Session #60: The Fame and the Fortitude

The exhausted but triumphant party harvested the dragon's remains.

After only a short respite, the party began evaluating their options. They wanted to face a black dragon next, and their map showed several in various parts of the world. After some discussion, they decided to head to Q'barra. Their map showed one in that nation's jungles, and the party wanted to check up on the state of things in that part of the world.

It took them a day's travel, but mid-morning on 6 Rhaan they arrived back at the shore near Illmarrow Castle. The castle and the shore were as gloomy and gray as ever. Thankfully, the boat was still there, and for a pittance they agreed to carry the party back to Port Verge. Another cold and wet journey ensued, landing them there on the 11th of Rhaan.

In Port Verge, Hapselmath took his leave of the party - he was out to find jaunty adventures, not epic battles for the fate of the world! The party bid him a polite farewell and went about the business of buying and selling magical items. They had much still to attend to.

After concluding their business in town, Tselem cast Linked Portal and transported them all to Newthrone, the capital of New Galifar in Q'barra. Upon their arrival, they immediately sought an audience with the king. It was not hard to get one, considering their fame had spread so far and wide. Even just walking down the streets to the palace, people stared and whispered. The party's role in the major world affairs of the last several months had become common knowledge, and their faces well-known, a fact they took great satisfaction in.

The King of New Galifar was not as easily impressed as most people, but the party was still given a relatively quick audience. The party offered the king a bargain - stand down the escalating conflict between his realm and the Talenta Plains, and they will slay the dragon in the jungles in his name The king was very amenable to these terms, but did not feel he was in a position to resist Reidra. The party offered to broker an understanding between the people of the Talenta Plains and New Galifar, revealing their insider influence with the Talenta nomads. The king was surprised, pleased, and agreeable!

Satisfied with the bargain made, the party retired for the evening as guests of the king. Azeri and Tselem took some time to visit the castle's library (which was actually quite small all things considered - New Galifar is after all a nation of refugees).

The next morning, 12 Rhaan, the party departed the comforts of the palace. They traveled for three days in the jungle, following tracks and trails. At night, Tselem would cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, keeping them safe in a luxurious pocket dimension as they slept. Around noon on 15 Rhaan, they emerged from the dense forests onto the edge of cliff. Below them they could see the extinct volcano Haka'torvhak and built into the side of it, the great, ruined Citadel of Haka'torvhak. It was an awe-inspiring sight, the party lingered there for several minutes.

The party then pushed deeper into the jungle. As they marched further south, looking for further signs of the dragon, they were suddenly attacked by two huge thunderhawks! The fearsome beasts strafed them the skies, but the party stood their ground. As they did so, they wondered: why were these creatures attacking them? Azeri remembered reading thunderhawks were territorial - if the party were to run, would they creatures leave them be?

The party decided to go for it, and after a relatively short sprint, the creatures fell back and left the party alone. Azeri and Tselem were relieved that they would not have to destroy such magnificent animals.

By now, night was falling, so Tselem cast the Mansion once again, and the party retired for the day.

Rewards

• 8,500 XP each

Sessions #57-59: The White Demon (Parts I-III)

Part I

The party was unsure whether or not to believe this horrific accusation (of the castle housing cannibals). They poked around the castle for a bit, and didn't find any evidence of it, but the place and its people were creepy enough that they decided to move on. The boat that had brought them there was still moored offshore. The party and Hapselmath decided to spend the night on the boat, which the captain allowed for a pittance.

The next morning (4 Rhaan), they awoke and returned to shore, where they began making their journey to the northern part of the island, where the map showed the great dragon Tonrar living. The journey, even aided by Azeri's phantom steeds, took most of the day.

In the late afternoon, they emerged from the mountains to behold a great valley. Scattered throughout this valley were several huge skeletons, completely picked clean down to the bones. Upon investigation, the party realized that these were the bones of great whales! They were puzzled and unnerved - they were at least a mile inland, how had these poor creatures ended up here? It was then that Tselem looked at the map again, and was finally able to make sense of an unclear aspect of the drawing. The map depicted Tonrar carrying a whale in its claws! These remains were what was left of Tonrar's meals!

