Monday Recap: The Slaying of the Scale-Eater

No bueno!

Had another chance to play Dragonborn Quest this weekend! I'm finding that this game is lending itself more and more towards social and world exploration. Probably a result of having two bards in the party.

A quick note: if you haven't following D&D Beyond, they just released their new character creation tools. Honestly, it looks really good, though I think the browser usability still needs work.

But the biggest new feature is quick/random character generation. I could absolutely use a tool that lets my players make a character sheet in 5 minutes, or even do a game where we just set a level and let the random generator make the party.

And of course, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to write a full article about random generation games eventually.

This story is part 4 of a series. The campaign was completed.
| Previous Campaign | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 |

Dragonborn Quest: The Slaying of the Scale-Eater

Cast of Characters
Jon: Dungeon Master
Will: Daardendrian Kreev, Red Dragonborn Bard, former prince, back to set things right
Megan: Daardendrian Zovira, Red Dragonborn Fighter, Kreev's aunt, champion of the clan
Bria: Druuga Faelynn, Silver Dragonborn Bard, avenged her sister, now to fix the isle...
Michelle: Nerithya Finzerwin, Half-Drow Rogue, ex-cultist looking for a new purpose to her life
Matt: Myastan Faerbor, White Dragonborn Fighter, Kreev's friend and owner of the legendary Axe of the Elders
NPC: Svihios Torrin, a clanless young Gold Dragonborn who is eager to go on adventures and become a hero
NPC: Oddmund, Nerithya's Shield Guardian, has a smiling face painted on his head
Other traveling companions: Tofras the Smiter (War Priest of Bahamut), Ariann the Wizardess (Faelynn's friend), Nazavur the Assassin (clanless and edgy)

The party had just arrived in the city of Gravengong, a mining city controlled by the slaver clan Yarjerit. They were hoping to weaken the evil clan Z'ildroth's power on the island by inciting revolution among the slaves and cutting off the mine production. Fortunately, they had heard rumors of a revolution already in progress, lead by a mysterious Kobold named Guks.

They decided to leave their travel companions in a secluded forest camp while they travelled into the city, as the Chromatic Dragonborn clans would certainly distrust or even attack the Metallic Dragonborn. Additionally, Kreev and Zovira used soot to blacken their snouts and wore hoods to cover their faces. Nerithya took Kreev's Hat of Disguise, and Faelynn used chalk to appear like a White Dragonborn.

Suitably disguised, the group made their way into the city. Faerbor lead the way, being the only Chromatic Dragonborn able to walk freely in the group. They decided to check out the slave market first, hoping to hear rumors of unruly slaves that could lead them to Guks.

At the market, they arrived in time for an auction, and were surprised to see a Red Dragonborn being sold among the Kobold and Lizardfolk slaves! They didn't have the gold to buy him, though Nerithya took advantage of the wealthy crowd to pick a few pockets.

Afterwards, Faerbor spoke to the wealthy Yarjerit that had purchased the Red Dragonborn, and offered his services as a mercenary and retainer. The slaver decided to test his mettle by giving him some information on Guks, and ordering Faerbor to take care of the problem. If Guks was routed from the mines, Faerbor would be hired and treated well. Finally, he gave Faerbor a medallion that would allow him to access the mines.

Sad small kobolds are sad

The group started exploring the mines, asking questions of both slaves and slavers. Kreev was given a coded message from some Lizardfolk and told to bring it to the swamps of their homes. Faerbor spoke to a mine overseer and learned that the lair of an ancient Behir, known as Moudan the Scale-Eater, was preventing the miners from tapping new veins.

The group tried to ask some Kobolds where they could find Guks, but quickly discovered the Kobolds had come up with a clever plan: many of them claimed to be Guks, and they would change who was Guks each day. Because of the limits on mining, the overseer said he wasn't allowed to kill any of them, meaning they couldn't simply teach the kobolds a lesson by eliminating those who claimed to be Guks.

Faerbor though that the idea of changing who "Guks" was each day sounded a bit too smart for Kobolds. Additionally, the Kobolds had been stealing weapons and supplies, which also sounded awfully coordinated for slaves. Kreev decided to Detect Thoughts on one of the Kobolds away from the eyes of the slavers.

Kreev learned there was a "big Kobold" running the revolution, and found out where their hideout was. They traveled some distance, with Nerithya sneaking ahead, and discovered a well-furnished cave with many maps, quills, and parchment in it.

