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)