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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 7545141" data-attributes="member: 16069">We D&D.Lost Mine of Phandelver Session #8 The Cult of the DragonMyrium the Blessed (played by Sandy) Female Human Cleric of Lathander Lvl 3Shagga, Son of Dorf (played by Rob) Male Half-Orc Paladin of Kord Lvl 3Gaukus Grom (played by Pete) Male Dragonborn Sorcerer Lvl 3Elvis Pickersgilly (played by Jackie) Male Forest Gnome Rogue Lvl 3Shagga (half-orc paladin) is still not happy, his mount- ‘HP’ (‘Horse Power’), was slaughtered by wolves last night. He is therefore forced to switch between jogging alongside his companions and riding behind Myrium (human cleric). Which he quite likes of course, Shagga has a thing about Myrium (his wife to be in real life). Shagga however, in all of his armour, weighs a bit over 250lbs- he’s a hefty slice of life, Myrium’s mount- Dawn’s Glory, is not as keen on the extra weight.Eventually the foursome make their way to Thundertree, or at least they presume this is Thundertree…A sign staked at the side of the choked trail reads- “DANGER! Plant monsters AND zombies! Turn back now!” Beyond the sign the track leads towards a cluster of ruined buildings, abandoned and over grown by vines and shrubs. Thundertree is a ruin, the adventurers are not sure what they expected to find- certainly, not this.As if to test the veracity of the sign Elvis (gnome rogue), with Shagga following close behind, dismounts and wanders in to the nearest ruin- the pair are swiftly attacked by a clutch of knee-high twig-like creatures, which are ferocious- although easy to kill. The rest of the gang rush to help out.[ATTACH=full]112944[/ATTACH]All of the adventurers except for Myrium suffer cuts and scratches, although only minor wounds, while half-a-dozen of the strange creatures- twig blights they later learn, are accounted for. The ruin is briefly searched- there’s nothing to find, although Gaukus (dragonborn sorcerer) spots something different, an intact cottage a little way up the choked path. What’s more there’s the drift of smoke coming from the chimney there.Myrium makes for the place, strides over and knocks loudly on the door- a minute or so later a wizened old geezer dressed in what looks to be sackcloth opens up, the druid- for this is Reidoth the Brown, is immediately assaulted- by words. Myrium, after very briefly checking the fellow’s identity, tells the druid everything- about Gundren, about Wave Echo Cave, and most of all about the Black Spider. A great outpouring- almost a confession, the question she finishes with is however…“Do you know where Cragmaw Castle is?” Myrium, and her companions, all strain to hear the answer.“Yes! Of course! Come on in.” Reidoth brings joy.An hour or so later and the situation has developed complexities- Reidoth knows where Cragmaw Castle is, the home of King Grol, he’s also willing to show the adventurer’s the way. However, first he has a favour to ask- ain’t it always the way.In short Thundertree is home to a bunch of bad things- mostly zombies and dangerous plant-life, however of more concern is the fact that-a)    A bunch of masked and cloaked fellows have moved in to one of the buildings on the far side of the ruined village, andb)    There’s a dragon recently laired in the tower on the hill- the dragon arrived a month or so ago, Reidoth thinks, the masked men only a tenday past.Reidoth is happy to help- providing the adventurers help him first- the druid wants the masked men and the dragon gone. Simple as.The adventurers chat amongst themselves for a while, and eat soup- Reidoth makes great soup, the talk is really only for forms sake, the answer was always going to be ‘yes’, they’ll do it.So, thirty minutes later- and in the last light of the day, the adventurers take to wandering around the ruins, their plan this evening is to try to find the herbalist shop and Mirna’s lost treasure, and also to pay a visit to the masked and cloaked men.First port of call is another ruined building, there are lots of webs in here- Shagga has to cut his way in, Elvis is sent in to scout out the inside. There are many more webs within, and in a darker chamber signs of life- a giant spider nestles in the far corner, guarding the dried and withered remains of a humanoid- possibly an elf. The adventures spring their attack as the spider launches itself at them.The fracas is short and to the point, the giant spider tries and fails to bite Shagga- the paladin and his companions unleash hell. The result- one dead giant spider.[ATTACH=full]112945[/ATTACH]At which point the second giant spider which has been tracking the adventurers from its perch on the ceiling descends at speed and tries to bite Gaukus- the dragonborn, remarkably, evades the arachnid’s attack (I rolled ‘3’ and ‘4’ with advantage). Moments later the adventurers unleash hell for a second time, and the second giant spider meets its inevitable end.The place is searched- the dead elf gives up its treasure, which turns out to include another Potion of Healing, which is nice.The adventurers move on, next stop a more solid looking stone building which turns out to be a long-abandoned smithy- Elvis is the first to enter, although Myrium follows quickly behind. A pair of emaciated figures pick themselves up from the floor and lurch towards the adventurers- zombies.Myrium decides not to Turn Undead (there are only two of them) and so is somewhat dismayed when she, and then all of her colleagues, fail to beat the zombies’ initiative rolls (yep, you read that right- the shambling undead are quicker to the punch). Seconds later the priestess is taking hits. Then Gaukus makes things worse by slamming a salvo of Magic Missiles in to one of the undead, the zombie is swiftly surrounded by a cloud of choking dust- Myrium suffers further, she’s left heaving and retching (and at disadvantage on all her attacks for a minute).