Wulf's "Lazy Days" Campaign Story Hour

[Wulf Ratbane]

SIXTH/SEVENTH SESSION: we liked it better when we thought it was the wizard...

JORIE’s SIXTH/SEVENTH SESSION JOURNAL
So much has happened in the past few days, it's hard to keep it all straight. I don't know how we're supposed to save the town from a dragon, though. Oh, and it looks like Wells might not behind it all, after all.

We discovered, on flooding the lower levels of the kobold fort that there was a cave opening in the lake that was previously covered up. We figured that would be our next objective. At any rate, with the immediate threat to the town cleared up, we returned to a triumphant gathering.

There was a huge party at Grace's. Ma, Da, and the others all came. The Silvermanes were there, too, Belimar was beaming with pride in his son, although I doubt Tanthril would have noticed. At one point, the Wizard Wells got up and gave a long speech. I tried a cantrip to make him Sneeze (we were still sure then that he was behind everything), but he was able to brush it off. As a reward for defeating this menace to our community, we got several gifts from various members of the community. Walt gave me a riding saddle of exquisite quality. Aunt Mel promised to help me find one of the dire badgers in the area to befriend.

As the party broke up and we went to return home (the guys came with, as the Silvermane farm is close to ours), we found a column of smoke leading up from the Jesper farm. Jesper hadn't said anything about burning brush, so we ran ahead of our families. Jesper's farm got burned to the ground.

I think Nik took it worst of all of us. Looks like there's even more kobolds than we thought. The younger Jesper boy is going to stay with Aunt Mel until we come back. Grace might have another boy to work around the inn, though. The funny thing is, that Jesper must have been dead for most of the day, but I could have sworn we saw him at the party.

The next day, I returned to town riding my new dire badger. I named him Ripper, in honor of the fallen. I also found an owl, and a second badger to keep Dodger company. I named the owl Archimedes, by just randomly putting syllables together. You know, like how elves come up with their names. I call the new badger Slasher, because he told me that's what his name is. Using some space in one of Grace's back rooms, I worked on a scroll to hold a Lesser Restoration. We need something to take care of the strength-draining poison that keeps getting thrown at us. I don't know what the guys were doing.

One more day, and another scroll completed. Aunt Mel also helped us by making another wand of cure light wounds. After I was done, we headed back to the lake. The guys had gotten the wizard Wells to get us a scroll with Waterbreathing on it. Archimedes carried it to the rendezvous point near the lake. The plan was to go down into the lake and trash some more little kobolds and spiders, like we've been doing. We're all feeling much tougher than before, so it shouldn't be too hard.

I left Dodger and Slasher up on the side of the lake to watch for anything strange, but stay hidden and run back home if anything looked too threatening. Archimedes was really worn out from flying all that way, so he found a tree and went to sleep. It was a really heroic flight for him to come all the way from the Wizard's tree.

With Ripper, myself and the guys affected by the magic, we would be able to breathe water for an hour. We swam down into the lake into the little cave. There was an open area, still submerged, but kind of strange. It was a little stone room. There was a metal door, a flue that water was flowing through, a grill set into the floor, a lever with a chain set next to it, and a metal wheel set into the wall. The door had a similar metal wheel set into it. Rodrigo cautiously stayed out in the little tunnel, in case something attacked us.

First, I turned the wheel set in the wall. That had an effect. The flue closed so that no more water was entering the room. At the same time, a set of bars fell across the opening to the room. Rodrigo was stuck on the outside! Fortunately, Tanthril was strong enough to bend the bars enough to let Rodrigo squeeze through. Next, Nik pulled the lever. Now the drain opened in the floor and the water rushed out, leaving a nice little room filled with air.

We were able to move through the complex with little difficulty until we came to the room with the half-dragon thing. As soon as we opened the door, we should have known to run. Instead, people took a couple shots in at the kobolds, then they shot back. And hit Ripper. Who raged. With me on his back.

I've been trained in Mounted Combat, under Ma's guidance. It came in handy, as I was able to help Ripper dodge several crossbow bolts and spear blows. Together we rode down to the far end of the room. They had sorcerers, they had their elite "commandos", as they yipped out in their dialect of Draconic (which Da had tutored me in). The commandos would climb stairs to balconies in the room. The ceiling in here was nearly twenty feet. That gave the half-dragon room to fly out of reach of our weapons.

With Ripper stumbling from his wounds, his rage the only thing keeping him on his feet, I stuffed a couple Goodberries into his mouth and led him back to the far end of the room. We'd done a lot of damage to the kobolds, but there was no way we could defeat them here and now. Rodrigo worked his way into the corner, but he'd gotten knocked unconscious. Ripper moved over to his side and crushed the commando that had dropped Rod. That allowed all of the commandos a shot at one of us without worrying about hitting their friends. I felt a bolt hit me, but I was able to shrug off the poison. I grabbed Rod and led the way out of the room. I revived Rod with the new healing wand, as we raced back to the room with the levers and wheels, hoping to flood the complex and drown the kobolds.

One of the kobolds followed us, but he only shut the door so that we wouldn't be able to flood the complex. That was too bad, because it would have been good to remove the threat once and for all.

We headed back to town, licking our wounds. I felt even more confident in my abilities after that battle. Aunt Mel's been teaching me how to take the forms of other animals, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm still not quite ready to do it on my own, though.

This is getting too long, but when we headed back the next day, fully rested, we were able to defeat the kobolds and capture the half-dragon. He warned us that his sister would destroy us, anyway. We found a strange amulet on him. When Rod put the amulet on, he said he could hear a voice speaking to him. The voice sounded like it thought it was talking to the half-dragon. He was ordered to destroy the town before the end of the next day. If not...I'm not sure.
But it doesn't sound good.

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TANTHRIL’s SIXTH/SEVENTH SESSION JOURNAL

Much has transpired since my last journal entry, and I am eagerly awaiting our return to Mirromere. After our victory within the kobold’s warrens, we successfully flooded the lair that harbored the wicked creatures in an attempt to prevent any further misuse of the area as a staging ground for a kobold-led attack on our homes. During the process of the flooding, the water level in the artificial lake lowered and I was able to spot a small underwater cave. This discovery certainly required additional investigation, but since the cave was underwater, the party wisely decided to seek magical assistance to aid us in our investigation. Perhaps the wizard Jon Wells would assist us in the matter? If he did not provide assistance, we could be sure that his refusal would be just the admittance of guilt that we would need to bring him to justice.

With that, we returned to our homes beaming with great pride in our accomplishments. The town held a grand celebration at Grace’s and even the wizard Jon Wells attended. Surprisingly, he praised our efforts and even volunteered to acquire a magical scroll for us that would aid us in the ongoing investigation at the artificial lake. Perhaps the solitary wizard was not the clever mastermind behind this evil after all, or perhaps he was just trying to buy himself some time by parlaying with us in the hopes that we would not separate his head from his shoulders. Regardless, there was much rejoicing amidst the townspeople, and we were aptly rewarded by them. Walt was kind enough to bestow his mighty long bow as a gift to me, and Hastur had crafted a fine mail shirt for my protection in combat. The celebration was short-lived, however, as flames from Jesper’s farm to the south became visible in the early morning’s dawn. Nikolai was visibly shaken as he had spent a majority of the night talking with Old Man Jesper. Without hesitation, our group quickly mounted some of Walt’s horses and streaked off towards the farm.

The destruction that we came upon shocked us. Before us lay the smoldering ruins of Jesper’s farm. A couple of kobold bodies lay strewn about next to the badly burned corpses of Old Man Jesper and his two eldest sons. His youngest son, Arneus, was missing, however. Within moments, I was able to find a set of small child tracks heading off in the direction of the closest farm. Once again, we set off as a group at a fast-paced gallop. We soon arrived at Aunt Mel’s farm and located Arneus hiding behind a stack of kindling. Apparently, the attack on the farm had occurred the day before, and the terrified child had waited here in hiding for fear of his life as the celebration at Grace’s ran through the night. This was terrifying information for us, as we realized that who we thought to be Old Man Jesper at the celebration the night before, was actually an imposter. Nikolai was visibly taken aback by this discovery as I loudly cursed the foul magicks of the evil illusionist. Whoever was behind such dastardly deeds would not escape my wrath! The witch or warlock from the previous night would soon be bleeding upon my blade.

