Thursday knights

Eberron. Even more.

The party stowed the mules and treasures within the cave and ventured further into the ruins. Up a rise that overlooked the entirety of the ancient structures, they picked their way step by step toward the cubic building at the peak. 

It was there that they were stopped in their tracks by the appearance of a foe from the recent past. The dragon had been waiting here for their potential arrival. There was nothing to do, but try to find cover  though it would do them little good, but the dragon didn't attack.

A'lan had dragon blood in his veins and hints of scales on his skin. He stood forth and addressed the dragon in the draconic tongue. " We are not your enemies."

A conversation began with A'lan translating for the group. The dragon asked which of the party was the seeker. After a brief hesitation Ennark spoke up and it was translated back to the dragon.

The dragon explained that the seeker could enter the building and retrieve only one thing that they would know when they saw it. That there was a prophesy involving the seeker that foretold doom for everyone as the most likely outcome and that the dragon had guarded this place from those that would free the prisoner within.

Ennark was deeply concerned though determined to do his best to fulfill the mission given to him by the church, to seek out religious artifacts and relics that may aid in purifying the Silver Flame and lock away the demon lords forever. In he went.

Meanwhile the dragon ate his companions . . . just kidding.

There was a well in the center of the lower chamber within which flickered silver fire. to the left an image of a giant stood atop a plinth. Ahead was the king of dragons upon a similar plinth. To the right was a great stone book. He first approached the giant. It looked at him briefly then returned to ignoring him. The dragon king however conversed with him once asked a question. 

It was revealed that what would be needed to solve the problem presented in the prophecy is the blood of the paladin Tira Miron who had sacrificed herself to seal away the lead demon lord and end the war. What that would entail was left to be seen and Ennark temporarily put the thought aside. His next task was to examine the great tome.

The book opened at his approach and as he reached for the stone pages an image flickered to life above showing a vague map with a red marker and a word or phrase beneath it in another language. He surmised that the marker indicated where he was on the continent. He gestured as if to turn the page and the book did so, revealing a different location on an unknown continent, again with a red marker and another word beneath it. He was about to start copying the information to his journal when the tome closed and shrank to a carriable size. With heavy stone book in hand he returned to the outside, nervous, but accepting his fate at the will of the dragon. 

"Have I chosen correctly?" The dragon was uncertain and asked Ennark what he had seen in the well. Ennark described the changes in the light, first brightening, then darkening, and finally returning to its initial state. The dragon shuddered in fear. After recovering its composure the dragon stated it was now free to return home, and flew away leaving them all to decide the next course of action.

With the help of the party members skilled in the language of the giants, Ennark deduced that the names were those of the trapped demon lords and the book a map to their individual prisons. He dubbed the tome "The Book of Cages".

It was getting late in the day and the party decided the best thing was to return to the cave to rest before leaving for the journey back to Storm Reach the next morning. If only it had been so easy.

As they made their way out of the central ruins, spirits taking the form of flaming skulls arose and pursued them. The fight saw the bombardment of the party with blasts of fire, some against individuals, some covering areas where multiple party members were taking cover. Defeating the closest of these enemies, the party entered a full and rapid retreat eventually leaving the spirits to their business within the heart of the ancient city.

Once safely away, Ennark turned his mind to the riddle of the blood. Could it mean literal blood from her veins? Or maybe it refers to her descendants. How would he know? The morning would call for a Divination ritual to ask a question and hope the answer wouldn't be tainted by the dark element of the flame.

Thursday Knights

More Eberron.

When last we left off the party had made its way through the mountains to the high desert and had multiple monstrous encounters. 

We found a destroyed camp with bones scattered haphazardly about, having been picked over and dragged around by scavengers. Arrows littered the area (we would understand why later) and equipment was everywhere.

This time we worked our way through the desert sleeping till about noon and walking longer after dark, setting camp around 2 in the morning. It wasn't long, approaching dawn, that we were strafed by a brass dragon using its line of fire breath. 

The dragon made repeated flyby breath attacks doing heavy damage to party members with little in return from us. When the sun broke the horizon the dragon flew off and did not return that day. We could only assume it preferred the advantage of fighting in the darkness.

The dragon's color was identified when Ennark used a charge from his Gem of Brightness to try and blind it (failing of course). 

The next day we found the ruin the previous party of explorers were headed to. There was a large pyramidal structure likely built for or by giants, and three out-buildings. Each outbuilding had three circles on the floor, and different artwork on the walls. 

In the larger structure we found writing between two non-descript statues, The writing, despite being likely in giantish, was readable in each characters primary language. It told us that the keys to the tomb could be acquired by going into the three tombs of the servants, performing tasks and then returning with the keys.

There were three large gold amulets, sized more for giants than us, which we took with us into one of the out-buildings. Three of us with these disks stood in the three circles and the entire party was teleported into another location.