[ATTACH=full]112946[/ATTACH]Enough is enough, the priestess lofts her holy symbol and sends the undead skittering back to claw at the walls. The adventurers switch to ranged attacks and one at a time, shoot the undead down. Thus, the smithy is cleared.The fights are however taking their toll, the kindly DM informs the group that the next short rest will signal the end of the light for the evening, their exploring will be in the dark- and therefore more dangerous thereafter.It is therefore all the more rewarding that the next ruined building the adventurers investigate turns out to be the remains of Mirna’s family’s herbalist shop, after a thorough search the missing necklace (and family heirloom) is located. Myrium takes it for safe keeping- to give back to Mirna on their return to Phandalin.The adventurers move on, through another ruined building (empty) and to a building which looks to be inhabited- the walls and ceilings are intact, and the doors and window shutters have been recently repaired.“How can we help you friends?” The voice is attached to a face, a hooded male human who leans out of one of the windows. There follows a bunch of chatter, with Myrium doing most of the talking for the adventurers. Elvis, in the meantime, completes a circuit of the construction- there are more shuttered windows and a back door- the gnome decides to watch the other exit, just in case.Myrium is making little headway with the face at the window, her tactics however leave a lot to be desired- she’s brutally honest. She simply states that she and her companions are adventurers for the Light (Lathander) tasked with clearing Thundertree- it is therefore time for the people she is addressing to leave. Basically, get out- NOW!There’s nothing that the dragon cultists, safe in their lair (they think), can say to persuade Myrium to soften her stance. They don’t want trouble- neither does Myrium she assures them, but if it comes to trouble she will be happy to oblige.It’s a stalemate, therefore Myrium asks Shagga to break the door down, this goes badly- very quickly (the half-orc starts with a Strength check ‘3’, followed by a ‘1’- against the recently repaired and barred door, with two cultists pressed against it on the other side).DM Interlude- Rob, who plays Shagga delights in the fact that Myrium has asked him to complete this task, he preens a little before making his rolls… there was much laughter. Very impressive.Shagga has to step away for a while and Lay on Hands on his smarting and bruised shoulder, soon after Elvis pitches up to offer his advice- the gnome is fed up of just watching and waiting, he wants to get closer to the action. Shagga however is not giving up yet, the half-orc paladin commits to the task, with a ten-yard headlong dash to the door (and rolls a ‘20’). The portal is smashed clean off its hinges, the two cultists previously holding it shut are both left partially crushed against the far wall of the scruffy room revealed.It gets nasty, Elvis- just in time spots the two scimitar wielding cultists that are creeping up on him- out of the back door of the building, the trio get busy.[ATTACH=full]112947[/ATTACH]Back at the front door Myrium follows Shagga in to the rough and untidy chamber and orders those within to surrender, for good measure she thumps the haft of her mace in to the fellow doing the talking at the window and knocks Favric (the cult leader) clean out (another ‘20’). All but one of the cultists surrenders, the feisty fellow slices Myrium with his scimitar (only a scratch). Gaukus steps in to the door way and fires a Ray of Frost in to the fool, who changes his mind about fighting instantly- apologising profusely, he too quickly surrenders.Meanwhile there are screams coming from the outside of the building- Elvis is failing badly to keep the two cultists attacking him at bay, the gnome is hit twice (one of them a Critical Hit) and already heavily wounded. Shagga comes running, knocking cultists out the way as he rushes to Elvis’ side, the sudden proximity of the substantial paladin is enough to turn the tide. Elvis cuts one of the cultists down and then stabs the other- who instantly surrenders.Back in the main chamber there are now three cultists (one unconscious) and only two adventurers, one of the trio of bad guys dodges past Gaukus and makes a break for freedom. Myrium is not impressed, she conjures her Spiritual Weapon and thumps the fleeing fellow in the back of his head- he immediately surrenders.The remaining cultists are tied, gagged and bagged- and then after a brief search of them and their lair, they’re dragged back to Reidoth’s cottage. Time for a chat- that’s the end of exploring for the day.The rest of the evening