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Adrian barters with '''Kyar'''' for information on how to turn the transformed children back into their normal selves, '''Dave''' talks to a strange pointy-toothed man in a two-way mirror, '''Ashe''' gets nearly killed after being flung off a balcony, and '''Merys''' gets turned into a [[Goblin]] after drinking from a fountain… |
Adrian barters with '''Kyar'''' for information on how to turn the transformed children back into their normal selves, '''Dave''' talks to a strange pointy-toothed man in a two-way mirror, '''Ashe''' gets nearly killed after being flung off a balcony, and '''Merys''' gets turned into a [[Goblin]] after drinking from a fountain… |
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With the [[Bugbear]] defeated, the team was left with a mob of crying children who had been transformed into [[Goblin|Goblins]] by some unknown source. Adrian picked up the [[Goblin]] child still clinging to his leg to try and calm them down as well as free himself up to move around '''Nephilla's''' former lair. Meanwhile, '''Ashe''' and '''Dave''' headed up the stairs to explore the balcony. They came across a large pile of crates and a mirror with glowing runes similar to what were inscribed on the [[Bugbear|Bugbear's]] shield. As '''Dave''' picked over the crates and pocked a rind of cheese, '''Ashe''' touched the runes and suddenly a strange pointy-toothed man appeared in the mirror |
With the [[Bugbear]] defeated, the team was left with a mob of crying children who had been transformed into [[Goblin|Goblins]] by some unknown source. Adrian picked up the [[Goblin]] child still clinging to his leg to try and calm them down as well as free himself up to move around '''Nephilla's''' former lair. Meanwhile, '''Ashe''' and '''Dave''' headed up the stairs to explore the balcony. They came across a large pile of crates and a mirror with glowing runes similar to what were inscribed on the [[Bugbear|Bugbear's]] shield. As '''Dave''' picked over the crates and pocked a rind of cheese, '''Ashe''' touched the runes and suddenly a strange pointy-toothed man appeared in the mirror, questioning the two of them about what had happened to '''B'rogo'''. The man lamented that the [[Bugbear]] had been killed thus rendering this branch of his operation redundant before casting a spell which shattered the mirror outwards, knocking '''Ashe''' from the balcony and impaling several shards of glass in both her and the [[Goblin]] child that she was holding. '''Dave''' was able to avoid the strike from the mirror and used their own magic to slow '''Ashe's''' fall. |
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Not long after, '''Kyar'''' appeared at the entrance of the cavern. This was the first time that the entire team had gotten a glimpse of him, a grotesque creature with lanky limbs and a large green eyeball. He said he detected that the [[Bugbear]] known as '''B'rogo''' had been slain, so he came to make use of the fountain in '''Nephilla's''' layer as it possessed strong magical properties. Adrian investigated the fountain by twirling his hand around in the water, which felt cold but did not ripple or respond to his touch. '''Merys''' tried drinking from it, which tasted refreshing but immediately shrank him into a [[Goblin]] standing in a heap of his now-too-large clothes. He could no longer understand or speak to the rest of his team in this form, but on the plus side, he could now communicate with the [[Goblin]] children. He gathered that the oldest was a girl name '''Kylie''' who had taken on a leadership role amongst the children in the absence of any adults. |
Not long after, '''Kyar'''' appeared at the entrance of the cavern. This was the first time that the entire team had gotten a glimpse of him, a grotesque creature with lanky limbs and a large green eyeball. He said he detected that the [[Bugbear]] known as '''B'rogo''' had been slain, so he came to make use of the fountain in '''Nephilla's''' layer as it possessed strong magical properties. Adrian investigated the fountain by twirling his hand around in the water, which felt cold but did not ripple or respond to his touch. '''Merys''' tried drinking from it, which tasted refreshing but immediately shrank him into a [[Goblin]] standing in a heap of his now-too-large clothes. He could no longer understand or speak to the rest of his team in this form, but on the plus side, he could now communicate with the [[Goblin]] children. He gathered that the oldest was a girl name '''Kylie''' who had taken on a leadership role amongst the children in the absence of any adults. |
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=== Session 10 === |
=== Session 10 === |
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Adrian makes use of some much-needed downtime by distributing the loot he picked up in the '''Shrieking Caverns''' to his friends and teammates, but his momentary feeling of calmness is disrupted by a nightmare that unlocks a lost memory from the day he sacrificed his emerald essence… |
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After returning to '''Terakai''' from their first mission together, the team had a couple of days in town to spend however they pleased. '''Dave''' first headed to the general store to try and purchase a new broom, dropping most of his possessions and coins on the counter as they had no idea how to barter. The [[List of Races#New World Crossbreeds (After 0 BR)|Half-Elf]] shopkeeper, taking pity on them, refused this "trade" and haggled '''Dave''' down to a more reasonable price, even snapping the broom's handle down to a shorter size to make it easier for '''Dave''' to use. |
After returning to '''Terakai''' from their first mission together, the team had a couple of days in town to spend however they pleased. '''Dave''' first headed to the general store to try and purchase a new broom, dropping most of his possessions and coins on the counter as they had no idea how to barter. The [[List of Races#New World Crossbreeds (After 0 BR)|Half-Elf]] shopkeeper, taking pity on them, refused this "trade" and haggled '''Dave''' down to a more reasonable price, even snapping the broom's handle down to a shorter size to make it easier for '''Dave''' to use. |
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That night, Adrian had a nightmare which harkened back to his final moments in the [[Sardior#Battle of Five Lights|Battle of Five Lights]] when his body was burned away as part of the ritual to resurrect [[Sardior]]. Unlike his original memory, however, he heard three distinct voices once his consciousness had been left to float in a sea of nothingness. The voices argued amongst themselves: "It is foretold, the young one will die." "But he cannot die, it would disrupt the timelines." "Then we will leave him enough. Just enough so that he is not lost…but we will also take." In that moment, Adrian felt as though he was suddenly not all there. Then, just as he recalled before, he was left cold and adrift until he felt his memories become overpowered by soreness and the sudden need to breathe. Adrian gasped awake, still in his bed at the '''Grail and the Grave'''. |
That night, Adrian had a nightmare which harkened back to his final moments in the [[Sardior#Battle of Five Lights|Battle of Five Lights]] when his body was burned away as part of the ritual to resurrect [[Sardior]]. Unlike his original memory, however, he heard three distinct voices once his consciousness had been left to float in a sea of nothingness. The voices argued amongst themselves: "It is foretold, the young one will die." "But he cannot die, it would disrupt the timelines." "Then we will leave him enough. Just enough so that he is not lost…but we will also take." In that moment, Adrian felt as though he was suddenly not all there. Then, just as he recalled before, he was left cold and adrift until he felt his memories become overpowered by soreness and the sudden need to breathe. Adrian gasped awake, still in his bed at the '''Grail and the Grave'''. |
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The next day during breakfast, a [[Half-Orc]] named '''Urza'''—the other co-owner of the '''Grail and the Grave''' and '''Silence's''' partner—entered the tavern with a caravan returning from the |
The next day during breakfast, a [[Half-Orc]] named '''Urza'''—the other co-owner of the '''Grail and the Grave''' and '''Silence's''' partner—entered the tavern with a caravan returning from the north. '''Silence''' leapt into '''Urza's''' arms, exclaiming "you're home!" The caravan also consisted of '''Maple''', a young [[Artificer]] woman with extremely long pigtails and an enormous hammer, who immediately took up an interest in '''Dave''' and began bombarding him with questions about how he functioned. The majority of the group, however, was made up of a dozen of the town's missing children who '''Urza''' had successfully located. Each child carried either a porcelain or wooden doll and was completely silent with vacant eyes. '''Urza''' had apparently employed '''Maple''' to watch after these children in her caravan in exchange for a piece of information about a particular sword. Despite the children being found and returned to '''Terakai''', however, it was clear that something terrible had happened to them. |
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=== Session 11 === |
=== Session 11 === |
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Adrian and the team run some field tests to try and figure out what could have caused the enchantment on the returned children, then they debate amongst themselves what their next course of action should be before finally deciding to travel to '''Gorothair''', the city where '''Urza''' had located the children… |
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[Coming Soon] |
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'''Urza''' stood behind the counter in the '''Grail and the Grave''', sizing up the team as they watched '''Silence's''' unseen ghosts usher a dozen recently found children through the front door. None of the children put up any fight or protest, simply allowing themselves to be nudged in whichever direction they were guided. Adrian asked '''Urza''' if there was anything he could do to help, to which she responded "don't see how." The team began asking her questions about the children and where she had found them. She explained that she found them dispersed all around '''Gorothair''', one of the larger cities located on the western prongs just north of '''Terakai'''. She said "once I found a few, it became easier to track the rest down," and that the children were in this vacant state when she found them. Most of them were already holding a doll, but the few who had become separated from their doll were struggling desperately to retrieve it. She had found one of the children at a house where their doll had been locked inside, and "they were trying to claw straight through me to get it back." Adrian kneeled down to one of the children to ask their name, but they gave no response and their eyes seemed to only barely track him. The team asked if the children were only attached to their specific dolls, to which '''Urza''' replied "I don't wanna know what happens if you try to switch them." |
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[Coming Soon] |
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'''Silence''' was visibly upset by the state of the children and had left to retrieve something from her room, eventually returning with a keyring that held various pieces of stained glass. She peered at the children through each piece of glass before landing on one and determining that the children were under an enchantment spell. The dolls, however, bizarrely did not appear to have any magical properties. She retreated back to her room to fetch another item and '''Urza''' followed, leaving the team to babysit the children. Adrian and '''Merys''' went back and forth speculating what could be the cause of this enchantment. As soon as '''Dave''' spoke up, however, all of the children moved their heads to stare directly at '''Dave'''. This gave Adrian an idea: assuming these children were victims of the same operation as the children they had rescued from the '''Shrieking Caverns''', perhaps they had been enchanted by the pointy-toothed man who had spoken to '''Dave''' through the two-way mirror and the children were being used to psionically spy on them. '''Merys''' agreed this was possible, but also expressed concern about the children being potential sleeper agents who could be remotely activated at any time to carry out some devious task. |
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'''Dave''' decided to paint a picture of the pointy-toothed man to see if the children would react to the sight of him. '''Maple''', meanwhile, was exhausted from the sleepless caravan and dozed off at one of the tables. While that was going on, Adrian tested another theory by grabbing a towel from behind the counter and tying it over one of the children's eyes like a blindfold. He then took '''Dave''' and led them to the other side of the room. All of the children's heads swiveled to continue tracking '''Dave''' except for the blindfolded one, who merely moved their head around confusedly. Adrian excitedly declared this meant that the children were not acting as a hive-mind, but rather, they were probably all merely attached to the same puppeteer. |
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The team ran some other tests, such as seeing if the children would track illusions of '''Dave''', before '''Silence''' and '''Urza''' eventually returned holding what looked like an eight-pointed folding fan. '''Silence''' explained it was an item that could dispel enchantments, but they would need to be careful as it only held eight charges a day. '''Urza''' expressed concern, "how do you decide which child gets to go home tonight?" They opted to keep all the children safe in the upstairs inn until they could remove the enchantment from all of them. '''Silence''' couldn't decide which child to test the fan on first, so '''Dave''' pointed out the child that he deemed the most "disposable." She waved the fan at the child and one of its points dimmed, but there was no visible change in the child's demeanor. '''Silence''' tried again and upped the ante by expending two charges. This time, the child began to blink and look around as if coming out of a daze. '''Silence''' was visibly relieved, muttering "good, good…it can be dispelled." |
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As the enchantment broke and the magic began to dissipate into the air, however, '''Dave''' saw the magic as pretty colors and absorbed the magic into their body before immediately expelling it. The wild magic caused the painting that '''Dave''' was holding to catch fire, as well as any other flammable things that '''Dave''' grasped in their hands for the next minute. '''Silence''' scolded '''Dave''' to not absorb wild magic as doing so always had unforeseen consequences. '''Silence''' kneeled down to the child to see if they were alright and ask if she could borrow the doll. The child appeared back to normal, except their strong attachment to the doll seemed to linger and they were extremely reluctant to give it up. '''Silence''' and '''Urza''' exchanged a brief aside in infernal that only Adrian could understand, speculating that the enchantment might have lingering effects that would hopefully dissipate over time. '''Silence''' wielded the fan again, expending three charges to disenchant a second child. She felt the enchantment put up no resistance this time, which was good as she now had a grasp on how powerful this enchantment was. '''Dave''' did not heed '''Silence's''' prior warning and once again absorbed the wild magic, this time taking heavy physical damage. '''Dave''' remained convinced, however, that they were still capable of summoning fire. |
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'''Silence''' spent the last two charges of the fan to free one more child and '''Urza''' led all of the children upstairs to get them settled into some rooms. When she returned, the team debated what their next move should be. '''Urza''' said it was up to them where they wanted to go, but offered to find them some jobs around town if they chose to stick around. Ultimately, the team decided to travel to the city of '''Gorothair''' as it was their only lead on where the children were disappearing to. '''Urza''' let them know that the journey there took roughly six or seven days, not accounting for long rests. Despite not knowing anything about the city, the team was hopeful that they could figure it out as they went, just as they had on their prior mission. |
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== Appearance == |
== Appearance == |
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Revision as of 19:36, 11 March 2024
| Relatives | Feredemius, Smargarg |
|---|---|
| Affiliations | Ruby Court |
| Aliases | Emerald Thane of Sardior, Durian Grunwald, Adrian Grunwald |
| Date of Birth | 826 PR |
| Place of Birth | Northern Snowy Mountains, Isonhound |
| Species | Dragon |
| Gender | Male (he/him) |
| Eye Color | Emerald |
| Class | Deity |
Durzibethinus is an Emerald Dragon and the Emerald Thane of Sardior. Prior to his ascension, he lived a mortal life in Isonhound as a Dragonborn named Adrian Grunwald, son of the high sorcerer in a hidden town called Jadenhill. After leaving home in 825 PR with the hopes of finding a way to protect his clan from hostile Dragons and Crusaders, he changed his name to Durian and discovered the existence of Gem Dragons as well as his own emerald heritage. This sent him down a path towards helping to resurrect Sardior, the Ruby King of Gem Dragons and defeating his disgraced ancestor Feredemius, who served as the original Emerald Thane before the dissolution of the prehistoric Ruby Court. Durian’s role in the ritual to resurrect Sardior caused him to be reborn as an Emerald Dragon and empowered him to sit on the reassembled Ruby Court as the new Emerald Thane. Following his deification, he took to using the name Durzibethinus, a draconic name his father had given him, in order to protect his identity as well as his clan.
History
Durian was born at the Temple on Jadenhill, a small community off the southern coast of Isonhound. Its population is primarily metallic Dragonborn and was settled by a clan of devout Bahamut worshippers who emigrated from Pteris in the early PR era to escape the chaos of the Cavalry Rush. The town of Jadenhill consists of little more than the temple, which is partially built into the ruins of an ancient abandoned mining project.
The temple practiced its worship in relative peace and seclusion for nearly three centuries, finding ways to honor Bahamut while they awaited his inevitable return, such as studying the Way of the Ascendant Dragon. However, they would fall victim to the Razing of Isonhound in 700 PR, flattening most parts of the temple that were not housed in the repurposed mining tunnels. Most lives were spared, but it was a devastating loss that would prove too difficult to build back from without outside help. They began tiptoeing back into the outside world to attempt trade and other forms of participating in greater society.
Blaming Tiamat's Dragons for this misfortune, they wrote letters declaring their loyalty to the church of Kragnux the Dragon Slayer, adding the god to their pantheon of deities. Around this same time, a few of the children in town had been born with brilliant, gemlike scales and proved to be gifted with psionic powers and sorcery. The origins of this gem ancestry was unknown, but the temple's priests interpreted it as a blessing from Bahamut as proof that they were on the most noble path.
This interpretation would prove regrettable as the growing church of Kragnux became radicalized against not just Dragons, but against all draconic races. The temple heard word of the Dragonborn being slaughtered in the Second Draconic Crusades and quietly dissolved their allegiances to the church, but it was too late to recluse their community again. They had rebuilt and thrived with the benefit of outside trading partners who knew of the temple and would soon be visiting in greater numbers.
The temple leaders devised a system for receiving guests, erecting a mage tower dubbed the Court of Quartz to serve as a visitors center as well as house many of the artifacts pulled from the former mining tunnels over the years, including a large amethyst gem shaped like a Dragon egg. They also appointed a high sorcerer, one of the gem-touched Dragonborn, to reside in the tower and perform an essential part of their plan using one of the few rocky relics in the collection brought over from the old continent.
Dubbed the Selune Splinter and described as a fragment from an ancient moon crystal imbued with peculiar paranormal properties, it is able to amplify illusionary magic to increase its effect and distance. Wielding this artifact, the high sorcerer could cast a spell over the entire temple to disguise its Dragonborn residents as Wood Elves, the primary inhabitants of the Woldlin region. This ruse was successfully kept up for the remainder of the century, and the monotonous high sorcerer position would be passed between gem-touched Dragonborn before reaching Durian's mother.
Ironically, the long-awaited return of Bahamut in 795 PR would also soon signal the end of this ruse. As Dragons were now free to wreak their will on the realm, the temple came under attack by an unidentified Dragon in 825 PR and the Court of Quartz was robbed of its collection, including the Selune Splinter which they had spent decades relying upon for protection. Its residents were sitting ducks in a world finding itself at odds with the Dragons for the first time in over a century. How long would it be before the rest of the realm grew frustrated and turned its sights back on what was left of the draconic races?
Adrian, son of the high sorcerer and presumed next in line for the position, changed his name to Durian (a portmanteau of his elvish and draconic names) to conceal his identity and snuck away from the temple with aspirations to show the realm that the Dragonborn are equal victims of the Dragons' ransacking ways and can be strong allies in the fight against them. If he could also uncover a new means of protecting his clan somewhere along the way, that would be all the better.
Adventures in Quelmar
| Player Name | Jeff |
|---|---|
| Languages | Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarvish, Elvish, Infernal, Primordial, Telepathy, Wiki |
| Affiliations | Harbingers of Sardior |
| Date of Birth | 806 PR |
| Place of Birth | Jadenhill, Isonhound |
| Species | Dragonborn |
| Gender | Male (he/him) |
| Height | 6' 4" |
| Weight | 260 lbs |
| Eye Color | Emerald |
| Class | Sorcerer |
Draconic Divinations
Durian leaves home for the first time and is given an alarming vision of the future before meeting a Silver Dragon with a peculiar ideology, causing him to have a crisis of faith…
Durian did not ask for explicit permission to leave Jadenhill, but after the Dragon attack and theft of the Selune Splinter, he felt an obligation to protect his home and find a new way of defending his clan from annihilation. He wore his Wood Elf disguise everywhere early in his journey due to fears of hostility towards Dragonborn, but dropped this precaution soon before arriving in the city of Synàra to gage how people would respond. Sensing no immediate animosity, he ceased the pretense of a disguise while still remaining guarded about the hometown of Dragonborn he heralded from.
He had arrived just in time for the celebration of Asar Ogalas, an elvish festival of rebirth which commemorated the Razing of Isonhound. Durian jumped aboard a cart which offered guided tours, marveling at the town's trees with trunks wider around than the columns of any tower and branches which seemed to graze the sky. The sight of them made him fantasize about how his hometown of Jadenhill must have looked prior to the Razing, secluded by dense canopies of foliage. All manner of folk from across the continent had gathered to hawk their wares and labors, including some elvish jewelry which, at least in Durian's eyes, did not compare with what had recently been ransacked from the Court of Quartz. Pixies and satyrs were also abound cross the festival, but Durian had been raised to leave the forest's Fey creatures unbothered.
He entered a fortune teller's tent, expecting an entertaining swindle for one gold piece…what he got instead was a cryptic prophecy. The teller gazed into his scrying sphere as the lights dimmed and he described a flood of smoke which would precede the return of powerful Dragons. The teller peered to Durian, staring him down with a bewildered expression and asked "who are you?" Durian could only stutter out, "I'm a Dragonborn," unsure of how to respond. The fortune teller warned, "you should leave Synàra," before light returned to the tent and the prophecy faded from view.
Durian exited the tent shaken, but barely a minute passed before he would experience his first crisis of faith in the teachings of Bahamut as he witnessed Sro the Silver Dragon, seemingly allied with a Red Dragon and a Black Dragon, descending upon the festivities and attacking the city. Durian joined a group of adventurers who were dashing towards city hall to confront the Silver Dragon. Once they caught up, however, they quickly discovered the Greatwyrm was simply too powerful to take down as it laid waste to the building's stone walls as if they were parchment. Durian avoided a breath weapon which took down most of the city guard and followed the massive creature inside the building. He tried to get closer to its head by climbing onto a balcony, but one whip from the Dragon's tail sent Durian tumbling back to the ground floor. As Durian struggled to stand back up, he tried sending Sro a telepathic message: "child of Bahamut, what is it that you want? Let us help you and cease this destruction!" The Silver Dragon turned his head towards Durian and bellowed out "bring me the mayor!" What they didn't know was that some of the other adventurers were smuggling the mayor out of the building as Durian helped distract Sro. The mayor was rescued, but the Dragon grabbed one of the mayor's assistants in its claws before flying away with a thunderous boom.
Durian was left confused and with so many questions…why would a child of Bahamut conspire with spawns of Tiamat to commit such a seemingly evil act? To find out why, Durian responded to some local calls for aid and joined a rescue party that was on its way to confront Sro at his lair. The journey took several days to navigate Isonhound's thick forests, but after scaling a mountain and finally arriving at the lair's cavernous entrance, the Silver Dragon was surprisingly receptive to them. Sro clarified that he was not allied with the Chromatic Dragons, but rather, he had been abducting mayors in order to better prepare humankind to battle Dragons again. Durian was not impressed with this answer but held his tongue, knowing better than to fight or argue with one of the children of his deity. Still, he could not shake his worries…was it really wise to be raising armies of Dragon killers only a few decades after the heedless genocide of the Second Draconic Crusades? How long would it be before a new generation of crusaders rose up to finish off the remaining Dragonborn? He returned to Synàra in search of another job, one that he hoped would reveal a better path forward.
Surprise Sapphire
Durian discovers the existence of Gem Dragons and attempts to befriend one of them, leading him towards questions about his own identity…
Not yet convinced that fighting was the best solution for his clan, he found himself in the town of Tsoljcanth where he was intrigued by the unique problem plaguing its residents: they were being rendered invisible to one another at seemingly random intervals. Durian joined a search party in following clues to the potential source of the problem: a stolen Dragon egg, strange in appearance and not dissimilar to the "egg-shaped gem" that had been stolen from Jadenhill. The party tracked the egg into the forest and found themselves battling invisible monsters. In a last-ditch attempt to shake them off, Durian shouted at the monsters that "I need to protect that egg!" In that moment, the monsters became visible to him and a brilliant Sapphire Dragon appeared flying overhead. Durian had never heard of a Gem Dragon before. He called out to her "who are you, who do you follow?" before witnessing her fly off with the egg, questions unanswered. Shortly thereafter, the party heard a voice in their heads declaring them friends of Gem Dragons and being granted the Boon of Bleucorundum the Sapphire Dragon, a protection which would render them "invisible to any Dragon who would hurt you, so long as you don't shed any Dragon's blood." Possibilities raced through Durian's mind, could this boon lead to the solution for his clan that he'd been looking for? What is a Gem Dragon, could this be the reason he looks and feels so different from the other metallic Dragonborn at home?
Sardior Secrets
Durian meets an ancient witch who is the first to divulge the existence of the Ruby Court as well as his god Sardior, the Ruby King of Gem Dragons…
Durian's questions would remain unanswered until he met Yggwilv, a powerful witch possessing ancient powers and knowledge. Durian asked her about the Gem Dragons, to which she unfurled the story of Sardior the Ruby Dragon, the lost third pillar of Dragonkind. She explained that he was an ancient god of neutrality who once had a court consisting of each type of Gem Dragon, but that he had died sometime before Prehistory. She told Durian that Sardior was his god, and that if Gem Dragon eggs are suddenly appearing in the realm, it may be a sign that this forgotten pillar of neutrality is needed once again. Durian left Yggwilv's Hut, unsure of what it means to worship Sardior but determined to do all he could to find out.
Splintered Priorities
Durian joins a guild in order to reacquire the Selune Splinter, an artifact of tremendous significance that had been stolen from his clan…
Before he could put any more legwork into following this Sardior path, a loose thread from Durian's past made an unexpected reappearance in his life: the Selune Splinter. Unbeknownst to him, the Wold Order had taken possession of it sometime after it had been stolen from the Court of Quartz, using it in one of their training grounds to create the illusion of a Red Dragon's lair. Even more frustrating, another adventurer had stolen it away from the Wold Order but refused to even hear Durian out about the importance it carried to his clan. Durian kept close tabs on the Selune Splinter, awaiting an opportunity where he could negotiate for this artifact that, as far as Durian was concerned, was the only thing standing between his clan and certain annihilation. After three months and aiding in some confounding battles over a Shadow Forge, he learned that the Selune Splinter had traded hands once again. After formally meeting the Band of the Iron Hawk at the battle of the Shadow Forge, Durian was invited to join their guild, who granted him the title of Psionic Sorcerer and helped him to negotiate for the reacquisition of the Selune Splinter. At last having finally recovered this coveted artifact, Durian spent some time on his own practicing illusionary magic with the Selune Splinter, trusting that it would not be long before he could arrange for its safe transport back to Jadenhill. In the meantime, however, he turned his attention back towards uncovering all that he could about the god of Gem Dragons: Sardior.
Jeered Tears
Durian sets out to learn everything he can about Sardior and acquires one of the only known physical remnants of the Gem Dragon god…
Following the battle of the Shadow Forge, its Curator offered a favor of information to those who aided in the battle. Durian used his favor to ask the Curator about Sardior, but he was unable to provide any new leads except to reaffirm all that Yggwilv had already said. He suggested seeking out the Gem Dragons for more answers, a recommendation which Durian felt very intent on following. He spent six weeks conducting research on Sardior and the Gem Dragons, using bribes and favors in order to compile a list of nearly everything ever put to paper about the ancient ruby god. It was not a terribly long list, which is predictable when conducting research on prehistory beings, but Durian was confident that it was at least comprehensive. One particular find caught his attention: stories of an unknown sixth type of Gem Dragon. He immediately connected this sixth type with The One That Waits, a mysterious dark entity who had recently began plaguing Isonhound. Durian surmised that Sardior must have casted this sixth Gem Dragon out of his court and that they had returned to exact revenge on the reemerging Gem Dragons. He felt further supported by this claim after some other adventures turned up a type for this lost sixth Gem Dragon: Obsidian.
Around the same time, a handful of adventurers returned from visiting Sro with six ancient artifacts called the Tears of Sardior. Durian was shocked by the possibility of a physical remnant of Sardior still existing on the realm. He attempted to leverage his research in exchange for one of the artifacts. He soon felt guilty for withholding information and apologized for attempting that trick, freely sharing the research with the Band of the Iron Hawk as well as his theory about the identity of The One That Waits. Durian would eventually acquire a Tear of Sardior by bartering with someone outside of the guild. Being the only artifact of Sardior that he knew, he fastened it into a necklace to wear as a holy symbol in the same manner as his pendant of Bahamut.
Sanctified Machines
Durian meets the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior and pledges to support their efforts to resurrect Sardior by any means necessary…
Not long afterward, Durian accepted an invitation from the Wold Order in Synàra who proceeded to grill him on how he was able to remain invisible to Dragons. He was familiar with the Elves of Woldin, having dealt with their diplomats frequently at the Court of Quartz, but he could not discern what their intentions would be if they found out about the Gem Dragons. Durian pretended not to know anything, but they still asked him to join a search party to track a Warforged-Centaur back to a mine inside the Northern Snowy Mountains. Deep inside the mine, the party discovered the base of the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior, an alliance of Warforged bearing gem names and colors, who explained their mission to resurrect the Topaz Dragon from the court of Sardior. Durian was ecstatic to learn of another group who shared in his goals, as it had felt like an uphill battle at times trying to convince other people that Sardior was important. He bombarded the Warforged with questions and showed them the Tear of Sardior, which they excitedly verified to be a genuine artifact. After departing the base, Durian was determined to do all he could to support their efforts in locating the missing members of the court of Sardior.
Emerald Epiphany
Durian tracks down the lair of an Emerald Dragon who teaches him how to read minds in exchange for helping to return one of his eggs…
Durian spent the next month conducting research to track down the potential whereabouts of the Emerald, Amethyst, and Crystal Dragons. He joined a party sailing up the Ssaphhibian River in order to follow a lead he found on the location of Feredemius, the Emerald Thane of Sardior. The expedition was contracted by Professor Wright, a psionic professor from Katharda Academy. As they arrived at the fiery entrance to an underground lair and the professor sensed the psionic activity within, Durian and the professor realized that they were both after the same thing. Durian, hovering over the entrance, folded his wings and plummeted straight down the hole leading into the lair, soon joined by the rest of the group as they each jumped in. It was immediately apparent that they were being watched as Durian spotted a clairvoyant eye peering from a nearby lava pillar, which disappeared after its owner was taken aback by being spotted. The group negotiated their way through the lair, encountering major illusions and conversing with the disembodied voice of a Gem Dragon as it picked through each of their memories. They eventually found their way to the main hall where the Dragon resided, but it was not Feredemius, but rather Smargarg the Emerald Dragon. It may not have been the Emerald Dragon that Durian had set out to find, but it was still the first physical evidence he had encountered that Emerald Dragons still walk the realm. He found the experience both incredibly validating and intimidating. Smargarg explained that all draconic emerald beings trace their lineage back to Feredemius, and that he could sense the psionic presence of Feredemius somewhere in Isonhound. Durian asked the Dragon if he could be taught to sense Feredemius, and he promised to grant the party this power if they could return an Emerald Dragon egg that was stolen from his hatchery.
A couple days later, Durian connected with another adventurer who had also been along to meet the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior, who confirmed that their most recent party had come into possession of the missing Emerald Dragon egg. However, the egg had been damaged and possibly possessed by The One That Waits, so they agreed to bring the egg back to Smargarg in hopes that he could help repair and purify it. Upon the egg's return, Smargarg granted the party a Boon of Telepathy and tasked them with "searching the minds of men to see if you can discern the presence of the emerald Feredemius, or maybe even The One That Walks Among You, or the presence of other mental powers such as The One That Waits…" Durian accepted this assignment and, with his new mind-reading ability, set his sights back on reassembling the court of Sardior.
Fairly Devious
Durian uncovers the true identity of The One That Waits and weighs the consequences of sharing his revelation with any other adventurers…
As the party left the lair of Smargarg, something that the young Emerald Dragon said continued to echo in Durian's mind: "I can feel Feredemius' presence…everywhere…he is still alive somewhere, somehow, in Isonhound." It seemed like such a strange thing to leave on. After all, had Smargarg seen everywhere lately? Isonhound was falling into disarray, being slowly overrun by shadow monsters. If Feredemius was truly so omnipresent, why had all this looming chaos not yet lured him out? How could his psionic presence be so strongly felt without leaving any physical trace? Durian returned to his research and combed through it closely, looking for anything he may have overlooked. He came across a piece of information that he had previously regarded as insignificant, namely, that Dragons could achieve a form of immortality by allowing their soul to repeatedly possess an egg of their same or similar type. This tidbit seemed to be backed up by the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior's mission to resurrect Tushello using a Gold Dragon egg. So why would The One That Waits want to possess an Emerald Dragon egg with his corrupting shadow energy? Durian had a silent epiphany. "Fuck, The One That Waits is Emerald…" he thought to himself while flipping through his notes, praying to Sardior that he had missed something. It had made so much sense for The Once That Waits to be the forgotten Obsidian Dragon, but was it possible that Durian had unintentionally misled his guild and the other adventurers? And if what Smargarg said was true about all emerald creatures being descended from Feredemius…could Durian really be descended from such a sinister being? He wanted to broach this newfound revelation with the rest of the adventurers in Seglock, but he felt he needed to handle it delicately…lest he earn the their wrath and they turn against all emerald creatures. The realm had already attempted to massacre the Dragonborn race only a few decades ago, it seemed foolish to think the masses would be above taking up arms against Emerald Dragonborn specifically. Durian decided to bide his time with revealing The One That Waits' true identity, holding out for an opportunity to share the truth with a reliable group of people in hopes that he could mitigate the fallout for himself and any other emerald creatures.
