This is a Plan?
Before leaving the cozy shelter of the master quarters, they each assess the status of their stone rings.
ROLAN: Mine is still intact.
QHOR: Mine is too… oh wait…
He blows gem dust from the empty inset.
QARZ: Mine’s been gone for a bit, but I think I should pop in one of those blue sapphires for some added agility.
ARAN: I’m going for a white sapphire for the strength enhancement. Qhortho, you should grab one of these too. I have a second one here you can have.
QHOR: Perfect.
ARAN: I should also be ready to down this fire resist potion. I remember it getting hotter faster as we descended into those tunnels. I can probably push through the first few areas, but it got ridiculous in the larger caverns with the huge gaps in the floor. I’ll probably wait until we’re about to enter that area before I take this.
QARZ: Sounds like a plan. Hey Qhortho, do you remember back when we had those wrist chains from Tyrone?
QHOR: Do I remember? Do I remember being enslaved just after setting foot in this land? The first time I’d been free of slavery since I was a mere child? Enslaved by yet another evil man? Do I remember??
QARZ: Yeah.
QHOR: Yeah, I remember.
QARZ: Well those gave off some form of water magic and whenever I would conjure R’hllor’s blessings, it would turn to some acid-like substance and sizzle away flesh.
QHOR: I… uh… hmmm…
Qarzdaq turns to Rolan.
QARZ: I bring this up because I think we might be able to do something like that with the 2 of us. I know we can’t cross the streams, but maybe if you are channeling some sort of water magic, I can cast fire at the target. Or vice versa. Anyway, something to think about.
ROLAN: Yeah, we could give that a shot.
They take a few minutes to divide up their red potion stock and prepare to head out.
QARZ: Wait… before we go… we should discuss how we’re going to deal with this dragon.
ARAN: I don’t think we can beat that dragon.
QARZ: No. Me neither. Which is why I need to get the chance to talk to him.
QHOR: Talk to a dragon? Perhaps you do not know dragons as well as you imagine, think, or believe.
QARZ: All you know is how to kill them. And even then, only the babies.
QHOR: A red dragon cannot be reasoned with… they know only killing…
QARZ: How would you know?
QHOR: The dragon we met at Dragonmont is not like the dragon we saw down there.
QARZ: Yes, but I feel a strange affinity for this dragon. I think I may have more influence over him than YOU imagine, think, or believe.
QHOR: All I know is that thing is bigger than I can kill.
QARZ: I think it’s bigger than all 4 of us can kill, which is why I think we need to talk.
QHOR: And how do you think we can do that?
QARZ: Sneak?
ARAN: That area is swarming with some pretty powerful creatures.
They discuss a few options, coalescing on the idea of Qarzdaq messaging the great dragon from above as the rest of the crew engage in battle if the creatures come up from the bottom level.
ROLAN: I picked up a few new tricks. I got something for those assholes.
QARZ: Yeah, he’s got something for that asshole.
ROLAN: Water Magic.
Qarzdaq acts as if he’s been shot in the ass by water magic.
QARZ: Oh no, it’s corrosive!
ROLAN: Just call me the human bidet!
They have a chuckle before the gravity of the situation returns. They double-check that they have all their possessions before leaving the quarters. Aran is leading the way, but he stops short just after the room’s threshold. Qarzdaq bumps into him, Rolan bumps into Qarzdaq, and Qhortho bumps into Rolan.
ARAN: We need to get the latest code from the study…
QARZ: You could have just kept walking straight dude.
ARAN: Onward.
He makes a grand gesture pointing forward then leads them all down the hall where they find the number 8792 scrawled on the wall in Draconic. They head to the magic door that leads to the sacrificing room and trace out the digits into the 4 circles. It swings open as it had twice before, hitting them with an unpleasant heat.
They descend into the darkness, now without the aid of Darkvision.
QARZ: Hold up Aran.
ARAN: Yeah?
Qarzdaq reaches out and touches the blade of his guandao. It begins to glow bright yellow.
ARAN: Good call…
They turn the first corner towards the sacrificing room, kicking aside the scattered bones.
ARAN: Tripwire here.
They all step over it, proceeding cautiously, ready for the kobolds to pop out at any moment. None appear. They press on.
They continue towards the back hall in the room, peeking into each storage room along the way.
Aran remembers the pressure plate at the back of this room and tests it with his guandao. The floor does not appear to depress with pressure so he bravely steps onto the tile. Nothing happens. With a sigh of relief, they continue forward.
They follow the long hallway and Aran notifies everyone of the tripwire before entering the Light’s Sparks expansion with the collapsed far wall. They all step over the trap and continue forward, climbing over the line of rubbles at the far end of the room. This area is all-natural cavern as opposed to the fine masonry of the Light’s Sparks areas.
Qhortho groans at the idea of having to maneuver through these tunnels.
Traps, Traps, Traps… and Traps…
Did I Mention Traps?
They descend the first long tunnel into the increasingly hot region of the underground lair.
QARZ: It’s getting hot…
QHOR: Can’t your god do something about that?
QARZ: He did… He made me resistant to how harmful the heat can be… I still feel it though.
They continue down this long tunnel until it opens up to the (relatively) cavernous room were you first entered the kobold tunnel system. Where Qhortho ran off to the left-most tunnel exit and was trapped by a portcullis. The light provided by Aran’s guandao is dim at that range of about 35-40 feet, but the first few steps of the tunnel are visible. The portcullis is no longer down; it has been reset.
