After striking out with Kreel's band, the party decided they couldn't postpone dealing with Drakos any longer. After a lot of discussion, the party settled on a plan, apart from one detail: While Silvana, Ganeth, and Beeel were in favor of using a detachment of halfling archers for stoneskin destruction, Gorakheel thought it would be better to hire Kreel's men for the job. The discussion became rather intense...
- DM: [making sure the players were all up to speed]
- "Is there anyone who doesn't know who Drakos is, or what the motivations are behind the plan?"
- Gorakheel:
- "As far as I can tell, the motivations are `because he's there' and `he's possibly helping the East'."
- Ganeth:
- "More like, 'He's going to roast large quantities of Westerners in one of these battles if we don't take him out first.'"
- Rogash:
- "A guy who turns into a red dragon willingly and likes to kill people and burn down villages is a threat to both the East and the West."
- Gorakheel:
- "If that is true, I'm sure even Eastern archers would be happy to take him down."
- Ganeth:
- "If mercs from Banzeel care about the serfs at all, which is highly debatable."
- Omijarvis:
- "We cannot afford to divulge the details of the plan to mercenaries. How will we know their willingness in advance?"
- Gorakheel:
- "We have already been given a starting price for negotiation. The price itself is quite reasonable, objectively speaking. If those troops are willing to fight a dragon at that price, then it's a real bargain."
- Ganeth:
- "We have a starting price for what it might cost for them to turn around and go home...not the same thing as facing a dragon and pissing off his friends among the Ravens."
- Beeel:
- "They simply said they were being paid 200ep. That doesn't mean they'd work for us for 200ep. Especially against a dragon."
- Gorakheel:
- "Of course, even without revealing the details of the plan, I can assure the mercs that they won't be doing this all by themselves."
- Ganeth:
- "Even letting them know that we're planning anything involving Drakos is a security risk. So what in the world are you going to tell them you want to hire them for? 'Camp by these trees and shoot at the secret target when we tell you'?"
Neither side would back down, so the matter was brought before Omimajish; Gorakheel argued in favor of trusting the mercenaries, and Beeel presented the case against.
- Beeel:
- "We don't have the slightest reason to believe that they will go along with any of this."
- Gorakheel:
- "Maybe you don't. Apparently you have not lived in the East as long as I."
As both sides presented their cases (with Beeel arguing based on the party's experience with mercenaries over the years and Gorakheel arguing from his conviction that the mercenaries are basically decent patriotic folk -- well, that's my inference, since neither basis was explicitly mentioned this time around), Omimajish introduced two new facts: The halflings were very close to losing morale (this not to be repeated outside the room, so only Beeel and Gorakheel are aware of this -- the situation is so bad that if Kreel's people are brought near the halflings, the halflings would probably try to slit the mercs' throats while they slept), and they believed that Kreel's mercenaries were lycanthropes (the party has a quiet heads-up on this). So his decision was to send the halfings along on the dragon mission (which he thought was pretty solidly planned and involved relatively little risk to the halflings), figuring that helping to take out a dragon would boost their morale; Gorakheel, who's had experience with halflings, would command them, encourage them, and protect them if need be. Afterwards, since the army will be waiting for Rogtymark's forces to arrive before pressing on, there will be time to consider Kreel's company. (Omimajish doesn't share Gorakheel's faith in the mercenaries but believes he should have a chance at it -- and though he's not saying so, he's probably hoping to learn more about the lycanthropy angle in the process.)
- Omimajish:
- "The important things to note when dealing with the enemy:
- The cause of the Cuthbert, and the War, must not be compromised. No information is to be divulged to the enemy without permission.
- We will not use Lies, for they are sinful. We will succeed through a pure spirit and following the Just cause.
- We will extend mercy to the Easterners, for they are our brothers. We do not seek to rule their lands, but we shall cleanse them -- by force if necessary. No innocents shall be harmed, but evildoers shall not escape.
- Easterners such as yourselves will become examples of how being Eastern and being Lawful Good are not mutually exclusive. More Easterners shall be encouraged to serve on the path of Good."