is spent in conversation with their new-found friends (after soup- even the bad guys remark upon how good the soup is). The four dragon cultists are interviewed one-by-one, and for the most part kept apart (and gagged and bagged). There are a few attempts at lying but enough facts emerge for the adventurers to figure out that these fellows are indeed dragon cultists, who have come to welcome the green dragon laired in the tower to its new home. Gaukus knows a little about these foul fellows and enlightens his comrades- Shagga and Myrium are suitably appalled. The latter however has a plan, she always has.And so, the morning after four dragon cultists- with masks and cloaks, head out for the green dragon’s tower on the hill. One of the cultists is particularly short, Elvis has had to rip three or more feet of material off his cloak. To the tower they go, but not in- Myrium casts her spells- Protection from Poison on the gnome and Bless on her comrades- only then the trio enter. Elvis meantime quickly chugs his Potion of Flying and silently makes his way up the side of the tower- the roof is mostly missing.Myrium leads her comrades swiftly in to the main chamber, in which sitting atop a sprawl of broken stone and wooden beams is a sizeable (young) green dragon.“WHO…” The dragon bellows and draws back its head- ready to unleash its pestilent poison breath.“Lord of the stars and of the moons, of the earth and the sea- light of the world, we bring you tribute” Myrium begins, while Shagga- hefting a large chest moves forward and bowing low lays the box at the dragon’s feet, opening it to reveal a slick of gold coin (all of the adventurer’s wealth, except for Elvis’ who does not contribute).[ATTACH=full]112948[/ATTACH]The adventurer’s Deception and Performance checks are all better than average to good, while Myrium’s Persuasion check is exceptional (23). It helps that they have Gaukus with them, who has made particular study of his draconic ancestry. It further helps that they have also observed, and then mimicked, the gestures and sayings of the dragon cultists they interrogated earlier.How could I (your humble DM) refuse them their moment in the sun- they’ve worked for it, and then got the rolls.“Oh… I see… That is…” The dragon grins, and then dips a taloned claw in to the chest- the gold runs deep.Up above the draconis a grinning be-cloaked gnome descends silently, entirely hidden in the shadows, towards its prey.The only flaw with the plan is this- the trio of pretend dragon cultists cannot see where Elvis is, so good is the gnome’s Stealth check (26).Shagga shrugs, grabs out his longsword gabbles his Vow of Enmity and then slices the drake with a Divine Smite, in the same moment Myrium’s Spiritual Weapon thumps the beast- although her Guiding Bolt (with advantage) is off target. Gaukus employs a Quickened Spell in order to get himself two attacks, six Magic Missiles in total thump in to the startled green dragon.Myrium and Gaukus are smart enough to retreat out of the central chamber, making it difficult for the draconis to know where they are and therefore target them with its breath weapon.At which point Elvis reaches his target and misses with his rapier assassination attempt (advantage- ‘2’ and ‘4’, this happens a lot), his dagger however is on target- and finds a vulnerable spot on the beast- it’s backside.The green dragon roars in pain, and then claws- and bites, sinking its teeth in to Shagga, but the paladin is made of sterner stuff, he hacks again at the beast with another Divine Smite, which is more than enough. The young green dragon spreads its wings and leaps up and in to the air- Elvis stabs the beast again and then flies aside at the last instant (more good rolls).The dragon is hit again by Myrium’s Spiritual Weapon, which follows the beast as it ascends, her follow up Guiding Bolt bathes the creature briefly in radiant energy, the dragon flees the encounter. The dragon is on 7 HP when it escapes the tower- it started on 136 HP. That, after a much-extended session, is the end of events for the evening- all of the PCs now have enough XP for 4th level, although in the next session they wait a while before levelling up.I’ve played this scenario five times now- the young green dragon in the tower has in all but one of these play throughs suffered considerably. The first time I DMed the scenario the dragon TPKed the party, since then I have had no luck. It seems the adventurers, armed with foreknowledge- and having developed a plan, are more than a match for the beast. I’ve even had a group kill the dragon, and I make a point of getting the beast up and out of its lair as soon as it’s bloodied. I promise you I’m trying to kill (or at least reduce to 0 HP) a few (if not all) of the PCs but almost every time… this play through was particularly bad, the guys inflicted lots of damage in their surprise round, and then followed up with more of the same (and with good initiative rolls), the dragon had one round of actions before it had to expend all of its efforts to get out of its lair alive. The only PC to take damage (although he took plenty of it) was Shagga- I should have started with the breath weapon but even then, with all PCs on full hit points... the bugger’s had me.</blockquote>

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