Statues lined the walls each looking at the ceiling with a look of terror on their faces while a larger 7th one sat at the far end of the room. There were puzzles or riddles written at the base of each of the 6 fearful statues that we needed to solve. When we got one wrong the angry cloud of energy at the peak of the ceiling increased in intensity.

The party quickly solved three riddles, but the first puzzle attempted was a failure. We're uncertain how to approach it and the remaining two beside that one.

Campaign Diary - Bloody Message, Angry Dragon

Vitrixis had hidden in his temporary lair for three days after his humiliation in Thistleblack at the hands of the party. Now it was the dragon's intention to return and gather what was his. 

The party had moved on, but they had left a message. Painted in horse blood upon the wall of the ruined tower was this: "I'm still alive and I will remember you." Korved's taunting script sent Vitrixis into a blind rage.

The yellow dragon wyrmling vented his great anger upon the crumbling remains of the tower, collapsing it in upon itself. Not only would he have the contents of their precious Ptolus vault, but he would kill them all, saving the impudent priest for last. 

His leathery wings beat hard against the air as he flew east toward the City by the Spire.

Campaign Diary - A Familiar Robber in the Night

 Location: The ruins of Thistleblack a long abandoned town with a strange nature. Below the ruins are a dungeon with crypts and a time twisted magical library.

Party in play: 

Rae - Elf. Fighter 1/ Wizard 4.  One of the original members of the party that originated in the town of Little Plains. She is somewhat of a strategist and creative tactician always looking for an edge when the situation gets dicey.

Wulfe - Elf. Fighter 1/ Wizard 4. Originally from a small town north of Ptolus near the Moonsilver Forest, he wandered westward to satisfy his curiosity about the frontier areas of the empire. Joining the group early in their adventuring career he has been a steadfast companion and effective in any dangerous situation. He wields Cheval, a Faery forged longsword known for occasional bursts of radiant energy.

Korved - Human. Cleric 4. An itinerant priest, he arrived in Little Plains hoping to come to grips with his recent experiences. He had joined the Gaen faith at a young age and over time found his thinking more in line with her masculine aspect Hannan. The non-violent and amicable split in the church was his signal to explore the world.

Sparky - Human. Fighter 4. She's a force to be reckoned with in a toe to toe fight. Recent life as a sword for hire had led to some less than respectable jobs and little in the way of pay. Joining an adventuring group seemed a wise choice.

Celestia - Elf. Fighter 1/ Wizard 2. A bold and confident adventurer, she puts forward an unfearful countenance. A recent addition to the group Celestia is making herself at home as if she were there all along despite lacking the experience of the other members.

Jill - Human. Fighter 3. A sell sword by trade, she has recently been down on her luck and in need of work. Hired to deliver a bag of coins to this group she ended up joining as a means of escaping from the butt end of the empire. Capable with sword and bow Jill is a good fit for the team.

It was close to dusk when the party realized they were nearing the ancient ruins of Thistleblack. Having departed Slune in a hurry two weeks ago they neglected to restock their rations. Tired and hungry they debated camping on the plains or making for the ruins and risking the dangers therein. The decision was made. If need be they might be able to eat something they could hunt in the ruins. To Thistleblack.

Rae and Wulfe had been here twice before and on both occasions found reasons not to remain. Beneath one wrecked building was a passage leading down into an odd set of halls and rooms. Deeper in was a crypt with some active undead guardians that they had chosen to avoid. On their second trip they discovered a library far below, accessed from a crumbling tower, that was time-twisted and magically imbued. Both occasions were disconcerting and they anticipated this time would be no different.

Entering the ruins they noted the eerie quiet, no sounds, not even wind disturbed the scene. Rae pointed out that the expected creatures, giant ticks, giant beetles, giant lizards and even flying dinosaurs all seemed absent. 

They chose to use the roofless wrecked building as their defensible campsite. Bringing the horses inside with them they then parked the wagons to block one entrance and built their camp fire just beyond the other. They set watch and proceeded to get some rest.

Just past midnight, early into second watch Celestia's keen hearing alerted her to the nearby arrival of something large flying in and landing in the direction of the crumbling tower. Jill, also on watch seemed fully absorbed in staring at the crackling campfire and missed this happening completely. Celestia made Jill aware of the possible visitor, but opted not to trouble the others as so far there was no definite threat. 

After a time a voice broke the silence of her mind, but Celestia noted she could not hear it with her ears. "Isn't this interesting, I know one of you elves."

Speaking out loud she replied to the inner voice. "Who are you and who do you know?"

"She sleeps so soundly, do not disturb her. Elves do not normally sleep." Celestia knew the voice meant Rae.

