Part 1 - In which our heroes dither and
procrastinate Book Two, Chapter 3.2
(session 66, 20 th November 2018) The Party: Naergon Harna, elven wizard (Diviner) Mads Rangle, human
fighter/warlock (Fiend: Archdevil Zariel) Jamna Gleamsilver, gnome rogue (Arcane
Trickster) Tomaz Stormwind, human ranger
(Hunter) Druscilla Oakenrock, dwarven
cleric (Trickery: Mask) Talis Wintercrest, half-elven
cleric (War: Bane) Whilst Tomaz continues to observe the camp and
Naergon uses his clairvoyance to study the interior of the tent there is much
discussion and planning as to how they might grab the two dragon masks. Plans
include polymorphing into insects to gain entry, teleporting in for a smash ‘n’
grab, masking the tent with silence, walls of force, blade barrier or similar.
In the end no-one is very confident of their ability to get in and back out
again. Mads suggests that they create a diversion to divert
the attention of the minions whilst others teleport in and grab the masks from
Rezmir and Galvan. Tomaz dismisses this as just alerting everyone as to their
presence, Druscilla and Naergon point out that Rezmir knows they are in the
area. Tomaz says he doesn’t think the cultists are aware that they’re here at
the camp. Naergon agrees but says he can’t see how a distraction here would
help – it would have to be some distance away to pull the minions away. Tomaz
is concerned they would just send a scouting group to investigate. Mads adds
that if it was him, he’d send the dragon to check it out. Druscilla says “ but that’s a good thing isn’t it?” Mads
finishes by saying “ yes but it leaves all
the minions here.” After a while Druscilla continues “ I still like that idea though, especially if
we could put a dragon up in the sky ”. Naergon purses his lips “ I could put a dragon in the sky but I’d need
to relearn some spells first and I’m pretty sure this lot will be packed up and
gone by then”. “Agreed” says Mads, “ I
get the distinct impression this lot will be packing up and leaving fairly soon
– certainly today.” “Hang on ” says Naergon, “ if they are going to pack up and move, how are they doing that?”
Druscilla says “ they could teleport . .
.” “What? All of them?” says Naergon, “ I
don’t think so” Tomaz turns to Talis and snarls “ So, I’m no fan of having you here. Time to
earn some salt. What can you do to make this situation better?” “Such a
charmer, I bet all the snakes adore you. Well I can do many thinks: flame
strike, insect plague, silence, hold person, guardian of faith. I’m sure if I’d
been allowed to keep that shiny rod I’d be able to be more useful. Or I could
just satisfy your suspicions and let Galvan know you’re here . . .maybe I have already?” “I’m
still in favour of distraction ” says Naergon. “ Yes, works for me too ” says Mads, “ let’s say it works and oh I dunno, half the
minions, the dragon and Galvan all leave. Which is probably better than we can
hope. What would our next move be?” “Hmm” muses Naergon, “ well firstly, you’d hope they wouldn’t go in
person to investigate but rather despatch minions led by one of the others –
the half blue dragon warrior for instance. Ideally we’d like both mask wearer’s
to stay behind but whatever, we’d be looking at generating a situation where it
would be more likely a teleport and grab mission could succeed. I think” “I
understand that Naergon ” explains Mads, slowly, “ let me be clear. If there were no guards and
just the four in the tent, and the dragon I guess, would you be happy to take
our chances in an assault?” “Well, to be honest, I’d be happier I we were back
in Waterdeep having a bath and a glass of wine or even talking to the Council.
But if we’re going to go and do this, I think that’s as good as it gets. You
see my view is that I’m not absolutely convinced it’s the best course of
action. We might be better of trying to follow them or track them. If we go in
here and now, that’s no small undertaking, this isn’t a minor skirmish this is
a serious challenge and ” he lowers his voice to a whisper, whilst looking
sidelong at Talis “ if we’re honest we’ve
struggled against Rezmir on her own, we struggled against Talis, we struggled
against Neronvein. And that was with planning, so am I convinced of this as a plan?
No I’m not!” Mads leans back, chewing on some hardtack and
studies Naergon carefully “ Ok, yes, I’m
with you absolutely. I agree, you’re right, yes this battle cannot be won”
“Absolutely ” says Naergon “ it can’t
be done”. “I agree also ” says Druscilla. Mads looks from one to the other “ So, we just wait and see where they go?”
