10: Venomfang

Karendil’s investigations of the mysterious sphere have borne fruit: he has discovered a word that will make it light up, one that will make it levitate and follow, and one that will extinguish it; there may be a fourth word but he is unsure of it.  That evening, Embra leads an interrogation of the surviving cultist.  He reveals that the entire operation was Favrik’s, who personally recruited the other cultists and claimed that there is a change in the wind and that the dragons are poised to return and rule Faerûn.  Favrik is convinced that securing the dragon in the tower will grant him greater access to the cult’s upper echelon.  Karendil expresses extreme skepticism over the wisdom of Favrik’s plan and the cultist admits that he thinks Favrik is a bit of a fraud and not much of a wizard.  According to the cultist Favrik went to talk to the dragon and was on a limited time schedule because the group was running low on supplies.

Embra favors executing the cultist for the crimes of waylaying passerby but Davron expresses his discomfort with that judgement.  Embra eventually agrees to shipping the prisoner off to the manor-turned-keep in Phandalin to be tried for his crimes.

[title size=”3″ content_align=”left” style_type=”none”]Day 18[/fusion_title]

The next morning the group clears out the rest of the town and they see a statue displayed prominently of a man who clearly resembles Jory.  The statue is a likeness of Jory’s great-grandfather, one of the founders of Thundertree and a hero of Neverwinter Woods.  The group finds the small headquarters of the town watch and therein find undead.  After a protracted skirmish they destroy all of the undead and, as far as they know, have emptied all buildings beneath the tower of their monstrous occupants.  They sneak up the hill and towards the cottage adjacent to the tower, where they see the corpses of giant spiders which appear to have been mauled by some giant animal.  They apply the powder provided to them by Reidoth, ready their weapons, and move as one towards the doorway.  Shiv detaches from the group and sneaks closer until she hears voices.  She returns and reports the conversation she overheard.  As they enter the tower they hear the conversation and Shiv notes they’re speaking in Draconic and a non-human voice says, “They are here; go down and greet them as I instructed you.”  A weak, reedy voice replies “Yes master.”

The group steels themselves and Davron wonders whether they should interrogate this person if they can restrain him but Embra and Karendil agree that since the potion lasts only an hour, everyone in the tower should be eliminated before it wears out.  They hear stumbling footsteps and the sound of coughing grow louder and Davron and Jory kick the door open.  As they rush in they confront a cultist who is obviously Favrik, who is clearly poisoned and dying.  He weakly mutters “Lord Venomfang will see you now” and collapses face-first into the dirt, dead.  From inside the tower they hear a booming voice utter, “He was not meant to give you my name but I suppose nothing can be done about it now.  Do come in.”

They climb the staircase and Embra orders the shield men up front to lock shields and push through the narrow passageway and into the room, whereafter upon entering the room they fan out.  Venomfang rests in the middle of the room and gazes at them briefly before he inhales deeply and sprays a cone of deadly poison.

Everyone but Embra is wounded by the deadly attack (-10HP Poison), and Steve and Jory are the most stricken (-20HP Poison).  The group launches its attack:

• Embra casts Hunter’s Mark swings her battle axe and hits for 11+5
• Karendil casts Magic Missle 4+4+3
• Davron mass heals the group for 20HP each
• Shiv casts Witchbolt but misses
• Steve in Bear Form claws & bites for 6+8
• Jory swings and hits for 13

Venomfang bites at Embra but misses; he claws at Steve, striking the bear for 11; he claws at Jory but misses.

• Embra activates Vow of Emnity and strikes for 14+5
• Karendil casts Scorching Ray and strikes (one is a crit) 9+9+15
• Davron casts Guided Strike and strikes with a crit, doing 12
• Shiv casts Witchbolt for 12 Lightning damage, committing the killing blow.

Venomfang collapses in a heap and the group gazes at one another, collectively amazed by their achievement.  The group learns they are inside a wizard’s tower and they search to find a few items of note.  The group buries the elf Ranger, burns the bodies of the cultists, lashes their surviving cultist prisoner to the wagon, and returns to Phandalin.

• 10 Twig Blights
• 9 Undead
• Venomfang, the young green dragon.

• From Favrik’s corpse: 10sp, 2gp, interesting & well-made leather armor
• Venom Fang’s haul: 800sp, 150gp, 4 silver goblets set with moonstones worth 60gp each,  1 scroll of Misty Step, 1 Scroll of Lightning Bolt, 1 old +1 battle axe called Hew that does maximum damage to any plant creature.
• Venom Fang’s heart, brain, venom sac, skull, talons, scales, teeth, wings, blood, etc. (Steve and Karendil are savvy enough to know how to extract these items without damaging anything) Valued at ??

805 XP (3830 XP total)

• Cut v Uncut
  “I like a little queso on my choritzo” — DM, quoting a queen from San Antonio
• Louisiana
  DM: You can hear a conversation in the distance.  Not like “three counties over” in the distance, but maybe someone’s talking back over here and you can hear a bit of it.
  Steve: I was told to call them parishes.
• Who Hasn’t, Really?
  Karendil: I think we should kick the door down and Surprise, Motherfucker! all over his ass.
  Shiv: “All over his ass”.  Who hasn’t had that happen?
• The Naming of Things
  “I need to name my sword; what is Elvish for ‘Killing People When They’re Restrained’?” — Embra