A Favor in Kind

"A Favor in Kind" is the 29th session of Campaign 2.0.
== Summary ==
* We approach the entrance to the cave, readying ourselves for the ultimate standoff... When Sulelia announces that Bryna has something to tell everyone.
* Bryna strains to admit that everything she’d told the party about Runya up until this point has been a total load of baloney. Bryna tries to dance around the exact nature of what she had done to Runya, but Gareth furiously demands a straight answer out of her.
* Well... long time ago... thinking herself the only one capable of producing the technology, Bryna learned of a certain miss Runya Altec - a girl new to the Augury who was busying herself with the creation of firearms. In a fit of jealousy, Bryna planted evidence of demon worship on her and had her expelled from the Augury. She laments that she even wishes there were a better reason for it all... But the unfortunate truth of the matter is that Bryna’s kinda just a crazy, spiteful bitch.
* The rest of the party is, y’know, rightfully appalled by this revelation. Gareth in particular is seething. Bryna and Sulelia insist on trying to compromise instead of marching in guns ablaze, but Gareth won’t have it. Bryna’s going to suffer for her wrongdoings. If Runya’s up to shady biz, he’s going to lop her head off, end of story.
* AND SO WE MARCH ONWARDS INTO THE CAVE. As we descend deeper, we learn that this whole cave system houses the remains of an ancient dwarven civilization.
* After a lot of fumbling around through dark tunnels and almost falling into a pool of lava and dying a horrible, fiery death... We come face to face with Runya and her cohorts. They’ve kinda been expecting us, they don’t have blades drawn or anything. Just waiting.
* Runya and Malveria approach Sulelia. Runya looks up to her and breathes a deep sigh. She wants to talk to her... and Bryna.
* Bryna hands Runya her own pistol pack. Runya eyes her with a hint of resentment and anger, but takes it. Bryna says she’s so, so sorry. Runya can’t exactly look past the fact that Bryna ruined her life, but regardless she seems to accept the apology. 
* Sulelia and Bryna shuffle forward and are led into a small side room where the four of them can talk privately. The remaining party hangs out outside with Runya’s other homies; a female half-elf wizard, twin tiefling brothers, and a giant hulking warforged fighter.
* They all take turns explaining who they are and how they got dragged into this. Yuan’Da’Nal, the half-elf, is one of Runya’s closest friends and has been studying dragons her whole life. The tiefling are Halak and Amal - the former an orange rogue and the latter a red cleric. The twins and Dorj, the warforged, are just hired mercenaries.
* Although their interactions are a bit tense at first, the two parties kinda come to terms with the fact that they’ve just been strung along by some broad without even knowing the full picture. Seems they all have a lot more in common than they’d initially thought.
* Smash cut to Bryna, Sulelia, Runya, and Malveria. Runya rolls up her sleeves to reveal this big ol’ giant, nasty ass rash-like scar running all along her arms and neck. She explains that her asshole father had made a deal with some entity that would ensure his lifelong success, but the caveat was that his firstborn daughter would progressively grow more and more ugly as she grew older. Runya was subjected to this curse as a result of her father’s selfishness.
* Malveria was sought out by Runya because of her expertise with things curse-related. Since then, Malveria’s been stuck for the ride.
* Runya brought her party here to this cave to investigate a potential lead on one of the components necessary for the curse’s cure: vials of dragons blood. While searching around for it, her party came across a mysterious, gray-skinned humanoid man... And he was completely beat to shit when they found him. He tells them he knows where the dragon’s blood is located, but they’ll have to help him first in exchange for that information.
* They nurse him back to health, but he demands more. He seeks an ancient magical artifact that’s housed in the Augury’s magical item vault, and so Runya’s party went out of their way to break in and retrieve it.
* After acquiring the item, Yuan’Da’Nal kept it safe inside of a pocket dimension spell. They won’t give up the magic artifact until the gray dude spills the beans, and up until this point he still hasn’t - and keeps demanding more be done for him!
* Well... that’s all fine and dandy, but Bryna reveals that her, Sulelia and Thomal personally know a dragon who might be willing to sacrifice a little blood. Runya and Malveria gape at that. After all, it seems like an infinitely better option, right...? But they can’t just leave the scary gray dude here, especially after everything they’d promised him. 
* Bryna suggests they just kill the guy. And at that very moment, uh oh. He appears right fucking behind her. He’s a scary, bald gray dude with all of his left limbs replaced with prosthetics. Runya and Malveria are completely aghast by his sudden appearance.
* He introduces himself as Zim, and asks Runya to introduce him to her new friends! He leads the girls outside to meet with the rest of the party. Much to Yuan’Da’Nal’s horror, Zim is able to summon the magical artifact right into his hands, and activates it...
* ...Turning into a massive, half-cybernetic black dragon with a skeleton head - and inside Zim’s chest plate sits the Birthstone! 
* "THE ONLY BLOOD YOU’LL FIND HERE,” he bellows, “IS YOURS!” and we roll for initiative.