Act IV: Here there be Dragons

He explained about three months ago (13.7.1288 to be precise), their village was attacked by a large force of kobolds, who proceeded to blow up a part of the eastern wall and wrecked havoc on the city. The kobolds were blue-scaled, and promptly wrecked as much havoc as possible, killing and looting everything in sight. Meanwhile, while this attack was going on, the sheriff himself had been kidnapped earlier and imprisoned in a chest in the mines to the south of town. He had been placed into a magical coma along with the mine's foreman, and the miners themselves had been enchanted to mindlessly continue their work, gathering the valuables from the earth for an unknown party. A doppleganger had taken his place, and when the attack by the kobolds started, he released all the prisoners from the dungeons below the castle, and took up a perch on the roof, picking off commoners and guardsmen with his crossbow. While all this chaos was happening and the guards were trying to stop the invasion, a group of pirates, led by a person named "Captain Monty" who Theo recognized as a notorious pirate who captained a ship that could travel through land like a normal ship traveled through sea, attacked The Iron Bank of Brothers in the town. These pirates proceeded to steal the vault, blowing it up from below into a hidden tunnel, and then dragging it out with their magic ship, the vault was found three miles down the empty river (for River's Edge has not had water in their river for years), emptied. Finally, during all this chaos, the wizard who had kidnapped him (The Sheriff) and replaced him with a doppleganger reappeared, having resurrected the blue dragon whose skeleton was hanging in The Blue Dragon Inn for years, and proceeded to ride the dragon, raining down lightning on the people during the battle, before flying north.   The Sheriff explained that he had been freed by a group of adventurers, and with their assistance, he was able to drive back the kobolds and restore order, but much of the town was dead, and in the weeks that followed, many more left. The adventurers that had rescued him had also left town for their own business, and the Sheriff had his hands full trying to begin reconstruction, he didn't have the resources or manpower to launch a proper investigation into why these things happened, but suspected that the kobold invasion was a diversion. He could only describe the wizard as a human or elf sized figure wearing black and red robes. The party also inquired about what was stolen from the bank, to which the Sheriff referred them to the bank. He had them sign the proper paperwork to ensure that they were licensed to conduct business in the town, and also explained that he was also technically the Lord of the town, but preferred his elected title of Sheriff. He told them he was always somewhere in the town if they had more questions and wished them luck in their investigation. The group also asked about what happened to the river that gave the town it's namesake, The Sheriff explained that it had gone dry many years ago, but that they hadn't been able to trace the source of the river, as it was somewhere in the Broken Twig Forest to the west of town, and that the forest was occupied by hostile giants.   Leaving the castle, the group elected to head to The Blue Dragon Inn to investigate what happened there, as well as hopefully meet their contact that their employers had mentioned. They found the inn damaged, the roof entirely missing, as well as a good portion of the walls. They tried to ask the bartender Gabriel about what happened, but he didn't really want to talk about it, and he seemed rather distrusting of the party until Yasias bought the house a round of drinks (thankfully for Yasias's finances, there were only six people in the bar) and left a good tip for the bartender. Bob meanwhile began to entertain the common folk in the tavern, five of which looked like normal laborers sitting around a table. The sixth occupant of the tavern was a large fellow in the back with a hood concealing part of his face, who seemed to be watching them. Yasias and Theo approached this person, and after some questions back and forth, they were able to introduce themselves, and the man revealed himself to be "The Priest" though, he wasn't actually a priest, he was the half-orc Inquisitor Malthuk Owaw.   