Dragonspire
Characters
Adventures
Lexicon
Locations

Adventures...
Dekdûon 21, 1011 AU
Dekdûon 22, 1011 AU
Dektremen 16, 1011 AU
Dektremen 17, 1011 AU
Dektremen 18, 1011 AU
Dektremen 19, 1011 AU
Dektremen 20, 1011 AU

Risus Monkey
The Velvet Edge

Adventures

Dekdûon 21, 1011 AU
[Session #1 - adapted from The Legend of Jub-Jub Lake, by David Bezio]
Banyan Dûmont, Tam Hammerhand, and Bela Chow arrive in the village of Jub. They witness an attack by the Black Leviathan and fight off a raid by goblins of the Fishtail clan.

[Session #2 - adapted from The Legend of Jub-Jub Lake, by David Bezio]
Ned Whirlbottom arrives in Jub as Bela departs. Tal, Banyan, and Ned track a goblin scout back to the Fishtail camp. After a brief battle, King Grubnutz convinces the party to help the goblins reclaim their stronghold, which was overrun by dwarven bandits.

Dekdûon 21, 1011 AU
[Session #3 - adapted from The Legend of Jub-Jub Lake, by David Bezio]
Banyan, Tam, and Ned accompany Thag, a goblin scout, to the former stronghold of the Fishtail goblins. They are spotted by a dwarven sentry and a fierce battle ensues as the party attempts entry. Thag is killed and the dwarven guards are killed or subdued. The captured guards lead the party deeper into the caves, where they discover Boros Aksenhamer commanding more bandits and standing next to the Black Leviathan. The party notices that the Leviathan is actually techno-magical vehicle and that the missing villagers from Jub are being held behind wooden bars. The final battle is cut short as a massive strike from Tam Hammerhand incapacitates Boros. The rest of the dwarves surrender, the villagers are freed, the dwarves are placed in custody of the authorities, and the party makes off with the loot.

Dektremen 16, 1011 AU
[Session #4]
Tam and Grâzê meet up in Dragonspire and ride down to a cabin on Torch Lake, where Ned has arranged for a prospective buyer to inspect the Black Leviathan. The buyer, a White Elf named Gil Karen, arrives on skis and quickly flees as the party is attacked by black-clad commandoes from the cliffs above the cabin. The commandoes cause an avalanche, which is diverted by a surprising burst of magical power from Grâzê. One commando flees into the night on skis as the party recovers the bodies of the other attackers. The fallen foes are carrying Azânêan-style weaponry and have silvery-white circles tattooed on the back of their necks.

Dektremen 17, 1011 AU
[Session #5]
The party gathers at the Eagl's Nest Tavern to discuss the previous night's attack, as well as to take in some of the holiday cheer. While enjoying several pints of Jarmino Red Ale, the party is approached by Soolee Choe. She asks the party to consider meeting a friend of hers for a discrete mission. After agreeing, the party runs into Gil Karen and several of his adventuring companions: Fren Bôtha, Îra Sirîl, Azêla Fâtha, and the Tiger-Man Roksan. Drinks are shared, pockets are picked [Banyan's] and Gil Karen excuses himself while looking rather uncomfortable with the social circumstances.

Dektremen 18, 1011 AU
[Session #6]
With Ned busy in his lab, the rest of the party meets up with Soolee Choe and Silva Karen at cabin #23 of the Dragonspire Spas. The party learns that Silva Karen and her brother Gil are descended from an infamous White Elf Artificer named Sa Karen. During the Sunsûl Uprising, a party of human rebels and sympathetic Ilsûthrin allies led an attack on Sa Karen's mountain stronghold. The raiding party was never seen again, but neither was Sa Karen. Now, Gil Karen has hired a team of dangerous mercenaries to help him reclaim Sa Karen's powerful magical artifacts with the intent of restarting his evil machinations. Silva, having had horrible visions of her brother succeeding, wants the party to get to Sa Karen's fortress first. She has no money to offer, but does explain that vast riches await the party should they succeed. It will be dangerous, however, and discretion is of utmost importance, as Silva fears that her brother would not hesitate to kill her if she stood in his way. But she reluctantly agrees to accompany the party, and everyone thinks it would be a good idea if they left this evening under the cover of the Silvernight celebrations.

