Blood River, Ep. 9

The River Explorers left Aeroford on foot to investigate why no one had heard from the Hunlet dwarves in a month. Before departing, they watched dragon-prowed trading ships arrive from distant Daj Kodan. Farther upriver, they shared wine, songs, and a swift canoe ride with elven pilgrims bound for a spring at the river’s headwaters. The elves warned that Dagon’s cultists and shrines plagued the region, and hoped to keep the waters undefiled.

At the Hunlet hold, twelve dwarves stood petrified among wildflowers. A woman calling herself Susie claimed she had come from another hold to investigate. Ygritte recognized a family connection to the name carved on a stone outside, and the party descended into the apparently abandoned home. Three axe-bearing stone guardians attacked in a bunkroom; the Explorers destroyed them, then found cold porridge, neglected washing, abandoned valuables, and a trail of enormous black scales. They left towering copper guardians undisturbed, but a trap on another stairway set Daisy alight.

Two armed dwarves arrived while the party explored. Their questions exposed cracks in Susie’s story, and she shed her disguise, revealing herself as Drol Prasir, the dwarf slayer: a vast, wingless dragon whose gray breath petrified both newcomers. The Explorers fought through a brutal, blood-soaked battle, and Sabo dealt the killing blow. Back in Aeroford, a priest fashioned a single restorative elixir from a gland taken from the dragon. Fourteen dwarves remained stone, the hold remained unexplored, and the Explorers had to decide whom they could save first.

OUTLINE:

Departure from Aeroford and the Elven Pilgrims

• The Explorers chose to walk to the Hunlet hold after hearing its dwarves had not been seen for a month.
• They saw traders from distant Daj Kodan arrive in dragon-prowed longships.
• Elven pilgrims shared a riverside camp and carried the party partway upriver.
• The elves warned of Dagon’s influence and traveled to protect a spring near the headwaters.

The Petrified Hunlets and Their Hold

• The party met Susie, who claimed another dwarven hold had sent her to investigate.
• They found twelve flower-adorned Hunlets turned to stone and a ruler’s stone bearing a name connected to Ygritte’s family.
• Inside, they destroyed three animated stone shield maidens and found an abandoned meal, valuables, black scales, and a strange slick trail.
• They avoided towering copper guardians, while a stairway trap set Daisy on fire.

Susie’s Disguise and the Dragon Battle

• Two armed dwarves arrived, and questions about them and Susie undermined her story.
• Susie revealed herself as Drol Prasir, a vast wingless dragon, and petrified both newcomers.
• Vesper and Mira fell during the fight but survived; Sabo severed Drol Prasir’s head.
• The party recovered a petrifying gland from the dragon.

The Single Cure and the Unfinished Rescue

• The Explorers returned to Aeroford and told a priest of the Four Dragon Gods what had happened.
• The priest suspected an underworld dragon and fashioned one restorative elixir from its gland.
• Fourteen dwarves remained petrified, and the party had not finished exploring the hold.

NPCs:

• Aeroford guard: The guard who identified the approaching longships as familiar traders from Daj Kodan.
• Alonzo: An Aeroford resident who had told the party that no one had seen the Hunlet dwarves for about a month.
• Drol Prasir, also called Susie: A vast, wingless underworld dragon who posed as a dwarven investigator. She petrified the Hunlets and two visiting dwarves before Sabo killed her.
• Elven pilgrims: The riverside travelers who hosted the party, carried them partway upriver, and spoke of protecting a spring from defilement.
• Jarl Yundhunkil: The last ruler named on the stone outside the Hunlet hold, associated with a family connected to Ygritte.
• Madame Rose Quartz: An Aeroford trader whom a guard expected to do business with the visitors from Daj Kodan.
• Priest of the Four Dragon Gods: An Aeroford priest who suspected Drol Prasir was an underworld dragon and made one restorative elixir from her gland.
• The Heidemark brothers: Aeroford locals seen greeting the traders as their longships docked.
• Two dwarves from an eastern hold: Armed visitors who encountered the party inside the Hunlet hold and were petrified by Drol Prasir.