Once Bob was able to join them, he explained that he was also after the dragon, and wanted to kill the wizard, because the wizard was clearly evil, and he killed evil things because evil things should not be left to live. He then finished his drink and took the group to the Iron Bank of Brothers, in town. When they arrived at the bank, they started to ask questions of the bank teller, a nervous man named Noel, who really seemed to want them to open up an account. When Bob agreed to, and deposited 500 gold pieces, he lit up, and started to tell them all about how the bank robbery happened, how he and the other tellers were tied up with socks in their mouths to keep them from screaming, and how dirty and ugly the pirates looked...he also explained that Bob's new account would get him a sort of premium status at the other branches of the bank, so it was worth visiting the bank's in other cities if they needed help. When the group expressed a desire to investigate the robbery further, Noel realized that they were adventurers and took them back to the meeting room for a meeting with the bank manager. After closing the door to the meeting room, they heard Noel exclaim his happiness after having finally gotten someone to open an account and that he might get to keep his job now.   The bank manager turned out to be a stone golem by the name of Rahudram, who was delighted to hear that there were adventurers wanting to investigate the robbery, and also glad to hear that one of them was smart and had opened an account with the bank. After getting their signatures on a nondisclosure agreement, he explained that the pirates had dug a secret tunnel under the vault, used alchemical explosives to blow out the floor and drop the vault into their tunnel, and then dragged it out of the tunnel and down the river with their magical landship. He wasn't sure how they had dug this tunnel with no one noticing. He also explained that while the vault did contain traditional currency, the bank uses a complicated series of portals to connect all their branches to the main bank treasury in an undisclosed location. This portal was shut down almost immediately after the vault was stolen, but the bank also have several safety deposit boxes, and those boxes are not kept in the main bank treasury due to security concerns. Normally the bank does not ask about the content of boxes, as long as the contents aren't causing any problems, but because of the theft, they'd reached out to the box holders for descriptions of the stolen merchandise, and he provided a list of the goods to the party. The golem also expressed a desire to beat the pirate captain to death with his stone fists. The golem told them that they weren't concerned with the recovery of the currency, in the grand scheme it is a small loss, but in recovering the lost items and sending a message to other would-be thieves.

• One large pearl, about one foot in diameter, magical in nature.
• One magical staff, painted black with a red gem at the top, with the name "Anoztel" carved into the hilt.
• One silver ring, set with a small alexandrite, bearing the inscription "So we may always be close". This ring bears an aura of divination magic.
• One scepter bearing the Leramore family crest (a greatsword with a bow, axe, miner's pick, and hammer surrounding it), the scepter is made of gold and is encrusted with rubies and sapphires, making it very valuable. The scepter is also magical, but the note is not sure how it is magical.
• A painting titled "Madness in the Forest", this painting depicts several wicked elves gathered around a stone slab in the forest, with another elf tied to the slab, trying to escape. The wicked elves are all holding bloodstained daggers, and the elf on the slab has clearly been slashed many times.

The party asked more questions of the bank manager, but he was not able to provide much more information on these items or what they meant. He noted that they normally do not ask their clients what they are storing in the boxes, as long as whatever is being stored doesn't cause any problems. He was not able to reveal who these items belonged to, though he was able to tell them that Sheriff Leramore was one of the victims and the owner of the ring and scepter. He had no idea what the painting was about, nor what the purpose of the staff or pearl were. Yasias asked about where they had branches, and the manager explained that they had many branches across numerous planes and planets, including several of the major world capitals here.   When the group was leaving, they had a sudden realization: No one had seen Alan since they had left The Blue Dragon. Yasias sent out his raven, Poe, to look, who was able to find Alan in the town market, but was suddenly killed before he could report back. Making their way with haste to the market, they found Alan there, along with the succubus they met previously, murdering the head of the guards that they had met earlier that day at the gate. This act of supreme evil opened up a portal to some foul realm and another demon stepped out to fight the party, the group identified it as an incubus. Alan expressed his desire to stab them all again later before accompanying the succubus through the portal.   