Session 36 - Daddy

General Summary

We go looking for Idressi! Neo talks to a man who encountered him and saw him go hiding in a cave that children go to hide, when we get there he’s a big shark! Ionessa convinces him to talk and explains the situation, and in talking to him it’s clear he’s infected. He’s having migraines so painful he cannot talk and he’s writhing, maybe this was triggered by us bringing it up? Is the tadpole aware!? Neo burns it away, it crawls out of his eye and burns away. Idressi tells us that while he had the tadpole, he had a feeling that something terrible was coming for the city. He’s a big loner, he’s leaving and doesn’t want a family or a clan. Something big is coming, old and powerful, like a dragon.
Ionessa actually manages to chide Idressi into agreeing to help us! He doesn’t like being called a coward, and he wants an even share of the treasure and for us to help him get a new arm in exchange. We agree to meet him outside the city when we’ve gotten ready. Ionessa goes to tell her family that she’s leaving, she’s not confident she’s coming back because of the danger of this dragon or perhaps the risk of exile. Her parents don’t want her to go, but the danger is imminent and she convinces them that she makes them understand why this is important to her. It’s touching, like they’re connecting a little easier! She also speaks to Thyrsos, he’d rather she wait but he’s on board once he knows the wedding is off if we don’t go do this!
Black dragons have acid breath and are really scary, capable of weakening the hearts of the most powerful heroes with their presence. Dragons have blindsight, hard to sneak up on them, and black dragons can swim very quickly. If we have to fight this thing we lose, so let’s just avoid that! Xanthos goes shopping for equipment and finds an earring that protects the wielder but the shopkeep wants 5,000gp or collateral for a rental, so we offer her the glove of the little sun in exchange. Neo gets the ring of psychic resistance, but we have to get his ears pierced first. Xanthos stays behind to do something secretive and suspicious, he wants to make an object light up, but doesn’t give her anything and leaves.
We set off! We find ourselves swimming over this beautiful yet spooky reef as we descend into the darkness of the ocean. Deep down in a crevasse it looks as though some crude construction has been built around where Ionessa last saw the dragon, with a small entrance that we’re able to go through. Ionessa talks to a wretched blobfish and it tells her the place is full of sharks and “shark friends”, the dragon was covered up by rocks a while ago. We set up a trap with Ionessa’s blood to draw the sharks out into the open for an ambush.
Ionessa charms one of the sharks that comes out and after the fight we learn from it that the dragon is being kept in a dark pool, and that a tentacle creature is trying to control it. Inside there is another shark we could get aid from, and a merrow that has not been corrupted yet. We head inside, there is thick dark sludge here and luminescent plants lighting the way. We work our way through the tunnels and fight some merrow while convincing the sharks (including other big shark) to stand down. The sharks lead us to the hidden merrow in a secret passage and we talk to them. The merrow trapped the dragon on the behest of their elders who were already corrupted, unbeknownst to them at the time. She tells us where to find the tentacle creature.
We continue into the cavern and defeat a crusty merrow priestess giving a sermon to merrow in a language we do not understand. We defeat them! The passage ahead is filled with inky blackness, which Ionessa recognizes as something Kovu’s father is capable of. We hear a voice, “little creature, your tricks will not break me. I am as ancient as your masters and I will not yield.” We head forward under cover of the darkness, we see a pool filled with dark liquid surrounded by merrow priests channeling purple magic into the pool at the center of which is the submerged black dragon. Ahead of him is another tentacled creature, but not the prophet that we previously encountered.
We battle! We’re able to fight the tentacle creature and disrupt the ritual on which the priests are concentrating. Neo blasts the whole room with Fytanke’s fire, destroying dozens of tadpoles inhabiting the dragon’s brain and further ruining the ritual. With each step, we are freeing the dragon, “your doom is at hand, creature, delivered by mine own son.” Xanthos’ spear break the concentration of the final priest, freeing the dragon, which immediately blasts the tentacle creature with acid breath. Ionessa begs for it to spare the party, which it seems to agree to.
After the fight is through, the dragon announces its intentions to go to the surface and have a great time. Kovu will not be going with him, he wants to stay with Ionessa and achieve a horde and lair for himself and his family. This seems agreeable to the dragon, and he gifts Kovu with a greater size and wings as we level up! He knows of the tentacle monsters, they live in the shadows beneath the sea, this was especially bold of them. They are unlikely to act any time soon now that their plans have been undone.
The dragon’s name is Konotasvunychtos (Ko-noh-tas-voo-neek-tos), the Black Tide. Ionessa asks about Astrapyndircles, he is old and proud and his reliance on slaves is something Kono considers distasteful but for all the wrong reasons (relying on lesser beings is embarrassing). He asks what reward we want in exchange, Ionessa doesn’t want a reward but Xanthos suggests enchanting the bow. Kestor asks for information about the rot and its origins. “You speak of ancient things, young one
He talks about the “old foes”. “You speak the name of the wild fire but you know not what it truly entails. I was there before the gods, when the world was young. I have seen the true fire and what it wrought upon those that clung to the earth. I know it is foolish to fight the fire for the fire can not be fought. And so me and my ilk joined it to chase the little creatures and scour them from the lands for when they were left to poison the world, they became strong and proud. And when they did, we would destroy them. As long as I can remember we worked with the wildfire and we chased the rot wherever it spread. Other things sprung up, your little gods, the unfortunate side effect of our work is that they were prone to burn. Some gods did not care for the cycle of things and they chose not to burn. The most recent lot were more successful than those that came before and now the rot is worse than ever. I know only that Kairemos hid in the sky, I know not how my kin failed to find them but they warned the little godlings and the wildfire was broken.”
“I know not of your gods and their domains. If there is a god of dreams they dare not venture into my own. I know only that for as long as there have been dragons there has been rot. The younger of my kin know not of their ancestral duty, and since there is no wildfire prepared to bring them to task, they have shirked it. Even I admit to having grown uncautious, a mistake I will not make again. You think you could do what the wildfire could not?” He laughs at Kestor’s response. “Perhaps I like mortals after all. You amuse me. I can speak only for myself. As I said, dragons are jealous creatures and we will not be easily swayed by our own kind. But perhaps you may look to my drakewarden to aid you, she has accomplished much in little time.”
Kono recognizes the wildfire within Neo, it's an old fire. “Nurture that flame, if you intend to fight the rot you will need it.” Neo promises to bring the flame against the rot, perhaps there is hope for all of us yet. He’s gonna bring the whole place down leaving, but gives us enough time to get the merrow and the loot out before he carves his way out through the roof into the ocean. We purge the remaining tadpoles from the unconscious merrow. The one uncorrupted merrow is impressed, we must have been sent by Tegissa herself. We are now friends of the true merrow. Ionessa is a little uncomfortable because of what she’s been taught. The merrow responds by saying her people are weak, hiding in cities, not knowing of the monsters of the deep.
The tentacle creatures come from deeper places, though they have taken the merrow war camps for their own as well. They come from places that have never known light or heat. She departs, she’s got a real might makes right mentality. We head off to rest at Ionessa’s childhood home!
The end!

Notes

ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ

Report Date

17 Jul 2023