- [to Gorakheel]
- "I want you to establish a strong rapport with the halflings. They are currently on the fringes of our army and need encouragement."
- [to Beeel]
- "I want you to bond with the Western peasants. They must not see you as an alien."
There endeth the audience. In other news, the party got the command word to the pseudo-alu-fiend's wand of fireballs, Gorakheel gained custody of the plant priest's bodyguard's +1 shield, and Beeel picked up a carpet that gives him an aid spell for his first combat of the day if he does his kata on it. And the team headed out.
- Beeel: [giving the recap]
- "Here are the Rules:
I may have misunderstood number three. :-)"
- Don't tell the East anything.
- Don't lie.
- Be merciful to the Easterners after they're dead.
- Frankel:
- "I'll let Beeel advise what kind of coffin I buy. By then, I won't care."
- Beeel:
- "A large coffin."
- Frankel:
- "In fact, considering that I'll be carrying you as a shield, it had better be large enough for the both of us."
The adventurers and halfling archers headed off down the road through Lifeblood. The first day was completely uneventful. On the march, Ganeth had a quiet word with some of the halflings about the lycanthrope business. He learned the following:
- There were about half a dozen reports of strange creatures resembling werewolves or wereboars during the engagement between the halflings and Kreel's group.
- Some of the mercenaries were observed taking damage, so at least part of the group aren't weres. However, not even one of the mercenaries was killed.
- None of the recovered halfling bodies showed signs of mauling or other unusual wounds. However, three of the halflings were never found.
So the leaders could be lycanthropes who are good at covering their tracks, but there are other possibilities as well. In any case, there's likely more to Kreel's band than a bunch of archers.
Naturally, Gorakheel also spoke with the halflings; he learned that some of the mercenaries in the battle were flying the Quartermoon banner, representing the Hakima of Banzeel. He and Silvana both suspect that while one of the merchant houses is financing the mercs, they're doing it quietly to preserve their chances of continuing their trade if the Westerners take Banzeel.
The halflings spent the first night snuggled in a plant door, while the party camped in a Leomund's shelter. The night passed uneventfully, and the team continued down the road the following day. In the morning, they found a heavy log blocking the road; it didn't do much to stop pedestrians, but it would stop wagons long enough for an ambush. Nobody was in the area at the time. Late that afternoon, Thorongil noticed a griffon doing recon a thousand feet above the road. Early in the evening, they found a large animal lying on the road, trapped by a wire snare hidden in the road. The animal turned out to be an owlbear...a real one, not a construct. And it appeared to have been zombified before its run-in with the road.
That night, the party repeated the plant door/shelter setup, but this time, Pepper's danger sense went off during the first guard shift. The party readied for action and saw eight skeletons walking down the road toward them. Meanwhile, three ghouls snuck around and surprised Frankel. The minor undead were dealt with rather easily; meanwhile, Silvana spotted an invisible wight hiding in a tree on see unseen and dropped a sunburst on it. The wight turned out to be unusually agile and may have had thieving abilities. After it too was taken down, a red vapor left its body and started floating away; Gorakheel put a dispel magic on it, turning the vapor white. It ended up requiring +2 weapons or fire to harm, but Pepper's horn and a Mirchi-wielding Thorongil were able to oblige. Silvana was slightly surprised that the wight wasn't stoneskinned and wondered if it was because nobody would touch it; Ganeth noted that invisibility is also a touch spell and wondered if the wight might have been a nightblade. A grey magical and slightly evil pyramid was found on the wight's body; it reminded Silvana of the pyramids in the Deadlands.
While the wight situation was being dealt with, Stealth saw a small bat-like creature enter the shelter. Silvana and Gorakheel went to investigate and discovered an invisible imp, who hit Gorakheel once before being pounded into oblivion by the gauntlet of magical weapon wielders.
A folded and sealed piece of paper was attached to one of the skeleton's ribs; the outside read (in Western Common), "Deliver to the Merchant Gorakheel without opening seal." Silvana casually removed the fire trap on the seal, and Gorakheel read the letter inside (which was in Eastern common).
