The Demon Rock

The players are going through an adaption of the DCC adventure "Saga of the Witch Queen" by Harley Stroh. In this session, they managed to move forward even though they had completely missed the clues laid out for them. The Leader was sure the Undead Dragon was the crux of the mission when it was really a sideshow. They went straight to Demon Rock, and I thought all of the other adventure areas would be missed, but then they left the Demon Rock and wandered around elsewhere.

Session 162: The Demon Rock

The Company of the Black Dragon is in the Black Marsh, looking for clues about the Witch Queen’s plans and location. Also searching for the undead dragon Stygoth, they enter a lizard man lair beneath the Demon Rock.

“It looks like we are going to get wet,” Eathwund said. He then clambered down for the Luminous bridge Lakima had cast and entered the dirty swamp water. The water came up to his armpits. Eathwund headed down the tunnel slowly, careful not to splash water in his mouth. He gradually found the water in the tunnel shallowing.

“It looks like it shallows up ahead,” Eathwund called out.

The rest of the company members joined him and made their way down the tunnel. Ahead, they could see Eathwund was now in only a few inches of water. A broken stone wall at the end of the tunnel allowed entrance into a man-made chamber. Lakima’s staff and a light spell on Ian’s sword lit the chamber. They saw wide stone steps heading up into the darkness. Dark shapes moved about at the top of the steps. There was a loud croak, and a smelly liquid poured down the steps, followed by a flaming torch tossed into the stream. The liquid immediately burst into flames, rising to the ceiling.

Eathwund used the power of his armor to turn ethereal and make his way up the stairs, where he saw several lizardmen warriors waiting. Just as he reached the top step, all of the warriors cried out and fell dead to the stone floor.

“I got them with a death spell,” Lakima said. The fire on the steps burned away the fuel and was extinguished a few moments later. Everyone joined Eathwund in a large, ancient hall. Eathwund became corporeal again. The hall was decorated with old, faded murals of human barbarians. But the recent occupants were lizardmen. Pallets of reds lay on the floor near a cooking pit. A primitive woven reed curtain divided the chamber.

“Check behind the curtain,” Lakima said.

Eathwund sliced through the curtain with his sword, and it parted quickly. On the other side, he saw a fountain of clear water with a stone statue of a human warrior with a spear standing in the center of it.

“We should check that door before moving on,” Lakima said, pointing at a wooden door with a copper covering half-buried in rubble. Eathwund used his giant strength and shifted the stones to one side so Luna could open the door. Inside was a chamber with three human statues. The statues looked peculiar; each held a tray on which gold, silver, and gems were gathered.

“War, famine, and pestilence,” Domago said, looking at the statues.

The adventurers decided not to touch or approach the statues after hearing Domago describe what they represented.

Continuing, they immediately encountered another group of Lizardmen. Lakima cast a sleep spell at them, but it failed. Some of the lizardmen stopped and vainly tried to fight Eathwund, Aldus, and Ian while two ran further into the complex. Those who stayed to fight quickly fell under the swords of the fighters. Ian and Eathwund took off in pursuit of the fleeing lizardmen and chased them to a hole in a wall leading to a carved tunnel. They wisely decided to wait for everyone else to appear.

At that moment, they noticed a deep drumming sound coming from somewhere up ahead behind two enormous copper-covered doors.

“Luna, open the door,” Lakima shouted. Luna moved forward and used the Cursed Helm of Free Action to open one of the doors. They all saw an enormous hall strewn with trash and weeds. A lone lizardman sat on a pile of garbage, banging methodically on a large drum.

“Silence him,” Lakima said.

Luna fired some arrows at the Lizardman, who immediately stopped drumming. Aldus ran forward and killed the lizardman with a few sword strikes. Then, a snake of enormous proportions slithered into the chamber through a large hole in the stone wall. The snake was at least fifty feet long. Its vast weight pushes the debris to one side.

