Chapter 27: The Green Fumes of Cragmaw Castle

General Summary

Date: 11th of Eleasis to 13th of Eleasis, 1491 DR

The pale moon light shined through the cracked roof of Cragmaw castle, illuminating the heroes. After the deafening roar that echoed from the forest, the ruins were now cold and quiet, like an undisturbed crypt. After regaining their composure the heroes scattered and hid among the vast treasure of the dragon that was now returning to its home. Coins clattered and mounds shifted and then the room was met again by silence.
Minutes passed and yet the eerie silence remained. The heroes began whispering about a possible plan; whether they should run, fight or parley with the beast of this castle. Their conversation came quickly to halt as the enormous and terrifying adult green dragon stared down upon them. There was no use in hiding, for the dragon could smell them. To their surprise, the dragon claimed to want no combat nor battle, but to parley with the adventurers.
The heroes heard of the lamenting tale of the dragon, how it was hunted and chased away by Hill Giants, shunned by its peer in Kryptgarden forest and driven away from Thundertree by adventurers hired by the druid Reidoth. The dragon was tired of running away, shunned by everyone for it claimed to only want to live in peace and solitude. The dragon bargained with the adventurers that they might help it relocate back home by venturing to Grugg Haug and destroying the Hill Giant community living there.
The heroes laid down their arms and listened to the dragons' plea. The dragon begged to be heard, for the Cult of the Dragon had mentioned the Lugosi name and thus, Bene would need to hear their dastardly plans. It dared not to talk, but to whisper for there were many spies of Tiamat around these parts of the woods. The heroes came closer and closer to hear what the dragon had to say. When they were near it, the dragon smiled and breathed out a noxious breath.
The breath weapon caught them by surprise as Nomime fell down. The dragon flew up to assess the situation while the heroes coughed in the poisonous cloud. The dragon dived down and grabbed both Virion and Nomime and pushed itself to the skies. The rest of the heroes took caution and spread out, Ranvas shooting the dragon with his firearms. To the dragon's dismay, its prey was not going down without swinging. Painful was its choice to grab Virion, who quickly broke the dragon's claw into mush of flesh and scales. Nomime fired off a fireball into the dragons mouth and it dropped the heroes, soaring back to safety.
This gave the heroes time to get ready for the dragons next attack. After a few seconds, it came into view and barraged the heroes with its breath weapon, instantly destroying the small awakened shrub. Nomime yelled out and blasted the dragon with a fireball. Wounded in body and in pride, the dragon locked eyes with the small mage and began to soar towards her. This mistake would cost the dragons life.
As it dove down, Bene reforming back from the shadows spun his dagger and threw it towards the dragon. Surprised and terrified, the dragon had too much momentum to dodge it. The blade sliced through the thick hide of the dragon, lodging it through its mouth to its neck and the dragon crashed through the ruins, and breathed its last breath.
The heroes took the dragons head as a trophy and began to go through the dragons hoard. With the soothing melody from Bardy and from the vast riches it seemed that the pain from the wounds lessened as the heroes focused on piling up the treasure too big to be carried off. After gathering the magical items and stuffing their bags on pockets on gold and gems, the heroes began their journey back to Phandalin.
The townsfolk had a mixture of confusion, adoration and horror as they watched the grimy heroes walk through the streets of Phandalin. They reported back to Sildar Hallwinter who was taken aback by this heroic deed from the Goodfellas. Bardy performed a ballad of the battle against the dragon, thus creating another heroic tale of the Goodfellas to the people of Phandalin.
They met with Gavin in the Tresendar Manor, who had taken over with the final reparations of the establishment. The heroes poured their hauled treasure to the dungeon below and stuffed the decapitated head of the dragon into the freezer. It would later on become a decoration to the inn, sprouting many conversations of the heroes who acquired it.
Garaele promised to revive Gurbak for them in the coming morning. The heroes had time to feast and drink, complemented by Sildar and Nomime had her first cider. Bardy joined in on the music and the Goodfellas spent a merry evening before taking a long awaited rest.
Come morn, they headed out to Garaele who brought them to the mortuary where the goblin's still body lied. The ritual began as Bene, Bardy and Nomime aided on bringing Gurbak back. After the hour passed, the diamond broke into a fine dust on top of the goblin. Gurbak breathed in and scattered in panic, but the heroes were able to subdue him. They watched in horror as the tiny legs of the goblin shrank, as it began wailing and sobbing. Garaele told the heroes that bringing someone back from the dead was always risky and there was a price to be paid. Gurbak was sedated and brought to the Tresendar Manor, to be taken care of by Gavin.
Thus the heroes set off to perform another task they promised to take care off and sought out Zephyros who was still in the same spot they left him. The giant had no memory of the heroes, but agreed to the them to the Wave Echo Cave and wait there for a while. Memories flooded some of the heroes as they walked the now illuminated tunnels of the Wave Echo Cave.
They found the Starry Cavern to be filled with mercenaries along with the Seven Snakes. Xolkin agreed on letting some of the heroes go and investigate the Forge of Spells. They investigated the magical brazier and found that the magical runes they'd procured were reacting to the flames of it. They decided to test it and threw the UVEN-rune into the fire. It broke and thus, the magic from within was released, contained in the flames of the Forge of Spells. Bene threw his dagger to the flames and both he and Nomime watched in awe as the energy was branded into the blade of the dagger.
When the rest of the party was told of the enchantments, they decided to upgrade Ranvas's pistol and Virion's gauntlets. The heroes had a way of enchanting their gear with the ancient magic of Ostoria, the realm of Giants. Their path would now lead them to the artic wastelands in the north, where hopefully they would find answers to the giant menace that plagued the Sword Coast. Noticed or not, the heroes had attracted attention from many individuals. It is only a matter of time when their curiosity will turn into defiance in the eyes of the enemy and when that happens, will the heroes be ready to face their wrath?

Rewards Granted

• The dragons hoard worth roughly 20 000 gold
• Pole of Angling
• Necklace of Fireballs
• Bracers of Defence
• Horseshoes of Zephyr
• Potion of Speed
• Potion of Storm Giant Strength

Missions/Quests Completed

• Sieged Castle Cragmaw and defended it
• Unlocked the potential of the Giant Runes

Character(s) interacted with

• Venomfang
• Sildar Hallwinter 
• Sister Garaele 
• The Seven Snakes
• Zephyros 

Campaign

Storm King's Thunder

Protagonists

Nomime Shandri

Bene Lugosi

Chaotic Neutral Human (Charlatan)
Rogue 1

10 / 10 HP

STR

DEX

CON

INT

WIS

CHA

Ranvas Pahrunath

Neutral Good Triton (Outlander, Pilgrim)
Fighter, Gunslinger 1

14 / 14 HP

STR
16

DEX
17

CON
18

INT
12

WIS
17

CHA
11

Report Date

24 Jul 2022

Secondary Location

Phandalin

Related Characters

• Bene Lugosi
• Nomime Shandri
• Ranvas Pahrunath
• Virion Mosstrap