A door stands in the southeast wall of this tidy room. A bed lies against the northwest wall and candle burns steadily on a small table.
This chamber looks more like a forest cave than a room. Piles of large stones heaped against the walls break up the straight lines and angles of the room, and pots and bowls sprout ferns and ivy. A large, badly torn pallet lies atop the stones up against the southwest wall, resembling a nest more than a bed. A double door leads out to the southeast and a small window in the northwest wall looks out over the forest beyond.
Grenwold nods and passes a potion of healing to Fenton, to quickly healing him, before casting a few spells and switching out his weapons.
”We’re ready.”
Grenwold and Cirieo drink their potions, then head up the stairs, resulting in a really shrill alarm going off.
This level of the tower resembles a marshy, mist-shrouded cavern. Water cascades down from a strange rock formation in the ceiling, feeding an enormous, murky pool banked by hefty blocks of stone. Mud and shallow pools—all thick with swamp grass, cattails, and ferns—completely conceal the stone floors. A large, ragged hole punches through the southern wall, curtained by a thick tangle of moss and hanging vines. A flooded staircase leads down, while a small niche is tucked against the northeast wall. The unmistakable sparkle of gold and silver twinkles from the fetid pool.
A large black dragon lounges in the centre of the pool, soaking in the water while 3 bright-eyed lizards with brightly colored frills look up at the intruding party and hiss angrily at the party.
At the back of the room are a lion and a cougar.
The lion is a wildshaped druid and can grab with its bite. The cougar is the druids animal companion and can trip with its bite.
When a giant frilled lizard charges, it hisses ferociously, extends its neck frills, and darts forward on its hind legs, increasing its base speed to 50 feet for that round. In addition to the normal effects of a charge, the creature charged must make a Will save or be shaken for 1d6 rounds. This is a fear effect.
Nigel throws a bomb at the black dragon in the pool and realizes that the black dragon is utterly unaffected after the smoke clears. He realizes he has been dealing with a illusion!
Robert double moves.
Cirieo urges Cavall up the stairs screaming, "Murderer of Errol! Die!" He then releases an arrow at the dragon.
Cirieo sees his arrow strike the dragon without effect, then yells to the party, "The dragon in the pool is a illusion! The real dragon must be hiding somewhere else!"
The lion yowls as it begins to cast a spell as a column of flame descends from the sky, catching Nigel, Robert, Cavall and Cirieo.
Grenwold and Robert recognizes the spell as flamestrike.
Cavall doesn't manage to get out of the way in time, but Cirieo, Robert and Nigel do, though they are still burnt by the flames.
"Who dares intrude upon the Scar-Maker?" A voice from the back roars as a large black dragon emerges from where it was hiding, in the swamp vegetation, then breathes a line of acid on Cirieo, Cavall and Robert.
Cavall does not manage to get out of the way in time though Cirieo and Robert manage to get partially out of the way.
Despite Father Noelan's protections, Cireo and Robert get slightly burnt by the acid.
Cavall gives a pained whine.
Ow!
"Cavall..damnit!"Indecision wars on Father Noelan's face as he ponders on whether to call Cavall to back down. Father Noelan decides to move to Cavall's aid instead.
Grenwold and Fenton moves up and attempts to engage with the lizards near the front to clear a path to the other foes. Noticing the likelyhood that a druid is working for the legion, Grenwold says in Sylvan: "Ինչ!? Ինչու եք աշխատում այս հրեշներին: Նրանք կկործանեն անտառները ... եւ նույնիսկ կարող են միավորվել Arlantia- ի հետ:"
swift (Grenwold) - Planar Focus (Earth)
Move (both) - Approach foes
Standard - Some attacks
Fenton manages to gore the red lizard with his horns,while Grenwold strikes at the unordered lizard with his glaive.
The unbordered lizard closes in with Grenwold to bite him, and Grenwold lashes out with his glaive. The unordered lizards bite bounces off Grenwold's green shield.
The red lizard strikes at Fenton with its teeth and tail, but does not manage to bite through his hide and Fenton ducks out of the way of the tail.
The yellow lizard closes in with Robert but it gets sliced by Grenwold.
It then tries to bite Robert,but its teeth clank off Roberts breastplate.