ARAN: Be aware that the traps may have all been reset.
ROLAN: Yeah, I definitely sense those little fuckers around here.
Rolan looks across the room.
ROLAN: But I don’t think they are in this room. Keep your eyes open.
ARAN: We went through the first exit on the right over here, should we follow the same path?
ROLAN: I think we should. It’s a known way to get where we need to go. I can tell you which way we went.
They continue through the first tunnel to the right, proceeding cautiously. They find the area where they fought the Hell Hounds chained to a post. Their bodies are mostly charred with parts turned to ash. They continue following Rolan’s instructions into the tunnel to the next room. Aran stops short of the trip wire at the end of the tunnel.
ARAN: Watch the trap here guys. You can just step over it.
They enter the staging and training area containing combat dummies and barricades. Aran sweeps his Lighted guandao slowly through the air, looking across the room for signs of danger.
QHOR: Is it weird that we haven’t seen anyone yet?
ROLAN: They are around… just keep your wits about y–.
Rolan silences himself.
ROLAN: Sorry.
QHOR: What?
ROLAN: Never mind.
Aran jogs over to a small hole in the back section of wall.
ARAN: Ha! Gotcha. The trap I set when we came through here last got one of them.
Aran takes the trap and leaves the body.
They proceed to the only exit large enough for them where all the larger stones fell on Aran the first time.
ROLAN: At least this one wasn’t reset.
They squeeze through the tunnel into the weapon storage room. Although the simple weapons appear to be crafted with skill, they are far weaker than any gear the party has accumulated to this point.
There are 2 exits from this room: one to the right, one to the left.
ROLAN: We took the right one last time. I think we should continue retracing our steps.
This tunnel slopes down.
ARAN: Hey watch…
ROLAN: Shh…
Rolan whispers a warning about kobolds being nearby. Aran nods then continues his thought in hushed tones.
ARAN: Trap up here. Just watch your step. Hey, this was the place where we were ambushed last time from all those alcoves.
ROLAN: We want to go in the tunnel ahead that is farthest to the right. Just be careful not to mistake one of the alcoves for the exit. We want the one that is mostly straight.
Rolan points this out to Qarzdaq, who then points I out to Aran.
ARAN: Ah, yeah. I don’t think there was a trap blocking that one. I say we run as quickly as possible through here. Qhortho, if they follow behind, you’ll be the first line of defense back there.
QHOR: Let them bring it.
As he steps out of the tunnel, Aran’s guandao continues to shed enough light to see most of the cavern. He doesn’t immediately see any enemies, so he dashes towards the next small tunnel.
Everyone manages to avoid triggering the trap, but Qhortho, in his blind rush, pushes past everyone, almost knocking a few of them over. Luckily, he had some room to maneuver around them and only barely sideswiped them on his way. He gets to the tunnel exit first and immediately pushes through into the tunnel. After entering the tunnel, he realizes this was not the plan, but that’s their fault for being slower.
Immediately after Rolan is inside the tunnel, an arrow slams into the wall just behind him. Kobold chirping fills the room behind them, but the party continues forward. In his concern for being followed, Aran passes his recovered trap back in the line to Qarzdaq, who immediately understands and passes it back to Rolan.
Rolan sets the trap very quickly and plants it cleverly to make it look like some random sticks. He chuckles to himself and quickly squirms through the tunnel to catch up with the group. This tunnel is especially curvy and ascends a good 10-15 feet. Each of them has thoughts of how easily it would be for them to be ambushed right now. Not hearing the trap go off, means they are probably not being pursued… but if that is the case, then were they corralled to come this way?
A few moments later, they reach the top of the slope at the entry to a mining room. They pause here a moment whispering about whether they should change course to throw the creatures off their tracks.
The snap of Rolan’s trap echoes through the tunnel, followed by angry snarls and chirping. They decide to stick to the plan. These things aren’t so tough. Qhortho quickly leads them down the slope that continues forward. They enter the next room and prepare for the influx of kobolds. Aran and Qhortho split and stand against the wall, ready to surprise the first few unlucky enough to pop through. Qarzdaq and Rolan stand back a few feet. Simultaneously ready to attack and to act as bait.
They wait with rising tension for the first few seconds. A few seconds becomes a minute. Nothing. A minute becomes 2. Still nothing. They begin to accept the kobolds are not coming after them. Unless… those crafty fuckers are pushing them forward into an upcoming ambush…
Just then they are struck by a few stones… from the tunnel on the opposite side of the room! Several kobolds swarm into the room. Qhortho is the first to react.
He rushes up to the group, focusing as much on a flank as possible to avoid the pileup he experienced last time. With a couple of deft swipes, he cleaves through 2 of the creatures.
Rolan takes a few steps back. He’d prefer more distance, but the room is quite small. He manages to fire off a couple of arrows.
The first strikes and kills one of the more creatively geared kobolds. As he falls, the crate on his back smashes the ground and a swarm of centipedes fans out around the corpse.
QARZ: Damn it! I hate those things…
Rolan’s second arrow pierces the last kobold’s eye. The creature takes a step backwards, standing flat against the wall before sliding down and slumping over.
QARZ: I’ll clean up these centipedes…
Qarzdaq sends a fire bolt into the swarm. The intense heat immediately sends them into a sizzle before they each begin to pop, leaving a slimy mess for the next adventurers to clean up.
QHOR: Well that got more powerful.
QARZ: Yeah, I suppose it did!
