Last time, we left our player characters
(the PC:s) in the middle of the first
episode. They had arrived in a beleagured Greenest, vowed to help the
townsfolk, found an old tunnel under the keep and saved some villagers from
being burned alive inside the temple of Chauntea. The night had more in store
for them, though, as this action-packed episode continued.
The Dragon Attack
While the rain kept falling, the
PC:s stealthily arrived at the keep and
returned the saved villagers to the courtyard. Governor Nighthill was suitably
pleased, but regretted that he couldn't offer any rewards until the night was over
and the damages could be calculated. The PC:s managed to trick an unwilling
Escobert into providing his own healing potions, however.
Suddenly, explosion-like loud noises
erupted from the parapet. The party headed up the ladder to find several guards
under attack by the large blue dragon himself! Groups of guards fell to a
single lightning blast as the azure reptile swooped by. They soon realised that
they couldn't do much about the situation, although Kerr had to be talked into
not jumping onto the dragon mid-flight.
Back in the safety of Nighthills
headquarters, the PC:s learned that the local mill was under attack by invaders
in dark cloaks. Through a spying glass, they also spotted the invader leaders
on the town square; a large half-dragon and an armored woman seemed to be in
charge of the looting operations. Governor Nighthill was also very interested
in securing a prisoner to be interrogated once the PC:s made it back.
Save
the Mill
Once again the PC:s set out through the
tunnel and stealthed off towards the mill. They spotted some raiders carrying
sacks and a chest on the bridge they had to pass, but decided not to compromise
their cover. In the dark, rainy night, it was easy reaching the mill in the
outskirts of town.
The raiders were still there, and still
trying to set fire to the building. Kerr sneaked up to one of them that looked
like a spellcaster and assassinated the raider quickly. The party followed up
in their surprise round by throwing axes and daggers which all hit their marks.
In a dying breath, the last raider threw his torch inside the mill, alerting
Garros, who set after it. Victor decided that one of the raiders would make a
fine prisoner, so he knocked him out with “the blunt edge” of his large warhammer.
Inside the mill, Garros looked around
and failed to see the four men who an instant later threw their spears at him.
They mostly missed, however, and jumped down or used the ladder to finish the
cleric off. Kerr and Victor heard the noises and split up, with Kerr climbing
up to the second floor and sneaked in through a window. The fight continued but
ended with four dead raiders and the PC:s hardly damaged at all. Outside, they
saw a familiar figure. Frulam Mondath had set up the trap and now applauded
them and commented that they would be a harder nut to crack than she expected.
Victor sprang at her, but with a flick of her hand, he fell, paralyzed, like a
slab of rock to the ground. Mondath disappeared into the night.
Prisoner
The knocked-out raider was carried back
to the keep and up to Nighthills quarters. The Dragon was nowhere to be seen,
so now there was some time to question the raider. Victor carried out an
elaborate water torture scheme and the PC:s learned that they were dealing with
the Cult of the Dragon. Nowadays, the cult planned to free the Dragon Queen
Tiamat from the nine hells and was now collecting a hoard of treasure in order
to accomplish this. They also learned Mondath’s and her sidekick Cyanwrath’s
names and that the raiders had set up a large camp from which they launched
their attacks and maybe even roosted some dragon eggs.
The Half-Dragon Champion
The fighting and looting started to calm
down after a couple of hours. The rain stopped falling and the party watched
the first sun rays find their way through the clouds. Suddenly, a booming voice
gathered the party on the keep walls. Cyanwrath, the half-dragon, was standing
outside with a retinue of mercenaries, dragon cultists and lots of kobolds. He addressed
the keep and demanded a duel with a champion of their choosing. In return, he
would release some prisoners.
Victor of Prestor finally rose to the
occasion and headed out to face Cyanwrath. He put up a remarkable fight,
surviving multiple attacks from both a halberd and a greatsword and damaging
the half-dragon, but ultimately fell to Cyanwrath’s lightning breath. The
nobleman’s world appeared to fade away, almost in slow-motion, while medics
rushed to his side and the raiders finally left the sacked village.
Thoughts:
This part of the adventure had
everything: some stealth for the rogue, a fight in different levels (the mill),
roleplaying (the torture scene in particular), some bad-ass showings from the
cult’s villains and a hero’s ending.
I chose not to run the sally port
mission since it doesn’t contribute much to the story and we were already a
little tired of fighting against similar foes. As we’re using the milestone
system, the characters didn’t miss out on any XP from this either, not to
mention that I didn’t have to explain what a sally port is. I liked introducing
Mondath early, so that Cyanwrath wouldn’t steal the spotlight completely.
All in all, it was a great afternoon and
both players and DM were already looking forward toward the next episode.
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