Session 05

## Session 05 - October 12th, 2017 - "The Champion's Duel"

### The Champion’s Duel

The session began where it left off last, as the outer doors to the keep opened and the party slowly walked out behind Rachen, their chosen champion. The group walked down the hill and formed a loose half circle to complete the circle the kobolds made around their blue dragonborn champion. As a show of good faith for coming out to meet him in single combat, the dragonborn commanded the kobolds to release the three children and just hold the woman until the fight was concluded. The three children promptly ran back up the hill to the open keep doors and their waiting guard father, as their mother cried after them to run.

Feeling overconfident the champion gave Rachen the first hit free, which Rachen used to swing his two handed sword across his enemies chest. Unfortunately, he merely scratched a flesh wound through the armor of his opponent. After a slight wince, the dragonborn champion laughed and responded with a flurry of blows with his own greatsword, the first of which Rachen deflected. However, the second blow caught him unprepared and critically cut Rachen down to the ground clean. As soon as his body hit the dirt the rest of the party attacked.

Marcus responded quickest, and bounded to rescue the human woman. With his fast attack the guard kobold’s neck was snapped and he threw the woman over his shoulder, and began his dash up the hill. In moments Selwyn cast *Sleep* on four of the kobolds, Lachlan cast *Burning Hands* killing three others, arrows and bolts flew, and the champion attempted to cut down Cadmus, who barely avoided the onslaught. After just a few seconds the group knocked out the dragonborn, and it was not long until the rest of the kobolds either died or fled into the night. The party then dragged the unconscious champion’s body back into the keep.

Now at around four in the morning the raid was clearly coming to an end, but fires still burned throughout the town and a few small groups were still seen retreating among the shadows in the distance. The party brought the limp body of the dragonborn to the underground storeroom turned prison cell where their first captive still remained. Then they decided to go sleep off the pains of the long night and interrogate the prisoners in the new day. Lachlan and Thia took four hour shifts outside the cell while the others took their long rest, listening to hear if the prisoners spoke. Lachlan went first, and Thia promised she wouldn’t murder either during her shift before they got to speak with them.

### The Interrogation

As the group with the exception of Thia awoke during the next midday and gathered in the keep’s courtyard, they were approached by governor Nighthill. He lavished praise and thanks upon the party for all they did during the terrible night - many lives were saved due to their efforts. But of course he had more to ask of them, with few guards remaining and most able bodied citizens out extinguishing fires, finding survivors, and burying the dead, he had little resources. Regardless, he and Castellan Escobert needed answers, and it would be at least a tenday until proper reinforcements from Elturiel would be able to arrive, and if they waited that long the raider’s trail could be cold.

He asked them to stealthily follow the raiders trail, find their camp, and infiltrate if possible. Trying to learn what their plans are, who their leaders are, and what their next target was. While the governor offered the resources of the town, he could not offer any more bodies to help, but he could offer them the best possible compensation, at two hundred and fifty golden griffons each. The governor also stressed that recovering treasure is a very low priority. Rachen said he already had the mission to investigate this cult, and Cadmus said it was a clear chance to balance his debts. The rest of the party accepted the mission.

Next, the party descended to the makeshift prison and they were greeted with Thia's proud announcement that she had not killed either of the prisoners during her shift. The interrogation quickly descended into outright torture, and they focused on the blue dragonborn who boasted he was the greatest warrior of the ‘cell’ of the cult, that numbered in the hundreds. For all their efforts, not only did the champion confirm some of what their previously interrogated prisoner told them, but they learned a few new tidbits. They learned the dragon queen the raid was collecting treasure for was Tiamat, known as the five headed god of evil chromatic dragons.

They also learned that the rumored dragon eggs in their camp numbered three. Finally, they learned each cult cell was led by a ‘Wearer of Purple’, and that the ‘dragon lady’ the last prisoner spoke of (as the leader of the raiders) was of the black dragon lineage. At the end, the blue dragonborn was rewarded for his loose lips with his death. The group then exited to scour the keep’s armory and the town’s looted general store to resupply the best they could, and the session ended there as they made their preparations.

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