The group had quite a battle against the demon, as their weapons were not able to effect it well as they were not made of cold iron. They were assisted in the battle by a stout dwarf in adamantine plate and wielding an adamantine hammer. Through their combined efforts, and Maltuk, ever the prepared inquisitor, stabbing it with a cold iron dagger, they were able to slay the demon. The group and the dwarf introduced themselves, the dwarf being Dralduin Stoutforge, who they were able to recognize was a cousin of Thurdain Stoutforge, the dwarven smith and leader of the Stoutforge clan they had left in Eagle's Landing. The dwarf threw the dead demon over his shoulder (which did not return to it's home plane when killed), and the group expressed a desire to get cold iron weapons for killing demons. The dwarf was able to explain that he ran the one store in town that sold armor and weapons, but that it had been destroyed in the kobold attack. He agreed to help them to make cold iron weapons if they helped to rebuild his shop, and then he could join with them in their quest to get everything sorted out. They made their way back to the wreckage of his shop, where he introduced his apprentice and shopkeep, Jorsk Stonecutter. They all began to rebuild the shop and Dralduin began to work on the cold iron weapons, going into a sort of a super focused state, insisting that he was going to do this right and that he had a vision of the Soulforger telling him to make them this way. Jorsk estimated that it was probably going to take Dralduin a week to make the weapons. DOWNTIME THEO   The 12th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (12.10.1288 AYD)   Theo makes his way to The Blue Dragon Inn, where he spends the morning and afternoon buying drinks, swapping stories, and learning more about the town. He plays darts, cards, etc, and thankfully his winnings balance out his drink tab. He learns the following tidibits from his inquiries:  

• In 1273 AYD (the current year is 1288 AYD), the wife of Sheriff Taylor Leramore, Kaysal Leramore, a cleric in the service of The Soldier and the one who ran the shrine in town, refused to let a group of cultists in service of Asmodeus into the town. Two nights later, Sheriff Leramore had to go into the forest after a dying unicorn wandered into town, where he found a blessing (A blessing is what you call a group of unicorns) of dead unicorns, slayed, their horns removed, and their corpses set on fire in a burning "A" formation. While the Sheriff was out of the town, the cultists snuck into the city and killed Kaysal in their home. Though she killed several of the cultists, at least one got away after killing her. After her death, the river started to flow less and dried up by the end of the year.
• The drought on the river has had a negative effect on the outlying farms, with less water, crops flourish less. The Blue Dragon Inn famously makes a brew called "Lightning Wine", but the local blueberry fields have dried up, forcing them to import and the wine to be much more expensive. Theo also knows that the bartender, Gibson, is awaiting a shipment of blueberries from the capital, Nujanat, but it is stuck in the docks due to what he describes as "Bureaucratic tax nonsense!"
• He also learned that the town has a library, but it has been closed for as long as anyone can remember, and the Sheriff won't tell anyone what is in there, but he has made sure to keep it locked up.

Going after dark, he broke into the library, and discovered that the library held a secret entrance to a crypt devoted to The Black King. The crypt contained many bodies, recently slain zombies, and an empty pedestal that contained an amulet. After defeating a wraith, he was wounded and drained, and went to seek healing as the shrine to The White Lady, where he met the night priestess, Avi Antonili, who questioned him on where he got these wounds. After some back and forth, Theo told her everything that happened, and she healed him, before getting her armor and insisting he take her there. Returning to the library, she confirmed that it was indeed a super evil place devoted to The Black King, and insisted that he stand guard as she prepared a ritual of speaking with the dead. When the ritual was completed, one of the slain zombies began to speak, and she asked it three questions.   The zombie then proceeded to laugh manically and reverted back to being dead. The priest and Theo were able to agree that, though they didn't exactly know still what those things were, that they sounded bad. The priestess asked Theo to come back the next night to help her to fix this place.   The 13th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (13.10.1288 AYD)   Theo returned to the shrine and met with the night priestess, who was now accompanied by paladin Stathis Lazidis, who had traveled from Nujanat at Night Priest's request. Over the next six days, the trio, working only at night, removed the bodies, destroyed the evil altar, consecrated it and built a secret shrine to The White Lady, and repaired and cleaned the library, effectively making it ready to be reopened.   