Session 11

You decide to take stock of your situation and as such, you want to find out which of the items you secured as part of your treasure hoard are magical. You gather them into one general location and Aemi casts a Detect Magic spell and determines that magical energy is emanating from the crown, amulet, and helmet.

Some of you are also a little worse for wear and so Aemi also casts Goodberry so that Beza can eat them and bring her up to full health should you find yourself in another combat situation.

You decide that you now have a moral obligation to ensure that the children are returned to their village, safely and so you take it upon yourselves to be their guardians until such time as you can take them back to their family. They are obviously very grateful, and relieved, at not having o walk back through the dangerous marsh to their village, a distance that would obviously pose many dangers for you.

You start walking towards the village with the 2 teenagers, they are appreciative of being rescued. It seems they were about to be sacrificed but you do not know any more than that, the god, the reason, does with the Bullywug King and you can only guess what fowl reason the creature had for wanting to sacrifice these two small human beings. You cannot help but feel that you have not heard the last of this, perhaps there is more to the political situation here than meets the eye.

The children tell you that that are from the Village of Pine Pass which is on the Dunwater River at the confluence of the 3 tributaries as it appears on your map of the Lizardfolk enclave. The children tell you that the village is currently being terrorised by an evil presence, villagers going missing whilst foraging, armed guards going missing when sent out to look for them. You determine that the Bullywugs are not the real evil and could not possible be responsible for the terror that the children are describing to you, dismembered bodies, fully armed and trained patrols reduce to pools of blood and death. You wonder if the dragon that you encountered is responsible, but you cautiously question the children and there has never been a sighting of the dragon close to the village. The creature is sometime seen flying south in the distance, but it has never bothered itself with the village itself.

Vexx attempts to convert the children to the teachings of Kord by telling them that the God Kord has demonstrated his power by rescuing them. Vexx says to look him up before their next birthday and perhaps they will be ready to devote themselves to Kord’s teachings and a life in the service of the God. Whilst the children seem eager to listen o the stories told by Vexx, you are unsure of their willingness to commit to a life in service of the God.

Vexx continues in his quest to inspire and capture the imagination of the children and casts flame on a bush and the children are noticeably awed, Aemi rolls her eyes and casts druidcraft on a dying flower and causes it to bloom giving it to the girl in attempt to maintain balance in the discussion. She does one for the boy as well and cautions them to always find balance and choose their own path.

As you approach the village you see a sign which is to do with dealing with the real great terror of Evil in the area. The sign begs explorers to search out a potential threat living in the swamp and to deal with the evil in any manner that they see fit. It also says that for details, they should seek out Arenella in the Emerald Guild House.

The kids are reunited with their family who is overjoyed to see their precious loved ones brought back alive after all this time. Other villagers come out to see what is happening and see the parents thanking and hugging you in uncontained happiness. The family exclaim that they thought the great evil lurking in the marsh had taken the children and that they would be lost forever. They attempted to follow the tracks f the children when they failed to return but were unable to do so and lost them in the dense undergrowth. You relay to the family and other villagers who are present the story of your assault on the crumbling castle and the eventual battle and death of the Bullywug King and his minions. The children back up your tale and for emphasis, Vexx reaches into a large sack and pulls out the head of the Bullywug Kings and hold it high for all to see.

Once the din dies down and there is a break in the conversation, Beza asks about the great evil threat lurking in the forest. As she asks this question, the joyous nature of the villagers turns to one of worry ina n instant and one of the villagers introduces herself to you as Arenella Duskwater, as half-elf of some importance in the village.

Arenella begs that you follow her to the Guild House so that you discuss the issues with some privacy and you agree to do so. You notice that as you are walking through the village towards the Guild House, a shrine to Procan sits prominently and is well tended to. At least there is some common thread between these villages and those of Saltmarsh.

The village seems to you to be prosperous, sitting at the confluence of three tributaries obviously means there is quiet some traffic through the village and as such, everything seems to be in good order, well-kept and importantly, it does not show the tell-taler signs of a village in decline. The villagers are obviously very serious about ridding themselves of the evil lurking nearby so that they can go about their business. It seems to have quite a lot of shops and is well established, this is not a poor village, they do well from their trade.

Once you arrive at the Guild House, Arenella orders you some drinks and sits with you. She then starts to recount the problem that the village is currently facing. The first problem that the village has, is that they do not know what form the evil has taken as anyone who has some upon it has met their doom in the most violent of ways. Dismembered bodies, crushed skulls, and pools of flesh where a human once stood.

They have sent out hunters to track the evil and investigate the issue. They have returned without ever laying eyes on the creature, but they know it is very big and lives in a part of the swamp that the villagers now avoid. Tracking a creature so large was not a problem, but none of the hunters wanted to find it, given what had happened to those other poor souls sent to find it.

When Arenella describes the part of the marsh to you, you realise that it is not the same part of the swamp as where you were told Thousand Teeth lives, so your initial thought that this was the work of Thousand Teeth does not seem to correlate with what the villagers are telling you. You ponder that you could have been given poor directions by either Lizardfolk or these villagers, but either outcome seems unlikely. What seems more likely, is that there is a second creature terrorising these villagers that you have not seen or been old of before.

