she knew would lead to the lower floor, where there was a lever to open the tower's "mouth," allowing the rest of those outside to enter. From there, they could lower the elevator platform to the basement level, which held a hidden room containing a <em>teleportation circle</em> leading back to the location of the <em>snow globe</em>.</p><p></p><p>As Finoula stepped forward, Hagan and Wezhley entered through the other window, the half-orc sorcerer having cast a <em>fly</em> spell for that very purpose. They stepped inside just in time to see a column of snow drop down from the ceiling above to engulf Finoula.</p><p></p><p><Aah! Acid!> cried the elven ranger over the <em>Rary's telepathic bond</em> spell Gilbert had reestablished that morning before setting off from Turakkandusk's glacier lair.</p><p></p><p>As Hagan looked up at the ceiling, seeing what he at first took to be a pile of densely-packed snow, Darrien rushed in through the same window Finoula had used, the half-elf ranger using one of the the powers of his <em>cloak of the white spider</em> to walk straight up the tower's outer wall. He headed straight down the central shaft of the tower, eager to get the front door open so those of the group who couldn't fly could gain entry and help fight off whatever it was that had trapped Finoula in its acidic embrace. Malrin flew through the window behind Hagan in owl form while Gilbert cast a <em>fire shield</em> spell upon him and Mudpie.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink didn't have access to any spells but that didn't mean he had no way to breach a window high up on the side of an ice tower. Standing in the saddle, he called to his mount, "Up, Obvious!" and as he jackalope leaped high into the air, the gnome leaped from the saddle and into the open window, banging his side a little but otherwise making it through unscathed. He immediately elongated his magic glaive to its full extension and stabbed up at the creature that looked like a pile of gravity-defying snow. <It a white pudding!> Gilbert called over the link.</p><p></p><p>That didn't mean anything to the little gnome and even if it had it would have been too late for the fighter to stop his attack. The glaive stabbed deep into the white pudding's amorphous mass, slicing it neatly into two - and now there were <em>two</em> white puddings to contend with, each half the size of the original. The one that still contained Finoula continued to flow around the ranger, burning her flesh with its acid, while the other dropped a flowing pseudopod over Hagan and Wezhley.</p><p></p><p>But neither of these pudding victims were helpless; Finoula activated her <em>lightning amulet</em>, blasting straight up into the pudding's main mass and then ricocheting down to the ground floor by the lever that would open the tower's door. Hagan, in the meantime, said the words to a <em>teleport</em> spell and ended up right beside the elven ranger. "You okay, Wezhley?" he asked and the weasel snuggled up against his master's neck, glad to be free of the ooze's embrace.</p><p></p><p>Binkadink, realizing sharp blades weren't the way to go against this oozing threat, switched over to his greatclub and started smashing. Finoula got the front door open and then the spellcasters let loose at the pair of white puddings. They didn't last long.</p><p></p><p>After that, it was easy for the group to make their way to the secret room housing the <em>teleportation circle</em>, although Colin, Hagan, and Malrin had never seen it before, not having been a part of the adventuring team when the group had first passed through the <em>snow globe</em>. But there on the floor was the single word "GLOBE" - and once everyone had gathered onto the circle and Binkadink said the command word, they all <em>teleported</em> back to Pentaclus's study.</p><p></p><p>"Well, there you are," the weaponcrafter said upon seeing them trudge back to his workroom. "I was wondering if we were going to see you today. I trust everything went well?"</p><p></p><p>"Mission accomplished," Colin said with a smile, brandishing the <em>Claw of Bahamut</em> for the wizard to see.</p><p></p><p>"I say!" Pentaclus enthused. "Must you head back immediately? I'd love for you to stay the night! You all look like you could use a day of rest, and I'd love to be able to study the craftsmanship of this weapon! What do you say?"</p><p></p><p>It sounded like a pretty good idea to the group as a whole.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>I used a white dragon lair map that had come with the Gargantuan White Dragon D&D Mini (which also came with D&D Minis for Drizzt and Wulfgar from the novels) for Turakkandusk's glacier lair - pretty spot on, I thought.</p><p></p><p>Before we ran through this adventure, Logan sold off Binkadink's gnomish glaive and had Pentaclus craft a replacement blade patterned after <em>Titanslayer</em> - once the pronglike blade starts vibrating (after it's been struck, like a tuning fork), it creates a resonance field which bypasses damage reduction. (Naturally, this can be negated inside a field of silence.) Vicki had also wanted to upgrade Finoula's <em>lightning amulet</em>, so it now does twice the amount of damage, can be used five times per day, and she can make one "bend" in her path as long as the pivot point is the body of an enemy (as it uses <em>chain lightning</em> as its pattern instead of just <em>lightning bolt</em>). They're both pretty happy with their upgrades.</p><p></p><p>- - -</p><p></p><p>T-Shirt Worn: My white T-shirt with a blue dragon on it; the white to represent the arctic snow and the dragon could conceivably be blue due to the cold and ice. (My only other dragon T-shirt is a green dragon on a black shirt; this one was closer to what the PCs would be dealing with.