Session 9: The Dragon's Bane

General Summary

4 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 5)

After a troubled night, it was time to organize an unpleasant endeavor – the funeral of their former comrade Norg. As Kerowyn recommended, the group headed to the Town Hall to ask for the mayor’s assistance. However, as soon as the party stepped out of the Old Boar Inn, a hooded figure approached them. The mysterious man asked for a favor – he somehow knew of the dragon key bought from the kobolds and proposed the group to give it to him in exchange for a favor. The heroes weren’t very impressed by that kind of a deal, but Hedid, apparently influenced by some unseen force, gave up the key to her newly found good friend. After receiving it, the figure went on his way. With mixed feelings about what had just transpired, the group continued on their way to Town Hall. Vurnon Leng, mayor of Oakhurst welcomed them. He was grateful for giving some closure to Kerowyn and for finding out more about the fortress that had taken the lives of her children. He was worried about the happenings concerning the goblins and their fruit, and concluded that the tree monsters plaguing the surrounding areas were actually connected to the dreadful tree and the fruit it beared. With that in mind, Vurnon requested the group to head to Blasingdell, a neighboring town. Occasionally, people of Oakhurst had shared the fruit with Blasingdell’s citizens as well, so it was possible that they also would be plagued by similar threats. Vurnon promised to take care of Norg’s funeral arrangements free of charge. Our heroes also announced that from this day, their adventuring group shall be called The Dragon’s Bane. Before heading out to wilderness, the heroes had some freshly earned gold to spend. It was a good day for Oakhurst’s traders, as almost everyone bought themselves a horse with equipment. In addition, Thorbjörn purchased a new special friend for himself – a young mastiff. Shava got some new armor from Rurik’s place as well. After almost a full day of shopping, it was time for the final preparations for Norg’s funeral. Vurnon didn’t disappoint - a beautiful ceremony was organized and the sorcerer with the mysterious past got his deserved hero’s burial accompanied by last words from some of his fellow adventurers.

5 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 6)

In the morning, the Dragon’s Bane started riding north towards Blasingdell.

6 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 7)

Two days on horseback went by quickly and on the second evening the heroes reached the wall surrounding the mining town. Upon entering, they headed straight for Griffon’s Nest, the local inn, for food, drink and rumors. They got all of that from Sarel Bankdown, proprietor of the establishment. She spoke about recent trouble with orcs, about an eccentric rich noble obsessed with some legendary dwarven smith, and problems with people disappearing occasionally. These talks were overheard by a nearby figure, who after some time approached and announced that he also had some interests investigating some of these rumors. And so Damian West the elven rogue joined the Dragon’s Bane. The group decided to find out more about everything in the morning and head to bed for the night. Sarel was kind enough to provide lodging for that purpose.

7 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 8)

First order of the day was to visit Miles Berrick, mayor of Blasingdell. He confirmed that troubles with savace orcish tribes had increased recently. The brutes had been attacking isolated farms and homesteads in the area. Miles promised to pay a bounty for every single orc the party eliminates. The party also forwarded the information regarding the dead bodies and tree monsters. Miles confirmed some findings of dead bodies having similar wounds, probably being connected to those found near Oakhurst. Sergeant Grendar Kuln had captured one of the orcs recently, who had revealed the location of the tribe’s current whereabouts – the Stone Tooth, a lone hill in the north. The heroes also paid a visit to Baron Althon, the noble interested in the hidden dwarven fortress Khundrukar and the boundless treasures supposedly hidden within. He promised to pay good coin for information regarding the fortress and weapons forged by the legendary smith Dhurgeddin the Black. As it happens, he had come to possess a broken blade bearing the smith’s mark, also found near the Stone Tooth. Unfortunately Damian didn’t have enough money for buying a horse, but luckily the town guard was willing to borrow one for this noble cause. The heroes headed north towards the Sword Mountains. The first day of riding went by with not a lot happening.

8 Flamerule, 1393 DR (Day 9)

On the next day, the heroes followed a side trail to a farm, hoping to gather clues about the pesky orcs. The home however was completely ransacked and burned down, so nothing much was found. But something else caught Damian’s eye – a silhouette of a tree in the distance, which was highly unusual considering the rocky surroundings. Hedid, Cora, Pock and Damian went to investigate, while Shava and Thorbjörn stayed behind with the animals. The group carefully approached, and saw a dead-looking tree, much like the ones in the Sunless Citadel, spreading its roots far and wide. Sensing the clear evil aura, Hedid decisively stepped closer and started hacking at the roots while the rest stayed a bit further. The blighted tree did not take kindly to the attack, and after the awakening of several familiar looking, but much scarier monsters, started to slowly moan and move itself towards the heroes...

Campaign

Tales from the Yawning Portal

Protagonists