We quickly returned to the town and placed Arneus in the care of Grace. We gathered the men of the town together, and asked them to gather their families from the outlying farms and come together in the center of town where proper defenses could be established. Hopefully our townsfolk would find safety in numbers as we returned to the artificial lake to stop this evil once and for all. Jorie dispatched Archimedes to the wizard John Wells’ tower with a note, and we once again began our trek back to the artificial lake.

When we arrived at the lake, Archimedes was there to greet us with a note from John Wells attached to a magical scroll of water breathing. Jorie quickly reviewed the note, and within moments we were inside the underwater cavern, breathing the surrounding water as if it were air. To our surprise, the underwater cavern soon opened into a room that had an intricate device, that once activated, drained the water from the cavern and allowed us once again to breathe and walk freely without requiring the aid of magicks. The cavern seemed to lead deeper underground, and soon we were battling familiar enemies: kobolds. They appeared from around corners and attacked us like rabid rats trapped in a maze. They quickly fell to our might, but I was disturbed by the fact that no kobold that I had ever run into was capable of the ingenuity required to established such a fortress as the one that we now explored. There had to be a higher power that was assisting them. But what form could this “higher power” take?

Before long, we did indeed find this “higher power” in what appeared to be a large throne room within the tunnels. The room opened up into a twenty-foot-high corridor with several balconies overlooking it. At the end of the throne room, what we had mistakingly assumed earlier to be a lizardman grinned at us evilly. The mottled green and brown winged, lizard-like kobold quickly signaled for an attack, and soon the room was full of kobolds pouring out from their hiding places, crossbow bolts filling the air like a furious hurricane.

I held my ground near the throne room’s entryway, cautiously raining death down upon the kobolds on the balconies with my mighty long bow. We were drastically outnumbered, and I instinctively took up a defensive position behind one of the throne room’s large doors in order to do as much damage to the enemy as possible before tactically withdrawing. I knew when we were outmatched. We had a slim chance at defeating the enemy by fighting off-balance and on their terms. We had to fight them on our terms, at our chosen place, and at our chosen time. That is the way of the hunter.

Jorie and his dire badger, however, had different plans. Before I could do anything to stop them, they charged head-first into the room and disappeared from sight behind a hail of crossbow bolts at the end of the corridor. I hesitated for a brief moment at the tactical insanity of rushing into the room after them, fully aware of the dire consequences of what would likely occur if I followed. But Jorie was a trusted friend, a comrade-in-arms, and a devoted worshipper of Ehlonna. If he were to fall, I would fall with him at his side, fighting until the end! With a deep breath, I dropped my long bow, drew my swords, and entered the fray.

Kobold after kobold fell victim to my blades as I tried to fight my way deeper into the room to help Jorie, and I could hear the familiar and reassuring sounds of Rodrigo and Nikolai fighting behind me. I attempted to work my way towards their winged leader and destroy their source of morale, but the coward hovered into the air just out of reach of my blades. Seconds later, he disappeared from sight altogether leaving only a strangely unsettling echoing laughter behind. My attention quickly turned back to the kobolds manning the balconies and running about in front of me as the shear numbers of warriors brought to bear on us was beginning to become overwhelming. The battle line was weakening, and I could feel my arms tiring under the strain of battle, my wounds becoming too grievous for me to continue on. Luckily, Jorie and his dire badger had also come to the same conclusion at that time. They raced past me in full retreat and bounded out of the throne room. They stopped just long enough to pick up the unconscious body of Rodrigo lying on the floor, blood splattered across his face. With my companions running for safety, I yelled to Nikolai that it was time to leave, turned, and quickly bolted from the room.

We eventually fought our way out of the underground complex and retreated back to town to recover from our wounds. Our pride was certainly hurt, but it would take much more than that to stop us from returning. And return we did. This time our wrath could not be stopped. Our initial battle had obviously taken its toll on the kobolds, as many had been killed or mortally wounded. When we returned this time, there was noticeably less resistance to our intrusion, and when we confronted the lizard-like kobold in his throne room for the second time, he did not appear to be as confident in his victory. After a hard-fought battle in which the lizard-like kobold leader revealed his true self as a half-dragon, we emerged victorious and were able to secure the half-dragon as a prisoner. He was unconscious and critically wounded after I was finished with him, but we were able to stabilize him and properly restrain him. Rodrigo donned a magical item that the half-dragon leader was wearing at the time of our battle, and now all his incessant ramblings about vampires have been replaced with talks about an evil green dragon. Sometimes I think the sorceror’s dabbling in the arcane arts has made him mad. In either case, I am confident that once we return to town with our new prisoner, much of this mystery will be unveiled. Green dragon or not, the menace behind our towns problems of late will be stopped. With our group of fearless adventurers investigating the mystery, it is only a short matter of time now before peace and tranquility once again find their proper homes in Mirromere...

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NIK’s SIXTH/SEVENTH SESSION JOURNAL

The kobolds were proving tougher than we had thought they would. We were forced to retreat (I feel no particular joy at the idea of persihing in a fruitless battle, but sometimes it seems my friends do).

We returned to town, regrouped, healed, and returned. We smashed the remaining kobolds and their Queen.

Or so we thought.

We returned to town to get our reward, and there was a small party. I struck a conversation with a farmer named Jespers. In my mispent adolescence I had set fire to his barn, and it had been destroyed. I tried to make amends, but he was acting as if he had never met me. I thought he was playing mind games with me, but...

Later that evening we realized that there was a trail of smoke rising from the area where his farm was. We investigated, and found Jespers body. He was at least several hours dead, meaning the person in the bar was an impersonator. In my short time in the thieves' racket in Littleberg, I remember one truism: Never impersonate a man who is likely to show up where you're impersonating him.
I take this to mean that whoever impersonated Jespers knew he was dead. In the current environment, anyone who knew he was dead should have reported the fact to the authorities. Failing to have done so implicates the impersonator in the death itself, in my view.

In any case, we realized that the kobolds were NOT all gone. Further investigation resulted in finding an underwater passage that led to a cunningly crafted lair. In short order we were once again surrounded by kobolds, and in need of retreat (and once again, my friends seemed reluctant). This time we had a Half-Dragon to add to our troubles. He vanished, and we found ourselves in a world of trouble. We fell back again, and returned to town to lick our wounds and regroup once more.

In our next return we were resolved to finish the Kobold/Dragon, and we were successful, although not until after much blood had been shed. We hemmed him in, and took him prisoner. Now Jorie wants to break his wings and do various other cruel things to the thing. I think it needs to die, but it said something about a "sister," and we need to know that there isn't something out there... worse...

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DM’s SIXTH/SEVENTH SESSION SUMMARY

Having once again read the players' journals and the quality therein, I think it's fair to let them speak for themselves. However I will provide a more streamlined overview summary of each session as required.

The players fought their way to the bottom of the spider lair and felled the bloated Spider Queen—who despite all her agility, jumping, and various mobility Feats wasn’t able to deliver the satisfactory (and humiliating) flying-bellyflop I was hoping for.

After rigging up a simple deadfall to pierce the seals at the bottom of the spider pits, they easily flooded the complex. The lake above dropped noticeably and Tanthril was able to spot a cave entrance under the water. The players hardly seemed to note the fact that they hadn’t killed more than a half-dozen kobolds or so, and returned home to claim their reward for “wiping out the kobold lair.”

In point of fact they’d simply wiped out the spider breeding pits. The bulk of the kobolds remained safely under the lake with their leader, the half-dragon Maldrak.

During their triumphant celebration in town, things got a little more complicated for Wells when Dria insisted on joining the fun. Perhaps it was simply bad luck, but she happened upon the fact that Jespers wasn’t in attendance, and assumed his form, using her magical trickery and skill at disguise. During the celebration Nik made a beeline for Jespers and started mumbling vague apologies. Dria made the best of the situation but bungled it terribly. There was no way she could know that, in his youth, Nik had burned down Jespers’ barn. In order to assuage the guilt that had wracked him for years, and to mend the bitter dispute between them, Nik offered to rebuild Jespers' barn with his own hands, to which Dria replied, "Ahh... Won't that be nice."

It didn’t help any when the party broke up and the entire town could see smoke rising from the south, near Jespers’ farm. The party rode down to find a horrific “Uncle Owen-Aunt Beru” scene before them. Among the smoking ruins Jorie noticed some scarred and pitted damage that reeked more of acid than fire. Maldrak and a small band of kobold commandos had successfully carried out their first retaliatory raid.