ARAN: Ok so they clearly know where we are and they are not going to let us get back down there easily… Let’s keep moving, but keep your eyes open for anything.
Just before Aran enters the next tunnel, he replays his own words and looks closely for a trap. He notices a thin slot in the cavern wall.
ARAN: Hey guys, step back. The way is trapped, but I don’t see where the trigger is.
He lights the slot with his guandao and looks more closely, being careful not to stand too close.
ARAN: I can see the mechanics embedded into this slot and I think I can see how it releases the payload… I’m going to try and disarm it with my glaive, but it might go off. Just say clear.
Aran steps back a good 5 feet, sliding the blade of his guandao into the slot to line it up and then jamming it in at full force. A hard snap is heard followed by silence. Aran winces as he slides his weapon out of the wall. As he does, spikes emerge from the sandy ground at the tunnel’s entrance. They don’t shoot out of the ground as it seems like they were intended to; instead they just bob up and down for a few oscillations before settling fairly low to the ground.
ARAN: I think we’re in the clear with this one. I can’t believe that worked…
ROLAN: The throne room is next. We’ll probably hit more resistance there.
Throne Room
Aran leads the way with Qhortho covering the rear. They quietly proceed through the tunnel, but before they exit into the next room, they see at least a dozen eyes on the other side of the room, standing in front of one of the exits. They are barely visible in the dim light shed by Aran’s guandao.
ARAN: Ready yourselves…
Qarzdaq whispers to Aran.
QARZ: Yeah, I can see them… They aren’t the well-armed ones.
Aran nods and steps into the room slowly.
The first stone is cast by the kobolds, but it is cast so unsatisfactorily that its arc reaches its apex after its first bounce on the hard, rocky floor. The more juvenile might see its careening path towards the offerings bucket as some sort of consolation prize; if it were to land with their god’s offerings, at least a story could be told of this impeccably bad toss. But no. The throw is so unsatisfactory that it also misses the cauldron’s generously wide opening. So this would at least be satisfactory to the protagonists, no? No. No, it wouldn’t. At this point, it becomes clear that the stone must be a manifestation of pure malintent. Having already beaten its slinger, the time has come for its target. The stone slams the side of the offerings pot, ringing the cavern with the distinct sound of stone on iron and loudly echoing through the tunnels.
QARZ: Well that was unsatisfactory…
Aran and Rolan speak out in unison: “Yeah, no shit.” A growl is heard behind them in the tunnel. It’s Qhortho. He is in the process of entering a rage. A split second later, he is attempting to barrel through the group.
The next stone is cast quite satisfactorily… for the kobolds… It smacks Aran squarely in the face causing some mild discomfort.
Qhortho pushes through the tunnel, knocking through Rolan and Qarzdaq, and pushes Aran aside as he rushes the kobolds. With the kobolds sensing an opportunity, they charge towards Qhortho and immediately swarm him. With 2 on his back and the other 4 surrounding him, Qhortho is reminded of his last encounter…
ROLAN: Fuck… we can’t let that happen again! Qarzdaq, move!
Rolan pushes past him and stands next to Aran. He nocks 6 arrows at once and launches them in Qhortho’s direction. Each of the kobolds fall to the ground.
Qhortho looks around, somewhat confused.
ARAN: Whoa…
QARZ: Nice shots man! Seems I’m not the only one with stronger abilities.
Suddenly, sounds are heard from the 2 other tunnels.
QARZ: Qhortho, Aran, care to show us anything on this next go around?
QHOR: We should just dash down to the next level!
ARAN: We’re going to have to deal with them sooner or later…
ROLAN: And I’d prefer to not deal with them while fighting that dragon…
QARZ: Qhortho, are you really suggesting we run from the fight?
Qhortho shows his uneasiness with this line of reasoning.
QHOR: NO! They die by my blade. COME AND GET IT YOU FUCKING DEMONS!
Qhortho takes an aggressive stance, ready to strike.
Hearing the loud echo of Qhortho’s voice reverberate through the tunnels leaves the others wishing there were some middle ground.
Aran gets as much clearance as you’d want from a raging Dothraki wielding a Valyrian great sword.
The other two spread out and step up on the very short dais the throne sits upon, back towards the tunnel to their destination.
In the same moment the kobolds become visible, Qhortho strikes 2 of them dead. Panting with rage, he stomps on one of the bodies, sending greenish kobold blood to splatter the immediate area.
A guard drake emerges from the first tunnel followed by a few dragonshields. The guard drake dashes towards Aran and lashes out with its tail. Aran deflects it with ease, but as he does, the dragonshields surround him, ganging up and stabbing with their simple daggers.
ARAN: Get… the… fuck… away you little shits!
Immediately, a second squad appears from another tunnel. This set attacks Qhortho. The guard drake scurries up and bites him hard. This set of dragonshields follow the same tactic as their counterparts, surrounding Qhortho and stabbing him repeatedly.
QHOR: AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH. DIE YOU DEMON SPAWN!!!
Qarzdaq sends 5 scorching rays from his fingertips, all focused on the first guard drake. The guard drake screeches with pain as the rays leave open burning wounds. Within moments the wounds appear to self-cauterize.
QARZ: I hate this fucking place…
Rolan sends a volley towards the group of kobolds. 4 of the 6 arrows strike true, killing only one.
Aran and Qhortho take down a couple more before Qarzdaq gives them the sweet, sweet rush of Haste.
