Yokini looks at her mother and sister after the two guards leave. "I guess we can head toward Zashier's farm to reunite with the rest of the family." She tells the others they will be heading that direction and the trio climbs the stairs. As they walk, Yokini comments, "I guess we won't be able to leave right away, but hopefully the investigation won't take too long."
Yokini and her Mom and sister, Nynoa, make their way back through the house, through the wreckage, and out into the streets. Fallcrest citizens have already started the clean up process of the streets. Through the streets, you make your way down the many stairs into Lower Fallcrest, down to the raft to cross the river…once again, Yokini is a bit queasy as they cross but she manages to keep it together (or does she? You tell me…)
After crossing, you make your way to the farm where you are reunited with your family and the freed captives. From an earlier post, there are 11 gnomes (all yokini's family), and 2 dwarves, 2 humans, and a halfling, and now Yokini, her mom and sister.
You have a nice reunion, and all of the captives look as if they are recovering a bit. They are eating and drinking, and their color is starting to come back. They slept outside last night, under the stars, in an attempt to fight the fear from being cooped up in cages for who knows how long.
Zashier’s sister is looking a little worried not seeing her brother, and asks Yokini what happened? Where is he?
Back in the basement, Lem, Raddunth, Thistle and Zashier are all getting ready to spend the night guarding the treasure, waiting for all the party to come back tomorrow. By then, the ice will have melted, and the adventurers and freed captives can help carry the treasure up to Moonstone Keep to give an account of what happened.
There are still a few bodies of the dead cultists in the room with you, as well as the eery things on the bookshelf. Lem is still reading in the corner, paying anyone around no attention.
What conversations are happening at the farm?
What conversations are happening in the basement? Where are you going to sleep? Are you going to have a rotating guard?
You all just finished a mighty ordeal, and you are just now catching your breath. I can only imagine what you all must be thinking and feeling….lets pull back the curtain a bit on that…
Lem is mostly reading this book, and looking up to adjust or relight a torch, or pull something unfrozen out of the ice. As he finds things, he will keep ritually casting detect magic to find items of note, and also really keeping an eye out for any dragon scale mail. He'll look for any traps on the chests and try to disarm any he finds, and open them with Thistle's help. He'll also look for any fallen white dragon scales, and pocket them.
If there's a way to bind the book that tried to eat him, he will do so and stow it away into safety. If asked, he will explain that he does know some people who love books almost as much as he does, and such things could be good deterrents.
He's not making much conversation, other than awkward usual Lem stuff. His eyes keep returning to that book, and the others. Eventually he will start to droop and agree to whatever series of watches the group decides, volunteering for one or two himself. He just eats his rations, and falls asleep right by the treasure pile, on his books, in a way that seems very familiar, for someone who lives above a book repository.
What he's thinking, OOC:
This was a fruitful endeavor. There's a great deal of potential benefits to what's in this trove -- it could really advance spell transcribing efforts. No one died, and we even saved Ini's family. They seem nice. I'm learning a lot. There's that dragon who will have to be dealt with some time. I wonder what its life was like. And what we should do with that egg.
This wondrous wand requires a great deal more study. Will have to research what if any control that can be exerted over it. Far too unpredictable for practical use. I doubt anyone else wants it, so that research will be up to me. That book... utterly fascinating! There is so much to learn.
Walking through the streets of Fallcrest, Yokini talks a lot about how the war affected the city. She'll point out some things that are different now, though she doesn't know the upper city as well as the lower. When it's time to board the ferry, Nynoa immediately recognizes the look in Yokini's eyes and takes her hand. "Hold on to me," she says sympathetically. "I'd forgotten how much you hate running water." The three she-gnomes cross the river in silence, with Yokini huddled close to Nynoa with her eyes shut.
Once they reach Zashier's farm, Yokini basks in the joy of the reunion. Her heart feels so light now that she knows she's been forgiven. When Zashier's sister asks what happened, Yokini spells it out bluntly. "Well, we broke into the house we were told about. We hit a little resistance getting in by some kobold guards, but Lemmy pretty much took care of them single handed. Inside, well, the house was a mess. We could tell they had been there, but we didn't find anybody else. But then we found this secret passage in the fireplace. We went down and found a labyrinth of tunnels. We found and rescued this lot," she says, motioning toward the larger group that arrived the night before, "but they said Mom and Nynoa had been taken elsewhere, so we kept going. We eventually persuaded this one kobold to tell us what was going on. Turns out, a human — I can't remember his name, but he's a bigwig in town — had a dragon prisoner and was using kobolds to do his dirty work. So, we found where they were performing their ritual, took out the idiots, saved Mom and my sister, and the dragon escaped. Just before we left, some guards showed up, and we told them what had happened, so they said we can't leave town until we've been questioned. The others decided to wait around while Lemmy unfroze a bunch of treasure because the whole reason we went was to recover some dragon hide, and we're hoping it's in there."
Curious about the dwarves, humans and halfling, Yokini checks on them (as a doctor) and asks how they got mixed up in this.
Zashier makes certain to take the bodies up stairs, and respectfully lines them up in some place close to an exit; but, not so close that some wild birds might fly and start pecking them apart. For enemies or cruel worshipers or not, they deserved at least that minimum of respect as former living and breathing people... who didn't have the guidance to walk a different path. As that line of thinking comes to mind, he jumps, remembering the egg, and almost abandons finishing the job of covering the bodies up in his hurry.
Fortunately, some sense of duty cut the rush short, resulting in his searching the building from top to bottom for blankets to throw over the bodies. It is in the process that curious Zashier did muster the resolve to search the building for any other secrets in the upper levels more thoroughly than the last. As painful as the smelling part of the process made things, he persevered as only someone like he could've until satisfied the search had nothing more to yield.
Any goods worth gold or loose coin found is in time added to the great haul meant for the trip to Moonstone Keep.
Perception: 21(if Keen smell comes into play. If Investigation -1, but same adv for same reason)
The farmhand eventually joins the others at the bottom, longing for sleep, but needing a moment to converse with the others about sleep. He, being who he was, offers to take first watch. But would also suggest using the rod-er-ma-gig to keep the secret tunnel door sealed up good. Perhaps even move some things over it as well to further discourage attempts at just breaking it breaking the door all together.For all of his growing fatigue, the condition of the others remain an ever present concern at the back of his mind. Which is why Lem's usual awkwardness isn't passed over without a second thought. While not the most well read or insightful person, the fact remained that Lem was on the frontline for looking into the mad research of Amros.
Was it possible that the dwarf too might've been corrupted? Could it even be he read something disturbing? And what was with the book he appeared especially wary of? The pile up of question is just too much in the end. So, after confirming that the white dragon egg wasn't in any danger of dying or warming, sealing the compartment back up if proven necessary as well, he roamed the basement sniffing and flapping his ears as if trying to catch something...
Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
Short of something tripping his senses, the Loxodon soon after waddled his way over to Lem at last and gives him a poke with the trunk. "Hey man. How you holding up? Things got a bit rough there now didn't they? Read anything interesting too? Oh, and uh, I found this as well. Kind of a blunder on my part, not thinking of it sooner. But since I have, I be figuring you could have a look at it, and tell me what it does, ya?"He hands over the whip.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
While Zashier takes the bodies upstairs, and Lem busies himself with the treasure pile, and Raddunth... does whatever a Raddunth does, Thistle will set about securing the room. She will check on the egg, re-sealing it behind the hidden bookshelf when she is done, and helping Zashier check on it when he shows up. She will take the evidence, most especially the diary, and secure it on her person, so that it doesn't get lost or stolen if anything untoward should happen. She will seal the trapdoor using the rod, because the people most likely to come back in the middle of the night are the kobolds. But the second most likely to return is the dragon, for its treasure.
