Mercenaries

In session 103, my players again reinforced just how mercenary they are. It does make it difficult to design the standard, "fight the evil threat" when the adventurers are in it for the job. I don't mean in this case needed to pay the adventurers to get them involved - I mean the players accomplishing only what is required of them in their patron's contract and leaving everything else.

In this case, making a deal with an evil naga so long as they were able to get the bauble they had been sent to find. The adventure is based on "Wyrmsmere" written by Christopher Perkins for AD&D in Dragon Annual #1 (1996).

Session 103: Bargaining with evil

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

The members of the Company of the Black Dragon are in deep caves beneath an island in Wymrsmir Lake. They have come to reclaim a crystal claw from an evil Naga. The efreeti Khisa has flown up into an upper cave and tossed down a rope. But now it is under attack by frog creatures.

Lakima tells Fenris to climb up the rope and report back. The thief quickly climbs the rope and shouts that they are under attack by frogmen. Eathwund grabs the rope and climbs up as quickly as he can – burdened by heavy armor and equipment. Once Eathwund reaches the cave above he sees two frog-headed humanoids entering the cave to attack Fenris. The other side of the cave is obscured by a wall of fire Khisa is maintaining but he can see two more frog creatures behind it. Eathwund draws Wormbane and steps in front of Fenris to block the advance of the two creatures into the cave. He stabs one with his sword but the creature has a tough hide and it shrugs off the hit.

Lakima is the next person to climb up into the cave. He assesses the situation and then throws a volley of darts at the frogs attacking Eathwund. Two of which strike deeply. Alrix climbs up the rope behind Lakima and commands his sword of dancing to aid Eathwund.

Fenris backs away toward the apparent safety of the wall of fire. Then two boulders are hurled through the fire and strike Fenris. One smashes into his head. Fenris collapses to the floor unconscious. Lakima sees Fenris fall and shouts for Domago to climb up immediately. But Flora is already climbing up and arrives first. She begins firing arrows through the wall of fire at the frogs attempting to drive them back. More rocks are flung through the wall of fire and two hit Alrix from behind. Lakima shouts at Alrix to get ready for a close fight. He is going to tell the efreeti to drop the wall of fire.

Domago finally arrives and rushes to Fenris’ side. He uses healing magic to bring Fenris back from death’s door and helps the thief to his feet. At that moment a hurled rock strikes Domago in the back. Alrix runs over and picks up the spent sword of dancing. Flora fires an arrow hitting one of the frogs through the wall of fire. The arrow lodges in the creature’s neck and it collapses dead. Meanwhile, Eathwund is still fighting off two frog creatures but he manages to kill one. The one behind it moves up and slashes Eathwund in the side – opening a large, bleeding wound.

Lakima calls to the efreeti to lower the flames. The flames drop and Domago, Alrix, and Lakima surge forward to attack the remaining frog creature on this side of the cave. Lakima uses his staff of striking on the frogs, Alrix uses the sword of dancing and his battleaxe, while Domago uses the Mace of St. Aleena. Flora turns to help Eathwund and fires an arrow over his shoulder through the right eye of the frog creature. The arrow penetrates its skull and it collapses. On the other side of the cave, Lakima kills the last frog creature when he hits it with a blast from his staff of striking.

The battle over the group rests and assesses the damage. Domago and Eathwund are badly injured. Fenris has almost recovered from being struck in the head. Domago uses his last healing spells on Eathwund and himself. After the brief rest, they begin moving further into the caves. They find side passages that lead out to sea caves on the side of the island. In one cave they find the emaciated corpse of a dwarf. In another cave, they find that the cave floor is strewn with piles of bones of all shapes and sizes – human, fish, serpent, and animals. Fenris tries to step carefully through the cave but the bones snap and break beneath his feet. Khisa observes all of the bones and asks to be allowed to go back in the efreeti bottle – Lakima tells him to go.

As they near the far end of the cave of bones a passage extends around a corner. They hear a hissing, female voice bid them approach and explain themselves. Fenris quickly backs away. Lakima peers around the corner and beholds, a Naga with iridescent scales coiled in a loop in a cave. The walls of the cave are decorated with hundreds and hundreds of gems of all sizes and colors. The Naga bids him step forward.

Lakima bravely steps into full view of the Naga. The Naga is at least 20 feet long. Its head is on a long snake-like body. The head edges closer to Lakima and demands that the intruders leave or be eaten.

“Give us the crystal claw and we will be on our way!”. Lakima tells it.

The Naga tries threatening the party but Lakima dismisses the threats and tells the Naga that they have dealt with its kind before.

“Ah, yes, I can see that. One of you has killed one of my sisters!”, the Naga hisses.

The Naga asks for the Naga-killer to step forward. Only Lakima is visible to it. He begins to lose patience with the Naga and threatens it again. The Naga says it will agree to the terms as long as it can keep its playthings. Lakima realizes it means the men under its charm who reside in the nearby keep.