The party was not anxious to face such a formidable foe, and made camp for the night in a sparse copse of trees. They debated whether it was advisable to even build a fire, as the dragon couldn't be too far off, but they eventually decided it was much too cold to go without one. The night thankfully passed without incident.

The next morning, 5 Rhaan, the party and Hapselmath awoke and started going through their morning ablutions and breakfast. They had scarely finished when they heard a giant wind rushing down the mountain. They looked up, and saw the ancient white dragon Tonrar flying down upon them, his jaws open wide!

Tonrar landed in their midst. He was surrounded by a swirling haze of ice which cut the party's skin if they got too close. Undeterred by the creature's massive size and defenses, the party launched themselves into the fray!

Part II

Tonrar quickly proved to be the most formidable adversary the party had ever faced! The party soon exhausted their most powerful spells and attacks trying to bring the beast down, and while Tonrar certainly did not shrug off their attacks, he hardly seemed to fatigue! Azeri summoned her chariot, and used it to bring her and Maak Tol and Hapselmath a little higher up for better attacks.

Tonrar's painful haze cut into the party time and time again, as did the blasts of his ice breath. His vicious claws raked the party and his frozen hide did not easily yield to them.

Taumir kept his distance as usual, and employed his archer's skills to great effect, landing many powerful hits. Hapselmath found himself a little frustrated with his inability to do much damage, and decided to start straight-up throwing things at Tonrar, including some of his precious musical instruments! Sadly, even a huge harpsicord the Goliath had managed to bring with him failed to hit the beast, and crashed into the snow with a off-key death rattle.

Maak Tol was inspired by this failure however, and lept from the chariot onto Tonrar's head, bringing him into a bunch better position to attack. At long last, the dragon began to slow down. (A good thing too, as the seriousness of the situation had made the party wonder if they should run from this fight and live to fight another day.)

Part III

Tselem was also frustrated at some spell failures, and began looking for innovate ways to attack. He began using some minor spells to pick up things and hurl them at Tonrar. The hits that landed weren't the most damaging ever, but they proved that the party was not out of this fight yet!

It was here that Azeri pulled out some powerful spells of her own. She was able to bless the party with more damaging attacks and cast spells over the dragon that weakened its own resistance to attack. Tonrar was already looking beat-up, and now the party redoubled their efforts. From on top of his head, Maak Tol struck again and again. When Tonrar tried to buck him off, Maak Tol used his beast forms to sprout wings and however just above Tonrar's head so the dragon couldn't shake him off.

Round and round the party went, each member landing blow after blow. Azeri and Hapselmath still flew around in the chariot. Tonrar weakened and began to lash out in desperation, even knocking over some of the trees.

Finally Azeri had had enough. From her chariot, she left forth a blast of radiant light. The beam struck Tonrar, and very nearly seared flesh from bone. The great evil beast cried his last, and collapsed into the snow, dead!

Rewards

• 30,250 XP each!!
• You found a Rod of Blinding Awe +6 (Player's Handbook 2, p. 205)
• 2,400 platinum pieces total (equivalent to 24,000 GP)

Session #56: The Castle of the Damned

The map that party had obtained showed that there was a white dragon named Tonrar living on the island of Farlnen, the northern-most island of Khorvaire, almost to Eberron's north pole. They decided this would be a welcome change from the desert. They used Linked Portal to get to the city of Port Verge in the Lhazar Principalities (the next morning, 27 Barrakas), and from there chartered a boat to the island with some pirates. (While in Port Verge they stocked up on some equipment.)

