In which our heroes negotiate
with a dragon Book Two, Chapter 3.2
(session 73, 29 th January 2019) 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) Everyone stands frozen as the dragon emerges from the bell
tower, head twisting and staring at each of them in turn, tongue flicking in
and out and clouds of frozen vapour billowing from its nostrils. Naergon asks “ are you up
for attempting to negotiate with this thing Talis ?” [telepathic link].
Talis replies “yes, absolutely. Just give me a moment, I have this covered just buy
me a few seconds ” [telepathic link] as she fumbles in her backpack. Naergon turns and moves forward and to the side and
announces in a formal and slightly pretentious and pompous manner “My name is Naergon Harna and I was just
wondering if you wanted these giants eliminating as much as we do?” [draconic]
The dragon, curls its body down and past the ceiling rafters, shifting its gaze
form the darkness enshrouding Mads to stare directly at Naergon. “ Kill giants!” “Happy to do so ” responds
Naergon “ but where are the rest of them?
Do you know their whereabouts, we’ve only seen these giants in here”. “The
giants are here, they infest my lair and need to be expunged.” “Oh that’s a
good phrase” says Naergon “ err, how
many giants are we talking about? How many have invaded your lair, for we have
seen only four?” “Two dozen or more of the scum have invaded my domain.”
The dragon rumbles. “Ah that’s more than we have seen ” says Naergon, looking over his shoulder to see Talis
dragging her cult robes out of her backpack. “Err, can I just ask, oh mighty one. These two giants standing down
here, why could you not just kill them, they barely seem to be a threat for one
as powerful as yourself?” “They have my eggs!” hisses the dragon, claws
biting into the thick oak beams. “ Oh,
they do? Err do you know where they are keeping them?” asks Naergon. “ NO!” “Oh right, err where are all the giants then, are there
any more in this hall ?” asks Naergon,
keeping an eye on Talis. “There are no
more in this chamber but they infest this berg, crawling through their lodges
and sailing about in their flimsy boats. If you have not seen their Jarl in his
big ship, then he will be out hunting whales in the ice flows. You will
recognise his ship for my mate Cryovain has been cruelly chained to the deck.” “Oh indeed, there are two of you? And why is Cryovain
held captive?” asks Naergon, still
desperately stalling for time. “They took
our eggs and held them hostage, demanding we assist them in their hunt. As soon as Cryovain agreed and landed aboard
the ship, they threw chains around him and bolted him down. I was powerless to
help for fear of what the foul giants would do to my eggs.” “ Aha, so if we were to rescue your eggs and free Cryovain from these
despicable giants” asks Naergon “ what
would be in it for us?” “My gratitude” rumbles Isendraug. “I thought you might say that, could we
possibly elaborate a bit on what that gratitude might be, is it just verbal or
could it perhaps be a bit more tangible?” “So, what more would you like from
me, elf?” the dragon hisses. Naergon shuffles, glances sideways and asks
Talis “is it wise to mention the mask?” [telepathic
link] Talis, now replete in the purple
robes of a Wyrmspeaker of the Cult, complete with Insignia of Office, replies “ let me speak with her” [telepathic link]
and stepping forward, abases herself in front of Isendraug: “Your Magnificence, the most Esteemed Lady
of Scales, Scourge of the ice Sea. “Your Reverence, Lady Isendraug my name is Talis Wintercrest,
Wyrmspeaker of the White, despatched here on behalf of The Cult of the Dragon
with the greetings and salutations of His Gracious Presence Lord Severin. “I admit to being perplexed to find your lair occupied by
foul giants, we have had cause to slay several of them in reaching your inner
sanctum. I also cannot but notice that your mate, the mighty Cryovain is not
present. I am appalled to learn that he is chained to the deck of a giant’s
ship? And that you both are enthralled to this giant jarl who holds your eggs
hostage. This is an outrage. “Mighty Isendraug, your absence from the Convocation of
Scales occurring at the Well of Dragons this close to the impending Ritual and
advent of Her Majesty’s return has caused unease and speculation among the
Council of Wyrmspeakers. “In his concern Lord Severin has tasked me with attending
your luminous presence in order to ensure that all is well and to extend his
