Session Forty

The fortieth session of the Adventures of the Dragon Crag was on the 19th January 2023.

## Party Members Present

* Brandr Sigurdson
* Snorri Morgrimson
* Relnwe Adiath
* Professor Meino Osterhaus

## Synopsis

### Crystal Caverns

We found ourselves in a cave full of brittle crystals that shattered on contact and were slightly luminous. More importantly, we found ourselves without Aleksi. We called into the darkness of the cave, but there was no answer, so we shrugged and continued our exploration. We had to find a way out of the caves so that the Badlands Rangers could use the tunnels to safely move westwards. In the west, they would fight the beastman horde, but we would also finally find Nikolai. We returned first to the cravasse where Aleksi had fallen to retrieve Brandr's grappling hook.

### Fresh Air in a Lair

After retrieving Brandr's hook, we continued westwards and, after a long time of travelling through a tunnel, came at last into another cave. Here, there were many bones. THere was a strange horned skill that seemed like that of a small mammoth. This was perculiar for the dwarfs knew mammoths to only populate the northern regions of the Old World. There were some human bones (thankfully not Aleksi's) that looked to have been gnawed by significantly large jaws. All the bones were very old. This was clearly a disused lair of some beast, but that meant there was a way out. Indeed, we could smell fresh air.

### Sneaking in Ravines

We came out of the cave into a deep ravine- far above, we could see blue sky. Upahead, Snorri heard a crack and the sound of small rocks tumbling down a cliff come echoeing along the ravine. Rel went ahead to sneakily have a look. She was as silent as a mouse with a degree silence from Altdorf University. The ravine became shallower and shallower until it opened out. Rel saw a beastman camp with various types of beastman, both horned and unhorned. On top of a small cliff there was a brazier and a big pile of wood that looked like a beacon. Rel returned to the party and told us what she saw. We decided we could take them, so long as we made sure they didn't light the beacon.

### The Dual of the Fates

We took the beastmen by suprise, and Rel made it to the beacon. She sent the brazier down onto the head of a beastman. The creature swallowed the hot coals and died. Meanwhile, Brandr charged in, Snorri flanked round the side, and the Professor came foreward, keeping Brandr between himself and the beastmen. Soon Brandr was surrounded in a melee, and Rel jumped of the cliff to join the fray. The Professor made a shroud of darkness around Brandr and Snorri shouted for his cousin to get out of the way. Then, he threw a bomb into the darkness. The darkness disappeared revealing a scorch mark. The Professor then engaged the smallest of the beastmen in hand to hand combat. Having killed most of the beastmen, we heard a cry from the east - more, bigger beastmen had turned up. They charged in, trying to get to the beacon, but we stood fast. The largest beastman charged in, but was slain as Rel and Snorri attacked it from either side. Meanwhile, the professor continued to slog it out with the smallest beastman. This creature had no horns and had already snapped its bow due to its own stupidity. This truly was the dual of the fates. The wee beastyman then hit the Professor who screamed like a small droid. After the rest of us had dealt with the larger, significant beastmen, we formed a circle around the weeuns. The dual continued. Finally, with a meek groan, the Professor cut the arm of the tiny beastman, killing it.

### The Great Horde

After the last beastman was slain, we disassembled the beacon to make the passage safe for the rangers. There was a big wheel of chaos on the ground, so the Professor destroyed it. Then, we climbed the hill to look out over the plains. We were at the very edge of the Flatland Peaks and below us were great plains. Even as we looked, we saw great clouds of dust being churned up by hundred of hooves. We looked upon the great Beastman Horde galloping across the plains of the Badlands. Just then, a figure staggered out of the cave behind us.

ALEKSI!!!!!!!