Session 9

Aemi, fresh from her dinner date with the large toad, is revived from her unconscious state by Vexx and decides that she needs to protect herself even further, and so takes a healing potion as she is set free. You all move back across the ford to a location not far from your old camp site the night before and decide to take a long rest before moving out further. The fight against the Bullywugs turned into a harrowing encounter and you decide that you do not want to be caught off-guard again and such, want your full complement of abilities available to you.

As responsible party members, you set up guards during the night and during Johama's watch, he notices several sets of eyes looking at the camp from just above the waterline. They all look very much like crocodiles, and it is their country for better or worse.

You wake up in the morning, with the creatures posing no threat during the night, your fire and vigilant guards obviously served their purpose. You cross the river again using the same ford that you used yesterday, but this time, there are no Bullywugs present to thwart your journey any further. You decide that discretion is the better part of valour, and use Beza's familiar to undertake a preliminary reconnaissance of the area before marching to the front door, if in fact, that is what you decide to do. Bexa uses her familiar in the form of a spider and enters the Lizardfolk lair and discovers a thriving, but alert community. In fact, they look just like the village of Saltmarsh with Lizardfolk of all shapes and sizes going about their daily business.

As Beza is in a trance performing her reconnaissance, you are all disturbed by a loud screech from the sky. You look upwards and see the distinct shape of a large black dragon flying overhead, what more on earth could go wrong for you!

Your first instinct is to hide from this monstrous creature and Vexx casts a cloud spell to try and hide your silhouettes from the beast now flying overhead. You hear the loud screech once more, initially thinking that this might be a wyvern, but it is much worse than that. You hear the roar getting closer and the distinct flapping of large leathery wings that fly overhead, dissipating the cloud spell in the process.

Over the din of the screeching, and the flapping of wings, you hear the distinct voice of Vexx as he cries out "black dragon!". Seeing this once once reverent lord is too much for Vexx and he cries out "Hello great Lord" n a loud and respectful voice and he postulates himself on the ground, at the full mercy of the giant and majestic creature. The dragon hears Vexx's cries and lands directly in front of him, as the rest of the party do their best to scatter to avoid getting caught in any attacks should this encounter head in that direction. You are all seasoned adventurers though, you know when the odds are stacked against you, and they are now.

The dragon regards you all with about as much contempt as is possible and demands that you pay respect and tribute to him/her and all his, or her, glory. Even Vexx cannot determine the sex of this creature, and it has not yet revealed its name, deeming you completely unworthy of this knowledge. You offer up all your electrum ingots, gold, and silver and more importantly, your service. In tribute and in exchange for your lives.

The dragon regards you, again with great contempt and bids you to rid this swamp, this domain to which he/she lays claim, of the filthy Bullywugs who have dared to take over a nearby fortress and set up camp. Evil does not beget evil, and dragon regards these creatures as nothing, but filth and they need cleansing. The dragon feels that you can indeed perform some menial service and feels you might just be the party to cleanse the domain. You are not quite sure whether the dragon thinks you can successfully do this task, but having said that, you are not quite sure whether or not the dragon cares. You suspect that this is simply a test to see if you might be capable of greater things and importantly, greater service. You have a sinking feeling that this is just the beginning.

The dragon allows you five moons in which to complete this task and casts a spell of unknown origin compelling you to return here, success or failure be damned. As long as you still draw breath, you will be drawn back to this very place, to either die as failures or to continue in the dragon's unholy service.

You then hear Vexx respectfully ask for the dragons name, obviously still in awe at being in the presence of such great creature and you are not even deemed worthy of this knowledge, but perhaps one day.

From your knowledge of dragon kind, you suspect that this is a young black dragon, yet to forge a kingdom, or lasting kingdom, you cannot help but feel that this is just the start.

The dragon provides you with all the information you need to accomplish your task, and then launches into the air, flapping its great leathery wings and rises into the air. You watch as the beast disappears towards the southern horizon, its destination yet unknown.

After this harrowing and near-death experience, you decide to initially continue your reconnaissance of the Lizardfolk lair and at least reduce any danger on that front. Beza’s familiar approaches the entrance and she sees several guards conversing in draconic, although she is unable to understand what is being said. She discovers several infant Lizardfolk, a hatchery and, what appear to be, important adult community members. She also uncovers several barrack areas, a room housing officers as well as a temple area with priests performing various religious rites that you are not familiar with.