[Session #7]
Realizing that he is late for his meeting with Soolee at the Dragonspire Spas, Ned packs a quick bag of gear and races off. He fails to notice that Azêla Fâtha has staked out the entrance, conducting surveillance on her patron's sister. Silva and Soolee had already left, but Azêla decided to remain behind to see who it was that she was meeting. After briefing Ned on their mission, the party agrees to gather their things and meet at the monastery. On the way out, Ned spots Îra Sirîl talking to Azêla (who is chastising the Imril mage for blowing her cover). When Azêla runs off, Grâzê decides to confront Sirîl. She quickly learns that he has been drinking and that his companions (actually, just Fren) are most likely down in Freedom Plaza, partying with the rest of the town. As he stumbles off, Grâzê picks his pocket and discovers a small sphere that radiates magical power. She drops it before Îra realizes it was missing, and the party heads off in pairs to their respective places of residence to gather their equipment for their journey.

On their way back to their apartments, Banyan and Grâzê are attacked by more black-clad assassins. After killing one and nearly causing a riot, the two adventurers melt into the crowd and avoid further complications. Ned and Tam, on the other hand, observe that Fren Bôtha is obviously preparing for a journey with great haste. Concluding that their rivals have learned of their plans to leave tonight, the two quickly proceed to the monastery.

At the monastery, the party meets up with Soolee and Silva. Solee apologizes for staying behind, but Silva is obviously well-packed for the trip. She gives each party member a "Moon Globe" (radiating silvery light), as well as additional cold-weather and mountaineering gear. They make their way through a private passage and emerge on a snow-covered step, well up the mountain.

Dektremen 19, 1011 AU
[Session #8]
In the pre-dawn hours, the party makes its way westward across the mountain face, through deep snow and thick forest. Silva explains that they need to reach a specific overlook before sunrise so that they can monitor her brother's party's progress up the main pass. The trek is difficult; Banyan struggles with his snowshoes and Tam nearly falls into a crevasse.

With the sky lightening, they arrive at an ancient Druid stone circle. Silva explains that this is where she received her calling and Lonsel "Truesight" confirms that he has studied other Druid circles in the past. Silva cautions the party about approaching, saying that the "spirits can be capricious". Banyan approaches anyway and makes out ancient symbols on the stones before he is overtaken by a vision. In that vision, he has assumed the role of "Artor", a commander of an ill-fated raiding party during the Sunsûl Uprising. Artor's party had been separated from the main group and was in the process of being ambushed by a force of White Elves when Tam revived him from his trance. Curiously, Banyan suffered real (but minor) injury from an enemy arrow.

[Session #9]
At dawn, the party camps in a cave overlooking the main ascent up into the Lûmanô Peaks. As everyone is exhausted from the midnight trek, Silva volunteers to take first watch. As the party sleeps, Banyan is contacted by the spirits of the Druid circle. He has vague recollections of a huge polar bear [Narlôkê], long-ago battles, battles yet to come, and the death of Silva. He has a powerful sense that he will be called upon to walk in her path, and he gains some intuition on how to begin summoning spirits of the mountains.

When Ned wakes for his turn on watch, Silva points out the sight of her brother's party, hundreds of feat below them in the pass. Ned observes them with his Goggles of Far-Seeing... and is observed back as the lenses reflect the powerful noon-day sun. Knowing what is coming; Ned wakes the party while Silva urges an alternate path to stay ahead of their rivals. Tam goes ahead long a narrow ledge, just as Gil Karen summons two nine-foot tall snow golems to attack the party. The battle is exciting, as Ned employs the dwarven blunderbuss, Banyan is nearly beaten into a pulp, and Tam comes to the rescue with his mighty hammer. The party then follows Tam along the ledge to a foul-smelling cave, just as Gil causes an avalanche behind them to block their exit. Silva explains that there is another way out, but the party soon learns that they are not alone...