Before setting up watches and going to sleep, she'll gather the others and chat about that. "I'm thinking the most likely to come back for what they left behind is the dragon. If that happens, we'll be pretty overmatched, and it might be best if we start out with some cover, so I'd suggest nobody sleep by the gold."
"Our second biggest concern is if Kamroth comes back. I know you vouched for the guards, Zashier, and I don't doubt them, but I've never known a bunch of civil servants who didn't have someone with a weak spot for personal gain. He's been a man of influence here, and he commands the loyalty of the gang, so his reappearance out of chains is not out of the question. We should be ready, or at least not surprised."
"We should set our watch at the top of the stairs, too, to give us the most warning. I might see if I can rig up some sort of trap, maybe just a hidden tripping rope..."
Thistle will try to set up a simple tripping wire at the top of the stairs, using rope and whatever and her tools (per Xanathar's "Set A Trap") and, maybe an Int roll with Thieves' tools bonus? (If so, here's the roll. Int is +0, +2 for tool prof: 22)
Regardless, Thistle will volunteer for the last watch.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
When Zashier takes care of the bodies, Lem realizes they are there with a start. He briefly starts to tremble but begins to stabilize when he goes back to a book. Later, when Zashier comes over to talk, Lem quietly thanks him for thinking to take care of the bodies.
”I’m okay. Still processing. Thanks for asking. How are you? Yes, this was not very easy. Reminds me of... oh, well, I mean, you know. Or can guess. The book? It’s very interesting, for at least someone of my more academic disposition. It’s a sort of biographical tome, and lots of detail about dragons, orcs, and giants. Written in an obscure dialect of draconic. Happy to tell you anything you want to know about it. It will take me some time, however, to really understand it. Quite dense. Anyhow, this whip, I am happy to identify it for you.”
He does so, hands again trembling a bit as he ritually finishes the spell, and telling him what it is.
When Thistle begins talking of plans and contingencies and traps, Lem perks up. “Eminently sensible, Thistle. You are a master, or mistress, of traps, and planning. Well thought out. I will curl up behind this column with a good view of the treasure and out of view of the stairs. Before we turn in, we might want to relocate the coins and jewe... — evidence — that has been melted free elsewhere, in case the dragon returns. I can do that. Kamroth might be able to talk his way out of this, you’re right. Should someone go check on the watch headquarters, and apply any persuasive measures the situation merits?“
Zashier shrugged to the first question from Lem, but nodded in agreement to the knowing. It may have been some years since the war, but the memories weren't so cold for him to have blocked it all out. His perspective though....
He frowned at a misleading moment as one grim train of thought gets shoved back aside once more. "Right. Thanks man. Much appreciated, as always. And if you're up for it, I would like to hear, in the event I wind up charged with taking care of the little fella, or even returning them to their parent."He thumbs the direction of the egg. Though Zashier tried to not let it show, seeing the trembling in Lem always seemed to 'just' about dim the light in Zashier's own eyes.
When Thistle came with her concerns, welcome relief flooded those doey dark eyes of his. Sadly, it wasn't to last for long, for soon he's narrowing his eyes at both her and soon Lem, and with hands resting at his hip. "The thing is Ms. Thistle. I've already given my word about keeping watch over things, and I aim to be thorough about it, as is my way. If that means facing a challenge like that little Dragon coming back for something that ain't all quite rightly he's, well, so be it." He expressed, resolve wholly unshaken. "As for 'those guards', I'd give my life for them ten times over in a heartbeat. We've been through thick and thin, they and I, and no little distancing due to work is gonna change that. And if there /is/ someone on the force itself, well, I know my old friends we'll see to it they don't last very long. The real worry will be if the gang come here thinking they can slip away with a few things before scattering to the wind. Which when they do, they'll find themselves on the unfortunate side my axe this time around."
"But if you want to set your trip by the stairs, then ball means."With that said, he then turns back, expression softening as he took a moment to digest the dwarf's words. "I... can't say I'm all that comfortable with moving things until it can rightly processed. But, seeing as we're being trusted with its transport anyhow, assuming I'm interpreting things rightly, I... suppose you can do whatever it is your planning. Just make sure it's not a way that'll get mixed up with your own stuff." He gives Lem a light but warning look.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Nightfall comes to Fallcrest, and the party members find themselves split - Yokini reuniting with her family at Zashier’s farm, and the others making the best of a bad situation holed up in Armos Kamroth’s cold, dark, dank basement.
At the farm,
Yokini explains where they have been and what happened, and generally enjoys catching up with her family. She also checks in with the other freed captives to make sure all their wounds are treated. Most of them ended up in captivity because they were traveling the roads North of Fallcrest - leaving or coming to Fallcrest, escorting a shipment, separated from a clan, that kind of thing. All of them, including the gnomes, express interest in resting, and this time everyone beds down in the barn. They have all been so used to being around each other in captivity, they drew strength from one another, and now they all still want to be in the same room, so Zashier’s sister helped fill the big lower barn area with hay so everyone could be together. Yokini, I assume, joins them.
Back at the estate,
Zashier moves the bodies upstairs, and has a moment of silence for their demise. He searches the house for blankets, which he finds upstairs, to put over their bodies. The blankets or moldy and musty, but they will work. The more you move through the house, the more you get the feeling that Amros never came up here. He basically lived down in the basement. What food he does have is moldy, and when you enter the kitchen, the rats scatter. Any cloth has been torn to tatters by rodents and the elements. The house, much like an iceberg, had a deeper story beneath the surface. You practically have to hold your nose as you move through the kitchen and pantry area. In other rooms, you just smell decay. A layer of dust and grime has settled over everything.
Zashier, you make your way back downstairs where you have Thistle put the rod up to keep the secret door closed. Then you check on the egg. It is a strange mixture of warm and cold. You don’t really know what that means, but you think its ok, and you close it back in its hidden chamber. You think Lem is behaving a bit oddly, but your divine sense does not trigger any red flags (so you know there is no celestial, fiend, or undead nearby, and no consecration or desecration).
Thistle also checks on the egg, and makes sure none of the evidence goes missing by taking charge of it herself, leaning into the words of Bireal that she and Zashier were in charge. She recommends the rotating guard stays at the top of the stairs, where she places a superb trap that cannot be seen, even by those that know its there, so she of course tells the other party members about it so they are at least aware of it.
Lem continues his reading, fully engrossed in his book. He does attempt to bind the book that tried to bite him, but is unsuccessful. With a little help from Raddunth, who knocks it off the shelf, and finally Zashier he steps on it to keep it from biting, Lem is able to secure the book, and place it in his pack. He then returns to his book, and melting the ice.
As the ice melts, more treasure is revealed - coins of gold, silver, and copper, jewels, chunks of raw metal, several treasure chests, tapestries, and others. There are also many mundane items, things that were brought here because they were in the shipment, but that are not what a dragon might consider treasure.