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7920588, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 71: [I]THE CLAW OF BAHAMUT[/I][/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Binkadink Dundernoggin, gnome fighter 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Darrien, half-elf ranger 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Finoula Cloudshadow, elf ranger 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Gilbert Fung, human wizard 19[/INDENT] [INDENT] Hagan, half-orc sorcerer 19[/INDENT] NPC Roster: [INDENT]Colin Danderville, human paladin 10[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jinkadoodle Dundernoggin, gnome illusionist 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Malrin Ivenheart, elf druid 13[/INDENT] [INDENT] MARCI, humanoid construct[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 15 February 2020 - - - Darrien woke up, stretched, and pulled on his clothes. Then, deciding to go see about some breakfast - Helga Battershield almost always provided quite a spread each morning - he went down the stairs of the northwestern tower in Battershield Keep and exited the door, stepping into the courtyard. As was normal, the drawbridge was down but the portcullis was also lowered; that had been deemed adequate protection in the past. And there, kneeling in prayer on the wooden drawbridge spanning the moat, was a human man in plate mail armor with a heavy steel shield strapped to his arm. The half-elf ranger could see a longsword sitting in its scabbard at the warrior's belt. "Um, hello?" Darrien asked tentatively. "Can I help you?" The man finished his silent prayer and then opened his eyes, smiling up at the half-elf. "I sincerely hope so. My name is [B]Colin Danderville[/B], a paladin in the Order of [B]Bahamut[/B]. I seek another paladin of my order, a knight by the name of [B]Sir Morgan Brightshield[/B]. Do you by chance know of his whereabouts?" "I've...never heard of him," admitted Darrien. "But maybe some of the others might know. Hang on a minute, will you?" The door Darrien had just exited moments ago opened up again and Binkadink Dundernoggin approached. "What's going on?" he asked. Colin repeated his query while the two adventurers pulled on the chains that raised the portcullis. Colin rose to his feet and stepped inside the keep. "What all this racket?" demanded a bleary-eyed Gilbert Fung, entering the courtyard from the same door. "Who this, and why you letting him in?" From the other tower stepped Finoula, Hagan, and Malrin, having also heard the portcullis being raised. "I did not wish to wake you," said Colin, "so I stayed outside and prayed until you awoke. But I am on a quest, to find Sir Morgan Brightshield, a paladin of my order. He and a band of young paladins went on a mission several years ago to slay a white dragon named [B]Turakkandusk[/B] and never returned. I have been sent to find out what happened to him, to return his body if he has been slain, and to retrieve the weapon he wielded: [I]The Claw of Bahamut[/I], a glaive forged to slay evil dragons." Binkadink's eyebrows raised upon hearing of a magical glaive, until he realized the wielder was likely a human and thus the weapon would likely be too big for the little gnome to wield effectively himself. But that was okay; he'd recently had Pentaclus the Weapon-Crafter build him a new glaive patterned after the [I]Titanslayer[/I], capable of overcoming most creatures' magical defenses against damage. "So why you come here?" demanded Gilbert. "We never hear of this Brightshield guy before." "All attempts to [I]scry[/I] upon Sir Morgan have failed," Colin admitted. "In desperation, the clerics of my order stopped trying to find him directly and took a more roundabout approach: using divinations to determine the best way to find him, wherever he might be. Those divinations have led me to your doorstep." "Where was this...Turakkandusk?...supposed to have been?" asked Finoula. "In the coldlands far to the north," admitted Colin. "It was, admittedly, somewhat of a surprise to have been directed here, of all places, so far from where Sir Morgan and his band had been heading." Binkadink rubbed his chin. "Wait a minute..." he began. "Wasn't there...wasn't there a white dragon hibernating in the [I]snow globe?[/I] Yeah! The frost giant we rescued said something about it!" "Snow globe?" asked Hagan, puzzled. "Before your time with us," explained Darrien. "I'll fill you in later." But that seemed the most likely explanation: the Bahamut clerics' divinations had led Colin to Battershield Keep because the adventurers living here could transport him to where the white wyrm Turakkandusk could be reached - in fact, via the [I]only[/I] way he could currently be reached. "I'll gear up and let Jinkadoodle know," Binkadink offered. But Helga intervened on the group's plans to head out at once, insisting they stay long enough to get a good, hearty breakfast inside them before traipsing off into the arctic once again. (In truth, it took very little arm twisting, especially by those who had already experienced Helga's breakfast spreads before.) But immediately [I]after[/I] finishing the morning meal, the adventurers took the dragonfly vessel north beyond the Clatspur Mountains to land just outside Pentaclus's weapon shop. Pentaclus and Sabra were there to greet them and the weaponcrafter offered to let them all explore inside the [I]snow globe[/I] without hesitation. "Don't think I'll be joining you, though," he added. "Once was plenty enough for me - plus, I've got projects here that need my attention." "We cast prep spells now," decided Gilbert. What followed was a string of [I]endure elements[/I], [I]longstrider[/I], [I]barkskin[/I], [I]stoneskin[/I], [I]resist cold[/I], and [I]protection from cold[/I] spells, plus the obligatory [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell Gilbert cast upon all of the