Brontide Caves
Campaign Recap
Collateral Damage Meets the Brontide Tribe (2 Mirtul)
On 2 Mirtul, Collateral Damage arrived at the Brontide Cliffs and sought to confront the cultists who had taken over the Tower of Storms. After an encounter with an invisible stalker while descending the cliffs, the adventurers escaped to the safety of the Brontide Caves thanks to the kobolds of the Brontide Tribe.
The Trial of Worthiness
Collateral Damage was welcomed to the caves by Sniggaink. He greeted them, then told them they needed to pass a "Trial of Worthiness" before meeting with their leader Kremzik Darkchewer; Rayphlárd, since he had already visited the caves during his youth, had already passed the trial.
The trial was judged by a coven of sea hags named Nana Pocktuss, Auntie Unk and Granny Muyuk. Each individual swam into a mysterious cave one-by-one, completed the trial, then returned with their memory of the trial magically erased. The instructions from the hags for each participant, and the only criteria for the trial, was "don't be boring!" Details for each individual's trial included:
- Tubby performed a flip and talked about how he came from a magic deck of cards. The hags decided to test his blue dragonborn blood by casting lightning bolt at him, and his natural resistance to lightning impressed them. When they asked him for his armor, Tubby offered his bag of beans instead. The hags, impressed by him having such an item, told him to keep the bag and plant the beans in the ground (not eat them).
- Don-Jon Raskin went in, came back and said "Well, that’s the third time I’ve got the thunderclap."
- Shinzon Greenshadow did some acrobatics involving daggers sticking into the sand, then he cast spider climb and climbed onto the walls while juggling. The hags, impressed by his adamantine sword, asked him to use it on a skull of a giant or ogre-like creature; he used the ninjato to slice off a chunk of the head. Seeing that he was a monk, the hags then attacked with hand claws flying through the air, and Shinzon deflected them. After returning from his trial, Shinzon started feeling something similar to an allergic reaction.
- Conor McGregor initially resisted participating, giving short answers to the hags' questions. Granny asked him for a drink, and Conor gave her a vial of holy water. She drank the holy water, but it had no effect. The hags said they were impressed by all of his possessions, asking for something good, and Conor unloaded a bunch of unwanted things he had been carrying around like a pot and a morningstar. Unimpressed by Conor's lack of effort, the hags polymorphed Conor into a rat, and Granny stuck him inside her mouth. They got bored of that, and after Conor turned back into a human he attacked them. The hags responded with a ray of sickness. Conor, feeling poisoned, tried to respond with a handaxe attack, but he slipped and fell. The hags erupted into laughter and said that was enough.
- Herb Stoner started his trial by casting prestidigitation and showing the hags a mirror in which they looked traditionally beautiful. The hags were disgusted by that image, as they liked how they looked. Herb then gave them the manticore testicles he had been carrying, and Granny happily ate them. They then saw his boots of striding and springing, so Herb somehow cast thaumaturgy (a spell he didn't know) for some beats and jumped around enthusiastically.
Learning About the Storm Worshipers
After each member of Collateral Damage passed the Trial of Worthiness, Sniggaink led them back to meet the rest of the Brontide Tribe. He pointed out the locations of several traps on the way, including lightning-loaded glyphs of warding.
The group arrived in a library, where they met the leader of the tribe Kremzik Darkchewer and his apprentice Andi. Herb Stoner recognized Kremzik from his days at Golden Coast College in Longwood, but Kremzik didn't recognize Herb because he was in tiefling form.
While talking with Kremzik, Collateral Damage learned the following:
- A white dragon arrived at the Tower of Storms on 27 Tarsakh; Kremzik suspected that it was Cryovain from Icewind Dale. Rayphlárd's great aunt and uncle Thinshu and Aldárth attempted to defend the tower and fight off the dragon, but they had to escape and join the kobolds in the caves.
- On 28 Tarsakh, the dragon flew inland, and a group of cultists (including black-skinned kobolds) arrived at the tower. Some of the blue kobold shrimpers were working on the shore and were attacked by the cultists and an invisible stalker. After that, the blue kobolds hid in their caves and didn't interfere with the cultists.
- On Greengrass, a green light began shining from the beacon at the tower, a storm began in the sky above, and lightning began striking the beacon. Thinshu and Aldárth decided to use the teleportation circle within the caves to escape to Leilon, but the kobolds decided to stay in the caves.
- Since Greengrass, multiple shipwrecks have happened at the tower. The cultists pulled survivors out of the wrecks and brought them up to the tower, and they also hauled gold and treasure up as well.
Discussions of Defending the Caves
Collateral Damage continued talking with Kremzik Darkchewer, the leader of the Brontide Tribe. They discussed defending the caves, since it seemed like an attack by the cultists was imminent. During the discussion, Collateral Damage learned that:
- The kobold tribe had successfully defended the caves for centuries against pirates, bandits and monstrous creatures. Their life's work was protecting the caves for Razaycrynth, and they would die before giving them up. They said that if they died in battle defending the caves, Kurtulmak would bring them back.
- Their strengths were not in hand-to-hand combat, but in magical defenses and traps. Their tribe member Boka was their alchemist and poison expert, Voon was their trap builder, and Kremzik used his magical knowledge to make it difficult to enter the caves or travel through the narrow passageways.
Kremzik led the group to the workshop to discuss their poisons and traps. After entering the room, Shinzon Greenshadow sneezed multiple times and then let out a breath of poison gas, injuring Boka and knocking another kobold unconscious. The kobolds within the room drew their daggers, but the tension was quickly dropped by both sides. After stabilizing the unconscious kobold, the tribe laughed it off when Shinzon apologized. The kobolds gave Shinzon two vials of poison and a poisoner's kit.
Resting in the Library
The group decided to take a short rest in the library, and Herb looked through several bookshelves. He found books and notebooks with the following titles:
- Chardansearavitriol
- Claugiyliamatar
- Cryovain and Isendraug
- Helios
- Iymrith
- Klauth
- Kurtulmak
- Razaycrynth
- Tiamat
Most of the books were locked, but the leather-bound book about Chardansearavitriol was left open. After looking through the book, Herb learned the following about Chardansearavitriol:
After the Uth Kingdom was destroyed by its former royal mage Iniarv, the black dragon Chardansearavitriol claimed the Uthtower as his new lair. He ruled the Mere of Dead Men for centuries, eventually gaining the service of a sect of the Cult of the Dragon and calling himself "Ebondeath."
Geography
Notable Locations
Library
Within the library, bookshelves and small tables are pushed up against the walls. Next to one of the bookshelves, hanging on the wall, is Kremzik Darkchewer's framed diploma from Golden Coast College.
A teleportation circle is built into the ground in the middle of the library. It's a small, circular pool of water with stones carved with ancient runes surroundings it. Kremzik's apprentice Andi monitors the teleportation circle and ensures it remains stocked with the gemstone-infused chalk that's required for the spell to work.
Workshop
Within the two-level workshop are crates of various sizes, shelves with vials of liquid of all different colors, glass jars of teeth and other items, and small work tables.
Boka, the tribe's alchemist and poison expert, and Voon, the tribe's trap expert, lead the projects in the workshop.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments