Farraginous Cogitations

The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford Session 1 Recap

Spoilers for "The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford" are included in this recap...

Our Heroes:

Our heroes, relaxing in their favorite tavern, overhear another adventuring party talking about a dragon attacking the people of Brandonsford. Knowing that where there's a dragon, there's bound to be a dragonload of treasure, make their way to the quiet little town at the edge of the wildenerness.

The party chooses the obviously cleaner and more upscale 'Clumsy Fox Tavern' and speak with the halfling owner, Bentley. The tavern is filled with many townspeople as well as the members of another adventuring party. Lady Hilda, Malzazerick the Magnificent, "Drop Dead" Ned, and Squints the Halfling. They chat with the amiable Bentley and overhear rumors of a witch so wicked, she can turn anyone into a shrub just by looking at them! They also learn that the townsfolk in general don't particularly like the faerie folk in the surrounding woods. What's more, even some prominent townspeople think halflings are related to the faerie and aren't liked as a result. Bentley specifically relates how Quinn, owner of the competing tavern 'The Golden Egg', has accused Bentley of being the culprit in an nightly theft of ale. The other adventuring party tries to warn our heroes off the dragon. An earlier group of dragon hunters all perished while tracking the beast. Only George the Hunter, gravely wounded, returned.

The party then visit Quinn to ask further questions. Quinn readily yet angrily confirms that he holds Bentley as the guilty party and that he has employed George the Hunter to stand guard to try and catch the thief red-handed. Our heroes offer to take a turn guarding the cellar that night. Quinn agrees and offers them 100g if they can either catch or identify the thief.

With considerable day left, they visit Warwick the Smith to further outfit themselves. They discover Warwick has little in stock because he has all but run out of raw materials with which to work his trade. He relates that a group of dwarfs working a mine in the mountains to the north of town would make routine trips to sell him the output of their mine. He hasn't seen them in over a month. Warwick thinks he has somehow fallen foul of the faerie folk in the woods. He thinks this is why the dwarfs no longer visit. More alarmingly to Warwick, he receives a nightly visit from a mysterious, hooded faerie that stares at him through his bedroom window and leaves 'talismans' on his door. He keeps several good luck charms spread around his smithy to prevent the faerie from entering and doing him harm. He has appealed to Father William the Priest for assistance but seems to have received little comfort from this. He provides the party with the most recent 'talisman' left on his door. This 'talisman' is quickly revealed to be nothing more than a letter from a secret admirer. When informed of this, Warwick expresses only confusion and doubt.

The party then speak with Father William in the temple who turns out to be hostile to all faerie folk, of which he considers halflings to be more than just related. Further he harshly accuses the town alchemist, Ingrid, of being a pagan and a member of a coven with the witch to the east of town and says the dragon is likely nothing but a cunning phantasm created by the pair working with their faerie allies.

The party next visits Ingrid to both follow up on this information and to potentially acquire consumables that will help them stay alert during their overnight vigil in the Golden Egg Tavern cellar. They buy some Witch Powder and Mandrake Root Tea. Gump cagily asks Ingrid to write down instructions to properly brew the tea. As she is doing so, she inquires after the well being of Warwick. This query along with her handwritten tea brewing instructions, compared against the letter left of Warwick's smithy door, make it obvious to the party that Warwick is the object of Ingrid's affection rather than faerie antagonism.

With supplies in hand, the group stops back at "The Clumsy Fox" for a hearty dinner where they hear additional claims that the dragon is an illusion and that Ingrid the Alchemist cavorts with the witch to the east. They return to the Golden Egg where Quinn provides them a key to the cellar. The group devises a plan where one member (Gunther) will stay awake and upstairs to watch. Gump and and Akshara will be in the locked cellar, which Gump staying awake and Akshara sleeping. They crush some chalk and sprinkle the dust on the steps down from the cellar door. Gunther lays out his twine bauble to around the remaining filled kegs and says "Faeries". This establishes a ring of protection no creature of that type can cross.

At midnight, Gunther witnesses the tavern door open slightly, as if disturbed by wind. He neither sees nor hears anything for a bit. Then, from near the locked cellar door, he hears a faint voice utter "Bivrip Sola". The locked cellar door opens and immediately closes again, soundlessly. Gunther leaps into action, ripping open the cellar door, charging down the cellar stairs and shouting "the thief is here!". Akshara wakes to Gunther's alarm and seeing small footprints in the chalk dust on the floor, throws a handful of chalk dust in that direction. The dust lands on what appears to be a small humanoid frame. Gunther makes a desperate grab and manages to seize the creature. The instant Gunther's hands latch on, the perpetrator pops into a view. A small faerie called a "Clurichaun" is held firm in Gunther's hands. Outraged, he immediately demands to be freed and offers the party his pot of gold if they comply. The party debate whether they can believe this faerie creature. After being dubious that they could believe any such offer of a pot of gold, the clurichaun suggests they ask him questions they know the veracity of. Though they are both tempted by the gold yet untrusting any offer would be truthful, they decide to let him go after they realize they're more interested in proving to Quinn that Bentley ISN'T the thief. Akshara goes to get Quinn. Meanwhile, Gunther releases his hold on the clurichaun. The faerie promptly casts an illusion showing that his gold is hidden in the ruins of an old ruined temple north of town. He then immediately disappears from view and Akshara, Quinn and a couple of the nightwatch quickly descend into the cellar. Quinn's triumph quickly turns to shock and then anger as he is told that the creature got away and that Bentley is in no way involved. Though upset, he fulfills the bargain by giving the party 100g followed quickly by a hostile, "Get out!".

The party return to The Clumsy Fox where Bentley sleepily lets them in. He seems relieved to no longer be a suspect in his competitors misfortune and amused that they accepted a pot of gold when they could've extracted his truename which is of greater value. The party spends a brief but restful night thanks in no small part to the restorative powers of the Mandrake Root Tea from Ingrid. That morning, they visit briefly with George the Hunter and learn about the last failed attempt to deal with the dragon which he was the only survivor. He gives a vivid recounting of the sudden and shocking attack. How none of their weapons seemed to be able to damage the dragon's scales. Of his grievous wounding by the beast biting his arm and shaking with such force that his arm was torn off and he was thrown into the nearby stream. Though traumatic, his being thrown in the stream and being subsequently carried back to Brandonsford is the only reason he survived. He warns the party to stay away from the dragon.

The party then visit Farmer Gill who claims that the dragon is of no concern any longer as he himself has driven it off and that his sons were, at that moment chasing it to it's lair to finish it. He thinks himself quite the hero. So much so that he even thinks himself the equal to Sir Brandon, the hero the town is named for who slew a dragon hundreds of years ago. Farmer Gill is quite certain that, as reward for his valor, he will be buried next to Sir Brandon in the same barrow.

This ends Session 1. More to come next week...