Session 15: Rich Party, Poor Party

General Summary

15 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 16)

Morning came, and the Dragon's Bane's wounds recovered from a difficult previous day. It was time for a two-day trek back to Blasingdell to report on the happenings in the Stone Tooth, and to take care of Pock's funeral arrangements. The first half of the trip was uneventful. Shava took care of the group's food requirements while Damian kept a sharp eye out for anything threatening. This allowed for more recovery time from previous day's events.

16 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 17)

On the next day, the journey continued. The party had almost crossed the mountain range, when something caught Damian's eye away from the road - a massive hole in the ground, seemingly dug by a creature quite large. This discovery was followed by noticeable tremors shaking the ground beneath the heroes. Everyone decided it would be best to head for cover, but it was already too late. The tremors grew stronger and suddenly, a terrifying armored monstrosity burst from the ground and ferociously attacked the heroes. The creature rushed towards Damian and Shava and jumped in the air, landing on the elves dealing heavy damage. It followed up with heavy tearing using its massive claws. Thankfully, Cora had a solution for that - she turned the mammoth-sized beast to more manageable proportions, which were several times smaller. This prevented the beast from using its jump attack, and although it still put up a decent fight, eventually the party managed to drive it away. The heroes hurried on towards Blasingdell and reached the city as the evening approached. They immediately visited sister Alonsa in Tymora's shrine to make the necessary preparation for Pock's final journey. One donation of copper coin buckets later, this business was concluded. Next stop was the town hall, where Miles the mayor awaited the news of the orc raiders. The group proudly presented their several dozens of orc scalps and was rewarded accordingly. Now it was time to visit Baron Althon with some good news. Thorbjörn presented Durgeddin's longsword to him, and the group was rewarded with a generous one thousand gold pieces. The heroes had noticed a certain buzz around town as well, everything seemed more lively than usual. No certain details were gathered thus far, but Baron confirmed that someone had been in town every day during the last week or so and speaking about the 'Red King' returning. This had apparently caused a noticeable increase in the excitement levels of the townspeople. The noble also gave the party a history lesson about the Red King itself named Gulthias, and the commander of his armies - Ashardalon the red dragon. The heroes recognized the symbol of Gulthias - it was worn by the same man who had taken the dragon key from Hedid several days earlier. But Baron also had some more pressing matters - someone had stolen his most prized possession - a legendary sword called Blackrazor. Apparently around the same time, two other weapons of similar stature also disappeared from their owners' vaults. Each of the victims received a mysterious letter signed with the symbol of Keraptis, a mythical and powerful mage who lived hundreds of years ago. The letter hinted at the current location of the stolen goods - White Plume Mountain, which was several days' travel to the west. Baron promised an immense reward for the retrieval of his precious artifact. Equipped with this new knowledge, the heroes headed to Tymora's shrine to send Pock on his final journey with a few good words. After that, they spent the night at Baron Althon's.

17 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 18)

A new day started with a plentiful breakfast at the noble's house. After eating all they could, the Dragon's Bane had plenty of newly acquired riches to spend, so they headed to Khendegar Tolm the dwarf, whose store had plenty of much needed upgrades to offer. With most of their money spent, the heroes now felt more ready than ever to tackle new adventures. They decided to head towards White Plume Mountain, but before that, had one small thing to take care of - the notorious dragon lairing at the bottom of the Stone Tooth. Since it was kinda on the way, that's where their first stop was planned.

19 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 20)

Not much had changed in the dwarven stronghold, except the annoyed duergar who had decided to charge a passage fee for their trouble. The group was a bit agitated by the fact, but still paid the gray dwarves, although a bit reluctantly. The group retraced their steps to the massive hole in the ground that they knew should lead to the dragon's lair, and headed down. The wyrm's presence was confirmed by Shava who found tracks of a large serpent. Carefully moving on using what little rocky ground the cave provided, it opened up to a huge room with a silent, foggy lake covering most of it. The heroes approached carefully, but not carefully enough - they only managed to catch a glimpse of a fast-moving dark shape in the water, as Nightscale the black dragon rushed out from beneath the surface, ready to unleash its devastating attacks.

Campaign

Tales from the Yawning Portal

Protagonists