The odd conversation continued without revealing the identity of the speaker. Jill hearing only one part of the discussion finally asked, "Who are you talking to?" Having Celestia explain it was a voice in her head did nothing to ease Jill's concern.

Eventually Celestia's own concern grew enough that she quietly roused all of her companions and whispered to Rae the generalities of the conversation. That is when the voice was heard by Rae. "I know you." This time it was only Rae hearing the internal voice to which she was replying out loud. 

"Since we last met my tastes have become more extravagant. You and your friends will give me all of your gold."

"Shit" Rae knew it was the dragon that had slain half of the party early in their adventuring career when some of them objected to paying 400 silver to be left unharmed. She quietly informed everyone of their predicament and they agreed to pay the dragon.

Korved now as puzzled as Jill, looked around for anyone or anything hidden nearby, spotting nothing in the dimness. The the voice spoke to him. "One of you will bring me all of the gold you possess. Just one of you. It will be brought to the back of the tower."

Korved objected, insisting they see who they were talking with and that they put the gold out beyond the campfire in exchange for the dragon ensuring their safety until morning. Rae also chimed in to reinforce the safety request.

They gathered their limited gold into a single bag. Whispered debate included the idea of maybe slipping the Crystal of Calling in with it hoping to plague the dragon with constant visits by undead. This was decided against and instead they only prepared the gold.

This time an audible throaty voice answered back with the request and instructions for where to deliver the gold. "And one of your horses."

A whispered debate began between the party about this new condition. While the others were distracted by their debate, Celestia took the bag of gold and led their older gray work horse out. She had come close to the tower before they realized what she was doing.

She returned unharmed. 

Following shortly was the sound of beating wings and the terrified death screams of the old gray horse. It was all they could do to keep the remaining horses from complete panic. The dragon didn't stop to eat, instead returning to its roost atop the tower, shrouded from view in the darkness. Satisfied for the moment the dragon agreed to their safety till morning. 

They had no idea how big their tormentor and robber might be aside from Rae's knowledge that on last meeting it was a wyrmling and inexperienced.

Accepting their predicament the party decided to return to the watch schedule so some of them could attempt to rest. This time the elves chose to go into a trance state instead of a full sleep. The humans would have to take their rest as they could manage.

Dawn arrived and the party began preparing to travel, but not without some trepidation. They could now catch a glimpse of the wyrmling and it was about twice the size Rae remembered. 

Seeing that they were awake and active the yellow dragon decided to show itself in full glory so they would appreciate its benevolence. Flying to above their campfire it hovered, fanning the flames higher with the beat of its wings. There in full view was a yellow dragon wyrmling the size of a large man with wings even wider that its main body was tall.

"I am Vitrixis."

The party had planned for this in whispered conversation as they were bedding down and now proposed another deal with Vitrixis.

Korved spoke up. "We have another deal to offer you. We are travelling first to our town of Little Plains and then onward to Ptolus in the east. If you will protect us on our journey we will pay you 1,000 gold pieces when we arrive."

"Have you withheld gold?! Pay it now!"

It is in our vault in Ptolus. We don't have the gold on us only the key. Consider what we have already paid you a down payment."

"Your journey will take six of your weeks or more. My time is more valuable than your small offer and what you have already paid is but a drop. Give me the key, I will claim your vault as mine."

Korved again spoke up. "You would have trouble in a city the size of Ptolus being an animal."

Vitrixis cut him off, "An ANIMAL?! It is YOU  that are animals to be eaten or spared as dragons see fit."

Rae knew she needed to speak up and attempt to defuse the growing tension. "A dragon would encounter resistance in the city. How would you get to and from the vault safely? We could help you."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING OF DRAGONS! YOU ARE FOOLS! (I got to raise my voice for this part of the role-playing. It was fun booming this out.)

Vitrixis grew angrier seeing that these lesser, unworthy beings did not appear to be cowed by his display. He breathed a gout of blazing hot sand onto the two closest below him. Korved took the worst of it collapsing into unconsciousness with burns to his exposed flesh. Jill was also burned, but had avoided the severity that took Korved down.

Wulfe didn't hesitate, firing off a heightened burst of Magic Missiles. Sparky, Jill and Celestia pelted the dragon with arrows, some of them striking home. 

This was not the plan. Vitrixis now gambled that they had been lucky. "GIVE ME THE KEY!"

The answer was not to his liking. More spells and arrows were loosed and the wyrmling was gravely hurt. Rae thought he might hear her thoughts and without voicing it told the dragon to back off. Deciding his life was presently worth more than his pride Vitrixis darted away at speed as the party behind him readied to send a coordinated volley should he return.

After the dragon was out of sight Wulfe tended to the stricken Korved. He stabilized his companion who soon awakened and was able to cast curative magics on himself and Jill.