The kobolds continue to swarm the best they can, but the party slays each creature, one by one, until they eventually triumph.
ARAN: I’m going to down one of my potions before we go on.
ROLAN: Hold up, I can channel the Kraken to heal you a bit.
QARZ: Maybe this is a time where we can experiment with our forces a bit?
ROLAN: How so?
QARZ: While you are healing Aran, I will put one hand on him and try casting a Fire Bolt to see what happens?
ROLAN: Will that actually blend the sources of magic though?
QARZ: Not sure actually. Now that you mention it, we might need to be targeting the same thing. Wait a second. With certain things I channel from R’hllor, I need to concentrate intently. Do you have to do the same when you channel the Kraken?
ROLAN: Yeah. I need to do that with Hunter’s Mark.
QARZ: Ok, so maybe if you put a Hunter’s Mark on a target, I could attack that with fire.
Rolan heals Aran for about half the damage he took during the battle while Qarzdaq and Qhortho approach the tunnel behind the throne. Ropes run from floor to ceiling resembling bars in a prison cell. The ropes extend into the stone and must be attached to something inside the rock. There are several other holes in the stone at the top and bottom of the tunnel entrance.
QHOR: It’s a trap!
Qarzdaq looks at the mechanism curiously and finds where it could be disarmed. It looks a little complicated though; there’s at least one mechanism that seems like it would spring the trap if touched.
Aran and Rolan approach them.
ARAN: We were able to carefully slip through here last time. Let’s just do that.
They continue down the tunnel and arrive to the room with 5 tunnels.
ROLAN: We want the middle one.
Give Me the Juice
They continue towards the middle tunnel which descends into intense heat.
ARAN: Well… here we go… it was nice knowing you…
Aran quaffs his fire resist potion and they head, once again, into the lava pits.
As they descend, the tunnel widens to comfortable dimensions and ultimately opens to a large cavern. The giant fire beetles on the walls give off a red glow. Most of the light in this area comes from the large holes in the ground. The dim orange glow and intense heat from these gaping regions of missing stone produces a mesmerizing waviness in the air above.
Remembering that the middle areas are unstable, they keep close to the wall, following the way they know was safe. They make their way back to the pile of creatures they slaughtered on their last visit. The skin and scales of these creatures have formed a soupy mess around them due to the blistering heat.
QHOR: Well, there’s our way down.
Qhortho points to an opening in the back wall with a ramp that leads down 100 feet.
ARAN: Let’s take another look at these guys from one of these holes in the floor there to come up with a plan.
They carefully position themselves around one of the openings in the floor, their heads all peeking over the ledge. It feels as if they have their face next to a forge. They quickly notice the dragon, easily 20 feet wide. With their eyes wandering, they see loads of fire snakes, mephitis, magmins, wyrmlings, and elementals across multiple rocky plateaus in a sea of lava. The islands are connected by what looks to be wooden bridges, but wood could never survive the heat.
One island stands out from the rest. A large dark stone obelisk stands tall with a varied set of creatures surrounding it. A pulsing white stone is embedded in one of the broad sides of the obelisk. 4 larger and more sentient-seeming fire snakes guard the bridges leading to the island accompanied by several hell hounds and a few kobold sorcerers. What is more curious though, are the half-dragon creatures that stand as tall as men chanting immediately around the obelisk. 3 of them are slender and appear unarmed; 1 is larger and has multiple swords at his disposal. Their eyes are all a bright red, as if illuminated from behind by braziers.
Qarzdaq sits up, positioned to see over the ledge enough have the dragon in view. He points to it, and whispers…
QARZ: My ancient lord dragon, uh, forgive me for waking you. I bow to your presence and see the majesty you have around you. I ask, what brings you into this setting?
The curled-up sleeping dragon lifts his head. Simply by shifting its mass around, the surrounding wavering vapors are visually disturbed.
Qarzdaq can feel a connection to the dragon, beyond his Messaging ability. He feels discomfort and cloudiness in its thoughts. The dragon responds to Qarzdaq, not with language, but with a feeling of swirling, as if the dragon is not in control of its own mind.
The dragon extends its wings slowly, easily reaching 75 feet without stretching. Its tail lashes behind it lazily but with a momentum that could wipe out an entire squad of men. It brings its head around, as if dragging it through the air by its long neck. It beats its wings, forcing other creatures nearby to brace themselves. Suddenly, it launches into the air using its powerful hind legs and remains airborne with its powerful wings.
The sight is impressive and terrifying all at once.
The half-dragon chanters around the obelisk snap to, looking around for what disturbed the dragon’s slumber.
QARZ: Well shit… I think I could disintegrate that obelisk, but then we need to get that gem…
Aran quickly reaches into his bag and pulls out a vial.
ARAN: You trust this stuff?
The vial is what they identified earlier as a Potion of Flying
QARZ: Yeah. Give me the juice. I’m going in.
Aran hands over the vial.
ARAN: So what’s the plan?
QARZ: I have a couple of ideas.
He quickly downs the contents of the vial.
QARZ: Well… here goes…
He levitates off the ground and nods with approval as if to say, “groovy.”
Suddenly he vanishes out of sight.
QHOR: Shit where’d he go?? That vial was tainted! Magic is not to be trusted! I keep saying this, but you guys keep…
Rolan interrupts.
ROLAN: Down there!
He points down the hole where Qarzdaq is floating in the superheated air. Rolan quickly retracts his finger as the others look over the edge.
ARAN: He must’ve blinked right after taking the potion.
