B1E17- Stop the Dragon!

Donobis (Tiefling paladin, Bill), Mareshi (human Cleric, Tony), Draggo (Dragonborn Barbarian, Brian), Thokk (half-Orc Warlock, Duane), Knott (Firbolg Druid, Matt), Fabian (1/2 elf Bard, Goeff)

Donobis insisted on riding his own Paladin Steed (a Crag Cat); he refused to ride on a sled pulled by kobold zombies controlled by Vellynne.


If they read Zardarok’s diorama correctly, his dragon construct was to attack Ten-Towns in a counterclockwise pattern starting with Deugan’s Hole. “It’s too late to aid Easthaven. Best for us to warn Bryn Shander and let them send warnings to the other towns. We should try to defend Termalaine to test our strategy.

While in Bryn Shander, with the amulet around her neck, Mareshi activated the Shield Guardian. Onward to Termalaine where we set up in the town square. A fiery-red horizon foretold the dragon’s advance on the eastern end of town. Knott called forth a “Dust Storm” to disrupt the dragon’s flight while Thokk activated the Weather-Device to create “Thundersnow” to quench the fires it brew. The dragon swooped toward us, plowing into the building Knott occupied… he barely scrambled away from the falling walls. Not so for many of the town citizens who sought refuge there. Called lightning, eldritch blasts, and a spectral weapon countered the dragon’s fiery rampage. Knott and Thokk fell victim to Dragon Charm and thus attacked their nearest allies. Donobis rushed from his building to confront the dragon with his magical trident… only to be thwarted by Mareshi casting “Web” in the area to slow the dragon. Even the Shield Guardian was snared. Donobis could only snarl, “How dare the cleric deny me my revenge oath against a dragon, even if this one was only a construct!

The group could only stand and watch as the dragon departed. “I know we wounded it! At least we saved the town.” Except the family members digging thru the rubble for their dead relatives didn’t feel saved.

It was at a fast pace of destruction. By our calculations: maybe 4 hours to destroy a smaller settlement like Deugan’s Hole. Probably 8 hours to destroy a larger city like Easthaven. Bremen in its current path would soon fall. Not enough time for us to rush toward Targos; we hurried to Bryn Shander where we slightly modified our attack plans. Little did we know that the dragon altered his plans too:

Stupid of it to land and allow us to attack with melee weapons. Why even the Shield Guardian would be most effective… Not so! The dragon’s fiery breath and claws almost felled the SG in its first attack. As for us: Dragon Fear turned the citizens against us! With burning homes turning night into daylight, the citizens attacked relentlessly. At least Knott’s repeated cast of Lightning finally spelled doom for the dragon that collapsed in the city square. And with its death, the citizens’ fear abated.

And yet with the dragon gone, the real threat was just arriving… the throng of refugees from surrounding towns displaced by the dragon’s rampage. Rebuilding would be hard enough; eternal night and its chokehold of forever-cold would triple the time and effort required.

And yet Knott ignored the sullen attitude of the people as he entered Bryn Shander’s Post Office, “To help your economy, here are some coins if you will package and send these books to Vaelish Gant held in the Revel’s End prison.” The clerk could only roll his eyes in disbelief of the request as the cleric exited his office. And yet another of the strangers entered his office. Mareshi offered up double the coins on the counter, “Sorry to trouble you; I’ll gladly take the books off your hands. You can keep my friend’s coins along with these to help rebuild your town. You see, my friend is suffering from early onset dementia and unintentionally posted the books to the prison in response to a scam, and that delivery would be illegal. I’d hate for you or an employee to get into trouble with the prison warden.”

Next stop: Vellynne put the dragon in perspective, “This was but a Duergar plot. If we are to stop the eternal night, we need to find the Codex of Light that reportedly is on Auriel’s island (Solstice) to the north. But other needed magic resides in the ancient sky-city Ythryn that crashed to earth somewhere in the Reghed Glacier."

Next Episodehttps://wjrrofm.blogspot.com/2024/11/b1e18-solstice-island.html

 






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