Session Title : Giants and Dragons
Session Date : 12 March 2021
DM : Calmseeker
Characters:
–Balthier (Rogue 7)
-“Scout” Bardy (Bard 7, Cleric 1)
–Don (Cleric 8, Sorcerer 1) with Colonel (a horse) and the Apparatus of Atherton
-“Trailblazer” Glanfath (Barbarian 7)
-“Chronicler” Griters (Wizard 7)
–Marcus Wellspring (Cleric 8)
-“Leader” and “Chronicler” Zugall (Fighter 7)
An additional log by Bardy.
(Recently I had occasion for an adventure in the forest far south of Port Mirandia. The night before we left, Honkers and I had way too much to drink after a disagreement, not one of my better ideas. I left him sleeping quite soundly and he seemed his normal irascible self upon my return. Maybe he missed me?, he is really hard to read. )
We were approached by a merchant who said he had been attacked by dragons (white dragons upon our query) in the forest, destroying his goods. He wanted us to get vengeance for him and put down this threat. He gave us a vague location of where he was attacked and where the dragons seemed to come from. We agreed to do this and set off in short order.
Due to the presence of the Apparatus of Atherton (which is an unnerving thing to be around) we decided to follow the road south east of Port Mirandia so we could use the bridge to cross the river. During the first day of travel we found a blackened tree dripping with red sap that could be used to enchant arrows with fire magic.
The first night passed with no noteworthy moments. (I like the peaceful nights) As we moved along the second day, we noticed the river was starting to show a slight amount of thawing. (this winter has seemed longer to me, but I think that every year) We found a tree with some flat furry apples, but no one was interested in trying them. (Had he been there I feel like Gau would have eaten these before anyone could suggest otherwise )
We crossed the bridge with out incident. Shortly after entering the forest we saw a frost giant with a yeti. Zugall decided to talk him, and then to a female giant that came up. (I could not understand the conversations but whatever he said, they attacked us almost immediately). The battle was ferocious, the female giant screaming in rage with near continuous swinging at Zugall. (whatever he said, she really wanted to kill him.) This dance continued as she seemed even able to resist even death until finally, Griters hit her with some fire.
The other creatures were mostly captivated by various Hypnotic Patterns (in her rage the female giant threw massive boulders at her allies in attempts to wake them up, one so forceful she stunned the bloke) Many of our party spent much of this encounter staying as far away as possible from the Apparatus of Atherton, having been warned by Don that it could not tell friend from foe unless you possessed one of the few broaches to which it is attuned.
Searching their bodies, a slightly magical ring was discovered. This ring’s magic seemed to indicate having sworn fealty to the recently slain White Witch. We rest a bit to recover from the fight and then continued our way through the forest until nightfall. During the first watch, a large shadow was seen approaching our party, so those sleeping were awoken. This shadow turned out to be a rather large Silver Dragon named Argentius.
Marcus and Balthier (with some magical assistance) talked to Argentius. He was curious as to our presence. Then he told us how his daughter Silvia had been kidnapped by some white dragons and asked us to try to find and rescue her. He used a magic mirror to make images of some of the party for a collection of such images and told us where we might find him to return his daughter. Balthier somehow convinced him to give a scale to take back to Voromis. (a druid in Port Mirandia with an interest in parts of unusual creatures) The rest of the evening passed uneventfully.
Shortly into the next day’s travel we saw a group of 6 frost giants approaching with signals of intent to parley. Zugall immediately went forward (and remembering his last few attempts at negotiating with frost giants I decided to cast Tongues on myself and gingerly went forward). We had a rather pleasant (for frost giants) conversation with the Chief of this frost giant tribe (I well remember his face, but the adrenaline and fear of talking to this chief at such a close range has removed his name from my mind)
He first asked us if we had seen a female frost giant, who had a description matching to the one we had killed the day before. We decided to be honest about that. (I was getting ready to grab Zugall and Dimension Door us away) Honesty turned out to be a good choice as he had been trying to find her to kill her for supporting the White Witch. We were by this Chief that his tribe was the only one who to not support the White Witch. (In hindsight this would have been a good point to mention that some of us had been the ones to kill the White Witch)
The Chief then mentioned his issue with some white dragons that had been around. We said we were hunting some. The Chief said he had information where they were, which he would only give us if we won a drinking contest. One of us versus one of them. (why he would not just tell us must be some note of giant pride that I do not understand) I happily volunteered Zugall for this contest. His fortitude for frost giant ale was stronger than that of an actual frost giant.
Having won the contest, the Chief told us the location he had last seen the white dragons. He then mentioned that only his tribe would be non-hostile so best avoid any other giants we might encounter. (this is sensible advice for all giant encounters) The Chief gave us a potion (of frost giant strength) to aid against the dragons. They then left us, possibly for their village which we were told was northwest of where we were.(with the suggestion not to go there)
As we got closer to where we believed the dragons were, some tracks were spotted. These tracks were made by dragons, and there was also a humanoid dragonborn amongst them. Following these tracks, we eventually came about a valley in which we found the silver dragonling Silvia, a hobgoblin mage and a dragonborn sorcerer named Setos. Dragonborn Sorcerer Setos welcomed us as sacrifices for the dragon god then beckoned to three white dragons who were hidden. They then attacked. The ensuing battle was chaotic.
Dragonborn Sorcerer Setos (unwisely) approached our melee warriors to better hit them with a spell. This was his doom as they heroically ended his life before he could cast another. Balthier danced with one of the dragons, avoiding its blows while striking ferociously, killing it.
I cowered, holding a Hypnotic Pattern on the hobgoblin; Griters was doing some mind magic on the dragons, hindering them; Glanfath pulled the focus of one of the dragons and resisted much of it blows; Zugall taking hits while smashing; Marcus healing wounds on himself and Zugall; Don pulling that infernal contraption around while casting spells. (Fate seemed with us in these moments).
After the battle Marcus talked with Silvia as we got her free. She wanted to find her father and while grateful for the help, she was eager to set off. We found various choice dragon parts for Voromis, rested a bit, then went to find her father. He found us a few hours later and was delighted upon the return of his daughter and thankful for our assistance. They quickly left us, so we continued back to Port Mirandia, stopping to make camp at nightfall.
There were some minor events during the night, but nothing particularly noteworthy. Sensing how close to Port Mirandia we were, we pushed through the next night to get there sooner, (possibly I wanted to check on Honkers) arriving safely.