As the ice melts, I assume that Lem and the others might be pulling stuff out, possibly organizing it, opening chests and whatnot. Lem is ritually casting detect magic to see if there are any magic items here. I think it makes the most sense that he does some now, perhaps he also does that to keep himself occupied while doing his guard duty, and then some more in the morning.
Here is what you discover
Starting with things that your companions might have asked you to identify, (lets say you did this before Yokini left) Yokini has a potion that she was unable to identify earlier found from a kobold. That is a potion of Kyrzin’s Ooze (E:RftLW, pg 278).
Kyrzin's Ooze
This opalescent, symbiotic goo comes sealed in a jar and slowly shifts and moves, as if endlessly exploring the jar's interior. To attune to this item, you must first drink the contents of the jar, unlocking the following properties.
Resistant. While attuned to Kyrzin's ooze, you have resistance to poison and acid damage, and you're immune to the poisoned condition.
Amorphous.
As an action, you can speak a command word and cause your body to assume the amorphous qualities of an ooze. For the next minute, you (along with any equipment you're wearing or carrying) can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. Once you use this property, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
Acid Breath. As an action, you can exhale acid in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Once you use this property, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
Symbiotic Nature. The ooze can't be removed from you while you're attuned to it, and you can't voluntarily end your attunement to it. If you're targeted by a spell that ends a curse, your attunement to the ooze ends, as it seeps out of you.
If you die while the ooze is inside you, it bursts out and engulfs you, turning your corpse into a black pudding.
The whip that Zashier found, Lem identifies that as the Scorpion Lasher - likely one of Armos’ experiments, partnered with the scorpions you found earlier.
Scorpion Lasher:
Weapon (whip), uncommon (requires attunement)
This whip was constructed using salvaged pieces of a scorpion and drips with a sickly venom from the end. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with this weapon, you can cause the whip to deal an extra 1d6 poison damage. When you do, if the creature is Medium or smaller, it must also succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be pulled 5 feet closer to you.
In the frozen treasure trove, you find (and I know you don’t count all the coins, but I will provide the specific number so I don’t just say “You found a bunch of coins”, though that would be more realistic…)
2100 Copper
1050 Silver
85 Gold
7 azurite (each worth 10gp)
4 blue quartz(each worth 10gp)
4 Turquoise(each worth 10gp)
6 Onyx(each worth 50gp)
1 Bloodstone in a necklace (worth 50gp) found in a velvet case
2 Tourmaline earrings (each earring is worth 100gp) found in a mahogany box
Several pieces of art and pricey items, each worth 25gp - gold bracelet, silver ewer, carved bone statuette, silk handkerchief and others
A meerschaum smoking pipe carved with an image of a fire salamander. The eyes of the fire salamander are right where the bowl is located so they glow red with an inhale while smoking, the mouth smokes when used (worth 75gp)
The large chunk of metal, Lem can tell, is a hunk of raw Adamantine
Alchemy Jug (DMG, pg 150)
Some bagpipes
Several mundane items, not worth much, except for maybe sentimental value. A Worg Fur Cloak, a rag doll, a pillow stuffed with vulture feathers, a tome of sheet music, chipped glass eye, a dollhouse that has been broken, a couple of pipes, several empty traveling trunks and luggage, and a large pile of common clothing, and other miscellaneous junk.
A few items Lem sets aside as he discovers they are magical. I also assume, if he has time, he tries to identify those as well.
The Iron Spike of Safe Passage (worth 600gp)
When hammered into place this 9-inch iron spike creates an illusion up to 15 feet high and in a 15-foot diameter centered on the spike. The illusion can be of one of the following: a small hillock of appropriate composition for the terrain, a pile of mundane crates or barrels, a mound of rubble, or a small structure (such as a cabin or canvas enclosure). The exact size and specific parameters (such the composition of timber) are chosen when the spike is placed. Interacting with the illusion grants a Intelligence save (DC 15) to disbelieve it.
Hammering the spike into place or removing it is an action. The spike can be used any number of times and its effects last until removed.
A Box of 7 green pills (each worth 500 gp) 2 pink pills (each worth 700 gp) and 1 purple pill (worth 900 gp). These are called Volatile Vaporizers.
Each pill is inedible, but turns a potion into a cloud of mist that can be shared by multiple creatures. When placed inside a potion flask, the potion bubbles and froths itself into a pungent 10-foot-radius cloud. Any creature within the cloud when it appears gains the full effect of the potion. The cloud has no effect on creatures that cannot breathe. A creature may automatically resist the effects of the potion cloud by momentarily holding its breath. Using the pill destroys it and the potion. Each pill can only be used on potions of a particular spell level; using it on a potion of a different spell level has no effect (neither the potion nor the pill are consumed). The vaporizer also works on artificer’s infusions, but not mutagens, extracts, or magical oils. Green pills are for level 1 potions, pink pills are for level 2 potions, and purple pills are for level 3 potions.
A small figurine in the shape of a Giant Strider (reflavored Figurine of Wondrous Power) - 8 hours alive, 2 day cooldown
A figurine of wondrous power is a statuette of a beast small enough to fit in a pocket.
If you use an action to speak the command word and throw the figurine to a point on the ground within 60 feet of you, the figurine becomes a living creature. If the space where the creature would appear is occupied by other creatures or objects, or if there isn't enough space for the creature, the figurine doesn't become a creature.
The creature is friendly to you and your companions. It understands your languages and obeys your spoken commands. If you issue no commands, the creature defends itself but takes no other actions. See the Monster Manual for the creature's statistics.
The creature exists for a duration specific to each figurine. At the end of the duration, the creature reverts to its figurine form. It reverts to a figurine early if it drops to 0 hit points or if you use an action to speak the command word again while touching it. When the creature becomes a figurine again, its property can't be used again until a certain amount of time has passed, as specified in the figurine's description.
Several Spell scrolls
Catapult
Cure Wounds
Aid
Lefitate
Water Breathing
Floating Disk
Blur
Shield of Faith
Zone of Truth
Daylight
Greater Restoration
Several Potions
Potion of Clairvoyance
Potion of Flying
Potion of Giant Strength
Potion of Growth
4 potions of Healing
2 potions of Greater Healing
Potion of Resistence
Potion of Water Breathing
Several of these things you find in chests or loose, some are in cases of varying sizes.
One chest in particular you find a large amount of gold (which has already been added to the amount above) but on top of the gold is a note, which is written in a mixture of orc-ish and giant. Lem is the only one that understands Orc, and its a little hard to parse since it has a few Giant words thrown in, but you get the gist. The note says:
Get me The Hammer and The Rock. It looks like the rock I already have and showed you. With the hammer I can unite our tribe with the giants, and we can finally be done with the small folk. Bring the hammer and the rock back to the fort. Once you have retrieved it, give the signal so we can unleash the attack.
The evening passes uneventfully. Everyone wakes at the farm, and shares breakfast with Zashier's mom and sister, then (I assume) head back towards Amros' estate, Yokini in the lead. Do you bring any food for your compatriots who stayed behind at the estate?
Zashier, Thistle, Lem, and Raddunth, your evening also passes uneventfully. Everyone takes their watch. Morning comes, and with the dawn, the ice has finally all melted.
You have some time here to get things straightened out (in character) load up, and make your way up to Moonstone Keep.