“I care nothing for them. Just give us what we have come for”, Lakima says. He hears Domago gasp from somewhere behind him and Domago starts to argue.

The Naga brings its head even closer to Lakima and looks him directly in the eyes and then it burps and gasps and heaves up a slimy, crystal claw from its gullet, spitting it out on the cave floor before it. Lakima looks down at it and realizes he would have to expose his neck to the Naga if he were to reach down and grab the price.

“Back off!”, Lakima shouts. Then he asks Eathwund to grab the claw. Realizing that it might be covered in poison he tells Eathwund to use gloves. Eathwund not having looks at Fenris and waves a hand at Fenris suggesting he grab the prize. Fenris immediately strips off his leather gloves and tosses them to Eathwund.

“Be my guest”, he whispers.

Eathwund puts on the gloves and carefully enters the cave and snatches up the crystal claw under the watchful eyes of Lakima and the Naga. Then he backs away out of the cave.

“Let’s get out of here!” Lakima says.

Everyone retreats to the cave of bones. Domago immediately argues that the Naga is evil and that they should return and kill it. Lakima argues that they only came for the crystal claw. That is all that they are being paid to retrieve. Domago makes it clear that he is unhappy with this decision pointing to the human bones amongst the piles of bones in the cave. But when the group heads back to the entrance cave he reluctantly joins them.

The party descends back into the tunnel beneath the lake and returns to the Keep. Onyx and Drake are waiting for them. Drake asks them if they killed the Naga and is surprised when they tell him they did not. He tells them with the Naga still alive his friends remain under its power. Lakima tells him not to worry about that. Onyx, Lucky, and Pellerax are gathered in the entry room and Lakima dispels the charm placed on them. Then he dispels the feeblemind placed on Pellerax. Now that Pellerax is thinking clearly, he apologizes for what they have done. Horrified that they stole the crystal claw from Clearwin. He tells the party that there is no shame in their running away from the Naga. Lakima corrects him and tells him of the deal he made. Pellerax is angered by this. He argues that together they can bring down the Naga. Lakima tells him that the Company of the Black Dragon has accomplished its mission and is leaving. Pellerax tries convincing them to stay without success. Lakima tells him he is sure his group can handle the Naga. Pellerax tells them that their group has already lost two of its members to the Naga.

As the party prepares to leave, Domago informs them that he is not going with them. He will stay and help Pellerax’s party fight the Naga. Lakima tries convincing Domago that there is no purpose in staying but Domago is adamant. They say their goodbyes and depart.

The party less one member, ride south following the river. Darkness falls as the river joins the much larger Dolm River so they make camp. All is quiet that evening, especially on Eathwund and Fenris’ watch. Even the sound of animals suddenly ceases. On alert, Eathwund scans the nearby bushes intently. He spots a dark shadow moving quickly up the river. Looking up he sees an enormous dragon flying northwest hundreds of feet overhead. He stays on alert until he can no longer see it. A few minutes later the normal sounds of the night return. The next morning Eathwund tells everyone what he saw that night.

The party makes it to The Restless Knight Inn by evening the next night. They stay for the night in rooms and then set out for Edgerton arriving around noon. They ride directly to Clearwin’s Oddities and tell Clearwin that they recovered the crystal claw. It is turned over and Clearwin hands Lakima a pair of spell scrolls holding unknown ice magic spells. The transaction is complete and they return to the Manor House. Lakima brings out a bag of gold containing the agreed payment and tells his companions to split it as they see fit. Reminding them to keep a share for Domago. Alayna tells Lakima that they have received invitations to a Yule Festival ball in Dolmvay. She was concerned that he would not have returned in time.

A week later Domago returns. He tells the company that Pellerax managed to defeat the Naga using a wand of polymorphing. The group found a lot of treasure in the caves and they presented Domago with 2,400 gold from the trove. He has donated most of it to the Church of St. Aleena. He has come to the Manor to ask if the Company would help out the Church with a problem. When he arrived at the church a few days ago, the abbess asked him to investigate an under cellar they located. When he entered, he felt the presence of an evil force and a voice in his head welcomed him as its first meal. He felt it wisest to leave and return with help. He cannot pay the company but he asks that they aid the church as his friends.

The company agrees. Lakima happy that this adventure is right in Edgerton and should be a quick one to conclude. The entire company gears up and heads over to the church.

They find some floor tiles have been pulled back in the cellar of the church to reveal a far older passage below. Domago tells them they knew that the church was built on top of an older structure but did not know that it was still intact. They descend into the older cellars and find the chambers and passages are well lit by magical ever-burning torches attached to wall brackets. The torches give off light and heat but do not appear to use any fuel. They find a side passage blocked by a pair of metal doors. Fenris examines the doors and feels they are safe – but when he opens them a blast of fire whooshes up the corridor injuring Fenris and Flora who are caught in the blast. The doors open into a ruined chamber. On a wooden table, they find a simple book with a black leather cover. Lakima opens the book and finds blank pages. A few moments later writing appears on the page in common. The book appears to communicate with him and answer questions. It claims it is the guardian of the book and that it holds back a great evil that would be released if it was damaged.