Nigel manages to bite and claw the yellow lizard but the final claw bounces off its thick hide.
It does not appear if anyone understands what Grenwold is saying.
+1 Adaptive Comp. Longbow on Dragon
Cirieo tries to shoot the yellow lizard off Robert, without any success.
The yellow frilled lizard tries to bite Robert as he shoots at the dragon, but it clanks off his chain mail.
The two shots arc off the dragon's armored scales.
The lion begins to growl out a spell.
Grenwold recognizes the spell as Aqueous orb. An orb of water appears on top of him and Fenton, then rolling towards Father Noelan and Cavall.
Fenton manages to dodge the orb of water, but Grenwold, Cavall and Father Noelan get battered by the ball, though they manage not to be trapped in it.
The party notices that the rock piles near the pool provide cover.
The cougar then moves towards Nigel, and tries to bite him.
Nigel gets savagely bitten by the cougar.
The large black dragon flies over to Nigel, roaring, "Who you calling lizard?", then taking a bite out of Nigel.
"Flee, whelp, to nurse the wounds the Scar-Maker gave you."The dragon warns Nigel.
Father Noelan makes his way to Nigel to heal him.
Grenwold fatalistically wears a look of resignation on his face, and groans, "Druid, why are you in league with these villains. They would despoil the whole forest. We think they are working with Arlantia." He turns his attention to the nearby lizard, trying to strike as hard as possible while making Fenton as dangerous as he can.
Swift (Grenwold) - switch Fenton to fire focus
Free (drop glaive)
Move (Grenwold) - Draw morningstar
Standard (Grenwold) - attack unbordered
Full (Fenton) - attacks on unbordered and red
After failing utterly, then, to Cirieo, "Cirieo, flee, get out of here. There's nothing more you can do."
The Dire Lion meows at Grenwold, then it turns into an exasperated growl.
Don’t know who Arlantia is, sure, Ibzairiak asked me to grow herbs, mushrooms and fungi for him, but well, I can and it keeps him happy. And you’re trampling over everything!
”Well I don’t know who Arlantia is either, but I’ve got Jang here to help me grow herbs, mushrooms and fungi for my future mate, Naphexi. Someday I’ll win her heart. I’m sure of it!” The black dragon declares.
Grenwold manages to wound the unbordered lizard by clobbering it on its head, but it still remains up.
Cirieo looks at Grenwold hesitating, knowing that his companions need him here. ”I don’t want to leave you guys to face all this alone. But….do you want me to evacuate the ground level?” He asks Grenwold.
The unbordered lizard and red lizard attack Fenton, ordered on by the hissing black dragon, after watching Fenton interpose himself between the blows aimed at his companions, while the yellow lizard attacks Robert.
Fenton manages to lithely dodge most of the attacks except for one bite, as does Robert.
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Nigel gives the Dragon a calculating look.
"Mighty One, if all you care about is your future mate, Naphexi, and zat Jang here can grow you your herbs and fungi, I take it zat you have no specific love for, or loyalty to, ze Legion? I mean, ze forces here are now only so much carrion, and von't be useful as minions.
As a result, would it, zerefore, be possible to convince you to relocate viz Jang somevhere closer to your future bride? Zat vay, you vould be closer to your love, and vouldn't have to deal viz annoying humanoid gnats constantly impinging upon your domain - and if you stay here, zat vill definitely happen... Zey may not be much of a zreat, but it vould be irritating..."
He then looks at the others.
"I am sure zat ve could help by presenting you viz a suitable 'relocation fee' to help assuage your righteous fury at ze inconvenience of it all...?"
Cirieo bites his lip, his eyes flinty hard. ”Are you serious that you’re negotiating with this mass murderer?” He snaps at Nigel angrily. ”He deserves to die for killing my friends!”
”Oh that halfling…I remember him. Wasn’t he the one who threw stuff at me? And his pet owl, mmph, he was delicious, if not more filling then a snack” The black dragon answers lazily.
”No..but…aren’t we supposed to be the heroes who’d kill the dragon and liberate the Fangwood from the Ironfang Legion and their ilk?” Cirieo ventures hesitantly.
The dragon on the other hand pays Cirieo no heed.
