Session 67

=July 15th, 2021 - Galen's Guilt=

The Village of Altand
Our session began in the city of Aramore. The party emerged from Alburt’s teleportation circle in the city, and they found it not busy at all. There were still people going about their business, but it was nothing like the crowded streets of Ironbay. The group spent the day shopping and preparing for their journey into the elven Deepwood.

Rachen spent about twenty five gold and purchased a new backpack and all the supplies he could think of. Cadmus found his way to the local armorer, and since he did not have the time to get a custom suit of plate fitted, instead decided to purchase a suit of splint mail. This was effectively chain mail with plate sections attached, so it was much easier to fit a suit to the half-orc. It was also much cheaper than a full suit of plate. The rest of the group secured five riding horses for about three hundred and seventy five gold coins.

Rufus would be now easily able to ride Thia’s dragon pet as a mount, Maximus was now just larger than a horse.

By the evening the party had decided to set off west ward along the northern rim of the massive Deepwood. They slept in the wilderness instead of staying the night in the city, and they rode at a fast pace with their horses. They rode hard for two full days, with Rufus flying above and ahead with Maximus always on the lookout for trouble. The group turned south into the Deepwood only when they had to, and with the Dominion’s precise location of the wood elf village, the party found themselves entering Altand by noon time of the third day out from Aramore.

The forest village was like many Thia had seen in the past, with structures and huts both on the forest floor, and above in the boughs of the trees. There were rope bridges strewn about, and a few rope basket elevators. Unlike the other small villages they had seen on their recent travels, this one was still occupied. Many of the elves retreated into their homes when the party emerged from the tree line and walked into the village. With a halfling riding a young black dragon.

Although, there were a few of the villagers that would speak with them. Most told a similar tale, the attack occurred just over a week ago, and about half the village perished in the initial attack. The massive green dragon flew overhead and spewed his poisonous gas among the treetops, killing many while others jumped to their deaths to try to escape the fumes. The dragon then landed on the ground and the villages few warriors tried to confront it. They were led by the villages priest - their leader.

The huge beast swallowed the priest whole. However, many of the villagers had fled into the woods in all directions by this point. A few reported that the sounds of fighting ended quickly, with the dragon seemingly retreating. They don’t know if there were any ground forces (as most had fled), but nothing of value was taken. When pressed for more information, all of the villagers directed the party to the new villager leader, the warden Galen.

His hut was up in the tree level.

It seemed Galen’s hut was the only one still occupied on the upper level, but when the party knocked and walked into his modest hut there was a second inhabitant. A raven cawing within a cage hanging in the corner. The scrawny dark haired elf stood when they entered, and asked “how could he help them?” The party told the elf who they were, and why they were here investigating how this village was still standing. They asked the warden to recount his tale, and Galen appeased them.

Galen’s Guilt
His story matched up with what the villagers had stated, but Galen and his wife were among the warriors that confronted the dragon - and his purple robe wearing rider. No one else had mentioned the rider. Galen confirmed it was a male elf. He said the raid ended similar, that after the dragon ate the village priest the cult forces unexpectedly retreated into the woods without taking anything. The party was not convinced. Rufus proceeded to charm Galen.

While this was going on, Thia stepped outside the hut to watch for anything suspicious. She cast detect magic, and while not able to see any auras around she went back into the hut. She was sure that the raven was some sort of magical creature, but the contents of the hut were entirely ordinary. Under the influence of Rufus, and the parties intense questioning, the wood elf finally caved. He broke down in tears and recounted the missing details.

After the priest was swallowed, the dragon killed Galen’s wife in front of him. The warden fell to his knees in anguish and pleaded with the dragon and it’s rider to spare him and his village. He would give them anything. The purple robe wearing rider agreed to spare his village, if Galen would provide them with information about nearby villages and their defenses. The broken warden agreed, and the dragon and cult forces retreated.

When asked about meeting with the dragon, Galen said they were meeting in a clearing a few miles into the woods every other night, and when they met the rider and dragon were always wet - the elves hair and clothing were usually still damp, indicating they were hiding near some body of water. The next meet was tonight at midnight. The party decided to try and ambush the dragon at the meet, but didn’t trust the warden to not give them away. Thus, instead they planned to use Alburt’s simulacrum, and cast a minor illusion upon it to look like the wood elf. Before they set off, Cadmus conjured a mighty heroes feast, and they all took part.

The magical feast would give them immunity to all forms of poison and fear, properly preparing them for the coming encounter with the massive green dragon. The subdued and stuffed Galen was then tied up by the party members. Cadmus stuffed the raven into the parties bag of holding - just in case. Finally, before they left and while the warden was still charmed, Rufus looted his hut. The group then set off in the dead of night to the location of the clearing that Galen described.

As the party waited in the tree line of the clearing as the full moon reached its zenith, the simulacrum stood in the center looking up into the sky. Soon enough, the massive dragon blocked out the moonlight as it arched across the sky from the southeast, and landed in the clearing right in front of the simulacrum. The party could see the elven rider speaking, but with only a minor illusion the simulacrum would not be able to speak like Galen. It happened so fast, the party prepared to charge into the clearing as the ancient green dragon swatted the simulacrum with it’s massive claw.

The spell gave way instantly, and it looked like the dragon swatted away a snowman - as ‘Galen’ disintegrated into a cloud of white. Rachen was charging into the clearing as the massive dragon leapt into the air and spread its wings. The beast arched up and flapped back towards the southeast. Lachlan thought quickly, and cast fly upon the party. The entire group jumped into the air and flew after the dragon.

And that is where the session ended, with our Peter Pan-like party flying after the dragon. About to engage the beast before it pulled away with its increased flying speed. It was just after midnight, at the start of the two hundred and seventieth (270th) day since the raid on Greenest.

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