Game Eighty-Nine: The Nest

In the Eighty-Ninth foray into Dragonreach ("The Nest"), a band of adventurers undertook a commission to track down some mimic blood for Archimedes the Potion-Maker, at the Arcane Conclave.  The wizard offered a hefty bonus if a mimic could be found and delivered alive.
The heroes headed into the district of Fleatown, where rumor said a mimic had been hunting.  They quickly found a sizeable one posing as an outhouse.  

But, it was not alone - a veritable horde of mimics burst forth from the trash-filled streets.  The heroes managed to subdue one of the smaller mimics, and attempted to flee.  But then, they found what was responsible for so many mimics - a massive house-sized "mother" mimic that was birthing them!  

However, battling the massive mimic both inside its gullet and outside in the street, they were able to slay it.  Thus, they earned not only a handsome reward, but also the gratitude of the few surviving residents of Fleatown.

Game Seventy-Five: Curse Collectors

 In the Seventy-Fifth foray into Dragonreach, a band of heroes took a job from Guzmondo the Magnificient, a dealer in questionable magical items who had supplied many an adventurer...

Guzmondo had mistakenly sold a shipment of cursed and dangerous items.  He needed them recovered, quickly, lest they kill someone and the Arcane Conclave hold him responsible.

The heroes rushed to a nearby market, where some of the purchasers could be found.  But, unfortunately, several of the cursed items were triggered - summoning hellhounds and several quasits.  And, the cursed, uncontrollable flying carpet was racing across the sky bearing a terrified wizard atop it...

After restoring order, the band scoured the city, tracking down each item (freeing a noble who could not stop dancing in his new magic shoes, stealing a berserking axe from a hulking barbarian, and recovering a "mummy staff" that was offered at the circus as a prize), and finally managing to disable the flying carpet and rescue the terrified wizard. 

Guzmondo's business was thus saved - to the great relief of every adventurer who enjoys his patented "I Can't Believe It's Not Mana" potions. 

Games Sixty-Six through Seventy-Two: Lizard Men, Dalton, Goblin Tanks, Gratuitous Nudity, Forsaken, and Even an Election!

It has been an eventful few months in Dragonreach, since the near destruction of the city by an ancient red dragon!  A quick recap to catch up our fellow adventurers...

In the Sixty-Sixth foray into Dragonreach ("Evil Swamp"), a band of heroes boarded a boat to explore a deadly swamp and hunt down a fearsome tribe of lizard men who had been attacking merchants.  A short stop at a cursed swamp island was ill-advised, and led to the party's ship almost being sunk by a horde of skeletons...

And, the lizard-men island was only cleared through a deadly battle...

In the Sixty-Seventh foray into Dragonreach ("Roadhouse"), a band of heroes took a job to clean up a remote tavern plagued by Duergar bandits, extortionist kung-fu monks from the Jade Wasps, and other troubles...

In the Sixty-Eighth foray into Dragonreach ("Dirty Business"), a band plunged into the ancient sewers beneath Dragonreach, facing off against ratmen and vampires, racing against rivals to find the lost Temple of Swords...

In the Sixty-Ninth foray into Dragonreach ("The Great Goblin Machine"), a band was hired by the Overlord to track down some goblins who had absconded with a terrible war machine... 

In the Seventieth foray into Dragonreach ("Naked and Afraid"), a band woke on a strange island drugged and bereft of their equipment, and hunted for sport by an evil adventurer...

In the Seventy-First  foray into Dragonreach ("Only Murderers in the Fort"), a band of heroes were hired to hold a remote fort against an army of Forsaken barbarians -- even while a devious murderer was picking off the defenders...

In the Seventy-Second foray into Dragonreach ("The Conclave"), a band hired on as security for the Arcane Conclave, which was holding an election for the new High Archmagus.  Things did not go as planned...

Fortunately, a reputable wizard won the election...

Dragonreach Catchup! (Games Thirty-Six through Forty-Three - Croatoan, Orcus, and Much More!)

Since the (sort of) end of the dreadful plague afflicting much of Dragonreach, several bands of heroes have ventured forth!  So many that the scribes have failed to keep up.  So, let's quickly recap some recent adventures...

In the Thirty-Sixth foray, a bold band of heroes sailed to the newly discovered isle of Croatoan (T-Bone's personal corner of Dragonreach), to rescue two shipwrecked children of wealth nobles from Gevuldan, battling orcs and goblins along the way!

In the Thirty-Seventh foray, an unknown band of (apparently quite skilled) thieves plundered the deepest vaults of the Chromatic Bank of Pyre, making of with a strange, ancient lich's phylactery and tens of thousands of gold coins!

In the Thirty-Eighth foray, a band was hired to escort some religious pilgrims of a strange faith ("the Church of Final Atonement") to a holy site on Croatoan.  As one, now-dead druid predicted, they were difficult to keep alive, hurling themselves into crocodile-infested waters and other perils, before one revealed himself to be an evil cultist trying to raise an undead horde for some nefarious purpose...