personal invitation to the Convocation and Ritual. As such I do, most humbly,
offer my services and those of my colleagues in whatever way we may be of
assistance in enabling you to bless the Convocation with your presence. “Lord Severin also asks that the White Mask of Tiamat,
long entrusted to your care be brought forth and placed into my hands so that I
can complete the Circle of Convocation and unite the Wyrmspeakers in the Mouth
of Tiamat and initiate the final stage of the Ritual. “Lady Isendraug will you allow us to assist you in this,
your hour of need?” “ Welcome Talis Wyrmspeaker. I am most grateful for your offer, please secure
my eggs and eliminate the giants infesting this lair. Then together we can free
Cryovain at which point I will happily entrust the white mask to your care and
accompany you to the Great Ritual. For your comrades, mercenary creatures I can
appreciate will require a fee, I offer them to pick one item from my hoard in
gratitude for their service.” Further conversation,
investigation and questioning reveals that Isendraug believes her eggs are held
somewhere on the berg, that Jarl Storvald is out whale hunting. That the large
doors the giants were standing in front of are the original entrance doors, now
sealed shut by a thousand tons of ice and snow. That the large hole in the
corner of the temple lodge leads through a frozen tunnel into the lagoon, deep
underwater and is the dragon’s usual means of entry and exit. With that the party takes its
leave of the dragon and emerges once more onto the windswept slopes of the
iceberg. “Well where do we begin the
search, down by the docks in the lagoon?” asks Naergon. Tomaz replies “ I do not think so, I think the eggs will
either be secured on board the jarl’s ship or stashed in one of the intact
lodges. I suggest that before we descend on the ships and kick off a huge
fight, we should sneak into the lodges and search them.” Druscilla says “ for once that sounds quite sensible”.
“Indeed ” agrees Naergon “ I’m not
going to argue with that either.” “I think we should continue to explore round
the southern edge of the berg, see how many other lodges there are” says
Tomaz. “ There’s a sheer cliff face on
this side Tomaz” replies Mads “ we’d
need to rappel across”. “Or fly, or
dimension door, or something” says Jamna. “ Still we should cross and explore” insists Tomaz. “I’m happy to fly across, take a look and carry a rope
across and fix it to assist in repelling”
says Druscilla. That agreed the dwarf flies a rope across and the rest of the
party successfully rappel across the cliff face to the southern face of the
iceberg. Once across Naergon turns to Druscilla and says “ whilst you’re flying, why don’t you take a look around the rest of the
berg? It’ll be a lot faster than slogging through the ice and snow. Go and
explore a bit and then we can decide what to do.” “No problem at all, I’ll be
back in ten minutes. No more” says Druscilla as she launches herself off
the cliff, her cloak spreading out like huge raven wings behind her. Druscilla identifies two
tunnels in the inner ring of the berg, similar to the tunnel they explored from
the first lodge. One of them looks like it might lead into a particularly large
lodge that’s still intact. Other than that lodge, the lodge and temple already
explored and the boathouse there does not seem to be any other intact
buildings. Looking into the lagoon she can make out deep underwater the exit of
another tunnel, presumably the dragon’s tunnel into the temple. The southern
face of the berg is split by an entrance way, capped by a huge shelf of ice.
The entrance is blocked by a vast net of chains that looks like it can be
lowered to allow passage. Between the party and the boathouse is a much smaller
hut almost completely covered in ice. Returning to the group they
decide to investigate the small hut or outbuilding before crossing to the large
lodge. Looking inside they find a bare, single chamber space. In the centre of
the floor is a five-foot diameter hole. Peering inside the hole, they make out a
forty-foot deep cistern, widening to thirty-feet in diameter, the base of which
is covered in frozen giant turds. Tomaz says “ well if you held dragons in contempt, where better to hide dragon
eggs?” “Dive in then Tomaz” encourages Mads. “ No, no not me I, err, I don’t hold dragons in contempt” stutters
Tomaz stepping away from the edge. He looks wildly around “ Talis, you should look, you know what dragon eggs look like I bet ”.
