My copy of the ToA adventure ‘Crypt of Kursana’ has dropped through the letter box a few days ago, so now is probably a good time to return to my ToA campaign, The Betrayal of the Dragon Queen.

I have been concentrating of my Beyond the Wall/Bay of Spirits adventure and it has been now over a month since the last session of ToA and I know if I leave things much longer I will forget what has happened up to now, or even worse, it will never get restarted.

I would love to incorporate Crypt of Kursaba into the campaign. I noticed that the four pre-gen characters in the back of the book are all third level so I may wait until Derowen, Hedrag, Morwen and Peran all reach third level before they venture into the Crypt.

Oracles.

For this session I am using the Bones dice. Unfortunately I don’t own a set, there is an online version but as I have hundreds of 6 sided dice I have converted some which do the job.

Also, I will use the deck of signs, there is a good online set which will suffice until I can get my hands on a physical set.

The Characters.

After a several week break from my four characters, this is my opportunity to refresh my memory of them. I also want to try and use the Hexploration rules, so each character takes on a Travel Role.

Derowen, female ranger 2nd level. 13xp

Derowen currently has 16hp. She has a riding horse and an Owl companion called Heckle. She is also the sister of Morwen the mage.
Travel Role: With a Perception of 15 and Wilderness Lore skill, Derowen acts as Forager for the companions.

Derowen has no magic items but does have a gem worth 20gp, as well as 54gp, 9sp and 3cp, which she found in an old abandoned outpost.

Derowen has dreams involving dragons and it is these dreams that lead her on the quest to find the lost Dragon City of Dierthama..

Morwen, female magic user 2nd level. 15xp

Morwen currently has 13hp (max 16hp) and is down to 1 reroll. She has a riding horse and has found an ornate dagger (non magical). She is the only one of the party that can use the mirror of dragons and then only for a very short period and with great difficulty.
As mentioned above, she is sister to Derowen.
Travel Role: With an Intelligence of 18. Morwen is well suited for the role of Guide.

Like her sister, she has dreams of Dragons but, possibly because of her attunement with magic, her dreams are much more vivid and real.

Peran, male rouge 2nd level. 15xp

Peran currently has 15hp (max 19hp). He has a riding horse and a fishing rod.
Travel Role: The rogue is well suited to moving stealthily ahead of the party acting as Scout.

Peran was asked to join the party by Derowen and Hedrag, both felt his skills would be invaluable.

Hedrag, male fighter 2nd level. 15xp

Hedrag has 13hp (max 16) and is down to 1 reroll. He has a horse and has been adopted by a dog called Scraps.
Travel Role: Although Hedrag is well suited to the role of support, the riding horses make this role unnecessary, so he simply acts in the default role of Look Out.

Hedrag found information about Dierthama, the lost city of the dragon queen and with Derowens help, hopes to find it, who knows what riches may be found there.

A quick update.

The companions are currently heading north from the city of Northgate, through the Wistwood, towards the city of Vorngard. They have in their possession a powerful magical artifact known as the mirror of dragons.

From Vorngard they plan to head west into the Sunstone Mountain Ranges in an attempt to locate the lost ancient city of dragons, known as Dierthama.

At the start of this adventure the characters acquired riding horses taken from members of a cult. Derowens owl companion, Heckle, has a habit of disappearing and Hedrags large shaggy white dog is blind in one eye and battle scarred.

Betrayal of the Dragon Queen.

Into Wistwood. Wednesday 11th Feb.

Weather. Hotter, Drier. Unseasonably warm for February. Snow melt is rapid and underfoot it is slippery and mushy.

The companions arrived at the logging outpost of Harwood Reach only to find its inhabitants massacred. They spend the night there and in the morning decide to leave. Finding their exit barred by Zombies and with neither magical nor cold iron weapons to fight them with, they retreat back through the outpost and circle around the outside thus avoiding the zombies.

Leaving the Zombies and outposts dead for someone else to deal with, the four companions make their way into the cold and austere forest of Wistwood.

Once they enter the forest the going gets a little easier as there is less snow covering the ground, and what there is has become very wet and mushy. Hedrag becomes irritated with Scraps the dog, whose paws are constantly getting balls and clumps of snow on them which constantly need removing to allow the poor dog to walk. Morwen suggests wrapping cloth around the dogs paws to prevent this but no one is willing to cut up any of their clothing or bedrolls to do this.

Question. Is there a travel event?,No, Fortune.
Read the Signs. Ruin. Exploring.

As the day draws to a close the companions head deeper into Wistwood. Peran, leaving his horse tethered to Hedrags mount, scouts ahead on foot. Unexpectedly he spots an old crumbling tower, its stones weathered and cracked.

Question. Is it possible to enter the tower? Double Yes.

Peran sneaks quietly up to the old tower. There are several entrances which Peran wants to check out before heading back to his companions. Hoping upon hope that the tower is not home to anything he listens at the entrances to see if he can hear any sounds inside.

