Against the Dragon: An ECL 20 Mini-Adventure

[PhoenixRivers]

Backstory: The world is in danger. For whatever reasons, you have all decided that the end of the world is a bad thing. You've identified the creature responsible, a rather powerful lich. It seems that the lich has weaved the magic that will undo the world itself into his existence. Thus, nothing short of permanent destruction will end the threat. Unfortunately, you've not located his phylactery, and can only surmise that it is shielded from detection from spells more powerful than any you can cast to detect it.

Lore has spoken of an ancient creature that knew the Lich in his youth, before he spoke the words that transformed him. Little is known of the creature, save that it is a Dragon, and that by the best guess of small bits of information, is is near the towns of Balkhash and Alakol. The legends state that when the lich was turned, he ensorcelled the dragon, burying the knowledge deep within its mind, preventing it from divulging the information to any, and binding the phylatery's secrecy to the dragon's knowledge. As long as the dragon holds the secret, the phylactery can't be located by any means.

The spell that buried the knowledge only holds sway over the dragon in life. In theory, if it were killed, and spoken to from beyond the grave, it may be able to remember the phylactery's nature, and divulge it, breaking the spell.

Current State: This mini-adventure will begin in the town of Balkhash. It's a small port town, bordering the sea on one side, and a desert on the other. Typically used as a rest stop and trade route between traders willing to brave the desert to take 2 months off of their journeys, though it has seen a recent rise in activity from the mountain range to the north. The range borders the desert on one side, and a swampy marsh area on the other, and the latter creatures seem to be harrying travellers and sea vessels.

CAST:
Pharaoh's Fist (and Orran), playing Seto
Tehnar, playing Ghrem
Superglucose, playing Kagrenac
Toliudar, playing Theda
Mostlyharmful, playing Torvin
PhoenixRivers, playing the dragon, and misc others.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

"Let us gather and plan, men. We'll need to find this dragon's lair and break into it posthaste. Preliminary data indicates that it may be in the mountains to the northeast, but we'll hae to open up a can of diviniations t know for certain."

I can have my Imp Commune for 6 questions. That's all I can contribute in the realm of Diviniation.

[Toliudar]

Theda

The compact, wild-haired woman next to Seto looks askance at him for a moment.

"'Men?' Let's take another look around, sir."

She leans back to consider the task at hand.

"I have a few divinations prepared as well. I'd like to suggest that we gather whatever information we can today, and if we feel that we've learned enough, prepare to travel to the dragon tomorrow.

"As I understand it, we have three goals:

• Learn everything we can about this dragon and their powers
• Learn the location and nature of its home
• Learn the dragon's name, so as to be able to better scry it.

"I'll primarily be able to assist with the second of these. If the dragon is as old and dangerous as we think, then it or its servants must come out to acquire information, goods and food. Which leads to the possibility that it is known and seen around this city."

[Pharaoh's Fist]

"Then shall I try to gather information relating to its powers? I can ask six questions, which might work.

1. Is it metallic?
Assuming it is metallic chromatic, I continue with:
2. Is it Red?
3. Is it Black?
4. Is it White?
5. Is it Blue?
If no to all of those, it is obviously Green. Then I shall start to ask about its age so as to gauge its power. Hopefully I shall spring upon the answer before the fifth question so I have room for more than one inquiry about its age."

[PhoenixRivers]

"Then shall I try to gather information relating to its powers? I can ask six questions, which might work.

1. Is it metallic?
Assuming it is metallic, I continue with:
2. Is it Red?
3. Is it Black?
4. Is it White?
5. Is it Blue?
If no to all of those, it is obviously Green. Then I shall start to ask about its age so as to gauge its power. Hopefully I shall spring upon the answer before the fifth question so I have room for more than one inquiry about its age."

OOC: Pointing out that for the answer to be meaningful, you must identify "it". Powerful agents of the lower planes still need some form of identifying information. Whether or not the spell gleans useful information will likely depend on how you attempt to identify the dragon.

EDIT: OOC2: If you have any buffs active that could influence your ability to detect and discern things, let me know, so that I can reveal such information, as it becomes appropriate.

[Superglucose]

"Then shall I try to gather information relating to its powers? I can ask six questions, which might work.

1. Is it metallic?
Assuming it is metallic, I continue with:
2. Is it Red?
3. Is it Black?
4. Is it White?
5. Is it Blue?
If no to all of those, it is obviously Green. Then I shall start to ask about its age so as to gauge its power. Hopefully I shall spring upon the answer before the fifth question so I have room for more than one inquiry about its age."

Kagrenac

Kagrenac raises his eyebrows at the sorceror.

Now I must grant that I deal mostly in the creation of gods (remind me to tell you this funny story about how I almost killed off my entire species), but it seems to me that the metallic dragons would be, you know, metallic in color. As in, not red, black, white, or blue. We dwarves no quite a bit about metal, and I must say that I've never worked with a metal called "blue" before. Maybe you should instead ask if it is silver, gold, brass, or bronze, and if it is none of the above assume it is copper?

That being said, I think we should avoid asking if it is white or black, as even the mightiest of those dragons isn't an even match for one of us. Save those questions for something more... useful, perhaps. Such as where I put that Heart...


ooc: couldn't pass up poking fun at your typo.

[PhoenixRivers]

OOC: Probably wise. I'd have taken them as listed.

[Tehnar]

Ghrem leans back on his chair:

"I might be of more use tomorrow, when I ask mother nature for a spell that might let us know the lay of the land. Until then, perhaps it is best that I gather supplies for our journey, unless you men are already provisioned."

