Sessions #61 & 62: The Failure in the Success (Parts I & II)

Part I

The party emerged from the Mansion on the morning of 16 Rhaan and headed deeper into the jungle in search of their black dragon quarry. The jungle grew thicker and darker as they went along. Tselem and Azeri also began to notice traces of dark magic, and necrotic magic at that. (Taumir & Maak Tol felt a growing unease, but did not notice the magic themselves.)

The sun was not yet high in the sky but the party was cloaked in gloom when they saw it: the mouth of a great cave. Given everything, they knew this was the lair of the dragon. It was far too dark to see inside, so Tselem tried sending in a magical sensor. They were able to see through his scryglass that there was indeed a dragon inside, sitting on some large glowing white object.

Taumir decided to try sending in an advance attack in the form of one of Hapselmath's alchemical weapons. Unfortunately, he selected a jar of mayonnaise. The dragon seemed more bemused than anything else, and cackled evilly for them to come and face their doom. When they hesitated, they saw him leap from his perch and fly towards them!

As he passed the view of the scryglass and charged down the dark tunnel towards them at the mouth of his cave, the party realized that this dragon was undead. He had no flesh, but was made entirely of bone, and a phylactery glowed dimly in his forehead. As this evil creature bore down upon them, Tselem and Azeri could sense his malevolent magic and realized to their disgust that this horrible beast had done this to himself, had willingly become an abomination.

The dragon landed just short of the mouth of the cave and began shooting dark fire at them. The party was initially hampered by the lack of light, but Tselem set his staff aglow. One of their first attacks knock the beast off his feet, and then Azeri and Maak Tol (using a magical chariot and magical wings respectively) poised themselves above him, pinning him to the ground! The frustrated monster continued to lash out with his claws, teeth, and fire, but the party was able to rain powerful blows on him somewhat with impunity!

Part II

The party kept the dragon pinned even as their supply of spells began to run dry. The dragon did eventually get to his feet, but it turned out his decision to fight in such close quarters was a poor one. The party did not let up, and their perseverance was rewarded. The dragon's phylactery finally shattered, and the evil creature disintegrated into dust.

The party immediately realized that this presented a problem: how could harvest the bones of this creature if its bones had already turned to dust?! Tselem tried halfheartedly to recombine some of the dust, but they all knew it was futile. Even if this dragon in its undead form had been a a black dragon capable of being part of their ultimate weapon, there was no way to use it now.

Tired and disappointed, the party trudged to the back of the cave to investigate what been causing the eerie white glow. To their disgust they found it was a pile of enchanted bones. They were somewhat gladdened to see that light was now fading, as the death of the dracolich seemed to have dissipated whatever evil spell was over them.

Rewards

• 25,500 XP each! Time to level up!
• 14,000 GP total

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)