Dragonreach Catch-up (Games Seventy-Nine through Eighty-Eight)

It has been a busy year in Dragonreach, with all manner of heroic adventures - and, this poor scribe has fallen behind!  Here's a quick catch-up...

In the Seventy-Ninth foray into Dragonreach ("Escape from Gobo Island"), a band of heroes were tasked with rescuing a dragonborn noble whose ship had wrecked on an island infested with goblin criminals.  The so-called Red Prince was rescued, despite a shocking betrayal from within the party.

In the Eightieth foray into Dragonreach ("Isle in the Mist"), a band of heroes ventured forth to explore a strange, moving island that had floated into Pyre's shipping lanes - and recover a white dragon's egg from the frozen peak atop it!

In the Eighty-First foray into Dragonreach ("Hunt the Phoenix"), the adventurers raced rival bands in a hunt for a legendary beast on the isle of Croatoan...

In the Eighty-Second foray into Dragonreach ("The Lich"), a band of heroes helped an old dwarven hero defeat the lich he had long hunted...

In the Eighty-Third foray into Dragonreach ("Night at the Museum"), a group of adventurers took a contract to reclaim the haunted Museum of Pyre, looting the museum and pacifying its defenses in the process...

In the Eighty-Fourth foray into Dragonreach ("Cannonball Run"), a band partnered with the captain of the Nimble Tradesman to win the Cannonball Run - the most dangerous sea race in all of Dragonreach...

In the Eighty-Fifth foray into Dragonreach ("The Rescue"), a band of heroes rescued a lost, haughty nobleman from the wilds of Dragonreach...

In the Eighty-Sixth foray into Dragonreach ("Island of the Kobolds"), a band took a contract from the Iron Company to reclaim a mining camp from a horde of savage kobolds...

In the Eighty-Seventh foray into Dragonreach ("The Wyvern Riders"), our heroes were hired to stop attacks by the Forsaken barbarians on ships travelling to the bleak, frozen northern settlement of Boreal.  Not only did the adventurers succeed, they managed to loot a forge of fire giants for extra treasure!

In the Eighty-Eighth foray into Dragonreach ("Goblin Market"), the elvish lord Elmaer Goldensmile Ilithro of House Lethdrew hired a band of heroes to escort him to a magical goblin market in the feywild - and then tried to trade them for favors to the faeries of the Summer Court!  When our heroes learned of this planned betrayal, they slew Goldensmile in short order...

Game Sixty-Six: The Doom of Pyre!!!

In the Sixty-Sixth foray into Dragonreach ("The Doom of Pyre"), the Invincible Overlord of Pyre gathered a band of the most seasoned and experienced heroes for a celebration of the fifth anniversary of his conquest, only to see the city under attack by a flight of dragons, including Pyra'sala'thraxis, the legendary Doom of Pyre!

They battled their way across the burning city, attacked by enraged dragons at every turn...

Finally, they slew Maledictus the Metal Mage in the ruined Tower of the Arcane Conclave, and destroyed the Orb of Dragons he had stolen and used to summon the flight of dragons.  But, the city would not be safe until after they had slain the Doom of Pyre itself!

The Overlord's eternal thanks was bestowed upon the mighty saviors of the city:  Ereban Sife, Veego, Warchild, Grigor of the Guardian, Ella Juvens, Kalletorn, Roach, and Flint!

Dragonreach Catchup: Games Forty-Nine through Fifty-Four

Dragonreach has been rife with even more heroic, perilous, and occasionally fatal adventures over the last two months.  So, another quick "catchup post" is required!  

In the Forty-Ninth foray into Dragonreach, a band of adventurers undertook a mission for the Resurrectors' Guild to put down a zombie "strike" in a mine.  The zombie laborers had gained a level of sentience from prolonged exposure to rare dragonshards, and thus were demanding actual pay for their labor.  The party initially teamed up with a noble paladin who was also seeking to end the zombie "threat," but ultimately sided with the undead labor force and slew the paladin and his cohort.

In the Fiftieth foray into Dragonreach, a band of unscrupulous, younger adventurers agreed to hunt and slay a celestial unicorn, and return its severed horn to the Knights of the Order of Nessus for some dark purpose.  Several members of the band nearly perished while fighting the beast (which was tougher than it looked) and driving off a band of orcs (also attempting to capture it for their own purposes) and some pixies (trying to save the beautiful creature).

In the Fifty-First foray into Dragonreach, a band ventured into the sewers beneath Pyre, only to find (and subdue) a wererat named "Ratcatcher" who offered to show them a secret wizard's hideout in exchange for his release.  The hideout held a malfunctioning planar-travel machine that took the party on a whirlwind tour of several outer planes (whose denizens were quite hostile) before dumping them back into the city.

