Session 16 - and then a Dragon appeared

General Summary

Prelude

After your success with the puzzles and finding more Oharith secrets, Joten shares with you some further news. A few weeks ago, following a particularly strong sandstorm some of his community discovered some partially exposed ruins in small rocky canyon a few miles from your current location. Originally on the outskirts of what was Gulumi, the building appears to have been some sort of monastic/artistic community. Joten thinks it's relevant because in the areas they've managed to explore there is evidence of mosaic design and materials, perhaps the artists here were responsible for creating the mosaics you've seen so far, perhaps there are further clues about other designs and their locations? Joten says there are indications others have been there recently, trying to get through locked doors into as yet undiscovered areas of the building. He and a couple of the other men have volunteered to guide you there.

And then a Dragon Appeared!

We take Joten’s advice and go with him and his men thru the ruins of Gulumi, eventually descending into a canyon. Riele has reappeared, circling above us. After six or several hundred yards we can see buildings set in the rock-face and soon we see some doors from which the sand has been cleared. Joten has told us that this is a box canyon, and it appears to be 40 to 50 yards wide with walls 20 foot high. Brovar and Tripp hear a sound, like a large pair of shears, but the direction from which it is coming is unclear. There is something pushing against the doors of the building from the inside.
Baka has the same terrible feeling that she had before in the arena, that she knows what is going to happen. She gets a view from Riele, which allows her to see a crowd of figures coming towards us from the entrance of the canyon. They do not seem to be dressed the same as the bandits, but are dressed better, possibly uniformed.
To our great concern, a giant scorpion pushes thru the doors and Brovar, thinking quickly throws a flask of oil at it, but misses badly. Digby hits it with his battle axe for a 33E slash critical and 4 more hits. Lilrie hits it for 6 damage. Tripp misses. Sai Kyo hits it for 8B and 5 more hits, his second attack missing. Baka prepares her spell for next round as the scorpion attacks Sai Kyo doing 2 damage with its first attack, the second for 15 damage, doing 2 more hits and putting him on 2 hits per round. The stinger in its tail goes for Lilrie doing 8 damage and we watch in horror as she just collapses to the ground, paralyzed, her eyes wide open.
Sai Kyo attacks again for a 5A strike, doing 5 more damage. Brovar attacks with his long sword doing 4 damage, his mace doing the same. Digby unleashes his battle axe with an awesome strike doing 56 damage and E and B slash criticals, for 9 more damage, splitting it in two. We all turn to Lilrie and Joten says “We need to get her inside, I have something which can help her”. He pulls a vial out of his tunic and starts to pour the contents down her throat. The men are getting closer and we all prepare for more combat. Digby and Tripp go to their trusty bows, Baka prepares a spell, and Sai Kyo Adrenal Speed.
Tripp lets rip with his special bow, the first arrow doing a 24E puncture critical, gaining +20 for his next attack, which is his second arrow which goes straight thru the man’s leg, cutting the muscle, for a 20E critical, taking him down. Brovar manages to light his torch and throws it into the doorway, setting it alight.
Tripp fires again, at two different targets this time. His first arrow does a 19E puncture for 3 more hits, his second arrow doing a 20E puncture again doing 3 more hits. Baka fires off Jolts stunning one of the men, as Digby completes Shield, which Baka also starts preparing.
Tripp keeps firing at the same two men, his first arrow hitting for a 24E puncture critical, doing 2 more hits, his second arrow hitting for a 21E puncture critical, doing 3 more hits. His accuracy has forced some of the men to take cover, but 8 of the men keep running towards us.
As 5 of them attack us, we can see that they are all wearing the same dark grey to black, leather armour, with the sigil of a serpent emblazoned on the chest. The head is on the shoulder and the body wraps around their torsos. Digby attacks first doing a 19C crush critical, for one more hit. Tripp is next, his long sword lancing into one of the men doing a 22E puncture critical, gaining +20 for his next attack. Sai Kyo does 11C and 1 more damage, his second attack a 17E strike, doing 5 more hits, stunning the man for 5 rounds, and putting him on -50. Sai Kyo is now on 51 hits and -10 on his actions. Brovar hits his opponent with his long sword for a 19D crush critical, and 3 more hits, his mace doing a 14C crush critical, disarming the man, stunning him and doing 8 more damage. Baka is the target of one of the attackers, his scimitar doing 13B crush and one more damage. Baka strikes back doing 6 damage.
Behind us the doorway continues to burn and Sai Kyo leaves his stunned opponent to help Baka. Joten’s men have drawn bows and are taking shots at the men further up the canyon. Brovar splits his attack between two men, his long sword doing a 14C puncture critical, stunning him for 2 rounds, his mace doing a 6A crush critical, doing 10 more hits, stunned and unable to parry for 2 rounds. Tripp attacks with his long sword doing a 9A slash, 4 more damage, stunning the man and putting him on 3 hits per round. Sai Kyo hits the man in front of Baka with a 2A strike, for 5 more damage. Digby hits his target with a 52E crush critical, the man exploding as his battle axe erupts from his body. Baka also hits for a 11B slash critical, doing 7 more damage, stunned the man for 3 more rounds, putting him on 3 hits per round, cutting off his ear so that he is on -50 to hear.