Beza asks Arenella if she has seen any Black Dragons in the area, perhaps that could be the cause of the problem. Arenella confirms that yes, she has seen a dragon flying westward along the river but is has never landed in or near the village. The dragon hasn’t appeared to show interest in the village and had no interaction. She said it is very infrequently appearing, last she saw it a few days ago (clearly after your interaction, but you keep quiet about that!).

Arenella offers you a free room to rest in at the Guild Hall for the night as gratitude for returning the children to the village and so Xigran, Aemi, Vexx and Johama take advantage of the gift and rest while Beza looks around the village. She discovers, through chatting with village members, that there is a 1000gp reward for ridding the village of the Great Evil Threat, a princely sum indeed, obviously representing the danger involved in such a task.

Arenella tells Beza another Tiefling passed through recently, this could have perhaps been Yulista, the Tiefling that is wanted by the Saltmarsh authorities for crimes suspected to have been committed against the village. Arenella does confirm that the name of this Tiefling was Yulista, so your target has certainly travelled in this direction. This could be a good start if you had the time and is something that you could pick up at a later date once you have the time to devote to the search, you simply have too much on your plates at the moment, but the opportunity is there. The Tiefling left towards the south and you are sure you could pick up her trail if you had the opportunity to speak with other witnesses who may have seen in which direction she travelled.

Beza also decises to go at Treasure Trinkets, a small store located close to the Guild Hall, but apart from some healing potions there is nothing other than ordinary jewellery. The proprietor of the shop does admit that this is a slow time for stock, and so should you return later he may have some better items for you to purchase, and he looks forward to your return.

You also take the time to examine your new magical items in some additional details, the crown is a silverplated, bronze coronet with a blue sapphire setting. Xigran believes it will increase Charisma +1 and so he keeps it and puts it on. He instantly discovers that you can use it to cast a special version of Comprehend Language Spell. He discovers that all creatures within 60ft will understand Xigran, which lasts 10 min and can be cast once per long rest. Unfortunately, Xigran also realises the crown is stuck to his head and he also feels like his way is the best way and that he should always lead. This is a cursed Crown of Influence.

Vexx studies the amulet and believes the only character that can use the amulet is a warlock. It appears to give a warlock the ability to cast additional spells and so is not much use to your party, ut is valuable, nonetheless. You put the amulet in party inventory to sell later.

Johama takes the time to examine the ornate helmet and sees faint carvings on the helmet of water. He puts it on and realises, if the need arose, he could breathe underwater, he also now has Darkvision as a result, and better swimming proficiency. The helm is a Helm of Underwater Action.

Xigran, because of his newfound “leadership” abilities given to him by the crown, now orders us all to sleep and despite the order, this is a good idea, you need to rest and regain your strength for the task ahead of you, Thousand Teeth awaits. You eat breakfast downstairs in the guild house and Arenella prays to Procan for your safe return, and even Vexx is grateful for this display of support, despite the prayer not being on behalf of Kord.

Xigran casts aid on himself, Beza and Vexx in preparation for what might come.

The villagers poled you across the Dunwater via small ferries built for such a purpose and you begin as we trek towards the rendezvous with the Black Dragon to inform him of your victory over the Bullywugs. You feel unusually sure about your direction, but Xigran is super sure and tells us all exactly where to go and starts to direct the party. You soon arrive at the exact spot where the Black Dragon’s spell of compulsion compelled you to go.

You wait for the dragon to arrive and as you prepare lunch the dragon flies toward you, and you feel the dread as the majestic creature starts to approach. Xigran tells Vexx to enact the plan then directs us to stand where he wants us. Seeing as Xigran and Vexx are the only one’s amongst you that speak draconic, they decide to take the lead, Xigran taking more of the lead of course, and they both stand out front of the party, ready to parlay with the creature.

Vexx throws the Bullywug Kings head towards the dragon in a gesture of triumph and bravery at completing the task that had been set before you. The dragon says, ‘pathetic swamp scum’ and tosses the head away, obviously happy that foul creatures no longer infest the area. The dragon begrudgingly admits we might be useful to her, now feel that the dragon is female, and asks you to recount the story of how you came to defeat the King and his minions, and Vexx recounts the tale with as much elaboration and colourful adjectives as he is able to deliver. Delivering speeches, and commanding an audience is not something that comes easy to Vexx, and you start to feel like the wrong person is doing the talking in this exchange, but the plan has been set in motion and you continue regardless.

Vexx offers the amulet to the dragon who accepts it and asks what else we have for her because of your escapades through the Bullywug lair. You argue amongst yourselves briefly and decide to what to give the dragon, but Xigran cannot help himself and tells you that you are amateurs, cuts you conversation short and offers the dragon 1000g, the ring of feather fall and the potions of healing as tribute. Vexx lies about the amount of treasure you have accumulated, and she instantly sees through the ruse, and orders you to present her with some additional treasure and so you also add the electrum bars to the tribute, which pleases her, but you can tell quite easily that she is not pleased that you attempted to deceive her. The dragon covets the gold and electrum but gives back the ring and potions, clearly not interested in such items. Vexx then tells the dragon of the quest to kill thousand teeth, hoping for some assistance with the possibility of more treasure, but the dragon scornfully declines and throws 2 amulets at Xigran and Vexx and orders them to put them on.