ROLAN: I hope he can go back before he’s seen… He doesn’t exactly have a great track record with that ability.
The party watches, almost holding their breath, as the dragon flies away from their location, not noticing Qarzdaq flying downward towards the dark stone obelisk. Qarzdaq manages to get within 60 feet, directly over the stone pillar.
What they can’t see is how when Qarzdaq got within 75 feet of the obelisk he was deafened by some sort of vibration field. He winces as he crosses over and can feel his eardrums numb over. The sensation is a little disorienting, but he is not distracted by that. Now the enormous dragon flying at roughly his height? That’s a little distracting. Thankfully it is still flying away from him.
Floating in the air, he reaches downward towards the obelisk with one hand, the other tightly gripping his Amulet. The Amulet flickers to life. Qarzdaq focuses all his energy on the obelisk.
They all watch as the obelisk cracks. Chunks of stone begin to fall away. Qarzdaq focuses even harder. The obelisk immediately falls into a pile of dust, as if it were nothing more than loose sand. In the pile, the white stone that had been pulsing regularly, lights one last time before fading out. Qarzdaq notices that the worshipers’ eyes also fade out from their bright red to something resembling normal human eyes.
The deafening vibration in Qarzdaq’s ears is now also gone. It’s almost painful going from the audible assault to relative silence. Had he known the sound he was about to encounter he might have opted to keep the vibration field. The dragon lets loose a fear-inducing roar that echoes in the large cavern. The dragon takes a hard turn towards Qarzdaq, flailing its head as it flies towards him. Qarzdaq can tell the dragon does not see him, which is probably a good thing.
What’s bad is that he’s not really seeing anything. This is made clear by the dragon’s hard strikes against the stone walls. The mass of such a creature is so great that is causes huge chunks of the cavern to fall into the lava below.
The dragon is obviously not in control of his own body and is attempting to fight that which is controlling him.
The rest of the party, still looking over the ledge, now simultaneously move back several feet, trying to find a good vantage point to keep eyes on Qarzdaq.
Qarzdaq closes his eyes, praying to blink out of existence. He doesn’t.
QARZ: Fuck.
One of Us!
The half-dragon men notice the red-cloaked sorcerer floating above them. The largest of them points at Qarzdaq.
BOSS: YOU!
His eyes flash red with anger. He takes a half step backward as if recognizing Qarzdaq.
BOSS: You should be on our side! Why do you attempt to quell that which so plainly burns through you?
Qarzdaq yells back.
QARZ: I seek the balance for all creatures. And while this flame is tempting…
BOSS: And that Amulet! THE Amulet… The Lord of Light has brought you to us!
QARZ: What brought you here?
BOSS: The dragon… Never mind that… You should be on this side. We have been channeling the Lord of Light and he has been providing us these abilities to allow us to spread the Flame! Why are you against us?
QARZ: Why would you need to spread the Flame? The Lord of Light is a flame that lights in the heart and not by force, but by inspiration and by spreading the word. Not by force. Not by violence. This feels like a corruption of the Lord’s power.
BOSS: R’hllor would not allow us this power if this had been a corruption. He provides this benefit. He provides us this great beast you see flying before us. To spread the Fame. To rid this land of The Seven, of The Children, of all these heathens that do not accept the Lord of Light as the One True God. R’hllor is all. R’hllor will overtake all.
Qarzdaq begins to have second thoughts. He could be a god amongst these creatures. Finally a place where he is not the misfit. He shakes it off.
QARZ: But is it not wrong to restrain a mighty beast such as this and hold it against its will even in service of the Lord of Light?
The dragon’s wing grazes a large stalactite. It breaks free from the ceiling and smashes through one of the bridges between the islands in the lava.
BOSS: Do you claim the Lord would allow us to restrain this beast if it were not his will?
QARZ: I’ve seen perversions of even this Amulet used against what any true follower would consider against the Lord of Light. I feel the Lord of Light allows us to use his powers as WE see fit and it may not always align with his goals. Everything I see here feels… perverse… and just wrong. The mere presence of you and these creatures is a tainting of all that I’ve learned at the Great Temple of Volantis during my extended time there.
BOSS: Yes, the Red Temple. I began there as well. We are here now, the first footprint of R’hllor in Westeros. We were to be the spread of the Flame in this land. To provide a homestead for an increased dragon presence. To do this, we needed to summon more creatures. We needed power to increase the Flame’s strength. The Pit of Light’s Sparks was that power. We did not realize the kobolds lived beneath us and were enhanced with the power we channeled. We are the result of mixing the species. We will bring the Light through Westeros and beyond. R’hllor has given us this ancient dragon to aid us. It wasn’t until you disrupted it that we are now in danger of not fulfilling our mission.
QARZ: My mission is not aligned with yours. I will be taking this information back to the Western Light to see what he has to say about it.
BOSS: Politics.
QARZ: Call it what you will, it is the charge that I’ve been given.
BOSS: Then I give you a charge.
Suddenly, a light crossbow is aimed directly at Qarzdaq and a small bolt is soaring towards him.
QARZ: If R’hllor was with you, surely one of those bolts would have landed.
The half-dragon boss yells out in frustration and anger. His eyes flashing in bright red pulses. All of the mindless creatures not paying much attention simultaneously lock their eyes on Qarzdaq.
BOSS: YOU FOOL!