As Lakima “converses” with the book, a dark shape takes form in the chamber. Domago senses it and whirls around.

“Wraith, look out!”, Domago shouts.

Fenris and Eathwund quickly grab the doors and slam them shut.

“Will the doors hold it?” Lakima asks. Domago tells him that a wraith can pass through walls. The doors are unlikely to hold it in. Lakima tells Eathwund to swing one door open which he does and Lakima fires a volley of magic missiles at it. The missiles seem to be absorbed into the wraith – but it slowly diminishes until it is gone. Domago tells everyone that he thinks it is gone. Lakima then takes the black book and thrusts it into the flames of one of the torches on the wall. In a moment the book is consumed and ashes fall to the floor.

The company continues exploring. Coming to an empty library. Two pairs of locked iron doors leave the library. Fenris and Flora both fail to open one pair of doors. Meanwhile, Domago has been listening at the other pair of doors and tells them he can hear faint voices. It sounds like someone is giving a sermon?

Fenris manages to open the locked double doors and they see a short hall leading to another pair of double doors. Now everyone can hear the voice speaking in the old common tongue. Fenris and Flora check the hallway and Fenris is the one to spot a trap in the wall that would trigger poison darts. He manages to disarm it. They move up to the door and the voice gets louder. Flora unlocks the door and then moves back. Lakima tells everyone to get ready and asks Eathwund to swing the doors open.

Eathwund pushes the doors open and they see a large stone-walled chamber with stone pillars holding up the stone ceiling. Ever burning torches light what looks like a shrine. An undead priest stands behind an altar speaking a sermon to six human corpses seated in pews before the altar. The undead creatures ignore the presence of the party.

Not waiting for the undead to react, Lakima casts fireball. A moment later Alrix does the same. The first fireball explodes near the priest turning it to ash and immolating the front row of undead in the pews. The second fireball lands amongst the pews and incinerates the remaining undead. All think they hear voices calling out in thanks as the undead are destroyed. The fires die down and they see a fire-blackened chamber, most of the pews are destroyed and still smoldering. The stone altar is undamaged. A book bound in a pale-covered binding rests on the altar impossibly undamaged. As they take in the scene, a dark cloud emerges from the book. It billows up into the chamber and soon forms a vaguely demonic shape, with long arms ending in talons and glowing red eyes in its head. The shape is mostly back smoke and it lacks a lower body.

“Thank you for freeing me, foolish mortals. Your souls will make a nice meal!”

Eathwund moves through the smoldering pews toward the demon. He slashes through its smoky form. The blade seems to make no contact but the demon does scream in rage and Eathwund uses the ability of Wormbane to negate magic resistance. He shouts to Lakima that he has succeeded. Lakima then tries using the power of his pendant of demon summoning to allow him to charm the demon but the spell fails.

The demon laughs and points a long-clawed finger at Lakima as it tells him he will make a fine slave in the abyss. The demon tells them they may plead for mercy from Sezzak.

Domago runs up to join Eathwund and swings his mace at the demon, again the weapon passes through the demon’s form without resistance but the demon does react. Alrix’s sword of dancing is released and it flies right through the demon’s form. The demon responds to the attacks and slashes at Eathwund with both claws. Both claws strike Eathwund and pass right through his armor opening wounds in his side and chest. Eathwund yells in shock from the pain. Alrix fires a volley of magic missiles at the demon that seems to strike it.

Lakima casts a haste spell on Eathwund. Eathwund moves into a blur of motion hitting the demon repeatedly with his sword while those around him seem to move in slow motion. The attacks seem to convince the demon to leave as it shrinks down to a ball of darkness and vanishes. Everyone carefully looks about the chamber for the demon but Domago tells everyone that he can no longer sense any evil in the chamber.

Lakima makes his way through the debris to the altar and picks up the book that is lying on it. He finds that the bookbinding appears to be made of human skin. The book has metal latches to keep it shut but the latches are broken. Using his detect magic cantrip he can tell that the book is magical. He wisely decides not to open it. The book is slipped into the bag of holding.

The party explores a little more through some side chambers but they do not find the demon lurking in the shadows. Domago comes across an evil shrine and flees from it after feeling a sense of overwhelming dread. Lakima feels the same but manages to approach the shrine. He finds a gold cylinder atop the shrine covered in strange sigils. He determines that it is a cursed object that has an aura of fear about it. He manages to slip it into his bag of holding saying that it will be useful for protecting forbidden books in the Mages Guild library. The party then leaves the under cellars and reports back to the abbess and other priests. The priests offer to heal the worst injured members of the party. Domago thanks everyone for their help to his church.