Well, that went well . . . Book Two, Chapter 2.1 (session 43, 15 th March 2018) The dragon didn’t like Naergon sealing its lair entrance, so as Augustus pushed through the last of the heavy thorn walls to approach the pond, the dragon breathed poison on him and Naergon, and kept Mads and Jamna locked down with a circle of entangling roots. Franz missed his shots then the dragon slammed another wall of thorns on Naergon and Augustus, dropping Naergon and the wall of force. Mads charged into the cave entrance and slew several enthralled elves. Jamna continued to cower in the corner, whilst Franz and Augustus made their way towards Naergon through the entangling walls of thorns. The dragon swept into the cave entrance, and dropped Mads with its bite and claws before disappearing down into the darkness. Franz, Augustus and Jamna managed to stabilise Mads but sadly Naergon breathed his last before they could get to him. Screaming in frustration they carried the unconscious and dead bodies back through the forest and into the village of Altand. Here the villagers did what they could to assist but without either village priest or warden (Galin it seemed had packed his bags and fled overnight following the threats of the day before) this was little more than food, drink and warmth. Augustus once again watched in some bemusement as various party members muttered discretely into items of jewellery. Nevertheless after a nights rest, Mads was on his feet and despite the loss of his precious glaive, the party galloped pell-mell for Daggerford and then Waterdeep with the body of Naergon in the hopes that the Council would be able to help. At the Council, Onthar and Remalia stepped forward immediately and made arrangements with the Temple of Lathander for Naergon to be revived. Mads insisted on carrying him there, but on the steps of the temple High Lightseeker Bronthir stopped him saying “you and your ‘Friends’ are not welcome here – and you wouldn’t like it inside”, without complaint Mads laid his bedroll on the steps of the temple and waited – strong wafts of incense and the sing-song of chanting acolytes floated on the cold snow laden air from the depths of the temple sanctum. The others completed their report to the Council and handed over the Green dragon Mask. Overall everyone was happy with events (King Melandrach was absent from proceedings as he was not dealing with the revelations about Neronvain very well), the Mask was to be examined by the best sages Waterdeep could provide to determine how essential it was to the Cult and its Ritual. Delaan opined that this was the best result, the dragon was freed of coercion and returned to the wild – not everyone agreed with that position but without Melandrach no-one spoke strongly in defence of the elven kingdoms. Naergon was successfully revived and emerged from the Temple of Lathander to be met by Mads. Further discussions were had and the Council informed all that agents had reported that the mysterious floating castle the party had missed in their pursuit of Rezmir to Parnast had been located, crashed and fallen in the desert beyond the mountains. The Council wondered if this was a result of the ‘disagreement’ between Talis and Rezmir but the hope was clear, perhaps here there was chance of another Mask or perhaps two, Rezmir’s Black and Talis’ White – the party should certainly explore the possibility. They could get close easily enough via the teleportation circles at Castle Naergon and Franz’s Hunting Lodge after all. But first Mads was determined they should make an effort to collect his glaive – dropped in the entrance of the green dragon’s lair. Whilst the Council felt this was an unnecessary delay, the party were adamant in their agreement that this came first. Therefore with borrowed hippogriffs they returned to Altand and again ventured into the thorny wilds of the dragons domain. Mads was polymorphed into a Giant Eagle and granted darkvision by Naergon and then he soared high above the dragon’s minions before plummeting through the night straight towards the waterfall and the lair entrance. He fell silently, bursting through a cloud of bats to alight in a beat of wings at the rocky edge of the entrance. His glaive nowhere in sight, the eagle Mads flew silently into the cave entrance, dropping steeply down towards a glimmer of light from torches, he halted unseen as he spotted the forms of several Dragonclaws (soldiers of the Cult) standing guard in the dim glow of torches at the foot of the steeply sloping shaft – the tunnel certainly disappeared deeper, deeper into impenetrable darkness. In frustration Mads the eagle, turned and left, gliding silently through the night to Naergon and the rest. In order to regain his glaive the party will need to brave the depths of the dragon’s lair – and almost certainly it will be expecting them. Time to do some planning No levels were gained this session: Naergon 10 th level Mads 9 th level Franz 9 th level Jamna 9 th level Augustus 9 th level XP earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP In-Game the session ended at 02:00 on 12 th Ches 1485 DR