Under the Twisted Branch

General Summary

Ready'reat 25th, 595 CY

2025-05-07

Moving south to the group of lizardfolk they had spied, they passed by another group. One of the southern lizardfolk stepped forward, spear ready to defend their tribe. @[Paelex](person:d9a9de50-e39c-423f-9588-3075bafe6bc0 stepped up and began speaking to the lizardfolk in Draconic. His name was Shoba and as they spoke, Shoba told Paelex of the current situation of the Twisted Branch Tribe. It seems like a swamp dragon named Ilthane approached the leader Shukak a little over a moon ago. She showered Shukak with magical potions and used her own magic to increase his power, asking him to wage war of the softskins. She also left her own egg in the hatchery, as proof of her trust in the tribe.
Not everyone supported war with the softskins however, the tribal druid, Hishka, considered it a bad idea, but their first priority was caring for the tribe. Shoba believes in Hishka's wisdom, but Shukak and his second, Kotabas made battle plans and sent half the tribe north to assault Blackwall Keep. One clutch returned earlier with prisoners for sacrifice or food, while another clutch returned just recently with stories of five other clutches being defeated by the softskins. Along with the clutches, the tribe lost two of their leaders, Kushak was the vanguard and leader of the assault, while Shesht was Hishka's apprentice and next in line as greenspeaker.
Shoba pointed to the opening west and said that Kotabas and his mate lived in the next pod, while Hishka lived in the pod beyond. They would not be able to talk with Kotabas, but they should seek out Hishka beyond and speak to them. Shoba's clutch would not interfere, this was a blood debt for the softskins. Looking west, the Topknots noticed two soldiers bound and gagged on the ground in Kotabas' pod, and Tolman spied more soldiers in the next pod.
As they moved west, Kotabas, the tribe's champion, screamed at them and began frothing at the mouth. He and his mate immediately attacked. Tolman threw a firebolt, which Kotabas was able to doge while Paelex created a sorcerous burst, damaging the champion. Kotabas moved to engage Argan, taking a bite out of him, before swinging his battleaxe. Missing on the first swing, but striking true on the second, Crichton matched the champion with his glaive, a miss and a hit. The mate moved up to Crichton and struck true with her bite and club. Argan was unable to connect with his own battleaxe, but Malakai cast wither and bloom, injuring both lizardfolk while at the same time healing Argan. Kaszu dropped the mate with a well-placed crossbow bolt and used his second shot to injure Kotabas then sending his spider up to defend the front line.
Even with the distraction of the spider, the champion managed a good bite to Argan, but missed with his battleaxe attacks. At that point, Crichton grew angry and marked Kotabas with his vow of enmity. Then both Crichton and Argan began a vicious assault, leaving the champion seriously wounded. Another wither and bloom continued to hurt the champion while healing Argan. Kazsu struck true with a crossbow shot, while Paelex conjured phantasmal forces in Kotabas' mind, felling the champion.

As they healed their wounds, they noticed to the west a lizardfolk with an elaborate headdress watching them. The greenspeaker introduced themselves as Hishka, and told much of the same story as Shoba. Hishka added that the chieftain Shukak had been enhanced by Ilthane, the swamp dragon, but also turned more bloodthirsty and feral. They also spoke of Ilthane's "egg" in the hatchery. Hishka said they were unnerved by the egg, and it didn't feel natural, yet the hatchery is beyond Shukak's pod and he allows no one to pass without himself or Kotabas. Ilthane also left a band of black-scaled kobolds as guardians of the hatchery, further upsetting the greenspeaker. Hishka's pod also had two bound humans, one matched the description of the battle mage Marzena, her fingers mangled to keep her from casting spells.
Hishka said the Twisted Branch does not want war with the softskins, and have already lost too many to this folly. To stop this and save their tribe, Shukak must fall, yet they know they do not have the power to take on Shukak.
As the Topknots made their way west, they spied an extremely large lizardfolk wielding a trident, he was nearly double the size of the rest of the tribe, standing nine to ten-feet tall. He let out a scream and battle ensued. It started with Malakai throwing an ice knife at Shukak, the knife didn't hit, but the subsequent explosion caused some damage. Paelex hit with a sorcerous burst as the chieftain moved up and engaged Argan, entering Malakai's halo of spores. Argan and Tolman were unable to strike true. Crichton then marked the chieftain with his vow of enmity, causing significant damage with his glaive. Kaszu also got two good shots in while sending his spider up to defend. Argan was able to land another attack, wounding Shukak. Paelex used his sorcerous power to enhance a chromatic orb, while getting an exceptional strike, and dealing a significant blow. Malakai's spores continued to damage the chieftain, who was unable to land his attacks due to the spider's interference. Tolman struck true with his bow as the Shukak was distracted by the battle, staggering the chieftain. Crichton finished the job.

