09/19/745 A.E. About noon.
Speculation abounds and the party is uncertain about a few items of interest, but by the time these matters are cleared up and they gather all required provisions, it is evening. Now fully prepared, they decide to visit this house where the spy, Hiroki Renshawi, was said to have been before he met his end in the clutches of the crystal dragon. They make an early night of it, planning to set out before the sun rises.
09/20/745 A.E. Before sunrise.
In the morning they eat a light breakfast and head out, soon arriving on the outskirts of town where they found the described house. They briefly discuss their options on how best to approach, but in the end decide upon the direct approach, and Jarmain went up to the front door and knocked. An elderly woman answered the door and asked, "May I help you?" They make general inquiries about the man named Hiroki Renshawi, but the elderly woman denies, several times, of knowing of the man. Katsumi, wandering around the perimeter of the building while Jarmain discusses the spy with the woman in the front, notices a rather unusual odor emanating from the building; a strange, musky, animal kind of scent. Wet dog? No, much worse, and foul too.
The woman is adamant, however, about never even having heard of this man, and the party apologizes for intruding. Katsumi offers 4 gold coins to compensate the woman for her time. She politely declines the 4 gold coins and begins to seem nervous that the adventurers will not go away.
"What is wrong, madam? You seem nervous," one of them says, and the elderly woman can almost bear no more, her brow now beading with sweat as she nervously glances back into the room. With a sudden movement, which is remarkably fast for one so ancient, the woman runs from the door screaming, "Help me, they're . . ." but a spear impales her in the back and she crumples to the ground, hitting the wooden deck of the porch rather hard and with a sickening thud.
S1: Katsumi draws her katana and tells Garren to save the woman, all while rushing inside to meet who knows what? Along the walls, the perimeter of the room is ringed with seven rather large Bugbears, and one more standing more central, near the fire pit, having just thrown his spear almost through the old woman. Tagard follows Katsumi, but the surprise of numerous 7 to 8-foot tall creatures takes the little gnome aback. Not expecting such a simple trap, they are surprised and beset with clubs, hammers, axes, and a plethora of small weapons that are thrown at those who rushed in. A few minor wounds are all they can manage, and once again, things are on an equal footing.
COMBAT BEGINS:
R1: Miraculously, the old woman is not quite dead, but her condition is so serious such that Garren cannot leave her side, lest she die. Kat had fallen back at the onslaught of missile weapons and found herself next to Garren. He called for her aid as well, and together, they stabilized the woman and remove the spear. Magic Missiles shot forth from Tagard's hand, slamming into one of the huge bear-like creatures. It wails in pain but still stands against the magical attack. Two bugbears attack Katsumi, having followed her out. Should she move and defend herself properly, the old woman would almost certainly be killed. Kat absorbs the punishment, but is only slightly wounded by mace and claw, her katana deflecting the brunt of it. Though normally she could have completely sidestepped that clumsy attack, it was worth it to save the old woman's life. Garren similarly takes damage, but much more that Katsumi did. Gill cuts into the one attacking Jarmain, but these things are too big to easily go down. Things look grim.
R2: Gill misses with his first attack, the bugbears respond in kind. Two hit Garren. Gill's second attack fells a fresh bugbear. Katsumi drags the woman to safety. Tagard stands back and summons the raw energy between the Positive and Negative Material Planes, setting up sympathetic resonance along its path near the Quasi-Elemental Plane Of Lightning. The Lightning Bolt streaks forth and the thunderclap shakes the whole area. Hitting one bugbear, it shocks it across the room and it smashes through the papery sliding wall, slumping to the floor, quite dead. Another bugbear caught part of the electrical stroke, his fur smoldering and his system dazed, but still it stands. An illumination of some brilliance settles on the eyes of another creature, Jarmain please with the results of his Light spell. Three more quickly surround poor Garren.
R3: Tagard immediately steps up, his hands bursting into a fan of flames upon the utterances of archaic words and shaped by his equally archaic thoughts. The smoky bugbear took it full in the face and had no chance. It, too, went down in flames, its body fat began to burn like the wax of a pungent candle, reeking of burnt hair and dung. More battle, and things begin to get even more hectic. Wounds are delivered as well as taken, but the bugbears continue to dwindle in numbers. Jarmain has subdued the one blinded by the Light spell.
R4: Gillmesh slices through another bugger, and Tagard begins to use his staff. Garren finally falls against the merciless attacks of the bugbears.
R5: Tagard kills one, and Gill another. Katsumi attends to Garren, stopping the outpouring of his blood, conserving his precious, life-sustaining, bodily fluids.
R6: The only remaining bugbear decides to cut out and makes a surprise sprint through the papery walls of this building. Gill's quick reflexes deliver a parting blow to the back of the neck, taking its head clean off.
COMBAT OVER:
Only the blinded bugbear, now subdued, remained alive of the enemy hostiles. Jarmain heals Garren, and so healed, he arises. Together, they cast some healing spells and even manage to bring the old woman to a better condition than she was before this started, apparently having been abused somewhat by her beastly captors.
