In this session, our party reached the eggs, made some black pudding omlets, collected their spoils, rested at the pool of the Lady of the Spring, and lost Aegar…
Frulam’s Chamber
- Aegar looted the bodies in the cavern opening, collecting Fulam’s +1 Halberd, Deck of Illusions, and a key with a dragon worked into the head, along with a set of thieves tools, a plethora of weapons and armor, and a health assortment of coins (see Loot below)
- Pliny held back from entering Frulam’s chambers, and allowed Zoyana-bear to take point.
- Zoyana burst through the door to Frulam’s chambers to find a room empty of creatures, but filled with a table covered in books and papers, a bed, a rug, and in a small side room a chest.
- Pliny followed soon after, and Zoyana looked under the rug, discovering a trapdoor and tunnel down to the dragon shrine.
The Dragon Shrine
- Zoyana continued down and into the dragon shrine and Pliny followed.
- A fight with the guard drake ensued, where Zoyana-bear attacked, and Pliny ran past to get into the hatchery looking for the eggs.
- A motly fight ensued, with the guard drake attacking the party, the black pudding climbing up and attacking the party, the pudding attacking the drake and the drake attacking the pudding, Aegar finally joining the fight and getting splashed with acid, and Zoyana-bear ultimately slurping down the last of the pudding.
The Eggs
- The party found the eggs back in the same cauldron they found them the first time, and with little effort, ended the lives of the two growing wyrmlings.
Spoils
- The party first returned to Frulam’s chamber.
- In the chest in the side room, the party found Frulam’s Purple Regalia and a bag with 11 gp and a few small gems worth 27 gp
- On the table, among the papers were a map, a note, and Frulam’s Journal
- The party gathered spoils from throughout the cave
- Pliny gathered 3 Gobs of Black Goo from what was left of the black pudding into vials from Aegar.
- From blue guard drakes, they gathered 60 Blue Dragon Scales. (No immediate use. 25 of these can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a shield that grants resistance to the type of damage related to the Guard Drake’s color while in use.)
- Aegar failed to get any scales off the green drake.
- Zoyana gathered 3 Goblin Mad Caps. Eating one gives you Advantage on all Intelligence and Charisma checks/saves, but you suffer Disadvantage on Wisdom and Dexterity checks/saves. The effects last 1 hour. If you eat two, make a DC 20 Con save. On a failed save, drop to 0 hp and become incapacitated.
- Coin, weapons, armor, and some healers kits from the various cultists remaining throughout the cave and from the cultists barracks.
Plans
- The party discussed:
- “This is a problem. This is this is bigger than what I originally expected.”
- “We can’t hide any more because one of them got away”
- “He’s got a day on us, so we should not be here when they get back.”
- “We should warn Greenest. They should prepare for the dragon.”
Travel
- Aegar gathered his steed, and Zoyana wildshaped into an elk and carried Pliny on the path. With stealth and haste, the party traveled back towards Greenest, camping at the same spring they had just a couple nights before.
The Spring Again
- The part approached respectfully and requested to stay at the pool overnight.
- She noticed Aegar and how battered he appeared to be. She wondered if he had been “stabbing things”
- Pliny had an important conversation with Aegar about his disinterest in the fine tiddies of the water sprite due to Widow Swift. The discussed Pliny’s belief that he knows Widow Swift’s heart, and that she was so recently widowed was unimportant.
- Aegar asked her first name, which Pliny was pretty sure was “Mrs. Pliny”.
- Pliny asked Aegar to officiate their wedding.
- Zoyana seemed to Pliny about the size of a flower girl, and Pliny asked the Lady of the Spring to take wedding photos.
- Pliny confessed that he thought he was in love, having never been faithful with a woman so long: having been with her for six days.
- Fang at one point ended up at the edge of the water, and the Lady of the Spring arose and petted his head as they whispered together for a little bit.
- Zoyana stayed up all night casting the extended version of Plant Growth, enriching all plants in a half-mile radius surrounding the pool for 1 year.
- Aegar and Pliny continued their conversation. Aegar asked about Pliny being a family man.
- Pliny shared about growing up with his mom and him and the people of the village. And then his dad coming through while he was in college, but that he wasn’t the man he’d thought in the end. And so he’s more of a chosen-family kind of man.
- These past 19 days have felt like family.
- Aegar: “Being with Widow Swift would mean having a family.” Pliny: “It might be time.”
- Pliny flipped the conversation back to Aegar: “Do you see yourself having a family?”
- Aegar: “Maybe one day. There’s too much to do.”
- Zoyana walked up with Pliny’s Elven Battle Spirit in hand: “Aegar, do you even get the hots for people?”
- Before Aegar could be coaxed into sharing his sordid past, the conversation turned to confusion over “college” and Pliny’s educational experiences.