“Yes, and follow them from a distance ” agrees Druscilla. Tomaz leans across
and says “ If they do camp up for the
night, then I think we should strike.” “They won’t ” chorus Mads and
Naergon. Mads continues “ but if they do,
you’re more than welcome to go and do so .” “Right
then ” says Tomaz “ I’ll
make myself comfortable on the rise and observe ” [casts pass without trace
and uses Hide in Plain Sight]. Talis lays down, stretches herself out and tips
her hat over her face “ let me know if you
decide to do something ” she mutters. Over the next couple of hours Tomaz watches
the cultists eat in a rota. At about midday, Rezmir, Galvan, the half-blue
dragon and the other human come out of the tent. Galvan and Rezmir walk up to
the dragon whilst the half-blue and human head off and call groups of cultists
to order before starting to issue commands. The cultists begin to converge in
clumps on these leaders. Galvan mounts the blue dragon, then puts his hand down
and helps Rezmir up behind him. Tomaz watches Galvan carefully and sees him pull
something small from his belt as the dragon rises some ten to fifteen feet into
the air. Then all three blink out of existence. Tomaz continues to watch in
silence as the cultists start to pack up the camp, many of them collapsing the
large tent and stripping it into man-portable packs. The half-dragon and human
from the tent are clearly in command and within an hour the mass of cultists
have roughly sorted themselves into a march column and start to leave. Eventually Tomaz alerts the party to what has
happened. Mads looks up “ so everything we
were after, Rezmir, Galvan the masks, has gone then?” “Yes, looks like ”
says Druscilla. Talis yawns as Druscilla says “ well that didn’t work. Are we going to try and grab one of these two
now?” “We’d have to fight them all” objects Mads, “ I’m just throwing it out there ” says Druscilla “ because, otherwise how are we going to find
out where the masks have gone?” “I have no idea how you track someone who
teleported ” says Mads. “ You’ don’t
dear ” says Talis from beneath her hat “ you
need to already have a handle on them ”. Druscilla turns her back and
continues “ we can’t, so we need to find
out where they’ve gone”. “Yes, yes, agreed ” responds Mads, “ it’s just there’s a lot of them and grabbing
one of the leaders is likely to be difficult” “Worth a shot though isn’t it?”
asks Druscilla “ Maybe – I’d imagine if
there was one who’d know it would be that half-blue” says Mads. Druscilla turns to the rest “ Well, what do you think? We’re going to have to act quickly if we’re
going to do anything ”. Mads says “ well,
I’m kind of interested in seeing what they are going to do next”. “What if they
all disappear?” says Druscilla. “ What?
You think they’ve all got teleport? Seems unlikely” stutters Mads. “No! ” says Naergon. “ Me neither ” agrees Mads, “ I think we just wait it out and see where
they’re going ”. “ OK” says
Druscilla. “ I agree ” confirms
Naergon. Neither Tomaz nor Jamna say anything as Druscilla and Mads look
around. From beneath her hat Talis mutters “I’m
beginning to understand how Rezmir keeps getting away”. For the next 25 days the party follows the column of
cultists as they march roughly south-west across the desert, crossing the Black
Road and heading ever more southwards towards the Sunset Mountains. Several
days in Mads raises the possibility of sneaking in amongst the cultists,
disguising themselves and infiltrating the column. Tomaz rejects the idea as
too risky. Druscilla asks what’s to gain, “ Do
we need to take that chance?” “Possibly not” admits Mads “ but where they are going to is probably
better defended and harder to break in to than the camp back there” “Undoubtedly”
agrees Druscilla “ however at least we’ll
know where they are and be able to report back”. “Ok then ” Mads concurs, “ Besides ” continues Druscilla “ they may just go somewhere we know”. Mads turns to Tomaz “ so, the other day, you told me you were a member of the Harpers, or at
least that’s who you worked for, Right?” “Agreed” nods Tomaz solemnly. “ Right, so what support are they intending on
offering. Other than sending you to make notes on Naergon’s performance?”
continues Mads. “ They grant me the same
support that I’m sure your faction awards you” replies Tomaz rather
huffily. “ Hey, what support am I being
offered?” questions Mads. “Well, I
don’t know ” stutters Tomaz. “ So, how
can you say that you’re being given the same?” demands Mads. Tomaz glares,
sniffs and keeps marching. Mads tries again, “look, Tomaz, maybe we’re talking past each other here. Have your
Harper friends told you ‘find the place and we’ll send six thousand soldiers to
take down the cult’ or something similar?” Tomaz continues to stare ahead “well that is indeed what I would hope they
would do”. “But they’ve made no promise, offer or guarantee?” pushes Mads. “All I am doing is scouting for them ”
snaps Tomaz. “ yes, yes, I realise that ”
Mads continues “ but if you scout it at,
find the site, go back to the Harpers and tell them that have they said to you
that when they get that information they’ll send the troops in?” “No they have
not made that definitive statement” replies Tomaz “ have they insinuated that then?”