The old woman is appalled by the damage to her home, but thankful she has finally been rescued after weeks of imprisonment and slavery at the hands of these creatures and their human master (who she now says has been missing for over a week). "I've been held here as a prisoner for nearly 4 weeks now. I couldn't run away, not with my legs, and I live so far out of town, I had given up hope any might happen by and save me." They questioned the bugbear, but as none of them speak that language, all they get out of him is "Fikon werear, Is kilstu of is getmo heds onu," and the like, which is not very helpful. I mean, did you understand that?
Katsumi comforts the old woman and offers to pay for the repairs to her house, and even gives her 150 GP!!!. Grateful beyond belief, the old woman tells all she knows. "I think the man was their leader. The woman with him that one time was just some slatternly tart he picked up and he had his way with her in my bed. Can you believe that? My bed! They forced me to sleep on the floor and I ache all . . . " she paused, moved her limbs around a bit, seemed confused for a moment and said, "Actually, I feel really good right now. How strange." Obviously, the powerful healing magics that had been summoned forth to save her life had further healed the old woman of many of her aches and pains, though old age would assert itself soon enough, in time. They asked her why the creatures were there, but she didn't really know. "I wish I could be more helpful. They did do a lot of talking down in the root cellar though, but I cannot guess what they spoke about."
Root cellar? Though they could have just asked where it was, they search the place, finding the cellar beneath a trapdoor in the kitchen area, so they investigated, moving down earthen steps into a small chamber. Amid the half eaten vegetables strewn about the floor, they find a large, glowing sapphire. Using the wand the dragon gave them, the illumination became more brilliant, indicating this was indeed the prison for the dragon's son. They find a crumpled up letter on the floor. It was written to Hiroki Renshawi and it instructed him to keep watch on the dragon's progress and make sure the great lizard was compliant with their demands. They surmised that apparently, during one of his outings to check on the dragon, he went too far and met his end. Greed, probably. Or curiosity, perhaps? Both kill quite readily. There was no indication of who was paying the mercenary spy. A dead end. But they did recover the dragon's son.
Resting here for a time to heal and pray and study, another large bugbear shows up, but Gillmesh chases it into the nearby stand of trees, does single combat, and kills it. No word of what's happening at that house will soon be leaving that area. Several healing sessions later, they move out and deliver the prisoner bugbear to the house of Tsuryuu. They take him and try to find out what they can. Meanwhile, the party moves out, heading toward the orchard and the dragon's lair once more. They make camp before they reach there as the sun sets.
10/01/745 A.E.
The party arises, eats, and then continues without comment. Things seem to be going well for them, but the memory of the death of Tuall and the frightening experience of the dragon is dwelling on most of their minds, and they would soon be back at that awful place.
It took the better part of the day to return to the orchard and then climb the mountain wanna be. Finally, they once again scaled the sheer 20-foot rock that led to the cave's entrance. The dragon did not respond to their calls and they ventured even farther into the cave. Indeed, with all the patches of brown mold around there, it was frightfully cold. While waiting, they did try for Tuall's body again, and they manage to retrieve some of Tuall's possessions (his +2 Dagger, for example), but his body remained in the deep freeze, frozen to the rocky floor, and they were sorely damaged for their attempts. They had no choice but to leave it. Garren cast a spell so all (save him) could endure the cold better, but they still had to stay clear of the brown mold. While exploring a few of the deep crevices along the wall (that usually went no where) they unluckily found something they wished they hadn't. A kind of large, Ice Toad with a frosty and deadly breath weapon.
A brief but interesting battle ensues. Three ice toads, seemingly big enough to swallow a man whole, attack, their breath weapons doing some harm and their tongues lashing out, trying to grab someone. Magic Missiles, the flail of blades, even a Lightning Bolt did some staggering damage, and the thunderclap that followed echoed through the caverns for who knows how far? Garren made the mistake of casting Burning Hands. Deadly against the ice toads, he even killed one, but the brown mold in the immediate area began to grow and expand at an incredible rate, drawing the heat from Garren's body and causing frostbite damage in record time. Others were also too close and similarly suffered, but they drew back now that the last toad was finally finished.
And as if in response to the echoing thunder, the dragon soon appeared, its crystalline scales reflecting the light of Garren's Continual Light rock in a myriad of directions, all the colors of the rainbow well represented now within the icy cave.
"You have returned," said the dragon, almost in disbelief, half thinking they were still no better than thieves themselves. "We have the Sapphire!" said Katsumi. The dragon looked stunned, almost in disbelief. "Show me, quickly!" it uttered, the guttural sounds rebounding off the walls giving a mere hint at the power a dragon's roar, should he let his call truly issue forth.