Zashier goes over the last note several times, and then gives Lem a meaningful look. "Wars on the horizon again. And Amros... he was gonna betray everyone."Zashier shook his head from side to side with a look of genuine hurt and confusion on his face. But after a moment he scrunches his expression up into a more determined look. "He won't get away this."Without another word, the elephantine man stood once more to aid in organizing things.
Despite the dangers of some treasures and coin being mixed, Zashier works with the other to try to keep organized the effort of shuffling as much of the treasure around into chests presents for ease of transport. That which can't, or appeared to fragile, he entrusts to the others or carefully packs away in side pouches. With the thought of another war looming over the horizon, greed is given no room to breathe in the heart and mind of the elephantine man. That very same ever present concern does make him negligent at times.
A potion or some coins poached by others thus raise no alarm. Same for a figurine or bunch of pills in a box. But larger items such as the jug, and admantine are not so easily dismissed. In the end, there is so much there to carry, that Zashier even willing, but also grudgingly, attunes to the gauntlets for the strength necessary to carry more of it. If it comes down to it though, he would head up top to find a close enough guard to ask about sending the group carriable chests or sacks for delivering the goods. That, and maybe an escort or two.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Thistle is no thief, though she is hoping for some sort of recovery reward or something. Still, she is mostly interested in looking for the hide we were originally commissioned to find. Was that found anywhere?
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he). Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Lem continues his reading, fully engrossed in his book. He does attempt to bind the book that tried to bite him, but is unsuccessful. With a little help from Raddunth, who knocks it off the shelf, and finally Zashier he steps on it to keep it from biting, Lem is able to secure the book, and place it in his pack. He then returns to his book, and melting the ice.
Raddunth asks Lem if the book can be understood.
The symbols that form words can be read, but the book seems to be missing the pictures that should be with the words. (He is literate, but has only seen a certain type of book up to now.)
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM) Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy) DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lem hears Zashier talk about war coming again, and the tremble in his hands gets a bit worse. He does not say anything, but nods, almost to himself.
"I... don't know what the hammer is. Or the rock."Not knowing things is physically painful for Lem, and he tries hard not to tune out Zashier's comments about Amros' betrayal. (Does he have any idea what the hammer or rock might allude to? History: 21 -- second roll if this would be an advantage roll due to stonecunning: 7)
He checks on the dragon egg only once, and then comes back to the group. "Do we tell anyone about this? Hand it over to the authorities? Smash it? Keep it secretly? There are no good options. If we keep it, we can still do the other three options. So I vote keep it."
Lem dutifully helps Zashier organize the hoard. He suggest putting small things in the big chests, and then he ritually casts tenser's floating disk to help carry as much as the disk will hold. He says he's interested in keeping the levitate, water breathing, and blur spell scrolls. He also says, "no one would have had a chance of getting their things back if we hadn't risked our lives to do this. It's....... ours to keep, as much as it is anyone else's. Certainly the useful things. But really, it's ours by right."
Lem's also been looking for that dragon scale for much of the night when it was his shift, and into the morning. At this point it's just about bragging rights.
When he gets the question about the book, Lem looks at Raddunth. "Radish, the book can be understood, if you can understand a dragon's very specific speech from a long time ago. And I am sorry. Very few pictures here."
Zashier accepts the suggestion of the disk with an appreciative nod. But as talk turned towards keeping the items, his expression gradually turns from bemused to suspicious and then finally a measure of disappointment. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, man. Let's back that up there for a second. That ain't the right of it, not by a long shot, and you most certainly know it too." He folds his arms over his chest. "It would've been one thing if we were out in the wild as the odds are it'd be near impossible to see to it things could even be returned to their rightful owners. But that ain't the way of things in the city... unless you're someone like Mr. Amros, who as you know, own case of Greed and worse has got him in quite a bit of trouble. Now, if you would like to keep some in -mind-, so that if and when we do recieve a reward for turning these things over, they could maybe make it a part of said reward, than sure."
"But as a citizen of fallcrest, and having been entrusted by the guard to make sure nothing untoward happens with all of this stuff, you can rest assure I won't allow anything being kept."He said, eyeing Lem sternly. "Now as for the Dragon egg, which if the story in that book is true, smashing it would be a very bad idea... And seeing as it technically not what you would call stolen property in the strictest sense.... Hmm... Keeping it without telling anyone feels like a recipe for disaster. And I should know what a disaster is, seeing as my sister, who I love dearly, should never be allowed to make chili.So... at the very least we need to consult the authorities on the dragon, least we have Mama Dragon on our heads personally."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Ok, so I am a big dum-dum who got so caught up in giving you loot that I forgot to tell you that you found the ONLY THING YOU WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR!
So, without further ado…
As the ice melts, and the things get organized, a dark black chest suddenly reveals itself from the steamy mist of the melting ice around it. The candles flicker rapidly as a mysterious wind comes out of nowhere and blows the lid of the chest back to reveal a pile of red dragon scales. As you look closer, you realize all the scales are connected, not loose. If you were to pull it out, you would see it is about the size of a young dragon, skinned perfectly, every scale intact. Worth a ton of gold, this is undoubtably the dragon scale that Teldorthan “Telly” Ironhews said had gone missing. Its no wonder he was desperate to get it back. He likely spent his life savings to get it.
Another thing I forgot (because apparently I am an absent-minded DM), Lem you find 11 white dragon scales scattered around the half of the basement where the dragon was living. You can add those to your inventory and do with them whatever it is you intend to do (I say with trepidation...because I have no idea what you want to do with them...)
Because I forgot those things, I will make it up to you with 2 items found leaning next to the chest…2 little dingy bags.
Lem sees the bags leaning against the chest, almost overlooking them because of how dirty they are, but he senses some magic. He tells you they are a Bag of Beans and a Gray Bag of Tricks. (What better way to reward patient players and my ineptitude with random magic! Everyone’s favorite!)
Lem, you do not know what hammer or rock the note is referring to.
There seems to be a bit of tension between Zashier and Lem with regards to keeping the recovered items. Any of the other party members want weigh in? Has Amros’ insatiable greed rubbed off on anyone else?
Zashier helps oversee the organization and hauling of everything, making use of several of the chests to get everything able to be hauled. With all of the help coming from the farm and Lem’s floating disk, everyone is able to pitch in to get it all ready to move Moonstone Keep.
I will give you a bit more time - I’d like to hear from the other players about the treasure and the egg. Perhaps Yokini will have an opinion when she arrives…
Yokini leads the group back to town, cursing the river and her third trip across. "I've got to find somewhere to stay in town if we're going to be here a while," she comments more to herself than to her sister, who she clings to once again. They head to the manor to check on the others, and Dr. Yokini, medicine gnome, descends the stairs just after Zashier's retort to Lem. With her insight of -1, she doesn't pick up on any tension. She smiles at the sight of the dwarf and walks over. "Good morning, Lemmy." She looks around, smiling at Zashier, Raddunth and Thistle. "Good morning, everyone." Looking back at Lem, she adds, "Everything go okay last night, I assume. It looks like we're ready to get going. Where is it we're supposed to take this stuff?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Yokini looks at her mother and sister after the two guards leave. "I guess we can head toward Zashier's farm to reunite with the rest of the family." She tells the others they will be heading that direction and the trio climbs the stairs. As they walk, Yokini comments, "I guess we won't be able to leave right away, but hopefully the investigation won't take too long."
