A week had passed on Bedmer Island. Six weeks of rations for 100 men were loaded on The Howl of the Demon for a the sum of 6,000 gp, which Ollie paid from the cache in his magic backpack. Rufus, mayor of Bedmer, came to them in the morning of the 26th (1/26) to see that the sailors all boarded the ship and the ship sailed away. He’d expected the ship to depart on the day the food was loaded (1/21), but Ephor had let the men relax on the island for another four days. Among the revelry of food and drink, the villagers had indulged in games of chance, of which they were particularly fond.
When the adventurers had assembled on the ship once again, Silverfish Imperetrix explained that the village was well aware of proposed plans to approach the island’s divine protector, what they considered an angel of fire and what the party knew to be a dragon. Universally, the villagers were interested in betting on the utter destruction of the interlopers. This was based on witnessing the destruction by fire of many vessels seeking piracy or raiding. A few of the party considered returning to the island to take this bet, still feeling confident they could face a red dragon. Silverfish disabused them of this idea by relating more information he’d gathered in the previous days.
He explained that he’d borrowed Tienarth’s crystal ball to further surveil the dragon lair. Four more fire giants dwelled there on ledges in the wall of the caldera, over a bubbling lake of molten tar where hell hounds played. The dragon he estimated to be ancient, far more powerful than they guessed. He begged the party to consider an alternate plan, suggesting talking to the dragon. The thought hard about whether they could trust the dragon.
Eventually, Ollie suggested they might trade one of the manat sculptures taken from the Doukreg tunnels for the lens. More agitated discussion ensued, but Ollie hollered over the din. “Decide,” he demanded. “Sneak in to steal the lens? Attack? Negotiate?” He called for a vote and negotiation won. They picked Tienarth in the form of a young red dragon to approach the lair.
A longboat was rowed to the island and pulled the boat into heavy brush. They marched over the grassland and up into the mountains, a journey about about 10 miles. The incline rose quickly into the cloud line where vegetation grew sparse. Soon, they met the road from the village up to the lair. Tienarth went on alone while the rest huddled in a crevice.
Two fire giants confronted the elf in dragon form, threatening to hurl boulders. After some discussion, one of the giants escorted the little dragon deep into the mountain, along the ledge in the caldera and then even deeper into the mountain to meet the great dragon in his lair. The Dragon of Bedmer lounged atop an immense pile of coins, gems and other treasures. He was twice Tienarth’s size, obviously a dragon of advanced aged and power. It became more obvious when the dragon revealed its power of mind reading. He made light of their plans to attack him, but betrayed no anger. He seemed to view the party as naive fools.
In the end, the dragon demanded both manats (sapphire and emerald) plus 30,000 gold pieces. Tienarth returned to the party to relay the demands. Funds were gathered from several pockets, and the manats were retrieved from Ollie’s backpack. Tienarth returned with the loot. The dragon honored the bargain, handing over the dark lens, not much larger than a coin.
The party reassembled and descended from the mountain. They camped that night near the beach, for they’d instructed the ship to sail out of sight of the island in case of a dragon attack. The ship appeared in the morning (1/27) and they immediately demanded Silverfish to use the lens. But it was effective only at night. After the sun had set, Silverfish peered into the sky through the lens. He now knew where they might find three parts of a ring of terrible power. This ring had the power to hold back magic itself, which seemed to be necessary for entering a place of many telescopes. With the black telescope kept there, Silverfish could use his dark lens to locate the Neh Rod.
The parts of the ring were scattered on several islands, many miles to the south. Silverfish urged them to head south. Ephor commanded the sails unfurled and the small galley raced over the calm seas for most of a day (1/28) when another ship was spied. It was a longship flying a black flag. It’s oars were not all manned, and it had no hope of outrunning the galley. Emphor asked if he ought to ram the smaller ship, something he’d never tried before, just wondered how much fun it might be. Instead, they overtook the longship, cast grappling ropes and jumped over.
