Session 128: Suneater's Sunder

General Summary

4th Sydenstar 836PD   With Zolar continuing to block the cave entrance, Arthur holds on to a dimension door spell ready to take someone else with him past the Dragon.   Rytalia teleports to Zolar’s side, safely away from Raven and Raphael’s assaults, and weaves a temporal distortion that slows Orlando, Arthur and Nodrog.   Orlando soon shrugs off the temporal slow, and lands a violent shot right into Rytalia’s chest. The wheezing wizard retaliates with her own arcane barrage, critically wounding Orlando and restraining him.   Simeon evokes a roaring fire storm on top of Zolar and Rytalia, the holy flames singe around the legendary presences of the Dragon, but immolate 2 of his Draconian Foot Soldiers. Unbothered by the slowed and restrained foes outside, Zolar tears down 2 of Raphael’s mirror images before goring the Knight with his claws.   Further enraged at being ignored, the hulking Nodrog shakes off the slow magic and critically cleaves the tip of Zolar’s tail right off to get back his attention.   Raphael continues his hunt for the wizard, fey stepping right next to her, and strikes down with great eldritch fury, smiting her down to the ground. The prone witch barely gets to utter a curse before Frostweaver is stabbed through her neck. Has another Lock-Breaker been felled by the Winter Knight’s blade?   The cave reverberates with a deafening screech from Zolar as he witnesses his mage felled. The furious Dragon lashes with his azure jaw, biting deep down on Raphael but the Knight’s connection to the Matron’s Shadows gives him the strength to escape an early grave.   Zeni momentarily distracts the Dragon with an acidic chromatic orb, giving Raven the opportunity to conjure volley of crescent arrows down on Zolar.   The Ancient Blue Dragon’s cobalt scales take a purplish hue as blood from its growing wounds continues to pour. Zolar continues with his weary quarry of the Winter Knight, but before he can sate his vengeance, Raphael invokes the protection magic of his patron to entomb himself in ice.   Continually denied again, the Suneater goes supernova as he has been pushed to a weary frenzy, ready to take down as many of these ‘insects’ with him. Nodrog uses his hand-axes to climb up the back of the Dragon, and using his enlarged strength he gores the broken jawbone of Zolar’s kin right through his eye.   The Ancient Dragon thrashes in pain, Nodrog keeps his grapple around Zolar’s head, until the thrashing dies down to a twitching, and then a final stillness. The light of life has gone out of the Suneater.   With their draconic sire dead, the few remaining foot soldiers attempt to retreat but are soon cut down in the victorious sweep of the Unbroken. As the cave becomes safe, Zeni spots the petrified statue of Sabali, and Simeon is quick to restore him out his still condition.   Sabali comes to, overcoming his initial confusion and the revelation that he’s been a statue for a couple of weeks. The rest of the party split up to find Eva and the other captives of the dragon’s lair.   Zeni and Sabali find Eva and comfort her, a quiet Raven comes back with Charmain Starbury, the Sapphire of the Sands. Orlando and Enessa release a cobalt chained J’mon Sa Ord. Arthur and Raphael investigate the body of Rytalia, but don’t seem to find any items or Lock-Breaker paraphernalia.   J’mon Sa Ord is initially cautious with their rescuers, but recognises the party’s name and reputation. They confirm that the Kord Shackle is actually infused within the life of a Bronze metallic Great Wyrm, Nirathram, whom resides on the plane of Celestia. The Key that J’mon possessed, and that was taken by Zolar, is an Amulet that can summon the Bronze Shackle to the wearer.   The group scope around the lair, and Zolar’s corpse to try and find the Amulet. Raven and Charmain offer to look around Zolar’s dais, but no one seems to see it. Detecting some enchantment magic on Raven, Zeni detects thoughts on the ranger, hearing his obsession over the Amulet and that “her suggestion seems so reasonable to help find this Amulet for her”.   Zeni then tries to switch her detect thoughts to Charmain, but the mysterious musician had suddenly disappeared, with only a wig left where she was last stood! It was Charmain that was secretly Latara rather than Rytalia, and she’s escaped again with the very key to the Shackle!   Dejected with another Latara escape, Zeni helps to get the Storm’s Call ship back near the cave to transport the freed captives, and also the commiserating harvesting/loot of Zolar’s corpse/lair:

• 40,000 gold pieces and 260,000 gold pieces worth of platinum
• 9 lots of art work, each worth 2,500 gp
• 2 potions of supreme healing, and an 8th level spell scroll of Sunburst
• 8 Dragon scales to make a lightning resistance shield
• Zolar’s skull that could be mounted on the Storm’s Call as a terrifying figurehead
• Lightning gland that could be used to make poison
• 2 Dragon eggs!