Five days later, late in the afternoon of 3 Rhaan, the island came fully into view. The air was bitterly cold, and snow was falling on the deck of the ship. Ominous peaks loomed over the sea and the boat. As they pulled into shore, they would see a figure standing on the beach, dressed in white furs and glowering. The pirates began to quickly unload the cargo. The party could see way up in the hills a huge castle, painted white. Tselem had heard stories, more rumors really, about this castle - it was named Illmarrow Castle, and the rumors were all bad (though Tselem was not inclined to believe them).

The pirates had also been transporting another passenger, a Goliath bard named Hapselmath. He tagged along with the party as they went ashore, and asked the man on the beach if he might come see the castle. The man, whose name was Svern, scowled and said they didn't usually welcome visitors. But Hapselmath was able to charm him into grudgingly agreeing to let him and the party come up.

Other figures had now come down from the castle, pulling sleds to load up the cargo. They had the same dress and expression Svern: stern, covered in furs, and kind of ugly. The pirates took their payment and quickly went back to the ship. The inhabitants of Illmarrow Castle began making their way back up to the keep with their supplies, not paying much attention to their visitors.

When the party arrived in the castle, they found it a somewhat dank place, though certainly warmer and drier than the wind and storm outside. Azeri was the first to realize that there was something a little off about these people - they seemed a little inbred, truth be told. Maak Tol was unbothered by the oddness of the place, though, and managed to secure himself a tankard of ale. Azeri's fox huddled close to her for warmth.

Tselem was curious to know if there was any magic in this castle that he could investigate. He quickly found out that there was, and not the kind of magic that he wanted to find. Poking around in the lower levels, he found evidence of some very dark necromancy. Upon coming back up, he and Taumir were feeling more ill at ease about this place.

Before they had much time to dwell on the matter, though, there was a commotion, and the doors to the castle were thrown open. In stormed a giant! Taumir was able to recognize the creature right away - it was a Death Giant, an evil being that harvested and enslaved souls! Some of these captive souls he could see hovering in a shroud of evil magic that wrapped around the giant. Behind the giant were several other creatures they couldn't quite see, but quickly got a good view of as they squirmed past the brute, even crawling up the walls! These ghoulish figures snapped their teeth and scratched at the stones, trying to get to the people within. The inhabitants of the castle ran for their lives, screaming.

Tselem took some more productive action. He cast Stormcage in the narrow entryway to the castle where the giant and his allies were. The magical lightning cage slammed into the approaching monsters, killing most of the ghouls in one go! The giant waded through it though and began to attack them, followed by another figure. This figure looked male, and human, but it was hard to tell - it was dressed from head to foot in robes, its hands were covered in gloves, and its face was covered by a dark mask that showed none of the features behind it.

A fairly one-sided battle ensued. The figured turned out to be a powerful sorcerer, and the giant had some mighty attacks of his own, but the party stood their ground firmly. Hapselmath had a bag of alchemical weapons, and while those didn't do much, he was able to cast a spell that confused and distracted the giant and the sorcerer from making powerful strikes. The giant, true to its evil nature, waded into the fray, and took the bulk of the hits, and soon lay bleeding to death on the ground. The party then turned their attention to the sorcerer.

The sorcerer proved fairly resilient, but the party wasn't worried. As the battle continued, however, Azeri noticed that the giant was still not dead. In fact, she could see that some of the soul shards were disappearing, sustaining the giant's life even as it slipped towards death. Out of concern for the trapped souls, Azeri rallied her allies and they began to lay down blows on the giant again. Only two shards still remained when the giant's life finally left him. They hadn't been able to save the other souls from being consumed, but these last two were freed.

The sorcerer by this point was struggling to stand. From behind his mask and under his robes maggots were leaking out and falling the ground - he seemed to be bleeding them instead of blood. The party was grossed out but did not hold back. Azeri finally tired of it all and let forth a blast of radiant light against the undead monster, which finally brought it down and dragged its corpse over to her feet.