The boss barks orders at the other worshipers, who then call out orders to the varied creatures around them. A mob of them head towards the upward-leading ramp in the far end of the cavern. The other half-dragon worshipers throw darts at Qarzdaq. He instinctively casts Shield, deflecting all but 2 of the darts.
Ser Blinks-A-Lot
Noticing the activity in the pit below, Aran, Qhortho, and Rolan arm themselves, not quite knowing what to expect. It’s at this point that Rolan realizes that his Tear of Life is glowing a soft blue.
Qarzdaq reaches out towards the pile of dust. The white stone nestled within the pile shakes free and comes soaring towards him. He flies towards it to meet it halfway, grasping the pearly-white spindle-shaped stone as soon as he’s able.
Now only 30 feet above the half-dragons and 30 feet below the giant dragon above, Qarzdaq shouts upward: “My lord dragon, we release you. Do what you will with your captors!” He then manages to blink out of existence.
QHOR: YEAH!
Qhortho immediately covers his mouth after his instinctive shout.
It is covered though, by the earth-trembling roar from the dragon. The vibrations carry through the entire cavern system. The floor trembles. The ceiling trembles. Dust shakes free from cervices in the ceiling. Small rocks break free and crash on the ground.
Aran consults his gauntlets for the best way out. Rather than directing him towards the way they entered from the throne room, it directs him towards a nearby alcove. He then remembers that’s where they’d seen a kobold escape tunnel. Aran doesn’t like the sound of that.
ARAN: Hey guys, I’m going to open up a portal. We have no idea what’s going to happen here…
Aran concentrates on his Ioun Stone, focusing on a point near the side wall. Rolan starts loading up his bow.
ROLAN: Good idea. I’m going to send a volley of arrows at them, so we’ll definitely want a way out if these things prove too hard to kill.
Before letting loose the fountain of arrows, he puts a Hunter’s Mark on the boss. The arrows strike the boss, all of his half-dragon followers, and one of the Salamanders. The boss calls out a command after being struck and the other half-dragons start running towards the ramp.
ROLAN: Ok, I definitely kicked up the hornets’ nest, but we got some time before they can get up here.
The ground, ceiling, and walls shake again as the ancient dragon slams into a wall, ricocheting him towards the center of the room and sailing just past Qarzdaq’s location. Another few areas of the ceiling below fall. One of them crushes a few of the fire creatures, another destroys a bridge, and 2 others fall directly into the lava.
Qhortho notices a portion of the floor in the nearby passage to the other large cavern juts upward. A fissure is now visible across a portion of the floor.
QHOR: Guys, I’m not sure how long this place can hold up! We won’t get a second shot at opening that portal.
Qhortho runs over to Aran, great sword at the ready.
QHOR: Rolan, we need to defend Aran in case anyone is able to get up here! Qarzdaq, hurry!
The Boss raises his arms to the side and roars with the ferocity of a dragon. It looks as if he’s been strengthened and may even be an inch or two taller. He fires blindly at the hole in the ceiling from where Rolan fired his volley of arrows.
Qarzdaq reappears 10 feet higher than his last position.
BOSS: There he is! He’s getting away! After him!!
He flies upwards another 30 feet then blinks back out of existence.
BOSS: FUCK!!! GET HIM!
The Boss fires another bolt at where he thinks Qarzdaq would be, but the bolt sails directly through the space.
Rolan circles around the hole in the ground, gauging the distance the enemies still need to travel.
ROLAN: Definitely need to protect Aran, but we have a little time. I’m hoping to drop that big asshole down there.
Rolan fires a couple of arrows directly at the boss. Both strike him hard, but do not cause him to falter.
He again, roars and appears to recover some vitality. He fires a few small bolts towards Rolan. Even with major cover, one of them is able to strike him. It hits much harder than he was expecting. He lowers his arm then bows his head.
A split second later, the ancient dragon seems to regain clarity and purpose. It flies quickly towards the hole and, though it is still 40 feet away, Rolan’s view of the lava pits is entirely blocked. It hovers there for a second, locking eyes with Rolan.
ROLAN: GET AWAY FROM THE HOLE!!!
Rolan dives away just as the dragon unleashes a powerful blast of fire. Qhortho turns his back and ducks down to protect himself. With that single attack, both Qhortho and Rolan are significantly injured.
Qarzdaq, still floating on the ethereal plane, instinctively turns away from the dragon’s enormous head just 10 feet from his own as the fire blasts directly through him. He looks back towards the dragon as he remembers he cannot be hit by those in the physical realm in time to see the dragon’s eyes glaze over. Its head sways back and forth gently while it beats its wings, hovering in place. Only a few moments pass before the dragon dives towards the lava pits then sharply ascends directly into a wall, causing a few more chunks of the ceiling to fall. The dragon recovers somewhat to remain airborne, but one of the chunks of stone lands squarely on a fire elemental, snuffing its flame.
The rest of the creatures continue to rush up the ramp as quickly as possible.
Qhortho runs as fast as possible towards the ramp at the back of the second cavern just as Qarzdaq blinks back into the physical realm and flies through the hole.
ROLAN: Nice job Qarzdaq!
Qarzdaq blinks out of sight again.
ROLAN: Seems like you got the hang of that ability now!
The Good Shit
ARAN: Rolan, I have some poison over here. You can run over here, I’ll apply it, then you can run back and shoot very quickly!
ROLAN: Sounds good!
Rolan runs over to Aran with 3 arrows at the ready. Aran quickly douses them with Purple Worm poison and Rolan runs back to the hole and fires 2 shots at the boss. The boss looks to be severely injured for a moment as he takes a knee. He quickly stands back up, his deep-set eyes glowing red within his dragon-like face.