[Session #10]
Sure enough, Grâzê sneaks ahead and finds the cave occupied by a seven foot-tall yeti. Quickly, Grâzê tries to subdue the creature by magically conjuring an icy cage. But the beast is too strong for her enchantments. It smashes through the ice and lets loose a powerful roar that stuns the Black Elf sorceress. Fortunately, Tam step up and incapacitates the monster with one mighty hammer strike.

The party barely has time to discover the frozen remains of a long-lost expedition, when the yeti's mother shows up. This creature is not felled as easily. Banyan, Grâzê, and Tam all take serious blows in the effort to finally bring it down. After a coordinated effort to daze it with Silva's magic, followed by judicious use of flaming oil and hammer strikes, the monster is defeated.

Venturing further into the tunnel, the party discovers more evidence of that lost expedition. Memories of Banyan's vision at the Druid shrine are still fresh and he confirms that these fallen adventurers were part of the team that meant to attack the villainous Sa Karen. While it was tragic that so many of them died, the party did note that they took the lives of many of their opponents as well (and they discovered magic boots and a magic sword on the body of a White Elf officer). At the mouth of the cave, they also made one more important discovery. The valiant rebels had employed what appeared to be an archaic bombard against an unknown target across the valley!

[Session #11]
Exhausted, the party decides to rest a few hours before attempting to cross the valley to locate Sa Karen's fortress. As a precaution, Tam suggests that the corpses be disarmed in case they should rise from the dead to attack them in the night (having some experience with the undead, Banyan agrees). Ned investigates the mysterious device that he found on one of the dead dwarves. With a little trial-and-error, he manages to activate it. The rest of the party gathers around to observe a spherical cloud of mist appear above the whirling object. First, they hear voices. Shortly thereafter, they see an image that accompanies the voices. Apparently, the device is allowing the party to spy on a dinner party of Senator Kel Arthest. One of Senator Arthest's advisors comes into view and warns of the intrusion. Ned quickly shuts down the device before the Senator is able to trace the magic back to them.

The party is rightly confused as to why a thousand year-old artifact is allowing them to spy on a modern politician. But Lonsel advises them that he remembers rumors of communication devices that operated in pairs. Perhaps Senator Arthest has a similar device? With a few experimental adjustments, Ned activates the device once more. This time, the party gains a glimpse of some kind of treasure vault before their observations are discovered. Tam helpfully mentions that Senator Arthest is a former adventurer with a reputation for collecting ancient artifacts.

Dektremen 20, 1011 AU
[Session #12]
Sometime after midnight, Banyan spots a moving light on the other side of the valley. He wakes his resting companions and Ned is able to see (using his Goggles of Far-Seeing) that it is Gil Karen and his band of mercenaries. Ned suggests, rather callously, that they use the ancient bombard to cause an avalanche to divert them. Strangely, Silva does not object to such an extreme measure taken against her brother. Ned's is positively giddy at the prospect of playing with such a powerful explosive device and he quickly readies it for use. With a deafening boom, the cavern fills with smoke and the valley fills with a cloud of snow. When the dust settles, there is no sign of Gil Karen's party. However, the party can now make out several entrances into the mountainside. Silva recognizes her ancestor's fortress from her visions and suggests that the battle during the Sunsûl Uprising must have buried it in another avalanche.

The party has little time to marvel at their success, however, as Grâzê detects a powerful magic invading the cavern. The ancient remains of the Ilsûthrin and rebel forces rise to do battle with the party. Tam Hammerhand heroically races to the back of the cavern and single-handedly destroys a half-dozen of the skeletal zombies. Banyan isn't nearly as successful, as he becomes locked in a life-or-death struggle with the corpse of an elven captain. Grâzê and Ned combine magic and technology to fight the remainder of the undead, just as both Banyan and Silva fall in the onslaught. Tam races to Silva's side, as a horde of more zombies begin swarming into the cave. Desperately, Ned ignites the remaining gunpowder and takes cover behind one of Grâzê's ice shields...