Tselem finally recognized the sorcerer for what it was - a Larva Marge, a necromancer whose spirit reinhabited his own maggot-ridden corpse after death. He realized that the residues of necromancy he'd seen in the 'basement' was his work. As this coprse lay at their feet, gasping out its last bit of unlife, the party asked him why he had come here. He grabbed Azeri's robe and said, "These people are cannibals."

Rewards

• 21,000 XP each. Time for everyone but Maak Tol to level up!

Sessions #54 & #55: The Arrogance and the Wisdom of the Ancients (Parts I & II)

Session #54

The party stepped over the bodies of the fallen guards and went around the bend. There they saw the mouth of a huge cave, undoubtedly the dragon's! They marched in confidently. The cave entrance was a narrow-ish passageway flanked by a thirty-foot cliff on the right side. When they rounded the side of this cliff and entered the main cavern, they were awed by the size of it. But their attention was much more focused on the huge red dragon lying on an enormous pile of gold and treasure at the far end of the cave.

The dragon rose from his repose with a surprised look, and then let out an evil laugh. "I give you full marks for bravery," he cackled. "Now come and meet your death!"

The party launched into the fray, while the dragon let out blasts of fire. At first the great wyrm still seemed bemused by them. However, Azeri then summoned an ethereal chariot and steed that gave the party the ability to fly up to meet the dragon in the air and gave them extra protection. The dragon recognized this as powerful magic, and became less casual. And then Azeri was able to actually inflict some damage with a fire attack! At this the dragon looked downright stunned and gave the party his full attention.

Around and around they went, the magic of the party's weapons and staffs pushing back the dragon's lethal claws, teeth, and breath. Azeri guided her chariot through the air with Maak Tol riding in the back delivering blows against their foe even in mid-air. The dragon grew more harried and concerned as the battle progressed, and lighted on the top of the cliff.

Session #55

Now beginning to show the strain, the dragon let forth might roars that caused Maak Tol and Tselem to both retreat several paces in momentary fear. But their courage quickly returned to them, and once again they rained blows and spells down upon him. Fear began to show in the ancient creature's eyes, and his attacks became both more desperate and clumsy. He tried to back away from the party, to find some cover, but then he flew up into the air once more and this time, Taumir arrows found their final mark. With a scream and crash, the beast crashed to the cavern floor, dead!

The party was exhausted from the fight, and took some time to savor their victory. Then they got to the messy work of stripping the corpse and collecting the bones for their mission (particularly the femur, arm, and skull bones). They also set to work looting from the hoard. The enormous pile of treasure gave them cause to mourn that their bag of holding wasn't infinite!

As they were thus engaged, Azeri suddenly heard and felt Shaena speaking in her head! She recognized this was the Sending ritual. Per the brevity of the ritual, Shaena said only a short phrase: "Friends, I owe you an apology. Please come again soon - you won't believe what we have found." Azeri was not able to respond, but she felt the genuineness of Shaena's message. So the party decided to return to Clan Ulantra on the Talenta Plains.

Azeri summoned her magical steeds and the party arrived back with their former hosts on the evening of 26 Barrakas. Shaena was waiting for them, and greeted them with warmth and an apology. She asked their forgiveness for having blamed them for the death of her people. She thought that the mummies had attacked the camp that night because of the party, but she has since learned otherwise. The party frankly accepted, and asked how she had learned this. Shaena told them to come and see.

Shaena had acquired a large bruise on her face. When asked about it, she said simply that in the aftermath of the deaths, she had been challenged for leadership of the clan. Cracking her knuckles, she concluded, "It won't happen again."

Shaena led the party to a spot about a hundred yards outside of the camp. To the party's surprise, a huge pit had been dug, and inside it, was a huge pyramid! Shaena explained that some of her warriors had followed the mummies who'd escaped, and they'd disappeared into the sand here, so her people had dug down, and found all this! They'd ventured inside once, but been driven out by mummies. Shaena asked for the party's help in venturing in once more. The party agreed, but in the morning. Tselem was especially still a bit dazed from the fight with the dragon, and night was quickly drawing on. Shaena agreed.

