After being forewarned of death by Aegon’s visions, the Troupe returns to Nashkel to resupply and better prepare to raid the dragon’s lair. After a long night of prayer, study, and rest, they make their way out of town to face the dragon once more. Aegon’s visions may save them from death, but will it help them to defeat the dragon?
17 Eleint 1368
Before we leave Nashkel, we stop by at the Temple of Helm to see if they have any supplies that can help us.
Nalin: Ah, intrepid adventurers at our door. Helm guards over all the realms, and his servants are at your disposal. The Vigilant One stands ready to mend thy ailments and so divert the unyielding gaze of the Great Guide… for a suitable donation, of course. Just to demonstrate our mutual goodwill, you understand.
He has another ten Potions of Extra Healing and 2 Scrolls of Champion’s Strength that should serve us well in the battle to come. At the very least the Potions will keep us alive a little longer.
There isn’t much else we will find in this small town, so we make haste in our journey back to the dragon’s den. This time we will be ready, and we will be Dragonslayers.
Our journey isn’t uneventful. Around two hours into the wilderness we are ambushed by hobgoblin bandits. Looks like we haven’t killed them all yet.
I immediately put two of them to Sleep, while Conchobhair charges at the others. Another hobgoblin is felled by Bardo’s arrow before it can draw its bow.
On seeing this, one of our assailants hits Bardo in the shoulder. He lets out a yelp in pain, but still fires back and kills a second hobgoblin. Conchobhair and I back two of the hobgoblin archers up against the nearby cliff and they are forced to defend themselves with their swords.
We slay the hobgoblins against the cliff, leaving only the sleeping bandits. When we awaken one of them it goes berserk.
We kill it and slit the other’s throat before it can wake up. We barely broke a sweat. It seems like only yesterday that bandits could kill us with ease. But are we really strong enough to slay a dragon?
We pack up our weapons and continue on our way.
18 Eleint 1368
Outside the lair we find that there are more of his gibberling minions guarding the entrance. As I’m used to by now, I open by putting them to Sleep.
Unfortunately more gibberlings were lying in wait and we are ambushed!
Conchobhair cuts through with ease, his Dragonslayer moving at speeds I didn’t think possible. He is still weak at defending himself and is cut up by their claws. Thanfully, his new Ioun Stone quickly heals any damage he takes.
Eventually they are all slain, and the cave entrance lays open.
I start to have visions of our deaths again. Dammit. I thought we might succeed if we were better prepared.
I see Conchobhair ripped apart in front of me, then the dragon turns its head to face me. I close my eyes as its poisonous breath washes over my skin.
In another vision the dragon rushes me and I feel its claws rip through my flesh. I am gasping for air as my body falls to the ground in pieces.
I have one more vision where I try to flee from the dragon. And then, suddenly, my head is clear. There are no visions. No death in my mind. Could this mean…?
I tell the others the plan I’ve worked out. Conchobhair will go in alone, and wait for the dragon to spot him. The first thing it did in all of my visions was to Dispel any of our magic protections. Only after that spell is cast will he use his Ioun Stone to turn into a troll and start distracting him.
I will follow him. In most of my visions it was the dragon’s breath that killed me, so I find the only Potion of Evasion in our Potion Bag that will allow me to avoid its effects.
Conchobhair uses one of the scrolls we purchased at the Temple of Helm to summon a Champion’s Strength. He and I both drink Potions of Speed. Conchobhair also takes a Potion of Defense, a Potion of Heroism, and a Potion of Stone Giant Strength. He feels ready, so he marches into the dragon’s cave alone.
We wait patiently as his footsteps fade into nothing. Silence seems to echo out of the cave and fill the air around us. I realise I’ve been holding my breath. Still no sign of anything happening in the cave.
Then an echo. Its faint, but it sounds like a creature roaring from a distance. They must be fighting already. It is time. I drink my Potion of Evasion. I tell the others to wait, no matter what. Then I follow Conchobhair into the cave.
The cave opens up into a huge cavern. Pools of acid and large steam vents cover the floor of the cave. A huge green dragon rushes at a troll that seems to have just pulled itself up from the ground. Thank the gods he is still alive. I pull out one of the many powerful scrolls I have collected since I left the Keep. I read the words created by Beltyn, and the dragon starts to glow from within as its blood turns itself to fire.
The dragon recoils in pain as the flames coarse through it. It responds by demonstrating its own skill with the Weave. Insects buzz around me and start to nip at my flesh. The bites are small but sharp and piercing, causing blood to stream down my face and arms. It keeps trying to rip apart Conchobhair the troll, forcing him to consume his Potions of Healing. I use another of my scrolls, this time to Disintegrate the beast from the outside.
It is getting hard to focus on casting spells with these flies tearing away tiny parts of my flesh. But I can see the dragon is suffering. Flames are bursting out from beneath its scales. It is almost dead. I have one more scroll to use, one more Disintegrate to kill it.
The spell strikes true and scales are ripped from its back. It raises its head almost as if to witness the heavens, then it collapses to the ground. I stare at the corpse, mouth agape. Did we just…? Did I just…?
Gameplay Note
This is the first time in this run I’ve really thought about a strategy to fight a particular enemy. My first few attempts failed, but going back and stocking up really helped. The main helpers were the many Potions of Extra Healing as well as the Ioun Stone. Since Conchobhair still couldn’t hit the dragon and did no damage, the Strength Potion was a waste. Giving Aegon immunity to the dragon’s breath weapon via a Potion of Evasion turned the tide, since that allowed him to loose a few powerful spells that ultimately killed the dragon.
The troll Conchobhair wanders over to the corpse of the dragon and starts digging through the remains with his claws. Around its neck he finds a runestone hanging from it. I take a look and surmise it must be a key that opens the dragon’s hoard.
We go back to the entrance and call the rest of the Troupe inside. They are stunned at the sight of the deceased dragon. Jet’Laya says the mere sight of it has brought her closer to Lathander.
Gameplay Note
Her Death and Breath Weapon Saving Throws improve by 1 point. Her THAC0 is reduced by 2. She gains a single 4th Level Spell. She gets 7 additional Hit Points and her Lore increases by 2.
She says that Lathander will grant her new blessings, among which is the ability to unify the Troupe’s defensive capabilities.
We make our way to the back of the cave and feel a force resisting us. Somehow we can’t make it to the back of the cavern. I hold up the dragon’s wardstone and the resistance stops. We make our way to a tunnel that eventually opens up into a smaller cavern. We disturb a baby dragon that was sleeping. It had a child! That’s what it was doing here. It was nesting!
I try to instil Horror within the baby dragon, but it resists the whims of the Weave. Jet’Laya conjures some Magical Stones. Conchobhair, now back in human form, charges the dragon only to find it has a sibling. They are just as angry as theit mother was at our invasion.
I see that Jet’Laya has the right idea, so I summon my own weapons from the Weave, Melf’s Minute Meteors.
They are, of course, weaker than their mother. Bardo’s arrows, Conchobhair’s Dragonslayer, and our conjured missiles tear through the dragons’ flesh. It isn’t long before one of them drops dead.
Conchobhair slices the second dragons head clean off. We have completed our mission. All the dragons are dead. But I don’t feel good about it. Green dragons are inherently evil, and with one so close to both a human and a halfling settlement something needed to be done. But this dragon was only nesting here to raise her young. Evil or not, we just wiped out an entire family.
The dragon’s hoard lays before us, ripe for the picking. But I’m not sure we deserve the reward.