“Again it’s up the Council, they will decide.” Tomaz grunts. “ Oh, sorry. So, it’s not the Harpers then
that will support you it’s the whole Council?” Tomaz stops, stares at Mads
“ The Harpers are a fundamental part of
the Council, my information is fed to them, they pass that to the Council and
then in discussion and with the agreement of the Council decide on a course of
action. A course of action that benefits all. The support itself will come from
the members of the Council not the Harpers alone.” “Naergon ”
Mads calls, dropping back in the line a bit “ the Harpers have they promised you any actual support should we find
the cult base? Are they going to do something or is everything just in your
hands?” “Ah, harrumph, well, no. Err that is, they haven’t told me the
specifics of anything in particular no. I think it goes along the lines of ‘as
we get more information, we might decide to do something’ but no, I haven’t
been promised anything”. “OK” says Mads, looking at the others. Druscilla
catches his eye “no I have nothing to add to that” Mads, stops in his tracks. “ Ok, the reason I asked and the reason I’m kind of shocked by your
responses is that I’m in an entirely different situation” “Yes, Mads, we know.
You’ve got a devil on your shoulder, we know !” says Naergon snippily. “ I have more than that Naergon ” cries
Mads, “ I have an assurance that when this
place is found, let me know and an army will be there!” That’s cool” says
Druscilla. “ Yeah, good for you ”
agrees Naergon. Mads looks around “ well I
was thinking two armies are better than one but apparently we only have one. At
the moment.” “I suspect we’ll only ever have one ” says Naergon. “ OK?” says Mads unhappily. “ Hey, if your guys are really that good we
may only need to hang around as bystanders” Naergon says “ with luck ” Druscilla turns back “ The question is, considering where his support comes from. Do we want
them to get it though?” Naergon looks up at the late evening sun “ we’ll have to worry about that then I think.
At the end of the day if there needs to be a mass assault I’m sure the Lords
Alliance will provide the armies to do that, hopefully the Dwarf Lords, Baldurs
Gate even Cormyr and others will as well but as I understand the Council’s
intent or hope at least, and our purpose is to try and foil this attempt
without resorting to that. The belief is that, if we can snaffle the masks then
the ritual can’t take place and thus no Return of Tiamat. If we can’t prevent
the ritual taking place then it will be all out war. Now I don’t know about you
but I have my suspicions that if it comes to that there will be thousands of
soldiers pitted against thousands of cultists but that someone is going to have
to penetrate the inner sanctum or whatever and physically interrupt or stop the
ritual. Who do you think the Council will pick for that juicy job?” “Wow, yeah,
guess so” says Mads, scratching Ringo on the head. “ So, I guess we just follow this lot and see if they lead us anywhere?”
“Yes” agrees Druscilla “ and then report
it back to our contacts” Eventually, after many days travel the cult column
emerges into the foothills of the Sunset Mountains, an area of stony plains
broken up by sharp cliffs, mesas and ridges dotted with sturdy fortified
villages, clinging to the top and sides. With the Sunset Mountains themselves
still over a hundred miles away the column starts to break up, individual
clumps and groups of cultists heading to different villages. As the density of
the villages and frequency of cult patrols increases the party start to hang
back eventually they can no longer safely track the cult leaders and lose the
trail in the increasingly heavy traffic. Tomaz casts around in an attempt to
pick up the somewhat distinctive tracks of the half-blue dragon [survival 9]
but can’t distinguish them. It seems clear that the closer to the mountains
they get, the closer to the centre of cult activity. Finding somewhere to hole up in a concealed ravine
the party discusses what to do now. Mads says “ I reckon we could go into one of the villages and grab some prisoners
for interrogation?” Tomas says “I
think we should report back to our sponsors and inform them that we have
located the cult army ” Druscilla interrupts “ I’m not sure we can be certain we have, have we?” “Well maybe, maybe
not ” continues Tomaz “ but an attack
here with the forces of the Lords Alliance could eliminate a lot of cultists”.
