A.S.S.: Hunters of Dragonskull Lodge

General Summary

Wherein the most dangerous game is played

A Job Involving Dragons

Downtime at Arboreal Security Service H.Q. was interrupted by a visit from Cas Grezol, a scholar of dragons and draconic lineages and a friend of the druid Brackfeem (see A.S.S.: Plant Logistics). This bookish woman had a job for our eco-warriors. Dragonskull Lodge, a hunting chateau nestled in the Outlawed Hills, has been advertising a grand outing for courageous hunters. Given that the Lodge is rumored to have the skull of the notorious (and notoriously evil) deep dragon called Sunbreaker, and given that there are also rumors of a new technology able to rebirth dragons by utilizing arcane magics and animal bones, Cas is worried that the Lodge means to unleash a version of Sunbreaker as a sort of "trophy hunt." This would have disastrous consequences should Sunbreaker breach containment (not to mention the havoc upon local eco-systems that cloned evil dragons would wreak).
She offered 200 gold up front to A.S.S. to journey to Dragonskull Lodge as would-be hunters in this grand outing. Once there, they are to 1) discover if the Lodge really does have the skull of Sunbreaker, 2) figure out what they mean to do with that skull and 3) destroy any Sunbreaker "clones" they might find. If they manage to do the latter, she'll also reward them with 200 gold upon their return to New Carydam.
As this seemed like a mission with both moral and ecological stakes, the Arbos quickly agreed and made themselves ready for the three day journey to the Lodge.

To the Lodge

The journey itself was uneventful and, after three days, our heroes found themselves before the formidable and foreboding Lodge. They gained entry and were greeted by Aldfreck Mourningstone, the owner/operator of the Lodge. He welcomed them and told them that a toast for good hunting would be held shortly, and that they should repair themselves to the ballroom for drink, victuals, and festivities.
They did just that, but not before Harriet did some smooth talking with a guard and gained a quick look inside Aldfreck's study. Bones were clearly visible on the table in various shapes and sizes. Could these be dragon bones? No time to tell, as the guard quickly ushered her out.
In the ballroom, the Arbos met their fellow hunters. Col. Fleurine and the stately Count Montreso VanKempt regaled each other with stories of their various hunts while another figure, Lusaliz Sodagheim looked on apprehensively. On the dance floor, the deadly siblings Cenamoré, Rafalee and Domegatril, loudly proclaimed the things they killed with Kavra Aletide, drinking deeply for each creature named that they had not killed. Meanwhile, Sir Courtois looked on miserably, deeply uncomfortable with this wanton display of needless violence toward the natural world.
Aletide managed to figure out from his new "friends" that the skull of Sunbreaker was, indeed, in the basement of the Lodge. The twins agreed to take him there after the toast. Excellent. The game is afoot!
The last hunter, a taciturn dwarf named Skogguck Smeltblud arrived, and it was time for the toast. Aldfreck wished each participant good fortune, looking perhaps a bit too pointedly at our heroes. It was then that the true nature of the hunt was revealed, as each of the Arbos, having sampled at least some of the beverages and food on offer, discovered that they had been drugged and were falling unconscious.

In the Yard

They awoke in the Outlawed Hills, groggy and sluggish. With them was Lusaliz and Skogguck. The dwarf was first to come to himself, and he leapt to his feet to investigate a nearby note pinned to a tree. He screamed an outlandish dwarven curse and took off running. Examining that note revealed just what, exactly, was to be hunted. It read: "Hunters: You are now hunted. Good fortune." Presumably, the other hunters not with them mean to hunt our heroes as sport. Lusaliz hung around for a bit, discussing this unfortunate turn of events with the Arbos before doubling over in pain, muttering something about the change, and stumbling off into the Hills.
Not content to let a seemingly innocent individual die out here, the Arbos decided to follow Lusa's tracks in the hopes that they could find her, and then find the Lodge, and then burn the whole thing to the ground. A sound plan.
Enacting that plan, however, was not without difficulty. For this section of the Outlawed Hills, called the Yard, is not without its own dangers.
Those dangers were, to wit: an encounter with an unruly Hill Giant and the bloodthirsty Rafalee and Domegatril hunting our heroes. Each of these were overcome.
The party finally caught up with Lusaliz facing down a Displacer Beast. It was then that the change Lusaliz kept mentioning under her breath was revealed. She happens to be a were-tiger. Useful, perhaps, in a fight with a Displacer Beast, but a curse at all other times. It turned out that she was here because Aldfreck was rumored to know of a cure for lycanthropy. She did not get enough time to speak with him about it before being drugged and thrown in the Yard. Thus revealed, she agreed that strength lay in numbers and would travel with the Arbos to seek revenge on those that hunt them.
The reunion with Skogguck was not so happy, however, as the party found his corpse riddled with arrows. A cursory search of his belongings revealed several notes about the rumors of dragon "cloning" operation and his resolve to stop it. The Arbos decided to take that task in hand, hopefully providing a little peace to the departed dwarf.
The Yard also holds other secrets, such as the Fililock's Blessing, which was rendered unto Harriet as she recited the Ballad of Kimmeldrift Rise before the tomb of that great warrior. The hideout of the celebrated alchemist Welfyx Wobblerumble is also in the Yard. Aletide decided to sample some of her Snake Oil and discovered a newfound resistance to acid and poison damge. With that, however, came a scaly chin. Tradeoffs, I suppose.
Aldfreck Mourningstone, and a Deep Dragon Wyrmling, caught up with the party as they neared the Lodge. Regretfully. he explained, he must end their lives. It is to cure his own sickness that he does this, and does so reluctantly. Thus, a battle was commenced. The Arbos, though tired and bloodied, emerged as the victors, putting Aldfreck out of his misery.
And his life did indeed appear miserable. The skull of Sunbreaker, perloined by Aldfreck, is cursed, and rendered unto him a wasting sickness both bloody and painful. In his desperate search for a cure, Aldfreck appealed to Noio, deity of Strife and Disease, for aid. Noio offered help, but with a price: Aldfreck must both hold hunts to sow discord among the environs of New Carydam and also pursue the "rebirth" of Sunbreaker through mystical means. Driven to near madness by his afflictiion, Aldfreck agreed.
Armed with this new knowledge about Sunbreaker's skull, the Arbos returned to the Lodge and burned the whole damn thing to the ground. Then it was back to New Carydam. Cas was apprised of both the skull's location and the curse, and our adventurers received an additional 200gp each for their services.
With some gentle cajoling, Lusa returned to A.S.S. H.Q with our heroes as they promised to undertake an investigation to cure her were-tiger curse.

And That's Where We Left It

We'll see how the Arbos go about locating a cure for Lusaliz when the annals of A.S.S. continue.

Varied & Sundry Details

• Before any of this happened, Harriet had a dream in which she encountered another bard from another plane of existence. Pleasantries were exchanged, and the bard offered a gift. Harriet woke from her dream with Sotario's Zils clutched in her hands.
• The twins and Mourningstone were defeated, but Count Montreso is currently unaccounted for. What could this mean?
• Welfyx Wobblerumble seems very comfortable hiding out in the Yard. Why could that be?

Character(s) interacted with

• Cas Grezol, scholar of draconic lineages
• Aldfreck Mourningstone, proprietor of Dragonskull Lodge
• Rafalee and Domegatril Cenamoré, twins with a propensity for violence
• Skogguck Smeltblud, dwarven dragon hunter
• Count Montreso VanKempt, aristocratic hunter with a zeal for trophies
• Lusaliz Sodagheim, reluctant were-tiger
• Welfyx Wobblerumble, eccentric alchemist

Report Date

04 Sep 2022