Play Session 5/2/2022 - Neronvain's Interrogation

The griffin's claws raked across the green dragon's neck slashing its jugular artery while it was focused on other foes. This proved to be the death blow for the powerful wyrm. It slumped to the ground with a thunderous crash. In addition, Neronvain, who had been riding the dragon, rolled off to the ground in his current polymorphed form: a large tortoise. Gojira ran over and put a clawed dragonborn foot on top of the tortoiseshell to prevent him from ambling off. Jilfaenand Jorn ran over to attempt to aid any of the fallen elves that took the brunt of the wyrm's poison breath. Robin ran over and found the mask that Neronvain was wearing assuming it to be the green dragon mask needed by Severin to complete the Tiamat summoning ritual at the well of dragons. He picked it up for safekeeping. Jilfaen was only able to save one elf who was unconscious, but alive. The rest were too badly burned with the poison breath to survive the encounter. The remaining elves began to attend to their fallen comrades. Robin also searched the elf for anything of value or information on the elf and only found a book which he pocketed for the moment intending to read it later.   Gojira picked up the tortoise and got it into a full nelson before asking Cava to drop concentration on the polymorph spell. It was a comical sight but proved effective in restraining Neronvain once the spell faded. As the elves realized the identity of the wyrm speaker, their countenance froze in a combination of shock and disbelief. Their reactions didn't go unnoticed by the group who immediately began asking about his identity. Neronvain was not too forthcoming with any information and actually was antagonistic to the group hoping that they would end his life rather than face the consequences of his actions. The adventurers found out while transporting Neronvain back to Altland (still in Gojira's full nelson) that he was the son of King Melandrach. He was exiled and presumed dead by the elven nation because he had tried to murder his father and assume the throne by force. When his attempt failed, he was exiled without a shirt on his back or any way to defend himself while tied to the largest tree in the forest. The thought was to let the forest and elven gods deal with the traitor. He would not provide any information about how he survived or escaped his fate. At every opportunity, Neronvain antagonized Gojira with smart remarks and belittling jabs in hopes that the dragonborn barbarian would fly off the handle and kill the elf rather than face his crimes and his people. Gojira managed to stay just calm enough though it was a cruel test of his patience.   Meanwhile, Jilfaen used her skill in medicine to harvest teeth, scales, and other useful items from the dragon carcass. Of all the treasures that might be in his lair, parts of his body may prove the most valuable.   Robin mentioned something about the green dragon mask safely in the hands of the group only to hear an evil laugh from the wyrm speaker. Apparently this wasn't THE mask needed by Severin. It was a mundane cultist mask. Just to be sure, the group cast detect magic on it to verify that Neronvain was indeed telling the truth.   The group asked the elves whether or not anyone had magical ability to send information to the council and King Melandrach. A town elder had the means to communicate to the King in the form of a message spell. Being limited to about 25 words, the group had to choose their words carefully and did so.   The next question was what path the group wanted to take now that Altland and the misty forest were safe from further dragon attacks. The two prevailing ideas were to either head immediately back to Waterdeep and catch a ship heading north to search for the Draakhorn or to clear out the lair of the dragon and wyrm speaker so that there were not any enemies left to follow the group or harass the inhabitants of the forest. The prevailing thought was to clear out the lair. The thinking was that it would only be a two-day detour and it would be prudent to fully squash the cult in this area of the world if possible. Jilfaen acquired use of the griffins as mounts the following day to aid in travel to and from the lair which was approximately thirty miles to the northeast. The group did manage to find out the approximate location of the lair from Neronvain. He probably wanted them to attempt to clear the haunt hoping that his allies would prevail against the adventurers.   Early the next morning the group took to the skies on three griffins. The trip was uneventful, and in a few hours the group could see a mesa with a large waterfall tumbling over one side of the portion of the outcropping that was above the forest mists. Someone in the group noticed that the waterfall was actually an illusion, or at least the waterfall was a lot larger because of the illusory sight and sounds that had been created. The group circled closer looking for any enemies and didn't see anyone. They landed and began looking around. Robin came upon a spot where someone had been keeping a watch out of sight of the group. The post had the appearance of recent activity. They tracked the footprints to a well-hidden path down the side of the mesa along the waterfall. The group also found a large muddy hole leading down into the rock. Robin decided to scout and tied himself off by rope and was lowered down to the edge of the water to inspect it. About thirty feet down, he hit the surface of the pool. It was clear by claw marks in the mud that this was an entrance and exit used by the dragon. The only way to continue to explore was to enter the water. He did so and swam beneath a rock wall and surfaced in a pitch-black cavern. He attempted to do so quietly and look around the space for any enemies since it was clear that the inhabitants of the cave were alerted to the group's presence. He didn't see anything alive near the water's edge and instead spied some treasure that implied that this was the lair of the dragon. He immediately submerged again and swam back out to tell the group the news and make plans for the assault.