Kordovians; able to fit just one more member into the mental link, he opted to include Obvious over Colin, partly because he knew Binkadink would appreciate being able to communicate silently with his riding mount and partly because Gilbert was slow to trust anyone - even paladins - he didn't personally know well. And then, on a whim, Binkadink used his innate gnomish ability to cast [I]prestidigitation[/I] on his jackalope mount, turning Obvious's fur a clean, fresh white. He now had the appearance of a snow hare - albeit one much larger than normal, and one sporting an impressive rack of antlers. "Okay, we ready now," Gilbert announced and Pentaclus, looking over their shoulders, raced down the hallway away from his study, not wanting to be close enough to the [I]snow globe[/I] to be pulled into the teleportation effect once the command word was spoken aloud. Binkadink picked up the globe, shook it, and then while the fake snow was flying all around the scene depicted within he flipped the globe over and read aloud the two words written on the bottom of its base: "Taiga Forestscape." Instantly, the entire group disappeared from Pentaclus's study and reappeared in the midst of a winter scene, with snow-covered trees in the distance. Malrin began the words to her [I]find the path[/I] spell, the group having earlier decided that was the best way to learn the location of Turakkandusk's lair. "This way," she said, trudging through the ankle-deep snow. They didn't encounter any obstacles on the way to the lair; they'd already dealt with several of the larger predators the first time they'd entered this sealed-off habitation and given the limited supply of food inside the invisible dome of the [I]snow globe[/I], most of the predators would have likely died out in the meantime. (As an indication, they group heard no howls of wolves during their lengthy trek to the glacier housing the white wyrm's hibernation lair. They did, however, see the tracks of many snow hares; apparently they were able to find enough food beneath the snow to continue to create offspring at their normal rate and there were now not nearly as many predators cutting down their numbers.) Before long, a dark opening in the ice-wall of the glacier ahead of them provided what Malrin said was the way into to the wyrm's lair. "It's likely to be dark inside," Finoula conjectured, passing out sunrods to those who wanted them. Colin and Darrien each took the elven ranger up on her offer; between those, the flames from Finoula's [I]flaming burst whip of thorns[/I], and the twin [I]everburning torches[/I] tied to the antlers of Binkadink's helmet, they figured they had plenty of illumination. "I'll go in first," Colin offered, thinking it only right that he lead the way to find the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] since it was his quest putting everyone's life in potential danger. Before any of the heroes could argue the point the young man had stepped inside the tunnel opening. Finoula followed just behind, noting the tunnel bore into the glacier for a good 30 feet or so before opening into a much larger area; the tunnel was nearly 20 feet wide and nearly that high, surely large enough to allow passage of a white wyrm. Once into the cavern proper - which was so big she couldn't see the further edges in any direction - she noted a line of simple carvings on the ice wall to her left. There seemed to be a series of four primitive carvings of some type of humanoid figure: frost giants, perhaps, given these sculptures were about 10 feet tall. But they were humanoid only in the sense they had a head, two arms, and two legs; there wasn't much in the way of symmetry or proper scale between the misshapen limbs. And, Finoula now noted, they had no beards - probably not frost giants, then. While Finoula was busy examining the ice carvings in the wall, Hagan wandered off to the west, exploring in that direction; with his half-orc heritage, he didn't need any illumination at all to be able to see just fine in the dark. Perched on his shoulder, Wezhley - who didn't share the sorcerer's darkvision - snuggled down to keep warm. Darrien followed the sorcerer, his [I]Arachnibow[/I] out and an arrow all ready to fire if the occasion warranted it. Outside the glacier lair, Malrin cast an [I]animal growth[/I] spell on Obvious and then, while Binkadink settled himself into the now-oversized saddle, the elf druid entered the cavern proper. She also took a right, following behind Hagan and Darrien. Gilbert cast a [I]fly [/I]spell on himself and his familiar, then commanded Mudpie to precede him into the vast cavern. The earth elemental did so hesitantly, not liking being separated from the ground even if it was a sheet of solid ice instead of the earth and rock he preferred. The two soared just barely off the ground, moving to just behind Finoula who at this point had advanced to examine the fourth and last of the ice-carvings. None of them, she noted, were depicted with any weapons, like were often found in primitive cave paintings. She wondered if this might be the ice-cavern equivalent. Having been left behind once again, MARCI walked forward, following the human Gilbert Fung, her sole eye scanning the area for danger. Obvious, now the size of a small elephant, hippity-hopped rapidly into the cavern, darting past Colin, past MARCI, past Gilbert and Mudpie, and then past Finoula in the lead. That, apparently, was the trigger mechanism for the ice golems, for as soon as the jackalope and his gnomish rider got past the fourth ice sculpture embedded in the wall, all four of the figures exploded outward from the imprisoning glacier wall, sending shards of jagged ice flying at all nearby. The one farthest from the cavern's exit grabbed at Finoula with a primitively-carved hand, gripping her by her left arm in a vicious set of claws. The next