D&D Post Game 12-22-18 Part 2

Adventurers:K

Kromden- Dwarf fighter

Tendious- Human Cleric of Tempus

Garriegh “Gary”- Human Cleric of the Storm (dude worships Thor kind of…)

Paleus- ½ Elf warlock

Fenris- Wood Elf ranger

• Using a combination of rope and the thick vines growing out of the pit, the adventurers scale down into the depths below the ruined dragon priest citadel.
• They discover that this ruined fortress looks to have sunk beneath the swamp ages ago. They were now on what might have been the original first floor….or was it just a wyrd basement level? They weren’t quite sure.
• The landing where the pit ended had two exits, one an actual doorway the second a collapse way leading to a crude natural hall beyond. Kromden and “Gary” chose to search through the collapsed wall. As they passed beyond the fallen stones they felt a tug at their feet. As they looked down they saw a small piece of twine unravelling. TRIPWIRE! Suddenly they drenched with think viscous chunky fluid from overhead. The party rushed to see what happened. It appeared the cleric and dwarf were covered in clotted blood and bits of viscera. They had been covered in chum? They weren’t sure what this was about but decided to press forward anyway.
• The rough cut hallway lead to a larger naturally cut cave with a small pool near the far wall. The room was full of cages, drying skins, a weapon rack full of javelins, spears a bow, arrows and short sword. There was also a small pile of furs that looked to be a bed. They group went about exploring the room. Suddenly there was a splash from the pool and a flurry of movement and the sound of breaking glass. A large lizard man with a headdress of red feathers was rushing the party and throwing objects. They group had found “Red Feather.”



• Tendious and Fenris where suddenly caught in a cloud of choking burning yellow green gas. Their eyes began to water. They couldn’t breathe and their skin erupted with painful blisters.
• The sounds of scraping and hissing began to come from small holes around the base of the walls. Several large angry looking lizards began to appear from these  holes. Their tongues tasting the air and their yellow eyes affixed to Gary and Kromden. The creatures rushed the pair of chum covered adventurers.



• Kromden and Gary fought off the hungry lizards. Fenris and Tendious couldn’t seem to get out of the choking blister causing gas. Paleus unleashed blasts of eldritch energy at Red Feather trying to bring him down.
• After several moments Kromden and Gary dispatched the lizards attacking them. Fenris and Tendious were able to shake the effects of the gas. They engaged Red Feather with bow and mace. Paleus continued this eldritch onslaught. It didn’t take long to bring the rouge lizard man they were warned about to the ground once all his allies and tricks were spent. They gathered his headdress for proof and went back to explore the remaining ruin.
• As the party travelled the other hall they found what appeared to be a natural fissure the had torn through the area. They followed it a ways and discovered a nest of fire beetles. See how no good would come of dealing with these critters, they backed away and returned to the hallway where they found two other doors.



• Door one lead to a room with a dragon statue holding a curved dish above its head. They noticed that the arms holding the dish lowered with any amount of pressure placed upon it.  They tried all manner of items and even people to try  and discover what this was about. Sadly, they couldn’t figure out what this was about. Then they decided it was probably something they had missed due the whole “smashed holy symbol key that occurred with Tendious” and moved onward. Yeah this little puzzle solution was tied to that incident.

• They returned to the other door, or door two, from the main room and entered that. This lead to a series of six rooms full of various goblins doing various tasks. The first room a pair of goblins were in a giant wooden tub squishing vegetable matter with their bare feet. The squishings were slowly seeping out of a tap and into a small jug. Kromden rushed into the room and buried his axe in both of the goblins before they could react. This lead to a large amount of party hilarity as everyone was shocked and surprised at this! Dwarves and goblins have a bit of a history and our party dwarf was acting upon that. The rest of the group saw it as viciously attacking commoners or non-combatants. It has led to Kromden being referred to as “baby killer.” A reference to The Venture Brothers original Team Venture and an incident with werewolves. 