The party, however, were more ready to put the blame on Dria and Wells. Naturally, when the group came to Wells for a scroll of Water Breathing so that they could investigate the underwater lair, he was eager to help— and to deflect suspicion away. The party had ridden hard for the lake and was in communication with Wells by owl-post. Jorie further requested that Wells assist in defending the town— and again, it wasn’t prudent to refuse. Wells sent back his agreement to defend the town and included a scroll that Dria helped him craft.

The players’ account of the underwater lair is accurate but for a few missed details. They failed to adequately remark on the complex engineering evident in the first and subsequent rooms—the air-locking system of the outer doors prevented them from flooding the place as they’d hoped. It wasn’t until their second (triumphant) trip that they discovered the complicated pump system that moved air throughout the place. They would have looked around a bit more, but the acidic green vapors that came bubbling up out of a darker, deeper pool (and with Maldrak’s insistence that “sister” would avenge him ringing in their minds), they soon scuttled out of the lair.

Wulf

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

EIGHT SESSION: the vision of gems

KELLAN’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

<written by Kellan to his superiors in the Order of Heironeous>

TO All whom these Presents come, Greetings:

It seems my visions of chaos had a rightful cause. After my uneventful journey from Littleburg to Mirrormere, it took less than an hour for events to coalesce. A valiant band of local heroes had recently rooted out a stronghold of the kobold race, and brought their leader, an unholy amalgam of kobold and dragon, for questioning. He proved uncooperative, but the amulet he used to communicate with others of his creed was swiftly turned to our use; we discovered that we might meet one of the kobold's cohorts at the bridge that fords the river that drains the local area into the lake.

It borders on pride to tell you that I stepped into the battle with valor and courage that Heironeous has gifted me, but I will admit this because my boon companions exhibited the same characteristics as well. We battled a hag and two trolls, and while we defeated the hag, the trolls escaped, where they might harass other travelers. (I hope to be able to finish the job soon.) The quality of the battle gave my food for thought: I am not used to engaging in battle with sorcerers and druids by my side, but Jorie the gnome druid and Roderigo, the curiously-mannered sorcerer, stood strong in a manner befitting a paladin. In fact, Jorie lost two animal companions, creatures dear to himself, in the battle; but he, and they, seemed reconciled with the sacrifice. It is interesting to think that even those who are so different from ourselves may yet hold the values we hold so dear. As for my other current companions, comprised of a cleric, ranger, and dwarven fighter, they exhibited the qualities of which I am familiar with in their kind.

I do hope we shall track the scourge that threatens this area. The hag we dispatched carried an amulet similar to the one found on the bastard kobold, and I am using it in such a way that I hope to lead us to other evil-doers in the area. Trust that I will use this power for good, and not be corrupted by it.
I must close, as we begin out journey towards the next target - I will leave that destination unnamed, in the event this missive is intercepted in transit.

In the service of the Great Knight, I remain

Your obedient servant,

Kellan Evershar

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RODRIGO’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

I knew that our interrogation of the Half Dragon was not going to go well and it took a turn for the worse when the damn Paladin showed up. It seems that the bad guys only really tell you their plan when they think they are about to kill you so I knew that no good would come of it-- and I was proven right when it spewed acid on us. So now we bring in John Wells to help us interrogate it with a charm monster, or so we think. The interrogation seemed to be going well enough, something called an Archifect pulling the strings and a green dragon bearing down on the village. Then Wells says, "Something is wrong, he is lying." So I drop the hammer on this little waste of time and put the bastard out of his misery. My theory is that Wells realized we were getting useful information from it and tried to cover it up. In any event I was not going to chance an escape with this thing. Wells is in on this somehow, or he is just being duped by (or maybe just banging) Dria. Join the crowd.

Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho off to the bridge we go. After telling my odd communication amulet that we have destroyed the village, we were directed to “head to the bridge to meet the Lady.” Once there we hear Dria scream and see her cloak floating down stream, another handy excuse, just as a couple trolls and a Hag jump us. We manage to dispatch them and find another crystal, which gives us a bit more info on several other ones like it. Now the speculation arises again. Some say that the Hag is Dria but my opinion is that it’s time for Dria to pay the piper (not play the piper - she has done that already).

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TANTHRIL’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

A call to arms has been made by our group for the defense of our humble town and all those capable of fighting the evil that has befallen our home have joined us in our quest. We now number six valiant souls as Jaag has emerged from the hard labor of Hastur’s forge and a stranger named Kellan has arrived from Littleberg to the north. I can only hope that our newly combined strength will be enough to repel the forces of evil that encroach upon our good lands.

When we last returned to Mirromere, our attempts to gain insight from the captive half-dragon into the source of darkness now amongst us met with acceptable results. We were able to confirm with the aid of Jon Well’s magicks that a green dragon lies in wait for us beneath the lake and will need to be dealt with in the near future. We also discovered the source of the evil to be an entity simply known as the “archeffect”. Unfortunately, not much more clear insight was to be gained from the wicked beast, and Rodrigo performed the necessary mercy killing. It was quick and relatively painless, unlike that of the miller and Jesper’s family whose lives the beast had indirectly taken from us. Luckily, there are still murderers left to exact rightful vengeance upon.

With the aid of Nikolai’s god’s clairvoyance, we were able to determine a way to seemingly trick the half-dragon’s sister into not attacking the town in the immediate future. With large pyres of wood set ablaze billowing smoke into the air and with the promise of fresh meat delivery, we were told that one of the ten had returned and directed to meet “the woman at the bridge.”

Like little mice drawn to cheese, we marched north out of town towards the Littleberg Bridge knowing that battle was imminent. When we arrived at the bridge, we cautiously approached it. It appeared at first that we had arrived before the woman so we began to prepare an ambush. Moments later, we heard a familiar voice crying for help from under the bridge. A cloak lay floating on top of the water as the cries for help continued. There was no mistaking the voice; it belonged to Dria, Jon Well’s drow cleric “houseguest”.

Immediately, Kellan boldly jumped into the river and was soon waist-high in water, his heavy armor visibly slowing him down. Jorie was not far behind him on the other side of the bridge, only slightly delayed as he cast an enchantment on himself. The gnome soon disappeared under the slow current of the water. I stood back on the bank next to Rodrigo, my long bow knocked with an arrow in anticipation. Suddenly, Kellan jumped back towards the river’s bank as a large, green creature emerged from underneath the bridge. I quickly moved to get a better angle on the beast as the side of the bridge blocked much of my line of sight to the creature. I was only able to fire one quick shot before Kellan met its charge and began hurriedly slashing at the monstrosity.

Without hesitation, I dropped my bow to the ground and charged into combat with my longsword to aid the stranger from Littleberg. As we attempted to fight off the beast and draw it out of the water, I heard the distinct sounds of combat from the other side of the bridge. I had faith that my comrades Jorie, Rodrigo, and Jaag would be able to hold our flank against whatever evil opposed them, so continued pressing the fight with both longsword and shortsword viciously hacking away at the green creature in front of me. The creature quickly singled me out and began punishing me with claw and tooth. The strength of the monster was inhuman, and his wicked claws tore right through my chain shirt causing much damage. I quickly verified that my internal organs were still intact, and decided it tactically advantageous to use my speed and agility to strike from a distance. I withdrew to the river bank where my mighty bow lay and began supporting Kellan’s attacks with long-ranged vengeance.

I saw out of the corner of my eye all three of Jorie’s badger companions fall to the punishing attacks of the green troll on the other side of the bridge as well as our new companion Jaag. Just as things were looking grim, the troll attacking Kellan retreated into the water, and a ghastly hag began running across the bridge.

Between Rodrigo’s fiery magical contempt, Kellan’s blade, and my bow, the vile woman was laid low and crumpled onto the bridge. With the loss of their leader, the two trolls seemed to lose the will to fight and both retreated to the safety of the river’s waters.

With temporary calm restored, we quickly mended the wounds of Jaag and Jorie’s two badgers, but the dire badger known as Ripper was not going to make it. As a party, we said farewell to the loyal animal and buried him at the base of the Littleberg Bridge, close to where he fell on the field of battle. It appears that the party is now done searching the hag and is beginning to discuss our next course of action so I must take my leave from this writing endeavor. I shall hope to relate more answers to our continuing saga soon.

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NIKOLAI’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

Well, bringing the half-dragon back to town didn’t help much. Ended up not getting any info at all from him. Finally we used the creature’s amulet to try and lure our enemies into revealing themselves. We indicated that the town had been destroyed, no need to send the dragon, thank you very much, we’re all fine down here, how are you?

The message came back: Meet the Lady at the Littleberg Bridge. Alrighty.