”Ok, you didn’t kill my lizard pets,” The dragon mutters out loud, ”So that’s a plus,” He adds.” And we were getting tired with hobgoblins bothering us with the pesky details of commanding.”
The lion gives a mao after the dragon.
Didn’t hurt Ruanni as well. So that’s another plus.
The dragon looks at Nigel speculatively, ”Hmm…let me look into what you have to offer…like take a peek in your backpacks and grab something out of it. I’ll take that as my relocation fee, its true things are a little squishy here, right, Jang?”
The lion meows at the black dragon.
Yeah pretty much. It’s not as if we can turn the whole compound into our garden.
”Also,” The black dragon adds as an afterthought. ”I’ll need to do an aerial survey to find a suitable new territory, unless you’d like to suggest one, and even so I’d still do an aerial survey with Jang after to make sure it really was suitable.”
”This is getting tiresome, Jang,” He raises an eyebrow at the dire lion. ”You know I don’t speak cat.”
”Oh and I don’t want any humanoids in my new territory. Unless they’re new minions pledging allegiance to me, I could use more gardeners. Trained ones.” The black dragon adds while eyeing the party. "Also, I could use some help relocating, and since you guys are conveniently here..."
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Nigel winces, and sighs, before addressing Cirieo wanly:
"We are not the heroes that the Fangwood deserves, we are the heroes that it needs. If sacrificing my pride saves lives, then that is a sacrifice worth making. Moreover, I am more effective as a live hero, than a dead martyr. Besides, it sounds like these two have no love for the Legion..."
He then nods to the dragon.
"Provided that you are willing to grant us the time to finish clearing-out some of the outbuildings, then I think we have an accord."
"There is no need."A new voice adds as the dire lion shimmers, then a short, squat hobgoblin appears in its place. "I'll collect Brownie, and we'll tell Marrowcrack to scoot. The kennels there was some kind of ghostie that Marrowcrack was supposed to exorcise, but couldn't be arsed to.That one we have no jurisdiction over, so you're on your own."
"Is Parthuk all right? I would wish him to come along with us as well."Jang asks the party.
The black dragon rummages through the party's bag of holding, then pulls out the rod they found in the Chimera's lair and takes it. "I'll take that. Relocation fee and all."
"And Jang, what do we need to relocate," The black dragon gestures at the room, "Everything?"
"Some of those people who are good at building things, otherwise, a lot of carts." Jang replies.
”They spearheaded the assault against the Rangers damn it.” Cirieo glares at the dragon and the dire lion. ”The Legion wouldn’t have had a foothold in the Fangwood if not for them.”
”No love for the Legion indeed.” Cirieo spits on the ground.
”Cirieo, there’s no point fighting battles we can’t win.” Father Noelan adds placatingly.
”I’ll have no further part in this!” Cirieo pulls himself off Cavall and limps down the stairs. ”And be sure, dragon, you and I have a score to settle.” Cirieo stares daggers at the black dragon before leaving. ”I’m better off getting people I care about out of here.”
"Damn, I liked Parthuk."Jang sighs. "You must have been pretty determined to do it. He's not easy to kill, being a troll and all."Jang answers. "But again he'd want his remains returned to the earth, so Im due some earth elemental form and some digging."
Jang looks at the place with a faraway expression on her face while she mentally estimates the number of carts required."10 carts for the top, 10 carts for the bottom. Bring some harnesses as well, Ruanni and I can be hitched to those carts."
"You're welcome to."The black dragon gives Cirieo a nasty smile, showing lots of teeth. "Just don't expect mercy this time."
"I don't trust that b@stard to uphold his end of the deal so we'd better scoot out of here while we still can."Cirieo says flatly.
On each of the bodies, Nigel finds potions of barkskin (2), potions of cure moderate wounds(2), antitoxin (2); daggers (5), two rings and etched copper-and-iron bracers (worth 125 gp)
”How big are the wagons?” Jang asks Nigel. ”Size please.”
”We could have tried throwing a tangle foot bag at him, then running for it. Possibly fought him on the stairs, so that we’d only face him at one go.” Cirieo stubbornly insists. ” Ratel promised we’d get revenge for Errol, and here I find you collaborating with his murderer. That’s just sickening.”
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Nigel shrugs.
"6,000lbs of gear can be hauled in zem...?"