Harbinger Havoc
Durian learns names for all of the original Ruby Court members and ponders what it means to be a Harbinger, forming the Harbingers of Sardior to share information more efficiently…
Shortly after returning to Seglock, Durian began compiling everything he had learned about the Gem Dragons from his visits with Smargarg as well as the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior…attempting to organize his scattered notes into a tome of more comprehensible information that others could benefit from. Arguably the most significant discoveries from his most recent outings were names for two more of Sardior's court members…the Emerald—Feredemius—and the Amethyst—The One That Walks Among You. Durian was among the first to meet the Sapphire—Bleucorundum—early on in his journey, and another party had uncovered the name of the Crystal—Eros—several months ago. All that had yet to be uncovered was a name for the fifth court member…that is, until another adventuring party returned from the Northern Snowy Mountains wielding an artifact called the Topaz Astrolabe and finally putting a name to the Topaz—Tushello. Additionally, the party claimed that the artifact gifted them boons of a Harbinger upon its activation and that it had briefly opened a portal to the soul of Tushello within the Astral Sea. Durian was impressed by these claims and was particularly intrigued by the party's use of the word Harbinger, as it was the first title he had heard which resembled anything pertaining to a formal role in the court of Sardior. He certainly had theories about what such a role may have entailed in the context of an ancient court, especially since the benefits of the Harbinger boon—namely, a gem-based breath weapon and resistance—seemed to mirror his own innate abilities as a Gem Dragonborn. But it was the only title he knew thus far to describe a follower of Sardior…so regardless of whatever its official meaning once was, Durian was determined to be a Harbinger, too. He finished compiling his tome of Gem Dragon notes—deciding to title it the Harbingers of Sardior—and treated it as a pseudo-guild, extending invitations to share the tome with any adventurer who expressed interest in learning more about the Gem Dragons and who might want to contribute any relevant information that they pick up along their travels.
Festive Fall
Durian brings the Topaz Astrolabe to Sneerwell in hopes of deciphering its purpose, instead confronting The One That Waits face-to-face while Isonhound is enveloped by shadows…
Durian and another member of the Iron Hawks made plans to take the Topaz Astrolabe to Sneerwell, knowing that the home of Pendergras Industries was a hub of technological development, in hopes that somebody there could help identify the artifact's function. His guild mate fell ill, however, and Durian had to make the trip alone. Upon arriving in Sneerwell, he discovered a festival taking place as it was Asar Oglas once again. Durian hadn't realized that it had been a full year since he left Jadenhill. So much had changed since then, and festivals made Durian feel uneasy these days as he couldn't forget the previous year's celebration in Synàra which had been attacked by three Dragons. Still, he stopped by a fortune teller's booth as he had last year for old times' sake, but used his newfound mind-reading ability to discern that this city's fortune teller was a swindler.
Durian emerged from the tent, wiser than he was the year before, and his weariness around festivals was quickly validated as a thunderous, quaking boom crashed the celebration. In the panic, Durian noticed a commotion coming from the Pendergras factory and darted towards it with another group of adventurers to investigate. They saw a shouting Half-Gnome man remote controlling a group of Automs and demanding to know what was going on at his factory. It was Tolmè Pendergras, who turned to the adventurers and asked what they knew about the situation. Durian noticed a familiar sight barricading the entrance into the factory: the amethyst Warforged-Centaur from the Most Sanctified Disciples of Sardior. "It's a Warforged-Centaur," Durian shouted in surprise, but this did nothing to clarify things to Tolmè as he readied his Automs to attack. Durian turned invisible, trying not to rouse a showdown, and spoke in the minds of the other adventurers to convince them to help the MSDOS. Likewise, he sent a telepathic message to Tolmè pleading to stand down his Automs and let them handle the situation. Tolmè seemed very skeptical, but allowed the adventurers to push through to the entrance of the factory.
After a bit of struggle crossing the Iron Horse track that circled the factory, they entered to find it in the midst of a large-scale heist. Warforged-Centaurs were rolling around collecting as much Wovenstone as they could for use in the MSDOS' project to resurrect Tushello the Topaz Dragon. Durian also spotted the topaz Warforged from MSDOS standing atop a high balcony giving directions, and he called up to ask how they could help. The Warforged thanked him, telling them to grab Wovenstone and start carrying it to the cart they had parked outside. Durian began to do so, but Tolmè soon caught up with them and discovered his factory in the midst of being robbed. He turned his Automs on the adventurers as well as the Warforged-Centaurs and even began shooting at them himself. Durian tried to escape by hitching a ride on a conveyer belt deeper into the factory, where he discovered MSDOS' Clockwork Dragon also wreaking havoc. This gave Durian an idea and, in the chaos of the factory floor, he casted a major image of Smargarg the Emerald Dragon that roared "court is called; the five complete the four; the ruby will be, Sardior's return is inevitable!" This served to briefly distract the Automs in the ensuing fight which persisted until everyone heard a monstrous roar coming from outside. The adventurers fled the factory to find the source of this roar and discovered an enormous Red Dragon attacking the town. Believing that he couldn't help in this fight without drawing Bleucorundum's wrath, Durian fled through one of the Fey portals that the Curator had left behind, depositing him and the Astrolabe at the Lunaran temple in Seglock.
Within the safety of the temple, Durian met Echemus the Crystal Dragon for the first time, who was using his healing tears to cure adventurers' wounds. The Lunarans debriefed Durian on just how bad things really were on the outside. The seismic explosion he heard in Sneerwell had actually been felt all across Isonhound, its epicenter being the Northern Snowy Mountains. Dark Shadowfell energy was flooding from the exploded mountains, rendering the surrounding areas uninhabitable and quickly sweeping across the entirety of Isonhound. Even Sneerwell, which was closer to the southern coast, would soon be enveloped in darkness along with the rest of the continent. On the bright side, the Lunarans and the adventurers held up in the temple had discerned that the Astrolabe was capable of producing a protective dome that repelled dark energy, similar to the dome that the Moonwell created around Seglock. This meant they could potentially use it to save one other city, if only they could figure out how to activate it. At first they thought it might attach to the Moonwell somehow, but none of the configurations they tried seemed to securely fit them together. So they tried a different approach, postulating from the Lunarans' books that the Astrolabe could only be activated once in a lunar cycle. They counted the time since its last activation, discovering that the next cycle was set to begin in a mere couple of hours. The adventurers debated the best location to activate the Astrolabe and landed on Gammelgard, reasoning that it was a port city which could allow them to transport refugees safely off the continent. Durian, ready to jump back into the fray, took the Astrolabe and leapt into the Curator's portal headed to Gammelgard.
Durian emerged from the portal, finding himself inside Gammelgard's main forge as other adventurers were battling hordes of twisted shadow monsters. Durian summoned his spectral wings and joined in the fight, raining attacks from overhead as he cradled the Astrolabe and tried his best to stall for time. Thankfully, just as they had hoped, the Astrolabe began to glow with a pulsing light the moment the clock rang in a new lunar cycle. An adventurer suggested activating it atop Gammelgard's lighthouse to secure the artifact while allowing it to serve as a beacon of hope. They all agreed and departed the forge, fighting their way through the darkness-engulfed city and towards the coast. They confronted more mobs of shadow monsters as Durian flew towards the lighthouse, inserting the Astrolabe into its beacon and pressing the button to activate its magic. In an instant, a bright light emanated from it and pushed outwards in every direction, enveloping the city and warding back the dark energy of the Shadowfell. Once things finally seemed handled in Gammelgard, Durian retreated back to the Curator's portal to make another stop: the Northern Snowy Mountains.
As Durian flew out of the portal, all he could see below was a flood of smoke and darkness. One of Pendergras' airships idled overhead, an epic confrontation taking place on its deck. Directly in front of him, however, was the visage of a massive Ruby Citadel that drifted slowly closer. Atop the floating structure was a giant obsidian-looking Dragon, The One That Waits, sitting on it like a throne. Durian glared into the monster's green eyes and sent it a telepathic message: "were you part of the court of Sardior?" The One That Waits looked down at him and roared back, "Sardior is a fool!" Durian asked "how do you figure?" But the Dragon only continued to menacingly study him as the Citadel nudged ever closer. Durian shook his head disappointingly, responding "you better not be Feredemius," before folding his wings and falling straight back down into the Curator's portal.
The portal dispensed Durian in the skies above Sneerwell, the city where he had began this chaotic day. He glided over the city searching for any signs of life. But just as he was warned, the city had been completely swallowed by darkness. The only signs of movement came from various shadow monsters, including one shaped like the Warforged-Centaur he had fought alongside earlier. At a loss for what else to do, Durian turned invisible and landed back at the Pendergras factory to search for survivors there. Inside, he heard another group of adventurers and the familiar voice of Tolmè shouting angrily. Durian shouted back at him and the moment Tolmè heard his voice, he began storming around the room shouting "where is that Dragonborn?! Look what you and your Warforged friends have done!" The two of them got in a heated squabble, Durian blaming him for hoarding so much Wovenstone, while he blamed Durian for not using the Astrolabe to rescue Sneerwell. Exhausted and everyone feeling at their lowest, they surrendered their fight and loaded a cart with the rest of the survivors to head north towards the safety of Seglock.
Slight Sworn
Durian becomes disillusioned by the network of guilds and decides to leave the Iron Hawks in order to focus all his efforts towards resurrecting Sardior…
By this point, Durian had gained a reputation in Seglock as the go-to expert for any information pertaining to Sardior. Other adventurers both in and outside the Iron Hawks were routinely directed to him to answer any gem-related inquiries. For a long while, he gladly accepted this role and did his best to assist anyone who requested his expertise. But with the quantity of questions he received, it eventually started feeling like a chore and it became difficult to rise above the feeling that he was being used. After being called upon by multiple parties all at once to answer some oddly similar lines of questioning about Gem Dragons, he asked one of the questioners if there was anything more going on. They revealed their plan for a so-called “alliance of the guilds” which they had dubbed the Lightsworn in order to deal with the shadows which had overtaken Isonhound. They made Durian an offer to come on as an Advisor and help lead their “research department.” Knowing what he knew about The One That Waits’ true identity and still hoping that Feredemius could be redeemed, he agreed to help them on the condition that he would have an equal say in any group decisions pertaining to Sardior and the Gem Dragons. They agreed to these terms, and Durian was initially relieved that he’d be able to safely disclose his knowledge of Feredemius to the leaders of this new group. Since they were amicable to giving him a say in decision making, they weren’t simply going to turn around and vote to slay his ancestor without his knowledge…or so he’d thought. The next day, he accidentally overheard a conversation amongst this new group’s leaders, which included several Iron Hawks, calling the Advisor title a “hollow role.” Durian confronted them and they immediately swung into damage control, but the harm had already been done. Feeling betrayed, Durian questioned why the Harbingers of Sardior had been excluded from this supposed guild alliance in the first place and argued that the only fair path forward would be for them to give him an equal council vote so he could represent his group’s interests. They condescended and lashed out at him in response, accusing him of being “overly possessive” of all the information he’d acquired about Sardior. They scolded him for “making demands” and “bring ungrateful” after the Iron Hawks had helped him reacquire his ancestral artifact…as if he was supposed to be perpetually indebted for this and tolerate blatant deceit. After this fuming back-and-forth which went nowhere, Durian decided that if he was going to help these adventurers going forward, it was going to be on his own terms. He broke ties with the alliance and, in the dead of night, packed his things and departed the Iron Hawks’ guild hall. He had allied himself with these Dragon slayers long enough, especially if he was going to help resurrect an ancient Dragon god.
Amethyst Altercation
Durian encounters Bleucorundum once again, who sends him on a mission into a city with no name that is being guarded by a possessed Amethyst Dragon…
Durian joined a party that was venturing into the Shadowfell-infested forests in search of a city whose name could not be remembered by anyone. As they delved deeper into the gloomy woods, they spotted the head of The One That Waits peeking out from the forest ground as the creature seemed to swim towards them. The group found themselves grappled by his shadowy tendrils, and they would need to pull out all of their tricks to escape his grasp as he crept ever closer, eager to assimilate them into his hive-mind. Some used magic to teleport away, others used brute strength to rip out of his clutches. Any attempt to communicate with The One That Waits was met with the same word echoed loudly in their heads: “fall.” This was all they could hear repeated from him until Durian attempted to read his thoughts, demanding to know “where’s Feredemius?” The One That Waits fell quiet at the mention of this name, turning with his head cocked to stare directly at Durian. Unable to tell if this expression was one of being pleased or of animosity, Durian shook his head in frustration and fled with the rest of the team.
Eventually the party came to the Ssaphhibian River where some of them heard yet another voice inside their heads, beckoning them into the river and offering them sanctuary. The voice was familiar to Durian: “…Bleucorundum? How do we know it’s really you?” She responded, “surely you don’t expect me to reveal myself?” With that, Durian waded into the river. The rest of the party joined in and were swept downstream into the protected underground lair of Bleucorundum, cluttered with a magnificent hoard of weapons and other such trophies of battle. Bleucorundum continued to speak to the party while remaining invisible to everyone except Durian, who had learned to see invisibility following his first near-death encounter with the Sapphire Dragon. She explained how her lair was shielded from the shadows which had overrun the outside world, gesturing to a quartz-looking gem egg which Durian recognized as the one which he’d helped save nearly a year prior. Durian inquired, “is this egg one of the Keys to the Court?” Bleucorundum narrowed her eyes at him and said with a smile, “you’ve clearly been doing your research, you seem to know more than you let on.” It was funny to think that a year ago, Durian hadn’t even known what a Gem Dragon was before being nearly eaten by her invisible gelatinous cube.
The party inquired about what it meant to be a Harbinger, and the Sapphire Dragon did her best to draw upon ancient memories…from long bygone times when she sat on the Ruby Court. She recalled that a Harbinger was a position in the court, typically held by younger Gem Dragons but could also be held by Gem Dragonborn or really any creature who possessed some trace essence of the Gem Dragons, tasked with taking the place of their respective Gem Dragon's court seat on occasions when their Thanes could not be present for meetings. She pondered, “it’s been so long since I’ve had a Harbinger, I don’t know what I would even do with one now.”
By this point, the rest of the group began to reconvene, chiming in with their own questions about the Ruby Court. Durian asked if she has had any contact with Feredemius. She said no, but that Feredemius is a master at hiding, protecting his location by dispersing his essence amongst the Weave. Echoing what Smargarg had described prior, “I can feel Feredemius' presence…everywhere, he is still alive somewhere, somehow, in Isonhound.” She asked Durian, “you’re an Emerald Dragonborn, can you not sense his presence everywhere, as well?” He responded, “I guess, but…have you seen everywhere lately?” He then asked about Kristang the Obsidian Dragon, to which Bleucorundum began to loudly laugh. “For as much as you seem to know, it’s funny that you would still believe in a boogyman like Kristang!” He questioned why Kristang had been given a Harbinger if he wasn’t real. Bleucorundum theorized that since it had come from the Topaz Astrolabe, it was likely merely a tribute from Tushello the Topaz Dragon who had something of an obsession with Kristang. But Bleucorundum was adamant that there had only ever been five Thanes on the Ruby Court, never six. Durian insisted that, even if not Kristang, there was at least some sort of Obsidian-looking Dragon terrorizing Isonhound on the surface. But Bleucorundum was entirely certain, “shadow and Obsidian are different,” and whoever The One That Waits really was had merely taken the form of a Dragon as a means of intimidation and that they seemed to have a vendetta against all Gem Dragons for whatever reason. Durian replied how that seemed accurate, seeing how Smargarg was having a similar rough time trapped underground in his hatchery of Gem Dragon eggs. At the mention of there being more Gem Dragon eggs in danger, Bleucorundum’s face filled with surprise and worry before slowly recomposing herself; “no…Amethyst first, then we can focus on saving the hatchlings.”