The captain of the pirate crew demanded that his men fight to the death. Tienarth’s Raiders were happy to oblige. Saul cast a spell that brought down lightning, at first destroying the first mate in a crash of thunder. Aderian jumped by magic and struck the captain. Urgesh rushed the captain and hit him with Vambier. Saul finished him with another lightning strike. Tienarth, Jerker and Ferris also joined in attacking the other pirates, but when the captain and first mate were killed, they panicked. Commanded to surrender, several of them jumped into the water to swim away. They were left to their fate.
The remaining crew were invited to subject themselves to their new captain, Aderian. There were three humans left: Rayburn, Selwyn, and Averett. There were five dwarves, all pale of skin and fair of hair. They lamented being at sea, called themselves slaves and begged to be put ashore at the next opportunity, but they agreed to remain as crew for some time in exchange for being rescued. They were called Aznear, Fikhean, Grasgrik, Durgut, and Hakdrem.
A great chest in the aft of the longship held a pleasant surprise: ample loot. In it were 1,000 ep, 2,400 gp and 8,000 pp. They also found two gems, chalcedony and garnet. Honoring the agreement with Captain Ephor, they counted out a one-tenth share. This was 800 pp and 300 gp. His crew was overjoyed with such a haul.
The former crew said the longship was called Kraken Bait. Aderian renamed it The Turkey of the Sea.
The next day (1/30), they were surprised by rubbery tentacles reaching up from the depths, but they were quickly savaged. The shape of a giant octopus drifted lifeless into the depths. Urgesh made a simple meal of one of the severed limbs.
On the next day (1/31), land was spotted and Silver confirmed it was Carrasthinian’s Isle, a tiny island only a mile across. They saw several groves of nut trees, crumbling ruins and a 60′ tower of grey-green stone next to cliffs. Two beaches offered easy access, one on the south east near the tower and one on the northwest side of the island. Ephor warned of reefs that might prove to be trouble. They circled the island a few times and then retreated some distance to contemplate an approach.
Silverfish had scant details to offer about Carrasthinian beyond being an ancient wizard who once lived on this island. He theorized the mage had once collected part of the ring, and that part must still be somewhere in the island.
End Notes
- Days
- 1/19 – 1/25 Waiting around on the island
- 1/26 Bargain with the dragon for the lens
- 1/27 Return to the ship and use the lens at night
- 1/28 – 1/31 Capture the Turkey of the Sea, FIght giant octopus, spot Carrasthinian’s Isle
- Treasure
- Gave two manats (emerald and sapphire) and 30,000 gp to the Bedmer Dragon
- Pirate booty: 1,000 ep, 2,400 gp, 8,000 pp, chalcedony (50 gp), garnet (100 gp)
- Gave 10% to Captain Ephor: 800 pp, 300 gp (4,300 gp value)
- Combat / Goals 17,115 xp
- Getting the Lens 15,000 xp
- 7th Level Fighter 670 xp
- 3rd Level Fighter 145 xp
- 17 1st Level Fighters 425 xp
- Giant Octopus 875 xp
- Characters 1,802 xp each
- Aderian (fight) 2,000 xp
- Ferris 1,982 xp
- Hocuspo 1,982 xp
- Jerker 1,982 xp
- Nate 1,982 xp
- Ollie (fight, lead) 1,838 xp
- Saul and Lion (wilderness) 2,000 xp
- Tienarth (outdoors, patient) 1,838 xp
- Urgesh (simple, outdoors, fight) 1,856 xp
- Ships
- The Howl of the Demon
- Crew/Passengers: 86 + 10
- Cargo: 11.5 of 210 tons
- Food: about 800 man/weeks
- Water: about 200 man/weeks
- The Turkey of the Sea
- Crew/Passengers: 8 + 0
- Cargo: 0 of 10 tons
- Food: none
- Water: none
- The Howl of the Demon