Yokini and her Mom and sister, Nynoa, make their way back through the house, through the wreckage, and out into the streets. Fallcrest citizens have already started the clean up process of the streets. Through the streets, you make your way down the many stairs into Lower Fallcrest, down to the raft to cross the river…once again, Yokini is a bit queasy as they cross but she manages to keep it together (or does she? You tell me…)
After crossing, you make your way to the farm where you are reunited with your family and the freed captives. From an earlier post, there are 11 gnomes (all yokini's family), and 2 dwarves, 2 humans, and a halfling, and now Yokini, her mom and sister.
You have a nice reunion, and all of the captives look as if they are recovering a bit. They are eating and drinking, and their color is starting to come back. They slept outside last night, under the stars, in an attempt to fight the fear from being cooped up in cages for who knows how long.
Zashier’s sister is looking a little worried not seeing her brother, and asks Yokini what happened? Where is he?
Back in the basement, Lem, Raddunth, Thistle and Zashier are all getting ready to spend the night guarding the treasure, waiting for all the party to come back tomorrow. By then, the ice will have melted, and the adventurers and freed captives can help carry the treasure up to Moonstone Keep to give an account of what happened.
There are still a few bodies of the dead cultists in the room with you, as well as the eery things on the bookshelf. Lem is still reading in the corner, paying anyone around no attention.
What conversations are happening at the farm?
What conversations are happening in the basement? Where are you going to sleep? Are you going to have a rotating guard?
You all just finished a mighty ordeal, and you are just now catching your breath. I can only imagine what you all must be thinking and feeling….lets pull back the curtain a bit on that…
Lem is mostly reading this book, and looking up to adjust or relight a torch, or pull something unfrozen out of the ice. As he finds things, he will keep ritually casting detect magic to find items of note, and also really keeping an eye out for any dragon scale mail. He'll look for any traps on the chests and try to disarm any he finds, and open them with Thistle's help. He'll also look for any fallen white dragon scales, and pocket them.
If there's a way to bind the book that tried to eat him, he will do so and stow it away into safety. If asked, he will explain that he does know some people who love books almost as much as he does, and such things could be good deterrents.
He's not making much conversation, other than awkward usual Lem stuff. His eyes keep returning to that book, and the others. Eventually he will start to droop and agree to whatever series of watches the group decides, volunteering for one or two himself. He just eats his rations, and falls asleep right by the treasure pile, on his books, in a way that seems very familiar, for someone who lives above a book repository.
What he's thinking, OOC:
This was a fruitful endeavor. There's a great deal of potential benefits to what's in this trove -- it could really advance spell transcribing efforts. No one died, and we even saved Ini's family. They seem nice. I'm learning a lot. There's that dragon who will have to be dealt with some time. I wonder what its life was like. And what we should do with that egg.
This wondrous wand requires a great deal more study. Will have to research what if any control that can be exerted over it. Far too unpredictable for practical use. I doubt anyone else wants it, so that research will be up to me. That book... utterly fascinating! There is so much to learn.
Walking through the streets of Fallcrest, Yokini talks a lot about how the war affected the city. She'll point out some things that are different now, though she doesn't know the upper city as well as the lower. When it's time to board the ferry, Nynoa immediately recognizes the look in Yokini's eyes and takes her hand. "Hold on to me," she says sympathetically. "I'd forgotten how much you hate running water." The three she-gnomes cross the river in silence, with Yokini huddled close to Nynoa with her eyes shut.
Once they reach Zashier's farm, Yokini basks in the joy of the reunion. Her heart feels so light now that she knows she's been forgiven. When Zashier's sister asks what happened, Yokini spells it out bluntly. "Well, we broke into the house we were told about. We hit a little resistance getting in by some kobold guards, but Lemmy pretty much took care of them single handed. Inside, well, the house was a mess. We could tell they had been there, but we didn't find anybody else. But then we found this secret passage in the fireplace. We went down and found a labyrinth of tunnels. We found and rescued this lot," she says, motioning toward the larger group that arrived the night before, "but they said Mom and Nynoa had been taken elsewhere, so we kept going. We eventually persuaded this one kobold to tell us what was going on. Turns out, a human — I can't remember his name, but he's a bigwig in town — had a dragon prisoner and was using kobolds to do his dirty work. So, we found where they were performing their ritual, took out the idiots, saved Mom and my sister, and the dragon escaped. Just before we left, some guards showed up, and we told them what had happened, so they said we can't leave town until we've been questioned. The others decided to wait around while Lemmy unfroze a bunch of treasure because the whole reason we went was to recover some dragon hide, and we're hoping it's in there."
Curious about the dwarves, humans and halfling, Yokini checks on them (as a doctor) and asks how they got mixed up in this.
Zashier makes certain to take the bodies up stairs, and respectfully lines them up in some place close to an exit; but, not so close that some wild birds might fly and start pecking them apart. For enemies or cruel worshipers or not, they deserved at least that minimum of respect as former living and breathing people... who didn't have the guidance to walk a different path. As that line of thinking comes to mind, he jumps, remembering the egg, and almost abandons finishing the job of covering the bodies up in his hurry.
Fortunately, some sense of duty cut the rush short, resulting in his searching the building from top to bottom for blankets to throw over the bodies. It is in the process that curious Zashier did muster the resolve to search the building for any other secrets in the upper levels more thoroughly than the last. As painful as the smelling part of the process made things, he persevered as only someone like he could've until satisfied the search had nothing more to yield.
Any goods worth gold or loose coin found is in time added to the great haul meant for the trip to Moonstone Keep.
Perception: 21(if Keen smell comes into play. If Investigation -1, but same adv for same reason)
The farmhand eventually joins the others at the bottom, longing for sleep, but needing a moment to converse with the others about sleep. He, being who he was, offers to take first watch. But would also suggest using the rod-er-ma-gig to keep the secret tunnel door sealed up good. Perhaps even move some things over it as well to further discourage attempts at just breaking it breaking the door all together.For all of his growing fatigue, the condition of the others remain an ever present concern at the back of his mind. Which is why Lem's usual awkwardness isn't passed over without a second thought. While not the most well read or insightful person, the fact remained that Lem was on the frontline for looking into the mad research of Amros.
Was it possible that the dwarf too might've been corrupted? Could it even be he read something disturbing? And what was with the book he appeared especially wary of? The pile up of question is just too much in the end. So, after confirming that the white dragon egg wasn't in any danger of dying or warming, sealing the compartment back up if proven necessary as well, he roamed the basement sniffing and flapping his ears as if trying to catch something...
Egg Check: 17.
Divine Senses:
Until the end of your next turn, you know the location of any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You know the type (celestial, fiend, or undead) of any being whose presence you sense, but not its identity (the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich, for instance). Within the same radius, you also detect the presence of any place or object that has been consecrated or desecrated, as with the hallow spell.
Short of something tripping his senses, the Loxodon soon after waddled his way over to Lem at last and gives him a poke with the trunk. "Hey man. How you holding up? Things got a bit rough there now didn't they? Read anything interesting too? Oh, and uh, I found this as well. Kind of a blunder on my part, not thinking of it sooner. But since I have, I be figuring you could have a look at it, and tell me what it does, ya?" He hands over the whip.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
While Zashier takes the bodies upstairs, and Lem busies himself with the treasure pile, and Raddunth... does whatever a Raddunth does, Thistle will set about securing the room. She will check on the egg, re-sealing it behind the hidden bookshelf when she is done, and helping Zashier check on it when he shows up. She will take the evidence, most especially the diary, and secure it on her person, so that it doesn't get lost or stolen if anything untoward should happen. She will seal the trapdoor using the rod, because the people most likely to come back in the middle of the night are the kobolds. But the second most likely to return is the dragon, for its treasure.
