Borderland of Adventure #55: Ghosts & Dragons

At the end of last session, we left our heroes battling a ferocious orc ghost warrior. Things seemed grim. Although the party had forced the ghost to emerge from Dregak’s body resources were running low. The beast tried to strike Delvir, but the half-elves’ lightning reflexes saved him. A devastating magic missile strike from Ulmo almost destroyed the apparition and so it fled into the nearest, easily controled body – Tzaran’s snake companion!

BoA

 

Seeing this, Tzaran tried to subdue the snake, but failed – in return his once friend seriously injured him. Delvir rushed to his assistance while Krorz retreated to the upper part of the cavern to begin a desultory and utterly ineffective missile barrage.

By now, Dregak was conscious again and he dived into the pool, much to the consternation of his companions. However, the dwarf had a plan. He swam down to the bottom of the pool and blocked up the passageway through which the drakes had fled with a stone shape spell. With that task done, he returned to the fight.

Clearly, the snake was difficult to control because the ghost failed to injure Delvir who fought him toe to toe. Eventually, the half-elf’s strength proved too much for the snake and he knocked it unconscious forcing the ghost to emerge once again. For this, Ulmo had been waiting and he hurled his last magic missiles at the spectral figure. Again, he was devastatingly effective and slew the beast. With the ghost slain, but resources very low the party rapidly retreated, dragging Tzaran’s snake with them.

However, during the fight, Tzaran had relinquished his bond with the snake in a bid to remove the many protective magics he had placed upon it and so he needed to complete a lengthy ritual to re-bond with it. Many of them badly injured, his companions did not mind at all and the party spent the next three days camping and resting near to the cairn.

Three days later, they plunged back into the cairn. Exploring the many bone-filled passages and chambers they found nothing of real interest. Drawn back to the cavern with the pool, Delvir discovered the stone shaped wall had been melted. This clearly meant the drakes were still active – possibly in chambers beyond the submerged passageway leading away from the pool.

After making lengthy preparations, the party entered the pool. Beyond the submerged passageway, the discovered a large submerged chamber with many small off-shoots. Eventually, they also discovered a larger air-filled chamber. Within lurked the drakes. Delvir, first to emerge from the pool, took the brunt of their early attacks and was soon badly injured. However, quickly the rest of the party emerged from the water and the drakes, already injured and unable to use their speed and flight in such cramped quarters, were quickly slain.

Triumphant, the party looted the drakes’ treasure and while doing so discovered a clutch of broken eggs. Clearly, the pair’s children had hatched some time ago and disappeared into the nearby forest. With nothing else to do, the party returned in triumph to White Moon Cove to rest and to secure their reward…

Published by

Creighton

Creighton is the publisher at Raging Swan Press and the designer of the award winning adventure Madness at Gardmore Abbey. He has designed many critically acclaimed modules such as Retribution and Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands and worked with Wizards of the Coast, Paizo, Expeditious Retreat Press, Rite Publishing and Kobold Press.

4 thoughts on “Borderland of Adventure #55: Ghosts & Dragons”

  1. Creighton,
    What made you decide on the Ratik/Bone March part of the world?

    1. I liked the fact that it’s relatively undeveloped which meant I could put pretty much whatever I wanted into it. I also liked that it has several areas of conflict (the Bone March, pirates of Dekspoint, the barbarians of the north and so on). It just seemed an area ripe for adventure!

      (I’ve also found a lot of the Paizo modules and sourcebooks seem to fit in relatively easily with areas of old Aerdy influence, and a source of easy to convert, high quality products is not to be ignored lightly!)

      1. So I’m on the hunt for a new campaign setting, my old one had a wee bit of Greyhawk DNA with Mystara(yay! B/X), Forgotten Realms(3.X), Golarion(3.x+) and a hefty chunk of the Palladium Fantasy world in it. With thirtyish years of gaming in it and feels a bit cramped or played out. I’ve bought AD&D Forgotten Realms and that just didn’t do it for me. I have the Majestic Wilderlands and I really like it, I’m enjoying the Frog God Games Lost Lands setting and stuff immensely but I also have my original Greyhawk including the eastern map that caught fire in one of my games. That just feels like an old friend to me. I was gonna return to the Lonely Coast (which is two handfuls of AWESOME btw!)for the next games and see where it went but am digging the Duchy of Ashlar. I need a storm tossed sea; I can see Languard being the last nearly forgotten holding of a declining, minor Aerdy noble house. I was thinking of making Dunstone a minor lordlings castle ala the Keep on the Borderlands and using the hills to the right of it barrow filled moors and the mire the domain of degenerate lizard folk or similar surroundings with Threshold from B10 Dark Nights Terror. Any advice you have would be awesome. Thanks!

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