That night the party and the clan partied the night away. This night saw the light of several of the moons, as well as many burning torches and constant guards, so everyone slept soundly.

The next morning, Shaena and her guards fetched the party and they all went down into the pit and began to search the pyramid. It was several hours before they found anything of interest though. Around noon they entered a large chamber, and saw an orb glowing with evil energy. It sent a blast at them that knocked them all flat and threw Shaena and her guards out of the room entirely. Still on his back, Taumir let an arrow fly, and very nearly destroyed the evil thing; then Tselem finished it off with a disintegration spell. Now motivated, everyone searched the room, and found mention of a library hidden deep within the pyramid.

Azeri heard this and was off like a shot! A few minutes later they entered said library and found it to be huge and full of dusty tomes. Tselem quickly realized that much of the magic in here would be offensive to all Lawful Good and Good gods, though not all of it was strictly evil. Taumir searched for books about the thirteenth moon for some reason. Azeri, her little fox in tow, found some books about dragons. And in one of them she found a map of all the known dragons in Khorvaire! It was a hundred years old, but for dragons that is nothing, so this was a very promising lead!

Shaena and the guards had not descended to the library's level, choosing to go back out and get some lunch. After an hour in the library, the party followed as well.

Rewards

• 23,350 XP each! (Maak Tol will now level up to level 22.)
• A Dragondaunt Shield - Level 26 magic item (Player's Handbook p. 245)
• 3,100 PP (equivalent to 310,000 GP), plus 5,000 GP worth of gems & jewels

Session #53: The Victors and the Spoils

The party stood outside the burning tent, waiting to see if their foes might just burn up and be done with it. Alas, all three made their way out of the inferno, badly scorched but still fighting. The flaming tent collapsed and the party resumed the battle. Each mummy was returned to the dust, but each managed to strike at the party with their drying breath.

The battle was over, but the party realized they could hear still screams and confusion throughout the camp. They left the embers of their tent behind to see the shapes of three other mummies fleeing into the night. Several other tents had been torn apart, and seven halflings lay dead. Shaena confronted them, furious, and demanded they leave. Tselem tried to offer some money by way of compensation, but Shaena rejected it. The party left, dejected.

The party then traveled a short distance away and camped for the rest of the night. When they awoke on the morning of 22 Barrakas, they were feeling the effects of the battle. The mummies had poisoned them! Fortunately, Azeri was able to cast Cure Disease on everyone (she herself was less affected). Now back to full health, they resumed their journey to the northern end of the Endworld Mountains, reaching the foothills that evening. They spent the next day searching for signs of dragons, and found some promising leads.

They camped that night in a bowl-shaped depression high on one of the mountains. When they awoke on the morning of 24 Barrakas, they heard something moving on the ridge above them. It was a pack of Grimlocks! The party was on guard, but remembered that these creatures were blind and didn't seem to sense them at this distance.

There was a slope leading up to the ridge, so Taumir went up and spied on the creatures. They were marching back and forth they were guarding something, and Taumir could see something around the bend that looked like they were still on the trail of the dragon. He snuck back down to the party and they decided to take out these guards. They dropped four with long-range strikes before the other two even realized what was happening. The remaining two ran down the slope to attack, but were also dropped easily.

Rewards

• 15,928 XP each! This means everyone but Maak Tol will level up to level 22!
• 2,370 PP total! (That's platinum pieces - a platinum piece is worth 100 GP)

Session #52: The Wanderers in the Wilderness

In the aftermath of the battle, the party returned to Lathleer. They had decided to head to the Talenta Plains, partly to check up on the haflings, but also to make their way to the Endworld Mountains to find a red dragon to slay. They were thinking of using a House Orien teleportation station to take them Gatherhold, one of the few cities in the Talenta Plains, but the attendant at the station was snotty and the price was somewhat high (there wasn't much demand for travel to Gatherhold.) The party decided to go directly across the street and have Tselem cast Linked Portal to take them to Gatherhold instead. Tselem then sent a fig through the portal as a way of snubbing their noses as the attendant.