• The rest of the party rushed about the other rooms ushering the goblin common workers out to safety as Kromden went about to another room and dispatched the goblins there as well.
• After the goblins left the party went about exploring the rooms the goblins had vacated. They all seemed to be different types of experiments happening. There was the ill-fated juicing room that was first discovered. They found another room where animal dissections were happening. There were a trio of rooms where some sort of alchemy was occurring. They found several tables covered in all manner of dried plants, animal bits and even bits of rock. They even found a few of the sickly saplings they had discovered outside the ruin and in the Durbluk tribe throne room. There was some sort of super science happening here, but the party had no idea why. They continued on with their exploration.
• Paleus did manage to question a goblin before it ran off, and all he gleaned was that they were working a gentleman named Beriek . Their work was to help tend to help with the growth of the tree and some sort of restoration. It wasn’t super useful information, but it was information.
• Next they found four giant arboretums full of various spores, mold and fungus of all size and shape. There was some sort of low magical light that looked to either be hampering or helping this stuff grow. If all this wasn’t strange enough, there were people tending to all this growth. Several robed humanoids milled about tending the fungus growths or working the soil and compost it was growing upon. The party went to talk to one of these gardeners only to discover under the hooded robe was an animated skeleton. These undead paid the party no mind and just went about their gardening. The group moved along.



• As they approached the last fungal arboretum, they saw a large hairy humanoid using a large sickle to cut down swaths of sickly looking grass. It appeared this was a bugbear and unlike the skeletons, he noticed the party and rushed them with sickle held high.



• Fenris and Paleus quickly put him down with arrow and spell before he reached the party. The group searched the area but found little besides very old gardening tools. They continued onwards.
• Soon they found a section of wall that had been broken open. It lead to a large natural underground cavern. There was more plant growth here. It was sickly grass and scrub brush that shouldn’t exist underground. There was a dull light coming from deeper this cave so the party moved toward it.
• What they saw next was even stranger.
• The center of this cavern housed a tree that was over thirty feet tall. The bark was very knotted and the branches had very few leaves. They could see an occasional small white apple on the branches. Even better was that this tree was growing directly under, within and through the skeleton of a very very large dragon.



• Milling about the skeleton were several goblins that looked to be applying something to the dragon bones. Others ran about gathering the fallen white apples.
• Giving orders to the goblins was a thin bearded human in a green and brown robes with a helm constructed of a deer skull and antlers. Beside him stood a human male in chainmail armor and a human female is simple traveling attire.
• Well greetings were exchanged and the party learned that  Beriek is trying to revive the dragon while using the fruit of this magical tree. Twice a year it produces, vibrant red apples and pale white apples. The red apples grant vitality while the while apples steal vitality. Beriek has found a way to harness the necromantic energy of the white apples and is trying to revive the dragon. Oh yeah and the tree also needs nutrition to stay alive.  Beriek has found that if you can “feed” the tree something besides light and water. It seems to help speed the restoration process and also produces undead subjects that are susceptible to commands.



• It seems the tree magically sprouted by feeding off the remains of the dragon. It has a taste for life as well as water….and it is hungry. Beriek has just found five new volunteers to serve as fertilizer for this strange magical tree. The skeleton gardeners and goblin experiments are all starting to make more sense now.
• The armored male and female attack with sword and spell. As they attack one can see that they are simply empty husks under the command of Beriek.
• Beriek moves to attack with strange druidic magic as well.
• The party retaliates in kind.
• Once again sword and magic meet as the two groups attack! The female unleashed bolts of magical energy. The armored swordsman trades blows with the dwarf. Eldritch bolts streak through the room tearing into flesh. Vines burst from the ground to entangle the party. Arcs of electricity arc from the cleric of the storm. No matter how hard Beriek and his two dried human minions fight they are sorely outnumbered. Arrows, spells and axe blades begin to whittle them down. Soon only Beriek remains and is quickly put down with the aid of the cleric of Tempus and his new found love of wound infliction magic.
• The party investigates the area and decides it is best to remove this tree from the skeletal dragon it is “feeding.” Torches are lit and soon the tree is as well. As the tree crackles and pops in the flame the group feels a sense of loss and dread pass through them. Then they hear a keening moan as the reforming tissues on the dragon skeleton being to burn away. It seems there might have been was some dark sentience left or returning to the long dead beast via this tree and its strange magic.
• The party stays until the tree is nothing by a pile of smoldering ash and then they return to the surface and the relative safety of the swamp.