OOC: I assume we know each other for some time; thus I ask the druids to periodically cast Ironwood on my 60 arrows with wooden arrowheads. If that is not true,I will delete them from my inventory.

[PhoenixRivers]

OOC: It can be reasonably assumed that you're a seasoned adventuring party, rather than 4 individuals that just happened to meet up.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

ooc: couldn't pass up poking fun at your typo.

Damn your eyes! I bite my thumb at thee!

OOC: Pointing out that for the answer to be meaningful, you must identify "it". Powerful agents of the lower planes still need some form of identifying information. Whether or not the spell gleans useful information will likely depend on how you attempt to identify the dragon.

"The nearest dragon" should work, right?

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 1: Is the nearest dragon metallic?

ANSWER: No; Not Who You Seek.

OOC: In cases where a one word answer would be misleading or contrary to the deity's interests, a 5 word or less answer may be used. A Simple "No", is thus either misleading or contrary to the interests of an agent of the lower planes.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Question 2: Does the dragon whom I seek (description of dragon and relation to lich follows if necessary) live within one day's flight of these two towns?

(I'm new to diviniating like this, so yeah...)

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 2: Does the dragon whom I seek (description of dragon and relation to lich follows if necessary) live within one day's flight of these two towns?

Answer: Unclear.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Hm. I suppose "one day's flight" is too imprecise, though that would imply it's not in the immediate vicinity...

Question 3: Is it's abode to the north of here?

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 3: Is it's abode to the north of here?

Answer: Location Unclear.

(a properly warded home would be relatively difficult to detect via divinations. Lower Plane Agents would have the same difficulties you would via divination.)

[Toliudar]

Theda murmurs quickly:

"Perhaps you can accelerate our learning by asking "Is there anyone in this city who has information about the dragon we seek?"

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Hm.

Question 4: Is there anyone in the city who has information as to the dragon we seek?

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 4: Is there anyone in the city who has information as to the dragon we seek?

OOC: Give that man a cookie:

IC:

Answer: Yes. Most of them.

OOC2: The lower planar emissary seems rather chatty to yes or no questions. It seems something about this is definately in the creature's interests. Perhaps even the devils don't want to see their source of souls erased.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

OOC: I figured we'd do that via Gather Information...

Question 5: May information be obtained from the swamp creatures that have been harassing people? (if I read the introductory post right)

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 5: May information be obtained from the swamp creatures that have been harassing people? (if I read the introductory post right)

Answer: Not much. Unrelated to Eolastrix.

[Pharaoh's Fist]

Ok, is there anything any other party members want to know?

[Toliudar]

Spoiler

Show

Thank you, PR! The name was potentially a weird one to try to get.

Theda leans in, intrigued.

"You want to try for the nature of its home? Is it in a cavern? Is it aboveground? Does it live with other dragons - something like that?"

[Pharaoh's Fist]

"Finding the exact nature of its home would take time. i can ask one more question. Perhaps it should be about the presence of powerful minions? Though given the warding that is likely present on its home, I'm not sure how fruitful inquiries in this venue will be."

Question 6: Does the dragon have minions guarding its lair that are a significant threat to us (in the neighborhood of power level >CR 15 is what I'm trying to get at, but I don't know how to express that in character)

[PhoenixRivers]

Question 6: Does the dragon have minions guarding its lair that are a significant threat to us?

Answer: Unclear; likely.

[Toliudar]

Theda smiles as the contact fades.

"That was GREAT, Seto. You got a lot out of a few questions. I'd suggest that we ask around a bit, learn what we can that way. Later today, I can try scrying this dragon - probably won't work, but it's worth a shot. If we can get a little closer, we might be able to scout the vicinity of its home today, cast a few more divinations, and come back more completely prepared tomorrow. Before we retire this evening, I can offer some long-term protections - protections that will be even more useful if we can learn more about the nature of the dragon.

Tehnar:

Spoiler

Show

Happy to have been casting Ironwood on your arrows.

[Superglucose]

Well, now that we know that, it's time to go see what the townspeople have to say about this chromatic dragon Eolastrix. Also, I'm not a master of Divinations, but simply asking what color the dragon Eolastrix is would have resulted in a one-word answer.

In any case, I have a handful of divination tricks up my sleeve. If we can find an object or an artifact that may have once belonged to the dragon, I can find it for us.

[Tehnar]

"We best be careful when asking around. The dragon may have revealed itself in disguise. They are tricky buggers. A red dragon could have shown himself as a white to trick us. Best take anything we hear with a grain of salt."

[PhoenixRivers]

Well, for reference, the town is a small, but unusually well-stocked town, as it's a port stop on a trade route. A rough estimate is around 1,500 people in the town, but there's a lot of exotic items travelling in and out. For a theme, think desert tent town, surrounding a smaller permanent settlement, formed of boxy clay and mud dwellings.

(Translation: decent chance of finding items above the town's standard wealth limits.)

It's not certain exactly how many of the people in the town are residents, and how many are travellers, but there are two caravels in town, and one rather large caravan that appears to be preparing to set out across the desert.

If you need further information about any of the town's structures or inhabitants, inform me, and I'll provide any details you need.

[Tehnar]

Ghrem will ask around the town about any recent events and about any threats to travelers/caravans.

Gather Information (1d20-1)[7]
Time taken (1d4+1)[4] hours

[Superglucose]

Sure w/e, I'll do it too.

(1d20-2)[9]
(1d4+1)[4]