Eathwund and Ian went on the attack. Aldus blew the Silver Horn of Valhalla, summoning three berserkers to their aid. Ian was bitten but did not succumb to the poison. The snake was being hacked apart when a dozen lizardmen entered the chamber and attacked the group while they were occupied. The fight ended with all the adventurers standing, but some gravely wounded. Domago moved about bandaging wounds and praying for those injured. Lakima took the time to animate four of the lizardmen as zombies.

The adventurers headed south into a cave that looked to be dug out of the rock. Here, they found a steaming hot pool where smaller lizardmen stood defensively. Lakima reasoned they were females protecting their eggs, and the group moved on. Next, they encountered the Lizardman chief, his shaman, and four more Lizardman warriors. The shaman transformed into a giant crocodile to fight them. While the chieftain ran away and the warriors were quickly killed, the giant crocodile put up a long fight. When it finally fell, it transformed back into a lizardman. With a shock, they realized that the lizardman shaman was still alive.

Lakima spoke to the lizardman in draconic and found he was understood. After some negotiation, the lizardman agreed to lead them to the lair of Stygoth. In return, he got Lakima to agree that the adventurers would never enter the lizardman's lair again.

To their surprise, the Shaman led the group back out of the lair and into the swamps. He led them across the swamps to a pool at the base of the demon rock. Through gestures and speech, he told Lakima that the dragon had an entrance into the demon rock at the bottom of the pool. With that, the shaman left, returning to the lair.

“Domago, do you still have that magic book that grants water breathing?” Lakima asked.

Domago reached into a sack and pulled out a worn and waterlogged book. “I have pages left in the book.” Gathering everyone about him, Domago tore out a page and read it. The page was consumed by the spell. Eathwund and Aldus were the first to enter the pool and swim down to a small opening leading into a cave pool. The rest followed the fighters.

“Wow!” Ian said, looking about.

Their magical light illuminated heaps of gold and silver coins, gems, and weapons at one end of the cave. Lakima took out his magic lens and looked about. He saw a few glowing magic items hidden amongst the coins and gems. Climbing about the piles of treasure, Lakima picked up all the items glowing with magic first and put them into the bag of holding.

“Just grab the gold. We do not have room in the bag for silver,” Lakima said.

Lakima set Luna and the undead Lizardmen to guard the pool's edge in case Stygoth returned to his treasure horde.

“Over here, everyone,” Ian cried out. He pointed down at the corpse of a man in simple brown robes. In the man’s right hand, he clutched a dirty scroll. Lakima carefully removed the scroll and examined it. It did not give off a magical aura.

“He has not been dead for very long,” Domago said while examining the corpse, “Maybe as little as a few weeks.” Domago pulled a silver chain around the man’s neck, revealing a holy symbol.

“A priest of St. Clarrisa the wild,” he said.

Lakima read the scroll, which was written in the common tongue.

Many days now have passed since last I saw the dragon. I prayed for the dragon to die, and it seems, cruelly, my wish has been granted. Faith alone sustains me, along with the belief that my death shall not be in vain. This much our research has shown; the disease putrefies the living. There is something in the water, born from the mines bored into the earth to the east. But the swamp cannot produce such vile corruption on its own. The devil‐born lizard men, perhaps? The dragon has whispered ancient ballads in its sleep, songs of demons and savage kings. The demon and the profane taint – they must be related. My last regret is that I will not live to see them both destroyed.

“Interesting,” Lakima mused.

“What does it mean,” Eathwund asked.

“I think this demon rock came from the sky or another dimension. Somehow, the lizardmen disturbed that fountain we saw, which has poisoned the swamp.”

“Now what?” Aldus asked.

“We prepare for a visit from the dragon. We have his horde. He is bound to come calling,” Lakima said.

The adventurers settled in, careful to always have a few of the fighters on watch. After four hours in the damp cave, they began to have some second thoughts. Just as Lakima started thinking they should return to their ship, everyone saw a tremor in the pool or water. Moments later, Stygoth, the undead dragon, rose menacingly out of the pool.

