Dragonbane: Secret of the Dragon Emperor, Ep. 2

The company settled into Outskirt and its fogbound rhythms before trouble found them at the Three Stags. Sarah, an herbalist who lives on the western edge of the Black Rattle Swamp, arrived in a panic: her husband, Alexei, had fled a pair of stone toads and come home stricken with pebble fever. She could save him, she swore, if someone brought back a toad’s head or the gland in its brow. The group agreed, with Alaric the Strange speaking for them, and learned the toadkin revere such beasts even as they remain dangerously wild.

They set out through the Misty Vale’s damp maze, skirting disease and vermin with smoke and mud, then camped on a hummock where a weathered rune-stone faintly glimmered by the light of Hackleswell Shadowbringer’s orb. The next day’s push brought them to a lonely rivershack where a prickly young woman snapped at them to leave. After Alaric’s steady introduction, she grudgingly pointed upriver to a tributary that would lead to a pond choked with black rattle mushrooms, then slammed her door.

They reached the fetid pond as tiny gray frogs scattered. When Lunarium’s footing gave way at the water’s edge, two wagon-sized stone toads erupted from the mire. The fight was brutal. One toad swallowed Alaric whole before Theolin’s arrow burst its swollen throat and spilled the knight free. The other dragged Ladrick down, but the dwarf hammered and tore at its insides while Theolin’s next shot dropped the beast. In the aftermath, the party gathered the mushrooms and severed the heads.

The swamp’s foul water felled Lunarium with a raging fever during the march back. With Ladrick’s trevois to haul a carcass and a head, they abandoned the second body on the trail and forced their way to Sarah’s homestead. Through a long night of boiling and cutting, Sarah split a toad’s skull, drew out the green glands, brewed an elixir, and coaxed Alexei back from the brink.

Grateful, Sarah paid in craft and knowledge: three petrification tinctures, a healing balm, a restorative draught, bandages, rations, and a day’s instruction in woodcraft and lore. The black rattle haul promised coin at the inn as well. With Alexei saved and new supplies in hand, the company looked toward Outskirt’s lingering threads: Annabelle’s ancient statuette, a surly duck’s grudge, and an oracle who might trade for arcane aid when the new moon passes.

OUTLINE:

From Outskirt to a Desperate Plea

• At the Three Stags, Sarah begged the party to save her husband Alexei, stricken with pebble fever after disturbing stone toads while harvesting black rattle mushrooms.
• Group context resurfaced: Vanghild’s inn, Othelia of the Keepers of the Immaculate Flame, Annabelle’s statuette fragments, and a lingering grudge with the coal-feathered Quasimund.
• The party learned the toadkin revere stone toads and avoid outsiders and magic.

Into the Black Rattle Swamp

• Repelled a cloud of biting gnats with smoke and mud and slogged through peat that belched flammable gases.
• Camped on a tree-ringed hummock beside a leaning standing stone etched with a faint, old rune that glimmered in magical light.
• Followed cart ruts to a rivershack; a hostile young hermit finally directed them upriver to a tributary leading east to a mushroom-choked pond.

The Fetid Pond and the Stone Toads

• Reached a brackish pond where a dead trunk sprouted black rattle mushrooms as tiny frogs scattered.
• Two wagon-sized stone toads erupted when Lunarium slipped at the shore.
• One swallowed Alaric before Theolin’s arrow burst its distended throat, freeing him; the other swallowed Ladrick, who fought it from within as Theolin’s second shot killed it.

Retreat, Fever, and the Homestead

• Harvested black rattle mushrooms and severed toad heads; foul water left Lunarium in the grip of a raging bog fever.
• Ladrick built trevois to drag a full carcass and a head; the second body was left on the trail to save their scholar’s life.
• Returned to Sarah’s homestead where she cracked a skull, drew out the green glands, brewed the cure, and saved Alexei.

Rewards, Training, and Next Threads

• Received three petrification tinctures, a healing balm, a restorative draught, bandages, rations, and a day’s training in bushcraft, beasts, or hunting.
• Black rattle mushrooms promised good coin with Vanghild in Outskirt.
• Open hooks: Annabelle’s ancient statuette quest, Quasimund’s grudge, and a future visit to Dranath the oracle after the new moon.

NPCs:

• Alexei: Sarah’s husband, cured of pebble fever after a harrowing brush with stone toads. Woke dazed, joking he had dreamed he was a frog.
• Annabelle: Inn staff and a truth seeker, eager to recover fragments of an ancient black stone statuette.
• Dranath: A reclusive oracle near the temple who trades in arcane goods, currently in seclusion around the new moon.
• Othelia: A knight of the Keepers of the Immaculate Flame, proud and duty-bound. Shared a courteous parley with Alaric.
• Quasimund: A coal-feathered duck with a chip on his shoulder and thugs to spare. Nursing a grudge against the party.
• Sarah: Herbalist who lives by the western edge of the swamp. Pleaded for help to cure her husband and then repaid the party with craft, medicine, and training.
• Swamp Hermit: A prickly young woman at a rivershack who wanted nothing to do with visitors but begrudgingly pointed the way to the toads.
• Vanghild: Innkeep of the Three Stags in Outskirt, practical and unflappable. She buys rare fare and keeps a tight, warm house.