- Pliny went to HOPStra university
- Aegar went to… school
- Zoyana…?
- And then drunk-Zoyana turned the conversation to Aegar’s “military school” and discussions of his straight-laced and stoic demeanor.
- Aegar shared a tiny bit of his military history. A painful memory.
- Before Aegar could be coaxed into sharing his sordid past, the conversation turned to confusion over “college” and Pliny’s educational experiences.
- And back to Widow Swift: Pliny asked the others whether they would be at his wedding:
- Zoyana: “Yes, when you are actually in love. So not to Widow Swift, and I’m not going to be your fucking flower girl either”
- Aegar: “Yes, if I am able”
- Pliny shared about growing up with his mom and him and the people of the village. And then his dad coming through while he was in college, but that he wasn’t the man he’d thought in the end. And so he’s more of a chosen-family kind of man.
- As Aegar headed to bed, and sat to mediate on the glaive and make a decision
- Pliny and Zoyana continued a bit longer:
- “When you find someone you’re actually in love with, I’ll come back here and make wedding flowers for you. But not for someone you’re with because you can’t be alone.”
- Pliny politely requested of the Lady of the Spring to be allowed to, and then did, cast Tiny Hut to protect the party as they slept.
- Zoyana (cuddled with Fang) and Aegar had dreamless sleep. Pliny had another dream of floating on pillows and eating grapes and drinking wine.
The next morning
- Zoyana woke first and approached the pool. The Lady of the Spring stepped up and out of the water as she approached.
- Zoyana thanked her for another safe stay, and cast Animal Friendship to call a swarm of butterflies to wrap themselves around the Lady of the Spring.
- The water spirit nearly giggled and said “Meriessi likes this”
- Zoyana: “I am forever grateful to you for caring for me and my friends”
- M: “Oh, you and your friends are nice. You are welcome here any time.”
- Z: “I care for them deeply even though it’s hard for me to say that.”
- M: “They seem like nice people. Especially that knight. You could send him in for a swim if you like.”
- Z: “The knight or my other friend?”
- M: “I was thinking of the Elivish one, but the knight’s quite handsome too.”
- Z: “I think the knight might just need a refreshing swim”
- M: “Well, when he wakes, you just let him know”
- She went back into the hut, and woke Pliny: “Oh my god dude, the Lady of the Lake is hot for Aegar!”
- “No.”
- “Yes.”
- “No.”
- “Yes. We have to send him in. Normally I would never do this, but I feel like you need to work some fucking magic right now, whatever magic you have, because that dude needs to get laid like anyone I’ve ever met.”
- “Oh man. I’m in. I need to think”
- “Tell him that he’s got to take one for the team or she’s gonna get sexually frustrated and like go fucking crazy woman on us.”
- " What if we got him to go like John the Baptist, and we just send them out there. We get him in the water and we make him think he’s doing something special."
- “Oh, he’s in for something special. Oh, do you think Aegar is a virgin?”
- “Think about his stealth check. That dude 100% hasn’t been laid.”
- “Ok. I don’t care if you have to cast a spell on him. Just do something that’s going to get him faerie-dusted right now.”
- Zoyana woke Aegar: “Aegar.Aegar. Wake up. The Lady of the Lake wants to see you. You just need to go to the water and call for her. But you have to get in the water right now.”
- He mumbled “Why?” as he woke.
- “I think she maybe admires your stature and how you handle and hold yourself.”
- “How do you know all this?”
- “Because I just talked to her”
- “She said this?”
- “Yes”
- “All right”
- Aegar stripped off his gear down to his smallclothes.
- As he did so, the party saw some pretty deep scars, both slashes and burns.
- Aegar headed to the lake.
- As Aegar headed to the pond, Pliny said to Zoyana: “I don’t feel as happy as I did when we were planning this” and made a nod toward Aegar’s back all beat up and scarred.
Into the pool
- Pliny and Zoyana heard Meriessi, the Lady of the Spring, say “Welcome” and they heard the splashing of Aegar walking into the water.
- Aegar sent his elk steed to block the view and push Zoyana and Pliny out of the way so they could not be privvy to Aegar’s private moment.
- Pliny stepped aside to start writing love letters
- Zoyana dodged to see around the elk. At one point, when Aegar was about knee deep in the water, the elk blocked Zoyana’s view, and in that blink of an eye, Aegar was gone.
- After 5 minutes, Zoyana grabbed Pliny in concern. She cast Water Breathing on Pliny and herself. Pliny tossed his gear, and they both entered the pool.
- Throught the crystal-clear water, the two could see the bottom, and even swimming out and down, the bottom of the pond was covered in gravel. No sign of Aegar or Meriessi.