We headed down there, a single small bridge crossing the river where it emptied into the Mirrormere. Jorie’s Dire Badger dug a hole for us to hide in. As it turned out, it dug its own grave.

From the river came two trolls and a hag. Some have speculated the Hag might be Dria. That thought caused Rodrigo to pause and scratch imaginary itchings from his nether regions.

We fell into combat, and it is a good thing that we had added the Paladin of Pelor and the Dwarf from Hastur’s smithy (Hastur? Did you say Hastur? Never mind.) They helped out heroically and bled copious amounts of blood that otherwise would have had to come from our veins. For a moment it looked touch-and-go, which is a condition we are becoming intimately familiar with. Jorie’s animals took the brunt of the fight, and suffered for it. All went down in a heap. We looked ready to join them, but finally we drove the trolls off, and slew the hag. Kellan, the paladin, took an amulet from her, and set it around his neck.

It seems to be a kind of locating device, that gives a mental picture of where various allies of the wearer are. Now, it gives us an idea of where to track down the villains plaguing our home.

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JORIE’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

Well, we weren't able to get much information from the half-dragon. We were able to learn that there's something called an "archeffect" that is pulling all of the strings, including his sister's. With the help of Fharlanghn's advice, we were also able to determine that we could send a message to the "sister" and buy a little more time for the village. The dragon told us that one has returned, and that we should meet the "lady" at the bridge.

You know what else lives under bridges, too, right? Yeah. Them.

We thought we might have gotten there before the "lady" so Ripper dug a small hole for three of the guys (I didn't mention that a Paladin named Kellan joined us, or that Jaag finally decided to leave the safety of Hastur's forge to join us?)

When Ripper and I got to the top of the bridge, we heard Dria's voice calling for help. Our first thought was that she must be the dragon's "lady" and is actually a bad guy. We couldn't actually see her, but we did see her cloak floating on the water. I cast an Animal Infusion to take on the waterbreathing quality of the fish in the river and jumped in. One of the others also jumped in. We were both ambushed by trolls in the river.

I faked that I was drowning in the troll's grasp, so the foolish thing let go of me and attacked Ripper who was now on the shore and Jaag, who fights quite bravely and well. After escaping from the troll, and suffering an attack from the real "lady" who turns out to be a Hag (!), I made it back to the side of the river with everyone else.

Ripper was hurting badly, but so was Jaag, so I gave Jaag a burst of healing from the wand. My next chance, I cast Flaming Weapon to have Ripper burst into flame, in hopes of taking out the troll that was attacking him. Unfortunately, the troll survived the massive attacks the next round and felled my noble friend. At almost this time, however, Kellan was able to fell the Hag, and the trolls retreated into the water.

I looked grimly from Ripper to Jaag, feeling in my heart that if I'd healed my friend that he would still be with us. Jaag, however, is an old friend from the village, also, and I couldn't simply let him die. In my grief, I buried Ripper in the burrow beneath the bridge and sealed the opening. No scavengers should get to the remains of my friend.

I have some difficult choices to make here, also. It seems that the landscape is becoming too dangerous for simple badgers, and even the largest of our allies. Instead, now, I believe I must seek out one of the massive wolverines that live in the area as a mount. I haven't decided yet, whether to release both Slasher and Dodger and gain the service of one of the wolves in the area, or keep the badgers' friendship and let them stay at home with Aunt Mel where they're safe. Oddly, I don't think Aunt Mel needs the protection.

-----------------------------------------------------------

JAAG’s EIGHTH SESSION JOURNAL

Before the interrogation of the kobold-dragon could begin, it struck down three of our members, including myself, with its noxious breath weapon. It was a sobering way to begin my day, before I had even had my first ale no less, but I was quick enough to knock it down with the flat of my axe before it could act again. The acrid taste of its breath continued to burn in my lungs for the rest of the day.

With the aid of some magic spells we learned only minor information. Our prisoner must have then provoked Rodrigo somehow that I had not seen -- next thing I knew the kobold-dragon lay dead and we were expecting its "sister" dragon to pay us a visit later today. Maybe now would be a good time to expand the cellar under my home.

But, lucky for us Rodrigo possessed a crystal charm taken from the prisoner that allowed us to communicate with his "sister." We convinced her that the town was already razed and that her visit was unnecessary, with that, she bid us to meet "the lady" at the bridge -- I wonder if Rodrigo was capable of sufficiently imitating the kobold-dragon during his communication? It takes a sharper mind than his to outwit a dragon I think. Nevertheless, we were obliged to meet "the lady" and put down any ally of those who would endanger our lives and our homes.

We cautiously approached the bridge that lay a few miles up river. We looked for "the lady," but all seemed vacant. The six of us were surely incapable of looking like a lone kobold-dragon, but we had no opportunity or means of stealth since the landscape left little place to hide. Suddenly, we heard a cry of help that sounded like Dria. She was under the bridge! Was she "the lady?" As one of our group approached the water by the bridge, wicked claws reached up and tried to drown Kellan, and another one grabbed Jorie. Two trolls were upon us! Though I was quick to charge one of the trolls and tried valiantly to kill it, it struck quicker and harder than I, and next I knew, I thought I saw the darkness of Moradin's anvil about to crash down upon me and end my life. But, the light of Heironious was upon me, and I was spared an early end thanks to Nikolai's divine powers.

By now, the trolls were withdrawing back into the safety of the water, and Jorie's badger companions were seriously injured as well. Meanwhile, a despicable hag had approached from the other side of the bridge and was fighting with Kellan--- our new paladin friend. She was proving resilient to several of Rodrigo's flaming sphere spells, when one finally succeeded. The stench from her burning flesh was almost as bad as the kobold-dragon's breath! Still wounded, but safely away from the hag, I nocked an arrow and struck the hag deep into her side. An excellent shot! Though it was not enough to end her life, it gave Kellan the brief moment needed to strike the final blow, and thus the hag lay dead at his feet. A fitting end for "the lady."

I wonder how safe we are from the trolls returning from the water, or if the hag has other friends nearby? We lost Jorie's dire badger companion in the fight with the trolls -- had I been slightly more conscious, perhaps I could have made the difference. We gave it a proper burial (in a hole it had dug quite conveniently for itself) and took inventory of our wounds. It seems we have all seen better days.
We have little time to waste. It seems the hag possessed a crystal similar to the one the kobold-dragon had, though a bit smaller, and with it we can sense the nearness of several other crystals. We can only hope they are as tired and weary as we are or it may be our end should they converge on us before we are ready.

DM’s SESSION EIGHT SUMMARY

Wells proved himself surprisingly cooperative, and at the party’s request he used a Charm Monster spell on the kobold leader to get some information out of him. Even so, the creature grew wily towards the end; and as it takes a liar to know a liar, Wells informed the party that the creature was being evasive. Rodrigo had a Magic Missile cooking for just such an occasion and wasted no time in killing Maldrak once and for all.

The party now knew that someone called “The Arxephext” was ultimately behind it all. The smooth grey stone that Maldrak carried was a communication device. The stone didn’t open “live” communication, but it seemed to be able to store and project thoughts. Rodrigo noted that the “voice” on the other end was inhuman, alien, soul-less and sexless—and the party decided that this must be the green dragon. Rodrigo sent a message that the town was destroyed; and a message came back sending them to the bridge to meet the Lady.

The hag did a wonderful impersonation of Dria, leading the party to stumble to the conclusion that the cloak floating on the water was Dria’s—though ultimately incorrect, it was a natural assumption and there was little time to inspect the cloak to verify it. Kellan, who didn’t know Dria and had only the best of intentions, was the first into the water to attempt to save her—yes, despite the fact that he was lumbering through knee-deep mud in his chainmail. This was but the first of his consistently (and, to some, annoyingly) paladin-like behavior.

One hag and two trolls—too much for six 4th / 5th level adventures? Very nearly—but not completely.

The party recovered another, smaller stone from the hag—a deep blue sapphire. Kellan had landed the fatal blow, and it was Kellan who first touched the stone.

Just as Rodrigo had experienced before, as soon as the gem touched Kellan's flesh, the gem seemed to intrude into his mind.

Like burning stars in the sky, Kellan became aware of a multitude of colored lights:

A dull, but powerfully pulsing grey light, very close;

Two lights, green and jade, nearly due east, and still quite close;

Two cool pastels of pink and blue, where the kobolds' lake would lie;

Amber and gold, revolving around a pinpoint of deepest black, north towards his home of Littleberg;

Bone white and deep blood red, far north into the Creeping Wood-- moving slowly but resolutely towards the lake;

and suffusing over all, like an afterthought, a deep blue glow.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

NINTH SESSION-- a simple snatch and grab (no, Rodrigo, not that...)

