Session Preface:
The scent of fresh blood mixes with the stench of stale dung and wet soil as calm falls over the narrow mining shaft once more. Through the southern tunnel, the sounds of metal striking metal clangs out, bouncing off of the hewn stone chambers. Through the eastern tunnel, you hear nothing but the distant clicking of kobold claws against the ground as they scurry through a distant tunnel.
Looking around this mining chamber, the tools are well worn, simple, make shift items with several pick axes of Avraathian crafting mixed in. While you've always known the quality of the smiths in Avraathe, the stark difference of the raw tools and the forged counterpart is striking all the same.
Turning to your companions, Stragri moves quietly through the connecting tunnel with both hands on her blade hilts, though her face portrays her calm demeanor, his eyes darting quickly towards the tunnels in wary observation. Next Rocreth and Vudrogg both step forward, the former carrying his massive heavy crossbow and Vudrogg holding his halberd close to him. Rocreth nods in your direction as Vudrogg speaks, his deep voice just barely above a whisper "You lead the way, but leave some of the fun for us too, hear?"
Session Summary:
Over the course of the next hour, difficult as it is to keep track of the passage of time in the cramped, pungent caverns beneath the Nether Mountains, the party traverses through the kobold denizen with relative stealth and safety. In one exception, a pair of kobold get the jump on the party and manage to loosen a massive boulder which strikes several members of the party, pinning them against the jagged hewn walls of the tunnels. Eventually the party navigates through the traps and snares and the damp, dull grey stone gives way to fresh air and a snowy expanse.
After trudging through nearly knee-high snow, the party eventually discover the mountains exterior shifting towards beautiful crystalline caverns, capturing the light of the sunset and refracting the hues in mystifying colors and patterns. Following the lingering light towards the broad caverns of the pinnacle's peak, the party finds themselves in the midst of a dragon's den and treasure hoard, but with no sign of the dragon itself.
In it's place, a handful of terrified and hiding kobold are their only company. Quietly, a single courageous kobold approaches the party, signing and speaking in an unfamiliar hushed tongue that the dragon had flown away, but could be back at any moment. Moving towards the impressive mound of unfamiliar golden coins and a myriad of weapons and gems, the party is ambushed as one of the hiding kobold polymorphs into the massive young blue dragon and immediately spits streaks of crackling lightning towards the entire party.
A brutal encounter breaks out as the party finds themselves trapped between the dragon and its kobold denizens and golems which seem to form out of the crystalline walls to corner them in the narrow bends of the cavern. Using its advantage of flight, the dragon claws and bites and scratches, evading the martial prowess of several party members in turn. All the while the enchanted gems which have been fused into the flesh of the dragon spark to life, creating devastating magical effects of slowing, poisoning, and otherwise enervating the party.
As has become a familiar conclusion to their battles as of late, Endriel managed to methodically target the dragon's weak points and eventually brought it to the edge of its life while Parathrax and the Velqwen force focussed on keeping one another alive and defending their allies whose magic and arrows could reach the elusive wyrm. After Vorothruun fell to a particularly nasty ravaging by the dragon's talons, Parathrax rushed to his side, reinvigorated him through Bahamut's blessing, giving Vorothruun just enough strength to manifest a blast of eldritch energy which finally fell the massive foe.
Following a necessary respite to recover from the worst of the immediate wounds, the party began to take stock of the treasure, discovering dozens of enchanted weapons, powerful gems of various magical properties, and most notably, the radiant platinum sword described to them by Zorvathrax.
Treasure from the Dragon's Lair
- 10,000 ancient gold coins
- 5 Potions of Healing
- 1 Potion of Greater Healing
- Socketed Bow (with Hamstring gem)
- Socketed Shield (with Warding gem)
- Socketed Ring (with Unhindered gem)
- Hamstring Gem: Ranged weapon. Once per long rest, when attacking an opponent, successfully striking their legs reduced movement by half.
- Warding Gem: Shield. When critically hit, gem deflects hp equal to 1 hit die plus half your level once per long rest.
- Unhindered Gem: Any jewelry. +2 to saving throws against Incapacitated, Stunned, Paralyzed, or Restrained effect.
- Bows of Concentration
- Axes of Monster Hunting
- Swords of Fire Burst
- Daggers of Ice Piercing
- Spears of Lightning Burst
Lifting Ulrath
In the aptly named treasure hoard of the dragon, you are immediately drawn to a sheathed blade which lay atop a pile of other odds and ends. Where many of the other weapons contain gems in their hilt or guard, this blade includes nothing save for the crest of Bahamut in the familiar platinum and deep blue. As you draw closer to it, the blade seems to bid you closer with a subconscious invitation, a welcome.
As you grip the hilt, the handle fits comfortably at once. The sword is surprisingly light, gliding effortlessly through the chilling air. As you draw the blade from the sheath your eyes instinctively blink away a blinding, radiant light and your entire vision in washed out as the bright white light overtakes all else.
A crackle of lightning strikes somewhere beneath you and as you blink your vision returns once more. In a swirling storm of darkening clouds, thunder rumbles through your chest violently shaking the sky before you. In the distance, the outline of a massive shining dragon wrapped in radiant light hovers against the contrast of the gathering storm. Drawing closer to you, the seventh prophet smiles, her face wrapped in innocence and understanding in each expression. "I didn't get to finish the prophecy" she says, softly. As she moves through the clouds, you see her eyes glow like sapphires, same as the day you first observed her in the temple. "The mean man wouldn't let me finish the prophecy. Said it was for him alone."
As she speaks, another roll of thunder crashes through the skies. She breaks her gaze for a moment, looking to the source of the thunder with concern. Her words are muffled as your vision darkens and suddenly you find yourself once more within the glimmering cavern of Anaxaster's lair.
Ulrath, the Sword of Mercy, glows with a gleaming radiance in your outstretched hand. So too, Ilreth, the Shield of Justice, shines with a light which seems to come from within the platinum itself. Their warmth surges through you as you feel a jolt of pure energy course through your veins like an ember, igniting a righteous fury smoldering beneath your scales. In a final burst, the light illuminating from the bonded pair of shield and sword brightens further, refracting off the crystal walls like an ornate chandelier before the room fades to the dim, cold evening of winter once more. Yet even so, the renewed sense of vigor burns within like the steady hearth of your childhood home and the words of Bahamut crackle through your mind once more.
Return. Protect. Avenge.
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