In Shukak's pod, they found a pile of items looking like they might belong to Marzena. Kaszu brought them to the wounded battle mage.
Hishka then restated that they had one more task to complete, defeat Ilthane's kobolds and free the hatchery. Descending into the hatchery, they found it defended by eight black-scaled kobolds. As they engaged, Hishka moved up behind them, asking that they not injure the eggs. The kobolds were far stronger than any kobolds they had faced before, Hishka called them dragonshields, but the Topknot's tactics, Argan and Crichton in front, defended by the spider, while the others rained arrows, bolts, and spells from behind, was impossible for the dragonshields to face. Soon the kobolds began dropping. Crichton let out a line of fire when he noticed the kobolds all line up in front of him. Soon the kobolds began dropping until the chamber was once again quiet, except for the sounds of the swamp dripping into the chamber.
While Kaszu repaired his spider, the companions inspected the hatchery. Sitting at the northern part of the hatchery was a large black egg on some sort of pedestal. It appeared to be almost rubbery, quivering with the slight breeze. Hishka again said that it felt wrong and unnatural to them. That was when they remember the prophecy Delilah had shared, "When an egg is not an egg, silver is the answer."
Touching the egg with Zerendyl's Scale, Argan turned the egg silver. As the egg turned silver, from top to bottom, it began bubbling. Within the egg were thousands of small, green worm. As each worm touched the silver casing, it sizzled and burst apart, like it had been fried in a fire. By the time the egg had disintegrated, no worms were left, just a brownish sludge. Hishka knew of the worms, and the undead infected by them. Luckily for the lizardfolk, their skins were too thick for the worms to penetrate, but the hatchlings' skin, and even their eggs, were soft and penetrable. The Topknots had saved the Twisted Branch's next generation.
Lying almost underneath the egg was a chest that Hishka didn't recognize. As the Topknots investigated that chest, and the chest the kobolds had kept, Hishka gathered the worm sludge for experimentation. She led the companions back to Shukak's pod and suggested they rest there before heading back to Blackwall Keep. She also wanted to ask them to broker a peace between the Twisted Branch and the softskins. They would never again fall victim to the honeyed words of the dragon.

Campaign

Against the Ebon Triad

Protagonists

Paelex Cavian

Chaotic Neutral Tiefling (Noble)
Sorcerer 5

32 / 32 HP

STR
8

DEX
14

CON
12

INT
11

WIS
13

CHA
18

Tolman K’hurzz

Malakai Steelbuckle

Delilah Raincloud

Crichton Eogen

Argan Agu-Ulakanu

Chaotic Good Goliath (Outlander)
Ranger 4

36 / 36 HP

STR
18

DEX
14

CON
14

INT
10

WIS
12

CHA
8

Kaszu Billowcase

Chaotic Good Rock Gnome (Guild Artisan / Guild Merchant)
Artificer 3

24 / 24 HP

STR
8

DEX
12

CON
14

INT
17

WIS
14

CHA
10

Report Date

16 May 2025