The ancient dragon swerves in the air and unleashes a loud roar, shaking the air all around them. Rolan, the only one with eyes on the beast, lowers his bow and begins to tremble.
The boss shoots Rolan with 2 more small bolts, both strike him hard as he is trying to come to grips with the situation.
Qarzdaq blinks back into existence near Aran.
QARZ: Aran, Rolan! Take some Haste!
As Aran feels the rush through his veins, he grins broadly.
ARAN: Ahhh. That’s the stuff right there.
Rolan is barely able to focus with the dragon still in sight, but the passage of time begins to slow and he begins to get control over his faculties.
Qhortho slides to a stop as he hears Qarzdaq’s voice. He turns on the spot and hauls ass back to the group, knowing their escape must be imminent.
Qarzdaq blinks out of sight just before Qhortho appears from the small alley.
QHOR: I could have sworn I heard Qarzdaq. Is Qarzdaq up here or not?
ARAN: That depends on what you mean.
QHOR: Stop fucking around!
ARAN: Yeah, he’s here. He just blinked out again.
QHOR: Good – the way by the ramp is still clear, but it won’t be for too much longer. How’s the portal coming along?
ARAN: It’s going as quickly as it will go. But Rolan’s got some issues. Keep an eye on him.
Seeing as Rolan might be out of this fight for now, Aran quickly applies an unknown pale paste to 3 of his own arrows and runs up to the edge of the hole. He shoots the boss and blows pale paste all over him. It glows with yellow-white light as it burns his skin. The second arrow strikes him in the shoulder. The paste burning him so deeply that he falls to the ground.
Aran’s stomach sinks for a moment in anticipation. Did he just take this guy down? With arrows? He pauses as he watches the ancient dragon whip its head around to face the downed boss. This distraction causes the dragon to strike another wall, causing several large chunks of rock to fall down below and a few large pieces to fall from the ceiling of the cavern above. One of those manages to break through the floor not 60 feet away. The dragon roars, except this one sounds more like a scream. As it does, the boss jumps up to his feet and lets loose a screaming roar that ends as the ancient dragon’s does.
ARAN: Man… fuck this guy…
He fires his third arrow. It also strikes true. The radiant damage causes severe burns on his arms but does not take him down.
Aran feels a Second Wind and is ready to continue this fight. He realizes that he needs to get closer to that portal as it should be opening at any moment.
Though Rolan is distracted by the fear-inducing dragon, he manages to hit the boss with his last poisoned arrow. The boss falls again, but again jumps back to his feet with a roar.
This time, the dragon does not call out. In fact, it seems like the dragon’s energy is waning. The dragon attempts to turn again, but instead, slams its head into an abutment. The full force of its body slams the cavern wall, violently shaking everything around them. The dragon falls 40 feet onto one of the stone plateaus. The cavern continues to shake. Large slabs of stone break free, causing the lava below to splash higher than the islands and breaking more of the connecting bridges.
Rolan rushes after Aran, knowing they just need to get out of here.
The dragon stands up and roars in small bursts. It takes flight, but just barely. It thrashes its head and tail around as if it is being driven mad.
The group feels a deep tremor through the floor as more dust falls from the ceiling. Some chunks along the outer wall slide free, blocking some of the pathway they previously considered to be safe. Another portion of the floor falls away in between the existing holes as the rumbling continues. The large open area provides more of a viewpoint of the pits than they’d like.
Inevitability and Loss
QHOR: This place is going to collapse. We need to get the fuck out of here. Where’s the damn portal?
ARAN: It’s coming, I can’t do anything about how long this takes!
The dragon soars past the opening, moving out of sight, just before all of the holes in the floor burst with reddish-orange light. Luckily, none of them are able to see the fire breath any closer this time. Cracks begin to form in the ground, forming lines between the large hole and all of the smaller ones that have started opening all across the ground.
Qhortho faces the area where the portal is beginning to open, getting ready to jump through. Aran and Rolan arrive next to Qhortho. Qarzdaq, still bent on trying to save the dragon from this mind control, flies over to the edge of the hole to Message the dragon: “Lord Dragon, I have tried to do everything I could for you. If there were a way to release you from this control, I would surely do it. Please forgive me.”
The portal opens as Qarzdaq is by the ledge. Aran and Rolan jump through. Qhortho looks over at Qarzdaq as the ground begins to give way. Qhortho sees the sorcerer floating in the air and the collapsing area quickly approaching him.
QHOR: QARZDAQ! LET’S GO!
He jumps through.
Qarzdaq receives a muddled response from the dragon. “Leave me.”
The sound of smashing stone echoing through the caverns become muddled as he dwells on the inevitable demise in the dragon’s mind. As stones fall all around him down into the lava pits below, he looks over to the portal. A few larger stones strike him and he snaps to.
He starts to fly towards the portal then blinks back to the ethereal plane.
More of the ground around him gives way, providing Qarzdaq an open view of the scene below. The dragon now seems to be intentionally slamming into the walls to bring the entire cavern down on top of them all. It’s as if the dragon knows he cannot directly attack his masters but has determined he can bring closure to this imprisonment.
Qarzdaq winces with each smash against the wall. Large portions of the cavern are now collapsing into the lava.
The boss attempts to run off the center island but quickly becomes stranded on the next as he realizes all of the bridges have been destroyed.
