Session 32

=March 14th, 2019 - Assault on Castle Naerytar=

Lair of the Black Death
The session began as Rufus agreed to go with Snapjaw, Jemna Gleamsilver, and two of her agents to the lair of Voraghamanthar. Also known as the Black Death, and the ruler of the Deathmere swamp. The party agreed with the Brotherhood agents that it was strange that the dragon was not openly helping the cultists or his lizardfolk worshippers. They also wanted to make sure the dragon wasn’t in the castle they were about to assault. The small party set out from their warm cave into the cold night.

Snapjaw guided them a few miles deeper into the salt marsh, and it wasn’t long until they were all very wet and miserable trudging through murky water and thick mud. As they approached what the lizardman assured them was the lair of the dragon, the air around became thick with an acrid fog. Acid burned skeletons and skulls were hanging from trees or impaled on poles in the ground. In front of a large cave opening was the clearing that marked the entrance of the lair, with a few lizardfolk huts scattered around. The lizardfolk guards let Snapjaw and his humanoid followers pass, clearly here to bring tribute to Vorag.

Water flowed slowly from the cave, and once Rufus entered the cave proper the lizardmen were replaced with even more numerous kobolds. Into the dark high ceiling cave they went, and not long after the small river expanded into an large underground lake. With his goggles of night Rufus could see across the cavernous chamber to another rock outcropping on the other side. On this far side of the lake a portion of the dragon’s massive treasure hoard could be seen, but it extended down another tunnel out of sight. Then, the large black dragon appeared before them, coming out of his invisibility and spoke with the travelers.

Snapjaw threw himself to the ground, and Rufus and Jemna gave the dragon some coin for an expected tribute. Rufus spoke with the dragon, who didn’t appear to want to eat them. Vorag told the halflings he had no intention of truly helping this Cult of the Dragon, preferring to stay here in the swamp and guard his hoard from the other dragons working for them. However, he did not want to be seen opposing the cultists, and he also had desire of some magical items they were in possession of. The Black Death offered them his assistance and blessing to attack their castle, if the party in turn obtained a magic ring and book from the cultists.

Vorag told them that the castle’s wearer of purple had the ring he sought, and the ancient book he wanted was called the ‘Dark Sermons of Strongor Bonebinder’. Rufus and Jemna agreed, and the dragon told them that Snapjaw could indeed lead his people to liberation against the bullywugs. Vorag told the lizardman he had his blessing, and encouragement to finally kill the evil frogmen. The dragon himself wasn’t going to leave his lair to interfere, but the lizardfolk would make good allies in storming the castle. The fact the dragon suggested he would eat them if they defied him just ensured their cooperation.

Rufus and the agents were allowed out of the cave unharmed and Snapjaw followed them back through the swamp to the Brotherhood camp. It was well into the fog filled night when they joined the rest of their companions. Then, after a short rest just before dawn the party along with Harshnag and Snapjaw set out towards Naerytar castle. Snapjaw first guided the group to a lizardfolk patrol camp about a mile away from the castle. The lizardfolk were surprised to see a frost giant trudging through the swamp waters, but Snapjaw calmed them.

Assault on Castle Naerytar
More accurately, he convinced them that these ‘strongfolk’ were here to help them free their people and finally kill the frogmen. Once Snapjaw told them of Voraghamanthar’s support for the cause, they readily left their post and escorted the party by canoe the last mile to the castle itself. Harshnag would not fit in any of the small boats, and so he slowly walked through the deep swamp waters behind them. Once they reached the muddy shores in front of the small island the castle stood upon, Harshnag stayed obscured in the fog covered water. He would wait for the parties signal before causing havoc.

The lizardfolk and bullywugs split the area in front of the castle, and as the party moved towards the lizardfolk side most of the creatures gave them little notice. Being escorted by lizardfolk gave the illusion they were here for official business, and new cultists arriving clearly happened often enough. Within a short walled area with giant lizard pens, Snapjaw gathered his kin. It wasn’t long until word was spreading of their liberation, and the lizards brought out dozens of rusty and worn metal weapons hidden in their huts. They took up arms, and were soon chanting ‘kill the frogmen’, which drew the attention of nearby bullywugs.

When the mass of lizardfolk grew large enough, the party called out to Harshnag, who erupted from the nearby waters and charged towards the mass of bullywug huts. Snapjaw cheered and yelled to follow the giant-man, and then the flood of monsters engaged in a chaotic melee. Bullywugs fired bows and threw rocks from the top of the castle, and they battered the drums as lizard and frog creatures came from all around the area to fight. The party snuck around behind the walled lizard pen to the now unguarded small bridge on the castle’s eastern side. Rufus picked the wooden side door, and the party entered into a warm forge being worked (unsuccessfully) by six lizardfolk.

After talking with the lizardfolk in draconic, the party found they were in the castle tower occupied by lizardmen. They rallied the few dozen lizardfolk in the tower, who also had a cache of hidden weapons, and had them charge into the castle’s central courtyard to bring the fight to the frogmen gathering there. Having no other way forward, the party fought they way through the massive melee of monsters in the courtyard towards the tall central tower. The entrance to this tower was behind an inner wall, and once the party passed into this inner ward they were greeted by a number of black guard drakes. They were similar to the blue drakes they encountered back in the cultist’s dragon hatchery, and likewise fought to the death to protect the space.

Once defeated, the party found the entrance door to the central tower unlocked, and they began to explore. The first floor was a moderately decorated set of rooms that made up guest quarters, for the black robed and bald night wizard Azbara Jos. The night wizard recognized the party from the caravan a few months before, and pleaded with them to let him live. He told them the second floor was the quarters of the castle’s Wearer of Purple, Dralmor, and the third floor was Rezmir’s, the black Wyrmspeaker. Perhaps he was too scared, or didn’t think the party would leave him alive, as he attempted to fireball them in the confined space.

Alburt counterspelled the familiar incantation, and before most could act Azbara misty stepped on the other side of them outside in the inner courtyard. Unfortunately for him, Ashley stood right there and reacted by slamming her warhammer into the night wizard, crushing the life out of him. While the sounds of battle continued to fill the air, the party quickly tossed the night wizard’s chambers and scouted the upper floors, while Cadmus raised the dead night wizard as a zombie. It appeared as if both the wearer of purple and Rezmir were not in the tower, so the party looted the place for valuables. Some gems and the night wizard’s spellbook were recovered, but Alburt also found some important papers on Rezmir’s work desk on the top floor.

Most of the paperwork held accounting information of all the valuables that had been passing through the castle, but two were unique. One told of an ancient dragon shrine beneath the castle where the cult uncovered the black dragon mask, and the second told of a portal in the shrine. The paper had written on it the portal’s command word, “draezir”. It looked like the cult was taking all the treasure gathered here through this portal. And that is where the session ended, with the party knowing the next step in their journey, and the castle in the midst of a murderous lizardfolk uprising.

It was the morning of the one hundred of forty fifth day since the raid on Greenest.

Click Here for the Next Session