Session 022

The party is on their way home, exhausted but happy to see the light of another day after slaying the white dragon that was threatening the safety of Emberhold. Accompanied by great numbers of homeless kobolds, they returned to the shores of Emberhold. They are greeted warmly by Harper, who is glad to see them alive and well, but also surprised by their scaly companions. Chaotic negotiations follow, in which most of the kobolds, around sixty, under the rule of the shaman, decide to build a new settlement north of Emberhold, while the rest of them decide to go to the mainland through the teleportation circle. A small number of kobolds get along well with the townsfolk, and they decide to stay in the village.

That evening, Daero cooks up a feast for the weary travelers, and all eat to their heart’s content. At some point in the evening, a conversation between Morn, Arcturis and Duerth, the duergar they found in the dragon’s lair, and the three depart to Arcturises tower. Fionnlagh notices, and sneakily follows them in. Halfway up the tower, he hears an explosion and is overrun by enlarged ants. Shortly after he gets stuck to a mimic, who was hiding as a tapestry on the staircase. In the meantime, the rest of the party has been alarmed, and manages to clean out the tower. On the upper floor they find Morn, fast asleep after being hit by a sleeping potion. It turns out his mace has reacted to one of the fuel cores that Duerth had on him, which caused an explosion that knocked over a cabinet of magic items and potions.

After talking with Duerth and Arcturis, it becomes clear that Duerth was sent to the dragon’s lair 10 years ago, because his paranoid father Xardurok didn’t want him around for some reason. Duerth explains that his father was conducting mysterious research, and that the colossus they found was part of his testing facility. Arcturis believes it’s possible to locate the energy source of Duerths fuel cores and thus locate the fortress where Xardurok resides, but he needs time to do more research.