ITEMS:

• Beard pomade: A jar of grooming ointment found in the Hunlet washing room.
• Bone comb: A fine comb found beside the pendant.
• Copper ladle: A well-made ladle bearing a dwarven maker’s mark, found near a pot of spoiled porridge.
• Dagon-marked shield: A shield bearing Dagon’s sign, which Sabo had crossed out to show his hatred of him.
• Drol Prasir’s black scales: Large ebony scales found in the pit and gathered as evidence after the battle.
• Drol Prasir’s petrifying gland: An organ recovered from the dragon’s gullet and given to a priest to make a cure.
• Elixir of restoration: The single dose made from the dragon’s gland to restore one petrified being.
• Gold and ruby earring: A single earring found beneath a pillow in the Hunlet hold.
• Runed platinum pendant: A pendant found in the hold’s washing room, marked with the Dwarvish word for jarl.
• Sabo’s cursed longsword: A prized blade that could command water creatures, could not harm Dagon’s servants, and would not leave Sabo’s hand.
• Vesper’s adamantine scale: A durable scale Vesper carried from an earlier adventure.

LOCATIONS:

• Aeroford: The river town where the party began and ended its journey and received the restorative elixir.
• Daj Kodan: A distant northern land whose traders arrived in Aeroford aboard dragon-prowed longships.
• Eastern dwarven hold: The damaged hold from which the two newly arrived dwarves said they had come.
• God’s Tooth, also called Tooth Fort: A fortress from the preceding expedition that the party recalled before leaving Aeroford.
• Hogger Rock: A site at the river’s mouth where the party had previously found an ancient monument to Dagon.
• Hunlet hold: The dwarves’ hillside home, entered through a descending pit; its abandoned chambers had not all been explored.
• Northern dwarven hold: The hold Susie claimed had sent her to investigate the Hunlets.
• South Meier Fen: The fen along the party’s overland route toward the southern hills.
• Southern Blood River: The river whose course guided the party toward the Hunlet hold and the elves toward its headwaters.
• Spring at the river’s headwaters: The spring the elven pilgrims traveled to protect from defilement.
• Temple of the Four Dragon Gods: The Aeroford temple where the party sought help for the petrified dwarves.
• Underworld: The vast caverns beneath the earth from which the priest believed Drol Prasir’s kind came.

FACTIONS:

• Church of the Four Dragon Gods: The religious institution whose Aeroford priest fashioned the restorative elixir.
• Dwarves of the eastern hold: The community represented by the two visitors petrified inside the Hunlet hold.
• Elven pilgrims: Travelers on a sacred mission to keep a headwater spring undefiled.
• Followers of Dagon: Cultists associated with old shrines and foul activity along the river.
• Sahaguin: Hostile creatures the visiting dwarves blamed for destroying dwarven holds to the north and east.
• The Hunlets: The dwarven family and inhabitants of the hold; twelve were found petrified outside.
• Traders of Daj Kodan: Northern merchants who sailed dragon-prowed longships to Aeroford to trade before winter.

QUESTS:

• Discover what happened to the Hunlet dwarves: The Explorers traced the hold’s silence to Drol Prasir and found twelve Hunlets petrified outside.
• Finish exploring the Hunlet hold: The party withdrew after killing Drol Prasir, leaving passages and guarded chambers unexplored.
• Protect the headwater spring: The elven pilgrims continued their sacred journey to ensure the spring was not defiled.
• Restore the petrified dwarves: Fourteen dwarves remained stone after the battle; the party obtained an elixir sufficient to restore one.

PLAYER CHARACTERS

• Daisy: A half-Triaxian bard who carried a trombone and helped fill the elven camp with music. A stairway trap set Daisy alight; later, Daisy recovered the gland used to make the party’s restorative elixir.
• Eric: An energy-scarred mage who wore a mask over half his face. He fought the hold’s guardians and Drol Prasir with magic and close-range attacks.
• Mira: A bullman bloodrager who fought at close quarters. Mira fell under Drol Prasir’s blows but survived the battle.
• Sabo: A human fighter bound to a cursed longsword that he prized deeply. The sword gave him power over water creatures but could not harm Dagon’s servants; he struck the blow that killed Drol Prasir.
• Vesper: A reptoid slayer who carried an assortment of daggers and a short sword, as well as an adamantine scale acquired on an earlier adventure. He tried to grapple Drol Prasir and fell during the battle, but regained his feet before it ended.
• Ygritte: A dwarven skald scarred by elemental energy and connected through family to a ruler named on the stone outside the Hunlet hold. Ygritte spoke with Susie in Dwarvish and fought the hold’s guardians and the dragon.