In the aftermath, Ned is largely unhurt. Banyan has a near-death vision, where he witnesses the original betrayal of Artor's rebels by Sa Karen's duplicitous daughter Ananda. Grâzê restores him to consciousness with a healing potion, just as he witnesses the emergence of a huge white dragon and a loud explosion at their current position. Thrown from the cave into a snow bank, Tam escaped largely unharmed, while Silva was unmistakably dead.

[Session #13]
After much debate, the party agrees upon a very risky descent. Banyan skis down the mountain in his new magic boots while Grâzê and Tam ride down on the shields of fallen soldiers. Grâzê had attempted some powerful magic to make things easier, but she only succeeded in calling up a powerful blizzard. This blizzard had the effect of making their approach to the cave entrances stealthy but very confused. Instead of following Gil Karen's party into the lowest cave, they emerged from the storm in front of a higher, more dangerous looking cave. Speaking through her war club, Silva's spirit seems to indicate that this was the home of the dragon. Feeling brave, Grâzê leads the party inside. After getting hit by a blast of super-cold air and observing movement in the icy pool, the party gets cold feet and decides to beat a hasty retreat. They would instead climb the mountain and try a higher cave.

[Session #14]
Ned leads the way with his auto-grapnel, climbing to the path connecting the two higher caves. He lowers a rope for the others, just in time for them to escape more threatening noises coming from the dragon's lair. Ignoring the brief flash of light where Gil and his band may have sought refuge, the party ventures closer to the nearer of the two upper caves. Ned is first, as he is drawn in by the seductive sounds of whirling machinery. Banyan tries to stop Ned but also falls prey to some magical enchantment. Grâzê and Tam resist the haunting effect and enter the cave in time to do battle with a White Elf wight. Ned's electroshock wand has little effect and Grâzê's attempts at using frost magic could not inflict harm on the already unnaturally cold creature. A melee ensues, with the party and wight trading blows over one of Grâzê's ice walls. It takes a change of magical tactics on Grâzê's part to destroy the creature with a blast of steam, but not before the party learns that the elf was cursed to undeath for cowardice during the Sunsûl Uprising. As the wight's spirit is still bound to his magic sword, Banyan hopes to "persuade" it to offer up the secrets of the Sa Karen's fortress. The party also appropriates his steam-cleaned white dragonscale armor and two partially completed sentry automatons.

[Session #15]
The party finally enters the unnaturally frigid cave leading to Sa Karen's fortress. All around them is the evidence of that ancient battle. Fearing another undead attack, the party strips the frozen corpses of their valuable armor and weapons and places them under Grâzê's icy magic. Venturing further into the cave, they find a dark chasm leading to an unfrozen moat, crossed by a slick bridge of ice. Taking every precaution, they manage to cross the bridge and open the doors to Sa Karen's fortress. Inside, they are confronted with a soon-to-be-animated statue of an elven hero standing over the body of a dead human. Ned's mechanical golem is almost destroyed as the statue quickly swats it away with its massive sword.

[Session #16]
After repairing his mechanical friend, Ned directs it to distract the animated statue while the party comes at it from different directions. Tam uses his boots of speed to get behind the statue and deliver a powerful blow with his magic hammer. Grâzê blinds the statue with a blast of ice magic while Ned trips up its feet. Banyan finally topples the statue with a blow from his sword and the party quickly finishes it off. They quickly examine the corpse of the dead human (he was an ancient cleric of the All Father) and then proceed through the double-doors at the other side of the room. Ned discovers that the hallway is trapped, as is evidenced by another ancient corpse that had been melted by acid. Ned disables the traps and the party moves into a grand throne room. In this throne room, a desiccated corpse of an ancient elf sits motionless on a throne overlooking the bodies of a dead human and female halfling. After an almost imperceptible flicker of the magical lights, the corpse comes to life and rises with the help of a pneumatic exoskeleton. Just then, the party notices Roksan, Gil Karen's bodyguard, stick his head into the room through another door before withdrawing.