Post by gamedave on May 10, 2017 12:41:34 GMT -5
[The campaign was already approaching its natural close: I was running out of storylines, and the final confrontation with the Vengeful Wyrm was already starting to seem overdue. Then Movie Dave had to leave, and Hanna told us she's temporarily moving to join her dad in a couple of weeks, so we're about to wrap up the campaign. See Important Notes following the recap!]
Before the session opens, Brigg informs the heroes that he must return to Castle Stormwatch to follow up on a lead about what happened to his grandmother. He uses the Sunless Roads to return.
As the session opens, our heroes were in the kitchen of the cloud palace of Ultha-Ka, the cloud giant who had stolen the Storm King's most precious musical instrument, when they heard the approach of the palace cat - a saber-tooth tiger!
After Liam expertly Handled Animal, and diverted the tiger's attention, the heroes were able to safely make it to the next room without raising an alarm. The heroes made their way through the palace, searching various locations, until they found a newly-wrought cage in the palace forge. A cage containing a lillend, a beautiful celestial being with an unearthly singing voice - the Storm King's stolen music! After freeing the lillend from the cage, the heroes heard the approach Ultha-Ka, who had discovered their presence.
"Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of adventuring scum!"
A prolonged chase ensued, with a number of hairsbreadth escapes, until the heroes finally gained the outer courtyard of the palace, and they were able to imbibe the potions given to them by the Storm King, assume Air Walking forms, and return to the Storm King's castle. The heroes returned the treasured lillend to the Storm King, who in turn granted them the boon of free passage throughout the Overworld.
The heroes then each took one of their four remaining potions in order to travel to the Observatory of Opar-Kah (which Drake managed to recall had been pointed out to them by the sphinx known as the Gatekeeper when they first arrived in the Overworld). In the Oberservatory, Thunder and Ahkreen (mainly Thunder) figured out the necessary settings on the complex arcane mechanisms to locate the Vengeful Wyrm's lair, Drake investigated how to enter the settings into the mechanisms, and Liam and Guile (mainly Liam, with his freakish giantish strength) actually worked the mechanisms.
The heroes now knew the exact location of the Vengeful Wyrm's lair in the Sundowner Mountains!
As they used the Observatory to investigate Castle Stormwatch, Haven, and other locations, they were noticed by the Vengeful Wyrm! The heroes were forced to use another of their precious Air Walk potions to flee the Oberservatory, and the Overworld, and return to Haven.
Once in Haven, the heroes realize that if they do not defeat the Vengeful Wyrm soon, it will wreak its fiery vengeance on Haven soon. They must prepare, quickly. Liam drills the militia. Thunder trains her would-be Mage Knights. Ahrkreen mentors a number of healers. Drake uses his contacts and the Hidden Market to acquire weapons, armor, and other gear of war. Guile coordinates the alliance.
They come up with a plan to play on the Wyrm's ego and pride, and its penchant for showing up mortal champions in games and competitions. Liam organizes a series of athletic and mock-combat events between the greatest athletes and warriors of the new alliance. Guile coordinates among the various allies. However, this is merely a ruse. Thunder engages in a masterful deception to lure the Vengeful Wyrm to partake in the competition in disguise. Drake investigates all of the competitors to identify and isolate the Wyrm. Ahrkreen uses her expert survival skills to camouflage the bulk of the alliance forces. Finally, Liam uses the intelligent blade, Scalebreaker, to confirm the identity of the Great Wyrm, and the trap is sprung!
The ensuing combat is both epic and nearly anticlimactic. The combination of careful preparation and ridiculous luck (damn you white Hero Clicks d20!) leads to a surprisingly one-sided battle which ends with the Vengeful Wyrm once again badly wounded and the alliance forces relatively unscathed. The Wyrm flees towards its lair!
But, the heroes are prepared. They each use one of their last potions of Overworld Air Walk to travel to the Vengeful Wyrm's lair, hoping to arrive there first - or at least before it can seal its lair behind it, as it did a century ago. Upon their arrival, the heroes are greeted by a pair of surprises.
Dagrune, who had been largely absent since the heroes' Overworld journey, reveals that he's been "doing all of the real work", and that Guile now owes him his own brewery. Dagrune has been combining his mastery of brewing and rune magic to "re-brew" some of the Storm King's Overworld Air Walk potions in a rune-carved cauldron. The potions now allow the imbiber to "upscale" to Overworld power levels!
Then Brigg, the Forgotten Child, steps forth from the Sunless Roads. He reveals that he has found his grandmother and learned many new secrets. He does not share those secrets with his fellow heroes (they wouldn't be secrets, then, would they?), but does concede that he is now a Smoke Knight, no longer entirely mortal, and unable (or unwilling...) to leave the Sunless Roads for more than brief visit. However, he is still the Key Master, and gets the heroes through the entrance to the Vengeful Wyrm's lair before again leaving on the Sunless Roads to pursue his own cryptic affairs.
Our heroes drink their re-brewed potions, and feel an enormous surge of Power! However, as they examine their surroundings, they realize that the chamber they are in is merely the lair's entry hall, not the center of the lair. The cavern is filled with stalagmites, stalactites, and a river of lava. The whole layout is reminiscent of the interior of a vast, elongated, fanged maw, with a tongue of flame...almost like a dragon's maw...and then the maw begins to close on them!
Next Time: The Dragon's Lair Attacks!