Question. Does Peran hear anything inside? No, misfortune.
Using Read the Signs, I get ambush and Destructive. I decided to roll on the Forest Random Encounter table in ToA to see what happens to Peran and get Branch. A heavy deadwood branch falls from a tree, causing 1d10 damage. A dex check resists.

Because I picked ambush, I get Peran to make a Perc check to see if he notices the falling branch and has a chance to try and get out of the way. He needs 13 or less on d20 and rolls 5, success.

Peran’s Dex is 17 and I allow him +1 for his acrobatic skill which I think would allow him a better chance to leap our of the way, he needs to roll 18 or less to avoid the branch. d20 roll = 14.

Out of the corner of his eye, Peran notices a branch fall from a near tree, in the nick of time he manages to roll away from the door he is listening at and just avoids the deadwood branch which lands with a thud in the mushy ground.

Thanking the first god that came into his head, he decides to head back to his companions and tell them about the tower. He is fairly sure it is uninhabited and the falling deadwood branch was just a bit of bad luck, the tower should be a good place to spend the night.

I want to know if there is anything hiding out in the old tower so I draw two cards from Read the Sign deck and get two great cards. A Treant, Bloodroot and a Dragon on a pile of treasure. From the Treant card I use the verb ‘Playful’, and Dragon card, I use the verb ‘Searching’ and the dark sun, meaning Afternoon.

Having told his companions about the tower, Peran leads them the short distance to it. As they approach the old ruined tower, two hungry Bloodroot Treants step out of the woods, blocking their path to the old tower. Arms flailing, the two Treants walk ponderously towards the party, (one has 40hp, one has 29hp).

BLOODROOT TREANT #1d4 AC 17 HD 11
Batter (2) 3d6 Nat 19 Blunt Trauma (1d8+4) S22
D10 C20 I3 P13 W17 Ch4 L11. Fire causes double
damage. Reac 2-6 Hostile 7-10 Hungry 11-12 Sated.
Bloodroot Treants are 20′ tall, so they are not going to be in the tower, but attack the party outside.

Derowen is a ranger and I have her make a test to see if she knows what is coming towards them and how to deal with them. She has Wilderness Lore which may help, so she makes an INT (Wilderness Lore) check, needing 11 or less on d20 she rolls 5, a great success.

“Bloodroots”, exclaims Derowen, “fire is our only chance of driving them off, if you want a night in that tower, light a torch”.

The companions are not surprised and have time to ready themselves against their attackers. Derowen and Peran take a torch from their horses packs and light them with their tinderbox. Hedrag, ever up for a fight, draws his battle axe and tells his friends he will chop one up for firewood. Morwen takes a step back and, with a clear line of sight to the oncoming Treant’s, begins to cast a spell.

Morwen attempts to cast a Lightning bolt spell. INT(Arcane Lore) 18+1, needing 19 or less on d20 she rolls 15, success. She makes her DDM
She needs to roll 4 or greater to avoid a DDM effect, she rolls 5, success, but her DDM is now at 4.
The lightning Bold strikes one of the Treants causing 19hp damage and setting the tree on fire.

Morwen points at one of the Treants and utters some arcane words, a lightning bolt shoots from her fingers and strikes the wooden creature which bursts into flame, it flees the scene leaving only one remaining.

The second Treant continues to lumber towards the companions, Derowen, Hedrag and Peran and Scraps the dog run towards it but Morwen shouts and stops them. For a second time she utters strange arcane words as she starts to cast a spell.

Morwen attempts to cast a second Lightning bolt spell. INT(Arcane Lore) 18+1, needing 19 or less on d20 she rolls 7, a great success. She makes her DDM
She needs to roll 5 or greater to avoid a DDM effect, she rolls 5, success, but her DDM is now at 5.
The lightning Bold strikes one of the Treants causing 12hp damage and setting the second tree on fire.

Another bolt of lightning shoots from Morwens fingers, striking the second Treant. Like the first one, it to bursts into flame and flees, thrashing at itself in a futile attempt to douse the flames.

Darowen, Hedrag and Peran, congratulate Morwen who is exhausted from the effort of spell casting. Needing rest, they make their way up to the ruined tower, hoping for quiet shelter and a peaceful night.

Question. Is there room in the tower for the four horses? Fortune, Yes.

The entrance to the main room and the room itself is ample big enough to accommodate the companions, the dog and the four horses. Darowen commands Heckle the owl to stay outside and keep lookout, a command it seems to understand. “Wake us only if there is danger” Derowen tells it. Not wanting to be outdone by the owl, Scraps the dog stands guard at the entrance, asleep but alert like only dogs can be.

The companions fall into an uneasy and restless nights sleep. Morwen in particular finds it hard to sleep and when she does her dreams are filled with vivid and almost lifelike encounters with a dragon.

Morwen’s dreams are tainted with a shadow of impending conflict. She senses a looming threat. The emotional turmoil she feels from the dragon hints at the clash of destinies, of allies and adversaries converging on a pivotal moment. The dragon’s sorrow is mixed with the resolve to fight for their realm.

To be continued.