Stygoth did not boast, threaten, or parlay. He immediately breathed a cloud of poisonous brown gas, filling the cave. Choking and gasping, the adventurers were briefly vulnerable, but the undead lizardmen Lakima raised were not affected, and they immediately tore into the dragon with teeth and claws. Large wounds on the dragon's sides were opened, revealing its rotting insides. Eathwund and Aldus attacked with their swords while Lakima summoned a Water Elemental from the swamp water. The undead dragon Stygoth was killed, and Eathwund delivered the final blow, chopping through its neck to decapitate it.

Lakima put the dragon’s head into the bag of holding.

“We will need this for the bounty,” he said, “Let’s head back to the ship.”

The journey back to the Cloudstealer was uneventful. Once they reached the ship, they hailed the crew, who threw down a ladder. They found that Dagmar was ill, and it was soon apparent that Ian and Luna were also sick.

“I think it is the Blight plague that they have,” Domago said, “It is fatal.”

Domago cast a cure disease spell on Ian, and the ship ascended into the fog. Lakima told everyone they were headed back to Irllendom to collect the bounty on the dragon.

“We were not sent here by St. Aleena to fight a dragon,” Domago said, “We need to put a stop to whatever schemes the Witch Queen has hatched. That is the true threat to the Realm.”

Domago was ready to be let off the ship to continue his quest. Lakima convinced him that it was just a short stop in Irllendom. They would be back to deal with the Witch Queen after a bit of rest. The Cloudstealer headed back through the fog south. After a few hours, the fog began to clear as they left the swamp. Below them, they saw fields and later farmland. Near the end of the day, the town of Irllendom could be seen ahead. The ship set down in the commons near the keep again, and the adventurers made their way to the castle. At the gates, they let the guards know they were coming to collect the reward for the dragon. Lakima drew the dragon’s rotting head from the bag of holding to show the guards. One of the guard captains was summoned.

“The dragon appears to have rotted away,” he said, “Did you slay the dragon or find his corpse lying in the swamp?”

Lakima told the captain that he was wrong. They slew the dragon, who was undead after being afflicted with the blight. They caused the captain and the guards to draw back, worried that the adventurers might have the blight. The captain retrieved their reward, handing them a small coffer full of gold coins.

“Under the circumstances, the Lady does not wish to meet with you,” he said. You understand, of course.”

That night, the adventurers went to a new tavern—the Inn of the Leaky Cask. Here, they regaled the locals with their stories. Lakima spoke to some of the Vanhurr elves. From his conversation with the elves, Lakima learned that only Stygoth stood between the orcs of the Mountain King and the lands of Solene. The news that the dragon was no more was very disturbing to them. He also learned that a hermit lived near the demon rock and hated the Witch.

The next day, Domago prayed for guidance in healing those inflicted with the blight. With his touch, he was able to use the divine energy of St. Aleena to cure Luna and Dagmar.

“I am concerned about the town,” Domago said, “They do not have any priests here capable of curing the plague,” Domago told them he had sent a message to Edgerton asking for aid.

The Cloudstealer and the adventurers set out north again for the Black Marsh. Arriving at midday, they plunged into the familiar thick mist. Soon, they could not see the ground. Lakima maneuvered the ship in the general direction of where he thought the demon rock was located. Soon, they began to hear a rhythmic banging of metal on metal echoing through the mist. Bringing the ship down lower, a watchtower and walls began to emerge from the mists.

Lakima signaled for everyone to be silent. Everyone leaned over the ship’s rails to see a walled compound. Goblins manned the watchtower and scurried about on the grounds. Lakima guided the ship silently back up into the mist.

“What now,” Aldus asked.

Lakima raised a hand and sat down. Concentrating, he cast the Wizard Eye spell. While the others watched, Lakima narrated what he saw: a camp with dozens of goblins and hobgoblins, slave pits full of humans, dwarves, and elves, and a forge run by a fire giant. He saw a deep maw in the earth. Descending, he saw goblins mining a grey stone deep in the earth. The goblins all looked to be deathly sick.

After a few minutes, Lakima dismissed the spell and looked at his companions. “We need to plan an attack on the compound.”