All this time as Qarzdaq watches, he blinks in and out of existence. Twice, he was luckily on the ethereal plane when large pieces of the ceiling fell through him.
On the other side, his allies wait with bated breath. Knowing they cannot step back through that portal or they will fall to their deaths.
Suddenly, one of the half-dragons appears in the alley. The floor is gone, so there’s not a simple way to be attacked, but it’s enough to kick Qarzdaq into gear. He quickly flies through the portal before his enemy can make a move.
Once safely in the cavern below Fire Lake, Aran immediately closes the portal.
The silence is deafening.
They sit in the stillness for a solid minute before a soft low-frequency rumble is felt in the ground. It fades away after just a few seconds.
QHOR: Damn. Well that was pretty crazy. It’s a good thing they didn’t get to meet my blade.
QARZ: You mean like Travers over there?
QHOR: Exactly like Travers over there.
Qarzdaq doesn’t quite like that answer, but Qhortho doesn’t quite like that question. The feeling hangs in the air for just a second before Rolan breaks the silence.
ROLAN: Hey, so you were able to grab that stone, right?
QARZ: Oh yeah!
Brimstone and Pearl…
Qarzdaq produces the pearly-white elongated stone from an inside pocket of his cloak. He holds it out in his hands and they all circle around.
ARAN: I’m pretty sure that matches one of the obelisks in here.
Qarzdaq holds it out in front of him as if it were a divining rod as he walks around the obelisks. It’s not long before he finds the match, and sure enough, the shape of the stone matches the cavity.
Before he places the stone, they take a moment to heal up. Rolan takes a stance about 20 feet away.
QARZ: Ok… here goes.
He places the stone into place and the pillar begins the familiar reaction to forcing a stone into its cavity. It rumbles until cracks run the entire length. It falls apart in chunks leaving a dark cloud smelling of brimstone.
Qarzdaq backs up behind Aran and Qhortho.
Fiery red eyes above vertical red bars pierce the dark veil. The cloud is blown away quickly as the creature steps forward wafting the air with its two enormous shields. The shields are about at tall as the Fire Giant Dreadnought before them, which is to say they are at least twice as tall as Qhortho.
The giant laughs a deep and menacing laugh implying this mere nuisance of adventurers will be child’s play.
Aran whistles.
ARAN: Damn… ok… let’s do this…
Qhortho grins.
QHOR: Finally! A worthy foe!
Qhortho jukes to the right, then jumps to the left. He somersaults in the air and continues the roll on the ground, popping to his feet behind the giant. He firmly slashes with his great sword, dealing a solid blow.
The giant grunts in response as if more annoyed by this showmanship.
Rolan marks his target and launches a very well-placed arrow. The giant raises his shield slightly and blocks the attack. Rolan carefully aims his next shot and manages to power it through the giant’s thick plate armor.
Aran sweeps his guandao upward between the giant’s shields and back down, landing both strikes successfully.
His annoyance growing, the giant, simultaneously slams Aran with one shield and Qhortho with the other.
Although he tried and failed to Hold Monster when they fought the Grick Alpha from a previous Ioun Pillar, he attempts it with this even more powerful enemy. Except this time, it works.
The giant is attempting to sweep his shields around for an even more powerful strike when he is paused mid-movement, completely paralyzed.
QHOR: Oh shit… You’re fucked now motherfucker.
Qhortho takes his time with placing his next strike. He finds a gap in the giant’s armor and plunges his Valyrian great sword in. The wound oozes with what looks to be lava.
ROLAN: Oh yeah. Fuck this guy.
Rolan strides up to the huge creature and aims his bow at his stomach. Though this is typically a difficult shot to pull off so close, having this thing paralyzed changes the game. He sinks his arrow deep through the armor. This wound also oozes with red hot blood.
Rolan turns away and walks past Aran.
ROLAN: I’m not sure what that shit is, but I wouldn’t touch it if I were you.
ARAN: Heard.
Aran uses his guandao to disarm the giant from its left shield. The immense, towering slab of spiked iron tips slowly at first, then slams onto the cavern floor. Thankfully, none of them were beneath that thing.
He repeats the maneuver for the second shield. This one starts to tip his way, but he’s able to jump clear of it before it slams the ground.
To add insult to injury, Aran smacks the giant in the groin with the butt of his guandao.
ARAN: Ha! This is kind of fun. Qarzdaq, you should do this more often.
The giant shakes its enormous head as it begins to regain control of his body. He looks down at its hands, realizing he no longer has his shields.
Qarzdaq Hastes Aran.
Qhortho attacks the giant in its groggy state a few more times, while Rolan prepares to fire off a couple more shots. One of them manages to pierce an eye slit in his helmet, which turns from bright red to deep blue. The giant begins to shrink in stature as if melting inside his thick iron armor. The armor suddenly crashes down in a pile.
A moment passes before the armor and shields instantly become ash. The pearly-white Ioun Stone is nestled within the ash.
Qarzdaq strolls over to the ash pile and retrieves the stone.
QARZ: Fuck yeah. Nice shot Rolan.
They settle themselves after a long day. Qarzdaq takes a short rest to commune with the Ioun Stone and finds that, when activated, it provides regeneration of 20 HP at the end of every hour it is active.
They end the day with a long rest in the cavern with the mix of brimstone and rotting Travers. They awake on the morning of Day 547, having earned an additional 7500 XP each, and getting halfway to level 12. Not bad for a day’s work.