As soon as Xigran and Vexx put the amulets on, which look like Compass Rose Amulets, they tighten on their necks, clearly, there is only one way to remove the amulet. The dragon says to you all that she will now always know where they are. You decide that discretion is the better part of valour, and you all grovel in dirt at the feet of the creature, showing clear deference to her power and majesty.

The dragon gives you another task! She describes a ruined temple in the north, not in the swamp or marsh area, but about 4 days ride from where you now stand to the east. “There are several trinkets in this temple that the dragon desires and she gives you the task of retrieving them for her. She describes to you two red rubies, each the size of your fist that are contained in the temple, along with other treasures such as gold and other gems, however, the two red rubies are clearly her priority.

Xigran asks what is guarding the temple, and dragon contemptuously says that nothing that will challenge you given your marvellous victory over the Bullywugs. You cannot tell if the dragon even cares if you succeed or fail, but she decides to give you 30 moons to fulfil the task and given that you she now knows our whereabouts at any time, failure to comply will result in an unwanted visit, and quite possibly, your death.

You ask the dragon her name, clearly trying to determine which of the two dragons you are conversing with according to Xigran’s research, but she says that because you disrespected her and lied to her about the treasure you had accumulated, she will not tell you, but perhaps if you complete this task, she will grace us with this information. Once you determine which dragon she is, you can then perhaps determine where she might live and as such where she might keep her hoard of treasure.

As a result of the necklaces that they now wear, Xigran and Vexx know the location of the temple via their amulets!

The dragon flicks Vexx with her mighty claw, sending him sprawling to the ground, and she flies away, again towards the south.

Xigran tells you all that he saved the day because of his intervention and without his leadership, you would all now be pools of acid in the dirt.

You have much work to do and Beza sends her eagle ahead towards where you think Thousand Teeth is located. The eagle sees a troll in your path and instead of avoiding the creature, Xigran orders you to prepare for battle and sets up a strategy to attack the creature. Xigran insists that you will attack the creature from range only, thus preventing the creature from damaging you.

Aemi wild shapes into a horse so Beza can ride while checking on the troll via her familiar. You get to about 150-200ft out from the troll and you stop as the eagle sees the troll sniff in the air, possible picking up your scent. The troll then disappears into the undergrowth, but you are determined to continue with your plan to find and attack the creature. You continue towards where you last saw the creature, but it has disappeared. You fan out, carefully looking for it when suddenly the Troll launches out of the mud at Beza and engages her in close combat.

The troll attacks Beza and hits her with both claws and its bite, in a viscous attack almost reducing her to zero hit points, she is clearly in trouble!

Beza disengages from combat and runs behind Johama who tries to place himself between the troll and the remainder of the party.

Johama attacks and hits the troll, and he activates his fire shackles on the Troll and successfully restrains the creature! The creature is now restrained for at least one minute and will continue to take fire damage, limiting its ability to regenerate hit points for the remainder of the combat.

Vexx then enters combat and hits the troll with Guiding Bolt doing damage to the restrained creature, who howls in pain. Xigran then casts magic missile and targets the troll who takes the darts of energy squarely in the chest, again damaging the creature. The troll remains shackled and takes fire damage while it lunges at Johama for a bite and hits but is unable to use his shackled claws. Aemi then decides to heal Johama and casts Healing spirit so he will be able to heal each tur of the battle.

Beza takes a healing potion and Vexx launches another Guiding Bolt and hits for further magical damage, clearly injuring the creature who is frustrated due to the fiery shackles that are still in place.

Xigran, having seen the amount of damage that Beza and Joh have taken, makes a mental note to tell them they need to do better in future, h is clearly unhappy with their combat skills and makes a mental note to pass on his advice once this combat is concluded. He then casts magic missile again, and again injures the troll with the energy darts.

Johama then rolls a critical hit on the troll, obviously still wishing to regain his place and preeminent fighter in the group, and severely damages the troll. The troll continues to take fire damage from the shackles and cannot break of them. The troll lunges at Johama again with his bite, but Johama can easily dodge the attack. Due to the initial damage taken by Beza, Aemi decides to cast a heal on her bringing back from the brink.

Xigran continues to cast magic missile, comfortable in the knowledge that the energy darts will never miss their target and again damages the troll. Johama’s fiery shackles kill the troll and it burns to the ground in a smouldering mess of flesh and bone.

You decide that before proceeding any further, you gain need to rest and you find a dry area to camp away from the dead troll, regaining spells, and healing wounds. Xigran, remembering his mental note, drills Johama and Beza on better combat defence and how to set up camp properly so that they are best defended from any wandering creatures that you might encounter.

You have a restless sleep, pondering the task before you and how you will solve the problem of Thousand Teeth.