Downtime: Yasias   The 12th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (12.10.1288 AYD) Yasias spent the first day working on his headband of intellect and helping to rebuild the Stoutforge Armory.   The 13th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (13.10.1288 AYD)   Yasias spent the second day completing his headband and helping to rebuild the Stoutforge Armory.   The 14th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (14.10.1288 AYD)   On the third day, Yasias assisted the barkeep Gibson in beginning to repair the roof of the Blue Dragon Inn. He also asked about the drow, and found out about the fountain the drow had built in the town. Investigating the fountain, he found it to have a statue to the goodly deity of Drow, and that the statue was magically producing clean water for the town. He also met the drow wizard Alcarino in the magic shop, where he learned that drow were a persecuted race by the neighboring wood elves of the Woods of Old Yudath. He arranged for a dinner date with the head of the magic shop, and showed up later with a few bottles of booze, and he made a good impression with the tower of drow, who agreed to show him favor in the future if he was able to get the river flowing again.   The 15th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (15.10.1288 AYD)   Continued repairs to the roof of The Blue Dragon Inn.   The 16th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (16.10.1288 AYD)   Finished repairs on The Blue Dragon Inn's roof. Gibson was incredibly thankful for Yasias's assistance and it seemed like they might be able to do more business if things improve in town.   The 17th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (17.10.1288 AYD)   Yasias met the dwarven cleric Londmera Healthgiver, when she stopped in to check on her brother, Dralduin Stoutforge. Yasias accompanied her to the market, and they talked about brewing. Londmera turned out to be quite versed in the production of alcohol, and showed him a magic spell where she converted water into wine. They agreed to have dinner at the Stoutforge Clanhome in the Sparkling Mountain south of town. There, Yasias learned that the Stoutforges had an impressively large complex that could house a hundred dwarves if needed, but it was just Londmera there after her other brothers and fathers had gone off to war in The Stonehaven Mountains, a far off dwarven kingdom. Yasias saw her brewing operation, she has several large "Industry scale" vats and everything one would need to make a proper brewery, except people and materials. Her duties as caretaker of the clanhome also keep her fairly local, so she is unable to do too much with setting up business contacts, selling her product, etc. Yasias and Londmera agreed to start brewing as a business, Yasias taking a 20% stake to act as the business manager. Wanting to get a product out right away, Yasias and Londmera pondered what they could make, Londmera did have a contact for cherries in the halfling nation to the south, so they agreed to start producing a cherry wine they called "Ruby Dragon Wine". They went many hours into the night with dinner, the tour of the clanhome, and business, and she took him back to town.   The 18th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD. (18.10.1288 AYD)   Yasias spent most of the day resting (as he didn't get home till daybreak from the previous day's activities) and helping with finishing the repairs to the armory.   The 19th day of New Autumn, 1288 AYD (19.10.12788 AYD)   Dralduin gathered Bob, Theo, and Yasias, and presented them each with magical weapons forged over the past week. They were made of a strange combination of silver and cold iron, and Dralduin was able to explain that he saw The Soulforger (his deity and the creator deity of the dwarves on Algaress) and that these weapons were powerful tools to be used against demons and devils and other such creatures, and that even one of these weapons should have taken greater than a week to create, meaning that it was clear that their quest was blessed by The Soulforger and that they should head into the forest and sort out the river situation with haste. Theo and Yasias discussed what they did over the past week, and though they were concerned about the Talisman of Annihilation, the river was a bigger concern and one they could address immediately.   The group set out into the riverbed, following the river into the forest. After two hours of walking, they found a stream dammed up that should be flowing into the river, guarded by goblins. The group quickly defeated the goblins with spell and sword, but interrogated one of the goblins. The goblin explained that the giants had taken over the river and that they had other goblins and orcs under their control, and that from their fort was also a big scary voice that sometimes erupted. When they questioned the goblin further, he told them that the giants worshiped Asmodeus, and he suddenly burst into flames. After some debate, the group broke the dam open and continued into the forest.   