Varus' Journal: Entry #6: The Champion of Rao and the Deadly Shrubbery

Episode 6, The Champion of Rao and the Deadly Shrubbery
By: Stan Lingle

After a short rest and some bottled healing, we went to continue the fight. Eel Boy had returned and was waiting to rejoin us when we were briefed by the acting officer. He informed us that small raiding parties were still running around town. Wagons of loot and prisoners were disappearing into the forest and roads while the soldiers tried to re-establish order and rescue the prisoners. There was one other minor thing. The acting officer pulled out a piece of parchment. Mordak, champion and one of the major lieutenants of the Cult of The Five, had issued a challenge to the paladin.

I hold your townsfolk and your steed, paladin. I will kill them if you do not come and face me. On the King’s Road, Mordak awaits!

Basel was outraged. “The fiend! I must accept this challenge and protect Rao…and the townsfolk, of course!”

“We have no guarantee that this is not a trap and they will simply kill everyone once we show up!”

“It does not matter.”

We all remembered how hard it had been for all of us to fight just one of the half-dragons! Basel’s Oath of Devotion as a paladin might exact a heavy toll this day. But with hostages involved, there seemed to be few options. We quickly grabbed our gear and joined him, then headed towards the challenge site, which was in town. As we drew near, we could see the street and surrounding rooftops the were lined with the Cult of Five’s forces. There were numerous kobolds, and they were all armed with crossbows. There were also at least four or five green half-dragons scattered through the crowd! At the end of the next block, Rao was tied up with the carriage and was guarded by several kobolds.

Mordak, as it turned out, was a large blue half-dragon, clad in armor and brandishing a mighty two-handed axe. Blue half-dragons were even tougher than their green counterparts. As we approached, he seemed to grow even larger. The kobolds and half-dragons started chanting.

“Mordak, Mordak, Mordak!”

Varus cast, and voices of townspeople from the surrounding streets started their own chant, slowly growing louder, with cheers mixed in.

“Basel, Basel, Basel!”

“Face me in combat, paladin!” Mordak roared.

“Fiend of the town, I do not think you would fight you fairly!”

Mordak snorted in derision. “I do not need any tricks to defeat you, puny paladin. I will fight with honor. None of my soldiers will interrupt our battle, and I will return the hostages,” he grinned, “if you defeat me.” He laughed.

“I say it is you that shall feel my hammer this day, Mordak. You will not prevail!”

“I will crush your bones to dust!”

“Well then, come at me, brah!”

Mordak roared and blasted his lightning into the sky. He brandished his axe. The half-dragons and kobolds went crazy yelling and cheering.

It was obvious to us all that starting an all-out melee at this point would be ill-advised, and probably suicidal. It was certainly a death sentence to the captives, and we would have a hard time surviving that many foes at once. We would have to subtly support Basel and distract Mordak and his forces. Varus cast invisibility and headed down the street towards Rao. Tomeck checked out one of the buildings.

The monk scrambled up one of the buildings to the roof where some of the kobolds were watching.

“Looks like you guys have a good view. Mind if I join you?” The duel was starting, and the kobolds were too involved to notice. “Great duel, eh?” he slapped a kobold on the back, and just happened to knock him off the roof. The kobold did not move. The kobolds that noticed seemed amused.

Basel steeled himself, called upon Rao, and hoisted his javelin.

“Every step I take is a step closer to your doom!” shouted Mordak.

“Every step I take…I’ll be watching you!” countered Basel. Perhaps not his best taunt, a bit derivative, but hey, it’s Basel! We love him!

Basel chucked the javelin, but Mordak simply swatted it out of the air. The half-dragon closed and swung his might two-handed axe. Basel deftly blocked both strikes with his shield.

“Curse you, Mordak! You will not prevail!”

Basel tried to bash the half-dragon with his shield, but Mordak grabbed it instead, wrested it out of the paladin’s grasp, and threw it at him! Basel dodged, but his shield was now on the ground. He swung at Mordak, but his hammer hit naught but air. The half-dragon came in under Basel’s hammer swing and jammed the axe head in the paladin’s stomach. To his horror, the paladin felt like his armor melting and realized that the axe must be magical.

While everyone was distracted, Tomeck lit one of the buildings on fire. More on that later.

Basel rolled away from the axe and picked up his shield. He closed on Mordak and once again struck hard with his shield. This time he connected, and Mordak dropped the axe. Basel swung down so that Mordak had to dodge out of the way to avoid the hammer, and the follow through took him towards the axe. Mordak tried to bite him as he went by, but missed, and Basel grabbed the axe triumphantly. He tried to throw it towards his allies, but it slipped and bounced off Mordak! The half-dragon grabbed the axe and they exchanged several blows, but none connected as they wheeled in skilled combat.

Valentia ran up and laid her hand on Basel. “Feel better,” she whispered, as she healed some of his wounds.

Based on his success, the eel monk continued the kobold slapstick routine, clapped another kobold on the back and down into the street.

