Last session, the group achieved one of their main goals: they met with Boccob (who turned out to be the son of the original Boccob), a figure who explained that without the original Boccob, the world was directionless, and that he could not repair the rift himself. Learning that the original Boccob controlled the universe via music, Lethanin stepped in to play the Song and repair the barrier. Aurora helped to clarify the Song and then recorded a version of it on a crystal so that any future adventurers wouldn't struggle as much with the process. The rift repaired, they returned to Aurix's headquarters, where ABC revealed to Aurora that she was the child of rich Daltoners, asking Aurora to destroy Pelor's Mercy, a brutal work camp--Lethanin and Brokk agreed to help. The group questioned whether dragons should exist at all. Aurix and Niela agreed to spy on Thomas (Aurix from afar and Niela up close). As the session closed out, the group teleported away to the peaks of the Kallett Mountains to seek the sound dragon title which they learned about from Boccob.
This time, the group began to explore a small plateau atop the highest peak of the Kallett Mountains, trying to find whatever they had learned was here. Aurora cast a spell that guided the group to an outcropping of stones pillars--one granite, one slate, one obsidian, one shale, and several others. On the obsidian pillar was an inscription in draconic; after a failed spell, Aurora managed to translate the inscription:
The being of supreme sound is eternal
As eternal as all beings of the supreme
The being transcends life and death
A mantle for this world and beyond
The being is the mantle
The mantle is a name
Speak the mantle, speak the name, and eternal is present
O dragon of sound, your mortal name, be one and the same.
Suspecting that they needed to know the sound dragon's titular name, Aurora messaged Aurix to ask the term "sound" in draconic, and Aurix replied that it was Xythanir. Lethanin spoke this name, and the runes that read "O dragon of sound" glowed with an eerie light. Lethanin then spoke his own name, and the runes that read "your mortal name" glowed with the same light. Brokk, Lethanin, and Aurora all sensed deep within themselves that magical energy seemed to want to leave them. Aurora asked Lethanin if he really wanted to become a dragon, and Lethanin said that he didn't really know what he wanted. This caused Brokk to slow all the way down, saying that they weren't making huge effort to protect free will only to force Lethanin into something he didn't want. Before they could debate further, Lethanin heard a twig snap in the clearing beyond the rocks; Brokk looked in that direction and spotted a well-outfitted orcish woman with twin mountain lions at her side.
Brokk made conversation with the woman. At first, she identified herself as Regg, a detective who patrols the Kallett Mountains, and she asked what interest the group had in the inscription on the stones. Brokk feigned ignorance, claiming that they were actually just out for a hike. Regg continued on in a friendly manner, making small talk and insisting that the inscription was just a poem, admitting she could read draconic. Eventually, Regg stopped playing nice and accused Aurora of murder aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald, Aurora's old ship. Regg said she planned to bring Aurora back to Pelor's Mercy, where she had been hired to find Aurora. Aurora immediately cast a spell that disintegrated both of the mountain lions, which enraged Regg; she transformed into a massive white dragon, and combat began.
Out of game, I didn't really plan for Regg to show up this session. The group was struggling with the inscription, and I thought a little interruption would be a good way to help them reset when they returned to the inscription, so I thought someone showing up would be a fun moment. The question of who showed up was determined by the context; who was powerful enough to climb the mountain quickly? A dragon. Whose territory was it? Regg's. Why would she be there? She's a detective who serves the Pelor's Mercy area, so she's seeking Aurora. This was an entirely improvised choice with big consequences, and I made it quickly but not lightly. Any DM has to accept that throwing an NPC into a scene with the player characters might end with the death of that NPC, so I proceeded with that in mind.