in line grabbed Mudpie's arm as he floated past, even though the earth elemental was larger than the ice golem by the height of a grown man. The third one tried grabbing MARCI, who just happened to be standing directly before it and was preoccupied with wiping away the ice covering her optical sensor and temporarily blinding her, but MARCI immediately activated a defensive shield upon the creature's unwanted attack, which sent a quick burst of electricity coursing into the ice golem's animated structure. The last ice golem - the one closest to the exit - didn't have anyone standing near enough to grab, so it settled for just freeing itself from the surrounding ice. All four constructs had their orders printed into their primitive consciousnesses: slay all intruders! Hearing the commotion behind them, Binkadink spun Obvious around and saw the four ice golems beginning to step out from the wall of the glacier's interior. The gnome attacked the one holding Finoula with his new glaive, setting the twin pieces of the blade resonating - an effect that would thereafter cut through any potential damage reduction as if it wasn't even there. Binkadink was eager to see the effects of his new glaive in action! But he wasn't the only one fighting off this particular ice golem; Finoula, no mere damsel in distress, used her longsword [I]Tahlmalaera[/I] to carve into the solid ice making up her foe's misshapen form. And from across the cavern, Hagan sent a [I]scorching ray[/I] blasting into the side of the ice construct holding the elven ranger in its frozen grip. Back toward the entry shaft, Colin raced up to the first ice golem in line and attacked it with the blade of his enchanted longsword. Then Darrien brought his magic bow to bear, sending a cluster of arrows at the ice golem threatening Finoula and then, changing targets, set another arrow at the space in the wall between the alcoves where the first two ice golems - those closest to the entrance to the lair - had stepped out of. This last arrow he turned into a vertical [I]web[/I] spell as it struck the ice, covering the two golems who had yet to step fully out of their imprisoning alcoves. Darrien wasn't sure how long the [I]web[/I] would hold them, but any amount of time where the heroes could concentrate their fire on a smaller number of foes would likely be to their benefit. Gilbert pulled out his [I]slingshot of rock shrinking[/I] and hit Mudpie squarely on the back with it; instantly, the 16-foot-tall earth elemental shrunk down to the size of a small pebble. Then, the [I]fly[/I] spell still in effect, Gilbert had his familiar follow him over the edge of a crevasse in the floor, a pit some 40 feet deep by the look of it. The pit was wide enough the two of them should be safe from even the extended reach of the 10-foot-tall ice golems, should they attempt pursuit. Then, safe for the moment, Gilbert had Mudpie fly into his pocket for safekeeping; the earth elemental was only too happy to comply. A pocket might not be the same thing as solid ground but it sure beat flying through the air! Gilbert took the moment's respite to cast a [I]fire shield[/I] spell on both wizard and familiar. Seeing her fellow elf's predicament, Malrin wildshaped into an owl and flew across the chamber to land briefly onto Finoula's shoulder, casting a healing spell through her talons during the momentary contact. It looked like it was necessary, too, for the ice golem continued squeezing Finoula's arm, nearly crushing it in its unrelenting grip. It then punched her with its free hand, causing the ranger to grunt in pain and almost drop her longsword. The second ice golem stepped out fully from its alcove, turning to face Finoula, Binkadink, and Obvious ahead of it. Of the two trapped behind the [I]web[/I] spell, only the one closest to the glacier's exit tunnel managed to rip its way free; the other one tried to do the same but failed. And then, while Colin resumed his attack upon his now-freed foe, Binkadink slew the one holding Finoula with his new magical glaive. Pentaclus had done a great job crafting the [I]reverberation glaive[/I], which the gnome had had placed upon the same [I]retractable shaft[/I] upon which his former blade had been mounted; with Obvious at his current size, the gnome had the weapon extended to its greatest length. Dropping to the floor as the ice golem shattered into pieces by the blow of the gnome's weapon, Finoula steadied her grip upon her longsword and whip, then spun to face the second ice golem, even now bearing down upon her. A [I]chain lightning[/I] spell went flying across the chamber to strike this ice creature, but Hagan's spell had no effect; belatedly, the sorcerer recalled many golems were immune to a vast majority of spells. Darrien repeated his earlier strategy, sending a flurry of arrows at one ice golem (the one fighting Colin) and a [I]web[/I] arrow to seal off the second and third, even though one of them was already bound up in webs - a second coating surely couldn't hurt, the half-elf thought to himself. This allowed MARCI to walk past the webbed ice golem unscathed, to inject Finoula with a stimdose - the medical construct had long since run out of her healing mixture and hadn't been able to locate the plants needed to create more in this strange land, so far from where she'd originally been built. But she well knew the stimdose would increase the "designated human's" stamina and reaction time, helping her to survive the battle in which she was presently engaged. Malrin flew about the cavern, keeping an eye out for any of her team who might need healing. From her aerial vantage she could see there were quite a few chasms in this cavern, each looking to be about 40 feet deep. Several ice bridges made a slick-looking way to cross over and the druid judged them thick enough to likely hold the weight of the white