Important Notes: Due to the rebrewed Overworld potions, all characters are now level 20! Level up your character appropriately. Technically, this effect is only temporary, but since this is the climax of the campaign, don't worry about keeping a copy of your character at their current level. Depending on how long it takes to navigate the lair and engage in the final fight with the Vengeful Wyrm, we only have one or at most two sessions left in the current campaign!
Before the session opens, Brigg informs the heroes that he must return to Castle Stormwatch to follow up on a lead about what happened to his grandmother. He uses the Sunless Roads to return.
As the session opens, our heroes were in the kitchen of the cloud palace of Ultha-Ka, the cloud giant who had stolen the Storm King's most precious musical instrument, when they heard the approach of the palace cat - a saber-tooth tiger!
After Liam expertly Handled Animal, and diverted the tiger's attention, the heroes were able to safely make it to the next room without raising an alarm. The heroes made their way through the palace, searching various locations, until they found a newly-wrought cage in the palace forge. A cage containing a lillend, a beautiful celestial being with an unearthly singing voice - the Storm King's stolen music! After freeing the lillend from the cage, the heroes heard the approach Ultha-Ka, who had discovered their presence.
"Fee, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of adventuring scum!"
A prolonged chase ensued, with a number of hairsbreadth escapes, until the heroes finally gained the outer courtyard of the palace, and they were able to imbibe the potions given to them by the Storm King, assume Air Walking forms, and return to the Storm King's castle. The heroes returned the treasured lillend to the Storm King, who in turn granted them the boon of free passage throughout the Overworld.
The heroes then each took one of their four remaining potions in order to travel to the Observatory of Opar-Kah (which Drake managed to recall had been pointed out to them by the sphinx known as the Gatekeeper when they first arrived in the Overworld). In the Oberservatory, Thunder and Ahkreen (mainly Thunder) figured out the necessary settings on the complex arcane mechanisms to locate the Vengeful Wyrm's lair, Drake investigated how to enter the settings into the mechanisms, and Liam and Guile (mainly Liam, with his freakish giantish strength) actually worked the mechanisms.
The heroes now knew the exact location of the Vengeful Wyrm's lair in the Sundowner Mountains!
As they used the Observatory to investigate Castle Stormwatch, Haven, and other locations, they were noticed by the Vengeful Wyrm! The heroes were forced to use another of their precious Air Walk potions to flee the Oberservatory, and the Overworld, and return to Haven.
Once in Haven, the heroes realize that if they do not defeat the Vengeful Wyrm soon, it will wreak its fiery vengeance on Haven soon. They must prepare, quickly. Liam drills the militia. Thunder trains her would-be Mage Knights. Ahrkreen mentors a number of healers. Drake uses his contacts and the Hidden Market to acquire weapons, armor, and other gear of war. Guile coordinates the alliance.
They come up with a plan to play on the Wyrm's ego and pride, and its penchant for showing up mortal champions in games and competitions. Liam organizes a series of athletic and mock-combat events between the greatest athletes and warriors of the new alliance. Guile coordinates among the various allies. However, this is merely a ruse. Thunder engages in a masterful deception to lure the Vengeful Wyrm to partake in the competition in disguise. Drake investigates all of the competitors to identify and isolate the Wyrm. Ahrkreen uses her expert survival skills to camouflage the bulk of the alliance forces. Finally, Liam uses the intelligent blade, Scalebreaker, to confirm the identity of the Great Wyrm, and the trap is sprung!
The ensuing combat is both epic and nearly anticlimactic. The combination of careful preparation and ridiculous luck (damn you white Hero Clicks d20!) leads to a surprisingly one-sided battle which ends with the Vengeful Wyrm once again badly wounded and the alliance forces relatively unscathed. The Wyrm flees towards its lair!
But, the heroes are prepared. They each use one of their last potions of Overworld Air Walk to travel to the Vengeful Wyrm's lair, hoping to arrive there first - or at least before it can seal its lair behind it, as it did a century ago. Upon their arrival, the heroes are greeted by a pair of surprises.
Dagrune, who had been largely absent since the heroes' Overworld journey, reveals that he's been "doing all of the real work", and that Guile now owes him his own brewery. Dagrune has been combining his mastery of brewing and rune magic to "re-brew" some of the Storm King's Overworld Air Walk potions in a rune-carved cauldron. The potions now allow the imbiber to "upscale" to Overworld power levels!
Then Brigg, the Forgotten Child, steps forth from the Sunless Roads. He reveals that he has found his grandmother and learned many new secrets. He does not share those secrets with his fellow heroes (they wouldn't be secrets, then, would they?), but does concede that he is now a Smoke Knight, no longer entirely mortal, and unable (or unwilling...) to leave the Sunless Roads for more than brief visit. However, he is still the Key Master, and gets the heroes through the entrance to the Vengeful Wyrm's lair before again leaving on the Sunless Roads to pursue his own cryptic affairs.
Our heroes drink their re-brewed potions, and feel an enormous surge of Power! However, as they examine their surroundings, they realize that the chamber they are in is merely the lair's entry hall, not the center of the lair. The cavern is filled with stalagmites, stalactites, and a river of lava. The whole layout is reminiscent of the interior of a vast, elongated, fanged maw, with a tongue of flame...almost like a dragon's maw...and then the maw begins to close on them!
Next Time: The Dragon's Lair Attacks!
Important Notes: Due to the rebrewed Overworld potions, all characters are now level 20! Level up your character appropriately. Technically, this effect is only temporary, but since this is the climax of the campaign, don't worry about keeping a copy of your character at their current level. Depending on how long it takes to navigate the lair and engage in the final fight with the Vengeful Wyrm, we only have one or at most two sessions left in the current campaign!