Session II Report: What Remains of Ivnieth
General Summary
Moving merrily along the boarded path through the swamps outside of Shairdsmire, our heroes continued towards the mountain trail, but not before encountering one of the environment's more vicious denizens. As Vimley walked on ahead, Mielikki and Taliesin stopped abruptly as they heard something moving through the murky waters before them. A giant pale yellow snake wound its way up the nearest tree and as it reached for our earthen-skinned friend, jaws open wide, the group pummeled it, Taliesin slicing the snake in two and butting it with his antlers. Vimley leapt to remove the half a snake now lodged there but the centaur placed the tail back on its new perch. Not ones to judge another culture, the group kept on, handily climbing past a recently fallen tree in their path and walking for a little while longer, before reaching the trail leading up the mountain ahead of them.
Before ascending, they took roughly an hour to rest up so that Claudette could heal from her wounds when dealing with the swamp snare. While they rested, they chatted and relaxed a bit while Ineia told them a little about why she was here.
As an Investigator for an organisation of arcane users, Ineia and her people seek out arcane anomalies and investigate them in order to keep Rania safe and magic open for those who wish to learn. These can vary from unstable sorcery going unchecked, dark magic, and sometimes it turns out to be nothing that needs their intrusion. She also told the heroes that they may fit in nicely with The Owlbear Lodge, a faction of mercenaries near Hamorr who take up bounties on various monsters and such.
The wild rocky path that wound up the incline of the mountainside was a little steep, slowing the group down a fair bit, but it gave them the opportunity to take in the beauty of the nature surrounding them, the clearer air as they rose higher, and even get a good view of Shairdsmire and another nearby town from above. Mielikki, being accustomed at least to steep climbs and unsteady terrains in her hometown, took the lead, navigating them higher and higher.
After more than an hour of climbing the party came by a section of the path that had crumbled away, leaving a gap that needed to either be leapt or strafed past very carefully on what remained of the mountain path. One by one the group leapt until Vimley turned to Taliesin and with just two words: "Race you," took a running jump and made it across. The centaur felt inclined to follow, winding up and barely catching the edge, losing his half a snake in the process. If it weren't for the aid of his companions, surely falling to his death below. Ineia instructed her shrubs to stay behind, taking the appearance of any normal bush, and carefully shimmied her way across to the group, and they continued, the rest of the mountain path thankfully much more stable.
About an hour more went past as they trudged their way up the winding trail and came across a small campsite off to the side in a little wooded area, with a Kobold in a basic traveller's cloak sat attempting to start the fire. As the party approached, Mielikki called out in Draconic. They drew their weapon and replied in kind, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Another Kobold joined from behind the trees and a conversation was had, though these Kobolds certainly didn't feel as friendly as Triak had, Mielikki learned that they're awaiting Ivnieth's return and will let the party pass so long as they bring word of Ivnieth.
Finally reaching a wide cave opening in the mountain, so high it dwarfs even the tallest in the party, the party cease climbing, the sun lowering in the sky indicating late afternoon. This was the dragon's lair.
All around the entrance, the party could see evidence of something big having occurred here. The floor littered with rubble shaken from above, a shallow pool of sickly greenish liquid Claudette discerns as acid, and several bleached skeletons beside one battered corpse, clearly mangled by the dragon, wearing dark armour, hooded cloak, and a mask painted with a white skull. Ineia sketched this pattern out in her journal having not seen it before. She then proceeded to pull out her own organisation's symbol, a concave piece of amber inlaid with painted metal she called "the amber eye".
Deeper into the cave, darker towards the back, the group find what remains of Ivnieth's treasure hoard, clearly ransacked already. There are pools of stagnant water and a huge spread of egg-shaped rocks, which Mielikki guesses are probably dragon eggs, aided by the cracked one sat next to the small black dragon crouched within the larger pool of water, looking feral and ready to pounce.
Deciding they couldn't kill the poor creature, the group did all they could to attempt to befriend it, as Ineia cowered near the entrance. Mielikki tried talking to it in Draconic as Vimley laid out rations of dried meat to feed it, but ultimately, the dragon didn't understand, lashing its head back and forth it breathed acid, barely missing Mielikki and they sprung into combat, apologetically, but meaningfully. The dragon's bite proved near fatal for the party's Druid, falling to unconsciousness twice during the battle, saved both times by Claudette using her Cleric training to stabilise her. Seeing the danger, Ineia took a gulp and joined the fray and the dragon fell. Vimley moving the young dragon's corpse to rest by the eggs, laying a silver piece and a quiet prayer to Viteus for it.
Saddened by their necessary actions, the party investigated the remains of the treasure hoard that once belonged to the people of Shairdsmire and Ineia checked through the satchel she had found on the corpse near the entrance. Hurriedly, she gathered the heroes over and shared with them a rolled up letter within that talked of Umbra Troops being sent to recover the black dragon and take it north to the ruins at Varska, with some of the group splitting off to find something at Vetera towards Hamorr.
Ineia explained that she needs a little help, at this, as she would prefer to follow this trail north but she had received word from her order of an arcane anomaly south of Shairdsmire. Agreeing to help, the party decided they would investigate south, presumably the village of Helzand.
At this, the group of companions decided to rest for the night outside of the dragon's lair.
Rewards Granted
- Handful of berries
- Black Half Mask with Skull pattern
- 1 Red Gem (10gp)
- 1 Green Gem (10gp)
- Spell Scroll (Infestation)
- 1pp 12gp 14sp 10cp
- An Odd Looking Bag
- Letter From Corpse
Missions/Quests Completed
Completed the task set by Veliko Kulak and discovered that the dragon has gone, also took care of her offspring which could have been very dangerous for them.
Agreed to head south to investigate a magical anomaly for Ineia.
Character(s) interacted with
- Big Snek - dead
- Ineia - travelled with, talked with
- Kriv and Sora - kobolds awaiting Ivnieth's return
- Young Black Dragon - tried to befriend, too feral, dead
Related Reports
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/rania-jaedia/a/session-i-report3A-the-adventure-begins-article
Notes
Reached level 2
Taliesin
Vimley Sweetberry
Mielikki
Report Date
15 Sep 2020
Secondary Location
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