Still starving, discussion ensued as to what could be done about food. Hunting would take time, but Korved had another idea. "Cut a bunch of meat off of the dead horse. I can purify it and we can cook it. We can then take it with us and get out of here."

Their cooking done the party split the two remaining horses to pull both wagons and they began to put some distance between them, the dragon, and Thistleblack.

Meanwhile deep below the dead had been stirring. At first it was the active guardians. Now the ancient dead were emerging from their long rest. The processional through the crypts, hallways and rooms of the dungeon below the ruins made its way upward. The calling had been heard and they would follow.

Do Dragons Shit in their Hoard? (Things you can't unthink)

I was recently treated to a surprise party and the cake was D&D themed. The main cake was a DM's Guide book upon which sat a dragon's hoard and a black dragon with eggs sleeping atop it. The hoard was created from chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. When removing the hoard of coins from beneath the dragon, some of them were coated with bits of the caramel icing from the book cake below, and this got me thinking.

In the real world (you know, the crutch for people that can't handle fantasy) hibernating creatures do indeed defecate and urinate during their long sleep. In fantasy, dragons are said to sleep sometimes for centuries between rampages. While it doesn't really matter for telling stories it might be fun for DM's that like to gross-out, inconvenience, or otherwise poke fun at the players and their characters, to add dragon feces to the list of things found in a hibernating dragon's hoard.

While nearly all fantasy stories completely ignore the unclean aspects of reality, unless we're talking about Game of Thrones, it might be fun to explore how much more difficult for our adventurers these things can make recovering treasure from lairs. Over the dragon's lifetime it has accumulated wealth during each rampage and then hibernated upon the pile creating strata of secreted waste that a geologist could use to determine the age of the beast and maybe when each rampage began and ended. The collection of filthy lucre would have things glued together, stuff that is a challenge to identify, and would add weight and bulk to what is collected.

"You're trying to pay for a room at my inn using shit caked money?! Bunch o' fuckin' murder hobos, get out of my tavern!"

Admittedly, walking around with packs full of loot reeking of dragon waste may keep some creatures away from the party, it is just as likely to draw others to camp. "Do you want assassin bugs? 'cause that's how you get assassin bugs." Imagine crossing through another dragon's territory leaving a trail of scent along the way. Will the offended dragon follow the scent trail to the party or back to the rest of the hoard? If to the hoard, will it be there should the party return for more treasure, or maybe to the town where they carried the loot? The odor of dragon waste might make for an interesting problem to overcome.

If any reader has done this or does do something like this please come and comment a brief bit about how the players reacted. Hopefully it's some funny shit.

West Marches sessions 7, 8, & 9

Having fallen behind on session posts this will be a quick look at the activities of 3 sessions.

Two new players joined, adding their characters to the party. Rolfe (fighter), Lilura (wizard).

Rolfe and Lilura had arrived in town seeking to join an adventuring company and were accepted by the group. Safety in numbers.

The group decided that they would return to the scorpion cave and continue to explore. The cave no longer housed scorpions, though the other inhabitants were present proving to be a serious challenge. Blending into the surrounding stone and striking from above, the chokers grabbed at the explorers inflicting wounds on most of the party. After slaying two of the creatures and aware of at least one other still skulking nearby, the group retreated to seek the safety of the town.

The party agreed to venture to the surroundings of the Thistleblack Ruins to collect the unopened buds from the thistle plant that gave the ruined city its name, on behalf of Santhosh the local chirrurgeon and apothecary. The trip proved quite dangerous yet successful.

They encountered a large spitting cobra which temporarily blinded Mira. On their way back they discovered a small spring guarded by some large centipedes. They retrieved a black sapphire from the bottom of the spring, and two members of the party contracted an itchy rash which eventually went away. The spring is now called Blackstone Spring.

Their second trip to the ruins was prompted by their curiosity and at the request of Hart, high priestess of the goddess Vesta, to seek a rumored library which may contain knowledge of a divine nature that could greatly help the temple and community.

Reaching city center they began exploring the surface ruins, eventually coming under repeated attacks by ravenous beetles and lizards. Discovering a stairway leading below a partially standing building the party went below to investigate. A poison dart trap later and three members of the party were experiencing various stages of paralysis. This prompted a retreat back to their previous encampment outside the region of thistles.

While camped and with Rae paralyzed, a very young yellowish dragon attempted to extort treasure from the party. While some were willing to comply, Dorrak decided to insult the beast. One catastrophic reaction roll later left two party members dead, one dying, and another blinded from the scorching salt breath from the dragon. Dorrak decided to charge their attacker, against party wishes and paid for it with his life. The party surrendered 400 silver and begged for their lives. Mollified, the dragon departed.

Up till the dragon encounter that brought session 9 to a close there had been many close calls, but luck had prevented any casualties. This encounter resulted in 3 of the 7 party members dead and the others badly wounded.