New Dawn session 3

[subplotkudzu]

In which our problems begin.

Session Three

Having located the ruins of a pre-Scourge settlement and the skeleton of a dragon, the group sought shelter for the night inside the dragon's skull. Once safely under cover Hadassah searched her wizard's memory, recalling pages from the tome of pre-Scourge history on Killorian and Dragons. It turns out that Killorian was a dragon! It was also the name of the town - Killorian's Port, a docking place for airships. He lived in the port along with his twelve elvish librarians, and according to the text the dragon planned to ride out the Scourge in his Port. The text included a map of the town, which she sketched out of memory to aid in their later searches.

They set a watch schedule, beginning with Voilodion, who perched himself atop the broken obelisk but was unable to keep his eyes open and quickly fell into a precarious slumber. Fortunately for the group Razorshot uncanny time sense woke hip unprompted. He found their leader asleep and, while he contemplated more retributive means to wake him, opted to jostle him awake. Voi told Razor that he had seen a pale blue light that knocked him out, but the canny Archer wasn't buying it. His watch went without incident, as did Dex's.

It was during Silver's watch that things began. She heard a whisper coming from the ruins, a slight, ragged, reedy voice begging for assistance. After talking for a few moments she woke the others, and they spent the hour before and after dawn questioning the pleading voice, trying to locate its origin and attempting to ascertain its level of malevolence. The voice belonged to Illorlial, the self proclaimed chief scribe of Killorian, who informed them that he and one other were still alive, after entombing and warding themselves into the buried library to escape the fate that consumed Killorian, but that they lacked the means to reach the only potential exit, a blocked window atop the now buried dome.

Voilodion was of a mind to leave the entire mystery for later, not trusting the voice, but the others - Silver and Hadassah in particular - were keen to see the arts and knowledge that the Elven scribes might be protecting. The Thief silenced Illorlial by warning that any further wining and they'd just leave, but ultimately Voi lost the argument with his fellows. All were too intrigued to see what was in the buried dome, despite his admonition that this was not part of their overall plan: they were tasked with scouting, and now that they had found this they could later send a whole squad of people to deal with the issue. No go. The Wizard and Weaponsmith persuasively argued that what they fight inside might be of enormous value to them and help in their search.

So the two met in the middle - a careful plan of entry was developed. Silver was psychically armored not just by her own Weaponsmith's training but by Hadassah's wizardry, and had a rope tied about her waist. Once the door was opened she was lowered down with K’aedreeka's pet Tinksa on her shoulder (and Dreeka seeing through the shoulder dragon's eyes), with Dex ready to pull her out and Razor preparing to cover her escape with arrows. The plan proved sound, as the elves within have become demi-wraiths, spirits sent to possess bodies by a Horror, but were trapped when their masters left and are now animating the corpses through spiritual power. Foiling the demi-wraiths subterfuge and trap Silver and Voi had a short but furious battle with the three wraiths while hanging from ropes. Razor's accuracy accounted for one of the creatures; Dex was paralyzed and sore wounded by another, that Silver dispatched with a swing from Dex's enormous sword; 'Dreeka dropped a large rock over the opening, ending the conflict.

The group was forced to wait in the ruins of Killorian's Port for a few days while Dex recovered from his wounds. During that time Silver was able to goad more knowledge from Illorlial, who was still trapped. Not what waited below, but how the Bloatform SGr’iopjFKS had tainted the mind of the noble Killorian and drove the beast to progressively worse acts of madness and violence until it escaped control via killing itself. Where its master is now Illorlial did not know, but it had a minion's sad assurance that the master would come. Silver occupied herself by carving a warning into the rock, so that no future traveler might be fooled by the creature's pleas. The others did some hunting and searching of the ruins, turning up some coins, pottery and other evidence of long lost habitation but nothing of power or significance.

Once Dex was healed, the group continued southeast, heading for Herrine. They marched for days, keeping to the spaces between the denuded mountaintop and the forest. Eventually they saw something coming across the sea - large black clouds and formless shapes carried by a warm wind. This must be rain! At first their initial exposure to weather was quite pleasant, but as the wind and rain built in intensity they scrambled into a cave that Razor located in the mountain.

This provided them from some shelter, but the storm's force sent streams of muddy water cascading in front of the cave's mouth and trickling into the cave itself. Silver and Dreeka took some light to explore the passage, finding that it extended deep into the mountain. Eventually the floor changed from rough cave to hewn steps with carved pillars supporting the ceiling. The pair turned back, only to learn that they had missed a branching. Fortunately 'Dreek's Beastmaster's arts let them follow their own tracks back to the others. The group decided to explore, starting with the upward branching passage. Tinksa scouted but returned without report, so Vio, Silver and Razor started up. Their quiet stride was interrupted as an enormous troll careened down the passage at them with a huge club! They were nearly pulped, and the troll was undeterred by Razor's arrows or his calls for calm and diplomacy. Before our heroes suffered serious wounds Dex arrived, Hadassah having woven the pattern of Speed into his name. The two trolls leap and Dex fells his twelve foot adversary with a single assault, bisecting his club and head, the backswing taking off his leg.

After chastising Tinksa for her lax eyesight the group continued, finding the troll's living space. 'Dreeka's skills confirmed that the enormous troll lived alone, at a primitive but not mindless level. Dex and Hadassah recalled tales of troll raiders who did not join the Havan compact; some might have survived the Scourge. While Voi feared that the troll's enormous size was the result of Horror taint, Dex reminded them that his people are susceptible to magical mutation: these changes might be from over-exposure to pure elemental earth or the like. They gave the deceased last rites and considered what to do next.

Hadassah began by translating some of the carvings, finding that they were prayers to devotion to the passions Upandal (building, construction, planning) on the north and Raggok (reckoning of accounts, introspection, pride) on the south. Dreeka and Tinksa continued down the passage, finding that it opened into a larger complex hewn into the rock - the walls included carvings of hammers, compasses and forges (with people working them) along one wall, and a series of an aging man on the other. Viewing the carvings from right (north) to left (south) she can follow the passage of a sword from its initial life as a bar of metal through its forging, with an infant in the forge for the last scene. That infant grows and is handed the sword at its maturity, progressively passing it further along to older and older men until it is handed to a skeleton with an infant at its feet. The skeleton hands the sword to a young adult in the last panel.

'Dreeka calls the others down to see this, and as they discuss the idea that they might have stumbled on the temple of a mystery cult, she heads deeper in, following the troll's tracks. These led only to a small well and the troll's privy, but her keen eyes spotted other tracks in the dirt - those of a large snake. She began hearing such a snake approaching, and before she could get back to the others the Beastmaster was blocked by the rapid appearance of an enormous serpent with a hundred smaller serpent heads, all reared up and hissing at her!

This was where we ended the session.