dragon who was supposed to lair here, although thus far they'd seen no sign of him. With a sudden ripping noise, one of the ice golems escaped from the [I]web[/I] spell, although the one behind the double-layer remained trapped. The newly-freed ice golem was immediately attacked by Binkadink and Obvious, the gnome striking with his glaive and the jackalope biting with his sharp incisors. Colin's blade chipped away at the one he fought down at the other end of the cavern. Finoula ran over to assist the paladin, figuring he'd be more likely to need her help than the gnome and his jackalope mount. Darrien pumped arrow after arrow into the broad and jagged back of the ice golem facing off against Binkadink, careful to disable his [I]Arachnibow[/I]'s ability to imbue the arrows it shot with cold energy; no point in possibly aiding the ice golems by providing them with additional cold - that might even heal them! Ready to re-enter the combat, Gilbert cast a [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] at Colin Danderville's ice golem foe, slaying the construct immediately. The only golem currently on the battlefield struck at Obvious with its icy fists, while the other one still struggled to free itself from the [I]web[/I]. Binkadink's glaive put a quick end to the one and then Obvious moved into position so when the other finally got free, they'd be there to greet it. It did finally get free, only to be taken down almost at once by a gnomish glaive, a pair of longswords, and a [I]flaming burst whip of thorns[/I]. Gilbert and Hagan, standing by to send spells flying in its direction if the physical attacks failed to bring it down, were glad to see their spells weren't necessary after all. The four lair guardians finally all destroyed, the heroes moved deeper into the vast cavern - cautiously, for they were well aware the combat had been a noisy one and if Turakkandusk had still been alive and hibernating (and that was assuming he'd not been slain earlier by Sir Morgan and his band of paladins), he was surely aware of the intrusion into his lair by now, so where might he be? Gilbert flew over the various chasms and peered into each, suspecting the white wyrm might be below the surface of the cavern and ready to spring up at them at any moment. Darrien activated his [I]ebony fly[/I], pulling MARCI up into the saddle behind him to help check out the numerous pits. At Mudpie's request, Gilbert loaded him into his slingshot and fired his familiar at the icy ground before him, restoring the earth elemental to his full size. <Look, Master!> Mudpie called over the link, pointing to a column of ice stretching from floor to ceiling further down the open lair. As the group approached (with their various light sources), Gilbert could see what his familiar had spotted: the dark silhouette of a humanoid figure embedded in the ice pillar. The figure held something long in one hand; its tip pierced out of the ice column about ten feet up. "The [I]Claw of Bahamut![/I] exclaimed Colin, his face breaking into a wide grin upon seeing the object of his quest. But then he frowned, for if this was Sir Morgan Brightshield inside the ice column, the paladin was surely dead. Gilbert was frowning too, for similar reasons: his magically-enhanced eyesight was registered an undead aura coming from within the column of solid ice. <Think our boy in there undead,> he told the others, confident Colin wasn't able to hear them as they were communicating telepathically and the paladin wasn't a part of the [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell. <We've got to let him know,> chided Finoula, then called the paladin over to her. "Can you sense any evil coming from within the ice pillar?" she asked him. Colin concentrated and his brow furrowed. "Yes," he admitted. "But how can this be?" "Let's find out," suggested Binkadink, chipping away at the column of ice with his magic glaive until the top length of the weapon - the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I], according to Colin - was exposed enough for the gnome to reach down and grab it. He pulled the weapon toward him... ...and from within the ice, Sir Morgan Brightshield pulled it back. A sudden explosion of ice shards send the heroes staggering backwards a step or two as the undead form of Sir Morgan Brightshield strode forward. "The blade is [I]mine![/I]" he insisted; his desire for glory, to be the one to wield the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] to take down the white wyrm Turakkandusk, to earn all of the glory for himself, had trapped his mortal soul in his own remains after his death. Now the death knight would do whatever was necessary to keep this holy weapon for himself. The [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] came swinging at Obvious, carving a slash of blood across the jackalope's white fur. With a roar of rage, Colin Danderville attacked his erstwhile hero, the man he'd looked up to, a man whose greed and lust for glory had brought him down to this low state - it was a stain upon the honor of the Order of Bahamut! "You betray our very Order!" Colin snarled, bringing his longsword slashing across the death knight's armor. "Release the weapon to our care, so it can be used for the purpose for which it was crafted: to slay the evil dragons plaguing our world, that the good dragons can usher in a new era of wisdom and understanding!" "NEVER!" replied Brightshield. "You will NOT take this blade from me!" Hagan cast another [I]chain lightning[/I] spell and was pleased to see the death knight was not immune to it as the ice golems had been. Gilbert cast a spell as well but in his case it was a [I]magic circle against evil[/I] spell, centered upon himself and Mudpie. Malrin flapped over to Obvious's back, just behind the saddle, and channeled healing energy into the wounded jackalope. Binkadink