The party spent a quiet evening in Gatherhold (which is something of a ghost town during the late summer), and then next morning set on foot across the Plains towards the Blade Desert. They entered the desert on the 18th of Barrakas. They were hoping to make contact with Clan Ulantra, whose chief was Ostran, and whose daughter was Shaena, whom they had first encountered in the Desert months before. They did not happen upon Clan Ulantra that day, but they did meet another halfling clan, who told them they thought Clan Ulantra was traveling to the southeast. This other clan did say they thought there were some dragons to the northeast. In order to hide their purpose, the party headed southeast.

The next day they encountered another halfling clan, but again it was not Clan Ulantra. These halflings though said they had seen Clan Ulantra just a few days ago, heading north, so the party turned and headed that direction instead. The same scene repeated itself the next day as well with yet another halfling clan.

On 21 Barrakas, the party found Clan Ulantra! Ostran had fallen ill, and Shaena was more or less ruling in his stead. She welcomed the party, and they had a nice reunion with her and her father. She told the party that New Galifar had started building forts along the edge of the desert and was generally being a nuisance, but as of yet no real hostilities had broken out.

The party decided to stay the night with Clan Ulantra while planning their next move. That night, it was very dark - all twelve moons were hidden, and the stars, while beautiful, cast little illumination. The party was sound asleep, and then was rudely awakened as something began attacking them in the dark! Tselem created a torch, and the party was stunned to see huge mummies had invaded their tent! As befitting epic heroes of their caliber, they did not shrink from the fight, battling the mummies in these close quarters. The spells thrown around caught the tent on fire. The party members untangled themselves from the inferno, with the mummies still inside...

Rewards
(nothing yet, encounter is still ongoing)

Session #51: The Road Towards Blasphemy

The next morning, 9 Barrakas, was a bright, clear day. Maak Tol awoke early and went out for a morning constitutional. As he was exploring one of the palace's courtyards, however, he was attacked by several dragonborn fanatics seeking revenge for the death of Rthumar! A intense but quiet battle followed. Maak Tol displayed a legendary ability to take damage - he outlasted his enemies, and then struck them down.  When the rest of the party awoke they were quite enthralled with the tale.

Sirnas wished to get going as soon as possible, but the party had a few things to take care of first. They replenished their supplies and bargained for some better weapons. The members of the court and the palace staff continued to fawn over and kowtow to them, to the point that Azeri was even able to persuade someone to give her a pet fox!

They still set out relatively early. The higher-level clerics that Sirnas wanted to meet with was his old order, who lived in a monastery outside Lathleer, in central Aundair. The party chose to take the lightning rail to Fairhaven - they slept on the train on the night of the 9th, and arrived in Fairhaven on the evening of the 10th. The next morning (the 11th), they sent out for the monastery, arriving late that afternoon.

When they arrived, they received a kind if subdued reaction from the clerics of Sirnas' order, who called themselves the Children of the Unequal Family. They were taken to see the abbot, an Eladrin named Boreshk. Boreshk turned out to be an insanely old Eladrin - most Eladrin pass on at around 300 years old without having visibly aged, but Boreshk was pushing 500 and was gnarled and milky-eyed. His mind appeared strong, even if he was a bit easily distracted.

Boreshk told them more about what was going to be required for this epic quest. While the party could slay the dragons, only one being could forge the weapon from the bones that they needed - a being named Orisis. The party naturally asked who Orisis was and where to find him or her, and Boreshk took some dark delight in announcing that Orisis lived somewhere in the depths of Khyber, and that no one knew quite what he or she was or where to find him/her/it. He also made it clear that Orisis was a evil being, but would forge the weapon if the party could defeat him/her/it in battle.