In the Fifty-Second foray into Dragonreach, a band of young heroes took a mission to hunt a fearsome yeti, and wound up battling a white dragon wyrmling!  Few details are available, since this poor scribe was unable to attend...

In the Fifty-Third foray into Dragonreach, a band agreed to help defend the fishing village of Flotsam from some vaguely describe menace ... only to find that the entire town was in the thrall of (and being turned into mutants by) a dreaded aboleth!

And, finally, in the Fifty-Fourth foray into Dragonreach, a band of young heroes assaulted a wizard's tower infested with slimy dooms and murderous suits of armor that would "bind" to a hero and force them to leap into a pit to their deaths!  The renown anti-hero and necromancer known as "Shanks" meet his unfortunate demise during this adventure.  Raise ye a tankard to the fallen!

More Dragonreach adventures coming soon!

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!

Game Thirty-Three: Dragon Hunt

In the 33rd game in Dragonreach, a band of the most experienced heroes took a job from the dwarves of the Iron Company to slay a white dragon ("Rimefang") that was attacking the dwarves' ships along the frozen Kraken Coast...

The party loaded a ship, the Kettlejack, to the gills and mounted a massive dwarven ballista on its foredeck.  Then, they set sail and wandered about the Kraken Coast until the dragon showed itself.  Unfortunately, the dragon turned out to actually be two beasts...

The smaller beast was slain (although not before nearly carrying off the warrior Veego in its claws).  The band allowed the second dragon to escape in the hope of following its bloody trail back to its lair (and treasure hoard)...

Ultimately, the band slew not only the dragon, but also a priestess of the Ice Queen who seemed to be directing the beast's attacks. 

Game Twenty-Four: Slayers of Turtleback Village

In the 24th game in Dragonreach, a group of mostly young heroes ventured to Turtleback Village in the Crawling Swamp, where there were rumors of a black dragon.  Consulting a local alchemist, they learned that she could brew a "Dragonbane Oil," provided she had the necessary ingredients (skullcap mushrooms, dragon bones, and ghoul's blood, among other rare ingredients).

After obtaining several flasks of the oil, the party found "the dragon" in a ruined vale filled with the hulks of wrecked ships and pools of acid.  And, they learned that "the dragon" was actually three young black dragons!

But, after a deadly fight, the heroes slew all three of the beasts!

Game Seventeen: The Crawling Swamp

In the 17th game in Dragonreach, a "gold rush" began in the Crawling Swamp after rumors spread of an entire cavern full of dragonshards within its tangled depths.  The Overlord declared that he would award exclusive mineral rights to whomever found the cavern, and the Iron Company hired our heroes to explore the swamp on their behalf...

They managed to procure a map that was at least partially accurate...

They contended with trolls, rival adventurers, and other hazards, but eventually found a web-choked cavern infested with ettercaps and giant spiders.  

Defeating these monsters, the heroes prevailed!

Game Sixteen: Ankheg Hill

In the 16th game in Dragonreach, a band of heroes accepted a mission to clear a ruined school of wizardry in the Greenreach...

Investigation revealed that the residents of many of the farmsteads around the old wizard school had vanished.  And, strangely, coins and bits of loot was just scattered about the hills, as if dropped from the sky.  

The heroes reached the hill...

Only to find that the fields about it were infested with a veritable horde of ankhegs!  

The remains of a half dozen other adventurers were found - all of whom seemed to be outfitted for dragon hunting.  

The heroes ventured into the dungeon complex at the base of the hill, suffering casualties as kobolds descended on them, driving cockatrices before them and opening hidden pits!

Fighting past the kobolds, our heroes stumbled into a young red dragon's lair, and battle ensued.  Despite suffering several casualties, the beast was slain and the hoard was claimed.

Game Seven: The Northern Voyage

In the seventh  game, a band of near-penniless heroes agreed to venture into the frozen reaches of northernmost Dragonreach for a cabal of wizards of the Arcane Conclave.  Apparently, some dragonshard of unusual power threatened to plunge the entire island into an endless winter...

The heroes ventured north by ship until they were forced to continue on food across the ice flows, guided by the Master Pathfinder Ishtar Uldune...

Where they were nearly eaten alive (and pulled down into the icy waters) by these horrid things (worse than any beholder!)...

Eventually, they found a ruined, icy city where a white dragon and a whole tribe of "frost" kobolds were guarding the dragonshard (and dragon's eggs)...

A terrible battle ensued, but the dragon was ultimately defeated, in no small part due to the "Ring of Wraiths" that one of the heroes had acquired in the Howling Mine...  

...thus saving all of Dragonreach from an eternal winter!