Game summary for May 31, 2007; present characters included Ashkor (lizardfolk barbarian/battle sorcerer/dragon disciple/fighter), Iapetus Hasur (hu-charad giant rogue/vigilante), Lady Aridarye (human aristocrat/harbinger cohort), Lyrin Sinbal (simian incantatrix/warmage), Morak Beardfist (shield dwarf fighter/rage cleric), Pitamian Kalal (human yang monk), and Taravin Truesilver (human gray guard/paladin of honor).
With the smoking warzone of Waterdeep behind them, the Mercenaries fled at full speed back to Lyrin’s home town of Daggerford and the only lead they have. Upon arrival, they discovered Delfen “Yellowknife” Ondabar’s tower had been destroyed by a terrible black dragon. Following information gathered from the townsfolk, the Mercenaries learned that Yellowknife had been excavating the Whispering Cairn to the North, and the dragon had flown off to find him. With all haste, the team rode out to the cairn and were ambushed by the dragon.
As she swooped in, she shrieked out “Dragotha take you! The wizard is mine!” Then, the dragon unleashed her poisonous, burning acid breath, catching over half the party in the blast. The dragon seemed to recognize Lyrin and accused him of killing her brood, so she charged and bit him. The devastating injury forced Lyrin to retreat while his brave companions engaged the dragon. The battle was short and brutal, with the dragon inflicting grievous injury to a number of the Mercenaries while suffering staggering blows herself. In the end, however, Lyrin brought down the beast with a well-timed lesser sonic orb.
The team then moved into the Cairn and found Delfen had uncovered a section that was collapsed the last time members of the group were here. Down the exposed hallway, the team found a shimmering, reflective black portal. They attempted to move through but found themselves barred from entry by some sort of blind, undead creature from the Outer Planes. Although unable to communicate in a language it seemed to understand, Iapetus was able to use comprehend languages to understand it. The best they could do was have Aridarye speak to it in Infernal, which it did not understand but made it believe she was an erinyes devil. With some impressive attempts at Intimidate, Aridarye was able to convince it to let her pass, but it promised to eat the souls of her companions.
The team decided that was unacceptable. Brute force seemed to fail as the creature rebuked attempt after attempt to get by. From its shadowy portal, it could lash out quickly and from surprising angles, allowing it to hit vulnerable spots with ease. Ashkor decided to bull rush the monster and was likewise repulsed. However, he believed the creature was lodged in the portal somehow and that it was held there by something rather than being so strong he just couldn’t move it. With this in mind, Pitamian attempted to tumble past and succeeded.
On the other side, Pit found he could still see the creature in a portal identical to the side he came through. The room he was in shrieked with wailing and blowing winds and smokes. As he stood there, twelve menacing eyes appeared in the swirling smoke above, and he quickly tumbled back through to the other side. At this point, Lyrin unleashed a magic missile, which seemed to damage the creature but not destroy it.
Thinking of their recent troubles in Waterdeep, the Mercenaries opted to make camp and destroy the beast once they were ready to go through, lest the destruction of this beast let something worse come out.
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