slashed at the death knight with his glaive and Obvious snapped at the undead thing with his teeth, yanking him forward and causing him to fall to the icy floor, where the jackalope found it all too easy to pounce upon him with a massive paw. But the death knight managed to wriggle free, escaping from the antlered rabbit's pinning grip and standing back up, his holy weapon at the ready to slay these heroes to their last member if that's what it took to keep the weapon for himself. Seeing how Hagan's spell had affected the death knight, Finoula activated her [I]lightning amulet[/I] and blasted through Sir Morgan's corporeal form, little more than a mummified skeleton in plate mail. Darrien sent a close cluster of arrows plinking off - and occasionally through - the metal of his chestplate, while Colin continued his attacks with his own longsword. But it was Gilbert Fung who slew the undead thing, sending another [I]maximized scorching ray[/I] to burn the undead flesh still adhering to the death knight's bones. Sir Morgan Brightshield stumbled, his limbs flailing around as he fell to a heap upon the icy floor of the chamber. The [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] clattered to the floor beside him. Colin Danderville bent over and picked up the weapon so important to his order. Gilbert, recalling what the paladin had said while fighting the death knight, called over the mental link to the other heroes, <Maybe best we don't mention Clauguthrax to Colin here. Don't need Order of Bahamut deciding to kill Queen's dragon brother.> <Or Queen Kaelanna herself!> added Darrien. Binkadink had noticed a thick wall of ice over in the far corner of the cavern and decided to check it out. It was, he decided, the size and shape to easily conceal a creature the size of a white wyrm - and it made perfect sense for a white dragon to seal itself up in a block of ice before embarking on a decades-long slumber; it would hear if anyone tried chopping through the ice to try to slay it. Well, here was one way to test that theory: the gnome started doing just that, chopping away at the block of solid ice with his glaive from his jackalope's saddle. If Turakkandusk was in there, he for one was ready for it to come out and fight him! But Turakkandusk was no longer inside the ice partition he'd created with his own breath a few years ago, when his hibernation had been disturbed by the approach of those pesky paladins seeking his death; through the air-holes at the top of the wall, he'd heard the sounds of battle when this newest band of intruders fought off his ice golems and made his preparations for the battle to come. Cloaked in a bevy of spells: [I]protection from fire[/I], [I]shield[/I], [I]haste[/I], and, most importantly, [I]greater invisibility[/I], he had cast a [I]dimension door[/I] spell sending him to the far side of his lair. And now, seeing these intruders lined up before him, he exhaled a frosty blast of his icy breath upon all but the gnome and jackalope (who were too far away) and the owl (who was behind one of the ice columns - but not the one in which Turakkandusk had sealed the foolish human who'd tried to slay him with that glaive of his, certain of its power). All of the others were affected, their frail bodies covered in a layer of frost. The giant fly collapsed at once into a statuette; Turakkandusk recognized it as a [I]figurine of wondrous power[/I] and vowed to add it to his treasure pile buried in the ice beneath his hibernation cave once he'd dealt with the rest of these pests. The heroes spun around to face their attacker but saw nothing. Colin charged anyway, racing forward to try to find the dragon who had to be there somewhere. Find him he did, by running straight into his invisible leg and having his forward charge come to a sudden halt. But that at least gave the others a general idea of where the dragon must be. <It's invisible!> reasoned Finoula, activating her [I]lightning amulet[/I] again and blasting herself to the far side of the cavern, hoping her path would take her through the unseen wyrm. Her guess was accurate; she could feel the impact as her electrified bolt form passed through the dragon immediately before she regained her elven form on the far side of the cavern. That, in turn, helped narrow down the dragon's location to Hagan. He cast a [I]delayed blast fireball[/I] spell at a spot where he calculated he'd hit the dragon but not Finoula. He also saw no need for an actual delay; the [I]fireball[/I] exploded at once, eliciting a roar of rage from Turakkandusk. Darrien shot a [I]web[/I] arrow at the dragon but missed. He realized it would have been unlikely to have imprisoned the wyrm for long even had it hit, but it had been worth a try. Gilbert cast a [I]see invisibility[/I] spell and was aghast to see just how close he actually was to the dragon; with a suppressed bleat of terror he moved away from it at full speed, Mudpie following in his wake (and for once actually glad to be able to fly, for it allowed him to get even farther away from the dragon than he could have on the ground). MARCI, calculating the likely location of a large, invisible creature intent upon doing them all harm, backed away from it, joining Malrin behind the ice pillar. Turakkandusk snapped its jaws at Colin, who stood just before him. He also swiped at him with one set of claws and it was only the [I]stoneskin[/I] spell Hagan had cast upon the young paladin before they entered the wyrm's lair that kept Colin from being slain right then and there. Turakkandusk also hit Hagan and Finoula with his wings for good measure. Hearing the combat - and the cries of terror over the mental link - Binkadink and Obvious stopped trying to break into the white wyrm's hibernation space and went to join the battle. <Over here, Bink!> called Gilbert. <I got another [I]see invisibility[/I] spell - I can cast it on you!