Session VII: The Pacification of Thundertree
General Summary
After encamping for the previous night in Reidoth's small house on the edge of Thundertree Ruins, they set out together to resume the Druids' work of clearing Thundertree of its corrupt nature and cultist problems. More twig blights were encountered in what was once a ruined farmhouse near the old city center, alongside a smithy containing further ash zombies and a decrepit general store that had been taken over by two giant spiders. Westris Urogar and Ahmlodi Raziz Al-Tasir took the first one down in short order with greatsword and arcane force-shot, but another in an adjoining room with line of sight on the Dragonborn, unable to get its oversized body through the doorway to reach him began firing webs through it instead, seeking to entangle and immobilize the fighter. Eventually the rest of the party including Reidoth were able to take the long way around the building and burn down the webs blocking its entrance to finish off the other spider inside. In a ruined and mostly empty herbalist's shop, Mischief Yabis found a locket with a portrait depicting an unknown female figure inside. Next, the adventurers stacked up outside the cottage that members of the Cult of the Dragon had moved into and started running their local cult operation out of. Peeking into the window, Norril Kevros saw two guards, whom he tried to intimidate into coming outside. This partially succeeded--they were intimiated--but failed to produce the desired result, as instead of running outside they retreated further inside the cottage and alerted their leader. Reidoth once again took the long way around the building seeking a back entrance while Ahmlodi and Westris entered from the front. Two cultists rushed forward to keep Westris pinned at the doorway, but after a grease-dispersing grenade thrown by Ahmlodi sent them and one more of their number slipping and falling to the ground with every attempted movement, they were taken out in short order. Meanwhile, Reidoth entered one-on-one combat with the cult leader Favric, initially intending to knock him out before accidentally dealing lethal damage. This left the group with a lone lower-level cultist for questioning, who informed the group that a box on the table containing a medium-sized cut diamond was going to be a gift for Xorsannaxithrax to seek favor with the dragon. This gave Westris Urogar an idea, who suggested that they clothe themselves in the cultists garb and present his proposal as the cultists in the hope it would improve the likelihood of his plan of getting Xorsannaxithrax to relocate. While Ahmlodi disdained wearing what they called "garish discount-store cultist costumes", they went along with it for the sake of practicality. Finally, before visiting Xorsannaxithrax at the Thundertree chuch, the party checked on what was once the town's garrison, housing its small guard force. Now it held only shambling zombies, which quickly swarmed Mischief from multiple angles, severely hampering the nimble rogue's effectiveness and forcing her to fight her way free. After the ash zombies were eliminated, she found, disarmed and unlocked a the garrison's strongbox, which contained a number of valuable and useful potions. With the ash zombies, twig blights and cultists eliminated, the group proceeded to Xorsannaxithrax's lair for an audience with the green dragon. Westris, as the most speaker of Draconic, spoke for the group, offering him the chest of goods that they had prepared. The creature, several times Westris' size, took the chest and regarded it with a long glance before voicing his satisfaction and asking what boon they sought from him with such a gift. Pandering to Xorsannaxithrax's ego and vanity, he informed him about Cragmaw Castle, its size, and how certainly a dragon as majestic and powerful as himself would find it a much more suitable lair than the tiny Thundertree church. Xorsannaxithrax considered this offer, and after a tense few moments for the party, agreed. He could use more space, and storing all his valuables in a crumbling belltower did seem like a recipe for problems in the long term. Telling the party to send him a signal he could see from the sky from the castle, he would fly over and inspect the new abode.
Rewards Granted
- 5000 XP to party
- Various gems and trinkets, many offered to Xorsannaxithrax at the concluding encounter
- An unidentified locket with a portrait of an old lady inside (someone in town might know more about this, as many of its residents are themselves refugees from Thundertree refugees or the direct descendants thereof)
- +1 Splint Mail (initially unidentified, attuned to by Westris)
- Potions of Flying, Fox Cunning, and Climbing
- Favor with Reidoth
- Favor with Emerald Enclave
Missions/Quests Completed
- Cleanse the corruption from Thundertree Ruins
- Bonus achievement: Convince Xorsannaxithrax to relocate
Character(s) interacted with
- Reidoth
- Favric, the Cult of the Dragon lead cultist 'accidentally' killed by Reidoth.
- One scared farmer-boy-turned-brainwashed-cultist
- Xorsannaxithrax
Notes
All player characters should now be healthily into level 4 to represent the experience and insight gained from their fights at Thundertree and negotiating with Xorsannaxithrax. Remember to level up before the next session if you haven't already!