Talis just glares at him, turns and stalks out onto the icy cliff of the berg. Standing in the howling gale,
ice starting to cake her cloak Talis says “ So
what’s the plan? I got you this far where next?” Tomaz follows and says “ Maybe we should explore one of these other
tunnels that Druscilla saw?” “Are you mad ” spits Druscilla “how do you propose to do that from here,
they’re on the inside face of the berg!” “Ok then so it’s either checking out
the giant latrine in there ” Tomaz points inside “ or, erm . . .” “They might be in the boathouse next door ” Druscilla
cuts him off. Tomaz replies “ I don’t
think so but we should check out the latrine don’t you think?” “Oh very well”
mutters Druscilla “I really don’t know what you’re scared of its only frozen
poo!” With that Druscilla climbs down into the cistern and confirms there
are no dragoon eggs in the hole. “Right then” says
Druscilla “ we have the option of
exploring the boathouse or climbing over the chain and checking out the big
lodge on that side” The lodge” says Tomaz, “ Yes, the lodge” votes Mads. Naergon says “ whichever, I don’t think it matters but let’s get out of this storm”. With
that the party makes its way down to the entrance and clambers across the vast
chain linking the net of chains together. Once on the far side they
stand in front of a massive three-storey lodge, partially buried under the ice
shelf. Tomaz confirms there has been a reasonable amount of traffic in and out
of the doors. Looking up they see a cold blue light spreading out from the
first floor balcony. The second floor garret window is blank and dark however.
Looking up to the window, Mads says “ I
can send Ringo up there with a rope then I’m sure we can climb up, it’s that or
the front doors. What do you think?” “Works for me” says Druscilla “Agreed” says Tomaz. One by one, the party clamber
up the rope and through the open window into the attic chamber. Next to the
window, hanging from a chain bolted to a rafter, is a twenty-foot tall wooden
cage that holds a giant owl. In the centre of the room is an opening in the
floor, through which the top of a giant-sized ladder juts and a cold blue light
glows. Beyond at the far end are a number of crates and chests, all covered in
a dusting of ice and snow. The owl blinks and stares at the party but otherwise
does not react. Tomaz suggests “ this
might be an alarm owl, should we kill it?” “ Those chests, crates and barrels are big enough to hold dragon eggs”
says Tomaz confidently. Mads asks “ should
we lift up the ladder before exploring further?” Tomaz replies “ I say we deal with the owl and then lift the
ladder” Druscilla interjects “ the owl
hasn’t reacted to us thus far, why disturb it? If it was an alarm owl it would
have hooted or whatever already. I’m thinking we should open the cage and let
it fly free.” “I just think it’s a bit suspicious” grumbles Tomaz. “Probably it’s just a pet ” snorts
Druscilla. “ Hmm, can anyone talk to
animals?” asks the ranger, looking around. “No, not me” confirms Naergon “ besides
I thought that was your field of expertise?” As the bickering continues,
Jamna sneaks further in [Stealth 31] and then turns “ Sh! What was that, did you hear it?” “What?” asks Naergon, blinking
blearily. “ Sh!” says Jamna, waving
her hand at him, “ I heard something”
she whispers “ down that ladder. Footsteps
and growls. If you lot weren’t so busy blathering on, you’d have heard it too!” Mads meanwhile has been
studying the ladder and deciding it is too unwieldy for him to be able to lift
up asks Naergon “ is there any way you can
make large things smaller?” “Will you shut up!” hisses Jamna vehemently
from close to the edge of the trapdoor. Naergon turns to Mads and says “ No” [telepathic link]. “ Oh yeah, forgot” replies Mads
[telepathic link]. “Crap, me too”
says Jamna [telepathic link]. “ So what’s the plan?” asks Naergon [telepathic link]. “ I
think we’re going to have difficulty opening the chests because they’re eight
foot high” says Mads. “ Why do we want
to open them?” queries Naergon. “To
see if there are any eggs in them” answers Druscilla. “Really?” cries Naergon in consternation “ they just casually leave the eggs lying around, protected by an owl in
a cage? Seems a bit unlikely don’t you think?” From her position, by the
trapdoor Jamna whispers “ there are giants
down there, wolves too ” [telepathic link]. “How many? ” asks Naergon. “ At
least two of each but there may be more” replies Jamna. “ Can we just go and check the crates?” demands
Naergon. “ How are we going to open them
silently?” asks Mads. Tomaz creeps forwards
[Stealth 20] as the others follow. “ Hang
on” says Talis and casts silence across the trapdoor and ladder “ that should cover you opening the chests and
what not”. “Good idea ” says Naergon “ as
long as we’re reasonably quiet up here we should be good now, Jamna keep an eye
on the giants. Mads get stuck into those chests ”. Opening the crates one-by-one
Mads finds; 60 flasks of alchemists fire, a gold-inlaid harp, a pair of drums,
six flutes and in the last crate a disassembled clockwork mule complete with
assembly instructions (in dwarvish). Moving on to the chests, he
finds the first contains four fifty-foot lengths of chain, another that
unaccountably contains the body of a frozen female dwarf (wearing adamantine
plate armour, clutching a warhammer, and equipped with two potions and a
haversack). The other four contain heaps of coin (3,200cp; 3,900sp and
3,800gp). Finally he discovers a barrel of pitch and another of whale oil. Naergon casts a quick detect
magic spell, determining that the armour, potions, haversack and mule are all
magical, he takes an immediate interest in the clockwork mule but quickly
decides that assembling it will not be a quick process. Reluctantly he allows
Mads to store the parts to the mule in his bag of holding. Druscilla
immediately claims the adamantine armour, Tomaz claims a handful of alchemist
flasks, Talis takes the haversack, and Mads pops the potions, remaining flasks
and the chains into his bag. “How are we going to deal with the giants?” asks Druscilla [telepathic link]. Jamna crouches at the
top of the ladder, bow in hand “ why don’t
you rappel down to the balcony?” “I think we should charge down the ladder”
says Tomaz “how’s that going to work?”
