Following a pack of mind flayers, the party parted ways with Havoc Company and some members of the Motley Crew. See here for details. A little further ahead, the group encountered "Piercers": creatures that disguise themselves as stalactites until they drop and impale you.
They soon came to a main "road" filled with Drow moving squads of trolls, troglodytes, bugbears, undead, and fire giants moving west to east. The Crew managed to cross safely thanks to the illusions of Theodore Dobbins.
Here, the party ran into the mercenary band from the black dragon swamp. They were as unpleasant as before but continued on their way without a fight, cryptically giving a warning about a dragon ahead.
A blue dragon - according to Brecaryn, well outside of its natural desert habitat. Brecaryn managed to negotiate passage with a sapphire tribute. The dragon seemed particularly interested in guarding a cave holdings its treasure horde and possibly a mate. The party gave it a wide berth.
On the northern wall was a window looking in to a young wizard performing strange experiments. The group decided not to engage him. His experiments were just too weird.
More mushrooms and mushroom men. The group avoided them as best they could.
Fire giant and a giant slug.
Brecaryn's Bestiary
Because giant slugs have no bone structure or exoskeleton, they apparently have the ability to squeeze through any hole, no matter how small, despite their great bulk. When we first encountered this creature, we thought we were dealing with a blob or slime creature until it finally completed its squeeze through a crack in the wall. The same properties also make them immune to blunt damage. Giant slugs also spit acid and are generally disgusting.
Theodore Dobbins fell victim to the "Oliver Green Scenario" during this battle. The lava-heated boulder thrown by the giant missed Theodore Dobbins, but the razor sharp shards from the shattered rock did not. Theodore Dobbins died. Again.
Josy: Seriously, you guys. I am running out of Resurrection scrolls. No more dying!
The fire giant was apparently guarding a couple of prisoners (the slug seemed to just be incidental, and the giant was waiting to kill it before the group came along). In prison cells down these corridors, they encountered an admitted thief named Meith Feleaf and a man claiming to be a Prince Pyric Linneg of Nyngard but who turned out to be lying. Meith offered to come with us but we instead charged her with guiding the hapless "Pyric" back to the surface. Also found another cell with some skeletal remains and some loot, including a single Arrow of Giant Slaying. Snow acquired a Bag of Debt.
Found two Mind Flayers and a squad of wererats. The Mind Flayers were only interested in surreptitiously peering at the Drow activity on the "road" and allowed the party to pass without incident. These were not the Mind Flayers they were looking for, so they kept going.
Some Drow saw the group as they crossed the road this time, but were dealt with quickly. One of them was carrying a Rod of Tentacles. When wielded, it springs a series of tentacles that each attack an opponent individually.
Fought a series of slow but creepy undead creatures.
The group entered a seemingly empty cavern, but there was something unsettling about it so they left without investigating.
A statue of a beautiful woman turned out to be a succubus demon. Fought her and her vampire boyfriend. The vampire was easily dispatched, as the majority of the group are expert vampire hunters at this point. Searching the area, they found a bag of dust which they worried was the remains of additional vampires waiting to be resurrected. Turned out to be useful Dust of Sneezing.
A group of seemingly intelligent giant albino alligators cast spells at the Crew from an underground river. Eventually managing to fight off the ones they saw, the group declined to follow the river into a series of caves that were probably their lair.
The Mind Flayer trail led to a secret door that opened into a weird dungeon full of tricks and traps. The Mind Flayers seemed to know how to avoid the traps, but the group didn't. Trapped, they were forced to solve a series of puzzles before preceding. The area also featured the remains of several creatures, mostly humanoid, in archaic clothing and armor, and a dead dolphin in a (now dry) aquarium. The party took what items of value they found, including 4 gems that allow communal ESP with the other gem bearers. They left behind a giant, magical bell that seemed like it could be a useful addition to their future castle.
Posted by fnord12 on November 1, 2014 10:50 AM in Recaps06
Comments
Hey, guys. Have you ever defeated a dragon or are they just not worth the hassle? If you have defeated any are the bones, skin or blood useful for anything?
Posted by:
JSfan |
January 13, 2015 6:39 PM
you know what they're not good for? they're not good for leaving in magick pools. unless you like your dragons reincarnated as liches who are hellbent on revenge.
Posted by:
Snow |
January 14, 2015 7:57 AM
The group has faced a few dragons, of varying size, with varying degrees of help, and with varying degrees of success (as Snow notes). I like encounters with dragons to be special events, so i try to use them sparingly but since the game is Dungeons & Dragons i try to make sure they appear regularly.
Dragon parts can be turned into useful items - dragon scale armor being the most obvious - but individual characters might not know what parts can be used or have the necessary skills to do it, so that sort of thing can wind up being a quest.
Posted by:
fnord12 |
January 14, 2015 10:10 AM
Mmmmm Dragons? What you should really worry about are rust monsters.
Posted by:
Flerm |
January 14, 2015 10:52 AM
I killed one! Almost died. We negotiated with a couple. Befriended one. Subdued one. Made an enemy of one.. twice. Never were we able to reuse any body parts. I wonder if I can get one to give me some blood. Why hadn't Alana been in this?
Posted by:
Brecaryn |
January 14, 2015 10:55 AM
Thanks for the info, guys. Brecaryn, that must have been one hell of a battle when you killed it.
