Tyranny of Dragons Campaign Log - Session 6 - Chapter 3 Cont. - Boss Fights!

Hello and Welcome!

After a one week's break, we resume the Cave exploration with our intrepid Heroes - Chard, Dafnae, & Torsion.

They carefully continued searching around, a bit more cautious after running afoul of a few traps laid by the cheeky Kobolds. As they headed further they noticed a crudely hidden spike trap which they could easily navigate over. Once over it, they heading into an area which looked like a training ground for drakes. There were various harnesses and snares and training dummies in the area and a fenced in area.

Here a few Kobolds lied in waiting to surprise the Party but they were easily defeated. One tried to run for the gate of the fence gate to try to unlock it with the key hanging by the door but he was dispatched at the door before he could unlock what was lying in wait behind the fence.

The three decided to look around the area before opening the gate and they observed in the darkness 3 drakes waiting in the corner. Thinking to avoid a bit of a  tough fight they ventured on.

This time they came upon another larger cavern which turned out to be the Kobold Barracks and this turned into quite the battle! Waiting to ambush the Adventurers were 12 Kobolds which proved to be quite the challenge. Dafnae proved to be quite lethal with her Crossbow Expert Feat while Chard was able to make sure he got the splat one way or another with his Polearm Expert Feat. Torsion cast Spirtual Weapon to help take out the set of Kobolds engaged in ranged attacks. It was quite tough especially with the Kobold Pact Tactics giving them Advantage but they were bested eventually. Looking around the area the three found several Dragon inspired carved amulets (who know Kobolds had varying degrees of artistic talent!) and several coins arranged in very intricate piles (and who knew Kobolds also had a bit of OCD to properly organise their loot!).

The Heroes took a bit of damage so they quaffed their one Potion of Healing each and slowly ventured down a cavern passage. This passage lead to what seemed to be a shrine with a familiar face ready for another battle. 

Cyanwrath, the Blue Half-Dragon was here with two Berserkers and his gaze met Torsion's eyes and he called out to Torsion in his guttural voice - "So, you have survived Dwarf and you are back for more punishment. Do you accept another duel?". Torsion stared him down and retorted "Aye, my mace wants another taste of your face you big blue bastard!" 

And this began the first Boss Fight for the trio. But they had a plan in hand to tackle Cyanwrath differently this time now that the three were stronger than before. Thanks to some good Initiative roles on their part, while Torsion went to engage Cyanwrath in a duel, Dafnae and Chard prepared an action to cast Magic Missile when Cyanwrath attacked one of their party. 

Torsion managed to draw first blood, granting his Mace what it wanted and as a Bonus Action he cast Shield of Faith to make it harder for Cyanwrath to return the blow. And it worked as he missed his leading attacks. But this attacked triggered the reaction Chard and Dafnae had prepared and 6 Magic Missile darts slammed into Cyanwrath (thankfully with high damage rolls!) and completely caught him off guard and enraged him - he let out a loud roar as the magical bolts hit him from all sides, dealing heavy damage. The Berserkers were also caught off guard and went to engage the two casters but they also were distracted and missed their strikes. 

The Battle raged, Dafnae Disengaging and going around to Flank Cyanwrath to deal some extra Sneak Attack damage at Advantage to Cyanwrath while Chard dealt with the Berserkers. Cyanwrath tried to attack Dafnae but again missed and then returned his attention to Torsion and so they continued to exchange blows.  

Chard was barely holding off both Berserkers and Cyanwrath finally was able to deal heavy damage to Torsion after unleashing his Lightening Breath Weapon who fell unconscious. This was a move of desperation as the damage struck one of the Berserkers as well as Chard (but Chard was able to dosdge most of the damage), Seeing Torsion fall and the desperation in Cyanwrath's action and the fact that he looked quite bloodied, Dafnae used her last spell slot to launch another barrage of Magic Missile. They circled around the Half-Dragon and struck with high damage (thankfully again!), first in the chest, then in the back, and then again in the chest and this last one was enough to fell the aggressor. Cyanwrath crumpled to the floor, lifeless, with a deep groan. In the same round, Chard was able to defeat one of the Berserkers (who took some friendly fire from Cyanwrath's Breath Weapon) but Chard was also low on HP. 

Seeing his comrades defeated, the last Berserker fled and so the Adventurers were able to stabilise Torsion and have a short rest and use their Hit Dice to recover health as use some Healing spells from a restored Torsion. 

Investigating the Shrine, they saw several depictions of a 5-headed Dragon, Tiamat, and a small locked chest. Dafnae tried to see if it was safe to lift and open and didn't notice anything amiss but alas, it was trapped and lifting the chest caused an acid trap to be triggered. An acid mist started to spray in with a hiss from the different dragon carvings on the wall and the three had to retreat back into the Kobold Barracks a little after taking a little damage. They took the time to pick the lock to the small Chest and they found some jewellery which must have come from the loot stolen from Greenest.