“You’re going to lose if you don’t hit,” someone noted helpfully for Basel. It must have motivated him, for he then set Mordak up beautifully, blocking the axe with his shield and slamming his hammer home.

Flidais fired her bow as a distraction to Mordak, but the shot drew the attention of the crowd. They booed; some of them muttered and pointed at her, and cranked their crossbows. Varus knew we had to keep our cool if we were going to succeed here, but could say nothing. Invisible, he had reached Rao and the kobolds holding him. He crawled under the carriage and started untying Rao. He was ready to cast a spell of sleep and knock out all the surrounding kobolds.

Unagi turned to another kobold. “Do you believe that? That was amazing!” But the kobold was not deceived by his ploy, and started to warn the others. Unagi lashed out almost faster than the eye could see and struck him several times. He fell off the roof, dead before he struck the ground. The other kobolds on that roof turned and look at the monk, who started yelling and shouting and jumping around like a crazy man. There was a very noticeable pause…and then the kobolds started hooting and cheering. They loved it, and soon the battle drew their attention again.

After the hammer strike, Basel timed it perfectly and landed a mighty shield bash that staggered Mordak.

“You cannot prevail, Mordak! I will not yield to you!” The half-dragon seemed intimidated for the first time, recognizing Basel as a worthy opponent.

“We will see!” He breathed lightning, catching Basel fully with the blast and seriously injuring him.

“Cuthbert will not stand for this!” The monk dashed down and healed the paladin. Valentia cast a minor illusion and created a duplicate of Basel, and Mordak believed the illusion was real. Of course, anyone would be distracted by two Basels. The paladin drank a healing potion and then flanked Mordak with his illusory double and smashed him with the hammer. Mordak struck one of the Basels, which turned out to be the illusion. The strike dissipated it, and Mordak’s second blow clanged against Basel’s shield.

Flidais snuck behind a building and then killed two kobolds on the roof. Everyone was distracted, because the druid had cast another minor illusion, this time a gold half dragon stood in the street. In addition, the building that Tomeck had ignited now blazed up. Unfortunately, it was the building that the monk was standing on. As the flames started to engulf the wooden roof, he tried to leap across to the next building. Unfortunately, he was stuck in slapstick mode, and unchacteristically missed the jump, slammed into the wall of the neighboring building, and then fell to the street. The kobolds fell about themselves laughing. This guy was hysterical!

Back on the street, Mordak, did not believe in the gold half-dragon.

“You are battered beyond repair, Mordak! You must yield.” Mordak was indeed worried at this point, but he did not yield.

Once again, Basel maneuvered into position to shield bash Mordak. The axe flew from his hands yet again. The half-dragons and kobolds were stunned.

“You have been disarmed twice. Now, will you fall to my hammer, or will you kneel?” growled Basel intimidatingly. The crowd leaned forward expectantly.

“Let my men leave, and I will be your prisoner,” Mordak said somberly. Everyone in the crowed was shocked. Varus was so surprised by the surrender that he forgot to concentrate on the crowd noise. Silence stunned the King’s Way before his comrades started cheering Basel’s victory.

“Basel has won in…mostly fair combat,” Mordak announced to his troops. “Obey me, and leave now with no trouble.” The half-dragons and kobolds left grudgingly, but did not fight. We released the prisoners, and Varus untied Rao and returned him to his friend. Basel claimed the two-handed axe and inspected it on the ride. It had dwarven runes and was obviously magical.

We started to bind Mordak, but he refused to be bound, and no one was eager to tackle that task. However, he did submit to being blindfolded, and we loaded him up into the carriage. Of course, the blindfold would mean nothing if Mordak were not honorable. On the ride back to the keep, Varus spoke with the half-dragon at length and found that he was quite honorable. Varus noted Mordak’s honor in battle, and appealed to the half-dragon to help us against this evil foe. He was very persuasive, and earned Mordak’s trust.

“We need to rescue the prisoners. Where is the dragon’s lair?”

“The Den of Sythren’daal.”

“Where is that?”

“In the woods, with the briars and brambles.”

“Ah, there are many briars and brambles out there, friend.”

“The closer you are to the den, the larger the brambles. Also, if you stumble across the temple, there is a shortcut.”

“How many half-dragons are there?”

“Of my kind? Maybe five.”

Tomeck interjected. “Come work for us! You don’t have to be an asshole anymore!”

Mordak laughed at that.

Varus continued. “Tell me, who is behind all of this?”

“Alabaster Doll, the scourge of the endless forest. He’s the one that’s orchestrating the whole thing.”

“Is that the man in the dragon mask? Are he and Sythren’daal the same?"

“I have seen him and the man in the dragon mask at the same time.”

We pulled up to the keep, and Varus thanked Mordak for the information. The guards muzzled the half-dragon and took him down to the cell.

Sir Klavin met us and Varus told him of the battle and Basel’s dramatic victory, and noting Mordak’s honor.