Regg began combat by breathing a cone of both fire and ice which the group was able to minimize the damage of. Lethanin played a song that allowed him to teleport to a space behind Regg and with cover. Brokk cast the spell Fly and shot up and towards Regg, attacking her fiercely with a battleaxe. Aurora cast a spell that forced Regg back into her orcish form and drained her of some of her health, and Brokk slashed at her as she fell from the sky. Regg struggled to her feet and whistled, taking a defensive stance. Lethanin played a song that deafened and disoriented Regg. Brokk allowed himself to fall from the air, using the momentum to strike Regg four brutal times with his battleaxe. Aurora drained more of Regg's health and projected an illusion of metallic dragons (she intended Hriskin, but her spell depicted Jarvia). The earth shook, and Regg mockingly told Brokk to watch his step, taking a step back for another defensive stance. Lethanin played the bagpipes, landing on a frequency that shattered both of Regg's femurs, forcing her to the ground again. Brokk took advantage of the situation and slashed at Regg four more times. Aurora continued the illusion and the draining of health, and Regg muttered that she now saw both Hriskin and Jarvia, unnerving her. From the rumbling ground, a bulette which seemed to have been trained by Regg sprung from the ground, scooping up Regg and attacking Brokk, though Brokk managed to avoid damage with a counterstrike. Lethanin played another song which vibrated at a frequency that shattered half the bulette's armor, and both Brokk and Regg took damage from the explosive debris. Brokk made himself appear ghastly to Regg, unnerving her and slashing the bulette for heavy damage. Aurora cast a spell that halted just above Regg, who asked to work things out, and Aurora forced the spell further, finishing Regg off. In vengeful fury, the bulette charged Aurora, but Brokk was able to kill the bulette with a burst of Eldritch Blast before the creature reached Aurora.
Out of game, I want to acknowledge that I didn't really anticipate how handily the party would kill Regg and her creatures. You may note in the combat description above that Regg chooses to take no aggressive action at a few points. I reasoned that she would be overly confident and not necessarily take the party as a threat until it was too late. I also didn't want a party wipe on my hands, and so I erred on the side of Regg being a little slow to go for the throat. I want to point out that this was also just from lack of knowing what to anticipate, and for several reasons.
1. I've never run combat with three 16th-level characters and a 35th-level character. That's a very high-powered combat, and it takes practice to know how to pace a boss fight at every level to do it right. Now I have that experience, so I know to push harder.
2. One 16th-level character is a big threat in combat, and three are far more considerable. I hadn't seen this group fight since they levelled up (which was only at the beginning of this session), so I didn't realize how much of a threat they all posed together. And last session, they were only level 13 (I thought 3 levels for rewriting the universe was fair), so I didn't have a good projection of what they'd be like now. But I know now, and I can calibrate.
3. I've never battle-tested a dragon in my world before. I didn't have enough of an understanding of what Regg was capable of to make the most use of her. How does a massively powerful Ranger-Druid fight? Well, I've never gotten to play a Ranger or a Druid before, let alone high-level ones, so I needed to refer to Regg's abilities more. But I know that now, and now I can study the other dragons' abilities more closely before they encounter another.
So was this a mistake? I'd say no. All throughout this campaign, the party has been underestimated. The dragons and gods have regarded them as important due to the prophecy, but not necessarily powerful enough to think about much. But 3 level-16s together have the combined threat as a level 48 character, and 48 vs. 35 is a pretty big mismatch. The players always had the advantage. So let's address it narratively. Regg is the first dragon to face off against the party, and like others, she underestimated the group. Their greater power (especially after the collective nine levels they gained at the session's start) overwhelmed Regg, and what are the outcomes? The white dragon is dead. That means the chromatic dragons are weaker. It also won't go unnoticed. Regg was close friends with the green dragon, who's going to notice that their best friend is missing (or even magically know that she's dead). So the party killed the white dragon, the dragons will soon know about this, and now the millennia-long cold war is over. I would argue that that's a really compelling outcome, and I'm happy with it.
In the final stretch of our session, Brokk began to wordlessly chop down trees from the little thickets on the plateau. Aurora stood over Regg, saying that she'd only return to Pelor's Mercy on her own terms. Lethanin suddenly caught a refrain of the Song coming from the obsidian stone. He experimented with words and phrases, playing the Song on his violin, and when he said, "Xythanir, Lethanin, be one and the same," a multi-colored force shot from the stone into Lethanin. He could innately sense that he had gained the powers of the sound dragon. Brokk finished chopping down trees and built a small funeral pyre for Regg with a purpose and deliberation that came from many funerals, shedding a few tears for the loss of life. Aurora refused to say anything over Regg, and Lethanin breathed a mixture of sonic energy and fire onto the pyre, giving Regg her final rites. Brokk comforted Aurora, letting her know that she did the right thing.
And that's where we ended. I had come into this session assuming we'd have several large moments come up and accomplish some important goals that stretched toward the long term. I was wrong. We were on the plateau the whole time, and everything was either focused on the sound dragon title or Regg. I think that my expectation for a lot of big moments may come true next session, but I was certainly wrong for this session. Of course, knowing that they can slay a dragon with little issue may change how the group plans their next steps. They seem disinterested in using power over anyone, but with Lethanin a dragon now, that could be different. It's impossible to know until next time.
That's all for now. Until next time!
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