Kreev approached cautiously, claiming to be friendly. He was surprised to see it wasn't a Kobold at all, but his half-sister, Daardendrian Dalyassa! She clawed him across the cheek and yelled a bunch of insults at him, which he admitted were fair. After all, he had run away from home and abandoned his clan.

Dalyassa explained that she was behind the Kobold revolution, hoping that if she could help the Kobolds escape, the enslaved clan Daardendrian would be sent to work the mines, and she could free them as well. However, she was also being blocked by Moudan the Scale-Eater. Until the Behir was destroyed, her escape plan would basically involve feeding the Behir a meal of delicious Kobolds.

She also told the group how they could use the tunnels to get back to the surface without going through Gravengong. The group decided to help her get rid of Moudan, and began to prepare the tunnels for battle. Dalyassa and Nerithya went back up to the surface, and returned with their combat-ready companions: Tofras, Ariann, and Nazavur.

After laying the walls of the tunnel with explosive runes and summoning some Earth Elementals, they made lots of noise in hopes of summoning Moudan. However, the monstrous creature got the jump on them, dealing a terrifying blow to Faerbor as it leapt from the shadows.

Surprise!

Faelynn began blowing a jaunty tune on her bagpipe, which magically entranced the Behir to move rhythmically with the music. The rest of the party hit the monster hard, while it was otherwise occupied. Moudan was shaken, but quickly redoubled its attacks, even more angered than before.

Tofras tried to hold it again with a Hold Monster spell, and the group got another volley of attacks against the Scale-Eater. It grabbed Zovira and tried to swallow her, but the Dragonborn Champion cut her way out of the massive stomach that held her.

The beast was still struggling, and things began to look grim. Ariann was knocked unconscious from a lightning breath attack, Faelynn and Zovira nearly fell to their deaths, and Faerbor was too far away to assist the group. The Earth Elementals had gone rogue after Ariann had been knocked out. Also, mysterious black ropes has just unfurled from the darkness above, and the group wasn't eager to stick around to find out who they belonged to.

Kreev, playing haunting melodies on his lute, finally finished off the legendary Behir with a Phantasmal Killer spell. The group fled down the tunnels, grabbing Ariann as they went, just as clan Z'ildroth Blackwings came sliding down the ropes.

However, Faerbor found himself unable to run or even move. He stood, frozen in horror, as the King of the Island, Z'ildroth Salathzar, descended on black wings down the tunnel. Zovira got a glance at him, and was surprised to see how much he had changed in a few short months: he was twice the size he once was, his once feeble wings now supported him easily, and he glowed with unnatural power.

Salothzar congratulated Faerbor on killing Moudan, which was his reason for being here as well. Salothzar had hoped to kill the beast and reopen the mine's production. He assured Faerbor that this service would not go unrewarded.

Just then, the two rogue Earth Elementals burst from the walls and attacked. Salothzar grabbed them, and enveloped them in waves of acid from a Vitrolic Sphere spell, over and over, until they were nothing but stumps. Faerbor was freaking out about it.

Finally, Salothzar freed Faerbor and teleported away. The Blackwings called out that they had found something, and Faerbor's blood ran colder than usual. He reunited with the group and together, they went to Dalyassa's hideout. However, she was gone, and the place was torn apart and burnt by acid.

They ran back to the mining tunnels, but weren't able to catch up with the Blackwings. However, Zovira told a Kobold that the Scale-eater was dead, and the revolution began!

Kobolds broke free of their bonds and began to flee. Many were killed, but more escaped. The adventurers escaped as well, back to the tunnel where they had fought Moudan.

The group made sure Moudan was dead, and followed some Kobolds deeper into the tunnels. The little monsters were sad that Dalyassa was gone, but they were also free, which they liked. They gave the group directions back to their camp before they departed.

While the others went back to check on Torrin, Faerbor made his way back to Gravengong to talk to the slaver who had hired him, in hopes of freeing Dalyassa and getting the reward. However, when he had made it back, he was horrified to see that Dalyassa had already been captured and punished, hanging from the parapets of Gravengong Fortress.

I'll be back - totally original parting quote

We stopped there for the session. The party is currently split up, but after the game we decided that Faerbor would plan to sneak back to his allies. I'm interested to see if they try to go back in and save Dalyassa or that Red Dragonborn slave.

I suppose we'll find out next month!

Thanks for reading!