In a blaze of heroic glory beef rounds the corner of the corridor and is met with a sight that was not quite what was described to him by the young halfling. Expecting to see no more than a rather ornate statue that may or may not have the ability to communicate, Beef was instead gazing upon a scene that could almost be described as an ambush. Ahead of him lay a curled up and unconscious Dwarf, hands and feet bound and standing menacingly above him was a very large and very intimidating Serpent Creature. "Stop!" it yells.
Beef is taken aback somewhat, and asks who the Dwarf may be, but it that the truth is not easily forthcoming. Beef tries to surreptitiously signal to the rest of the party that he may need some assistance as the serpent creature engages in some well prepared exposition about how this is her guest and they are in her home and something about 20,000 gold. None of this seems to dissuade Beef from his lust for combat however and the Bard decides to choose confrontation over compromise and battle commences.
Farraine charges into the room to assist his companion but his haste comes at the cost of accuracy and his attack misses his target. Finn steps from around the corner and aims his crossbow at the beast but is so surprised at his friends flailing attack that he too misses his target. It falls to Beef to land the first blow on this enemy. He draws a deep breath and contorts his face in his most heroic face of fury and unleashes 2 Eldritch blast at the creature, the first falls from his palm like drool from the mouth of a halfling at an ale festival, The second blast has much more energy behind it and in true Bardic fashion misses it's target by a good foot or so, crashing harmlessly into the wall on the other side of the room.
Lucian decides that it is time to show these amateurs what real magic can do and sends a carefully crafted firebolt at the heart of the gathered creatures before retreating to the relative safety of the corridor. Sigrid, who's name has finally been spelled correctly lifts her hood over her face and conjures 2 mighty brown bears and commands them to enter the battle as she melts into the shadows.
Annoyed at the failure of his first bumbling attack, Farraine lets loose with a flurry of swipes with his blade at the creature, roaring in anger as his sword connects with the beast. But this seems to merely annoy the creature who simply turns to him and tells him to lie down. For once the fighter's will is insufficient to counter the suggestion and he lays down on the floor like an obedient little puppy. The creature's tail slithers around his prone body, winding tighter and tighter, squeezing the very breath from his lungs before it bites him viciously. The battle rages in the room, as the halfling emerges once more from the shadows and takes careful aim at the creature holding Farraine. He squeezes gently on the trigger and sends a bolt straight into the chest of the beast causing a gaping wound.
As more creatures prepare to attack, Beef, with callous disregard for the existence of poor Binky casts shatter, injuring a couple of enemies but most importantly turning the helpless Tressym into a puff of smoke once more. As the winged cat disappears, Finn senses the words "For fucks sake, not again" then silence.
As the enemy encircle our heroes, Farraine and Beef are subjected to a number of suggestions to drop their weapons but manage to resist with various displays of stunning bravado. The remainder of the party are wisely using the cover of the corridor to remain protected from the majority of the attacks coming from the serpent creatures, a tactic that is working phenomenally well, right up to the point where a door opens to reveal another group of serpent enemies. The largest of the creatures lets out a blood curdling scream, trying to scare our timid trio. Finn and Lucian remain steadfast in the face of this new danger but Sigrid is not so fortunate. A look of sheer terror spreads across her wizened visage and she turns and runs past her startled comrades, a cloud of fecal fumes following in her wake.
The battle between good and evil rages anew in the face of these new foes and our band of warriors, minus 1 defecating Druid unleash blow after blow. Beef's Eldritch Blasts continue to miss more than they hit but the team slowly chip away at their quarry until only one remains. At long last, one of the Druid's bears, who up to this point have remained mere bystanders to the chaos, decides to relinquish it's spectator role and lunges at the final serpent creature, catching it off guard and delivering a fatal blow in a furry whirlwind of claws and teeth.
All foes defeated, the group's attention turns to the still unconscious dwarf lying at the base of the alter towards the rear of the room. Beef tries to rouse him by giving a swift boot to the chest but this seems to have no effect. Finn tries a more unorthodox approach to resuscitation as he creeps behind the dwarf, lifts him into a sitting position, holding a dagger to the Dwarf's neck he inexplicably licks his ear and is rather disappointed that this seems to have no effect on the Dwarf's level of consciousness. It appears that the prisoner is in need of proper medical assistance to awaken him, so reluctantly, Beef administers a small amount of a healing potion and the Dwarf (Varran the White)slowly opens his eyes.
"Who are you?" he asks weakly.
"We'll be asking the questions, thank you very much" comes a hushed voice from behind a strangely damp ear and a cold blade is pressed more firmly against his throat. This seems to engage his "just tell them everything" mode and he proceeds to inform the party of his search for his missing White Dragon Mask, how he used the scrying pool in Diderius's tomb to discern that it has been taken by the Zhentarim and is likely on it's way to a new owner, Talis, somewhere in the frozen, northern wastelands. The information provided does little to satiate our Bard's thirst for knowledge, so further details of the plans of the Dragon Cult are demanded. Fortunately, the dagger at his throat and the moistness of his ear makes such a request irresistible.
Severin Silrajin - the Red Wyrmspeaker and leader of the Cult of the Dragon is already at the Well of Dragons along with Galvan, the Blue Wrymspeaker. The ritual is already underway but will take some time to complete. To assist in the ritual, Severin has recruited a splinter cell of the Red Wizards under the leadership of Rath Modar, Varram assumes their knowledge of the arcane is essential to the ritual's success. Neronvain the Green Wrymspeaker is somewhere in the Misty Forest and Rezmir is Missing (presumed crushed).
Exposition complete, notes scribbled and our party content for now, Finn withdraws his dagger and sheaths it carefully. Getting the dwarf to his feet the group search the room for any loot but find little more than the weaponry of their fallen foes. It as at this point that a rather out of breath Sigrid jogs around the corner and enters the room. The ominous odour has dissipated somewhat and she appears out of breath, it seems that the fear that had taken hold of her had taken her a very long distance indeed. Catching her breath she joins the rest of the party as they enter the room where the enemy sprang their terror inducing attack on her. Finn notices a trapdoor in the corner that is likely to have been used by the single serpent creature that managed to elude them. Rather than choosing to follow the runaway down the narrow tunnel beneath the party decide it is time to head out and resume the quest to stop the Cult of the Dragon. Finn, with a rare display of thoughtfulness, suggests they pile up the bodies of the fallen on top of the trapdoor to prevent anyone pursuing them as they leave the dungeon. One by one the bodies of the slain serpent creatures are laid on the trapdoor and the party move towards the exit. As they head down the corridor Finn sneaks back into the room and returns a moment later and quietly hands Farraine a severed serpent creature tail. Farraine looks at the halfling, noting that he too has a bloodied tail in his hand and once more the fighter and Finn give each other an unnecessarily morbid high five, or should it be a high one?
Stepping into the open air once more, our group of warriors emerge and notice a small but familiar squirrel sitting anxiously. The creature morphs and Reidoth stands before them. He seems pleased to see them but the party can tell that he has troubling news to tell. King Melandrach needs their assistance, there have been a number of dragon attacks within the Misty Forest, many villages have been destroyed and their Eleven inhabitants slaughtered. They must hasten to the settlement of Altand and speak with the warden Elial, a ranger and friend of Reidoth.
Handing over the prisoner to Reidoth our heroes agree to this request and the adventure continues
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