Session 22

* A large field across the river from the city proper.
* A shelter where people are gathered during the Dragon Attack.
* A minor militia guardhouse/barracks.
* An ancient city armoury that's fallen into disuse.
* The Shop That Isn't There (a mysterious store selling arcane supplies and it's equally mysterious proprieter, of no fixed abode)
* The Riverside Docks

The Flametail River

Blackwing Swamp

* A mysterious, dilapidated tower seen through the mists

Redbridge

### NPCs:

* Zorsha the Resplendent (former head of the Great Travelling Show, revealed to be a shape-changed dragon in disguise)
* An Elderly Member of the Dawnsmoor Militia referred to simply as 'Old-Timer'.
* Dafed and Danel (a pair of oddly well-informed militia men)
* The mysterious proprietor of a shop selling powerful arcane sundries. Has little concern with matters that do not directly affect her.
* Members of Dragon's Heart.

**Previously...**

## And Now...

After exhausting the search of Zorsha’s tent, they leave to look for the lost Runic shard on top of the hill. When they get there they find it’s missing, but a trail of footprints leads away. Following the footprints, they find a sheer drop, at the bottom of which is one of Zorsha’s lieutenants with an injured leg. He is clutching the shard. There is a little back and forth, but the shard is taken from him, and he’s allowed to wander away by himself. Gar is able to identify the shard as a Shape change Shard and is able to confirm Zorsha was using it to give her a human appearance.

The sun starts coming up and the Dragon is still actively burning the city. The alarm signal bells in Dawnsmoor change to a ‘rallying’ call. They decide to make their way into the town and see what they can do. When they enter, they see the city folk are trying to organize. Militias are trying to combat the dragon (although they keep succumbing to dragon-fear) and citizens are forming lines to put out fires. Someone has overheard a rumour going around that Dragon's Heart is on their way, and the prospect of such well-known heroes coming to the city's aid has bolstered morale. However, until then, the Party has to do whatever they can.

* Dandy rescues people from burning buildings,
* Goldie escorts children to safety,
* Tivram keeps up the morale of people gathering in a shelter,
* Arik takes command of a militia group.

They question some of the guards about the possibility of there being any Ballistae or other large anti-dragon weapons. The city is unwalled and not used to direct assaults, so mostly they don’t have these defenses but one, extremely old guard remembers seeing a VERY old Ballista gathering dust in an armoury basement. The group, escorted by guards and several citizens, make their way to the armory, doing what they can to help others along the way. When they get there they see the Ballista is in bad shape, but not something a skilled Engineer couldn’t fix.

Everyone combines their efforts to muscle it up to the top of the armory. Together, Gar and the Old man see what they can do to get it going, while the others, looking at the Ballista and thinking, "That first shot has to count because we're NOT getting a second!" consider their options. Dandy remembers some of the old tales of fighting Dragons, recalling a weak point, just below the collar-bone where the neck meets the breast - and a particular poison effective against them, Drakesbane. Goldie knows how to make Drakesbane, but is missing one major component, Firewater.

The same pair of oddly knowledgeable guards ‘Dafed and Danel’ know a place in the city to buy magical items and components and take Arik and Dandy there, while Goldie starts brewing the Drakesbane.

When they get there, it’s just a plain door in a plain building with no markings, but the door is locked. Finding no physical way inside, Arik uses a spell to get Dandy inside. The old lady who runs the shop is somewhat irritated by this. She'd shut everything down in preparation of leaving and taking her store elsewhere and Dandy's arrival has interrupted that. Dandy explains that they need to save the city, but the old woman is unimpressed as, she claims, she won't be here in a few minutes and doesn't want to delay any longer than they have to. She sells her Firewater (for an extremely marked up price) and shows off some of the dragon items she has in stock - a Cloak, a dagger, a lance, a shield and a huge horn, all at extremely high prices. Dandy exchanges her supply of Dragon-bone dust and some silver for the Dragon Cloak.

At the conclusion of this transaction, Dandy finds herself on the street just outside. The door vanishes and, when Arik and the two guards peer in, the building is nothing more than an empty shell. They promptly return to Goldie who finishes the poison, but it only has a shelf-life of one hour. They manage to get everything ready and are preparing to attack the Dragon when the cheers of nearby citizens let them know Dragon's Heart have arrived.

Not wanting a confrontation, the characters all leave hastily, leaving instructions with the guards they can pass onto Dragon's Heart on the Ballista and the Drakesbane. Making their way to the docks, they jump aboard a boat and join a refugee flotilla, sailing upriver away from the burning city.As they push off from the dock, a drunk man emerges from the bottom telling them to get off his mate's boat, He is ignored.

Once they get far enough away that the city is just a silhouette, they see the dragon tumble from the skyline, presumably killed or badly injured. They continue traveling upriver. The trip takes a day, but they decide not to sail through Blackwing swamp at night, for fear of getting grounded. Their sleeps are disturbed by strange dreams, Dandy relieves the vision of her missing father.

In the morning, the journey continues uneventfully. They spy a distant keep in the swamp; an old one that seems to have work being done on it. Before noon the party arrives at Redbridge, the less-then-reputable town that lies directly out the gates of Tamalir.

### Continued in Session 23...

*10xp*

*(300xp Total)*