“OK ” agrees Mads “it can’t hurt to
tell them, let us know when they get back to you with instructions”. Mads continues “and
whilst we’re waiting how about we do a village?” “Hmm ” says Druscilla “ I’m not sure how much good that will do,
won’t we just alert them to danger? I mean that has to be a risk right?”
Mads ponders “ yes, but there’s always a
risk right? Just sitting here is a risk!” “Those of us with solid disguise
abilities, Jamna that’s you as well, I think we could infiltrate safely enough.
Though I’m not sure what we get out of it” says Druscilla. From the back of the ravine Talis mutters “ I’m beginning to understand how Rezmir
eluded you for so long”. “Oh, here we go” growls Mads. “ Look darling, it’s just an observation.
Anyway, remind me what’s your plan?”
Mads slowly and with careful enunciation spells out “ I believe the plan is that we’re waiting for
Tomaz’s contacts to get back to him with instructions from the Council. He’s
informed them that we have found the location of the cult army or at least a
significant part of it you see.” “Oh, I see, that’s lovely dear, and then what
do we do?” “Well it rather depends on their response!” growls Mads. “Ok, whatever ” and Talis lays down under
her hat once more. Mads glowers at her. Druscilla, changing the subject says “ Naergon, what are your thoughts?” “Err, hmm.
I don’t know really. I think . . . well maybe . . . you know I can’t really be
bothered with these villages. I don’t think these minions are going to know the
first thing about the main event.” After a moments pause, he continues “And the main event isn’t going to be in
these villages anyway. I mean sure if you want to infiltrate a village and ask
some questions sure. Like, well for one thing why here? What’s here that makes
them want to gather here, now? I mean this isn’t where the ritual’s happening
is it? I don’t think so!” “Well they have to live somewhere” says Tomaz. “ Yeah sure, I get that” agrees Naergon.
Mads interjects “ well if they gathered in
these numbers in a city they soon attract too much attention wouldn’t they?
That’s why they’re out here in the middle of nowhere” “Yes, yes, fair points
but what I mean is why here? There’s no cult leaders here are there? No
wyrmspeakers just a bunch of grunts and a few sergeants with their families
sitting around in villages. Where did the main guys go ?” muses Naergon. “ Well, the half-blue went south towards the
mountains ” says Mads. “ Well then we
should go further south ” says Naergon. “ Yep,
I’m for that ” agrees Druscilla. Tomaz says “ South is a bit vague, I lost their tracks some time ago. All we know is
they went south towards the mountains, we lost our opportunity when we let
Rezmir and Galvan teleport away”. “What opportunity? ” spits Mads. Everyone stares southwards towards the looming
presence of the Sunset Mountains. “ What
do we know about these mountains anyway?” asks Naergon “ What’s here? Wasn’t there a volcanic cauldron
called The Well of Dragons, isn’t that in this area?” “No idea” says Mads, “me neither ” adds Tomaz. Talis puts a
hand on Naergon’s shoulder, leans in and points to the eastern end of the
mountain range “ The Dragon’s Well is
between the third and fourth peaks darling. An ancient extinct volcano, once
home to some granddaddy red wyrm according to legend. Why do you ask?” Mads stands up and peers across the dusty miles “ The Well of Dragons? Do you think that’s
where they’ll hold the ritual?” “We’ve come across many a reference to it ”
says Naergon, turning and removing her hand from his shoulder “Talis, what do you know?” “Oh dear, the
total tonnage of what I know would crush you. But yes the Well of dragons has
been mentioned by many of the wyrmspeakers. Of course I was never invited but
as I understand it, it’s very important to Severin. Wouldn’t surprise me if
that was where he’d hold his ritual. It has the right ring to it doesn’t it?”
Mads turns “ yes
absolutely it sounds like it is. Didn’t you feel like sharing earlier? Could
have saved us a lot of time and effort” “But Maddsy, I thought you knew, after
all you’ve been chasing after me for all these months I felt certain you knew
as much as I did about the cult by now” Naergon sighs deeply “ well that’s where we should go then. If
Rezmir and Galvan have gone anywhere that’ll be it. Unless anyone has a better
idea?” “No, I haven’t ” says Druscilla “ not
that I’m saying that I think that’s a good idea either, you understand?” “I
think we should tell the Council ” says Tomaz “before we do anything else”. “Agreed” says Druscilla “ I think we should all make our reports that
the Well of Dragons is the suspected focal point and see what they want us to
do next”