KELLAN’s NINTH SESSION JOURNAL

To All whom these presents come, greetings -

After defeating the hag at the bridge, we made our way east to reconnoiter the position of the nearest unknown gems that were indicated by the location ability of the gem I possess. As we suspected, two gems are located at the tower of John Wells, the local mage. (Does the Order have any information on this fellow?) Rather than launch an assault with very little information, we headed back toward Mirrormere to head off the approach of an unknown group carrying three more gems to town.

As we discovered, the gems were being carried by a "businessman" at the behest of Wells, who wished to purchase them. We accompanied the merchant and his bodyguards back to town, in order to keep track of the gems and to have a final showdown with Wells as to his intentions towards the town. Upon discussion, we ascertained that Wells' plan was to collect all the gems under his protection, so as to deny them to the dragon that wishes to achieve dominance through their use. I am reasonably confident that he is at least not against us, even if his methods seem to be veiled in secrecy; it would behoove me to continue to keep an eye on him, however. As a matter of course, I did not volunteer that I retain possession of one of the gems; he certainly knows it anyway, and I find it wiser to be able to retain the ability to track the other gems, as well as keep at least one of them under the control of someone I trust in case Wells turns out to be a double-dealer.

It had transpired that another gem was being carried to the dragon by a hill giant and his hellhound minions. Wells had been unable to stop the giant's mission, but our party set out to try to ourselves (the alternative would be to let the dragon gain more power). We defeated the giant in a high-pitched battle that taxed our resources, but thanks to our prior planning, no lives were lost.

We will soon know our next move.

In the service of the Great Knight, I remain

Your obidient servant,

Kellan Evershar

------------------------------

NIK’s NINTH SESSION JOURNAL

Subject: John Wells

It seems that my companions are distrustful of this fellow, and I'm trying to determine why, precisely. He is pretty arrogant and insufferable, but that hardly means he's behind any of this evil. He is a spellcaster, possibly a bard, possibly of a power able to use teleportation magic.

Negatives: He's associated with a Drow (Dria, a priestess of some goddess of lust, apparently). He's mysterious - this spooks the locals, apparently. He's been less than forthcoming with information. Both Dria (the Drow) and an unidentified lizardman were seen at his tree-house. I think my companions mistook the lizardman for the half-dragon; perhaps this is the reason for the distrust. Kellan seems to think that he has a minor taint about him; the sort of thing you might get for being a cheat at cards, for example.

Positives: He's helped us through the procurement of magical items, especially with the aid of Dria. For that matter, he's procured Dria for Rodrigo's benefit, although I think that sort of "procurement" might be considered against the law in some municipalities.

He claims to be investigating the gem-amulets - this is as plausible as him collecting them for nefarious purposes, I suppose.

So what do I make of this strange man? I honestly do not know. More information will be required to determine whether he is a bane or boon to the village of Mirrormere.

------------------------------

RODRIGO’s NINTH SESSION JOURNAL

Patience is a virtue and of course I am very virtuous. Despite the bloodlust coursing through the rest of my comrades I was able to keep things from escalating out of control. The sight of half orcs all but sent Kellan into a rage. Determining that the strangers on the road-- the little man and the two half orcs-- held the stones we were after was a large piece of the puzzle. Probably the most useful piece of information was discovering just what Wells is paying for these, 5000 gold each! Hopefully we will be able to use at least one of these as bargaining tool to get the much needed supplies and armor that will help us succeed.

------------------------------

DM’s NINTH SESSION COMMENTARY

A very simple session. Having ascertained by email earlier in the day that the group was simply going to hunt down the stones, I came prepared with two encounters:

The first was a gnome rogue-7 (Honkin Puddinsack) and two half-orc bodyguards (Ginblossom, a barbarian/drunken master-5, and Mad Dog, a barbarian/cleric/sacred fist-6). The party showed amazing restraint and I was disappointed not to need their statblocks at all!

The next fight was the giant, and like all successful fights against giants, the secret to their success was superior missile fire. Big Jimmy was half dead from Tanthril’s bow and Rodrigo’s flaming spheres before he even had time to come barrelling into them. I came dangerously close to pulverizing Tanthril; close enough to lure Jaag to come running in to help. Despite his dodge bonus against giants, Big Jimmy laid Jaag flat on his back with an attack of opportunity…

Thus prolonging Jaag’s career as perpetual whipping boy… Never before has one man been in so many wrong places at so many wrong times. As you might suspect, I have a little warm spot in my heart for the poor bastard…

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

TENTH SESSION-- perfidy and the paladin

KELLAN’s TENTH SESSION JOURNAL

To All whom these presents come, greeting:

At the suggestion of John Wells, we journeyed via teleport to a dwarven stronghold that reportedly crafted arms and armor of excellent make. We require such equipment if we are to have any hope of defeating the dragon that holds the final gems required to awaken the Arxifext. Scarcely had the tingling of the teleport spell worn away that we found ourselves at the massive dwarven gates, sentinels watching our every move. We gained entrance to the stronghold, and had barely made our needs known when we were taken to their Great Hall to be told of the stronghold's pressing plight.

Drang Stormbrow, the spokesman for the six clans residing within the stronghold, spoke of a foul entity that had claimed the life of their King, Belladur, in years past, and returned from the depths of their mines to afflict them once a year. The dwarves were unable to do more than dread the yearly visit, as none of them had the skill to fight and defeat the cursed beast (described to us as a 'black and hungry cloud of death'). I immediately pledged my aid in hopes of defeating a great evil, with the added bonus of equipping ourselves more properly in our own quest against marauding evil. My companions quickly fell into agreement, and we were taken to a place of rest to await the opening of the doors to the mines below.

The next morning brought to me a sense of excitement as we were led below. The doors already stood open for us, and we entered the abandoned halls that in times past lodged the six clans: Stormbrow, Burnbeard, Onehorn, Greenshield, Fellhammer, and Baneblade. There were some signs of activity in some (but not all) the rooms, and in one, the desiccated and unholy remains of a former dwarven leader and five of his clansmen rose up against us in undeath, bent on consigning our souls to the hell from whence they came. We defeated them at some cost; several of us (including myself) had life-force drained, and it was only through the potions of a long-ago priest of Moradin, discovered in the still-sacrosant temple to that august Power, that we were returned whole. We also encountered the undead remains of Belladur's queen, and were barely able to defeat 'her' and 'her' two undead companions.

After resting a while to regain spells and health, we ventured forth again to explore deeper in to the mines. We found the old forge, and found a fell enchantment that allowed the weapons and armor within to attack us without the benefit of a corporeal wielder. After defeating this strange magic, we proceeded down the steps, where we discovered the body of what we soon learned was King Belladur. Unfortunately, the King's soul had turned to evil, and was in fact the very scourge we had come to defeat. After a long and draining fight against this monster (a strange and evil multi-armed apparition), wherein Jorie, Jorie's wolverine companion, and Nikolai proved especially valiant in the face of mind-numbing and blasphemous evil, the apparition, apparently defeated, disappeared with the message that he would continue returning "...until his axe tasted the blood of the six." We continued to explore the remains of the mines, defeating in the process an earth elemental of considerable size, and headed back to the surface.

It was about this time that events above began to reveal their true nature. The craven among the dwarves shut the great doors behind us, fearing we would not be able to repulse the evil. After persuading them to re-open the doors, we made our way back to Stormbrow and the others for a final reckoning.

The dwarven lords were seated around the meeting table in their Great Hall. Each of them had at their side an elderly advisor, and as we began to parley, men-at-arms bearing the colors of the six houses slowly filled in around the walls of the hall. It seemed to me that it was not necessary to kill the lords to fulfill the spirit's need to have his axe taste the blood of the six; I surmised that a mere pinprick would suffice to satisfy the letter of the curse, and hopefully the intent of the curse, as well.

We addressed the lords, and told them what we had found below. I explained our encounter with the spirit of Belladur, and the dwarves began to be more and more restless as their history was laid out bare before them. None were happy to have an outsider explain the situation to them, and they were even less happy when I explained that they would need to prick their palm on the blade of the axe in order to end the curse. Several lords, with Stormbrow the most vocal, refused to do so; Stormbrow accused us of having been perverted by the spirits below, and we were now doing their will by having them touch the axe. They were afraid that this action would consign their souls to the will of the spirit. I continued to press, noting that this curse had been with them for decades, and wondering why they were unwilling to end the curse now that the opportunity had presented itself. I also noted that we had been asked to do a job, and we had willingly done so - why were they not living up to their part of the bargain? And why did they not want to end the curse that frightened them so? As a paladin, I could not lie to them; they had to trust me, and what I said we had found, or there was no way around the impasse.