- Looking downstream, they saw the pool spill over and out. They started wading and running, following the water downstream.
- Zoyana: “What did we do Pliny? What did we do?”
Loot
- Cultists:
- 19 gp, 25 sp, 13 cp
- 5 Scimitars
- 3 light crossbows
- 1 heavy crossbow
- 50 crossbow bolts
- 5 black leather armor
- 1 set of Thieves’ Tools
- Frulam Mondath (black haired lady):
- 20 gp, 6 sp
- +1 Halberd
- Deck of Illusions
- Dragon Key - key with a dragon worked into the head
- Chain Mail
- Purple robes
- Cultist barracks
- 10 scimitars
- 2 light crossbows
- 3 heavy crossbows
- 50 crossbow bolts
- 3 daggers
- 3 healers kits
- Frulam’s Chambers
- Frulam’s Journal
- Frulam’s Purple Regalia
- bag with 11 gp and a few small gems worth 27 gp
- 3 Goblin Mad Caps. Eating one gives you Advantage on all Intelligence and Charisma checks/saves, but you suffer Disadvantage on Wisdom and Dexterity checks/saves. The effects last 1 hour. If you eat two, make a DC 20 Con save. On a failed save, drop to 0 hp and become incapacitated.
- 2 drake carcasses - one blue one green
- 60 Blue Dragon Scales. No immediate use. 25 of these can be mastercrafted (smith’s tools) into a shield that grants resistance to the type of damage related to the Guard Drake’s color while in use.
- 3 Gobs of Black Goo. Can be used as a ranged weapon with a range of 20/60 by using a container that shatters on impact or other distribution method. On a hit, The Black Goo sticks to the target for 3 rounds, dealing 14 (4d6) acid damage a round and lowering the target’s AC permanently by 1. It will also eat though up to 6 inches of nonmagical metal or wood.
NPCs Interacted With
- Guard drakes (dead)
- Black pudding (dead)
- Meriessi, the Lady of the Spring
Locations Visited
- Raider’s camp
- The Greenfields
- The pool of the Lady of the Spring
Experience Per Character
| Session | Task or Accomplishment | Aegar | Pliny | Zoyana |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Cave: Shrine - 1 guard drake | 150 | 150 | 150 |
| 34 | Cave: Dragon Hatchery - black pudding | 367 | 367 | 367 |
| 34 | Slupring up some black pudding | - | - | 25 |
| 34 | Cave: Dragon Hatchery - dragon eggs (2) | 168 | 168 | 168 |
| 34 | Finding Frulam’s Journal and plans | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| 34 | Looting & Cleanup | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 34 | Learning that it’s hard to gather scales from a green drake | 10 | - | - |
| 34 | Letting the hunters live | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 34 | Party bonding: Love in the time of dragons | 200 | 200 | 200 |
| 34 | Sacrificing Aegar to the Water Sprite | - | 100 | 100 |
| Total | 1120 | 1210 | 1235 |
Frulam’s Journal:
Map of the Greenfields:
- Spread open on one of the tables is a simple map of the Greenfields area showing the villages the cult attacked and looted.
- An arrow is sketched in from the Greenfields toward the west and the town of Beregost on the Trade Way, where the arrow turns north.
A separate sheet of paper:
- A separate sheet of paper that is covered with numerals in columns contains the note:
Everything must be freighted north to Naerytar. Rezmir allowed us to keep some pearls, a ring, and a handful of small stones."
Frulam’s Journal
- Type: Journal, Personal
- Medium: Paper
Note:
Great. Reinforcements. Galvan the Blue sent Cyanwrath and a group of kobolds, cultists, and clerics to “reinforce” us. Just when our setup was stabalizing, and the eggs were entering the last stage. WTF. How am I supposed to get any work done?
Note:
I hate Kobolds. They stink, and their intellect matches that of a rock. They won’t even call me by my proper title! I command the stinking vermin, and they nod with “Yes Purple Lady” or “Yes Frooly”, despicable! The sooner we can finish setting up camp and leave, the better.
Mistress Rezmir has said we will be attacking a small town today, to show another successful conquest for the queen Tiamat – praise Her glory. So long as it’s over swiftly, and Cyanwrath doesn’t try another of his “honorable” antics, I shall endure.
What I would give to be half dragon – like him – so that I may ascend to equal or even greater status than Wyrmspeaker Rezmir herself. Yet he squanders every opportunity, being a soldier of “honor” and “duty”.
Haiku:
The dragon wings beat
up in the air, like a bird
that can devour you.
Limerick:
A dragon is covered in scales
It can make any wizard go pale
It will burn you to death
With its mighty deep breath
You better be up to date on your veils
Note:
I recited the haiku and limerick to Cyanwrath, and he just looked at me like I was insane! He told me about the “Epitaph of a Dragonslayer”, but it’s not poetic at all. I’m going to look into some blue dragon poetry, maybe he’ll appreciate that.