“Congratulations, Basel, that was well done! Thank you for rescuing the townsfolk. You’ve done more than enough. Get some rest!”

No one argued, and we made our way to get some food and some much-needed rest. At breakfast, Valentia has told us that she has discovered the key to the code of the map. Hopefully, that would help us through.

Before we left, Basel went down to speak with the prisoner.

“If we come out of this adventure alive, I will ask Sir Klavin to save your life.”

“I appreciate that, paladin.”

“Simply put, I need information. Does the dungeon have booby traps?”

“Oh, yes. Many. Good times.” Mordak chuckled.

“Are there illusions?”

“Ah, yes.”

“And what will we find there, at the end?”

“What you already must know, paladin. That the Cult of the Five will release Tiamat on this plane of existence within the Den of Sythren’daal, subjugating your world.”

“Is that what you truly want?”

“It does not matter what I want.”

“Well, thank you, Mordak.”

Basel pondered their conversation and headed outside and hugged his horse. He had paid for a grooming and haircut for Rao.

“I love you buddy. Sorry you were kidnapped.”

We piled into the carriage and headed into the forest where the brambles grew thick to the point where the carriage could not pass. We got out and searched for a passage, but there was none. Flidais nocked her bow and told Tomeck to light the arrow. When it caught fire, she shot it into the brambles. When they started burning, they started growing. Basel hacked at them with his axe, but had little effect. Even Tomeck’s spell of acid had no effect.

Basel went to the edge of the brambles and appealed to Rao. A pile of leaves and brush started rising! Varus and Flidais readied arrows and Basel readied his axe. A large mound composed of brush, brambles, tendrils, leaves, and other plant matter erupted and moved toward Tomeck. The bard and ranger fired their arrow into it, but it had no apparent effect.

The mound shot out two long, leafy tendrils at Tomeck and wrapped both around him. Before anyone could act, the mound dragged him in and engulfed him! Inside, it was a horrifying. Before he could resist, he was restrained by vines and blinded by leaves. Thorns jabbed into his flesh. Tendrils reached for his ears and mouth.

The druid rode up on her dog and whipped the mound with vine whip and dragged it towards her. Unagi used the opportunity to hit it several times. Tomeck tried to break free of the binding tendrils, and succeeded. He dashed away to drink a healing potion. Basel attacked, but missed and was struck by the flailing limbs. Flidais cast Hunter’s Mark on it and then used her sharpshooting skills, and Varus hit as well.

A second mound erupted from the growth near Flidais; it lashed and engulfed her.

Varus shouted, “What are these, druid? Have you seen them before?”

“I…I think so. They are called shambling mounds.”

“Yes, I can see why. What do you know of them?”

“They can’t see more than 60 feet away, and they grow if they are struck by lightning.”

“Great, that’s interesting. I have read of such creatures, but in the ancient tales, they did not seem so formidable.”

The monk unloaded on the first shambling mound with a volley of blows, and the druid cast a beam of moonlight that shone down and hurt it. Tomeck cast scorching ray and Basel axed the mound with Flidais inside. She tried to escape, but could not break out of the vines. Varus inspired her, but could not harm the shambling monstrosity. Flidais stabbed it from inside. It attacked the druid with its vines and bound her, spit out Flidais, and engulfed the druid. The other mound slammed the monk. The battle descended into a surreal nightmare fighting these creatures.

Valentia could not escape the mound and it crushed the life from her. She was dying. Tomeck cast twinned scorching rays and hit with three of them, but it did not seem to do a lot of damage. He would not give up, and cast a quickened spell of scorching rays and hit again. But the paladin, bard, ranger missed, which proved costly. The mound with the druid lashed out and critically injured the monk. It spit out the dying druid and engulfed the dying monk. The other mound promptly engulfed Basel.

Tomeck blasted it with magic missiles. Basel slashed out of the mound with his magic axe, blasted the healthier one with a Searing Smite, and drank a healing potion. With a final blow, Basel killed the first mound. Varus cast Dissonant Whispers on the one with monk, and it started moving away with the monk still inside as Tomeck and Flidais blasted it. Basel ran over and tried to pull the monk free, but could not, and was then struck down and engulfed. The monk and druid struggled to survive as Tomeck, Varus, and Flidais pounded it with magic and arrows.

Tomeck decided to throw the healing wand to the druid. He missed, and her the dog picked up the wand, and took it back to Tomeck. Tomeck ran over and healed the druid, but inside the mound, Basel couldn’t breath and everything was going dark.

Varus blasted it one more time, and it ejected Basel as it died. The bard used his remaining healing spells and healing wand to ensure everyone was back on their feet. We caught our breaths and assessed the situation. There was no point in pressing forward today. We were in no shape to attack the Den. These two animated plant creatures had kicked our butts, almost killing three of us. Time to rest up, heal up, and recover spells. We would camp in sight of the path, and if any of the cult’s forces came by, we could ambush them. In the morning, we would find our way into the Den.