Date: 5/11/05

XP Awarded: 1,375 (to 7th level characters), 1,150 (to 8th level characters)

Start: The Evermoors, late Eleasis

After slaying the hunting band of giants and orcs, the adventurers set about searching their foes for treasure. They are found to be equipped with well-made armor and weaponry, and the giant’s magical darksteel halberd is named ‘Gymlirbaene, slayer of humans’. As this is going on, Celowin notices a large dragon nearby watching the party carefully. It has massive shoulders, a short face, and broad, smooth brow plates jutting over the eyes that extend back into long, flat horns in a series of overlapping segments. The dragon has backswept cheek ridges and frills on the lower jaws that sweep forward slightly. An acrid odor surrounds the dragon, and its brownish scales have a ruddy gloss to them. It seems to be wounded, but then speaks to the party in a deep, growling voice.

It introduces itself as Tibulliax, and says that it had fought the giant’s hunting group earlier and killed several of the giants in the group, including a hag, but that it was wounded in the battle and retreated to a nearby crevice for a more defensible position. Theodar offers healing, and the dragon accepts. When it asks the paladin’s price, Theodar asks for information on a mage traveling in the area, and information about giants in the region as well. Tibulliax leads the party up onto a sunny spur and stretches out to converse with the party. He says that though he has not seen any, mages that come to the area are after one thing: the many ruins that lie hidden across the landscape. He warns the party about an old black dragon to the west that they should steer clear of, and says that the giants seem to come out of the northwest. He challenges the adventurers to a game of wits and spends most of the afternoon exchanging riddles and jokes. He spends some time talking about nearby features in the Evermoors and in the North, and tells a story about Eldenser, the Wyrm Who Hides in Blades. Apparently an old metallic dragon, very magically powerful, developed a way to ‘possess’ metal items and travels across the north, helping travelers and seeking adventure. By the time the conversation is ended, it is after dark, and he takes his leave of the group, who travels a short distance away before encamping at the base of a small cliff.

The next day the party continues northwest along the stream, which has swelled in size. Around midday, the water changes course sharply to the southwest and descends into a deep gully. After a few more hours of steady downhill travel, the party enters a swampy bog. Iax leads the way to a raised strip of land with some stunted trees, and the muddied party looks out to the west over a large expanse of open water. The shoreline runs south and north, but no other dry land is in sight. With the sun riding low in the sky, the group is anxious to leave the swampy area, and Iax gets the party safely back to a rise with a small cave.

That night on watch, Celowin’s keen eyes spot dancing lights in the swamp below, and later notices what might be a fire on the horizon to the north. The rest of the watch is peaceful, and the next morning the group sets out northwards through the fog towards where Celowin saw the lights. An hour of travel later sees the party in a rolling expanse of short green grass with outcroppings of pale limestone protruding everywhere. A large, smelly cave is found near the burned remains of trolls and muddy giant tracks. Exploring the area, the adventurers count approximately 20 burned trolls, but no dead giants. Fei estimates there must have been a group of at least 10 to 15 of them. Their tracks seem to head off to the north, but the day is too wet for Iax to track them well, and they become untraceable within an hour’s travel. Still, the party has a feel for where they are heading, and continues in that direction.

After another several hours of travel the party hears a howling sound in the mist and finds a large rift in the ground, a ravine about 30 feet wide and at least 60 feet deep. As the wind blows down the canyon, it creates a moaning howl that can be heard throughout the region. Since the canyon seems to lead towards the north, the party continues alongside, stopping now and then to look down. As they travel, a huge, pale yellowish-green winged creature swoops out of the murk and snaps at Iax, attempting to pick him up in its massive, crocodile-like jaws, but Iax rolls aside at the last moment, drinking a potion that allows him to take to the air in hot pursuit. Theodar spurs his horse forward and leaps mightily into the air to stab the beast with his lance. The creature swings its head and shrieks, causing a lance of sonic force to hit Celowin painfully. Celowin’s arrows find their mark in the creature’s armored underbelly, and Fei’s magic finally brings the creature crashing down, digging a wide furrow through the thin soil.

Iax uses his flight to investigate the canyon below, which is much deeper here than when the party first found it. Descending to the bottom, he finds a large cave half-filled with water. Flying to the back, he finds a large sandbar covered in the tracks of a large beast, but since they don’t seem to be from the flying creature, he leaves and finds another cave higher up some distance away. Investigating a large mass of rocks and shrubbery, he finds a split-open chest with many silver coins. Sweeping them up, he returns to the party above just as his magical flight falters and ends.