Session 4 - Finding Dragon’s Sorrow (recap)

Session 4:

Part 4 (continued). The Quivering Forest

Area 10. Do You Have Another Candy?

Encounter with Vid

Thin mist envelopes this area of the forest. As soon as the mist touches you, you feel a tugging sensation as if someone or something is trying to pull you into a different place.

The canopy has completely blocked off the sun and everything around you is dim. No animals, big or small, are present. Only crawling insects can be seen, slithering into dead branches nearby.

The hair at the back of your neck rises as a crying voice catches your attention. A small boy that doesn’t seem to be from this place is hiding behind a large tree. He’s clutching a stuffed animal while trying to hide from your gaze.

Behind him, a corpse of a brown owlbear can be seen. Seeing you, the child nervously steps into the open while wiping the tears from his face, he points at the stuffed animal and says

“Can you help me? I can’t find my mama and I think my friend is dead.”

  • The small boy is actually an oni named Vid, who managed to escape the mists of Barovia after the events of DDAL4-14: The Dark Lord. After escaping the Demiplane of Dread, his stuffed animal cannot change into a giant ape anymore and his power seems to have been weakened. He already ate all the animals in this area to regain his strength, and without any food left, he sees the characters as his next meal.
  • Once Vid is within 20 feet of any of the characters, he dismisses his Change Shape and reveals his true self in Medium humanoid form and attack. The oni will try to escape if he has only 30 hit points left.
  • Vid has the stats of an Oni with the following changes:
    • He cannot use his Innate Spellcasting.
    • He does not have the Regeneration ability active.
    • He does not have the Multiattack action.
Finding the lute Dragon’s Sorrow
  • Once Vid has been defeated or manages to escape, a character can make a DC 13 Wisdom (Perception) check to find the magical lute or Vagabond Victor can just point out its location if he is with the party. Dragon’s Sorrow is partially protruding out 20 feet up at the main body of the tree where the oni was hiding.
  • A successful DC 18 Strength (Athletics) check can pull out the lute from the tree, making a hole in the tree where birds or small animals can live in the future.
  • At the back of the lute, something is engraved on it in Auran language using Dwarven script. It reads:

“I will only sing songs about you, my friend, my idol, my adventuring brother. Until the day you die, I dedicate all my songs to you.” – Rokstasha

  • If the characters are successful in retrieving the magical lute, they can exit the Quivering Forest at Area 1 where Ragvala is waiting for them.

  • If Vagabond Victor is with the party, he enthusiastically introduces himself to Ragvala and asks permission if he can join the adventurers on their journey in which the dragon agrees. Victor wants to write everything he can about the dragon and his friends to use it as inspiration for his future songs.

  • Zoyana was really mean to Vagabond Victor and Aegar makes Victor go away so she doesn’t kill him.

Treasure

  • Vid drops a ruby worth 100gp.

Part 5. His Final Moments

Estimated Duration: 30 minutes

Soaring High

Ragvala points to a giant cloud at the north of the Moonsea. Oddly enough, the cloud is shaped like a cittern.

My friend has a unique taste in things.

Flying high into the sky, Ragvala asks

My friends, what happened in the Quivering Forest?

How did you find the lute? Did you find any treasures? What other creatures did you encounter?

Notes

  • If the characters point out what’s written at the back of the magical lute or if they read it to Ragvala, his eyes become watery and then gives everyone a beaming smile, thanking the characters for pointing it out or for reading it to him.

Up ahead, a thick, purple mist start to form in front of you in the middle of the sky.

The mist continues to pour out from its point of origin and rapidly expands. Within the mist, a shadowy figure can be seen, its wings moving at great speed before anyone can react to it.

In a split second, a gargantuan bird with feathers as black as night emerges from the mist.

I need everyone to roll initiative.

Flying towards the first thing that it sees, it attacks Ragvala with its talons, each one almost the size of a human guard tower.

The bird manages to surprise the old dragon and to severely wound him on the chest.

Large amounts of blood falls from Ragvala’s wound and continues to travel down the sky and into the Moonsea. The dragon, with all its might, roars at the enemy and starts to fight back.

Notes:

  • Remember that they are currently 20,000 feet above ground and cannot move at the back of the dragon unless they want to risk falling. A character who moves at the back of the dragon must first make a DC 20 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) to hold on or keep his/her balance. Failure on the check means the characters fall off and would probably die once they hit the ground

  • Ragvala and the characters should win this fight. But if for some reason, the dragon is losing and only has 80 or lower hit points left, a giant whirlwind form from the cittern-shaped cloud and descends on the roc, hurling it away from everybody and ending the combat.

  • Allies in the Sky

    • If the characters are successful in befriending the griffon, the pixies, or both, they arrive at the first round of combat and is willing to provide assistance on Initiative 20, losing ties.
    • The Griffon will get close to the characters and let one of them ride her, acting as a controlled mount. Check p.198 of the Player’s Handbook to know more how a controlling a mount works.
    • A number of Pixies equal to the number of players available, including Okki, arrive and help the characters by casting Fly on them. They will stay away from the roc to make sure that it doesn’t break their concentration. If the characters are smart enough to ask the pixies if they can cast other spells, Okki will tell them immediately what they know and they are willing to cast them if needed.
    • These allies are willing to stay with the characters until the end of the adventure. They also show great concern about Ragvala being wounded and helps the characters fly towards the cittern-shaped cloud at the end of combat.