Lords Greenshield and Onehorn were the first to be persuaded; they willingly cut themselves, with no effect. The other four lords continued to refuse; they did not trust the outsiders that they had been willing to sacrifice to the spirit of their dead king, and doubted out motives. Our position was not helped when it was discovered that we carried some mithril from their mines, and that Tanthril was unwilling to give up the heraldic armor he had found below and was using. Tensions continued to mount; Nikolai made the point to the observing men-at-arms that while two of the lords had been brave enough to meet the test of the axe, the other four were still standing pat - was that the example of bravery a dwarven lord was expected to set? This persuaded Burnbeard and Baneblade to cut themselves on the axe, leaving but two lords untested.

The sticking points were the mithril and their unwillingness to trust certain members of our party to give back what had been taken below. We were moments from having to battle dozens of skilled dwarven men-at-arms because Tanthril refused to give over his armor. While Stormbrow trusted me, as a paladin of Heironeous, he did not trust the ranger. Finally, after staking my personal reputation on Tanthril returning the armor, Fellhammer pricked himself on the blade. But still, Stormbrow refused. He was unwilling to bargain until we had given him the item he felt were his, and we were unwilling to bargain until he had bloodied himself on the blade. We were at an impasse, and something had to give before we found ourselves in pitched battle.

I went to Tanthril and demanded to armor. He still refused, saying that it was useful to him. Having placed my trustworthiness on the line to get the party out of trouble, I was not about to let that pass. He finally agreed to give over when I convinced him that it was not just himself, but all of us, he was putting in danger. At this, Stormbrow reluctantly acceded to our demands, placed his hand on the blade, and cut himself.

Almost immediately, the pervading sense of evil and despair dissipated. The axe of Belladur was returned to the clans, and we left with our reward: several thousand gold, an amount of mithril sufficient to be crafted by our party's blacksmith into several pieces of armor, and a blade that had been forged for a long-dead sea elven prince. We also purchased our necessary arms and armor, and as I write this, we prepare to move on the fortress of the dragon who holds the final gems we need to recover in order to prevent the Arxifext. . . whatever that may be.

In the service of the Great Knight, I remain

Your faithful,

Kellan Evershar

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

DM's TENTH SESSION NOTES

I sent the party on this interlude to test out the CR's and EL's of an adventure I was working on-- and to give them a little boost in magic items since the pickings in little ol' Mirrormere are pretty slim.

I built the adventure around the concept of a betrayed dwarven lord and his vengeful spirit. I wanted the villain to be creepy, dangerous, and full of surprises.

Presto! Gibbering mouther + ghost template:

Gibbering Ghost (abberation, undead, incorporeal)
HD: 4d12+4 (34 hp)
Initiative: +2 (Dex)
Speed: 10, fly 30
AC: 19 (+1 Dex, +8 natural, Ethereal)
15 (+1 Dex, +3 deflection Manifested)
Attack: 6 bites +4 melee
Damage: bite 1, improved grab, attach and drain blood
Special Att/Def: Manifest; gibbering, flash, improved grab, blood drain, engulf, earth manipulation

Amorphous

Rejuvenation (the ghost cannot be killed unless certain conditions are met)

Undead, +4 turn resistance

Saves: F+2, R+2, W+5

S10 D13 C-- I4 W13 Ch17

Skills/Feats: Hide +8, Listen +12, Search +8, Spot +16; Weapon Finesse (bite)

Gibbering (su): sonic, mind-affecting compulsion, Will DC13: All creatures within 60’ must make a Will save or be confused for 1d2 rounds. A creature that makes its saving throw cannot be affected again on the same day.

The effect here was a host of dwarven faces appearing in the black cloud to moan and curse at the PC's.

Flash (ex): Fort DC13
At the start of every combat and every 2 rounds thereafter, the ghost can create a blinding flash of light. All sighted creatures withing 60 feet must succeed at a Fortitude save or be blinded for 1d3 rounds.

The effect here was Belladur himself, armed with a hammer, striking down upon an anvil, causing the bright flash of light.

Imp. Grab (ex): The ghost must hit with a bite attack.

Drain (ex): On a second successful grapple check after grabbing, the ghost automatically deals bite damage (1 hp) and drains blood, draining 1 temporary Constitution point. A mouth can be ripped off (dealing 1 point of damage) with a successful Str check (DC12) or severed by a normal attack that deals at least 2 points of damage (AC18). A severed mouth continues to bite and drain blood for 1d4 rounds even after being severed. A creature whose Constitution is reduced to 0 is absorbed by the ghost, which gains 1 hit point and adds another mouth and pair of eyes to its body.

Engulf (ex): The ghost can try to engulf a medium-size or smaller opponent grabbed by three or more mouths. The opponent must succeed at a Reflex save (DC14) or fall and be engulfed. On the next round, the ghost makes twelve bite attacks instead of six (each with a +4 attack bonus). An engulfed creature cannot attack the ghost from within. The previously attached mouths are now free to attack others.

In this effect, dwarves would appear out of the cloud to grapple the PC's and start draining their life force.

Frightful sonic, necromantic, mind-affecting fear effect, Will DC15

Moan (su): The ghost can moan as a standard action. All living creatures within a 30 foot spread must make a save or be panicked for 2d4 rounds. A creature that successfully saves against the moan cannot be affected by the same ghost for one day.

At the end of the first session, the ghost appeared and moaned-- causing both Jaag and Tanthril to turn tail and run. We ended the session right there, to let them stew for a week-- the party could easily have been destroyed here without those two fighters. When we sat down at the next session, there was an appeal for a re-roll since Kellan's anti-fear bonus wasn't included the first time around. Fair enough!

Earth Control: At will, as a standard action, the ghost can cause the stone and earth within 5 feet of it to become soft; earth takes 1 round, stone 2 rounds to become soft. Anything in the area must take a move equivalent action to avoid becoming pinned.

The effect here was a lot of dwarven arms reaching out to hold onto the legs, arms, and robes of the players, slowing them down.

Amorphous: The ghost has no form, no front, no back, no facing. It is immune to critical hits and cannot be flanked.

Rejuvenation: The “destroyed” spirit will restore itself in 2d4 days.

The solution to this curse being the axe...

------------

Further DM's notes:

Tanthril's little tanthrum at the end very nearly cost the players their lives. It was Tanthril's last session as he was going away on business for a while, and he had a "nothing to lose" kind of attitude about the whole thing. The hall started to fill up with dwarven warriors-- mind you, unbeknownst to the players, these were all the dirtbag turncoats, and very nearly all fighter-rogues. It would have been very ugly.

In an inspired fit of roleplaying wholly inappropriate for 11:00 at night, Kellan shouted, "ENOUGH!" and slammed his hand down on the table. Shook the rafters. Got everyone's attention. I nearly wet myself-- but it earned him some xp and shortly brought the session to a successful close...


Wulf

 

[Dinkeldog]

Come on, you're still behind....

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Session Eleven-- deep trouble

KELLAN's ELEVENTH SESSION JOURNAL

To all whom these presents come, greetings -

All of our preparations had brought us to this moment. My vision of danger in Mirrormere; my taking up with the band of local heroes; our defeats of enemies both alive and undead, monster and humanoid - our logistical preparations complete, we set out to find and defeat the dragon we felt certain lay at the heart of the mystery of the Arxifext.

Upon arriving at the lake, we considered closing off the lake-entrance to the lair, but decided that although it was a good idea, it would take too much time and spellpower to do so. We made our way through the lair of the kobolds that the party had defeated before my arrival, and in fact found the testimony to their prowess: a pile of festering kobold corpses. As the thought dawned on us that someone had to have taken the time to put the corpses together, the mound rose up as one unholy zombie to do battle. The mound was assisted an invisible helper, who cast damaging rays of electricity at us; after casting a cloud of fog at the area where the helper was hiding, we were able to defeat the mound alone. We then swam down a shaft to parts unknown; luckily, we were blessed with spells of water breathing (potions provided by Dria) so that we might be able to move somewhat normally.