In the Thirty-Ninth foray, a band was summoned to Gallowshog (in Southern Dragonreach) amid a howling winter storm to hunt some terrible beast murdering villagers.  The terrible beasts proved numerous, and in thrall to an evil cleric of the Mockery...

In the Fortieth foray, a band was hired to "rescue" a young nobleman who was planning to partake in a ritual blood-drinking under the auspices of the mysterious Society of the Crimson Cup.  Our heroes found the village of Oxenfurt overrun by vampires, and stormed a secret complex to face off against the vampire horde and their dreaded master...

In the Forty-First foray, a band was hired to stop a group of cultists from summoning the dread demon Orcus!  The party fared rather poorly in their race (skill challenge) to reach the summoning site before the ritual was complete, and thus had to face off against Orcus himself...

In the Forty-Second foray into Dragonreach, a band of adventurers returned to Croatoan to find a pair of mages who had stolen a rare tome and decided to engage in a bit of demon-summoning of their own!  Fortunately, a bold team of heroes murdered the bunch and sent two more demons (along with numerous, piteous bugbears) howling back into the Abyss...

And, finally, in the Forty-Third foray, a band was hired by the Iron Company to put an end to the goblin shaman who had been terrorizing northern Dragonreach since the very first settlers arrived.  The goblins and their spider pets made clearing the many levels of ancient mines difficult, even though the band's necromancer brought plenty of skeletal minions...

The hoard of a strangely absent dragon was found, and cryptic clues (which only fire could reveal) were decoded too late...

And a bizarre, ancient dragon of mixed red, blue, and green scales (Sky Ripper the Dread) was released to terrorize a small dwarven town until our band defeated it!

More adventures in Dragonreach are coming soon!

Dragonreach Returns! (Games Thirty-Four and Thirty-Five)

At long last, thanks to miracle injections devised by the most ingenious wizards of the Arcane Conclave, the exploration of Dragonreach has resumed! 

The adventure began with (DM John) a foray into the perilous north in search of a missing band of adventurers hired by the Arcane Conclave (and the arcane dragonshard finder the fools had lost!).  Our heroic band tracked them to the territory of the savage Forsaken and assaulted the barbarian village to mount a rescue...

Unfortunately, the Forsaken's treasure left something to be desired - as one brave half-orc wizard discovered when he attempted to engage in a bit of looting during the battle...

The party then used the dragonshard finder to track down the stone the defeated band was seeking.  But, they faced a terrible, invisible lizard monster as well as strangely familiar rivals...

But, ultimately, the Duke's band was driven off, and our heroes returned triumphant with the dragonshard!

The next evening, a different band undertook a dangerous foray into the ancient sewers beneath dragonreach - battling giant snails, rot-grub infested shambling mounds, and a bizarre cult of quasi-mind flayers attempting to revive the Shining Path cult!  Fortunately, our heroes were able to slay the cultists and the proto-elder brain they were creating!

To be continued...

Game Thirty-Two: For Those About To Roc...

In the 32nd game in Dragonreach, a band of heroes were hired by the Arcane Conclave to ascend Brokengulf Peak (in the Scaly Peaks) and steal intact Roc eggs.  It seemed that a roc was nesting in an old ruined tower atop the peak... 

The party learned that a rival band (led by the despised Max Mannheim), working for a different faction (the strange Masked Sorcerers of Leng) was ahead of them.  Thus, instead of taking the easier mountain pass, they opted to climb the sheer western face of the mountain...

They thus overtook Mannheim's band, but were attacked by wyverns while crossing Brokengulf Chasm...

Reaching the Roc's nest, the party tried to steal the eggs, but were quickly noticed by the Roc, and a battle ensued...

Ultimately, Mannheim's band arrived too, leading to a three-way fight between our heroes, the Roc, and Mannheim's band.  Fortunately, the eggs were retrieved and the party was able to make its escape without any casualties.

Game Twenty-Seven: The Brains of this Operation...

In the 27th game in Dragonreach, a band of heroes were hired by the Arcane Conclave to check on a missing guild member (Kalerel Strom "of the Seven Howling Gates"), who had not emerged from his home for several months.  

A rival in the guild (Ravinnia Cruelcall) further hinted that, if it turned out the wizard was dead (wink, wink), a bonus would be paid.

The place was infested with dire rats, and the wizard had clearly been engaging in unwholesome experiments involving doppelgangers and extracting brains and replacing them in jars.   

The party opened a series of gates to the Abyss (which was some sort of elaborate home-security system), and had to contend with mischievous pixies and an angry minotaur and cockatrice that they released...

But, eventually, the party found the wizard, who had extracted his own brain and placed it in a jar.  The party killed the resulting horror in its lightning-filled workshop, losing only one member of their band in the process.

Game Three: The Forsaken Hills

In the third session, a band of stalwart heroes ventured north of Pyre, into the Forsaken Hills, to find rare Dragonshards (and hunt strange mutant barbarians) for the Arcane Conclave.

The barbarians were fearsome, ambushing the party while ascending a great cliff...

But, eventually, the party managed to battle its way to the ruins where they barbarians were working some fell magic.  They were quickly slain.