Lost Colonies Session 5

With the rescue of Fr. Taggert and the discovery of the mask and the albino tattooed raiders, the party sent correspondence to contacts in the city. Thus far, not much information has been garnered save for a rumor that there is an alchemist in Redwraith that might be able to help Hamlin regain his lost strength. As a result of this bit of information, the party headed north to that town, rumored to have an ongoing undead problem. The focus of our session, however, had little to do with Redwraith because a wandering monster encounter hijacked most of the session.

As the party trudged north, they spotted what looked like a dragon carrying a cow flying northwest. With unexpected bravado, they decided that they would follow it in hopes of finding the dragon's lair. What they found was a valley dotted with caves crawling with goblins all wearing dragon-themed heraldry.

The party set up a pair of ambushes to capture a prisoner to interrogate for information. They found out that the goblins had thrown in their lot with the dragon, who they saw as their champion and protector. They also found out in which cave the dragon laired.

They decided to try to disguise one of the party as a goblin to sneak into the valley and then use a potion of diminution to sneak into the dragon's lair to steal some treasure. This was all enthusiastically received until they realized that the only party member that could speak goblin was Vonz the elf, played by our youngest and least experienced player.

Knowing that this plan would likely result in Vonz's death, the rest of the party left it up to Vonz as to whether or not he would go. Embracing his doom, he agreed. The party then detailed an excellent plan, taking advantage of Vonz's abilities and his Charm Person spell. They even gave him the strange metallic potion they found last session in case he needed it for negotiation. In the hands of a more experienced player, I would have given the party a decent chance of getting away with some treasure. Unfortunately, once Vonz was on his own, the carefully laid out plan completely fell apart.

What resulted was a very entertaining evening at Vonz's expense — to the delight of everyone, even Vonz's player (though he did not quite appreciate it as much as the rest of us). In what ammounted to a comedy of errors, Vonz bumbled into the dragon's lair and proceeded to get eaten.

The party then abandoned their quarry, and continued toward Redwraith. On the way, they stumbled upon a small Dwarven colony that specialized in working bronze. When it became clear that the party was headed to Redwraith, they were not welcome.

Finally, the party arrived at Redwraith to find that its undead problem is a result of being ruled by a cadre of necromancers. The offered cure for Hamlin's lost strength was an alchemal creature called a Thanaty Worm — a symbiot that helps heal the host. The cost of this relationship, however, is that once the worm's host dies, the Thanaty Worm transforms the corpse into walking dead in service of Redwraith's necromancers. Hamlin was unwilling to pay this price and the session ended with a quick return to Headwater, but not before picking up another adventurer — Deacon Swibish of Redwraith, who, unlike Hamlin, was quite willing to take on a Thanaty Worm. We shall see how that plays out.