Session 23 - The Crystal Dragon
The party takes up arms against the invading liquid, not sure what to do in their defense against a liquid. The dwarf moves to inspect the layer of black liquid, but sees no apparent threat, and goes to return to the party, Nithian lets loose with a blast of eldritch energy, and sends the liquid scattering and screeching at the party, it appears to be alive.
The liquid quickly rushes the party, and the party quickly realizes that it is highly acidic and it attempts to grasp at them with strands of sticky black ichor, as well as bashing them with black pseudopod-like appendages. Most melee attacks sends the liquid spraying all over, burning their skin and damaging their weapons and armor. After scattering three of the inky foes, two of them make it past the party and seep into the crevices between the impassable barrier of stalactites and stalagmites, leaving the party alone again in the blocked passage.
Godrin think she sees one of the stalactites move slightly, and the party begins to investigate. Cumnferneffle dons his gloves and begins punching at the stones, while Godrin attempts to push or rotate the stones. After a few seconds of the gnome throwing his paltry blows and bruising his own knuckles, a stony hand reaches out from the solid rock and attempts to swat him away. The stone he was hitting seems to morph into a spherical shape, but still appears as a natural formation, like a boulder - and it sprouts arms and legs made of broken stone.
The stone begins to vibrate the air around them, and emanates a low hum, the party tries to communicate with the stony creature, but the creature does not react. The hum becomes another noise altogether, but still the noise persists for two or three more rounds before changing to another noise, and so on. Mmar decides to record the noises on a scrap of paper he has with him, while Qumnferneffle attempts to play charades, and speaks a variety of colorful dialects with them. They also notice the creature play with the black oozes and seems to regard them as minor annoyances at worst, but something close to a pet at best. Some of them feel bad.
Eventually Mmar thinks hes uncovered a pattern in the noises, and the party puts their heads together to unlock its hidden meaning. 'Ah 'Er' 'Ou' 'Ee' 'Er' 'Oo' 'Ay' 'Er' 'Ih' 'Bu' 'Te' is what they recorded, and after some discussion they are able to guess at words - 'Ah and 'Er' form the word 'Are'. 'Ou' could be the word 'You'. 'Ee' and 'Er' could be 'here', and so on until they realize they are being asked a question - are they here to pay tribute? The party confirms for the creature, who is now joined by a second - and they ask in unison 'Who?' The party is really stumped by this one. They try giving the creatures the magic stone, but the creatures look disinterested and discard it mindlessly. Eventually they remember the name of the deity they are here to visit and respond 'Hissith'.
The creatures move from their positions blocking the path onward, and the party is allowed to pass. Behind their posts are many more stalagmites as well as some smaller stone with arms and legs - children perhaps? The child seems elated to have playmates and joins them in their stony games. The party meanwhile presses onward toward a larger cavern area further ahead, which reveals itself to a be treasure hoard of a dragon, with an enormous crystal dragon sculpture resting atop the pile.
The party is greeted by a disembodied voice - the voice of Hissith herself, the dragon queen of the winterspines. The party inquires as to who she is really and who she used to be and how she became to be in this cavern. The party learns that Hissith was once a powerful dragon, who would raid and pillage the winter villages of the winterspine slopes - she was a feared and respected force of destruction.
At the end of her tale, she explains how she came to be a statue, stating that one day a powerful wizard came to ask her for her most prized possession - the frost blade of Hissith, an ancient blade forged by giants, offered to her in exchange for exception from her reign of terror. It was her prized possession and the wizard was an arrogant fool to even ask. The dragon attempted to slay him instantly, but he escaped through magical means.
Months later, the wizard returned and snuck into her lair, using his magic to turn her to stone while she slumbered. She has remained still ever since, but the innate magic of a dragon is not so easily defeated. Her consciousness remained though she cannot move, and the magic in a dragon's body slowly turned it to a brilliant white crystal.
The party shares that they know this wizard, and reveals that he may be alive again after his banishment - bearing witness to his existence firsthand. Hissith is very unhappy to hear this, though apprehensive of the truth. When she learns the party is on a quest to stop him, she offers them anything they need to accomplish this task. Various magical items are offered to the party to bolster their strength in their fight against him.
Items gained:
Rod of mysterious learning
Bracers of Archery
Ancient Dwarven Plate mail
Bag of Beans
Cloak of growing and shrinking
Belt of dwarvenkind
Hissith mentions that she can get the party to within a short distance of Solomir's nearby lab, where she suspects he has used her blade for a nefarious purpose, but she believes it is still there.