> Colin stabbed the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] at the white wyrm holding him in its jaws but didn't have the strength or the proper positioning to do Turakkandusk much damage. Finoula activated the [I]dispel evil[/I] power of her [I]angelhelm[/I] and moved to try to help; she could see Colin's mangled body dangling above the floor and could only imagine what the dragon was doing to him. Hagan cast another [I]delayed blast fireball[/I] spell, this one almost at ceiling level so it would rain down on the dragon but allow the wyrm's own body to shield Colin from the spell's effects. Darrien rushed forward and, unsure of what else to do, cast a [I]cat's grace[/I] spell on his fellow ranger; maybe it would help Finoula take out the dragon. In the heat of battle, Gilbert had already forgotten he'd promised to cast a [I]see invisibility[/I] spell on Binkadink, who was rushing up to receive it. Fortunately, Gilbert's replacement plan of attack had much the same effect: he cast a [I]quickened dimensional anchor[/I] spell on Turakkandusk, ensuring he couldn't [I]teleport[/I] or [I]dimension door[/I] around the cavern any more. But the spell surrounded the massive dragon in a greenish glow, which allowed everyone in the cavern to not only see the wyrm's location but its actual size and power; the blood drained from more than one face as they realized just how [I]big[/I] of a fight they'd started! But Gilbert Fung wasn't done just yet. He followed up his [I]quickened[/I] spell with another of his favorites: one that had taken out more than his fair share of dragons in recent days. Racing up to the white wyrm, he slapped a meaty hand onto his scales and activated one of his more effective spells: an [I]Otto's irresistible dance[/I]. All he had to do was hope he'd make it past the dragon's inherent spell resistance and they'd have most of their work already done for them. "What did you think [I]that[/I] was going to do...?" snarled Turakkandusk at the pudgy mortal thing before him. He looked like he'd make a decent snack before the wyrm retired for the rest of his hibernation cycle. But then his front right foot started tapping. And he dropped Colin Danderville, held in his front left claws, to the ground so he could tap with that foot as well. "What--?" sputtered Turakkandusk as the [I]Otto's irresistible dance[/I] proved to be...well, irresistible. "Ha ha ha ha!" chortled Binkadink, spurring Obvious forward and slicing the dragon up with his glaive while the wyrm did nothing but caper about. Colin regained his feet but had to back off; not only was the paladin woozy from his wounds but Gilbert wanted him back out of range so the spellcasters could work their magic. Reluctantly, Colin stepped back out of battle with a chromatic dragon - the very enemy his Order had been created to destroy! But then, it looked like these Kordovian heroes had things well in hand. Finoula blasted through Turakkandusk in living lightning bolt form again, returning to her elven shape over by MARCI and Malrin. Hagan and Gilbert, in communication over the [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell, coordinated their efforts and each cast a [I]meteor swarm[/I] spell at the dancing white dragon wyrm. Turakkandusk, humiliated at having succumbed to the fat wizard's dancing-about spell, felt he was powerful enough to withstand whatever pain they could throw his way until the blasted spell had run its course - and [I]then[/I] there would be Hell to pay! But in this Turakkandusk had miscalculated, for the twin [I]meteor swarms[/I] pummeled his body and scorched his scales, burning through his magical protections and snuffing his life out like a flame. With a crash, his massive body fell lifelessly to the ground. Colin gave only a weak cry of gratitude; Finoula helped support him while Malrin delivered some much-needed healing his way. After that, Binkadink returned to his original plan of cutting his way first into Turakkandusk's hibernation area and then through the floor to get to the riches buried beneath the ice there. While the others helped pull out various pieces of treasure, Finoula and Malrin helped Colin place the body of Sir Morgan Brightshield into the [I]portable hole[/I] for eventual return to his Order. (The treasure was placed into the [I]portable hole[/I] as well, much of it having been items worn by the other members of the band of paladins, all of whom had apparently been slain and eaten by Turakkandusk before he returned to his slumber. Colin was more than happy to let the Kordovians keep it, as payment for their help in regaining the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I].) "Anybody remember the way out of here?" asked Binkadink. "What, the cave? It's this way!" snorted Darrien, surprised the gnome would have forgotten how to get out of the glacier lair. "No, the [I]snow globe[/I] itself," replied Binkadink. "I remember it's in a room at the bottom of that ice tower that looks like a big, carved head - but any idea where that tower is? I don't like the idea of wandering around in the snow, hoping to stumble onto it." "I cast [I]discern location[/I] spell," Gilbert said, snapping his fingers. "Find it like that." "Oh, good," said Finoula. "Let's go, then." "...Don't have spell prepared today," Gilbert admitted sheepishly. "I cast it tomorrow. We sleep here tonight." "Here? On the ice floor?" demanded Finoula. "We'll all freeze!" "You forget," grinned Gilbert, pulling out a small, black item from a pocket of his robes. "We have [I]Daern's instant fortress[/I]." That made for much more comfortable overnight accommodations and the next morning Gilbert paged through his [I]Omnibook[/I], preparing the spells he'd need in the day to come. One of those spells was indeed a [I]discern location[/I] spell, which led unerringly