asks Mads. “ Yeah I don’t fancy that, lets
drop down to the balcony ” agrees Druscilla. “I’ll leave Ringo here to drop a flask of fire down the hole as a distraction”.
“I’ll stay here as well” confirms Jamna. “ Right, let’s go” says Druscilla stomping over to the window. Within moments Druscilla,
Tomaz, Talis, Mads and Naergon find themselves on the open balcony looking into
a vast room lit by the cold blue light of continual flame sconces. A huge
throne or chair, carved from ice dominates the chamber, in front of it is the
pelt of a large white sabre-tooth tiger. A massive table sits in the centre of
four immense pillars and a ladder leans against the far wall next to a giant
door. In the far right corner are a cluster of frosty white dragon eggs. The
wind blows the snow and ice straight in from the balcony as evidenced by the
long icicles hanging from the ceiling beams. A pair of frost giants and winter
wolves turn towards the party as they land. Both winter wolves’ growl,
sniffing the air and race towards the balcony. Mads eldritch blasts the
southern giant with multiple strikes, slamming it back into one of the pillars
and then side-steps behind the central balcony pillar. Tomaz advances into the
room, hefting a flask of alchemists’ fire. Druscilla steps forward mace and
shield ready to strike at the wolf if it charges [ready action]. The southern
frost giant advances and hurls a frozen rock at Druscilla, who just manages to
duck under it, the other giant hurls a rock at Tomaz but misses. Talis steps to
the side of the balcony out of sight [dodge]. Jamna from the attic takes shot
at the northern giant, the arrow sinking through its upper shoulder and out
under its collar bone [sneak attack]. Naergon steps up next to Tomaz and fire
bolts the southern giant before stepping outside with Talis. Ringo drops his
flask of alchemists’ fire which explodes at the base of ladder. The southern winter wolf
advances on Druscilla who strikes it with her mace [readied action], the wolf
attempts to bite her, its fangs sliding off the dwarven plate armour. The
northern wolf slinks past the throne towards Tomaz, Naergon and Talis and
exhales a blast of freezing breath at them but they duck behind pillars to
avoid the worst of the damage [DEX save success for all]. Mads advances and
attacks [reach] the northern wolf with his glaive and then again [action surge]
this time adding menace to his strikes but the wolf shrugs the fear off [WIS save
20] and then manoeuvre to his final attack [grants Tomaz a move action] before
he steps back to the balcony. Tomaz hurls his flask of alchemists’ fire at the
northern wolf, which howls in pain as fire blossoms across its back. Tomaz then
moves back onto the balcony as Druscilla attacks the southern wolf. The
northern frost giant hurls a rock at Naergon, slamming the elf directly in the
chest and rocking him back against the external wall. The southern giant throws
its rock at Tomaz, slamming the ranger in his shoulder despite the cover of the
pillar. Talis remains under cover at the edge of the balcony [dodge]. Jamna
uses her ring of jumping to jump straight down bow in hand and then move
forward and shoot the northern giant, the arrow flies wide. Naergon casts
greater invisibility on himself and then scoots south along the balcony. Ringo
also turns invisible and then glides down to the bottom of the ladder. The burning wolf, howls and
rolls itself on the floor putting the fire out and then runs round the throne
towards Druscilla. The other wolf bites at Druscilla but fails to penetrate the
dwarven armour. Mads moves into the hall behind Druscilla and attacks the
northern wolf, killing it before retiring. Tomaz advances behind the throne and
hurls a second flask at the remaining wolf, the sticky liquid bursting into
fire across its back. Druscilla casts dimension door and teleports straight
across the hall and behind the far southern pillar. The northern giant throws a
