Tyranny of Dragons Session 2 – Raiders’ Camp

Six years ago, I started running a monthly Tyranny of Dragons campaign. Here’s the write up from the second session.

Begin here with Session 1 – Greenest in Flames.

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11th Mirtul, 1490 DR

An hour before dawn, the PCs hear cries coming from the battlements of the keep. The raiders appear to be getting ready to leave, but a fearsome blue-scaled half-dragon has approached the keep. This is Langdedrosa Cyanwrath. Surrounded by his kobold honour guard, he calls for Greenest’s champion to come forth and face him in single combat. In exchange, he will release four pitiful prisoners – a woman and her three children. Ug is, of course, eager to fight the half-dragon and marches out of the keep right away; the rest of the PCs follow at a safe distance. Cyanwrath is true to his word, releasing the two youngest children before the start of the fight, while his kobolds hold knives to the throats of the other two captives to ensure fair play from the adventurers.

The battle begins. Unfortunately, the half-dragon is fastest, breathing a line of lightning at the paladin which he can only partly dodge. Then, Ug closes to melee and strikes the half-dragon with his axe. Cyanwrath slashes twice in return, reducing the half-orc to below 0 hp, but his relentless endurance allows him to stay on his feet. Ug lands a critical hit on the evil warrior, but then falls to the half-dragon’s sword. Cyanwrath strides into the darkness, as the kobolds release the other two prisoners, laughing at the paladin’s fate. Gwastdyn rushes to Ug’s aid and heals him.

With the raid finally over, the PCs have a few drinks and collapse into bed, exhausted. Gwastdyn is completely out for the count so Rosie takes the opportunity to shave off the dwarf’s eyebrows and moustache while he snores away.

In the early afternoon, the PCs are woken up by a knock on the door. Governor Nighthill has come to ask them to follow the raiders to their camp and bring back information on their leaders, numbers and intentions, offering them 250 gp each (!) from the town treasury. He tells the party that an injured monk is also waiting to speak to them in the courtyard. Gwastdyn refuses to get up, so the others go and talk to the monk alone. The lisping young fellow introduces himself as Nesim Waladra and explains that his master, Leosin Erlanthar, has been captured by the raiders. Leosin, a member of the Harpers, had been trying to find out as much as possible about the dragon cult in the library at Candlekeep and had come to Greenest to spy on them. When the others tell Gwastdyn this, he is keen to get going straight away – Leosin is an old friend who once saved his life.

The PCs travel across the Greenfields, following the numerous tracks of the cultists. After a few hours, the gently rolling hills give way to rugged terrain as the trail winds between steep-sided rocky plateaus. Up ahead, the party spot a thin column of smoke from a campfire. As they get closer they can hear the sound of raised voices – a group of raiders are arguing over the best way to cook prairie hens. Ug rushes up the slope to get a better view, with the others close behind. The PCs are able to attack the four humans and eight kobolds with surprise, defeating them easily. Two of the kobolds run away but Gwastdyn chases after them in his bear wild shape and kills them before they can warn any of their allies in the main camp.

Crake had knocked one of the humans unconscious so he can be interrogated. Unfortunately, Ug loses patience and smashes the prisoner’s head in before he can tell the PCs anything useful.

Back on the trail, the PCs enter an area where the tracks head through a narrow gap between two rocky outcrops. Suspicious, the party manage to spot a group of cultists lying in wait in the rocks above the path before they attack. Turin casts sleep, taking two of the cultists out, and the PCs climb up to the rocks and attack the cultists in melee. Two of the cultists are acolytes and use command to force Crake and Ug to jump back down again, suffering falling damage in the process, but the party are able to make fairly short work of their enemies.

Turin kills one of the sleeping cultists, then the PCs interrogate the other one. Rosie leads the questioning, banging a piton into the cultist’s hand to encourage him to talk. This tactic proves effective and the warlock learns there are actually two half-dragons among the cultists and that the main camp is less than a mile away. After unpinning the cultist’s hand, she also learns the five-fingered cult salute (“Praise Tiamat’s glory!”).

After a short rest, the PCs move up to the horseshoe-shaped hollow where the raiders have set up their camp. Gwastdyn wild shapes into a cat and scouts around, identifying the tents of the kobolds, three mercenary groups (the Storm Blades, the Red Suns and the Dark Sails), the cultists, and the command tent. He can hear voices inside the latter speaking in Draconic. He also spots a well-guarded cave and the place where Leosin is tied to a wooden cross. He returns to the others to report.

The adventurers decide to dress in the cultist garb they’d taken from the ambushers, and masquerade as returning raiders with Ug as their prisoner. They make their way past the kobolds without too much trouble and, through talking to several cultists, work out that the truly-dedicated make a three-fingered (rather than five-fingered) salute to Tiamat. Some of the Dark Sails recognise Ug from his duel with Cyanwrath but fall for the PCs’ story that they are taking the half-orc to Frulam Mondath.

Crake suggests causing a distraction to allow them to approach the well-guarded cave without being detected. Turin uses minor illusion to make it sound like the Red Suns are attacking the Dark Sails while Gwastdyn sets fire to one of the Dark Sails’ tents with produce flame. This creates enough of a kerfuffle for the PCs to reach the cave, but the guards on the entrance do not let them in despite Rosie’s persistence. No one is allowed into “the nursery” without permission from Rezmir, the female black half-dragon who is the overall leader of the raiders.

The PCs decide it’s too dangerous to try and get into the command tent and retreat to a cave in the cliff wall to keep watch. When a young messenger returns from the leaders’ tent, they grab hold of him and drag him into their cave for questioning. They learn that Rezmir, Mondath, Cyanwrath and a red-robed human wizard are in the tent, and that the cult are planning to head north in a couple of days with the loot they’ve captured. The PCs tie up their prisoner and wait for dark.

Turin climbs up the cliff wall and secures a rope, while Crake and Rosie take position at the bottom. Meanwhile, Ug and Gwastdyn cut the grateful Leosin free from his bonds and help him down. They hustle back to the others and make their escape. As the last PC reaches the top of the cliff, Leosin’s absence is spotted by the cultists and the alarm is sounded. The heroes hurry away into the night.

12th Mirtul

The PCs arrive back in Greenest with Leosin who has filled them in on everything he knows about the cult. Nesim and the other monks are overjoyed to see their master alive, and Governor Nightfall pays the party their promised 250 gp each, praising their courage and daring.