Before setting up watches and going to sleep, she'll gather the others and chat about that. "I'm thinking the most likely to come back for what they left behind is the dragon. If that happens, we'll be pretty overmatched, and it might be best if we start out with some cover, so I'd suggest nobody sleep by the gold."
"Our second biggest concern is if Kamroth comes back. I know you vouched for the guards, Zashier, and I don't doubt them, but I've never known a bunch of civil servants who didn't have someone with a weak spot for personal gain. He's been a man of influence here, and he commands the loyalty of the gang, so his reappearance out of chains is not out of the question. We should be ready, or at least not surprised."
"We should set our watch at the top of the stairs, too, to give us the most warning. I might see if I can rig up some sort of trap, maybe just a hidden tripping rope..."
Thistle will try to set up a simple tripping wire at the top of the stairs, using rope and whatever and her tools (per Xanathar's "Set A Trap") and, maybe an Int roll with Thieves' tools bonus? (If so, here's the roll. Int is +0, +2 for tool prof: 22)
Regardless, Thistle will volunteer for the last watch.
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
When Zashier takes care of the bodies, Lem realizes they are there with a start. He briefly starts to tremble but begins to stabilize when he goes back to a book. Later, when Zashier comes over to talk, Lem quietly thanks him for thinking to take care of the bodies.
”I’m okay. Still processing. Thanks for asking. How are you? Yes, this was not very easy. Reminds me of... oh, well, I mean, you know. Or can guess. The book? It’s very interesting, for at least someone of my more academic disposition. It’s a sort of biographical tome, and lots of detail about dragons, orcs, and giants. Written in an obscure dialect of draconic. Happy to tell you anything you want to know about it. It will take me some time, however, to really understand it. Quite dense. Anyhow, this whip, I am happy to identify it for you.”
He does so, hands again trembling a bit as he ritually finishes the spell, and telling him what it is.
When Thistle begins talking of plans and contingencies and traps, Lem perks up. “Eminently sensible, Thistle. You are a master, or mistress, of traps, and planning. Well thought out. I will curl up behind this column with a good view of the treasure and out of view of the stairs. Before we turn in, we might want to relocate the coins and jewe... — evidence — that has been melted free elsewhere, in case the dragon returns. I can do that. Kamroth might be able to talk his way out of this, you’re right. Should someone go check on the watch headquarters, and apply any persuasive measures the situation merits?“
Zashier shrugged to the first question from Lem, but nodded in agreement to the knowing. It may have been some years since the war, but the memories weren't so cold for him to have blocked it all out. His perspective though....
He frowned at a misleading moment as one grim train of thought gets shoved back aside once more. "Right. Thanks man. Much appreciated, as always. And if you're up for it, I would like to hear, in the event I wind up charged with taking care of the little fella, or even returning them to their parent." He thumbs the direction of the egg. Though Zashier tried to not let it show, seeing the trembling in Lem always seemed to 'just' about dim the light in Zashier's own eyes.
When Thistle came with her concerns, welcome relief flooded those doey dark eyes of his. Sadly, it wasn't to last for long, for soon he's narrowing his eyes at both her and soon Lem, and with hands resting at his hip. "The thing is Ms. Thistle. I've already given my word about keeping watch over things, and I aim to be thorough about it, as is my way. If that means facing a challenge like that little Dragon coming back for something that ain't all quite rightly he's, well, so be it." He expressed, resolve wholly unshaken. "As for 'those guards', I'd give my life for them ten times over in a heartbeat. We've been through thick and thin, they and I, and no little distancing due to work is gonna change that. And if there /is/ someone on the force itself, well, I know my old friends we'll see to it they don't last very long. The real worry will be if the gang come here thinking they can slip away with a few things before scattering to the wind. Which when they do, they'll find themselves on the unfortunate side my axe this time around."
"But if you want to set your trip by the stairs, then ball means." With that said, he then turns back, expression softening as he took a moment to digest the dwarf's words. "I... can't say I'm all that comfortable with moving things until it can rightly processed. But, seeing as we're being trusted with its transport anyhow, assuming I'm interpreting things rightly, I... suppose you can do whatever it is your planning. Just make sure it's not a way that'll get mixed up with your own stuff." He gives Lem a light but warning look.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Yokini isn't really thinking about sleep, but if Mom and Nynoa express an interest in getting some rest, she'll join them.
Nightfall comes to Fallcrest, and the party members find themselves split - Yokini reuniting with her family at Zashier’s farm, and the others making the best of a bad situation holed up in Armos Kamroth’s cold, dark, dank basement.
At the farm,
Yokini explains where they have been and what happened, and generally enjoys catching up with her family. She also checks in with the other freed captives to make sure all their wounds are treated. Most of them ended up in captivity because they were traveling the roads North of Fallcrest - leaving or coming to Fallcrest, escorting a shipment, separated from a clan, that kind of thing. All of them, including the gnomes, express interest in resting, and this time everyone beds down in the barn. They have all been so used to being around each other in captivity, they drew strength from one another, and now they all still want to be in the same room, so Zashier’s sister helped fill the big lower barn area with hay so everyone could be together. Yokini, I assume, joins them.
Back at the estate,
Zashier moves the bodies upstairs, and has a moment of silence for their demise. He searches the house for blankets, which he finds upstairs, to put over their bodies. The blankets or moldy and musty, but they will work. The more you move through the house, the more you get the feeling that Amros never came up here. He basically lived down in the basement. What food he does have is moldy, and when you enter the kitchen, the rats scatter. Any cloth has been torn to tatters by rodents and the elements. The house, much like an iceberg, had a deeper story beneath the surface. You practically have to hold your nose as you move through the kitchen and pantry area. In other rooms, you just smell decay. A layer of dust and grime has settled over everything.
Zashier, you make your way back downstairs where you have Thistle put the rod up to keep the secret door closed. Then you check on the egg. It is a strange mixture of warm and cold. You don’t really know what that means, but you think its ok, and you close it back in its hidden chamber. You think Lem is behaving a bit oddly, but your divine sense does not trigger any red flags (so you know there is no celestial, fiend, or undead nearby, and no consecration or desecration).
Thistle also checks on the egg, and makes sure none of the evidence goes missing by taking charge of it herself, leaning into the words of Bireal that she and Zashier were in charge. She recommends the rotating guard stays at the top of the stairs, where she places a superb trap that cannot be seen, even by those that know its there, so she of course tells the other party members about it so they are at least aware of it.
Lem continues his reading, fully engrossed in his book. He does attempt to bind the book that tried to bite him, but is unsuccessful. With a little help from Raddunth, who knocks it off the shelf, and finally Zashier he steps on it to keep it from biting, Lem is able to secure the book, and place it in his pack. He then returns to his book, and melting the ice.
As the ice melts, more treasure is revealed - coins of gold, silver, and copper, jewels, chunks of raw metal, several treasure chests, tapestries, and others. There are also many mundane items, things that were brought here because they were in the shipment, but that are not what a dragon might consider treasure.