Epitaph of a Dragon Slayer
He looked into a cave to see if the dragon was home; it was.
Ballad of the Blue Dragon
Deepest deserts where suns forever fly
burn to dust nearly every thing,
but their eternal heat cannot hope to dry
the malicious, insidious azure king.
Note:
He laughed at me, told he’s heard kobolds write better, and suggested I never try to become a bard.
Another Blue Dragon Poem
The dragon was here
At last I felt fear
It looked upon me
It said to flee
I look for where it was clear
But I stood much like a deer
Awaiting for that engulfing blaze
Surprised my lightning rays
In the dark I had no clue
This dragon was blue
Note:
He thought the poetry was nice, but then he told me it was very “unoriginal”. He had read it in a book one of the kobolds pilfered from a village some time ago. He said I need to write the poetry myself and make it up entirely to call it my own. I’ll show him. I’ll write the best poem he’s ever heard, and this one will be about red dragons!
Red Dragon
The wings, they are……red
Red…….like fire
But they are not fire. They are….wings…
Wings aren’t fire
Note:
Finally, some time to write. After the attack of Greenest and the shenanigans in the camp, I’ve hardly had time to actually put anything down here. Cyanwrath, of course, decided towards the end of the siege he would “challenge” one of the defenders in exchange for a few hostages to be released. This was NOT discussed beforehand, as we were intending to keep as many hostages as possible! Absolutely ridiculous! Good riddance to a fool.
Note:
The monk – How did he escape? How did they all escape? If it weren’t for Rezmir ordering very specific watch over those prisoners, I’d have beaten the little twit myself and been done with it. It was all I could do not to kill him when we first found him, and he did not go down without a fight, that’s for sure. We could have taught him some manners about how to act under the guidance of the Queen – Praise Tiamat’s Glory.
Rezmir’s orders, then like (invisible, silent) thieves in the night… And then Rezmir leaves us… with what? some useless kobolds and a dozen guards? These eggs can’t hatch fast enough…
Note In Code, slipped between the pages:
Xctkqwu vtgcutgq cpf nqecvkqpu qh uvcvgike kpvgtguv ctg octmgf ykvj cp ‘Z’. Ugpf ogp vq gzrnqtg cpf icvjgt cffkvkqpcn kpvgl.
Vtcxgn tqwvgu ctg xctkgf. Qpeg ecor ku dtqmgp, urnkv qhh cpf vcmg vkog vq cxqkf cpa rwtukv da nsukpi uegpv qh qwt iqcnu. Mggr vjg ectcxcp’u oqxkpi, eqnngevkpi cpf fkuvtkdwvkpi cvvgpvkqp cnqpi vjg eqcuv. Vjku ujqwnf vjtqy vjg Eqwpekn qhh cpf mggr gagu qhh vjg rtkbg.
Ecuvng Pcgtavct nkgu kp vjg Ogrg qh Fgcf Ogp. Ycveh qwv hqt vjq dwnnaywi cpf nkbctfogp vtkdgu vjcv tqco vjg ctgc, cu ygnn cu Xqctcijcocpvjc, yjq ku pqv hqpf qh wpcppqwpegf xkukvqtu. Ectpcvj Tqcfjqwug octmu vjg uchfuv rqkpv qh gpvta.
Vjg Jqctf owuv tgcej Pcgtavct cv cnn equvu.
Ygct vjg rwtwng ykvj rtkfg. Rtckug Vkcocv!
Decoded version of Note In Code, slipped between the pages:
Various treasures and locations of strategic interest are marked with an ‘X’. Send men to explore and gather additional intel.
Travel routes are varied. Once camp is broken, split off and take time to avoid any pursuit by losing scent of our goals. Keep the caravan’s moving, collecting and distributing attention along the coast. This should throw the Council off and keep eyes off the prize.
Castle Naerytar lies in the Mere of Dead Men. Watch out for the bullywug and lizardmen tribes that roam the area, as well as Voaraghamantha, who is not fond of unannounced visitors. Carnath Roadhouse marks the safest point of entry. The Hoard must reach Naerytar at all costs.
Wear the purple with pride. Praise Tiamat!
Note signed Severin, slipped between the pages:
Rezmir,
The time is drawing close.
The Blue Wyrmspeaker is sending forces to support your raid on Greenest.
Take the loot north and bring Skyreach to the Well.
DO NOT SEND ANOTHER SHIPMENT DIRECTLY TO THE WELL!!!
Now that the time nears, secrecy and security matter more than ever.
Hail Tiamat!
-Severin