The group made their way further into the forest, following the riverbed, and they were ambushed by a pair of forest giants. The giants angrily screamed about wanting to kill them to bring glory to Asmodeus. After a very difficult fight, they were able to defeat the giants, which Bob recognized as forest giants, which he found odd as forest giants tended to be goodly creatures, protectors of the forests, and slow to anger. They found a pair of runes carved into their head that they identified as a sign of Asmodeus and that these beings had likely been controlled by the runes. They made their way further into the forest, finding more of the stone dams, breaking them each time, but for some reason, unguarded. Bob also had a conversation with a rabbit, who told them more about the giant's fortifications and that all the goblins and orcs seemed to have gathered in the giant's fort at the lake that fed the river. As they traveled on, they got within earshot of the fort after a few more hours of travel, and an owl advised Bob that a frontal assault would be unwise.   After some debate, they sent Bob ahead under invisibility, where he saw a large lake with steam coming off of it. Beyond the lake, there were 50 goblins and 20 orcs, as well as three giants, all on their knees facing a giant illusion of a human head. A fourth giant, one with a large flaming great sword, was begging the head for mercy, but it proceeded to yell at the giants, expressing that he wanted the scepter and that the giants had failed to get it, failed to assist in the battle for River's Edge, and had failed to kill the Sheriff, and for this there would be no mercy. The head disappeared and it's place a rift opened, and out flew a blue dragon, which proceeded to rampage and kill the giants and their army. The dwarf proceeded to climb the wall and used a spell of fireball to break open the dam, freeing the river. Witnessing the destruction, Bob headed back to the rest of the group where they debated retreat, figuring they did not have the strength to take on a dragon. Eventually they remembered they had been given a secret phrase in the ancient tongue of dragons to tell the dragon, and Bob used his magic to once again make his voice booming. The dragon stopped and flew over to them, questioning them about who they were and what year it was. After the group explained they were sent by his brothers and that he had been dead for many years (the dragon pointed out that he was aware of that having spent the time in hell), he asked for clothes, Yasias gave him one of his nice sets of robes, and transformed into a man. After a bit more conversing, he cast invisibility and flew off into the night.   The group proceeded to go into the burning remnants of the fort (The dwarf having used another fireball during the battle) and found him killing off the last of the orcs and goblins, and making two piles, one of loot, and one of corpses, which he had set on fire. Not finding much there, they investigated the lake, which seemed unnaturally warm for where they were climate wise. Using his magic armor of swimming, Bob dove into the lake and found a strange pillar about three feet tall, inscribed with runes to Asmodeus, and made out of a strange material that they identified being from Hell. They brought it back to the surface, and it was incredibly hot and shining light. After some debate, the dwarf smashed it, but gathered up the smashed remains after, determined to study the substance for it's geological properties. Making their way back into town, the group was hailed as heroes by the sheriff and a great celebration was held in their honor, there was much drinking and revelry. They met with Maltuk, who told them he had spoken to the dragon and that their agreement to the dragons was satisfied with the return of their brother, and he gave Yasias back the robe he had loaned.   Offloading their gains from the giant complex, the group gained 111 PP, 10054GP, 592 SP, 3500 CP through coin and the sale of mundane items. They also collected the following:

• Potions: Endure Elements, Enlarge Person (x2), Cure Light Wounds (x2), Potion of Jump, Remove Fear
• Scrolls: Daze Monster, Entropic Shield, Invisibility Purge, and Longstrider
• A wand of Aspect of the Falcon with 50 charges
• Masterwork longbow
• Masterwork cold iron longsword that glows light like a torch
• +1 Tower Shield

They were able to sell the giant's flaming greatsword to Rahudram at the bank, who bought it for his own personal use (being one of the few creatures in town large enough to wield it!). From the giant's horde, they also recovered three of the missing items from the bank robbery: The wedding ring, the Lerramore Scepter, and the painting of the elves, and were able to return these to the bank.