rock at Tomaz, but misses. The southern giant advances and attacks Tomaz with a
great-axe, hitting the ranger hard. Talis steps out from the balcony and casts
flame strike on the northern giant [DEX save 3] who screams as flame erupts
around him. Jamna moves under the table and shoots the northern giant in the
back. Naergon [invisible] casts lightning bolt at the southern giant [DEX save
3] before moving away. Ringo [invisible] flies across the hall towards the
balcony. The remaining wolf, howls as
the alchemists fire burns but advances and breathes a cone of icy breath across
Tomaz [DEX save 13] and Mads [DEX save 12]. Mads advances inside and casts
eldritch blast at the wolf knocking it back towards the balcony edge, claws
scrabbling in the ice. Tomaz attacks the northern giant with his spear. “ That’s brave” commends Mads. Druscilla
casts heal on herself [70 HP] and then moves towards the corner of the
table. The southern giant attacks Mads
with its great-axe, swinging wildly. The northern giant attacks Tomaz, cutting the
ranger down with its first swing, and then again as he lies on the floor. “ Or maybe it was just stupid” continues
Mads. Talis says “ I’d go with the second
Maddsie” as she steps forward and attacks the giant, stabbing it hard in
the back. Jamna shoots from under the table but misses, Naergon [invisible]
side-steps and casts fire bolt, also missing the giant. The remaining wolf, howls as
the alchemists’ fire burns itself out and then lunges forward at Mads, who cuts
at it as it closes. The wolf bites at Mads but its jaws can’t gain purchase on the
dragon armour. Mads strikes back with menacing attacks [WIS save 19 & 7] forcing
the wolf to cower in fear before killing it with a blow from the butt of his
glaive. Tomaz grunts and his eyes open as he takes a shuddering breath [death
save 20 inspiration] and stares at the pair of giant boots in front of his
face. Druscilla swaps her mace for her Rod of Lordly Might [battle-axe] and
moves forward towards the northern giant which turns and attacks Talis, its
great-axe slicing into her armour. The southern giant attacks Mads, hitting him
soundly with his great-axe. Talis stabs the giant, her spear ripping through
its spine and out of its back. The giant slumps to the ground, grabbing at the
throne before falling dead, its great-axe thumping into the floor in front of
Tomaz’s slowly blinking eyes. “ You’re
welcome, by the way ” she says to the ranger as she steps back towards the balcony.
Jamna shoots at the remaining giant but misses, Naergon [invisible] leans
around the balcony pillar and casts fire bolt at the giant, burning a hole in
its shoulder before running in to the hall.
Mads twirls his glaive and
slices into the remaining giant again and again. Tomaz crawls over to his spear
and levers himself to his feet and casts cure wounds [7 HP] on himself.
Druscilla dashes towards the giant which attacks Mads again, missing with both
strikes. Talis steps forward and thrusts her spear into the giant’s back but
can’t penetrate its thick hide. Jamna shoots from under the table, her arrow
slamming up through the giants thigh and out of its groin past Mads [sneak attack].
The giant groans, stumbles and falls to the ground in a growing pool of blood
in front of Druscilla, who proceeds to walk up its back “ are you OK?” she asks Mads as Talis leans on her spear and grins
lewdly. Next
time: eggs, dragons and giants – can the party make an omelette No
levels were gained this session:
Naergon
15 th
level
Mads
14 th
level
Jamna
14 th
level
Tomaz
14 th
level
Druscilla
14 th
level
Talis
11 th
level
XP
earnt is now irrelevant as the rest of TOD is based on milestone XP In-Game
the session ended at 18:00 on 22 nd Elesias 1485 DR [The last LONG REST was completed
at 06:00 on 22 nd Elesias] [SHORT RESTS have been taken
between 15:30 and 16:30] Next
session Tuesday 5 th February at 19:15