As the ice melts, I assume that Lem and the others might be pulling stuff out, possibly organizing it, opening chests and whatnot. Lem is ritually casting detect magic to see if there are any magic items here. I think it makes the most sense that he does some now, perhaps he also does that to keep himself occupied while doing his guard duty, and then some more in the morning.
Here is what you discover
Starting with things that your companions might have asked you to identify, (lets say you did this before Yokini left) Yokini has a potion that she was unable to identify earlier found from a kobold. That is a potion of Kyrzin’s Ooze (E:RftLW, pg 278).
Kyrzin's Ooze
This opalescent, symbiotic goo comes sealed in a jar and slowly shifts and moves, as if endlessly exploring the jar's interior. To attune to this item, you must first drink the contents of the jar, unlocking the following properties.
While attuned to Kyrzin's ooze, you have resistance to poison and acid damage, and you're immune to the poisoned condition.
As an action, you can speak a command word and cause your body to assume the amorphous qualities of an ooze. For the next minute, you (along with any equipment you're wearing or carrying) can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. Once you use this property, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
Acid Breath.
As an action, you can exhale acid in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Once you use this property, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
Symbiotic Nature.
The ooze can't be removed from you while you're attuned to it, and you can't voluntarily end your attunement to it. If you're targeted by a spell that ends a curse, your attunement to the ooze ends, as it seeps out of you.
The whip that Zashier found, Lem identifies that as the Scorpion Lasher - likely one of Armos’ experiments, partnered with the scorpions you found earlier.
Scorpion Lasher:
Weapon (whip), uncommon (requires attunement)
This whip was constructed using salvaged pieces of a scorpion and drips with a sickly venom from the end. Once on each of your turns when you hit a creature with this weapon, you can cause the whip to deal an extra 1d6 poison damage. When you do, if the creature is Medium or smaller, it must also succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be pulled 5 feet closer to you.
In the frozen treasure trove, you find (and I know you don’t count all the coins, but I will provide the specific number so I don’t just say “You found a bunch of coins”, though that would be more realistic…)
2100 Copper
1050 Silver
85 Gold
7 azurite (each worth 10gp)
4 blue quartz (each worth 10gp)
4 Turquoise (each worth 10gp)
6 Onyx (each worth 50gp)
1 Bloodstone in a necklace (worth 50gp) found in a velvet case
2 Tourmaline earrings (each earring is worth 100gp) found in a mahogany box
Several pieces of art and pricey items, each worth 25gp - gold bracelet, silver ewer, carved bone statuette, silk handkerchief and others
A meerschaum smoking pipe carved with an image of a fire salamander. The eyes of the fire salamander are right where the bowl is located so they glow red with an inhale while smoking, the mouth smokes when used (worth 75gp)
The large chunk of metal, Lem can tell, is a hunk of raw Adamantine
Alchemy Jug (DMG, pg 150)
Some bagpipes
Several mundane items, not worth much, except for maybe sentimental value. A Worg Fur Cloak, a rag doll, a pillow stuffed with vulture feathers, a tome of sheet music, chipped glass eye, a dollhouse that has been broken, a couple of pipes, several empty traveling trunks and luggage, and a large pile of common clothing, and other miscellaneous junk.
A few items Lem sets aside as he discovers they are magical. I also assume, if he has time, he tries to identify those as well.
The Iron Spike of Safe Passage (worth 600gp)
When hammered into place this 9-inch iron spike creates an illusion up to 15 feet high and in a 15-foot diameter centered on the spike. The illusion can be of one of the following: a small hillock of appropriate composition for the terrain, a pile of mundane crates or barrels, a mound of rubble, or a small structure (such as a cabin or canvas enclosure). The exact size and specific parameters (such the composition of timber) are chosen when the spike is placed. Interacting with the illusion grants a Intelligence save (DC 15) to disbelieve it.
Hammering the spike into place or removing it is an action. The spike can be used any number of times and its effects last until removed.
A Box of 7 green pills (each worth 500 gp) 2 pink pills (each worth 700 gp) and 1 purple pill (worth 900 gp). These are called Volatile Vaporizers.
Each pill is inedible, but turns a potion into a cloud of mist that can be shared by multiple creatures. When placed inside a potion flask, the potion bubbles and froths itself into a pungent 10-foot-radius cloud. Any creature within the cloud when it appears gains the full effect of the potion. The cloud has no effect on creatures that cannot breathe. A creature may automatically resist the effects of the potion cloud by momentarily holding its breath. Using the pill destroys it and the potion. Each pill can only be used on potions of a particular spell level; using it on a potion of a different spell level has no effect (neither the potion nor the pill are consumed). The vaporizer also works on artificer’s infusions, but not mutagens, extracts, or magical oils. Green pills are for level 1 potions, pink pills are for level 2 potions, and purple pills are for level 3 potions.
A small figurine in the shape of a Giant Strider (reflavored Figurine of Wondrous Power) - 8 hours alive, 2 day cooldown
A figurine of wondrous power is a statuette of a beast small enough to fit in a pocket.
If you use an action to speak the command word and throw the figurine to a point on the ground within 60 feet of you, the figurine becomes a living creature. If the space where the creature would appear is occupied by other creatures or objects, or if there isn't enough space for the creature, the figurine doesn't become a creature.
The creature is friendly to you and your companions. It understands your languages and obeys your spoken commands. If you issue no commands, the creature defends itself but takes no other actions. See the Monster Manual for the creature's statistics.
The creature exists for a duration specific to each figurine. At the end of the duration, the creature reverts to its figurine form. It reverts to a figurine early if it drops to 0 hit points or if you use an action to speak the command word again while touching it. When the creature becomes a figurine again, its property can't be used again until a certain amount of time has passed, as specified in the figurine's description.
Several Spell scrolls
Catapult
Cure Wounds
Aid
Lefitate
Water Breathing
Floating Disk
Blur
Shield of Faith
Zone of Truth
Daylight
Greater Restoration
Several Potions
Potion of Clairvoyance
Potion of Flying
Potion of Giant Strength
Potion of Growth
4 potions of Healing
2 potions of Greater Healing
Potion of Resistence
Potion of Water Breathing
Several of these things you find in chests or loose, some are in cases of varying sizes.
One chest in particular you find a large amount of gold (which has already been added to the amount above) but on top of the gold is a note, which is written in a mixture of orc-ish and giant. Lem is the only one that understands Orc, and its a little hard to parse since it has a few Giant words thrown in, but you get the gist. The note says:
OOC: For some reason, I had it in my head that we finished the battle in the morning. Yay for a long rest overnight.
Yokini also reunites with Gomol and makes sure the mule is safe and sound before bedding down in the barn with everyone else.
Gomol is as excited as donkey's can get.
12 10 6 17
The evening passes uneventfully. Everyone wakes at the farm, and shares breakfast with Zashier's mom and sister, then (I assume) head back towards Amros' estate, Yokini in the lead. Do you bring any food for your compatriots who stayed behind at the estate?
Zashier, Thistle, Lem, and Raddunth, your evening also passes uneventfully. Everyone takes their watch. Morning comes, and with the dawn, the ice has finally all melted.
You have some time here to get things straightened out (in character) load up, and make your way up to Moonstone Keep.
