A session log of our D&D adventure with ‘The Master’s Vault’ . Details in the contents page (link above).
Chapter 7: The Dragon of Staircase Cliffs – Part 3
Arriving on top of the Staircase Cliffs, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy rest a little before heading to the dragonborn Alcaeus’ house. Gwynfor hacks and coughs violently as a reaction to the snakes’ poison, but insists that he’s okay. The three are greeted by Alcaeus when they arrive at his house. Seeing that the party is tired after the climb, he invites them in to rest and for lunch.
As mentioned by Elaria, Alcaeus is a great cook! Eating his rabbit stew brings the colour back to everyone’s faces. Alcaeus then asks them their reason for visiting him. Rifma explains that Alcaeus’ friend Elaria has passed away, and they’ve come to collect the keys to her vault as requested in her will. Alcaeus is saddened as Elaria was a dear friend. Before passing the party the tiles, he asks them to tell him their memories of her defining moments.
Rifma talks of how Elaria always presses on teamwork during their tasks, and that by working together, they can get out of any difficult situation. Gwynfor says that even during training, Elaria never takes things lightly, making sure that her pupils are ready for the real deal.
Happy to be able to hear about Elaria, Alcaeus hands over the tiles. The party thanks him and promises him that they won’t let Elaria’s treasure fall into the wrong hands. They wish each other farewell and part ways. It’s gotten dark once Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy arrive back at the bottom of the Cliffs, so they decide to head back to town to rest for the night.
Returning to Elaria’s mansion, they reward Sephy with his promised premium cat food. After dinner, Gwynfor and Rifma head to the back of the mansion to check out the locked vault door. However, neither is it suspicious, nor is there anyone snooping around. Despite her will saying that it was an unnatural death, nothing seems amiss in Elaria’s bedroom either. Thinking that they’ll only find the answer once the vault is open, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy decide to sleep for now.
Interlude
Gwynfor reflects on the earlier fight with the snakes at the Cliffs. He hasn’t danced so closely with death for quite awhile–not since all those years ago when a great black dragon took a bite out of him. The scar peeking from under the collar of his shirt throbs as he recalls the episode.
It was a poisonous dragon of Yuan-ti origins threatening to destroy a village. Gwynfor had gone to fight it with a horde of well-trained fighters, but the dragon picked them off one by one. After losing many comrades and a dear friend, Gwynfor only barely managed to win, returning as a sole survivor.
Despite the heroism the bard songs say about him, Gwynfor felt ashamed that he couldn’t save any of his comrades. To this day, the dragon’s poison flows in his veins, a reminder of his failure as it slowly eats away at his body.
Gwynfor’s true reason for being here is his search for the poison’s antidote. Elaria’s a well-traveled adventurer, so he wonders if anything in her vault will give him a clue. Seeing that the trip to recover the keys has been quite dangerous, he hopes that he can protect everyone till the end this time.
Chapter 8: What Crawls in the Icebound Peaks – Part 1
A new day. Ready with their supplies, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy head to the last place mentioned in Elaria’s will, the Icebound Peaks. It seems that they’ll be able to recover the last three tiles if they successfully defeat the giant spider Vixthra. Arriving in front of the waterfall that hides Vixthra’s cavern lair, the party wonders what lie in store for them.
Gwynfor and Rifma don’t sense anything behind the waterfall, so they enter the cave cautiously, only to be greeted by a group of five kobolds. They’ve just finished their meals and are angry that people are trespassing into their lair. They begin attacking the party with their claws and slingshots. Gwynfor and Sephy get a few wounds.
Gwynfor remembers that kobolds dislike sunlight, so he suggests that they lure the kobolds out of the cave. Agreeing with him, Rifma rushes out. Gwynfor picks up the wounded Sephy and follows after him.
Outside, Gwynfor urges Rifma to stay behind him with Sephy so he can protect them from the kobold mob. Rifma thinks that it’s a bad idea since Gwynfor’s wounded, so he casts a minor illusion spell on him. He hides Gwynfor in an illusory rock so the kobolds can’t see the three of them when they come out of the cave. Sephy heals himself in the meantime.