To the Traitor Gorakheel -- if he still lives,
Your efforts at subverting the Banzeel Troops brought you to my attention. Know that the guilty have confessed and have been punished. Tell your master Omimajish that the East has no need of the Cuthbert, and that their army stops here.
You WILL fight for Banzeel (under the Hakima's Banner). Choose wisely whether you do so alive, or as a mindless zombie under my command...
Priestess Nekrita
P.S. My sincere apologies for any guardsmen that may have died fighting my skeleton minions. Their death will not be in vain :)
- Beeel:
- "So 8 skeletons, 3 ghouls, 1 SuperWight, 1 wisp, and 1 imp managed to do a total of 2 hit points of damage?"
- Ganeth:
- "Well, they obviously expected to face men-at-arms and a merchant, not the Champion of Good's goon squad."
Inside their plant door, the halflings were oblivious to the night's excitement. The group travelled offroad the next day (though parallel to it) and reached the ambush site in the afternoon.
1848 PK: Things went into gear. Ganeth put stoneskins on Beeel and Thorongil. Silvana put up a hallucinatory forest and summoned a treant. And the halflings spotted the griffon on its daily fly-by.
1849 PK: Ganeth cast stoneskin on the equines. Silvana put up the second hallucinatory forest and grew the first grove. Strength and cloak of bravery became standard precasts on the four engaging fighters. The griffon again flew over, and the treant moved the trees around; the griffon watched for a while and then flew off. That evening, two griffons flew by, and the treant provided another show. Using see unseen and distance-vision lenses, Silvana saw that the riders were a female half-elf in red dragon scale and a human in black robes. They watched from 1000' for about fifteen minutes before heading home.
1850 PK: Weather continued cloudy. Silvana grew the second grove and scattered food on the road to attract woodrats and squirrels for the imp invis contingency. Late that afternoon, a pair of griffons arrived; one was ridden by yesterday's half-elf, and the other was carrying a barrel. The barrel griffon flew off west, then reappeared from that direction, flying low over the road; it dumped a pile of sticky goop on the first grove, and both griffons departed. That night, the party cleaned off the trees with created water.
1851 PK: Sunset. Without warning, the first grove burst into flame, and a red dragon plus six mirror images appeared, carrying a barrel in its claws. The party went to the mirror image contingency, firing off two slows (one of which worked) and a fireball, which destroyed the mirror images and blew up the barrel of napalm. A flaming skull with red fiery eyes rose off the dragon's back and started spitting teeth onto the ground, where they became eight red fiery skeletons (like Dust Warriors, but nastier). An ioun stone around the dragon's head could be seen by the light of the flames. The halflings opened fire, peeled away the dragon's stoneskins, and did some damage to boot. (Definite morale boost, that.) Silvana cast the flame walk and the fighters powered up their flight items. And six immolating hawks broke invisibility and attacked the party.
The dragon-killing part of the plan went beautifully: the dragon was down by round 2, segment 2 thanks to Pepper's mega-charge. Well, the dragon's body went down; a translucent spirit dragon kept flying along, happily immune to +1 weapons, but Thorongil's sword of sharpness and bracelet of hitting +3 creatures made short work of it. Meanwhile, the skull started casting; Beeel whacked it, but it kept casting. He whacked it again, for 10 points of damage, and it stopped...it also exploded for 10 points of damage and a 10th level dispel magic (luckily Beeel's flight was powered by an item rather than a spell). Gorakheel dispelled two of the skeletons, who had some roughly 3rd-level special ability that could be detonated by spellfire and were wielding flame blades that could only be parried at -4. (They probably also ignored stoneskins, but since they never attacked someone who had them, we don't know.) The remaining skeletons (who seemed to have 2 or 3 HD) and birds were mopped up, and that was that.
Once Drakos' corpse reverted to human form, he turned out to be a balding pudgy middle-aged human with grey hair, dressed in bright red robes and an ornate head-dress shaped like the head of a snarling dragon. Possessions included a belt with arcane silver and iron symbols, a pale lavender ioun stone (spell absorption?), two rings, two wands, a shining golden dagger, a bone-colored staff, a rod, a pouch, a hip flask, and a satchel. And a head, which the party detached for later questioning.
After the day's excitement, the night was uneventful.