Session 05
General Summary
Wiping the blood and gore off their collective blades the brave stalwarts of Magma Force decided
that the staircase might offer an interesting location to explore. They popped up there and Harley
had the locked door opened in a jiffy. Beyond was a small room and Camero stopped everyone
entering as he noticed suspicious markings on the floor. A good search determined there were in
fact two traps in this room - a scything pendulum trap and a flame nozzle trap. The group were
able to make some headway into disarming the first few parts of the trap when Camero decided to
try blasting the door opposite to pieces with his magic. A few seconds later he had the door in
pieces to reveal a further temple beyond and rising from his sleeping position on a bed of treasure
was a sleek, fearsome and very dangerous looking black dragon.
The dragon politely introduced itself as Dhorlot the Dragon Father and Camero immediately
wondered if this was the same dragon who had captured his mother all those years ago and who he
suspected of being his father. Morgan introduced Magma Force to the dragon and the two began a
parlay. The group asked the dragon what he knew of Zenith and Dhorlot explained that Zenith was
now in fact leader of the kuo-toans who had raised him to that position on account of his gift of
prophecy. He told the party exactly where Zenith's chamber was in the fortress. Dhorlot asked if
the party had encountered Gotrrod the Red and when told they had fought and killed the red
dragon, Dhorlot seemed very pleased but warned them not to brag of it for fear of Hookface. The
group asked Dhorlot what his plans were and he replied that he thought he might return to the
southern jungles where he used to be Lord over a Minotaur clan. He liked it there and was
thinking of returning, now the group had ruined his fun here. It was clear both sides prefered the
option of not tangling with one another. The party decided they had got enough information and
so prepared to leave but before they did Dhorlot asked that Camero come into his inner sanctum
so he could talk privately with him. Camero agreed and the two were alone for ten minutes or so.
What did they discuss, we wonder?
The group left Dhorlot's lair and followed his instructions to locate the chamber where Zenith was
supposed to be hiding out. The found it easily and opened the door a sliver to peek in. Inside they
saw a dwarf who they assumed to be Zenith dozing on a throne made of skins. Next to him stood a
kuo-toan whip with the biggest ceremonial headress they had seen on any of the whips so far in
the fortress. Alongside the whip was a hulking bugbear warrior - perhaps his bodyguard? And
milling around the room were half a dozen or so kuo-toan minions, tending different duties or just
idlying chatting. Feeling a bit battered from their experiences with the traps guarding Dhorlot's lair
the party decided that they were best off being fully rested before taking on this sort of a fight so
they returned back down to the hatchery and secreted themselves behind the portcullis there,
setting a guard and waiting out a full twenty four hours before preparing to go back and
capture/resuce Zenith. When they came out of their hiding place they immediately noticed that the
dragon had snuck out in the night and was nowhere to be seen.
Returning to Zenith's chamber the party once more opened the door a sliver and peaked in. The
guards were now all arrayed in a line in front of Zenith's throne and on alert. Something had made
them realise that there was a threat coming. Had the dragon betrayed Magma Force? Anyway, this
line of defenders made Camero smile and the party burst in and the wizard threw in a fireball
which ripped through the kuo-toan ranks sending bits of charred flesh everywhere. When the dust
cleared all that was left was Zenith, who was waking up on his throne, and the chief whip and his
bugbear bodyguard. Battle was joined. Camero spotted a magical circle of power enscribed in the
centre of the floor and realised it was a teleportation circle of some sort; anyone stepping into it
would be teleported elsewhere. But where?
Battle was joined. Zenith sprang from his throne and drew axe and shield and Morgan rushed into
engage him. A spell from Camero put the bugbear bodyguard to sleep and Harley quickly
executed it. Then the whip threw his slime vortex, knocking everyone all over the place, including
sending Gotrek sprawling into the teleportation circle! He found himself down in the main temple
on the platform by the huge idol and had to start the long run back to the combat up three flights
of stairs. From here on the battle raged for a long time. Zenith was a master bull rusher and
continually kept pushing our heroes into the teleportation circle, meaning he and the whip hardly
ever had to deal with all four of them at once. Camero and the whip had a mighty battle of magic
which was fairly even until Camero realised his magic would be much more effective on the
dwarf, who was heavily armoured but not so nimble on his feet. So Camero began blasting Zenith
with arcane spells whilst Harley switched to pummelling the whip. Morgan and Gotrek kept
Zenith busy and tried to avoid getting pushed into the teleportation circle. Eventually their
persistence and change in tactics ground the dwarf down and finally he was knocked unconscious.
