Characters:
Drew Baker (Bryan) - Human Fighter (Tempest style)
Damakos Redhorn (Rick) - Tiefling Rogue (Brutal style)
Tirah (Misty) - Deva Wizard (Wand Style)
The party was hired for a top-secret mission in Alta. The Queen's daughter was missing. Princess Wynnifred the Second is something of a wild child, always getting bored with castle life, and often sneaking off and going on little excursions. But this time she seemed to have disappeared entirely.
And let's face it, every adventuring party needs to save a princess at least once.
The party was required to keep it hush-hush. The government didn't want to announce that the girl was missing, for fear of political embarrassment or phony ransom demands. The Princess Wyn had last been seen wearing a disguise and visiting Fertilund, a small farming community just north of Alta.
The party joined the next grocer caravan to Fertilund, and started interviewing farmers. Along the way they discovered a badly damaged cornfield, with an awful smell in the air.
Eventually some clues led them to a farmer named Delmer Graham, who finally admitted to kidnapping the princess. Long story short:
For the past few months, there had been a few dragon sightings over Fertilund. A few sheep had been stolen, and some crops had been hit by its breath. Delmer had recognized Wyn through her disguise, and theorized that sacrificing a princess could stop the dragon. So he captured her and left her tied up outside what he believed to be the dragon's lair - a cave in a mountain range north of Fertilund.
The party was not happy with Mr. Graham, so they tied him up, and forced him to guide them to where he left the princess. They rode Delmer's horses to the base of the mountain, and when the going got too rough, they tied up the horses and proceeded up the mountain on foot.
During the trip they were attacked by a mountain troll, but they made it through the fight fairly easily. A successful nature check meant Tirah knew about the creature's regenerative ability, and how to overcome it with fire or acid. Finally they reached the cave. The princess was no longer there, but there were dragon footprints around the entrance, and pieces of the rope Delmer had used to tie Wyn up. The party proceeded into the cave.
After a while, they heard snoring. They sent Damakos up ahead, and he sneaked into the dragon's main chamber. There was a lot of human-sized furniture in the chamber, and a young Silver Dragon sleeping on a bed of straw. Another nature check and Damakos suddenly remembered a couple of things he'd read somewhere... Metallic dragons aren't usually as likely to be evil as chromatic dragons... Silver Dragons breathe cold... hmm, those crops didn't look like they'd been hit by cold.
There were also two side chambers closed off by curtains. Damakos quietly peeked into each of the side chambers, one of which contained a very comfortable-looking bed, occupied by a comfortable-looking sleeping princess.
Damakos put his hand over her mouth and woke her up. Upon seeing the devilish Tiefling, she tried to scream, but Damakos quickly explained that he was there to rescue her. He took her back to the party, and Wyn explained that the dragon was now her friend.
The dragon woke up, and Wyn introduced her to the party. The dragon changed to human form and introduced herself as Nyrithia. She was only using this cave as a temporary den while she tried to track down a Black Dragon named Kathernius (though I think I neglected to mention his name during the session), who was an enemy to her family. Nyrithia now knew where his lair was, but she didn't think she could defeat him alone. She convinced the party to help her defeat Kathernius.
Nyrithia had the party get into a large basket (think "hot air balloon"), and in her dragon form carried them to the other side of the mountain range. They landed in a swampy area, where another cave led to the Black Dragon's lair. They left Delmer tied up outside, and everyone else proceeded into the cave.
With sneaky Damakos in the lead, they soon found a treasure room, filled with wooden chests and suits of armor. But when Damakos attempted to open one of the chests, it tried to bite him. They soon found themselves battling a room full of mimics and animated suits of armor.
After the battle they continued down the tunnels until they found the lair. The room was lit by glowing moss, and the chamber's only feature was a large pool of sludge. Kathernius slept under the sludge, but a botched stealth check woke him from his submerged slumber.
It was a decent battle. Nyrithia was right; she would have had trouble beating Kathernius herself, but the party didn't have too much trouble. Well-loved by Alta's citizens for her beautiful singing voice, Princess Wynn kept the party inspired with magical songs. Damakos did the most damage using every rogue trick in the book.
As Kathernius died, he sent off a magical bat messenger, which memorized the party's faces before it flew away. With his last breath, the evil dragon promised that he would be avenged.
After the battle, Nyrithia broke off one of the Black Dragon's talons, so the party would have proof it was dead. Then she took them as far as she could in the basket (she can't get too close to Alta lest she risk getting attacked). Wyn and Nyrithia said their goodbyes, and the party returned to Alta. They turned in Delmer to the proper authorities, got rewarded for returning the princess, and received another reward for defeating the dragon that had been plaguing Fertilund.
Nyrithia has to go away for now, but someday Wyn will be the queen of Alta, and the city couldn't ask for a better protector than a Silver Dragon.
...and apparently they left Delmer's horses tied up at the base of the mountain.
XP Rewards:
Party+Pets Vs Troll: 400/5=80
Party+Pets+Wyn+Nyrithia vs Mimics/Armor: 50x6/7=43
Party+Pets+Wyn+Nyrithia vs Kathernius: 875/7=125
Party Quest Rewards: 500/3=167
Total each: 415
Drew: 5907+415=6322
Damakos: 5682+415=6097
Tirah: 3892+415=4307
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