Dragon's Descendant

DM

* DM ChaosOS

Players

* Jawbreaker, Warforged Cleric Wizard
* Jerist Exeter Stammatis d'Orien, Human Sorcerer Wizard
* Moss, Warforged Muscle Wizard
* Torben, Dwarf Animal Wizard

Notable NPCs

* Alina Lorridan ir'Lyrris

## Introduction

ATTENTION WAYFINDERS!

Her ladyship Alina Lorridan ir'Lyrris has uncovered new depths to her family's Khyber Shard mines in the Seawall Mountains. Initial surveys show that these new depths hold untold riches guarded by the local kobolds. Local experts believe even darker dangers may lurk.

## Summary

Four Wayfinders piled into a private Orien cart to Zolanberg, paid for by their patron Alina Lorridan ir'Lyrris. Upon their arrival they were greeted and escorted to her office. Complimentary of their skills, she briefed them on the concern - a new opening in an older mine seemed to lead to a strange underground forest, and rather than risk gnomish lives, she chose to hire a veteran group of explorers. The Wayfinders accepted the mission and continued on for a more detailed briefing with Alina's cousin and chief of security, Jassian Lorridan Lyrris. Jassian provided an explanation of the mine's history plus a Sending Stone matched to one of his, for a daily update on the expedition.

The party's night in Zolanberg was a relaxing one filled with good food and posh accomodations. The trip to the breach was uneventful, made quicker by the elemental land cart rumbling across the mountainside terrain. The descent into the Red River mine led to a surprisingly narrow opening out into a ledge overlooking a primeval forest. The gnomes secured the area with defensive barricades and lowered the Wayfinders down.

The initial foray into the forest quickly discovered that no animals seemed to live in this otherwise verdant space, the eerie silence complementing the overwhelming darkness. The reason for this is the forest was filled with carnivorous plants, with the Wayfinders almost immediately having to fend off assassin vines.

The first major clue the Wayfinders stumbled across was a hulking, orc sized being falling to the ground in front of them, covered in iridescent blood-red flowers. Upon inspection, the flowers buzzed and attacked, swarming the party. After fending off the razor petals the party discovered it was no ordinary orc - it was a fruit in the shape of an orc, its flesh reminding Moss of plums.

The team chose to head to the heart of the forest, where the plum orc was also heading. The party encountered more plum orcs, each carrying Kobolds. After failing to sneak up on them, the plum orcs attacked in a mindless rage, although they were easily dispatched by Moss' sharpened glaive. The Kobold carcasses were being carried to an enormous tree, where lashing tentacles accepted the offerings from another group of plum orcs.

The Wayfinders strategically retreated and asked the gnomes for alchemical supplies. While returning home the party was attacked by strange plant creatures that reanimated whenever powerful magic was cast near them, which Jerist and Jawbreaker each accidentally triggered. Exhausted and drained from the day, the party rested well.

The following day involved executing the "destroy the tree" plan. Step one was to investigate the kobold lair and briefly invade it to create some corpses. Step two was to stuff the corpses with alchemical explosives then reanimate them. Step three, sneak the corpses near the tree, letting it eat the bodies before detonating them in an epic explosion. The plan worked almost flawlessly, with the wayfinder's skill and luck combining to an enormous blast of sound and light.

Underneath the tree, the Wayfinders found a horrific heart inscribed with prophetic meanings. Jerist and Torben recorded the words, but each Wayfinder received a mysterious vision of the future when they touched the heart. Jawbreaker chose to destroy it, but received minor psychic blowback.

The party returned home, having spent all of their magic executing the strategy. On the way back they were followed by mysterious entities swinging from the trees, but were not attacked. While resting they stocked up on noxious smoke bombs that could block passageways the kobolds were using for attacks.

The next day the party snuck into the kobold warren again. Torben and Moss' expert trapfinding skills helped avoid the worst, and the party found a small room full of kobolds crafting supplies. The Wayfinders struck without mercy, slaughtering every kobold down to the last one.

Their weapons slick with blood, the Wayfinders pressed on further through the warren. The next room was an enormous mine, where the kobolds were excavating a mysterious stone egg. Dozens of kobolds swarmed and harried the Wayfinders, using alchemical supplies to slow them and light Moss on fire. Jerist, in a flurry of fire, slew the kobolds controlling the annihilator, a mutated rust monster that disintegrated anything it touched with its antennae. Torben charged and slew the annihilator as a wildshaped bear.

Eventually though the barrage of spells and Moss' steel will prevailed, with Moss bulldozing his way to the fat, sorcerous, kobold leader and skewering him with his glaive. The kobolds fled at the Wayfinder's obvious victory, leaving the party to excavate the egg themselves and bring it to the gnomes - Moss' mighty strength straining as he pulled the egg along. The party was again tracked by the mysterious, gangly creatures, but was left alone to return victorious.

## Epilogue

*Jassian looks up from his clipboard to survey the scene where the Wayfinders had ripped the egg out of its resting place. Now, half a dozen gnomes weaved divinatory magic, while others surveiled the rest of the warren. Which one of these workers was betraying him and feeding information to the Trust? One of them had to be, he knew it. It was only a question of identifying them and feeding them the right misdirections. Every member of his team had plenty of time to examine the kobold corpses as they cleared them out of the complex. Jassian's own inspections gave him plenty of information on the chosen tactics of the Wayfinders. He had to admit, they had done an impressive job, totaling nearly three dozen kills without so much as a moral compunction. They would be useful again. In the meantime, he had a ~~badger~~ mole to catch*