ITEMS:

• Bandages: Clean rolls of linen for binding wounds and stopping blood, now tucked into the party’s kit.
• Black Rattle Mushrooms: Pitch-black, thin-stemmed fungus prized by cooks and apothecaries; dangerous raw, exquisite cooked.
• Black Stone Statuette Base: A fragment of an ancient statue from the Dragon Emperor’s era, showing armored feet and a broken greatsword tip.
• Healing Balm: A thick salve of herbs and oils that closes wounds and soothes pain when applied.
• Petrification Tincture: A rare draught brewed from stone toad glands. Reverses creeping petrification and cures pebble fever.
• Restorative Elixir: A sharp, cleansing draught that steadies the hands and clears the head of lingering afflictions.

LOCATIONS:

• Black Rattle Swamp: A reeking morass of peat, gas, and hidden life. Home to toadkin and the dreaded stone toads.
• Misty Vale: A fog-swathed frontier where humans and allies push into lands once held by nightkin. Beautiful, secretive, and dangerous.
• Outskirt: Largest settlement in the Misty Vale, a frontier village edging into reclaimed lands. The party’s current base of operations.
• River and Tributary Path: The sluggish flow and side stream that guide travelers into the swamp’s interior.
• Rune-stone Hummock: A thicket-ringed campsite with a leaning stone marked by a faded, glimmering sigil.
• Sarah’s Homestead: A modest farmstead on grassland by the river at the swamp’s edge, fragrant with drying herbs and boiling cures.
• Swamp Hermit’s Shack: A flimsy rivershack with a woven fence, a buzzing wicker hive, and a resident who hates visitors.
• Temple Quarter: District near Outskirt’s temple where Dranath the oracle keeps to his seclusions.
• The Black Rattle Pond: A brackish pond where a dead trunk sprouts black rattle mushrooms and giant toads lurk below.
• The Three Stags: Vanghild’s busy inn and meeting point for rumors, work, and ale.

FACTIONS:

• Keepers of the Immaculate Flame: A knightly order sworn to the cleansing light. Stern, principled, and watchful in frontier lands.
• Nightkin Remnants: Goblins, orcs, and kin who once held the Vale and still linger in hidden pockets and old strongholds.
• Toadkin of the Swamp: Xenophobic marsh-dwellers who revere giant toads as symbols of might. Wary of strangers and fearful of magic.
• Truth Seekers: Researchers and collectors of ancient lore and relics. Annabelle’s quiet obsession fuels their hunt for statuette fragments.

QUESTS:

• Cure Alexei’s Pebble Fever: Secure a stone toad’s head or brow-gland from the Black Rattle Swamp so Sarah can brew a life-saving elixir for her husband.
• Gather Statuette Fragments for Annabelle: Recover the scattered pieces of a black stone statue from the Dragon Emperor’s era and deliver them to Annabelle at the inn.
• Quasimund’s Grudge: Deal with the coal-feathered duck’s lingering vendetta after his hired thugs were routed in Outskirt.
• Trade for an Arcane Amulet with Dranath: Seek the reclusive oracle near the temple after the new moon to barter for an amulet, possibly by trading an unwieldy scrying orb.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Alaric the Strange: A human knight of renown with a steady voice and a steadier blade. He met danger head-on at the pond, was swallowed whole by a toad, and still staggered back into the fray once freed. His calm words often open doors that bluster would slam shut.
• Hackleswell Shadowbringer: A mallard mage whose sorcery carries a strange, protective grace. Quick-witted and deadpan, Hackleswell shields friends first and zaps questions later. His conjured light and wards kept the party moving when the swamp closed in.
• Ladrick Pine Mason: A dwarf artisan and carpenter who turns wood and willpower into survival. In the fight, he was swallowed and answered with brute resolve from within the beast; on the trail, he built trevois to haul their grisly trophies and a fallen friend.
• Lunarium the All-Knowing: A wolfkin scholar whose curiosity outpaces his caution. The swamp punished him for it, but he survived a vicious fever through grit and Sarah’s hands, waking with a new respect for the Vale’s dangers. He reads well, but the bog reads him better.
• Theolin Dobolt: A runaway archer with a lazy grin and a ruthless eye. From cover, Theolin’s arrows burst a toad’s swollen throat and ended the second with a killing shot, twice saving the party. She moves quiet, strikes hard, and only bathes under protest.