The first kobold runs out of the cave, but is confused as he sees no one there—just a giant rock. A raging barbarian, Gwynfor rushes over and knocks the kobold out with one clean swipe of his sword. Seeing that the illusion spell seems to be working, Rifma casts it on Gwynfor to disguise him as a rock again.
The second kobold arrives. He sees the rock, but thinks that there’s nothing weird with it. He looks around in confusion. However, the third kobold arrives and easily sees through Rifma’s spell. He curses at his less intelligent friend and attacks Gwynfor. Their cover blown, Gwynfor and Rifma fight back, taking one of the kobolds out. Sephy gets rid of the other.
The remaining two kobolds seem to stay inside the cave, waiting for their friends to return. Rifma, knowing their Draconic tongue, uses the minor illusion spell to pretend to be one of the kobolds that they’ve defeated. He shouts from outside the waterfall, saying that the enemy is dead and that they have loot.
One of the kobolds inside comes out, so Gwynfor makes quick work of him. Rifma calls out to the last remaining kobold using his made-up voice that the enemy’s not dead and that they need help. Gwynfor gets rid of that one when he comes out as well.
All the kobolds cleared, Rifma says a small prayer for them. He remarks that it’s not that the kobolds did anything wrong, but they just had to take them out because they were in the way. The party proceeds into the cave.
Chapter 9: What Crawls in the Icebound Peaks – Part 2
Walking through the remains of the kobolds’ firewood, Gwynfor, Rifma and Sephy investigate the cave. Gwynfor accidentally steps into the kobolds’ pit trap, but climbs back out safely. On the other side of the cave, the party finds a passage covered by a curtain. Not sensing anything weird behind it, they proceed.
Behind the curtain is a giant chamber with a lot of cobwebs and a pile of humanoid bones. A kobold shaman stands in the middle, laughing and pulling a lever next to him. Hearing a loud sound above them, Rifma and Sephy scramble to the side. But Gwynfor doesn’t make it in time as a bone cage falls over him and traps him there. The giant spider Vixthra comes down from the ceiling and bares her fangs at the party.
Moving in for the kill, Vixthra immediately bites Rifma, hurting him badly and freaking him out. The kobold shaman laughs, hoping that he has caught Rifma instead of Gwynfor because he looks softer and tastier. He shoots his slingshot at Sephy and wounds him.
Sensing that his friends are in danger, Sephy puts all his strength into his magic spell, killing Vixthra in one hit. The wounded Sephy then rushes back to take shelter in the previous chamber. Seeing Sephy’s prowess, Rifma is now more afraid of a cat than a spider. Gwynfor tries to destroy his cage to no avail. The kobold shaman is aghast that his mistress has been killed, but decides to continue fighting.
Severely weakened, Rifma rushes behind the cage to take cover from the kobold shaman. He also tries to lift the cage up to free Gwynfor, but it’s too heavy for him. Gwynfor’s sword clangs against the bars again to no avail. The kobold shaman continue wounding him.
In a last ditch attempt, Rifma dances and praises the kobold shaman for his battle prowess. The kobold is hit by Rifma’s charm spell and ceases his attacks. Sephy returns to provide support, taking the kobold shaman out in one hit with a spell.
The battle over, Rifma releases Gwynfor with the lever. Everyone’s half-dead, but they have to look for the tiles. Investigating the pile of bones earns the party a lot of valuables. Eventually, they find the tiles stuck to the cave’s ceiling. A string of Vixthra’s web forms a bridge towards them from the ground. Rifma tells Sephy that they’ll reward him with premium cat food again if he gets the tiles. Since Rifma’s being nice, Sephy decides to help.
With a little difficulty, Sephy manages to climb up to the ceiling and claw at the tiles, knocking them down. Gwynfor and Rifma collect them. All the required tiles in hand, the party returns to Parabor.
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