to Castle Frosthaven, the ice tower carved to look like a blue-tinged, oblong face. Once there, Finoula used her magic boots to [I]spider climb[/I] up the outer wall of the castle, climbing through one of the eye-hole windows. There was a winding set of stairs before her, which she knew would lead to the lower floor, where there was a lever to open the tower's "mouth," allowing the rest of those outside to enter. From there, they could lower the elevator platform to the basement level, which held a hidden room containing a [I]teleportation circle[/I] leading back to the location of the [I]snow globe[/I]. As Finoula stepped forward, Hagan and Wezhley entered through the other window, the half-orc sorcerer having cast a [I]fly[/I] spell for that very purpose. They stepped inside just in time to see a column of snow drop down from the ceiling above to engulf Finoula. <Aah! Acid!> cried the elven ranger over the [I]Rary's telepathic bond[/I] spell Gilbert had reestablished that morning before setting off from Turakkandusk's glacier lair. As Hagan looked up at the ceiling, seeing what he at first took to be a pile of densely-packed snow, Darrien rushed in through the same window Finoula had used, the half-elf ranger using one of the the powers of his [I]cloak of the white spider[/I] to walk straight up the tower's outer wall. He headed straight down the central shaft of the tower, eager to get the front door open so those of the group who couldn't fly could gain entry and help fight off whatever it was that had trapped Finoula in its acidic embrace. Malrin flew through the window behind Hagan in owl form while Gilbert cast a [I]fire shield[/I] spell upon him and Mudpie. Binkadink didn't have access to any spells but that didn't mean he had no way to breach a window high up on the side of an ice tower. Standing in the saddle, he called to his mount, "Up, Obvious!" and as he jackalope leaped high into the air, the gnome leaped from the saddle and into the open window, banging his side a little but otherwise making it through unscathed. He immediately elongated his magic glaive to its full extension and stabbed up at the creature that looked like a pile of gravity-defying snow. <It a white pudding!> Gilbert called over the link. That didn't mean anything to the little gnome and even if it had it would have been too late for the fighter to stop his attack. The glaive stabbed deep into the white pudding's amorphous mass, slicing it neatly into two - and now there were [I]two[/I] white puddings to contend with, each half the size of the original. The one that still contained Finoula continued to flow around the ranger, burning her flesh with its acid, while the other dropped a flowing pseudopod over Hagan and Wezhley. But neither of these pudding victims were helpless; Finoula activated her [I]lightning amulet[/I], blasting straight up into the pudding's main mass and then ricocheting down to the ground floor by the lever that would open the tower's door. Hagan, in the meantime, said the words to a [I]teleport[/I] spell and ended up right beside the elven ranger. "You okay, Wezhley?" he asked and the weasel snuggled up against his master's neck, glad to be free of the ooze's embrace. Binkadink, realizing sharp blades weren't the way to go against this oozing threat, switched over to his greatclub and started smashing. Finoula got the front door open and then the spellcasters let loose at the pair of white puddings. They didn't last long. After that, it was easy for the group to make their way to the secret room housing the [I]teleportation circle[/I], although Colin, Hagan, and Malrin had never seen it before, not having been a part of the adventuring team when the group had first passed through the [I]snow globe[/I]. But there on the floor was the single word "GLOBE" - and once everyone had gathered onto the circle and Binkadink said the command word, they all [I]teleported[/I] back to Pentaclus's study. "Well, there you are," the weaponcrafter said upon seeing them trudge back to his workroom. "I was wondering if we were going to see you today. I trust everything went well?" "Mission accomplished," Colin said with a smile, brandishing the [I]Claw of Bahamut[/I] for the wizard to see. "I say!" Pentaclus enthused. "Must you head back immediately? I'd love for you to stay the night! You all look like you could use a day of rest, and I'd love to be able to study the craftsmanship of this weapon! What do you say?" It sounded like a pretty good idea to the group as a whole. - - - I used a white dragon lair map that had come with the Gargantuan White Dragon D&D Mini (which also came with D&D Minis for Drizzt and Wulfgar from the novels) for Turakkandusk's glacier lair - pretty spot on, I thought. Before we ran through this adventure, Logan sold off Binkadink's gnomish glaive and had Pentaclus craft a replacement blade patterned after [I]Titanslayer[/I] - once the pronglike blade starts vibrating (after it's been struck, like a tuning fork), it creates a resonance field which bypasses damage reduction. (Naturally, this can be negated inside a field of silence.) Vicki had also wanted to upgrade Finoula's [I]lightning amulet[/I], so it now does twice the amount of damage, can be used five times per day, and she can make one "bend" in her path as long as the pivot point is the body of an enemy (as it uses [I]chain lightning[/I] as its pattern instead of just [I]lightning bolt[/I]). They're both pretty happy with their upgrades. - - - T-Shirt Worn: My white T-shirt with a blue dragon on it; the white to represent the arctic snow and the dragon could conceivably be blue due to the cold and ice. (My only other dragon T-shirt is a green dragon on a black shirt; this one was closer to what the PCs would be dealing with.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
The Kordovian Adventurers Guild
Top