Next round Sai Kyo attacks first, doing a 9B strike critical for 5 more hits. Digby starts charging the men who have taken cover. Brovar is hit for 2 damage, and thinks to himself that he has done more damage to himself shaving. His long sword does 5 damage to one man, and his mace a 10B crush critical, for 12 more hits, taking him out.
Digby’s charge up the canyon is brought to an abrupt halt as a giant scorpion emerges from the sand in front of him. Tripp attacks doing a 16C crush, killing the man. The guy in front of Brovar falls, as one of his own comrades shoots him in the back.
Digby, undaunted, stands up to the scorpion, and is hit for 15 damage. The stinger whips round grazing him for 1 damage, but he makes the saving throw against the poison.
Next round the scorpion attacks first doing 8 damage with one set of pincers, 1 damage with the other pair, but 3 damage with its stinger, but more importantly poisoning Digby, whose battle axe slips from unfeeling fingers as it starts to take hold. Sai Kyo misses, as does Brovar with both his long sword and his mace. Baka lets rip with Jolts stunning the scorpion for one round. She feels that she is beginning to link with Riele so she puts a hand on the canyon wall to steady herself. Sai Kyo does a 13D strike critical, cracking one of the scorpion’s legs, but it does not seem to slow it much. Brovar does 16D crush critical with his long sword, for 10 more hits, his mace doing a 13C crush critical for 9 more hits. Baka can now see clearly thru the eyes of Riele who is hundreds of feet in the air and still climbing. She seems to be flying towards something and has not changed size.
Sai Kyo attacks the scorpion again for 7 damage. Brovar does 9 damage with his long sword, and lands a legendary hit with his mace, a 17D crush critical, doing 10 more hits, taking it out at last.
Two of the four attackers have been killed by Joten’s men, but one of them has been shot in return and is taking cover. Even with Joten’s ministrations Lilrie is still paralyzed. Baka, still looking thru Riele’s eyes, can see something coming thru the air towards us, still some distance away. On the ground, there seem to be another dozen men, up the canyon, who are creeping towards us. We pick up Digby and drag him back towards the doorway, where the flames have subsided. There are no more sounds from inside, and the door is open enough for us to get thru. Baka is still trying to get used to the link with Riele, and can see that whatever is heading towards us is big, very big. Sai Kyo guides her towards the doorway and Baka has difficulty making out what is coming. She goes inside to concentrate. Joten gives Digby the potion and explains that without it you would be paralyzed for 24 hours.
We all enter the building into a beautifully tiled area, not with scenes, but abstract patterns. Baka, having concentrated, and sees what is comming towards us. She calls “Riele” and feels that she is diving towards the doorway. Given her normal reluctance to enter buildings this is a surprise, but it is understandable as coming towards us, with a figure astride it, is an enormous dragon. We call to Joten and his men to come inside and Tripp drags our prisoner in also. Sai Kyo is still bleeding and down to 43 hits so Baka takes the opportunity to do First Aid on him, stopping the bleeding. Next, she casts Charm Kind on the prisoner and we start the questioning. He tells us his mistress is coming and that she will devour us. We ask if she is human, and he says she looks like a human but is all-powerful. He beats his chest proclaiming loudly “I serve the Serpents of Amnos” and continues to say that there are thousands of them, and that they are everywhere.
From outside we can hear a roaring sound as something soars overhead. Tripp goes to the door to look outside and just sees an enormous, scaled dragon, flying along the length of the canyon and he feels the rush of the wind of its passing. Riele is suddenly there, flying into the building. Baka can hear the dragon coming and we feel a wave of heat coming towards us. Tripp moves quickly to shut the door and manages it just in time, before the dragon runs towards us searing heat pouring from its mouth. The doors are sealed shut, and we hear the screams of the remaining men outside.
We explore the building finding tables with mosaic pieces in the process of being made, and they look very similar to those that were used in the mosaics that we saw in the domes. There is no paperwork showing larger designs. Further exploration reveals an unusually shaped room, and a door which Joten’s men were not able to open. It is a substantial stone door built into solid rock and at the top of the door is what looks like a date, 5-8-13-21. The current year is 2875AC so we cannot understand the what the date means. It is not clear if this indicates a date before or after the cleanse, but we think it is pre-cleanse as all of the buildings that we have seen like this, have been pre-cleanse. The first two digits could be month and day. We can also see that at the bottom of the door, on the left and right, are two smooth spaces in the frame which look there should be a number. These are not the same size as the brass coins.
This looks like a puzzle and we wonder if it could be a series with 3 at the start and 34 at the end. After spending quite a while searching, we find a loose section of flooring with many of these numbered tiles. We find tiles with 3 and 34 and slot them into the door, which unlocks, revealing a set of stairs going down.
We decide to rest up before any further exploring so that Lilrie and Digby can recover and we can regain our hits. After 8 hours of rest Baka is back up to 48, and Sai Kyo on 51.

Kitty

• Session start – 1135 gold, 187 silver
• Income – none
• Expenses – none
• Session end – 1135 gold, 187 silver

Report Date

30 Mar 2021