The party was naturally a little daunted by this prospect. They asked about where to find portals to Khyber, but decided they would focus on slaying the dragons first. Sirnas and Boreshk reminded them that generally speaking, blue dragons are the least powerful dragons, followed by red, then white, then black, then green. Rthumar had been a blue dragon, so seeking out a red dragon seemed like the best thing to do next. Red dragons are known to populate the Ironroot and Endworld Mountains, both of which bordered the Talenta Plains, and the party had long wanted to check and see what had become of the people they'd spent time with there, so they decided to turn their attentions that way.

One other important piece of information the party learned was that one of the dragons slain to forge the weapon had to have been or be a consort of Tiamat. They were relieved to learn that Rthumar already satisfied that element.

The party and Boreshk talked for some time, and then they had a meal and turned in for the night. Before they finished however, Boreshk emphatically emphasized how crucial secrecy would be! There are many who would feel that slaying a god, even an evil one, constitutes blasphemy. And of course if Tiamat herself learned what they were doing, their quest would become exponentially more difficult. (The gods are not omniscient - with the exception of psionic ones, they cannot hear unspoken thoughts. So a secret can be kept from the gods if you are careful and do not encounter a psionic minion.)

The party awoke the next morning (12 Barrakas) and set out to leave. They had barely stepped out the door though when they were attacked by an Eladrin flanked by four monstrous hounds. The Eladrin appeared to be one of these whom Boreshk had warned them about, those would interpret their quest as blasphemous, as their attacker said little besides calling them heretics and such. The party was able to defeat these enemies before the rest of the Order could come to their aid. When the dust settled, the clerics were surprised and dismayed to see it had been one of their own, Kerugerd.

Rewards

• 16,000 XP each
• 25,000 GP total

Sessions #49 & #50: The Wrath and the Powers (Parts I & II)

Session #49

The next morning (8 Barrkas), the party awoke slowly, having partied the night away. Tselem went down to deliver a message to Miri, his old professor in Fairhaven while the rest of the party slowly got themselves together. They then discussed what their next move was going to be. Now that their main objective had been accomplished, they decided to go back and see how some of their side quests had turned out, specifically the time they delivered a warning about an imminent attack to the halfings of the Talenta Plains.

As they were preparing to go however, an earthquake-like tremor went through the building. They began to near explosions and screams int the distance. They rushed outside and saw that a large part of the city was engulfed in flames. A huge dragon was flying over the city and sending out blasts of lightning, causing explosions and mass destruction!

The people of Korth were fleeing from the dragon and his fury as fast as they could, but the party girded up their loins and ran towards the dragon. (Taumir trailed a little further behind, but he eventually caught up.) Once they were close enough, they sent spells and arrows flying at it. This caught the dragon's attention immediately, and once he saw them, he roared, "There you are!" and began to attack them!

As the battle commenced, Tselem realized that he knew who this dragon was - this was Rthumar, a great blue dragon that had terrorized the northern shores of Karrnath for decades. He was a fierce devotee of Tiamat.

Very quickly the party was able to force Rthumar to land, and began blasting him with their most powerful magical effects. In the heat of the battle, both sides took massive damage. And yet in the midst of this fury, Azeri showed that she was truly was a follower of the mischievous fox spirit and tried to climb into the dragon's back to ride him!! She was knocked off when one of Tselem's spells knocked Rthumar onto his side and restrained him with magical chords, but once Rthumar broke free, she climbed up yet again!

The severity of the attacks against him and the audacity of this cleric's approach sent Rthumar into a rage, and he fired lighting attacks all around him in a storm of spitting, thrashing destruction. He attempted to put some distance between him and party by flying up into the air, but Maaktol gave chase, and Taumir pelted the monster with arrows. Tselem tried to put a lightning cage around him, only to realize a little later that that probably wasn't going to do much good against a lightning creature.

Session #50

Both Tselem and Azeri had conjured ghostly familiars to launch secondary attacks against their foe - Tselem had a ghostly sword that made some ineffective whacks against the monster's tail, while Azeri had a full-fledged ghostly warrior which engaged him at point-blank range.

