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)