She told the party that if they could arrange to rescue Smargarg and his hatchery, she would provide him sanctuary in her lair. But in the meantime, her priority was trying to locate her friend the Amethyst Thane. She described rumors of an Amethyst Dragon in a nearby city with no name that was also being protected from the shadows (presumably by one of the Gem Artifacts), and she offered the party shelter in her lair if they agreed to venture into this city in search of the supposed Amethyst Dragon. The team readily agreed, as the city is why they had come out there to begin with…but there was also a catch: the city had been overtaken by the cult of Att-Annalo who were keeping the city heavily guarded and under quarantine. Bleucorundum granted the party one of her Boons of Neutrality, rendering them invisible to the cultists so long as they don’t harm any of them (since Bleucorundum’s boons do not stack, Durian opted to keep his existing boon of invisibility to dragons, reassuring the group that his normal invisibility spell would be sufficient for him to avoid detection by the cultists). So after resting off their head-on encounter with The One That Waits, the party ventured back to the shadowy surface of Isonhound in the direction of this unnamed city.
As the team made their approach, Durian imparted his knowledge about Amethyst Dragons being the most powerful type of Gem Dragon due to their ability to deal force damage and manipulate gravity. Just then, they got close enough to take in the entire city, portions of it being torn apart and lifted upwards into the sky. The cultists were alerted to the approaching party members by the sound of clanking armor and turned invisible to try and engage them. Having a visual on the invisible guards, Durian leapt from the rooftops to try and help escort the rest of the party through the inconspicuous chaos while taking four direct hits of necrotic damage from the cultists. Still managing to retain his invisibility, he teleported out of that mayhem and into the nearest floating building he could spot in the distance. Despite immediately recasting invisibility, he was briefly spotted by a crazed Halfling known as Father Mel who launched into a long villainous speech and challenged Durian to strike him down. Not being one for obvious bait, Durian chose to hide. At the first opportunity, Durian leapt from the floating building, narrowly avoiding landing on the rest of his party as they all regrouped on the rooftops.
As the team investigated another floating building, they located a humanoid figure with dark Amethyst-looking skin and pitch-black eyes sitting in a trance on the bed. They repeatedly warned, “you shouldn’t have come here…they know you’re here…you need to leave.” The party questioned them about the Amethyst Gem Artifact as they seemed to struggle for control, but they replied that it was safe and deep underground. It was then the group realized that there was no Gem Artifact protecting this city, but rather, it was the sheer force of will from this Amethyst Dragon constantly pushing the shadows away with gravitational force. The group began discussing other ways of extracting the charmed Amethyst Dragon, but they refused to leave so long as there were people in the city. Meanwhile, Father Mel discovered the rest of the party’s presence and began sounding alarms across the city.
Finally, the Amethyst Dragon lost control and transformed into their Dragon form, rapidly launching the room high up into the air. Most of the party was able to jump out, but one teammate got caught in the Dragon’s grasp. Seeing his friend get launched ever further into the sky and panicked by his inability to reach them, Durian casted a major image of The One That Waits to try and briefly distract the Amethyst Dragon. This would prove just barely enough assistance for them to wriggle free and feather fall one hundred and twenty feet from the skyward room.
Meanwhile on the ground, another teammate kept Father Mel at bay by darting through the streets of the city and making as much noise as possible to lure him away from the rest of the party. This gave everyone enough opportunity to successfully escape and report back to Bleucorundum, confirming the presence of an Amethyst Dragon within the city.
Kill Durian
Durian resists The One That Waits as his true identity is confirmed and he sneaks some of his shadow monsters into Seglock to take out his uncooperative descendent…
In a grubby tavern at the edge of Seglock, Durian sat alone as he conjured a small image of an Emerald Dragon on the tabletop in front of him before dissipating it into smoke with his fingers. He did this repeatedly, feeling defeated after his last encounter with The One That Waits failed to produce confirmation of what he dreaded to be true. Over the sound of a lone tavern musician, they heard a particularly loud howl from one of the Shadowfell monsters which roamed outside the magical dome protecting the city. "There's another one," the barkeep remarked dismissively, no doubt accustomed to the sounds by that point due to working so close to the dome wall.
Durian peeked outside the tavern window to see a towering monster banging impotently against the wall of the dome. He went outside to get a better look as other Shadowfell monsters also began lining along the protective barrier, unable to penetrate it. Sensing the commotion, some other adventurers also exited the tavern to see what was going on. Durian cautiously approached the wall, slightly concerned with how it would hold up against such a brute force attack. As soon as he stepped within thirty feet of the monster, however, it ceased its banging and began to sniff the air as if it smelled something familiar. Locking its eyes on Durian, it leaned its head back and let out a chilling wail as the line of monsters began to part. The wailing sound summoned another monster which swam through the darkness right up to the wall of the dome, and Durian once again found himself face-to-face with The One That Waits. Just as he had before, he stared Durian down with his piercing green eyes without uttering a word. Durian broke the prolonged silence with his telepathy, entering the creature's mind to say "hello again…remember me? I'm going to ask you one more time…where's Feredemius?"
Durian was unable to gleam anything from this question the last time he had encountered The One That Waits in the forest…but for some reason, this time was different. The One That Waits gave an unsavory smirk as visions began to flash in Durian's mind with such vividness, it was as if he was really there. He saw the court of Sardior as it had once been, very long ago, when the Thanes all presided together to serve the Ruby King. Each type of Gem Dragon appeared to be present and getting along, including Feredemius and even Kristang the Obsidian.
Suddenly, the scene flashed forward to a moment after Sardior had been shattered. He saw Feredemius sinking into a life of hedonism after the Ruby Court had broken up, occupying a village as its people tried and failed to satiate him. "More food, more merriment" he demanded, but the villagers pleaded that he was wringing them dry and that they would have no food to last them the winter. One villager protested "you really are a Greedy Green," but Feredemius did not care and as soon as they had nothing left to offer, he simply moved on to the next village and left the people to starve. This pattern repeated until eventually, villagers began to fight back against Feredemius wherever he appeared. Feredemius did not take kindly to their unruliness and unleashed an onslaught to take what he felt entitled to. He eventually became such a problem, that five heroes wielded the Keys to the Court to imprison Feredemius in the Dwarven Citadel beneath the Northern Snowy Mountains. Energy from the Shadowfell seeped into the mountain as he sat waiting within the citadel for nearly a millennia, further corrupting his mind and turning his brilliant emerald scales to a dark obsidian color (his eyes, however, remained the same emerald green). He continued to sow his influence over other creatures' minds from within the citadel, building a cult of followers using the mantle of The One That Waits. The mounting pressure of Shadowfell energy eventually became too great for the mountain to contain and Feredemius was set free in an enormous umbral explosion, the sound of which stirred Durian out of his vision.
"My child…" Feredemius beckoned, "join me, and I'll grant you power beyond your imagination. We will rule the realm together." Durian, ashamed to be proven right in this moment, rebuked "you're too late, Feredemius. My soul belongs to Sardior…and soon we'll have all the Keys to the Court and you won't be able to stop us from bringing him back." Feredemius paused before staring down Durian yet again. "But Sardior cannot return if the emerald court seat can't be filled," he hissed before slithering back into the veil of darkness. The other Shadowfell monsters retreated alongside their leader and everything seemed strangely quiet, at least for the moment.
Suddenly, they heard screaming coming from further into the city and Durian ran towards the noise alongside a handful of other adventurers. They discovered a group of dripping, ogreish Shadowfell monsters attacking various people and buildings, seemingly looking for something. To everyone's horror, Feredemius had found a weak point in the protective dome and managed to sneak in some of his monsters. Some adventurers tried to fight them head-on, but their hits would cause anyone in the vicinity to get doused with necrotic goop. As they kept up their attack, the monsters' eyes flashed green and they spoke as a single voice, promising protection from the shadows to anyone who would kill Durian. The adventurers refused this offer, and a couple of them even tried to get Durian to play along with faking his death so see if they could trick the monsters. They were unconvinced, however, and Durian ducked away to hide as the voice from the monsters continued to echo "kill Durian." One of the shopkeepers opened his door to the adventurers, however, and they all rushed in. Inside, they were able to get properly suited up to deal with the monsters and staged a plan to attack them with projectiles. This approach proved more successful as the monsters were whittled down from a distance and safely neutralized out of range from any bystanders.
As the dust finally settled and Durian processed his greatest fears being confirmed, he realized that he also had a new problem to deal with. Being a descendant of the original Emerald Thane meant that he could fill the emerald court seat, when the time came…but it also meant that Feredemius would stop at nothing to prevent that from happening, even if it meant killing Durian and every other emerald being in the realm.
Green Tech
Durian returns to the Pendergras factory in Sneerwell and is once again forced to confront his ancestor, The One That Waits, who has taken over the facility…
[Coming Soon]
Chronoseptic Antics
Durian is sent to Gammelgard by the Curator to investigate the Dwarven Citadel and is hurled back in time by the Dragon Uhlm to free Kristang from his imprisonment…
[Coming Soon]
Divine Rebirth
Durian wields the Emerald Blade during the Battle of Five Lights, causing him to be reborn as an Emerald Dragon and transformed into the new Emerald Thane of Sardior…
Smargarg was supposed to meet them at the mountain peak, but as the emerald team docked their Airship into place there was still no sign of him. They unloaded the brazer and began carrying it towards the ritual site when all disaster broke. The frightening presence of Feredemius landed right in front of them, and in a booming voice demanded they hand over the Emerald Blade. But they could not dispense it even if they were charmed to, as Durian had grabbed the Blade and teleported high into the air, flying well above everyone’s line of sight. When the shadow-corrupted Dragon’s demands were not satisfied, he summoned all manner of monsters to attack the team before flying off to antagonize another of the five ritual sites.
The ritual was already in motion, Durian could hear the incantations of the Amethyst Tome reverberate in his mind. It was now or never, they could not wait for Smargarg any longer. Durian let himself fall safely back to the ground and yelled out to the rest of the team, “I think I need to be the one to do it.” As an Emerald Dragonborn, he was suited by blood to wield the Blade…but he was small and weak compared to the mighty Dragons it was intended for. He had been warned by Bleucorundum the Sapphire that the power of the ritual would undoubtedly kill him, hence why they’d recruited an Emerald Dragon to do it instead. But in truth, Durian hadn’t really felt alive anyway until learning of the Gem Dragons and their Ruby Court the year prior. He had set out to track down Feredemius the Emerald and ask him for a job, but from how things were going with the shadow monsters, Feredemius didn’t seem in any mood to be dealing favors.
Half the team was already engaged with the monsters, while a couple others stayed close by, casting wards of protection and healing around the site. They lit the brazer and, as per the ritual’s instructions, Durian held the Blade over the flame to heat it. He closed his eyes, attempting to block out the chaos around him and focus on attuning to the Blade. What should have only been six seconds felt like an eternity as he took a few heavy blows from monsters who snuck past the wards of protection, but his trance-like concentration and the wards of healing helped him endure through the pain.
At last something happened with the Blade, as a wave of psychic energy jolted out from it and blasted everyone in its radius. Durian took the most direct hit but, having natural psychic resistance, maintained his hold on the Blade still. The sky glowed even redder than it was before and beams of ruby light shot out and bounced between each of the ritual sites, strengthening their connection. The team just needed to hold out for a bit longer and Sardior the Ruby King would finally be resurrected. Durian wished he’d be around to see it, but took solace knowing he could at least serve Sardior in death.
Feredemius appeared again for one final confrontation, blasting the team with a breath weapon of necrotic energy. Fearing another hit like that may shatter the Blade, Durian prepared to teleport away with it again if necessary, but thankfully the team was able to knock the shadowy Dragon away with purifying magic.
Finally, another wave of psychic energy blasted from the Blade with twice the intensity as before, knocking back everyone in range…except for Durian. At first he felt nothing, but then began to feel a dull heat rising in his chest cavity. The warmth quickly grew and soon worked its way into every crevice of his body. He realized what was happening as the energy from the Emerald Blade flowed directly into him, and showed no signs of easing up. The warmth escalated into an intense heat, and then a writhing inferno. His hands squeezed tighter around the Blade’s hilt as he was paralyzed by the seething pain. Durian could not even open his mouth to scream in agony as every fiber of his body was being burned away at the same time. It took no time at all for the power to eat through his physical form and, in another blast, his consciousness exploded out and suddenly he became hyper-aware of everything and everyone on the mountain. He could see the five ritual sites all at once, including the Corundum Egg which now glowed with a blinding ruby light. His consciousness bumped into the other “court candidates,” and in their momentary mind meld they saw each other’s similar ordeals. Their swelling consciousnesses hit their limits, and Durian felt a ruby tether connecting him to the Blade as it pulled taut and began slipping loose. He knew in this moment he could choose to let go and have his soul carried to whatever peaceful afterlife awaited him. But remembering the words of Yggwilv, he knew his soul belonged to Sardior…and he was determined to stick this out until the very end. So he grabbed the tether and held onto it with all the strength of an incorporeal consciousness. The explosion began to subside, and his consciousness intermixed with the energy from the blast as it receded back to its origin point.
Durian felt himself yanked back to the ritual site. The immense psionic energy that had melded with him began clumping back into a solid, humanoid-sized mass, but the intense burning returned again and did not relent. The pain only seemed to intensify until, like a dying star revolting against its own collapse, the energy inside him pushed outwards in all directions, expanding his form and twisting it into a powerful new shape until his body grew large enough to contain the energy and the burning sensation waned. He should have been exhausted from the ordeal, but the psionic power which had been searing him moments ago now vibrated through every part of his being and even hummed in the air around him. He stood up, disoriented, his line of sight rising far higher than he recalled, despite feeling his feet planted firmly on the ground. Before he had any chance to process what had occurred, he heard a new yet familiar voice ringing a single command inside his mind: “fly.” Compelled to obey, he leapt from the mountain peak intending to summon his spectral wings but, strangely, he found them already protruding from his back as he flapped them with unfamiliar might. The Emerald Blade still firmly gripped in his hand, he flew towards the Corundum Egg with incredible speed before landing at the site with a ground-shaking thud. He knew from the Egg’s blinding ruby glow that it was time for him to fulfill his role. He approached the Egg, recalling how intent he was on protecting it over a year ago…it felt right that he must now be the one to break it. Wielding the Emerald Blade high in the air, he plunged the weapon into the Egg, splitting the shell and causing a brilliant ruby light to shine forth. It glowed so brightly that he was at last forced to look away and noticed his other surroundings. He towered over the other adventurers as they slowly gathered and seemed to gawk up at him in awe. He felt the weight and power of his body as he lumbered back on four legs to give the Egg space to hatch. Four brilliant Gem Dragons of differing types—Amethyst, Crystal, Sapphire, and Topaz—encircled the Egg with him to witness the final portion of the ritual. It finally began to sink in for Durian: he had been reincarnated into an Emerald Dragon. But not just any Emerald Dragon, he was the Emerald Dragon. The Emerald Thane of Sardior.
His conscious mind thought to panic, but a strange instinctual pride and reassurance grappled him in place. He found surface feelings of self-doubt were immediately snuffed out by something rooted to his new nature. “Was this not a mistake?—No, Sardior doesn’t make mistakes. But should this not have been Smargarg?—No, you are the chosen, otherwise Smargarg would be standing here.” It didn’t sound like something he’d say, but his core commanded him to believe it. He found odd comfort in this overbearing confidence, and he understood now why Dragons seem to often behave in such arrogant ways.
A high-pitched hum accompanied the Egg as the brightness reached its final intensity. More cracks formed along the surface until, at last, the Ruby King burst apart the shell, scattering its remnants to parts unknown. For the first time since Prehistory, Sardior arose from the Egg and levitated into the sky to bless the gathered crowd of heroes.
As the intense glow subsided, however, Durian looked around to discover he was no longer standing atop the Northern Snowy Mountains. He and the other transformed Thanes had been transported to a Gem Demiplane composed of brilliant crystalline structures. He could sense that these halls contained incredible ancient power…but this place also made him feel at ease for the first time since his adventure began.
The five Thanes would not be alone for long as suddenly their King flew in from above, ready to conduct the inaugural meeting of the revived Ruby Court. He was a humbler size than any of them expected, certainly nothing like the colossal figure woven into the ancient tapestries. But this was Sardior, no doubt, as his scales were a brilliant ruby and he emanated an incomparable psionic power. He took the form of a slim Dragonborn, even smaller than Durian had been prior to his rebirth. But perhaps his appearance made sense…a god's power is linked to their followers, and the Ruby King had been nearly forgotten to history until now. Durian realized his next purpose with Sardior…it would be the task of the Ruby Court to build him back up and herald his great return. Durian turned to the other Thanes as they all deliberated where to start, for their real work was only just beginning.
Emerald Atonement
Durzibethinus sends Rooney, his first Harbinger, to help investigate a surge of psionic activity which leads to the lair of a purified Feredemius…
[Coming Soon]
Adventures in Lyaphaire
Sardioric Warning: A fragment of Quelmar has leaked into a parallel universe, which means you are now entering a lorespace from an entirely separate realm. If you come across any beings, places, or items with Quelmarian counterparts throughout your multiversal travels, please report these echoes to Sardior.
| Player Name | Jeff |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 806 PR |
| Place of Birth | Jadenhill, Isonhound |
| Species | Dragonborn |
| Gender | Male (he/him) |
| Height | 6' 4" |
| Weight | 260 lbs |
| Eye Color | Emerald |
| Class | Monk |
Prologue
Adrian finds himself dropped into a strange new realm, having been radically altered and left to wonder whether Sardior's resurrection ceremony had actually worked…
Adrian Grunwald was born a Dragonborn of half-emerald, half-gold ancestry at the Bahamut temple of Jadenhill, a community of Dragonborn who sought refuge from the Second Draconic Crusades. His mother, Jadenhill’s high sorcerer, forsook most elements of draconic culture out of fear of persecution by crusaders, using sorcery to disguise their entire clan as Elves and even giving her hatchlings elvish-sounding names. His father, however, was a practicing Way of the Ascendant Dragon Monk from the temple and gifted him a draconic name—Durzibethinus—so he could quietly retain some connection to his roots.
While all of Adrian’s clutchmates sported gold scales the same as their father…Adrian looked just like their mother, exhibiting a confounding emerald color and even displaying her same prowess for psionic sorcery. But unlike their mother, Adrian longed to leave Jadenhill and discover why he looked and felt so different from the rest of his clan.
Attacks by evil Dragons and Shadowfell monsters were on the rise across the realm, and he used one such attack as a pretense to leave home in search of answers…also taking on the name Durian, a portmanteau of both names his parents had given him. His travels led him to discover the highly reclusive Gem Dragons—psionic creatures with deep ties to the multiverse—who divulged the truth of his emerald heritage as well as their plans for a ceremony to resurrect their god Sardior, the ruby king of Gem Dragons. Durian identified with these Gem Dragons and joined their cult of Sardior, convinced that the return of this ancient Ruby Dragon god could push away all the Shadowfell monsters still attacking the realm.
Durian helped the Gem Dragons prepare their resurrection ceremony—which required a representative for each type of Gem Dragon—under heavy duress from the monsters attempting to halt Sardior's return. When Smargarg—the cult’s Emerald Dragon—failed to arrive, a presumed casualty of the Shadowfell monsters, Durian volunteered to take his place as the emerald representative…despite warnings that he was too weak and the power of the ceremony would kill him. He was willing to make that sacrifice if it meant saving the realm.
Despite a tremendous battle, the resurrection ceremony proved successful and—to everyone’s astonishment—Sardior took Durian’s emerald essence and reincarnated him into a powerful Gem Dragon to serve the god on his Ruby Court…bestowing him the title of Durzibethinus, the Emerald Thane of Sardior. With their god resurrected and the Shadowfell monsters vanquished, Durzibethinus ascended with the other members of the Ruby Court to sow Sardior's influence across the realm and beyond.
But that was not all to Durian’s story as, despite leaning strongly into his emerald heritage…he was also part gold. This piece of him was presumably burned away during the ceremony, and it is true the last thing that he remembered was feeling an overpowering heat…followed by an intense cold…then just all-encompassing nothingness as he drifted for what seemed an eternity.
At last, he awoke near the peak of a mountain…not dissimilar to the Northern Snowy Mountains that the ceremony had taken place on. But where there had once been snow, this place was warm and wildflowers grew all along the slope. Even the sky was a different color. He wondered if this was death and tried to stand up, but his knees buckled as he was severely weakened. He eventually gathered enough strength to make his way down the mountainside.
He came across a stream and thought to follow it to civilization…but as he walked along it, he glanced his reflection and was shocked by the sight of his father staring back. But he realized as he peered closer that it was still unmistakably him, same facial features and all…but his scales from head-to-tail had all been turned gold. The only flecks of emerald that remained were in the irises of his eyes. He tried summoning a major image to act as a distress beacon and realized he could no longer tap into the pool of psionic magic that once welled within him. Devastated by the loss of his emerald essence, memories flooded back of his days as young Adrian living at the temple of Jadenhill…constantly plagued by questions about his identity and struggling for a sense of self.
Adrian carried on following the stream until it let out into a larger river, which finally led past a city where he was able to swipe a set of clothes and rest. He located a library the next day and searched for any keywords that would provide some familiarity. Jadenhill…Sardior…Gem Dragons…the Gem Dragons that existed here seemed just as elusive as they were at home—if not more so. But just as the Gem Dragons had spoken of planar echoes and other realms, this place—which he learned was called Lyaphaire—was a distinct world from the one he hailed from. Adrian couldn’t quite grip the concept of a multiverse…he could only process that the place he called home was very, very far away.
After some time spent in the city, Adrian found something familiar to latch onto when a resident mistook him for “one of those Dragon church people.” He learned of a temple that worshipped a Dragon god and journeyed there to request their help. The Monks there had never heard of a “Jadenhill” temple, but Adrian’s knowledge from a lifetime spent practicing draconic scripture and temple upkeep was enough to convince them of his authenticity. They offered him accommodations in exchange for physical labor, which he agreed to. In his downtime, he was permitted access to areas of worship, a library of religious scrolls to study, and even courtyards for physical training. It was in these courtyards one morning when Adrian witnessed some Monks practicing a fighting technique which he immediately recognized as the Way of the Ascendant Dragon…his father’s chosen martial art.
As a child, Adrian had only trained with his father and clutchmates for a short time before their mother swept him away to teach him how to be the next high sorcerer. He had always carried a chip on his shoulder for being separated like that and, having lost his psionic gem powers, a future in sorcery seemed closed off to him now. Still, he was determined to build back his strength and make something of himself in this new place.
He expressed interest in re-learning the Way of the Ascendant Dragon and, after a few years of training with the temple masters, he was able to pick back up the basics and build a foundation for future growth. For the first time since being dropped in Lyaphaire, Adrian’s prospects seemed bright. Still, he felt he could never truly come to terms with what he’d lost. He’d been content to die in order to resurrect Sardior, but to be left alive and stripped of his emerald essence…that was not an outcome he ever could have anticipated. And without a way for him to tell whether the resurrection ceremony worked, he couldn’t even know if his sacrifice had been worthwhile. With no clear answers to these thoughts in sight and no apparent means of returning home, Adrian did his best to keep his eyes set upon the future—at least for the time being.
Session 1
Adrian feels like he has hit a wall with his Monk training and takes the first opportunity to leave the Deus Temporis temple and explore more of this new realm, eventually ending up in the small village of Terakai and getting recruited for a new job alongside an unusual band of characters…
There was a time in Adrian's life when he wanted nothing more than to be a normal Gold Dragonborn like everyone else at home. Now it seemed as though he could finally have that while living at the Deus Temporis temple…but his ambitions had changed since leaving Jadenhill and it was clear that simply fitting in would no longer make him happy. Additionally, he had begun plateauing with his Monk training and was feeling a pull to explore more of the realm outside the confines of the temple. Adrian found his chance to leave after receiving a message from his acquaintance Ashe, a remarkably tall Monk who had visited the temple with her master for a brief time to learn draconic martial techniques. She was requesting Adrian's help providing protection for a transcontinental cargo delivery that was en route to her new place of work, a small-town tavern called the Grail and the Grave. Adrian seized the opportunity and joined the caravan headed towards the unfamiliar island kingdom, leaving the inlands of the Parluza continent and setting sail overseas for the first time in his life.
After a long journey from the Holy Kingdom of Islux, Adrian finally arrived in the village of Terakai—home to the Grail and the Grave. Despite a successful job, Adrian found himself substantially shortchanged by the coachman in charge of the delivery…meaning Adrian did not have enough funds to secure an immediate trip home. He wrote a letter back to the temple to inform them that his return would take longer than expected. Adrian knew he should feel agitated by the situation…but instead he felt some odd relief, no longer feeling pressured to depart so soon. He rented a room at the Grail and the Grave for a week, exploring what little there was to see of the village as he waited for a new job opportunity to arise. He spent early mornings jogging laps around the village square, the unkept greenery reminding him of the breezy mountainside that he first awoke on after being dropped in Lyaphaire. One morning late in the week, he was rustled from his reminiscing by the sound of a panicked mother emerging from her home shouting for her five-year-old son Osric. Adrian offered to help with her search, assuming the boy could not have wandered too far off…but alas, the child was nowhere to be found. Adrian circled back to the Grail and the Grave, confident that the boy would appear back home soon.
Adrian glanced around the tavern and spotted several of its regulars—Ashe was working behind the bar as usual, a short construct made of clay named Dave dutifully set about cleaning the tavern anytime they weren't painting, and an aquatic-looking Elf named Merys also sat at the bar as Adrian found a nearby empty seat. Ashe had just begun carrying out everyone's breakfast orders from the kitchen when a coin appeared from seemingly nowhere at the end of the counter, thus signaling her to wake up her boss Silence—a bubbly pink Tiefling covered in tattoos and co-owner of the tavern—to come down and deal with the situation.
Silence meandered downstairs, pulled out an ornate goblet and seemingly poured an invisible liquid into it. She took the coin and placed the goblet on the counter for an unseen patron. Adrian was intrigued by her interaction with the invisible customer and asked how she was able to see them, a question which perplexed her until she remembered "oh right, you all have normal eyes."
Shortly afterwards, the parents of Osric came into the tavern in a panic over their missing child…to which Silence immediately sprung into action ordering out coffee and comforting them. For all within earshot, she described the ongoing epidemic of children in the village going missing…and the few who found their way home refusing to speak about the thing that took them. Her partner Urzul—a physically imposing Half-Orc who often hunted dangerous monsters—had led several search parties to try and locate the missing children in the forests outside of town, but so far there had been no luck. Adrian and Merys offered to help with searching for the children, each being relatively new to town and in need of jobs. Silence also "fired" Ashe and Dave from their current roles at the tavern so that they would have time to assist in the search. With this new search party assembled, all they needed next was a lead on where to look first.
Session 2
Adrian awkwardly consents to play ghost host before setting out with the newly-formed search party towards the Pericles Hills in hopes of finding the missing children, but instead they get rained on and punch some face-sucking monsters to death after getting ambushed in a cave…
Silence offered the group ten gold pieces to uncover the location of the missing children and five additional gold pieces for every two children they are able to bring back. She then seemed to start conversing with another unseen patron in the corner of the tavern. Fascinated by the exchange, Adrian waved his hand around the area she was talking to in order to test if there was anything tangible. Silence rebuked him for being rude and warned him not to invade her guest's personal space, "unless you're volunteering to host." Adrian replied "sure, I guess…" not quite knowing what she meant by that phrase. Just then, Adrian felt a complete loss of control over his own body while still remaining conscious and a deep, unfamiliar voice spoke from him. The voice pointed the team towards the Pericles Hills, claiming it was the last location the missing children had been spotted. They responded to a few questions before vacating Adrian's body, leaving him feeling intensely cold and confused by what had just transpired. With this new information in mind, the team headed in the direction of the Pericles Hills.
As they set out on foot to try and rescue the children, their journey was slowed when it began to rain heavily and their path turned to mud. They decided to set up camp as it neared dark, but it was difficult to find any firewood that hadn't been dampened by the rain. The team gathered some wood and Adrian used his fire breath weapon to dry it off, while Dave casted a prestidigitation spell to ignite it. Adrian took fourth watch that night alongside Merys and the pair stayed awake discussing their pasts, sharing some things about their families but remaining purposefully vague on many details.
The team arose in the morning and finally made it to the Pericles Hills. They didn't spot anything that immediately stood out until they heard the whistling of a nearby cave. They stepped into the pitch-black cave and Dave casted a spell to create a copy of themself made entirely of light to illuminate the space. Dave, being unfamiliar with caving etiquette, also loudly announced themself to anyone in the cave who might be listening. The noise summoned two small, rubbery-looking monsters with tentacles to drop from the ceiling and latch onto Dave's face. Startled by the hideous creatures, Adrian fire-punched one of them off of Dave's face and stabbed the other one with his shortsword. As the monsters fell to the ground dead and burning, a quietness hushed over the team and they could hear the echoing voices of Goblins up ahead as the passage opened into a larger cavern. Just around the corner, an encampment of Goblins talked amongst themselves, "Bugbears hate Goblins, but Hags hate Goblins more." The team paused for a moment to quietly discuss their next move.
Session 3
Adrian learns the consequences of trying to sneak inside a cave without darkvision and the team is attacked by Goblins, then they learn of some Hags residing deeper in the cave and also meet some Bullywugs guarding a bright stone before the team decides to leave in search of a more definitive lead…
The team waited around the corner from where they could hear the Goblin encampment and debated what they should do. Adrian was confident that he could sneak closer to get a better count of how many Goblins they were up against, so he stepped farther into the cave before realizing it was too dark for him to see anything. Merys offered to accompany him, being a creature with darkvision. Despite Merys' help, they only got a few steps inside the cavern before Adrian tripped on a rock and faceplanted onto the ground. The resulting sound alerted the Goblins to their presence and they proceeded to launch an attack. The ensuing fight resulted in half the team getting stabbed by javelins, but they proved enough of a threat that the Goblins gave them an opportunity to "surrender." They agreed in order to let the Goblins save face, with Dave even offering to paint their portrait sometime back at their home cave. They asked the Goblins about the whereabouts of the Hags, to which they were pointed in the direction of a rippling pool of water that led deeper into the cave. The Goblins also pointed out another path which led to a Bullywug, so the team decided to visit the Bullywug first to ask if he had seen any children pass through the cave.
They took the direction towards the Bullywug and soon found themselves wading in shallow water. The path spilled into an area that was illuminated by a bright stone sitting atop a tall pedestal at the center of the cavern. The team approached the pedestal and debated standing on each other's shoulders to reach the stone before the Bullywug hopped out from beneath the water, warning them not to touch the stone as it was the only thing keeping the cavern from collapsing. They noticed numerous other sets of Bullywug eyes peering at them from beneath the water, so they decided to comply. They asked the Bullywug if he had seen any children pass through the cave recently, to which he denied seeing any. Feeling somewhat defeated and not wanting to confront any Hags without evidence of them being connected to the missing children, the team left the cave to search more of the Pericles Hills for any other potential leads.
Session 4
Adrian and the team return to the cave and get distracted by a gem-adorned tortoise before getting roped into a sisterly conflict between two Hags, then they almost successfully beeline past a Goblin encampment and Adrian nearly gets separated from the rest of the team by running way too fast…
After a brief time wandering the Pericles Hills looking for any other signs of the missing children, the team reluctantly tracked their way back to the previously explored Shrieking Caverns by following the shrieking sound of wind blowing from the cave’s entrance. As they approached the cave, Dave was immediately stricken by a javelin. "Stupid! Same people," they heard the leader of the Goblin encampment scold as the same horde of Goblins from their prior visit exited the cave. The team protestingly questioned why they were being attacked after having already surrendered, to which the leader shrugged and replied "attack first, talk second." Adrian asked the leader if they had heard anything else having to do with the Hags, to which the leader simply said "no," before shuffling away with the rest of the Goblin encampment.
The team entered the vacated cavern—with Adrian lighting a torch to avoid making the same mistake as last time—and approached a drop-off into the rippling pool which they had initially left unexplored. They discovered a set of stairs which terminated into the water, and there was a brief debate regarding the water's potential depth before Merys volunteered to take the first steps down the stairs and into the water. He discovered that the water was freezing cold, but shallow enough to wade through. Adrian trailed shortly behind while Ashe continued to hang at the back of the group. Dave, however, slipped on the stairs and fell completely into the water. Adrian scooped him up and offered to carry him the rest of the way through the water, so Dave nestled onto his shoulder as the team ventured deeper into the cavern.
The flooded path took several winds and turns before they heard the sound of splashing up ahead. Adrian cautiously investigated the noise and discovered a large tortoise with a gem-encrusted shell swimming around in the shallow pool. The team was suspicious of the tortoise, but Adrian seemed particularly fascinated by it and handed Dave off to Ashe so that he could slowly approach in hopes of talking to it. Merys suggested that the tortoise might require an offering since "it has all those gems on its shell for a reason." So Adrian took off his gold pendant from the Deus Temporis temple and held it up in a way that it gleamed by the light of his torch, hoping that this would appease the tortoise. Adrian inquired as to whether the tortoise could speak, to which the creature continued to splash around without heeding him any mind. Adrian called back in bewilderment to the rest of the team "I think this is just a normal tortoise," so they all cautiously scurried past the creature and continued on their journey. Further down the path, they came across two giant crabs feasting on a Goblin corpse and they were all able to successfully sneak past these creatures without drawing any attention.
Eventually, the path ended at a dry cavern where they could step up and out of the water. The space was adorned with impressively lavish furnishings and an incredibly beautiful woman stood at the bank of the water to greet them. "It's been a long time since I've had any visitors," she claimed while inviting the team to sit down. She introduced herself as Nephinza and they asked her if she had seen any children pass through these caves. She replied perhaps she had, but that the team would need to do her a favor first before providing any information. She instructed them to kill her sister Nephira, who inhabited the southern portion of the caves and with whom she had an ongoing rivalry. When pressed why she didn't kill her sister herself, she explained that neither sister was capable of harming the other. The team tentatively agreed to locate Nephira and began backtracking towards the southernmost area of the caves.
They followed the flooded path all the way back to where they had originally entered and continued even further south, eventually arriving upon a dry patch of the cave system where they found another horde of Goblins had set up camp. There was no other path around them and, left with few other options, Adrian proposed simply striding past the Goblins as if they belonged there. He demonstrated by speed-walking past the encampment first—avoiding eye contact with the Goblins—and the plan astonishingly seemed to work as the Goblins paid him no mind. Merys and Dave followed soon behind and seemed to have similar success. Ashe was skeptical of this plan and attempted to sneak past the Goblins as they sat around their campfire. Unfortunately, the sight of the exceptionally tall Monk caught the attention of the Goblins and they proceeded to corner her. As soon as he realized the jig was up, Adrian dashed further into the caves assuming that the rest of the team would do the same. Ashe chose to hang back and fight, however, so Merys and Dave jumped in to help.
Adrian, meanwhile—assuming the rest of the team was behind him—dashed deeper into the cave system, taking whichever direction seemed to lead furthest south whenever he hit a fork in the path. The rest of the team engaged the Goblins in combat and found themselves being herded further into the caves. Ashe, being the only one who could keep up with Adrian, sprinted after him to alert him of the situation. She soon caught up with him and they both sprinted back towards the fight. Adrian leapt in front of his teammates, roaring "stay the fuck away from my friends," before raining his fire breath weapon on the Goblins. The entire team fought the horde of Goblins into submission, non-lethally at Dave's insistence, thus they found themselves with four unconscious Goblins and a whole system of caves left to explore.
Session 5
Adrian gets hit by an obscene amount of flying projectiles and does some more dashing around while the team carries a couple of unconscious Goblins for seemingly no reason, all while managing to explore nearly every nook and cranny of the cave system except the part that might contain any Hags…
Adrian pulled some rope from his adventuring pack and tied up each of the Goblins to restrain them before they woke up. Knowing the direction that he ran before was safe, he led the rest of the team through the caves along that same route until they began approaching unexplored territory and decided to stop for a short rest. They eventually heard the sound of the Goblins regaining consciousness and struggling to break free, so the team decided to press forward. They continued trying to follow what seemed like the southernmost route and soon arrived at the entrance of a wide, well-lit tunnel. Adrian was suspicious of the tunnel and tried stepping slightly into it to investigate for traps, only to be shot at with an arrow. Adrian caught this projectile in midair, but was severely wounded as three more arrows shot out at him. Adrian retreated back to the rest of the team as they all sighted several bow-wielding Goblins ducking around the walls at the opposite end of the tunnel. The team remembered overhearing that the Hags in this cave hated Goblins, so it seemed unlikely that Nephira would reside at the end of this Goblin-infested cave. Consequently, they decided to backtrack and see what they could find by exploring the other directions.
Dave healed up Adrian as they explored a few of the other paths, one of which was partially flooded and took them past some glowing mushrooms which Merys determined could be used by a skilled alchemist to enhance healing potions. As they carried on exploring, they were confronted by the javelin-wielding Goblins they had tied up earlier. They seemed to squabble amongst themselves as to how to deal with us, so Merys casted a spell so he could understand what they were saying. From this, he was able to gather that the Goblins wouldn't harm us if we agreed to leave the caves. Meanwhile, Dave claimed they could understand what the Goblins were saying while trying to speak to them in Dwarfish. The team began meandering back towards the exit of the cave system while the Goblins followed shortly behind, presumably to ensure they were actually leaving. As they approached the last fork in the path before the exit, Adrian dashed in the other direction away from the exit and the Goblins launched all their javelins at him. This opened up the rest of the team to knock out the rest of the Goblins, who were already severely injured from their prior battle. They killed two of the Goblins while merely knocking the other two unconscious. Dave insisted on bringing the two unconscious Goblins with them, thinking they could be befriended and provide directions for navigating the caves. Severely injured again by the javelins, Adrian regrouped with the rest of the team and they carried on down another unexplored cave.
The path they took initially led them to a chasm that had no obvious path around, so they decided to try another route. As they ventured down the next path, they discovered cave paintings of Goblins being maimed and killed in various grotesque scenes. They pressed onward until arriving in an area that was littered with the corpses and skeletons of countless Goblin bodies scattered all along the sides of the path, which was being blocked by a monstrous creature with hollow white eyes that seemed to glow within the darkness of the cave. Already in very poor condition and preferring his odds with the chasm, Adrian dashed back the other direction before the monster had a chance to notice them. The rest of the team followed shortly behind, catching up with Adrian as he was plotting how to get across the chasm so that the monster couldn't follow them. He took out what was left of his rope, handing one end of it to Ashe before using his Monk agility to leap across the chasm. Unable to find anything to tie the rope to, he yelled over to Ashe to hold the rope taut with him so that the other teammates could climb across. Dave attempted first, but lost their grip and fell into the chasm. Thankfully, the chasm turned out to only be thirty feet deep. Merys tried climbing across next, but Adrian was too injured from the prior Goblin attack and lost his grip on the rope. This caused Merys to also fall into the chasm, but was rescued from damage by Dave casting a spell to feather his fall.
Ashe was able to leap across the chasm with ease, so her and Adrian lowered the rope to pull out their other teammates. As they held the rope to pull Merys out, Dave found a way to climb up along the rock wall and out of the chasm. Merys tried climbing the rope, but the added weight of the unconscious Goblin he was clinging to proved to be too much and he fell back down after making it halfway. Ashe yelled at him to tie the rope around his waist instead of trying to climb. This method proved more successful as Ashe and Adrian were finally able to pull up Merys. Now successfully all together on the other side of the chasm, the team hoped the path which laid before them would finally lead to the Hag that they had searched nearly every corner of the cave system for.
Session 6
Adrian has some secrets about his past exposed by an unknown creature lurking in the darkness and the team finally locates the bone-riddled lair of the second Hag, who offers the same murderous proposition as her sister before shedding some light on the reason for the pair's soured relationship…
The team entered into the cavern which sat across the chasm, hoping for a safe place to rest before facing Nephira the Hag. The cavern was dome-shaped with a high ceiling and was casted in nearly complete darkness except for a set of stairs which led to an elevated platform, upon which sat a treasure chest. Aside from that, the cavern appeared empty and the team breathed a sigh of relief. Dave offered to take third watch before immediately collapsing to sleep on the ground near the entrance. Adrian and Merys dropped the two Goblins they had been hauling around like dead weights, and Adrian sat up against the opposite cavern wall intending to rest.
They had all just barely settled in, however, when they began to hear an unfamiliar voice echoing throughout the cave. The voice talked directly to them, addressing each member of the team by name. Adrian answered back asking if they were Nephira, which the voice denied. Adrian tried guessing other names, even asking the voice if they were a god, as he stood up with a torch to search around the cavern for the voice's source. The voice grew agitated with the guessing and hissed back, "I know that you come from another world, but surely they must still have manners where you're from." Adrian questioned how they could possibly know that unless they were a mind reader and the voice replied, "I cannot read minds, I can only learn secrets…such as how your scales used to be of a different color." Adrian alarmingly glanced back at the rest the team who, thankfully, didn't appear to have picked up on any of that.
Adrian decided to plainly ask the voice for their name, to which they finally divulged, "you can call me Kyar'…now there, isn't it easier when we're direct with one another?" He continued to fruitlessly search around the cavern while Merys began questioning Kyar' as to what they wanted, and Kyar' answered that they were still deciding whether to let the team leave or stay. At one point, the voice spoke something in another language to the two Goblins which seemed to visibly scare them. Dave was finally stirred awake by all that was happening and tried to make Kyar' an offer of friendship, to which they scoffed that there wasn't enough gold amongst the whole team to be their friend. Dave offered them ten gold anyway to try and buy a "trial run" of friendship, so Kyar' instructed Dave to place his gold in front of the chest atop the platform. Dave obliged and as soon as Kyar' commanded the chest to "fetch," their pet Mimic sprang to life and devoured the gold pieces. This seemed to satiate the Mimic, and Kyar' by extension, for at least a little longer. Kyar' spoke something else in a foreign language which caused the Goblins to hop up and press a hidden panel on the wall, revealing a tiny tunnel that they both used to scurry out of the cavern.
Adrian spoke back up and suggested that the team have a rest until Kyar' decided to kick them out, to which Kyar' fiercely objected, "I still haven't decided whether to let you leave!" Kyar' said their real interest was in objects of the magical variety and, even without exact knowledge of what was in the team's backpacks, they knew that none of the team carried anything of that sort. In spite of this, Dave declared "since we're now friends on a trial basis, I like to try and inspire my friends…so here" and casted a spark of inspiration which physically manifested as it floated toward the ceiling where Kyar' was apparently hanging in the shadows. Kyar' took immediate interest in the tiny point of magic as they played with it in their claws, making it dance around. This seemed to entertain Kyar' long enough that the team was able to get a long rest.
The team took turns taking watch until the next day when they were able to speak to Kyar' a bit more, who revealed that there was once a third Hag sister named Nephilla and that each of the surviving sisters blamed one another for Nephilla's death. Before departing the cavern, Adrian tested Kyar' by speaking "we'll try not to be any more bother" in draconic, but Kyar' claimed to not understand the language. Kyar' warned the team not to return unless it was to bring them magical objects.
As they left the cavern and prepared to once again cross the chasm, Ashe impaled a spike into the ground and handed Adrian one end of her rope before leaping across the chasm. She impaled a second spike on the other side and they each tied their ends of the rope to the spikes to create a secure crossing. Dave and Merys climbed across without issue, but the rope on Ashe's side began to snap while Adrian tightroped across and he was barely able to leap the rest of the way over the chasm. With the team safely regrouped, they headed back towards the bone-covered path where they'd presumably find Nephira if they could only get past the monster.
As they approached the bend where they remembered seeing the monster, Merys scouted slightly ahead to get a closer look at it. The monster remained exactly where they had left it, appearing to have not moved in all the time they'd been away. Dave casted a shiny illusion of themself in front of the monster to see if it would react, but still it did not move from the middle of the path. At this revelation, Merys cautiously slid past the monster while pressed up against the cave wall and Adrian followed suit from the other side. With still to movement from the monster, Dave and Ashe followed behind and the team proceeded further down the path towards Nephira's lair.
They found themselves wading through water once again and, just as with her sister, Nephira was waiting for them at the entrance to her lair. While Nephinza took on the visage of a beautiful woman, however, Nephira was far more conventionally Hag-like in appearance and her lair was littered with bones piled all about. "It's been a long time since I've had any visitors," she spoke while gesturing for the team to sit. They asked if she knew why they had been sent, and she surmised it was no doubt the work of her sister. The team inquired if she had seen any children in the caves and she claimed to know where they were, but—just like Nephinza—she would only divulge that information in exchange for killing her sister. The team pressed for a reason behind the animosity between the two sisters and if it had to do with their third sister's death, and Nephira confirmed that she held Nephinza entirely responsible for Nephilla's demise. Recalling how Kyar' said each sister vehemently blamed one another, the team asked if they could somehow prove that Nephinza was not responsible for the death of Nephilla. However, Nephira insisted that such an effort would be pointless as she was completely certain of Nephinza's guilt. She lamented how Nephilla's lair had been overtaken by a Bugbear leading a horde of Goblins, but she wouldn't stop them if the team wanted to waste time and chance death by poking around there. Merys expressed his desire to not kill anyone without evidence of their guilt and Adrian agreed, preferring to stay neutral in the sisters' conflict until they could uncover proof. The rest of the team concurred and they departed Nephira's lair, heading towards the Goblin-guarded corridor where they presumed the former lair of Nephilla to be.
Session 7
Adrian and the team confront the Bugbear who has taken up residence alongside his horde of Goblins inside Nephilla's lair and they finally figure out where all of the townspeople's missing children have been disappearing, but what they discover is far from what could be considered a happy reunion…
The team discussed their plan of attack as they approached the Goblin-guarded corridor for the second time. Dave remained adamant that he had picked up enough of the Goblins' language to be able to befriend and talk to them. The rest of the team, deciding that this would be a hard but much-needed lesson for their small friend, allowed Dave to take the lead as they turned the corner towards the corridor.
As everyone else waited out of sight and listened for the codeword "strawberries," Dave raised their arms outwards as a sign of peace and cautiously trudged forward. Calling out in what they believed to be the Goblins' language, which sounded suspiciously like common but spoken very slowly, Dave beseeched them for a chance to speak to their leader. The Goblins raised projectile weapons against Dave upon noticing their approach, but they were haulted by the sound of a gruff voice coming from the end of the corridor. "Interesting…" the voice growled and ordered the Goblins to bring Dave to him.
Dave was led into a cavern with a fountain at its center and piles of bones strewn about, and on a throne at the opposite end sat a Bugbear who commanded the small army of Goblins posted all around with their weapons pointed. Dave attempted to state their case with the Bugbear, relaying their situation with the Hags and how they needed evidence of Nephilla's death in order to know which of the sisters to kill. "Kill both of them," the Bugbear snapped back, to which Dave elaborated that them and their friends didn't want to kill anyone without proof of guilt. Upon hearing that Dave had brought friends, the Bugbear immediately ordered his Goblins to kill them. Dave took hits from several arrows before running back as fast as their little legs could carry them.
Dave alerted the team by shouting every type of berry they could think of, to which Adrian came sprinting out to scoop up Dave and dashed them to safety all the way at the far side of the fork. The team regrouped there to figure out a new plan and, having just beared the full brunt of the Goblins' attack, Dave was no longer keen to befriend any of them. They attempted to pick off the Goblins by luring them out with mockery and bottlenecking them in the fork. They were only able to kill one of the Goblins with this bait, however, and it seemed clear to Adrian that they would need a more direct approach.
Adrian took off sprinting back down the corridor, dodging the Goblins' projectiles, and into the cavern to confront the Bugbear. Adrian pleaded with him to call of his Goblins so they could talk and that they were only there in search of some missing children. "Do you see any children here?" the Bugbear laughed. "No…you come into my house, you die," and he ordered his Goblins to shoot their arrows. Adrian dodged most of them, remaining standing long enough for the rest of the team to catch up.
Adrian pulled out his shortsword and began slicing up several Goblins while Ashe stormed forward to engage the Bugbear. Meanwhile, Merys launched projectile spells and Dave provided much-needed healing magic. Adrian once again roared at the Bugbear to call off the attack as he struck down three more Goblins, which the Bugbear waved off. Adrian argued that even if the Bugbear managed to kill their whole team, they would still put a heavy dent in his Goblin army. The Bugbear dismissed him, laughing "make your dent, there will always be more Goblins to replace them."
Ashe landed several strong hits on the Bugbear, but the final blow came from one of Merys' beams of crackling energy which the Bugbear tried to guard from with his shield, but the sound of splintering wood and skull bone reverberated throughout the cavern as the Bugbear's lifeless body crashed to the ground.
The moment that the Bugbear was killed and the shield broken, Adrian clocked a change in expression of the Goblin he was about to stab. Their eyes fluttered as if coming out of a trance before they realized what Adrian was about to do, threw down all their weapons and collapsed to the ground bawling. Just as his other teammates were readying to kill another Goblin, Adrian shouted to stop attacking them as they seemed to have been under a mind control spell. The other Goblins followed suit, crying and clinging to the team's pant legs.
Adrian lumbered over, the Goblin still clinging to his leg, to inspect the Bugbear's corpse. He found a wooden cross section that had separated from the rest of the shield, adorned with two gems on either side as well as magic runes inscribed on the back. This seemed to account for the mind control, but it still didn't explain where the missing children had gone.
The surviving Goblins continued to desperately sob and plead, so Merys approached one of them and casted a spell to be able to understand their language. The Goblin begged him not to hurt them, crying that they didn't know how they got there and that they just wanted to go home to their parents.
Session 8
Adrian barters with Kyar' for information on how to turn the transformed children back into their normal selves, Dave talks to a strange pointy-toothed man in a two-way mirror, Ashe gets nearly killed after being flung off a balcony, and Merys gets turned into a Goblin after drinking from a fountain…
With the Bugbear defeated, the team was left with a mob of crying children who had been transformed into Goblins by some unknown source. Adrian picked up the Goblin child still clinging to his leg to try and calm them down as well as free himself up to move around Nephilla's former lair. Meanwhile, Ashe and Dave headed up the stairs to explore the balcony. They came across a large pile of crates and a mirror with glowing runes similar to what were inscribed on the Bugbear's shield. As Dave picked over the crates and pocked a rind of cheese, Ashe touched the runes and suddenly a strange pointy-toothed man appeared in the mirror, questioning the two of them about what had happened to B'rogo. The man lamented that the Bugbear had been killed thus rendering this branch of his operation redundant before casting a spell which shattered the mirror outwards, knocking Ashe from the balcony and impaling several shards of glass in both her and the Goblin child that she was holding. Dave was able to avoid the strike from the mirror and used their own magic to slow Ashe's fall.
Not long after, Kyar' appeared at the entrance of the cavern. This was the first time that the entire team had gotten a glimpse of him, a grotesque creature with lanky limbs and a large green eyeball. He said he detected that the Bugbear known as B'rogo had been slain, so he came to make use of the fountain in Nephilla's layer as it possessed strong magical properties. Adrian investigated the fountain by twirling his hand around in the water, which felt cold but did not ripple or respond to his touch. Merys tried drinking from it, which tasted refreshing but immediately shrank him into a Goblin standing in a heap of his now-too-large clothes. He could no longer understand or speak to the rest of his team in this form, but on the plus side, he could now communicate with the Goblin children. He gathered that the oldest was a girl name Kylie who had taken on a leadership role amongst the children in the absence of any adults.
Interestingly, Kyar' could communicate with both the team and the Goblin children and relayed messages between both groups. Adrian asked what they could do to change Merys and the children back, but Kyar' would only part with this information for what he deemed a fair trade. According to Kyar', the team had first pick of any contents in the cavern due to them getting there first, so Adrian searched around for anything valuable. He returned to the crates that Dave had previously picked over and found some items of substantially higher value, including a silver figurine of a raven. Adrian offered seventy gold pieces that he found for the information, which Kyar' seemed to reluctantly accept. He revealed that the effects of the fountain would wear off after twenty-four hours so long as those affected did not drink from the fountain again in that time.
Kyar' offered to remove the glass shards from Ashe if she allowed him to use drops of her blood in the fountain, to which she agreed. The transformed Osric, the Goblin child who had also been embedded with glass shards, agreed to the same offer. Kyar' removed the shards and mixed their blood into the fountain, revealing a journal that he pulled from the water and took over to a corner of the cavern to sift through. With Kyar' seemingly satisfied, the team and the Goblin children took the opportunity to rest.
During Adrian's watch, he tried talking to Kyar' to try and get a better understanding of his affinity for secrets. Making small talk about the contents of the journal, Kyar' revealed that it had belonged to his old friend Nephilla and that he was reading it "for nostalgia." He seemed to come across a page that was especially interesting and Adrian asked what it said, but Kyar' would not reveal anything more without another trade. He took particular interest in the silver raven figurine as it was apparently some sort of wondrous magical item, but Adrian said that it belonged to the team and it was not his alone to trade away, which Kyar' seemed to accept. Before returning to his rest, Adrian also asked Kyar' about the glowing rock that the Bullywugs in the cave worshipped. Kyar' laughed, explaining that it was a simple Luckstone that the Bullywugs assigned superstition to after an earthquake had coincidentally occurred at the same time they had last touched the stone. With that, Kyar' returned to his reading and Adrian went to sleep.
In the morning, it was a harder task than expected to keep the Goblin children from drinking the fountain water as many of them woke up extremely parched. Merys attempted to explain the consequences to them but they were in no mood to listen to him. Dave scared off most of the Goblin children from the fountain, however, by waving a weapon at them. By morning, the bodies of the slain Goblins had turned back into children and the team, determined not to leave them behind, coordinated amongst themselves how to carry the bodies back to Terakai as well as get the surviving Goblin children to cooperate as they left the caves. Ultimately, Kylie volunteered to drink from the fountain and remain a Goblin for a while longer to help keep the other children in check. So the group departed the caves, with Merys taking great glee in being able to cuss out the real Goblins who had attacked the team previously as they passed their encampment.
Along the way as they marched through the Pericles Hills, the children as well as Merys started returning to their original forms in the same order that they had drank from the fountain, just as Kyar' had said. With Ashe leading the team, the child Osric sitting atop her head, they all made it out of the hills and back on the path to Terakai.
Session 9
Adrian and the team make a less-than-heroic return to Terakai with a mob of uncontrollable children in tow and they all agree to ask Silence for help in dealing with their families, then a mentor from Ashe's past appears in town and the rest of the team must suddenly say goodbye to their friend…
It was one day's journey back to Terakai after leaving the Pericles Hills. Adrian and Dave attempted to identify the raven figurine along the way, discerning that it was magical in some way but not how to activate it. All of the living as well as deceased children (Garland the 4-year-old Halfling, Anton the 5-year-old Human, Rupus the 7-year-old Human, and Huru the 9-year-old Half-Orc) had reverted to their original forms as they reached the outskirts of town. It was the late evening and the team decided to come up with a plan for how to deal with the children before reentering town, opting to take them to Silence as she seemed well-rehearsed in dealing with conflict amongst the townsfolk. Merys relayed this plan to the oldest child Kylie, and she relayed it to the younger surviving children.
As soon as they entered town, however, the children realized where they were and the team began to lose control of the situation. Kylie and Henry, a Gnome boy, remained calm, but two of the other children immediately tried to run straight home. Dave attempted to stop the children by stunning them with a magical bright flash, but this merely blinded them as they continued running haphazardly towards the wrong houses. Harmony, the Tiefling girl, stumbled straight into the door of a random house and got her horns stuck. Adrian chased after Osric, the Human boy, attempting to stop him from also slamming into the wrong house. But as soon as he picked him up, the boy screeched even louder and caused Adrian to compulsively drop him. As Osric is throwing an extremely audible fit, the lights come on from inside the house. Turning back to the other house that Harmony had slammed into, the team saw a very tall Half-Elf woman who had emerged from the house, gotten Harmony unstuck from the door and began to soothe her. Ashe recognized this woman and began pleadingly looking towards her to assist with the other screaming child. The woman directed Harmony over to Ashe, who hung off of her pant leg as the woman went to calm down Osric. An old man had emerged from the house that Osric was screaming in front of, but it only took the woman's reassurance that all was well for him to go back inside.
The woman returned to the rest of the team, introducing herself as Artemis. She performed some type of tiger-based martial art move on Dave, slamming them from behind into the pavement and warning them not to ever use magic against the children of the town again. She offered to take the surviving children home, to which Ashe vouched that she is trustworthy and the team let her guide the children back to their correct houses.
The team headed for Silence's tavern, the Rose and the Thorn, only to find it still bustling. Ashe went inside to explain the situation to Silence, who was directing floating plates around and gestured Ashe towards the back door, while the rest of the team waited outside with the cart of deceased children. Adrian went to move the cart to the side of the building so as to draw less attention, but the cart began pushing itself towards that very direction and the team followed behind as it came to rest at the tavern's back door.
Silence opened the door to meet the three of them and they began struggling to explain what had happened, but Silence was adamant about not wanting to know anything. Merys continued to relay the story, however, presumably out of shock and nerves. Silence protested, annoyed that she would now be forced to lie in order to keep things under control. She ordered "you three, take the children upstairs and make them look comfortable." Just as Adrian made a move to lift one of the bodies, Silence snapped back "I wasn't talking to you," as the bodies seemed to float out of the cart all on their own and into the tavern. The visage of this shocked Adrian…it had been several years since he'd lost the ability to see invisible things, but something about being unable to see Silence's ghostly servants in this moment truly shook him and he let out an audible gasp. Silence retorted, "what's wrong with the dead helping the dead?" Adrian sheepishly clarified, "nothing…it's just that the floating surprised me." Silence invited the group back into the tavern, as their previous rooms were still available. Ashe chose to camp in the woods to get some distance from the situation and Dave decided to spend the rest of the night strolling around town in case any commotion happened. Adrian and Merys retired to their respective rooms for the night, however, and all they could hear outside were the occasional sounds in the hallway of some parents' grief which quickly became muffled by a closing door.
When morning finally came, Adrian walked past Merys' door hoping that he was also up as he did not quite feel ready to brave downstairs alone. Luckily, Merys was walking out at that exact moment and they both went down together. Ashe and Dave also reentered the tavern in that moment through the front door. They all sat at a table except for Dave, who started trying to clean all around the room as if nothing had happened. Silence descended the stairs with a yawn, seemingly back to her normal spirits, and called to the kitchen for four morning sunrise platters. She sat with the team, apologizing for her impatience the night before as four platters of food floated towards the table and were placed in front of each of them.
As they ate, Silence handed the team ten gold each—the promised payment for having saved four children—as well a sack of thirty extra gold to split amongst themselves as thanks for bringing the bodies back. "You did not need to, but the families were incredibly grateful," she explained. Adrian tried proposing that instead of paying him, that she might help identify the raven figurine they had found instead. Silence rebuffed, "I see no reason why I can't do both" and grabbed his hand, reassuring him that what happened wasn't his fault and insisting that he take the money. Adrian reluctantly agreed as he pulled the raven figurine from his bag for her to inspect. She identified it as a Figurine of Wondrous Power, an uncommon magical item that could come to life for a brief time and deliver a message. She explained she would need to spend some time to figure out its power word, but that she would return it as soon as she was done. Adrian also ran back up to his room to fetch the shield with the runes on it, which Silence recognized as command glyphs that would have allowed B'rogo the Bugbear to control anyone who drank from Nephilla's fountain.
As they were eating breakfast and having these items identified, the tall Half-Elf named Artemis who had helped them the night before entered the tavern and requested to speak to Ashe. The two of them went outside and Ashe pleaded to teach her the tiger-based martial art move that she had performed on Dave. The Half-Elf, who was an inch or two taller than even Ashe, eventually agreed after some coaxing, but warned that they would need to start her training right away. Ashe darted back into the tavern intending to quickly shout goodbye to her friends and dash off, but Artemis turned her around and instructed her to say proper goodbyes as "you won't be seeing them for awhile."
Adrian was surprised to see Ashe go, stuttering "you're kind of the whole reason I came here in the first place." She gestured to the other teammates, responding "and let them be the reason you stay." After saying her farewells to each of them, the mentor and mentee took off in a sprint towards the sunrise as Ashe struggled to keep pace with Artemis' long strides.
Session 10
Adrian makes use of some much-needed downtime by distributing the loot he picked up in the Shrieking Caverns to his friends and teammates, but his momentary feeling of calmness is disrupted by a nightmare that unlocks a lost memory from the day he sacrificed his emerald essence…
After returning to Terakai from their first mission together, the team had a couple of days in town to spend however they pleased. Dave first headed to the general store to try and purchase a new broom, dropping most of his possessions and coins on the counter as they had no idea how to barter. The Half-Elf shopkeeper, taking pity on them, refused this "trade" and haggled Dave down to a more reasonable price, even snapping the broom's handle down to a shorter size to make it easier for Dave to use.
Meanwhile, Adrian gathered together the items he had found in the Shrieking Caverns and asked his teammates if they wanted dibs on any of the stuff before he sold it off at the general store. Dave took a roll of twine and a multicolored stone disk, and Merys took a pair of engraved bone dice. Adrian also visited Silence to make her the same offer as thanks for all of her help and accommodations, and she accepted two carved bone statuettes. She also expressed interest in a copper chalice with silver filigree, but she insisted on paying Adrian twenty-five gold pieces for it. Afterwards, Adrian headed to the general store to sell the rest of the items. The shopkeeper asked Adrian if he knew how to haggle, recounting his previous experience with Dave. Adrian presented an embroidered silk handkerchief and a spool of thread, for which the shopkeeper offered him twenty gold pieces. Adrian accepted and also presented a wedding ring he had found but, being unfamiliar with the courting customs in this kingdom, the shopkeeper explained that wedding rings were most often custom-made and that this ring had most definitely been designed with a specific person in mind. He offered to purchase the ring anyway, but Adrian decided to hold onto it just in case he could find out who it was designed for. Adrian thanked the shopkeeper, who introduced himself as Cornago Harker, before heading back to the Grail and the Grave.
Afterwards, Merys also stopped by the general store to inquire about mailing a letter to his family. Cornago explained that letters were often delivered by birds such as those kept by Lord and Lady DuPont, nobles without any real power who had been relegated to Terakai. Mailing a letter through them would have been too pricy, however, and Merys chose to go with a different option.
After the team met back at the Grail and the Grave, Adrian gave Merys and Dave equal shares of the silver and copper pieces he had brought back from the Shrieking Caverns. Not knowing what to do with money, Dave immediately went to the town's non-denominational shrine and left all of his coins there in neat little stacks.
Adrian struck up another conversation with Silence, inquiring what would be the best way to return to the Holy Kingdom of Islux on the continent of Parluza, if he ever wanted to return to his Deus Temporis temple. She replied that the best way would probably be to return with one of the caravans back to the port towns on the "prongs," spurs of islands that go north along the bay of the Tenabrask Kingdom, and hitch a ride on a ship from there. Adrian also asked where he could find the nearest temple of Deus Temporis. She said that the Tenabrask Kingdom, not being a particularly religious continent, had a single Deus Temporis temple at the kingdom's capital which worshipped all three heads—Alram, Meozith, and Lethos—of the Dragon god of time. Silence also mentioned, although she wasn't certain, that she had heard this temple also worshipped another Dragon who was known as the "Dragon of stories." Adrian expressed interest in visiting this temple to pay his respects, should he ever find himself in the kingdom's capital.
That night, Adrian had a nightmare which harkened back to his final moments in the Battle of Five Lights when his body was burned away as part of the ritual to resurrect Sardior. Unlike his original memory, however, he heard three distinct voices once his consciousness had been left to float in a sea of nothingness. The voices argued amongst themselves: "It is foretold, the young one will die." "But he cannot die, it would disrupt the timelines." "Then we will leave him enough. Just enough so that he is not lost…but we will also take." In that moment, Adrian felt as though he was suddenly not all there. Then, just as he recalled before, he was left cold and adrift until he felt his memories become overpowered by soreness and the sudden need to breathe. Adrian gasped awake, still in his bed at the Grail and the Grave.
The next day during breakfast, a Half-Orc named Urza—the other co-owner of the Grail and the Grave and Silence's partner—entered the tavern with a caravan returning from the north. Silence leapt into Urza's arms, exclaiming "you're home!" The caravan also consisted of Maple, a young Artificer woman with extremely long pigtails and an enormous hammer, who immediately took up an interest in Dave and began bombarding him with questions about how he functioned. The majority of the group, however, was made up of a dozen of the town's missing children who Urza had successfully located. Each child carried either a porcelain or wooden doll and was completely silent with vacant eyes. Urza had apparently employed Maple to watch after these children in her caravan in exchange for a piece of information about a particular sword. Despite the children being found and returned to Terakai, however, it was clear that something terrible had happened to them.
Session 11
Adrian and the team run some field tests to try and figure out what could have caused the enchantment on the returned children, then they debate amongst themselves what their next course of action should be before finally deciding to travel to Gorothair, the city where Urza had located the children…
Urza stood behind the counter in the Grail and the Grave, sizing up the team as they watched Silence's unseen ghosts usher a dozen recently found children through the front door. None of the children put up any fight or protest, simply allowing themselves to be nudged in whichever direction they were guided. Adrian asked Urza if there was anything he could do to help, to which she responded "don't see how." The team began asking her questions about the children and where she had found them. She explained that she found them dispersed all around Gorothair, one of the larger cities located on the western prongs just north of Terakai. She said "once I found a few, it became easier to track the rest down," and that the children were in this vacant state when she found them. Most of them were already holding a doll, but the few who had become separated from their doll were struggling desperately to retrieve it. She had found one of the children at a house where their doll had been locked inside, and "they were trying to claw straight through me to get it back." Adrian kneeled down to one of the children to ask their name, but they gave no response and their eyes seemed to only barely track him. The team asked if the children were only attached to their specific dolls, to which Urza replied "I don't wanna know what happens if you try to switch them."
Silence was visibly upset by the state of the children and had left to retrieve something from her room, eventually returning with a keyring that held various pieces of stained glass. She peered at the children through each piece of glass before landing on one and determining that the children were under an enchantment spell. The dolls, however, bizarrely did not appear to have any magical properties. She retreated back to her room to fetch another item and Urza followed, leaving the team to babysit the children. Adrian and Merys went back and forth speculating what could be the cause of this enchantment. As soon as Dave spoke up, however, all of the children moved their heads to stare directly at Dave. This gave Adrian an idea: assuming these children were victims of the same operation as the children they had rescued from the Shrieking Caverns, perhaps they had been enchanted by the pointy-toothed man who had spoken to Dave through the two-way mirror and the children were being used to psionically spy on them. Merys agreed this was possible, but also expressed concern about the children being potential sleeper agents who could be remotely activated at any time to carry out some devious task.
Dave decided to paint a picture of the pointy-toothed man to see if the children would react to the sight of him. Maple, meanwhile, was exhausted from the sleepless caravan and dozed off at one of the tables. While that was going on, Adrian tested another theory by grabbing a towel from behind the counter and tying it over one of the children's eyes like a blindfold. He then took Dave and led them to the other side of the room. All of the children's heads swiveled to continue tracking Dave except for the blindfolded one, who merely moved their head around confusedly. Adrian excitedly declared this meant that the children were not acting as a hive-mind, but rather, they were probably all merely attached to the same puppeteer.
The team ran some other tests, such as seeing if the children would track illusions of Dave, before Silence and Urza eventually returned holding what looked like an eight-pointed folding fan. Silence explained it was an item that could dispel enchantments, but they would need to be careful as it only held eight charges a day. Urza expressed concern, "how do you decide which child gets to go home tonight?" They opted to keep all the children safe in the upstairs inn until they could remove the enchantment from all of them. Silence couldn't decide which child to test the fan on first, so Dave pointed out the child that he deemed the most "disposable." She waved the fan at the child and one of its points dimmed, but there was no visible change in the child's demeanor. Silence tried again and upped the ante by expending two charges. This time, the child began to blink and look around as if coming out of a daze. Silence was visibly relieved, muttering "good, good…it can be dispelled."
As the enchantment broke and the magic began to dissipate into the air, however, Dave saw the magic as pretty colors and absorbed the magic into their body before immediately expelling it. The wild magic caused the painting that Dave was holding to catch fire, as well as any other flammable things that Dave grasped in their hands for the next minute. Silence scolded Dave to not absorb wild magic as doing so always had unforeseen consequences. Silence kneeled down to the child to see if they were alright and ask if she could borrow the doll. The child appeared back to normal, except their strong attachment to the doll seemed to linger and they were extremely reluctant to give it up. Silence and Urza exchanged a brief aside in infernal that only Adrian could understand, speculating that the enchantment might have lingering effects that would hopefully dissipate over time. Silence wielded the fan again, expending three charges to disenchant a second child. She felt the enchantment put up no resistance this time, which was good as she now had a grasp on how powerful this enchantment was. Dave did not heed Silence's prior warning and once again absorbed the wild magic, this time taking heavy physical damage. Dave remained convinced, however, that they were still capable of summoning fire.
Silence spent the last two charges of the fan to free one more child and Urza led all of the children upstairs to get them settled into some rooms. When she returned, the team debated what their next move should be. Urza said it was up to them where they wanted to go, but offered to find them some jobs around town if they chose to stick around. Ultimately, the team decided to travel to the city of Gorothair as it was their only lead on where the children were disappearing to. Urza let them know that the journey there took roughly six or seven days, not accounting for long rests. Despite not knowing anything about the city, the team was hopeful that they could figure it out as they went, just as they had on their prior mission.
Appearance
Durian
Durian is sturdily built like most Dragonborn, although he is not exceptionally strong. His scales are a shimmering emerald color with a fine, prickly texture and translucent at the surface. He has draconic emerald eyes and long head tendrils which hang down his back like a mop of hair. He also has a tail, uncommon but not unheard of amongst Dragonborn. His garbs forego the customary blue of most Bahamut worshippers, instead wearing assorted metallic hues to better resemble the metallic Dragonborn more often found in his clan. He outwardly proclaims his allegiance to Bahamut, however, by donning a conspicuous pendant with his religion’s traditional symbol and color. He also wears a handmade necklace fastened with a Tear of Sardior, symboling his mission to help resurrect the god of neutral Dragons.
Durzibethinus
In his true form, he is a massive Emerald Dragon with shimmering, translucent scales and two lengthy horns crowning the top of his head. Clusters of smaller crystalline protrusions encircle the rest of his head like a mane. His eyes glow with a pupil-less, emerald hue. Powerful, sinewy limbs match his long neck and tail while broad wings spread from his spiny back. Hard spikes stick out from each of his leg joints. His feet are adorned with razor-sharp claws.
Despite his imposing natural shape, he often favors disguises and will even polymorph into his prior Dragonborn form. In this shape, he appears nearly identical to how he looked before his rebirth, with the addition of wings which are similar to his old spectral ones except that they remain a permanent fixture.
Adrian
Adrian is identical in appearance to his prior Emerald Dragonborn form, except that all of his scales have taken on a metallic gold color. The flecks of emerald in his eyes are the last visual remnants of his gem heritage. He wears lightweight garb with accents of emerald hues to try and bring out the color of his eyes and bolster what remains from this side of his ancestry. He wears a pendent around his neck from the temple of Deus Temporis that trained him…specifically, a gold pendant shaped like Meozith—the Metallic Dragon head from the three-headed Dragon god of time.
Personality
Durian
Durian’s prior knowledge of what exists outside Jadenhill had all been secondhand, so he looks upon the world with wondrous eyes. He asks lots of questions, seeking knowledge and solutions to problems that may not have even occurred yet. He has a deep appreciation for his own mortality, but he’ll go all in for a cause he feels is just. He tries to fall back on the teachings of his temple when confronted with a new quandary, but privately struggles to fit all things into the good/evil paradigm that Bahamut espouses. He hoped that joining the fight against Dragons would help bring clarity to his religious anxieties. However, the realities of the conflict have only further muddied his outlook.
Durzibethinus
Becoming a Dragon has altered his mind in ways that even he does not fully understand. Emotions feel larger than before, for better and worse. He is more confident and curious, but also more paranoid and mistrusting. It’s difficult to discern if these changes are entirely the result of his new form, enhancing traits that were already there, or if they are in part due to Sardior’s influence. When he begins having an intrusive or self-doubting thought, it’s as if another part of his mind rushes in to squash the thought before it can fully form. He is persuaded to his core that this is what he was meant to become…and yet he sometimes feels a dissonance between mind and body, as if he’s merely the same insecure Dragonborn piloting this huge, powerful creature. He quietly hopes and trusts that these incongruent feelings will dissipate as he acclimates to being a Dragon.
Adrian
Being new to Lyaphaire, Adrian can come off as endearingly naive when encountering new things. He hides a chip on his shoulder due to feeling forsaken by his god, Sardior, after sacrificing himself for the Gem Dragon god's resurrection and being consequently discarded in an unfamiliar realm. He speaks about his past in vague terms and is often reluctant to talk about it since he is doubtful that anyone would believe him, yet alone be able to provide the sort of closure he desires. Optimism is a shaky habit to kick, however, so he hopes for a day when he is able to prove his worthiness to the Gem Dragons and reclaim his emerald essence…possibly even return home and learn if his efforts to revive Sardior had paid off.
Abilities
Durian
Durian is naturally gifted with psionic abilities, but the way he wields these powers is still lacking in finesse. Aside from communicating via telepathy, he can also psychically lash out at enemies like a mind whip and exhale psychic energy as a breath weapon. When dealt damage at close range, he reflexively retaliates with a burst of telekinetic energy to push away the aggressor. He can also summon temporary spe ctral wings which allow him to fly.
He can create fire at will, drawing upon the Gold Dragon part of his ancestry. He was also taught a number of illusionary spells meant to prepare him for being the high sorcerer of Jadenhill, such as disguisement and invisibility. Additionally, he is very multilingual as a result of his upbringing as a courtier.
He finds new ways to utilize his innate magic abilities in order to avoid repeating previous close brushes with death. He figured out how to feather fall after being thrown from a crumbling balcony during his first encounter with Sro. After being nearly digested by Bleucorundum's phase gelatinous cube, he learned to see invisibility.
Following his reacquisition of the Selune Splinter, Durian used it as an opportunity to practice some of the ranged illusionary magic that he was only just beginning to learn before the artifact was stolen.
After tracking down the lair of Smargarg the Emerald Dragon and requesting his help in locating Feredemius, the Emerald Thane of Sardior, the Dragon taught Durian the Boon of Telepathy which strengthened his existing psionic abilities and enabled him to read the minds of other creatures.
Durzibethinus
Sardior’s Thanes are meant to be Exarchs for their gem types, so Durian’s psionic and psychic powers were radically amplified by his transformation as well as his physical size and strength. He has unmatched prowess in telepathy, clairvoyance, and illusions (skills which he can further project using his Gem Artifact, the Emerald Splinter). He is able to exhale a disorientating breath weapon of psychic dissonance. He has a powerful bite and claw attack. He can also fly, teleport and change his shape at will.
His psychic presence seeps into his surroundings over time, a trait which he can use to purposefully imbue certain items and even other creatures with his own emerald essence. He used this ability to transform Rooney into his first Harbinger, forging a patron-like relationship and psychic link which allows him to see through the Ranger's eyes as well as telepathically communicate.
Adrian
Adrian lost access to his psionic abilities after Sardior took his emerald essence, which initially left him severely weakened upon first landing in Lyaphaire. Over the course of a few years residing in this new realm, however, he steadily rebuilt his strength by training as a Monk in the Way of the Ascendant Dragon.
Trivia
- Durian’s family is primarily of Gold Dragon ancestry, hence why his simpler spells tend to be fire-based. Exhibiting gem features is seemingly a recessive gene, as Durian’s immediate family are all gold sans for him, his mother, and grandmother.
- Despite knowing that he differs from his siblings in a major regard, Durian identified as a Gold Dragonborn until his encounter with Bleucorundum. Now faced with the existence of Gem Dragons, he is unsure what to make of himself.
- Durian was one of very few telepaths in Jadenhill and took extra coaxing as a child to verbalize his words, so he is overly eager when meeting other telepaths on his journeys and tries using telepathy as the primary means of communication with them.
- In 820 PR, visiting representatives attempted to scout Durian for Katharda Academy, a proposal which his mother outright refused as he "has a purpose here" and stated that the school "cannot accommodate our unique situation." The representatives warned of the escalating War of Dragons but, after implying that they could see through her Wood Elf disguise, she angrily dismissed them, exclaiming "this is your fight, we're just trying to survive through it." Durian kept a longstanding grudge against his mother for not allowing him to go, and he likely would have gone himself had he not been a year short of fifteen (the age of adulthood in Dragonborn societies). His place was instead offered to Frances Langford, the next candidate on the school’s list.
- Durian's mother eschewed many aspects of Dragonborn culture due to the fear of her family being discovered by Crusaders. This included conventional draconic names, so she named her son Adrian at birth with the intent of making him sound more elvish. His father, however, was far more relaxed and gifted him the draconic name Durzibethinus on his fifteenth birthday. Upon leaving home, he combined both names and began calling himself Durian in a halfhearted attempt to reclaim some part of his identity.
- Durian has never seen or tasted the fruit of his unintended namesake. Coincidentally, however, durians are one of the few fruits that appear on the Scavenging Table for the Dragon-ridden mainland of Kiston. Additionally, a single durian fruit once came into Jadenhill as a gift from an overseas diplomat, but it just ended up used as a kickball.
- While visiting the lair of Smargarg, Durian came across the Amethyst Dragon egg which had been stolen from the Court of Quartz. He left it alone as he could not tell it apart from any other gem egg, but the party's ship captain managed to swipe the egg and fled before anyone could see as it almost immediately hatched into an Amethyst Dragon wyrmling.
Behind the Screen
- This character was created out of a desire to introduce Gem Dragon lore into Quelmar following the release of Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, as well as to help answer the question of why Dragonborn continued to sporadically appear after the point in the Quelmar Timeline when Dragonborn were presumed to have gone extinct (the implication being that a few clans managed to survive undetected through the Second Draconic Crusades). Some secondary elements from the character’s backstory, such as the Selune Splinter, served as callbacks to previous Quelmar campaigns that the player participated in.
- Several elements of this character drew upon themes of queerness, such as the power of language and its impact on identity when sufficient vocabulary does not exist to properly describe oneself. This manifested as a Gem Dragonborn, ignorant to the existence of Gem Dragons, identifying as metallic as it was their culture’s closest (yet entirely inadequate) approximation for what they were. Other themes included masking to fit into a social order and how such forms of suppression can be multilayered, as in the case of an Emerald Dragonborn masking as a Gold Dragonborn masking as a Wood Elf.
- Another one of the player’s goals was to test the outcome of playing a character whose motivations for learning new spells while leveling up were entirely narrative-based (specifically as a Sorcerer, a class whose playable spells are unable to be changed from day-to-day). For example, they learned Feather Fall following a session in which they nearly died by falling from a great height. At their next point of leveling up, they learned See Invisibility after being nearly killed by an invisible monster. The highest level they reached as a player character was level 8 and the player concluded that this approach could be narratively gratifying if given the right campaign, but that it resulted in an arguably underpowered character.