What we saw below was a wonder of strategic and tactical design. The dragon lived in an underwater maze, larger areas connected by tunnels both large and small, with high ceilings and filled with water throughout. It was quickly apparent that the dragon would have full mobility in this place, while always keeping us at the disadvantage. Indeed, we had but a few moments to size up the lair before we were attacked by two floating underwater eyes, shooting powerful spells from a trio of eyes—including the electric blasts we’d seen before and some . As we began to come to grips with these two, the dragon finally appeared; it was a very difficult battle, with much ranged weapons fire and running about; the difference really was Rodrigo's magic missiles and Nik's well-timed attacks from behind the dragon. We came very close to ending the villain’s life there; but it escaped from us, swam quickly to its treasure hoard, and with a single bite took most of its treasure (including the gems we sought!) into its mouth. It headed through a tunnel to the surface (where we assumed it would come out in the middle of the lake). As Nik pursued with his magically enhanced speed, I moved as quickly as I could back through the maze, up to the surface, in hopes of beating the dragon there and being able to finish it off with my crossbow. By the time I arrived, however, the dragon had cleared the surface of the lake and had taken to the air.

I stood guard on the bank with Jorie’s animal companions and waited for the others to determine our next course of action.

In the service of the Great Knight, I remain

Yours faithfully,

Kellan Evershar

*****

JAAG's ELEVENTH SESSION JOURNAL

We had reentered the kobold lair near the lake, where we detected there were more magic crystals nearby. After advancing through a few minor encounters, we came up to a room with a pool on one end. Our enemy, it seems, has an underground, and underwater home in which to seek refuge from justice. Dare we go into his home when he is expecting us?

The group kept looking at me, as if they expected me to go first. "Fools! I just oiled my armor yesterday! Don't you realize what water will do to your equipment?!," I told them. As much as I've enjoyed growing up in Mirrormere, I've never brought myself to learn to swim. "Go ahead and drown if you like, but I'm no fish!" No doubt the rest of the group would go on without me if need be, but now my bravery was in question, and I would hear no end of it from Hastur if I showed myself a coward after having come this far. I knew we were going to have to search the bottom of the lake for the remaining stones, but I didn't want to admit to myself that I might have to go into the water too.

But Rodrigo came prepared for this. He enchanted our group with magicks that would let us breathe in water. "So you're telling me that just because you wave your hands and speak like a wailing frog that now I can breathe in water?," I asked. What have I gotten myself into?! I approached the water cautiously at first, trying to see how deep the water was...then, SPLASH! Somebody pushed me in! (I believe it was Rodrigo that did it, though I didn't see who it was.) I sank quickly, until finally I hit the bottom with a heavy, THUD! Once I got over the shock of not drowning, I decided to put aside my anger over the push...for now. I guess that Rodrigo fellow does know a few tricks after all.

At more than 25' wide and 25' tall, this underwater passage was certainly not average. So this is the dragon's lair! Through the twisting and turning passages we looked for signs of the dragon, but the passage was long, and we were all nervous that we each might be the first to actually find the beast. My mind raced with questions about why I was even down here. What tales ever told of a brave dwarf fighting underwater to face a dragon? Perhaps it's because no dwarf ever lived to tell such tales!

Luckily, it appeared Nikolai was the first to spot the dragon, and at a good distance too. The dragon charged quickly through the water and made a passing attack at us before turning a corner where we could no longer see it. It was clearly at home here. Only Rodrigo hit unerringly with his magic missiles, while the rest of us struggled because the dragon was too high out of reach.

It was then that three floating eyes appeared from behind us. We made quick work of them, thanks to Tanthril's arrows and Kellan's blade. We had no time for distractions when there was a dragon about!

Like a pack of mice chasing a cat, we were cautiously aware of how near to death we each stood if we did not work together. Thus, began a game of hide and seek among the passages. Nikolai cast a spell to quicken his movement, and scouted ahead of the group. Whether brave, or just too proud to die in front of the others, I'm not certain. The nervousness among the group escalated as we waited for a sign from either Nik or the dragon.

Tanthril prepared to use a special masterwork arrow on the dragon. Unfortunately, his bowstring broke, forcing him to change weapons from his bow to his sword. What terrible timing!

And then she came, the dragon, from an unexpected passage, appearing, attacking, and then disappearing as quickly as she appeared. Rodrigo kept using his magic missiles to good effect, while Nikolai cast other magicks. Kellan even managed to strike a few blows by leaping upward through the water. My short dwarven legs, along with my heavy armor, kept me from being able to give chase with any effectiveness. But it seemed that Rodrigo, Kellan, and Tanthril, with their combined attacks, were putting the hurt on the young dragon.

She finally had enough. Maybe she felt the tide of battle turning against her. Whatever her reasons, she scooped up a great deal of her hoard into her mouth and proceeded into a back passage that appeared to lead up and out into the middle of the lake. She was getting away!

Our group was too exhausted to give chase. But we also wanted to finish the dragon while it remained weak. We collected what was left of it's hoard, and decided to get out of the water. We have to finish her before she regains her full strength...or worse, attacks the village while we aren't there to protect it!

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

DMs ELEVENTH SESSION Wrap-Up

Leaving the lair behind, the party healed up and took off in pursuit of Braxa, a juvenile female green, sister to the half-dragon Maldrak.

-----
HD14d12+42 (hp 133)
Initiative +0
Speed 40/fly 150/swim 40
AC 22 (-1 size, +13 natural)
Attack: +17 bite, +12 claw, +12 claw, +12 wing, +12 wing, +12 tail
Damage: bite 2d6+4, claw 1d8+2, wing 1d6+2, tail 1d8+6
Saves: F+12, R+9, W+11
S19 D10 C17 I14 W15 Ch14
Skills/Feats: Spellcraft +16, Listen +14, Spot +14, Search +14, Bluff +14, Sense Motive +14, Hide +14, Move Silently +14, Climb +14; Flyby Attack, Hover, Power Attack, Large and In Charge
Special: Breath Weapon 40-cone of acid, 8d6 damage, Reflex DC20 (half); Acid Immunity, Breathe Water, Blindsight 120
-----

Braxa fled north into the woods as fast as possible, to put some distance between her and the adventurers who had invaded her lair. She'd scooped up a couple of healing potions along with the Arxephext's gems, and after settling down in a suitable area for an ambush, she ground up the potions and swallowed them down. Her wounds healed but her pride was still stinging.

She'd selected a large hill in the midst of the forest, where the surrounding trees had mostly retreated, leaving about 200 feet across the top of the hill open and bald. She dug a good sized hole in the side of the hill, dropped off the gems (which she knew were giving away her position) and then carefully covered the hole with leaves to disguise it.

While she worked, a pair of gauths, sent by the Arxiphext to assist her, floated into the area. She made hiding spots for them, too, making big piles of leaves at the base of several trees. Later, when the adventurers arrived, there would be a surprise waiting under a couple of those piles.

According to the Arxephext, the adventurers were taking their time. They had their own wounds to heal. Braxa lay down to rest, allowing her own wounds to heal. By the time the party arrived, she would be nearly back to full strength-and she knew exactly when they were coming.

Even so, she would have preferred to flee, but the Arxephext's influence was too strong.

Eventually, using their own gems to track her, the party drew near. Braxa wolfed down her last potion-Invisibility-and took to the sky. She circled, riding silently on the wind, waiting.

The party moved cautiously into the clearing. The gauths waited below, under piles of leaves. Tanthril had the good sense to fire arrows into a couple of the piles-but he didn't pick the right ones…

The party prepared themselves with spells, including a Fly spell for Jaag to close with the dragon, and when they were ready, Nik used his own invisibility potion and volunteered to scout ahead. He moved silently up to the side of the hill, where a pile of leaves had been scraped together to hide what was obviously a hastily-dug burrow. He moved into the burrow, recovered the gems, and popped his head out again. He called softly to his comrades, "She's not here…"

Not softly enough, unfortunately. The two gauths levitated out of hiding and blasted the party-all huddled together at the treeline-with Dispel Magic cast from their central eye. Protection spells failed and Jaag slumped to the ground, his flight dispelled.

Braxa made her move, using her flyby attack to strafe the group with her acid breath, and flying away before they could react. Visible now, she flew straight up into the sun, out of range of their arrows. The human ranger and his sorceror friend were severely wounded.

