July 26, 2014

Oh, Right. We Still Have That Egg

The day after their adventure in the Forest of Forgetfulness and the crystal castle, the Motley Crew is sitting at the breakfast table listening to Zargyble report his findings to Brecaryn. The witch Crulicar, who Erintrah did business with, was last seen in the company of fanatic orcs.

At that moment, Zargyble is interrupted by a man in the courtyard shouting for the "rulers of the town". It's Oakfriend, the priest of Uller they met outside of the orc village. He has located the angelic furnace they will need to destroy the chicken god egg permanently.

Oakfriend: The furnace is on Irate Volcano Island, a day's travel from the Isle of Dread. This is terrible news. It would take at least a week to reach the Isle of Dread by boat. The egg is set to hatch in a day or two. You'll never get there in time.

Brecaryn: Don't worry. It's not a problem.

Oakfriend: (confused) I don't think you understand. The egg will hatch before you reach the furnace.

Malouf: (claps hand on Oakfriend's back) You worry too much. Why don't you stay here while we take care of this egg? Vashti, get a room for our good friend at our finest inn!

Vashti: Sir, we only have one inn...

Malouf: Excellent!

Oakfriend warns that, contrary to their usual habit, several red dragons had taken to nesting together inside the volcano. To aid them, he gives Josy two fire resistance scrolls and three resurrection scrolls.

Before going to the Isle of Dread, Brecaryn first uses the Mirror of Thought to travel to Beeblebrox's tower and checks on the spells she's left to guard the mirror there. Although everything looks undisturbed, Brecaryn notices the smell of woodsmoke and hears some muffled sounds in the tower. Bringing Malouf back to the tower with her, they investigate and find evidence of recent visitors.

In the kitchen, it's obvious someone had lit a fire in the stove not too long ago. Giant footprints, 1 1/2 times the size of a man's foot, are visible on the dusty floor. On the kitchen table, Malouf finds a note and hands it to Brecaryn.

Beeblebrox,

Came to check on you. See you're not home. Will seek you out.

The note is signed "M & R" in a large, flourishing hand. Peering through a window, Malouf is just able to see a magically propelled rowboat carrying away two passengers, one fully covered in a cloak. Deciding there is nothing more to be done about the mystery visitors, Brecaryn and Malouf rejoin Lieralyn, Adarra, and Josy and make their way to the Isle of Dread.

To the Isle of Dread

Arriving on the Isle of Dread via the Mirror of Thought, the group is noticed by the ape standing guard. It immediately leaves to inform Leento of their presence.

Leento: To what do I owe the honor?

Malouf: Leento, my good friend! It is good to see you!

Leento: (sourly) I noticed you've brought a dangerous egg to my island.

Brecaryn: Yes, we're trying to get to Irate Volcano Island in order to destroy it. Can you help get there?

Pondering the problem for a moment, Leento comes up with a mode of transport.

Leento: You can take my plesiosaur, Flapurnicus. You can call him Flappy. We'll just strap a raft to his back, and he'll carry you right to the island. Oh, but he's got a brain the size of walnut, so he may forget you're on his back and try to dive. Just poke him with this stick. And take this seashell. When you're ready to leave the island, just blow on the shell. Flappy may come for you. Brain the size of a walnut, you know.

I Thought They Smelled Bad on the Outside

After an hour of travel by plesiosaur, Irate Volcano Island is in sight, though still quite a distance away. The journey had been uneventful thus far, but that was all about to end. Spotting two giant, bony-headed fish approaching Flappy from either side, the group splits up to deal with this threat.

Flappy makes as if to dive, but Adarra gives him a poke to remind him of his passengers. He turns to glare at her but remains on the surface.

The ensuing battle takes a toll on both the Crew and Flappy. Fire spells have limited affect on the verme as they are wet and slimey. Their scales protect them from most bladed attacks whilst their bony skulls protect them against blunt force. More verme appear and begin to bite Flappy from underneath. Lieralyn, Adarra, and Malouf each get swallowed by the giant fish. Lieralyn and Adarra make the trip more than once.

Eventually, the Motley Crew begins to gain the upper hand - Adarra protects Flappy with Barkskin; Malouf, with a water breathing spell cast on him and wearing his beaver suit, is able to fight off any verme attacking Flappy from below; and Lieralyn makes full use of her time inside the fish's unprotected belly to inflict massive injury (and scoring a very nice silver shield) - killing all four verme.

That's A Lot of Dragons

They arrive at Irate Volcano Island without further incidents. As they near the island, they see a juvenile red dragon perched on the side of the volcano. It notices them, as well. While they circle the island to find a place to disembark, the dragon circles the volcano, keeping them in sight.

Expecting a big battle, Josy reads one of the fire protection scrolls to safeguard the group and Adarra casts fire protection before they approach the volcano. Instead, the battle is quite short, the dragon easily killed with a well-timed Cold Flame spell by Brecaryn.

Dropping down to a ledge within the volcano, the party encounters two more juvenile red dragons. The duo are little harder to dispatch, but they manage, with Josy knocking one into her blade barrier.

Josy: I told you to stay in that blade barrier!

However, when they encounter their first adult red dragon, Adarra is struck with terror and starts panicking.

Adarra: We'll never win this way! We need to get to the source of the unbalance!

With that, she runs straight at the dragons, waving her arms, and yelling, in an attempt to get past them and as far away as possible. The rest of the group is struck dumb for a brief moment. Then, with a shrug, they all follow. Malouf and Lieralyn both take a swing at the adult red dragon as they run under it. Unfortunately, instead of hitting the dragon, Malouf drops his axe on his face and Lieralyn's sword ends up on the ground. Somehow, they all manage to make it, unscathed, into a side corridor too narrow for the dragons to follow.

Brecaryn attempts to communicate with them in the Dragonkin tongue, but it doesn't go well.

Red Dragon: You speak our language, little worm, but you are not our master.

Realizing the dragons cannot be reasoned with they move to the end of the corridor, sneaking out behind the dragons. They only have a brief moment before the dragons notice them. Making a mad dash for the doorway down to the next level, they barely keep ahead of the dragons giving chase. It's all for nought, though, for when they reach the next level, they find themselves facing a cavern full of dragons. Oh, and treasure.

Spotting a small door on the far side of the cavern, nearly hidden by the treasure, Lieralyn points it out to the rest of the group. Josy reads the last fire protection scroll before they plunge headlong into the dragon-filled room, heading for the door. The largest, oldest dragon rises up and crashes down onto the party.

Lieralyn is pinned and bombarded by the fear the dragon's aura is giving off. Malouf grabs Adarra and makes a break for the exit.