You decide, given what you have seen and has been reported by Beza, to approach in the open and peacefully. You approach the guard entrance in the open, but certainly wary, and in draconic, you say that you come in peace from the village of Saltmarsh and ask to be taken to meet with the leaders of this community. The guards are wary, understandably, and take you all to an officers room where you repeat your desire to speak with the leaders of this community, and produce your writ of authority to further back up your authenticity.

Those of you that speak draconic, hear the officer mention that an audience with the Queen is in order and asks for the reception room to be prepared and Queen advised. After Xigran and Vexx speak to the officer, expressing your desires, you wait about 20 minutes, and are asked to follow the guard retinue deeper into the complex.

You are taken to large ornate room, which is both ceremonious, but also community focussed, as you see several infant Lizardfolk playing with items on the floor amongst the dignitaries. This is obviously a community under some sort of distress.

You notice that the throne room you are now standing in is surrounded by images of various monstrous sea creatures important to the tribe. Sitting on the throne is the largest Lizardfolk creature you have yet seen, and this is obviously the Queen of the tribe that you have heard mentioned. She is a large female creature and is flanked on either side by other important advisors, some military, some religious and some arcane.

The Queen beckons for quiet amongst those present and you begin to convey your story of the smuggling ring that eventually led to the capture of the weapons cache now impounded at Saltmarsh. You are open and truthful about how you came into possession of the weapons, what happened on the boat, how you spared those Lizardfolk present and the fear of the village that these weapons are to be used against the village.

The Queen is thankful for your candour, obviously intelligent and canny, and begins to recall the story of her tribe and how they came to be holed up in this long abandoned complex.

As the Queen is retelling her story, you notice several members of other aquatic races enter the room, Koalinth, Locathah and Merfolk. You can only imagine what story she is about to tell.

The Queen begins to tell the story of the recent history of her tribe, and of the recent incursions of the Sauhuagin. You can hear the sadness in her voice as she recounts the recent conflict and eventual loss to their ancestral enemies resulting in the entire tribe abandoning their homes and retreat towards Saltmarsh. They are thus preparing for war against these foul creatures who have also made incursions into the lands of the other aquatic races represented in the council chambers.

The Queen recounts her attempts to purchase better weapons from her human contacts but is honest in her assertion that the tribe was only willing to use these weapons against the Sauhaugin enemies. They Queen is honest in the that she never approached the council at Saltmarsh earlier because she has grave doubts about the usefulness of humans in, what would be mainly, an aquatic conflict. Having said that, saltmarsh would not be immune to the conflict, if the Sauhuaghin were to win, it would be inevitable that Saltmarsh would be overrun and the human population out to the sword by the invaders.

Instead of waiting for this to happen, the Queen is attempting to forge an alliance between the aquatic races against their common enemy and strike back,, to regain the territory that they have lost.

Despite your attempts to assure the Queen that you would be willing to help, the Queen, and her advisors, are still doubtful of your bravery and skill at arms to be useful in such an alliance.

You notice that several advisors approach the Queen and you here various exchanges in draconic, just low enough that you cannot make out the words, but you believe that they are asking for some sort of test so that you can prove your prowess and usefulness in combat.

The advisors continue to speak with the Queen and eventually she calls for quiet amongst those around her, showing that despite her desire to listen, she still commands absolute authority amongst those around her.

The Queen quietens the chamber and describes a problem that is besetting the community. Despite being sacred to them, and as such they cannot take direct action, there is a giant crocodile harassing their community and has already taken the lives of several warriors and guards. The Queen asks you directly to take care of this issue on their behalf, and there is nothing that you can really do but agree to their request, I mean, how hard can it be to kill a crocodile? The Queen has dubbed this monster "Thousand Teeth" and describes the biggest crocodile she has ever seen, but still, it is only a crocodile and you are, after all, seasoned adventurers, fresh from your success at closing down and entire smuggling ring.

She is able to draw you a map to the suspect lair of this monster, which is about a half a day trek from the enclave in a deep, but secluded pool of water, sheltered from the surrounding area.

The tribe offer you accommodation for the night and treat you with respect as the ambassadors that you are. You sleep very well, and wake in the morning ready to embark on your quest. The Queen and her entourage wake to see you off and wish you success in your task. You feel that she truly wishes you to succeed in what you have agreed to set out to do.

You decide that given the time constraints on the task set for you by the black dragon, you will undertake the Bullywug Quest, before tackling Thousand Teeth. You leave the enclave and set upon your journey south.