Tselem decided to try a new tactic, and created an arcane gate that would allow his allies to move from the ground to Rthumar's back. Azeri once again tried to mount the beast (having been knocked off once again earlier), and succeeded again! This time Maaktol joined suit, leaping through the arcane gate to bring his sword to bear against the dragon's neck. Rthumar tried to claw these two annoyances off, but could not, even after he returned to the ground.

The party was struggling to maintain the fight, but at last Rthumar began to falter. Tselem's ghost sword and Azeri's ghost warrior now began to show some mettle of their own, finally landing some serious blows. The party saw actual fear begin to well up in the evil creature's eyes. And then Azeri's ghost warrior fired a magical arrow directly into the monster's brain. Rthumar screamed in one last throe of agony, and then collapsed in a heap.

The scourge of Karrnath was dead!!

The party gasped with relief, having thrown all their considerable abilities into this battle. After resting a minute, they surveyed their surroundings. The city around them was razed and burning - the destruction was immense. Once they had caught their breath, they began to look for people in the rubble. They found a few - some were already dead, but some were still alive. Tselem and Azeri worked to heal one particularly injured man they found. Meanwhile, Taumir and Maaktol began cutting trophies off the dragon's corpse.

As the dust settled further, people began to gather around the scene of the battle. They gawked with fear and adoration at the brave adventurers who stood triumphant over the corpse of this mighty dragon! After a little while, some of the city guards began to show up as well. One particularly brave and astonished fellow came up and offered voluminous and subservient praise, and asked them if they wanted to come meet the King. The party agreed.

The guards led the party down the main boulevard of Korth, out of the destroyed section of the city and into the royal section, which was unharmed. People lined the streets to watch them as they went. Azeri tried to pump the crowd up, but the people were too terrified of them, so she settled for cowing them into applauding. Tselem created a small enchantment over the party's heads depicting their glorious battle.

When they arrived at the palace, they went directly into the throne room, where King Kaius III received them as he sat in court. He heaped praise upon them, though there was something oddly rigid about it. The party received his thanks, and then asked if he might have a reward for them, specifically a very powerful magic item.

The king only looked at them blankly, at which point another man, who appeared to be one of the king's vizers, stepped forward. He said that he would be happy to discuss such matters with them, but could they do so in private? The party said they would speak to him this evening, at which point the party was taken off to freshen up and settle into royal guest chambers, before a grand feast was thrown in their honor.

That evening, weary from battle and stuffed with food, the party met privately with this vizer, who gave his name as Sirnas. He said he was a cleric of Aueron (who happened to be marginally the deity that Tselem honored) and that Aueron had appeared to him and shown him a vision. Aueron, said Sirnas, has learned that Tiamat is a trying to extend her reach into this plane, that that is why Cyre became the Mournland, that that is why Rthumar came so far south to attack Korth directly. Sirnas said that the party has proved that they are mighty warriors, that they can succeed at tasks that whole nations could not. For this reason, Sirnas said, Aureon has chosen them to fight Tiamat and her evil.

Azeri was the first one to realize what Sirnas was getting at: "Are you saying you want us to kill a god?"

Sirnas leaned forward and said with great intensity: "That is exactly what I am saying!"

The party took a moment to process this momentous news. The first question that arose of course is 'how???' Sirnas said that there is a way, that if they slay one ancient dragon of each of the chromatic orders and fashion a magical sword from the bones, they will have a weapon that can defeat Tiamat and destroy her completely.

The party was tired, and wanted to go to bed, so they suggested that they and Sirnas consult with other high-level clerics of Aureon to know more about how to go forward. Sirnas agreed and the party retired after an intense and exhausting day.

Rewards

• 14,000 XP each!
• 70,000 GP total!
• A Tooth of Choas (it's a level 24 [+5] dagger; see Player's Handbook 2, p. 204)