Zashier goes over the last note several times, and then gives Lem a meaningful look. "Wars on the horizon again. And Amros... he was gonna betray everyone." Zashier shook his head from side to side with a look of genuine hurt and confusion on his face. But after a moment he scrunches his expression up into a more determined look. "He won't get away this." Without another word, the elephantine man stood once more to aid in organizing things.
Despite the dangers of some treasures and coin being mixed, Zashier works with the other to try to keep organized the effort of shuffling as much of the treasure around into chests presents for ease of transport. That which can't, or appeared to fragile, he entrusts to the others or carefully packs away in side pouches. With the thought of another war looming over the horizon, greed is given no room to breathe in the heart and mind of the elephantine man. That very same ever present concern does make him negligent at times.
A potion or some coins poached by others thus raise no alarm. Same for a figurine or bunch of pills in a box. But larger items such as the jug, and admantine are not so easily dismissed. In the end, there is so much there to carry, that Zashier even willing, but also grudgingly, attunes to the gauntlets for the strength necessary to carry more of it. If it comes down to it though, he would head up top to find a close enough guard to ask about sending the group carriable chests or sacks for delivering the goods. That, and maybe an escort or two.
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Thistle is no thief, though she is hoping for some sort of recovery reward or something. Still, she is mostly interested in looking for the hide we were originally commissioned to find. Was that found anywhere?
ey/em/eirs, or they/them works, too (just not he).
Role-playing since that keep on those borderlands. I love it so.
Raddunth asks Lem if the book can be understood.
The symbols that form words can be read, but the book seems to be missing the pictures that should be with the words. (He is literate, but has only seen a certain type of book up to now.)
Beegred Thornpost - Lvl 8 Halfling Ranger - Out of the Abyss by Kerrec
Drusk - Lvl 8 Half-Orc Life Cleric - The Long Road: Dragon Heist by Mingofaust (player & current DM)
Hunferho Aelorothi - Lvl 5 Half-Elf Bard/Rogue - Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus (by Pokepaladdy)
DM - Frontier City of Nunkreet (ended)
Lem hears Zashier talk about war coming again, and the tremble in his hands gets a bit worse. He does not say anything, but nods, almost to himself.
"I... don't know what the hammer is. Or the rock." Not knowing things is physically painful for Lem, and he tries hard not to tune out Zashier's comments about Amros' betrayal. (Does he have any idea what the hammer or rock might allude to? History: 21 -- second roll if this would be an advantage roll due to stonecunning: 7)
He checks on the dragon egg only once, and then comes back to the group. "Do we tell anyone about this? Hand it over to the authorities? Smash it? Keep it secretly? There are no good options. If we keep it, we can still do the other three options. So I vote keep it."
Lem dutifully helps Zashier organize the hoard. He suggest putting small things in the big chests, and then he ritually casts tenser's floating disk to help carry as much as the disk will hold. He says he's interested in keeping the levitate, water breathing, and blur spell scrolls. He also says, "no one would have had a chance of getting their things back if we hadn't risked our lives to do this. It's....... ours to keep, as much as it is anyone else's. Certainly the useful things. But really, it's ours by right."
Lem's also been looking for that dragon scale for much of the night when it was his shift, and into the morning. At this point it's just about bragging rights.
When he gets the question about the book, Lem looks at Raddunth. "Radish, the book can be understood, if you can understand a dragon's very specific speech from a long time ago. And I am sorry. Very few pictures here."
Zashier accepts the suggestion of the disk with an appreciative nod. But as talk turned towards keeping the items, his expression gradually turns from bemused to suspicious and then finally a measure of disappointment. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, man. Let's back that up there for a second. That ain't the right of it, not by a long shot, and you most certainly know it too." He folds his arms over his chest. "It would've been one thing if we were out in the wild as the odds are it'd be near impossible to see to it things could even be returned to their rightful owners. But that ain't the way of things in the city... unless you're someone like Mr. Amros, who as you know, own case of Greed and worse has got him in quite a bit of trouble. Now, if you would like to keep some in -mind-, so that if and when we do recieve a reward for turning these things over, they could maybe make it a part of said reward, than sure."
"But as a citizen of fallcrest, and having been entrusted by the guard to make sure nothing untoward happens with all of this stuff, you can rest assure I won't allow anything being kept." He said, eyeing Lem sternly. "Now as for the Dragon egg, which if the story in that book is true, smashing it would be a very bad idea... And seeing as it technically not what you would call stolen property in the strictest sense.... Hmm... Keeping it without telling anyone feels like a recipe for disaster. And I should know what a disaster is, seeing as my sister, who I love dearly, should never be allowed to make chili.So... at the very least we need to consult the authorities on the dragon, least we have Mama Dragon on our heads personally."
When you realize you're doing too much: Signature.
Ok, so I am a big dum-dum who got so caught up in giving you loot that I forgot to tell you that you found the ONLY THING YOU WERE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR!
So, without further ado…
As the ice melts, and the things get organized, a dark black chest suddenly reveals itself from the steamy mist of the melting ice around it. The candles flicker rapidly as a mysterious wind comes out of nowhere and blows the lid of the chest back to reveal a pile of red dragon scales. As you look closer, you realize all the scales are connected, not loose. If you were to pull it out, you would see it is about the size of a young dragon, skinned perfectly, every scale intact. Worth a ton of gold, this is undoubtably the dragon scale that Teldorthan “Telly” Ironhews said had gone missing. Its no wonder he was desperate to get it back. He likely spent his life savings to get it.
Another thing I forgot (because apparently I am an absent-minded DM), Lem you find 11 white dragon scales scattered around the half of the basement where the dragon was living. You can add those to your inventory and do with them whatever it is you intend to do (I say with trepidation...because I have no idea what you want to do with them...)
Because I forgot those things, I will make it up to you with 2 items found leaning next to the chest…2 little dingy bags.
Lem sees the bags leaning against the chest, almost overlooking them because of how dirty they are, but he senses some magic. He tells you they are a Bag of Beans and a Gray Bag of Tricks. (What better way to reward patient players and my ineptitude with random magic! Everyone’s favorite!)
Lem, you do not know what hammer or rock the note is referring to.
There seems to be a bit of tension between Zashier and Lem with regards to keeping the recovered items. Any of the other party members want weigh in? Has Amros’ insatiable greed rubbed off on anyone else?
Zashier helps oversee the organization and hauling of everything, making use of several of the chests to get everything able to be hauled. With all of the help coming from the farm and Lem’s floating disk, everyone is able to pitch in to get it all ready to move Moonstone Keep.
I will give you a bit more time - I’d like to hear from the other players about the treasure and the egg. Perhaps Yokini will have an opinion when she arrives…
Yokini leads the group back to town, cursing the river and her third trip across. "I've got to find somewhere to stay in town if we're going to be here a while," she comments more to herself than to her sister, who she clings to once again. They head to the manor to check on the others, and Dr. Yokini, medicine gnome, descends the stairs just after Zashier's retort to Lem. With her insight of -1, she doesn't pick up on any tension. She smiles at the sight of the dwarf and walks over. "Good morning, Lemmy." She looks around, smiling at Zashier, Raddunth and Thistle. "Good morning, everyone." Looking back at Lem, she adds, "Everything go okay last night, I assume. It looks like we're ready to get going. Where is it we're supposed to take this stuff?"