Once the trap finishing, they went back into the Shrine and notice a passage leading down a corridor with a rope ladder at the end but they instead decided to venture further into the Shrine. At the other end, they noticed another gated area and were again surprised by Kobolds who used Glue and Fire bombs But they didn't last long.

This time they didn't notice any creatures waiting in the enclosed area and so they opened the locked gate with the key hanging near by and as they explored this part of the cavern they found two large Black Dragon eggs. The three discussed and they agreed with Torsion's suggest that they must be destroyed. Torsion used all his might to smash the Dragon eggs, revealing slightly premature dragons inside, which were struggling to survive. Chard used his Glaive to dispatch them while Torsion said in a deep low voice, "Ate, its better to put them out of their misery before they grow to cause endless misery to us all". 

The Adventurers returned through the Shrine and and Dafnae stealthily climbed up the ladder. At the top, she found some cloth covering the top and she could faintly hear some rummaging around above. She gestured to Torsion and Chard to climb up slowly and then they rushed into the room to find another familiar face, getting the surprise on Frulam. And this started the second Boss Fight in the Cave!

Chard used the Surprise to cast Thunderwave which caused Frulam some good damage and pushed her back against the wall, toppling her table. Dafnae and Torsion then quickly engaged her with some heavy hitting damage before Frulam's Guards rushed in to her aid. The battle was fierce but Frulam was taking heavy damage and her Guards were being kept at bay. Frulam threatened the Characters that "This is no place to die and that there are more coming to her aid". But the Party pressed their damage on, using high damage rolls and clever Sneak and Flank tacticts to pummel the Guards and Frulam. 

Frulam was just able to cast Spirit Guardians but before it could cause heavy damage, Chard managed to land the killing strike, his Glaive piercing her just above her collar bone, dissipating the spell. The Guards fell soon thereafter but they were quickly replaced by Cultists rushing into the room to try to help their leader. They were ill equipped and succumbed to their wounds quite easily, Chard taking out the last one with a well placed Firebolt. 

A quick scan around found some orante gem inlaid scabbards and a few more coins. 

But the biggest haul was from Frulam's desk which yielded a map and some letters. The map showed the route the Caravan was taking (back up North) and the letters were correspondences between Frulam and Talis. It would seem Talis was in quite a high position within the Cult. 

Dafnae didn't let her stoic Elvish demeaner crack in front of Torsion and Chard but she was absolutely mortified to learn that her long-time childhood friend was in concert with this group and involved in these heinous acts perpetrated by the Cult of the Dragon. Surely this cannot be the case. Who has her friend become and what has become of her. This put her head into a tailspin which she now needs to analyse and decipher. This was a total shock. She pocketed the letters and map and the three marched on.

They found the treasure room was empty save for a few pieces of coin and one drunk cultist who was sleeping off his heavy drinking. Dafnae was still reeling from her recent revelation and with cold precision, dispatched the Cultist saying under her breath that the only good Cultist is a dead one.

Moving on they came back to near the entrance and they were able to leave. As they left, they came again across the Hunters idly sitting by. Chard smiled at them and said with a slight red flare of his eyes that they should seek some other employment as their positions have now been made redundant by the Management.

This finished the cave exploration and the Heroes began the journey back to Greenest to discuss with the team there. They were happy to have made it through and were pleased to have dealt a big blow to the Cult of the Dragon by defeating both Cyanwrath and Frulam. But what do these new revelations mean and what are the Cultists up to next?

This ended Chapter 3 and brought the Adventurers up to Level 4.

The Cave Exploration was a great time with some tough battles, some great interactions, and some major revelations. Adam is doing an excellent job running the story and keeping things fun and exciting and challenging in the right measure. Plus he preparing some really nice extra elements in terms of printing 2D maps and letters to just make the experience all that much more enjoyable.

In the pictures below you can see the maps as well as the painted heroes (thanks to Sharron!) and the different miniatures we printed. The Kobolds are from Yasashii Kyojin Studios and the NPC's, Cultists, and Drakes are from the non-commercial set from MZ4250, and the Berserkers (Bandits) and from Novaminis. And maybe more items will get a spray of colour (on top of the primer so far they havebeen sprayed with (stay tuned!).

We're having a really fun time and happy to see how the Adventurers evolve!

Look for more updates on how the characters take their Level 4 improvements and a bit more exploration into their background, especially with the revelations recently uncovered at the end.

Happy continued gaming and painting!

-Pete (with Mitz & Simz & now also Torsion, Dafnae, & Chard)

#