Meeting Meepo
Played on July 20, 2018
24 Flamerule, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
The Sunless Citadel, Neverwinter Wood
Beyond the tower entrance, the four adventurers explored a hallway with three wooden doors.
One door led into a room empty of all but a litter of rocky debris. The room across the hall had a stone relief-carved door which portrayed a dragon-like fish swimming.
Edmont picked the locked door. Beyond the door was a ten-foot-square chamber hewn from stone. It contained an upright keg fashioned of rusted iron. Rusted pipes led from the keg into the floor.
Further examination revealed the keg still contained liquid. The connecting pipes held the keg in place, preventing it from being detached. A wide metallic bung covered a hole on top of the iron keg.
Edmont thought it might contain rum, and since pirates like him loved rum he wanted to open the keg to make sure.
However, Ziri insisted that the keg be left alone having recently experienced the dangers of opening closed containers in the deadly citadel.
But Edmont’s insatiable thirst for rum was too strong to be ignored. When the party was about to leave the room, Edmont pried loose the metallic bung.
Suddenly two winged creatures emerged from inside the keg! Each was the size of a cat. One had deep red skin that bubbled and boiled as if made of magma. The other was entirely white and had skin that resembled ice.
After emerging from their prison, the winged creatures attacked the group. Being a small room, only Skylar and Edmont were able to fit inside the room. Ziri and Korg remained in the hallway while fighting.
Both creatures proved formidable. Ziri attackef the red one with spell which formed a poison cloud around it. She was shocked when she realized it was immune to her spell!
The group resorted to weapons instead if they hoped to survive the encounter.
The creatures, meanwhile, fought with their claws and breath weapons. One attack nearly caused Skylar his life. Fortunately, Ziri was able to heal him quickly enough.
Even when the creatures were slain, they proved deadly. Each one exploded! The magma creature sent globs of superheated magma in all directions after exploding, burning everyone. while the ice creature shot slivers of jagged icicles. No one escaped injury from the creatures exploding.
When the battle was won, Ziri had everyone retreat into the empty room across the hall. She wanted everyone to rest for a long time to recover.
Before leaving the room with the keg, Edmont took out an empty flask and filled it with what was inside the iron keg. He still hoped it would contain rum.
As he was filling his flask, his hand bumped what felt like small stones at the bottom of the keg. Taking one out, he saw he was holding a tiny sapphire which he figured could fetch him about 10 gold coins. He drew four more out, pocketing two for himself while telling the others about the three he found.
Regretfully, the liquid wasn’t rum but tasted extremely bitter and was no longer good for consumption. Edmont thought someone was distilling alcohol and perhaps brewing beer, something he thought no respectable pirate should drink.
**
Several hours into their rest, the door leading into the large room suddenly opened.
Outside, in the hallway, stood two hobgoblins armored in chainmail. Each held a longsword and shield. One ordered the group in common, to surrender. Ziri said that wasn’t going to happen.
The hobgoblins proved easier to kill than the winged creatures. No one knew what they were but they were certainly deadly.
After taking silver coins and equipment they could from the hobgoblins, the group piled the two against the doorway, preventing anyone from opening the door from the outside. They then went back to getting some much deserved rest.
After a few more hours, the group entered the door at the end of the hall.
Beyond lay a large and irregularly shaped crumbling chamber with symbols and glyphs scribed in bright green dye decorating the walls. A large pit in the center showed evidence of a recent fire. A metallic cage in the middle of the southern wall contained a gaping hole and stood empty. A small wooden bench draped with green cloth was next to the cage, and several small objects rested on it. A bedroll lay near the wooden bench, and the sound of whimpering came from inside it.
The group quietly walked to the bedroll where a kobold was deep in sleep seemingly in the throes of a nightmare as it whimpered and kicked like a dog.
After awakening the kobold, it sat up and pressed itself against the wall shaking in fear.
“Please no hurt Meepo!” the kobold begged in broken common.
The group told Meepo they weren’t going to hurt him but wanted to ask it some questions.
When asked what he was doing alone in the room, Meepo said he was the clan’s Keeper of Dragons, a thankless and dangerous job which largely involved cleaning up dragon wyrmling droppings. Meepo admitted that the clan’s white dragon wyrmling, Calcryx, had been taken by several wretched goblins a week before.
Meepo offered to take the group to meet the clan’s leader, Yusdrayl, who knew more and could answer all of their questions if they would help get Calcryx back.
They asked if Meepo saw the hobgoblins who recently attacked them. Meepo said Yusdrayl knew more but that the hobgoblins were working with the goblins in the citadel.
On the way to meeting Yusdrayl, Meepo kept yelling “good corn”, which he told the group was a signal to the clan not to attack anyone he was traveling with. Korg was happy they weren’t considered “bad corn” instead.
After Meepo introducef the adventurers to Yusdrayl, the clan’s female leader, Ziri asked her several questions regarding Belak the Outcast, the citadel, the four other adventurers who came before them about a month ago, and of the goblins who stole the clan’s wyrmling. Ziri added that she and the others had killed four of the goblins who had ambushed them along the Old Road. Yusdrayl was pleased to hear about the four goblins being killed by the adventurers.
Yusdrayl said she led her clan, the mighty Calcryx Clan named for their beloved wyrmling, to the citadel since it was considered a holy site where dragons were worshiped long ago. One dragon worshipped there in particular was an ancient red dragon named Ashardalon.
She said that The Outcast lived below in the Twilight Grove where he grew a fruit from an enchanted tree which he gives to the dragon-thieving goblins who served him. She added that the goblins were led by a merciless hobgoblin named Durnn who led the Durbuluk goblin tribe. Durbuluk meant “dominator” in goblin.
Of Talgen and Sharwyn Hucrele, Sir Braford, and Karakas, Yusdrayl said she had met with them some time ago. The adventurers did not attack her people so were offered safe passage. She said they rested then went to fight the goblins but had never returned.
She offered the adventurers a reward for returning the stolen dragon. She also offered to send Meepo, whom she wasn’t pleased with, with the adventurers since Meepo was responsible for Calcryx’s safety and failed at his simple task.
She promised Meepo that if he were to help save Calcryx, she would forgive his blunder. Meepo asked if he would still be forgiven if he were to die while trying to rescue the wyrmling. Yusdrayl said she would still forgive him.
Meepo considered both options worth the risk and welcomed the chance to go with the adventurers. Besides, Meepo always dreamed of becoming a great adventurer like the ones who were always finding his clan and slaying his fellow kobolds.
Dramatis Personae
Edmont Patch (Male Human Rogue)
Korg Sunfinder (Male Goliath Paladin of Lathander)
Skyler Kiltrin (Male Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut)
Ziri Basha (Female Half-elf Druid)
Relations
Protagonists
Edmont Patch (Male Human Rogue)
Korg Sunfinder (Male Goliath Paladin of Lathander)
Skyler Kiltrin (Male Dragonborn Cleric of Bahamut)
Ziri Basha (Female Half-elf Druid)
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