D20 Dragonspire
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Adventures
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Adventures...
Dekdûon 21, 1011 AU
Dekdûon 22, 1011 AU
Dekdûon 23, 1011 AU
Dektremen 4, 1011 AU
Dektremen 6, 1011 AU
Dektremen 7, 1011 AU
Dektremen 8, 1011 AU
Dektremen 14, 1011 AU
Dektremen 18, 1011 AU

Risus Dragonspire
The Velvet Edge

Adventures

Dekdûon 21, 1011 AU
[Session #1]
Several days ago, the party gathered at the estate of Senator Kel Arthest in Harkam to accept employment in his service. A former adventurer himself, Senator Arthest is employing inexperienced adventurers to do preliminary exploration of ruins on the lands bordering his estate. After accepting an advance of 3,000 lûn, the party stands too earn an additional 6,000 lûn for each ruin that they survey sufficiently to ensure Senator Arthest's legal claims. While encouraged to take no unnecessary risks, the party is granted the right to what treasure they may carry on their person. This last provision was granted somewhat reluctantly after the Senator saw the size of Grunsch, the party's orc berserker.

It has now been several days since the party left Harkam. While camping high in the foothills of the Dragonspine Mountains, the party observes light from a nearbye hilltop. The Sardek scout D'anek Taeh ("Taeh") and the Imril gutterpunk Zhâssa scout under the cover of darkness. In the saddle between the peaks, they encounter the ruins of an Ilsûthrin tower. It is as if something very large had simply knocked it down. On the other hilltop, they find evidence of a camp, but they fail to find the campers.

At dawn, the party approaches in force. They encounter four small draconian humanoids [kobolds]. The creatures fight the party to defend a hole in the ground. In the battle, Grunsch, Taeh, and the young soldier "RT" are slightly wounded while three of the humanoids are killed. One escapes down the hole. Grunsch is the first after him, easily climbing down but having more difficulty squeezing through narrow sections of the collapsed spiral staircase. While Taeh descends, Grunsch is attacked by more draconians and is nearly brought down in a hail of arrows. As Taeh arrives at the bottom, two of the creatures flee and activate a portcullis.

The rest of the party descends without incident (though the young monk Jaiel almost makes a fatal slip). The chamber at the base of the stairs contains four exits and four graffiti-covered columns. Apparently, rebel soldiers passed through this area suring the Sunsûl Uprising. The exits are in the cardinal directions. North is a double-door with stern looking warning written in ancient Narsikan script. To the south is a long dark passage with numerous doors on either side. To the east is a recently constructed barricade constructed from the other side. To the west (the direction where the creatures fled) is a portcullis and some sort of empty guardroom.

After opening the portcullis, the party finds an old dungeon. Many of the cells contain evidence of Imperial depravity. Ivria, the scion of an ancient Morendil family, suggests that it may have been a White Elf lord, since they are especially known for their cruelty. As further evidence, the party happens upon the shade of a former prisoner, currently haunting a cell beneath the floor-grating and babbling in an unknown language.

Zhâssa starts to investigate the only exit to the north while Grunsch sits down, weary from his many wounds.

[Session #2]
Before they can follow the kobold through the door, the party hears a commotion coming from the east. When they investigate, they see a human warrior crawling over the barricade. Briefly, he introduces himself as Nathan and explains that he was also hired by Senator Arthest to explore ruins in the Dragonspine Mountains. He and his team member discovered a different entrance to this complex and were attacked by solitary gnoll and his dire wolf pet. The dire wolf was too much for the small party, and Nathan was forced to flee. RT and Taeh volunteer to provide assistance and the rest of the party agrees to help.

First over the barricade, Taeh and Zhâssa find the body of Father Morris, the cleric of Nathan's party. Taeh stops to relieve him of what he (correctly) guesses to be a healing potion. Proceeding further into the complex, they stumble across the remains of the wizard, Davôs Gray. Then the dire wolf attacks.

The battle is over quickly, as Grunsch rages and kills the dire wolf and his gnoll master. Taeh is gravely injured by the beast, but the dead cleric's healing potion is able to save his life. In the gnoll's lair, they find the half-eaten remains of Benifer Dôertê, Nathan's party's artificer. It takes several more of her healing potions to restore the party to full health.

With Nathan joining the group, the party returns their attention to the kobolds. Zhâssa disarms a rudimentary alarm and Grunsch kicks down the door. Immediately, the kobolds push a bookshelf down a flight of stairs on the charging characters. Pushing past the flying furniture, the party bursts into an ancient library to do battle with the kobold party. A group of their warriors takes cover behind an improvised barricade, but Jaiel and Nathan combine forces to set it afire with burning oil. Grunsch heads left, up to the balcony, and keeps trying to engage fleeing kobolds. A black-clad kobold assassin emerges from the shadows and a kobold sorcerer steps from behind a book-case to hurl bolts of force at the party. But then there is an explosion on the far side of the room and the battle is soon won.

Zhâssa is the first to investigate the cause of the explosion. Apparently, the kobolds triggered an ancient trap as they were trying to gain access to a secret room. The explosion killed several kobolds and destroyed four out of five large eggs, later revealed to be dragon eggs of each color. The sole surviving egg (blue in color) causes much debate among the party as to the proper course of action. Taeh advocates its destruction, while RT thinks of the fame and fortune to be gained by selling it.

Of course, the secret room was now available to be searched. Inside, the party finds a beautiful pool that radiates magical energy. The party later learns that the water of this pool can heal tremendous amounts of injury up to an hour from its removal from the pool. The aura of the pool maintained all the artifacts of the room in perfect condition, despite the passage of centuries. This included the body of a long-dead paladin (later identified as Janos Stormchild) wearing masterwork banded armor, carrying an enormous longbow, and wielding an exquisite illuminated longsword. The paladin wrote (in his own blood) "BETRAYER!" and "LIES!" on the mosaic floor.

In an alcove, Ivria and Zhâssa discover many important documents relating to the history of the fortress. Over a thousand years ago, it belonged to a White Elf sorcerer named El Bethîr. According to his writing, he had a falling out with the infamous Sa Karen (another White Elf lord) and the two fought a brutal mage war for several years. On his desk, the party finds a detailed map of Sa Karen's secret workshop (located just outside of present-day Dragonspire) with notes of how he hoped to attack and steal his rival's secrets. The affair had something to do with the construction of a device that could capture magical energy, which El Bethîr believed was being built in the workshop.

After a small diversion to destroy some undead servants in another part of the complex, the party rests and prepares to return to Harkam and the Arthest estate. While searching the rest of the library, Jaiel and Taeh discover that El Bethîr was conducting research into psionics. They find extensive notes and two psionically active crystals. They are also forced to put the ghost of one the experimental subjects to rest after a brief confrontation.

Dekdûon 22, 1011 AU
The party travels down toward Harkam. At night, their camp is interrupted by the hatching of the dragon! Once again, this forces a confrontation over what must be done. Warily, the party decides to immediately break camp and rush back to Harkam in all haste.

Dekdûon 23, 1011 AU
As the party races toward the Arthest estate, it is obvious that the baby dragon is bonding with Zhâssa. This adds yet another complication to the party's already difficult choice on the matter. They arrive at the senator's manor a few hours before midnight, with Taeh angrily shouting ahead for the Senator's men.

Unfortunately, the Senator rode out for Dragonspire shortly after the party left on their mission. At best, he couldn't be recalled to Harkam for several days. In the mean time, the senator's chief aid, Merroc Appledore (a Halfling wizard of the Arcanum) attends to the party. He pays them for their successful exploration and eagerly asks for the opportunity to study the dragon while a rider is sent for his patron.

Dektremen 4, 1011 AU
[Session #3]
The senator is now several days overdo and the party continues to wait in Harkam. Taeh occupies his time in Dragon Breath Inn, where he grows suspicious of a man named Alfazir Belok, who is over-eager in his questions about the party's recent adventure. Grunsch and Nathan occupy their time in military exercise, while RT attempts to understand the rituals engraved on the blade of his new sword.

Late in the afternoon, as she trains on her newly purchased composite bow, Jaiel is suddenly attacked by two mysterious assailants. One is a well-dressed man wielding an unusual rapier while the other is an unarmed female monk. Jaiel is quickly overwhelmed and knocked unconscious.