And so it went, when Katsumi revealed the sapphire, the dragon confirmed his child was alive and well. Releasing him by shattering the sapphire, the little dragon scampered down into the dark at the command of his father. "Dizlile, go to your place and wait," commanded his father. "Yes, Dazlack!" yelped the child as he disappeared into the darkness below. The large dragon frowned (though that's hard to describe on a dragon), but then turned toward the party once more. "Thank you, thank you. How may I repay you?"
"I don't suppose you have any magical items you would be willing to part with?" asked Jarmain, always a bit mindful of the practical side of things. "Well, my treasure is rather large, but I am fond of it. All of it. There's not a coin there I do not know and . . . well, treasure. Yet, I think there may be one thing in there for each of you."
"You are named Gill and you make your way with a sword," he said upon learning Gill's name. "Would you like a bastardsword that I have? I'll 'trade' you if you wish it, and I assure you, mine is better than the one you now have." Gillmesh nods, "Aye, I could nea think O a better reward fer meself." The dragon seemed well-pleased Gill was willing to take the sword. In fact, he seemed relieved for some reason, but it's hard to really guess what a dragon might be thinking.
"And what of the Gnomish one? What is your name?" Tagard responded, "I am Tagard." The dragon nodded and showed its teeth, saying, "I have some boots made for your kind. Would you like the boots?" Tagard agreed. "My kind?" he thought, but he let the matter go unexplored.
"And this one, priest, Zeus, is it? What might your name be?" The priest of Zeus seemed surprised when the dragon addressed him. "Huh? Oh, I'm Jarmain Ba`Graben, and Yes, I am a Priest of Zeus." Again the dragon nodded. "I have a book, perhaps you may use it. Would you like this tome?" Jarmain agreed as well. He didn't want to look a gift dragon in the mouth, after all, since he knew what that breath weapon did to those fine, young samurai. A book seemed the better option, certainly.
"And what of the other priest? A man of the sea, am I correct?" Garren confirmed the dragon's speculation. "Yes. My name is Garren Rayne." The giant lizard-like creature of shinny scales continued. "A man of letters, no, yes? A man of artistry and music as well, I sense this. I have a flute. Would you like this magic flute?" Garren seemed pleased at the prospect of a magic instrument, and a flute, no less. "Well, I would be honored."
"And the lithe one, she who stuns the room with beauty and daring, but stinks up the place a bit, too. I wonder what you could use. I do have a rather stunning necklace. Perhaps you would like it?" Katsumi ignored the insult but accepted the compliment, blushing, and then agreed to accept the gift.
"Wait here while I fetch these trinkets, and do not move," ordered the crystal dragon, and he promptly disappeared down into his deep, cavernous, artificially cold lair. He returned within half an hour bearing the promised gifts and distributed them to the party members in exchange for saving his only son (but he also took Gill's old sword - in trade). "Now, you must away, never to return here, for though I was in your debt, I cannot risk invasion into my inner chambers. If you ever return, well, I'll assume the worst, and we will be enemies."
Solemnly at first, then almost happily, they took their leave, but on the way out Jarmain spied a jewel in a patch of mold. He rushed in to grab it quickly. He hurts himself doing this, but escaped with the jewel. It appeared to be a diamond.
Then, without warning, the walls begin to shake and the ground heaved up and rocked them violently. They struggled to make it outside when rocks began to fall all about them. Luckily, they all managed to avoid the deadly rocks and made it outside. Repelling down the rope (Tuall's rope, sigh) and gaining some distance, they saw the entire cave entrance area collapse in a cloud of dust and rocky debris. All were extremely thankful to have escaped with their lives. All except Tagard. Oh, he escaped too, but he looked at the convenient earthquake and collapse of the cave, and he knew it for what it was. A powerful illusion, sure, but it didn't fool the illusionist (this time). Though, in truth, even an illusion, if it were powerful enough, and believable enough, could harm a believer. He smiled to himself, but decided to tell no one they had barely escaped from an illusionary cave in. If it was real enough to them, they could have died. But he did laugh, quite loudly in fact, as they all proceeded homeward in quite an uneventful way.
And Tuall's body, which had unfortunately previously bounced so far into a patch of brown mold that the party could not retrieve it, was left behind, frozen to the cave floor. The newly short-term traveling companion perhaps would likely soon be forgotten by some, the events of chapters 2 to 7 in which he partook a thing of the past. Now, only the look of horror might be discerned from a safe distance should anyone ever once again happen upon the stiff corpse of the little known, greedy, fighter/thief. Too bad. But it was a rough business, adventuring, and temporary travelling companions are not instantly life-long friends. It is perhaps not surprising few there would risk life and soul to save Tuall.
So there, in the frozen darkness, remains Tuall, resting in the arms of the dragon. EXIT TUALL COANNELAGHT - one time party fighter/thief.
10/02/745 A.E.
It took another day, but they soon found themselves once again in the bosom of Katana, jewel of the Asian Gulf. They rested that night, planning to find a way home soon when morning's light would deign to grace them once again.
10/03/745 A.E. Morning.
SESSION ENDS:
© May of 2000
by
James L.R. Beach
Waterville, MN 56096