Khûm – Chapter 7

“Spring of 68. Second Age. The Firewood.
“You hear that? There ain’t many times in your life when you’ve the misfortune to hear a dragon roar in anger – and live to tell the tale.
Dragons got something you and I and this mouthbreather next to me don’t have. And I don’t mean the wings and the gold and the fire but something much more powerful than all that.
Time. You anger a dragon, you’d best hope you can placate it or kill it because escape is no option at all. You anger that dragon and it will hunt you across the face of the earth, overturn every rock and pour furious flame into every nook and cranny until it has its revenge.
Wherever the Commander’s Tent is now, I sure as hell hope they’ve gotta plan.”
 – Beholder's Log, Hemson 32 68 2A

On Dûnya's signal, the dragonslayers triggered the trapalanche, burying Tyrodax the Wyrmling beneath a mountain of rubble and snow. Mouse, clutched in the dragon's claws, also disappeared beneath the rubble. Wasting no time, Griffon, Remorhaz, Umber and Dûnya leapt into action, scooping their way through the rubble to reach the dragon below.
They did not anticipate his heated body melting the snow. They did not anticipate him rising into the air with a single beat of his enormous wings. They did not anticipate him burning the ropes and grapnels the dragonslayers attempted to pinion him with. With a great draconic roar that rang through the mountains, Tyrodax the Wyrmling, last spawn of Zhoraska the Red Matron, took to the wing and went flapping back to his lair. With Mouse in his clutches, three of the four dragonslayers – Dûnya, Umber and Remorhaz – all managed to catch a ride, whether atop the dragon's back or dangling from the harpoons that swung from his sides.
It was a harrowing flight through the air as the dragon, assaulted from all sides, fought his way back to the safety of his lair. Umber and Dûnya competed for who could slay the dragon first while Mouse and Remorhaz struggled to even stay aloft. Meanwhile, below, Griffon marshalled the dragonslayers to follow him and charged straight up the scaffolds that ringed Havhed's unfinished statue. 
No sooner had the dragon reached the massive pillar at the statue's center than its final moments came. With a flourish of his blade, Remorhaz sent the wyrm tumbling into the darkness of the hollow statue and, though they listened long, they heard no terminal crash to the gold, so far below.
They were granted a moment's peace to recover and catch their breath. When Griffon rejoined them, he spotted something – an angry red glow, far to the north – that betrayed the approach of a fresh new threat. As soon as they were rested, the mercenaries suddenly felt the pillar beneath their feet begin to shake and tremble. Something – Tyrodax, no doubt – was alive down there and succeeded in toppling the great central pillar. The three mercenaries leapt to safety – all save Mouse, who plummeted into the blackness and was only slowed by Remorhaz's feather fall.
Hurrying to join their roguish companion, the mercenaries – plus Dûnya and her dragonslayers – raced down the scaffolding to finally slay the beast once and for all. In his rage, Tyrodax destroyed the scaffolding they climbed down and, in a chaotic heap, they spilled to the gold below. There, in the angry red light of the dragon's wrath, the final battle commenced.
A gout of flame was more than enough to scorch two dragonslayers where they stood. Mouse slunk into the rubble of the pillar and threw their dagger. Griffon and Remorhaz took the fight directly to the dragon, while Dûnya and Umber respectively threw their enchanted spears. It was Umber and Gungnir that finally brought down the great beast, piercing its skull through the mouth for a final time. Dûnya had the time to quickly pose atop the slain monster before a commotion outside drew the dragonslayers there.
The remaining six dragonslayers – now prisoners of the Mystriarchy – stood corralled at the base of the statue. Father Yorad implored the queen to come down and surrender herself, for there was surely no escape.

Campaign: The Menagerie
Game Date: Hemson 32–35, 68 2A
Starting Point: Range of Sovereigns
Player Characters:

• Griffon
• Mouse
• Remorhaz
• Umber