While Braxa summoned up another burst of acid breath, the gauths pressed the attack with Cause Wounds and blasts of lightning from their two smaller eyes. Jaag started running up the hill to reach them, his stumpy legs carrying him as fast as he could go-which wasn't much. Nik struck at one of the gauths, spoiling his invisibility, but at least managing to draw its attention. Jorie bounded forward atop his wolverine and jumped off as he passed a tree, allowing the wolverine to continue forward and maul one of the hovering eye-kin.

The party was now split, with Jaag, Jorie, and Nik at one end, and a very wounded Tanthril and Rodrigo at the other. Jaag skidded to a stop and changed directions, now stumping and wheezing his way back to the treeline to help his friends. The two humans cowered behind a tree, Rodrigo letting fly with Magic Missile while Tanthril tried to heal him up, until Braxa swooped down above the treetops and let loose another blast. The trees blocked the blast somewhat, but the damage was done and the writing was on the wall-another blast like that and she'd kill both of them. Braxa sailed off skyward again, stalled only temporarily as she folded her wings around herself to ward off most of the blast from Rodrigo's parting shot, a Fireball.

Tanthril fired shot after shot with his bow, but at such extreme range, his arrows lacked the punch to get through Braxa's hide, and she was now circling back and heading for Nik. The wolverine had the gauths well in hand, but Jaag dashed out once again, making it about halfway between the trees and hill, before Jorie started shouting orders.

"Everybody just hold tight and wait for her to get close! Jaag, ready your axe! Tanthril, your bow! Rod and Nik, prepare spells!"

Braxa was fairly wounded from Rodrigo's spells, but she had the upper hand now. She circled and watched. The group was up to something, she could clearly see the foolish dwarf waiting out in the open with his axe. Heh… She'd be going near that for nothing-save him for last, play with him a little bit. One of the humans was still in the trees, waiting with his bow; another one was ready with what she identified as a magic missile; and the rogue was casting spells as if he were a cleric.

Braxa didn't see Jorie at all, hiding under the tree, readying his own spell. But she did see poor Archimedes, his pet owl. Jorie had sent the owl off on a wide flank, to keep him out of harms way, but Braxa had other plans for him. To her, he was just an appetizer. Braxa swooped down, out of spite more than anything, and snatched the owl out of the treetop in one quick bite.

Her overconfidence was her undoing.

The party let loose. Nik cast a Doom spell upon her, and amazingly enough, the curse took hold. Braxa had little time to be surprised by that, because before she knew it, the tree below her came to life, its branches reaching up to firmly Entangle her. She was caught fast by Jorie's quick-witted trickery.

Braxa thrashed and bellowed as the party came dashing towards her, their spells and weapons flying. She struggled desperately, but the young dragon was too small and too weak to break free of the branches. Acid churned in her craw as she tried to summon up a blast that would scorch away the entangling branches. The party knew what was coming, but they were undeterred, standing beneath her at point blank range and giving her everything they had. Rodrigo propped himself against a tree, nearly on death's door, burning through as many punishing spells as he could summon up, while Tanthril and Jaag stood below her and hacked away. Just as Braxa inhaled to let loose the blast of acid that would free her (and no doubt kill a few of the adventurers beneath her) the final blow landed. The dragon slumped, lifeless, while the tree continued to gnarl and gnash around her.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

DM's TWELFTH SESSION SUMMARY-- tis better to receive than to Giff

With the dragon out of the way, the party returned to her lair under the lake. Exploring further, they found another set of complex valve-doors, leading to an as-yet unexplored area.

Opening the door revealed a narrow passage, about 5 feet wide and 15 feet long, with another valve door at the other end. The party crammed themselves into the passage and closed the door behind them, waiting while the water ran through a grate in the floor.

It was extremely cramped. Rod looked around nervously at their tightly packed formation. "Before we open that door..."

A little too late-- the door was opened. Looming before them was a hippo-headed warrior of some kind, and a towering umber hulk. The folks in the front flinched and tried to run, while the group packed into the back tried to see what all the commotion was about.

It took them all a moment to realize that they were merely statues, so menacing and lifelike were their poses.

Unfortunately, on the wall across from them, spider climbing near the ceiling, they spotted a kobold sorceress. By her dress and demeanor, she was clearly the overseer of the kobolds, if not the entire operation. They had scant time to notice any other details of the room, however, as the sorceress pointed a jagged wand at them and fired a lightning bolt right into their ranks.

The party scattered as best they could, spilling out into the room. There was plenty of cover, most notably the large, solid stone tables jutting up from the floor. Jaag crossed into the room first, staying low near the laboratory tables, nervously eyeing the bizarre creatures preserved in tanks along the walls. Some vestigal Eye-kin, some kobolds, some kind of spider creature with a head like an eel.

Kobolds poured out of alcoves on the far wall, firing into the party. There were too many for Rodrigo to handle all at once, and in any case he had retreated back into the hallway to engage in a fire-fight with the opposing sorceress.

Kellan and Tanthril moved into the room to tackle the kobolds... until the gauths rose out of a hole on the south end of the room, their eyes blasting away. The three fighters were caught with blasts of electricity and red rays of inflict wounds-- but Jaag, curiously, was unharmed by the red rays. Thus emboldened, he charged the far end of the room, where something peeked out from behind a door, waiting.

Jaag guessed that it must be the leader, and charged full tilt for the door, expecting to smash it aside and cleave into the "evil scientist" behind this whole mess. Instead, he was surprised as the door was flung wide ahead of his approach and he was staring down the barrel of two flintlock pistols. They went off with a truly legendary explosion, and Jaag's charge was stopped cold. He barely had time to recover before the hippo-like gunman had dropped his pistols and grabbed a long musket from beside the door, discharging that into his face as well, before spinning it around and smashing him across the chops with the wooden butt.

In a matter of seconds, Jaag was nearly dead. Rodrigo was barely hanging on from the first lightning bolt, and the others hadn't fared well against the gauths. They were already shouting the retreat.

Rodrigo held them firm. "We're all going to die if we run now... Besides, I'm not out of smack yet!" And with that, he launched a fireball to the south end of the room, smashing the tanks and other equipment, killing the kobolds, and sending the gauths back down the hole for cover.

Tanthril was plinking away at the sorceress with his bow, but she crouched at the corner of ceiling and wall behind her shield spell, untouchable. Spiteful, she turned to Jaag, who was trying to limp away, dropping him with magic missiles. It was enough of a delay for Rod to turn and fireball her as well. Overkill: flakes of kobold ash drifted to the ground.

Kellan ran forward and healed Jaag, then dragged him to his feet and hustled him towards the door. "Now can we leave?"

Rod eyed the doorway where the giff was, no doubt, frantically reloading. "No point leaving the leader alive!"

Tanthril, Nik, and Kellan sighed. Though they were all near death, they drew their weapons and charged the giff's bolt-hole. Unlike the stubby-legged dwarf, they made the full charge before the giff could really regain his composure. He swung his musket at Tanthril and landed a vicious head-butt on Nik, but they held on, clearly resigned to death. Whether by inspiration or desperation, they fought until the giff dropped lifeless to the floor.

The room was quiet, until the barest whisper of noise floated up from the hole where the gauths retreated.

And with that, their adrenaline rush extinguished, the party fled.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

JAAG's TWELFTH SESSION JOURNAL

...And so, as our group waited for the water to drain through the floor, our bodies compressed in the confines of the small room, the dragon's watery abode behind us through one door, and who-knows-what-but-at-least-its-dry through the door ahead, I turned the heavy handle of the door and prepared to enter deeper into the enemies lair.

The ensuing battle was quick and messy. I quickly began to close ranks against what appeared to be the leader of this band of dragon minions--A hippo headed pirate captain stood partly behind a door, armed with muskets and a belly laugh that made the room rattle. I made it halfway to him before I became acquainted with the taste of black powder. Undaunted, I continued my advance through the cloud of smoke. This time I took the brunt of two musket shots, causing me to miss my axe swing and making me want to rub my eyes and put out the smoldering flames from my beard. It was then that the fat bastard hit me across the jaw with the butt of his rifle. I can still hear him laughing. Broken, I knew better than to stand toe-to-toe with him any longer, my jaw was barely holding on, and my armor was too little protection to guard what little life I had left--it was time to RUN! I quickly took cover behind the door we had entered--and still I could hear him laughing. The rest of the battle...well, you'll have to ask somebody else about that.

Needless to say, I made it out alive. My jaw is healing, and my beard is trimmed a little closer. As big as he was, he won't be laughing any more now that he's dead. I have the others to thank for my life. Thankfully, I haven't heard them making fun of my newly trimmed beard, and I never will if they know what's best for them.