This left only the whip, who was still a dangerous foe but he was no match for the four members
of Magma Force. The party cheered as they finally downed him.
In this room they found two large ceramic pots which they opened (one of which blasted them
with a wave of thunder from a glyph trap) and discovered large amounts of treasure. They also
took Zenith's magical armour and axe from him for the time being. They collected all their gear
together, bound the dwarf and headed out of the fortress. The enigmatic kuo-toan ferryman arrived
and ferried them across the water without incident and they made a careful and speedy return to
the surface. They came out into a glorious spring morning on the mountain sides of northern
Mochica. Morgan summoned Sharpbeak and his family and the group mounted and flew back to
the city of Cauldron through the beautiful morning vista.
Swooping over the walls of the city Morgan directed Sharpbeak to land near the Cusp of Sunrise
so they could deliver Zenith. Crowds gathered to watch them fly in and ooooh and ahhhh in
appreciation of the giant eagles. Then pushing through the crowds came a self important tax
collector in a distinctive tall hat and red tabbard. He was escorted by half a dozen or so heavily
armed half-orcs, wearing the livery of the city guard. The tax collector demanded a fifty gold
piece "Adventurers Tax" from each of the party. The party were shocked at this new tax and
refused to hand over the money. They said they would go to the town hall and pay later, and the
tax collector was half flattered and half intimidated into leaving them alone for now. The collector
set off leaving many bystanders muttering about unfair taxes. Renjin, the very polite doorman at
the Cusp of Sunrise nearly fainted when the party opened the door, still in full battle array,
covered with blood and gore and dragging a bound and unconscious bloody dwarf with them. The
party apologised and asked if Celeste was around and Renjin said no but told them Lord Vhalantru
was inside and wanted to see them. They said they would be back soon, and left to go and clean up
and change into more appropriate clothes.
Returning to the Cusp of Sunrise a few hours later in their posh clothes, having cleaned
themselves up the party brought the still unconscious Zenith with them. Renjin wasn't too pleased
to be letting an unconscious body into the Cusp but as he was now cleaned up he relented. The
party spotted Lord Vhalantru played gem snatcher but there was no sign of Celeste. Shortly
Vhalantru left the game table, grabbed a bottle of port from the bar and a glass for all and joined
the party at their table. He apologised on behalf of Celeste for her not being there as she had
urgent family matters to attend to and said he would take Zenith and deliver him to his father on
her behalf. He handed over 3600 gold in what he said was diamond dust, but which turned out to
be residium, and a year's membership of the Cusp for each of them, on Celeste's behalf. The group
then spoke to him a bit about the tax collectors and the unrest in the city. Vhalantru opened up to
them and told them of his fears for the government of the city and his concerns about possible
corruption in the administration. Where were the taxes going? What about the flood tax that had
been collected - there were no signs of it being used to rebuild the lower levels of the city. What
about these half orcs? They were now being brought into the city guard to work as protection for
the tax collectors. Under whos authority and who was paying for them? Vhalantru was clearly
concerned about the running of the city at the moment and from what the party had experienced
outside with the crowds displeasure at the tax collectors, so were the general populace. The group
thanks Vhalantru for his time and information and left the Cusp to go and pay their 50 gold
Adventurers Tax before they got into trouble.
So, the party had successfully completed another mission. They had braved the depths of an
Underdark fortress to rescue a long lost hero of the city. They had killed the dragon Gotrrod, son
of Hookface, and had encountered Dhorlot the Dragon Father. They had returned to the city to
find the levels of civic unrest growing and a somewhat surprising accusation from a noble that he
suspected the upper levels of the government of corruption. What was next for the brave and
heroic Magma Force?
Report Date
11 Apr 2024
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