They are offered an actual room in which to rest, furnished and quite comfortable, though dusty - the decor is dated but still defined as lavish. The party rests for the night.
The liquid quickly rushes the party, and the party quickly realizes that it is highly acidic and it attempts to grasp at them with strands of sticky black ichor, as well as bashing them with black pseudopod-like appendages. Most melee attacks sends the liquid spraying all over, burning their skin and damaging their weapons and armor. After scattering three of the inky foes, two of them make it past the party and seep into the crevices between the impassable barrier of stalactites and stalagmites, leaving the party alone again in the blocked passage.
Godrin think she sees one of the stalactites move slightly, and the party begins to investigate. Cumnferneffle dons his gloves and begins punching at the stones, while Godrin attempts to push or rotate the stones. After a few seconds of the gnome throwing his paltry blows and bruising his own knuckles, a stony hand reaches out from the solid rock and attempts to swat him away. The stone he was hitting seems to morph into a spherical shape, but still appears as a natural formation, like a boulder - and it sprouts arms and legs made of broken stone.
The stone begins to vibrate the air around them, and emanates a low hum, the party tries to communicate with the stony creature, but the creature does not react. The hum becomes another noise altogether, but still the noise persists for two or three more rounds before changing to another noise, and so on. Mmar decides to record the noises on a scrap of paper he has with him, while Qumnferneffle attempts to play charades, and speaks a variety of colorful dialects with them. They also notice the creature play with the black oozes and seems to regard them as minor annoyances at worst, but something close to a pet at best. Some of them feel bad.
Eventually Mmar thinks hes uncovered a pattern in the noises, and the party puts their heads together to unlock its hidden meaning. 'Ah 'Er' 'Ou' 'Ee' 'Er' 'Oo' 'Ay' 'Er' 'Ih' 'Bu' 'Te' is what they recorded, and after some discussion they are able to guess at words - 'Ah and 'Er' form the word 'Are'. 'Ou' could be the word 'You'. 'Ee' and 'Er' could be 'here', and so on until they realize they are being asked a question - are they here to pay tribute? The party confirms for the creature, who is now joined by a second - and they ask in unison 'Who?' The party is really stumped by this one. They try giving the creatures the magic stone, but the creatures look disinterested and discard it mindlessly. Eventually they remember the name of the deity they are here to visit and respond 'Hissith'.
The creatures move from their positions blocking the path onward, and the party is allowed to pass. Behind their posts are many more stalagmites as well as some smaller stone with arms and legs - children perhaps? The child seems elated to have playmates and joins them in their stony games. The party meanwhile presses onward toward a larger cavern area further ahead, which reveals itself to a be treasure hoard of a dragon, with an enormous crystal dragon sculpture resting atop the pile.
The party is greeted by a disembodied voice - the voice of Hissith herself, the dragon queen of the winterspines. The party inquires as to who she is really and who she used to be and how she became to be in this cavern. The party learns that Hissith was once a powerful dragon, who would raid and pillage the winter villages of the winterspine slopes - she was a feared and respected force of destruction.
At the end of her tale, she explains how she came to be a statue, stating that one day a powerful wizard came to ask her for her most prized possession - the frost blade of Hissith, an ancient blade forged by giants, offered to her in exchange for exception from her reign of terror. It was her prized possession and the wizard was an arrogant fool to even ask. The dragon attempted to slay him instantly, but he escaped through magical means.
Months later, the wizard returned and snuck into her lair, using his magic to turn her to stone while she slumbered. She has remained still ever since, but the innate magic of a dragon is not so easily defeated. Her consciousness remained though she cannot move, and the magic in a dragon's body slowly turned it to a brilliant white crystal.
The party shares that they know this wizard, and reveals that he may be alive again after his banishment - bearing witness to his existence firsthand. Hissith is very unhappy to hear this, though apprehensive of the truth. When she learns the party is on a quest to stop him, she offers them anything they need to accomplish this task. Various magical items are offered to the party to bolster their strength in their fight against him.
Items gained:
Rod of mysterious learning
Bracers of Archery
Ancient Dwarven Plate mail
Bag of Beans
Cloak of growing and shrinking
Belt of dwarvenkind
Hissith mentions that she can get the party to within a short distance of Solomir's nearby lab, where she suspects he has used her blade for a nefarious purpose, but she believes it is still there.
They are offered an actual room in which to rest, furnished and quite comfortable, though dusty - the decor is dated but still defined as lavish. The party rests for the night.
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