Nigel looks grim.
"Sure, but Ratel isn't here. You know as vell as I do zat he and Hedran vere a significant segment of our muscle, and arcane power. As for ze stairwell, vhy vould he deign to come down to face us? He could just breath-veapon dovn ze stairvell, or his druid companion could send zat rolling ball of vater after us. I mean, a one-two bite from ze cat, and him, nearly killed me! Imagine vhat vould have happened if he had actually brought all of his natural weapons to bear upon us..."
He then frowns.
"Also, hindsight is 20/20. I didn't hear you making any of zese suggestions earlier, vhen it mattered. Moreover, ve don't have any tanglefoot bags! I did vhat I zought vould result in us *not* all dying. I can live viz zat; emphasis on live..."
Nigel then pinches the bridge of his nose, and sighs.
"A vise man once said, 'he vho seeks revenge should first dig two graves'; don't let revenge consume you. Vhilst zere is life, zere is hope. Viz ze backbone of ze Legion broken in ze area, you vill have a chance to rebuild. Ze dragon being out of ze immediate area is simply a bonus. Focus on zat; I have a feeling zat ze Rangers vill need all ze help zat zey can get."
”Hmm…then they’ll need to be layered so that the plants can be stacked on top of each other. Probably will hitch Brownie to the other wagon then.” Jang contemplates out loud.
”His breath weapon is a line, so since the stairwell curves, it wouldn’t go all the way down.” Cirieo argues. ”Not sure about that rolling ball of water though”
”And I didn’t know you were going to do THAT…”
”I’ll get my friends out of here – Cobb will find a way to rebuild the Chernasado Rangers without me. I will find a way to hunt the dragon down. Even if it costs me my life. I know the Chernasado Rangers will continue, so I will rest content.” Cirieo swears.
In the map the locations of the three Ranger forts are clearly marked, along with a few secret blinds and caches. Some spots are marked with a stylized skull.The figurines represent the locations of Ironfang Legion forces in the Fangwood, although most of these markers are out of date (for example, the figurines show a large contingent of hobgoblins at Fort Ristin and several trolls and hobgoblins occupying Fort Nunder).The most unusual figurine on the map represents a stylized dragon in flight. The dragon figurine is positioned near the northern edge of the map, and is holding down a folded piece of paper. This folded page is torn from an atlas, and depicts the entire Fangwood with much less detail. Along the edge of the page are calculations about dragon flying speeds from Fort Trevalay over 12 hours, 24 hours, and 36 hours, with question marks next to each. The central Fangwood region labeled only as “The Blight” is circled, along with the note “Why here?”
Jang comes down the stairs, paying the hobgoblin bodies no heed, with her cougar. "Since we're moving, I really ought to be packing up."She takes the dragon figurine, then goes into one of the chambers, where Nigel hears the sound of things being thrown about, then she comes out and heads back up to the swampy garden.
The cloth map hanging from the northwest wall is less impressive than the table map, but by far more chilling. It depicts Nirmathas and northern Molthune, with labels tidily written in Goblin. A red “X” marks the town of Phaendar, and thick, red lines branch out from it across the Nesmian Plains and north up the Marideth River. A dotted line encircles the Nesmian Plains down past the dwarven Sky Citadel of Kraggodan, east through Molthune, and into the Fangwood. The newest annotation, which leads north along the river to the refining town of Longshadow, one of Nirmathas’s manufacturing strongholds.
"Well, it looks like we know the Legion's next target. Once the Fort is back under Ranger control, we should leave."
Grenwold says nothing, but breathes quietly as Nigel negotiates the departure of the dragon. As Cirieo prepares to leave, Grenwold says; ”keep yourself safe.” He says nothing as the druid and dragon prepare to depart, and when he moves downstairs he refocuses and takes a look at the legion’s plans and maps along with Nigel. He will cast detect magic at anything Nigel requests to examine.
Grenwold says to Nigel, ”you need healing before we continue, let’s use a wand on you.” Gren will use the inflict wand in Nigel if he wants. ”Let’s heck the rest of the rooms in here, see if we can clear out any more enemies.... This is a bitter pill to swallow.”
"Yeah, we should all heal up. *sigh* We weren't ready for this. I hope that Cirieo can stay alive until we are."