At the same time, two other assailants attack Ivria, Zhâssa, and Merroc Appledore as they consult the town's resident expert on strange beasts. Ivria is immediately knocked out by a hulking half-orc, while Zhâssa does her best to fight a crafty goblin rogue. Mr. Appledore uses magic to levitate to safety and then directs his invisible familiar to attack from a distance. Going from bad to worse, Taeh races from the inn to charge the half-orc, only to be nearly killed by a blow from his wicked bastard sword. Called by the sounds of melee, RT, Grunsch, and Nathan race to the scene. Grunsch diverts to help Jaiel and is able to subdue the monk that was carrying her off. RT is able to use newly-learned healing rituals to save Taeh from certain death and then proceeds to defeat the remaining opponents after Zhâssa is knocked out.

Shortly after the battle, the senator and his party ride into town. After a brief account of the fight, he directs the prisoners to be brought to his estate, where they can be interrogated privately. As it turns out, the well-dressed fighter with the rapier is an Azânêan named Randal Hulir. Like his companions, he was hired by "Professor" Alfazir Belok to search for specific ruins in the Dragonspine Mountains. He also mentions that the "Professor" is from Shan (in Azânêan) and that he also travels with a scary woman and a Gargalan lunatic. They tracked the kobolds to El Bethîr's fortress shortly after the party left. The monk, another Azânêan named Maya Revel, was much less cooperative. She refused to give any information on her mission, even in the face of possible execution as a foreign spy. The half-orc is the most cooperative. The party learns that his name is Hargun and that he was hired locally (along with the slain goblin) to supplement the party's muscle. Unlike the others, he is a Narsikan citizen and because he was cooperative, the senator hints that he might be recalled into military service in some unpleasant location (rather than facing death for treason).

After the interrogation, the senator discusses the party's recent adventure. He is obviously very pleased at their find but the dragon worries him greatly. Eventually, he decides to ask the party to deliver the beast to the Arcanum school in Dragonspire. Along the way, he deputizes the party to take care of some bandits in Tarog Gek. As payment for this service, he awards them another 1000 lûn apiece.

Dektremen 6, 1011 AU
After a day of preparations, the party sets off for Dragonspire. Winter finally arrives in force and the journey slow, if rather scenic. At the end of the day, the party reaches the village of Tîaton. Hoping to enjoy the comforts of a warm inn, they must instead intervene to save the life of a mageborn half-elf accused of practicing the black arts on a local tavern wench. After demonstrating considerable diplomacy (and spending some hard-earned cash on the settlement), the party convinces the villagers to let Mr. Thedani off with only a fine. Unfortunately, it is obvious to the party that they would be unwelcome to stay the night and must instead make camp outside of town in the snowy hills.

Dektremen 7, 1011 AU
[Session #4]
The party arrives at the Fallen Tower Inn, just outside of Tarog Gek. While enjoying a warm fire and hot meal, the party learns more details of bandit activity just up the road. Apparently, merchants and other travelers are disappearing as they cross the bridge over the Tumblefast river. But clearly, some travelers are getting through. The party decides to hide their strength in their covered wagon, hoping to draw out the bandits.

Dektremen 8, 1011 AU
Their plan to draw out the bandits on the bridge works as expected, with a flocks of stirges being the only complication. Interrogating one of the prisoners, the party learns that the bandits that they defeated were the "B-team". The main force of bandits, under the leadership of Taran Aksenhamer, was holed up in an old cemetery overlooking Tarog Gek. Proceeding with caution, the party fails to enter their lair without announcing their presence. As a result, they a attacked by several ghouls that had been "tamed" by the bandits. With RT displaying his mastery over the techniques of turning undead, these creatures are easily defeated. A cache of the bandit's loot is discovered, guarded only by poison-gas traps. The party decided to use these gas-dispensers in their assault on the rest of the complex. As a result, the bandits are defeated and their loot claimed as reward. The townsfolk of Tarog Gek happily take custody of prisoners and give the party free room & board while they recover from their adventure.

Dektremen 14, 1011 AU
The party arrives in Ôkra. While on a shopping expedition, they are attacked by thugs from the Rat-tail gang. Obviously, someone had hired the assailants, but the party fails to take any of them prisoner.

Dektremen 18, 1011 AU
The party leaves Ôkra for Dragonspire early in the morning. They expect to arrive in time for the evening's Silvernight festivities.