Ruins of an Empire, Session 5: *sigh* It's only a hydra-gator

When we left Jym, Macros, Mongo, Scion, Dawn, Lethe, and Snarl they had just rescued two children from the clutches of tribe of bullywugs who were performing their twisted rituals to a hideous idol. They could hear the sounds of angry bullywugs amassing outside the ruined structure they currently occupied. The group lingered until javelins started raining down over the walls at them, then they finally got the hint and fled by the closest means possible, taking the children with them. A muddy chase through the bog followed.

The chase led them through a maze of broken masonry half buried in the bog. Before the mob of bullywugs could catch up with them, the party sought a new hiding place among the rubble and remained quiet as the bulk of their pursuers passed unwittingly by. A few straggling bullywug searchers stopped nearby, argued for a bit, and then began to hunt for them again with earnest. The group was flushed from their hiding spot and ran further into the bog, away from the ruins and into the open.

Their stealthy maneuvers granted them a sizable lead on the bullywug horde, but they were eventually spotted so the chase began again. Just when it seemed that they would be overrun, the bullywugs came to a halt and gesticulated angrily as they let the party get away. Befuddled yet pleased, the group continued to run from the strange creatures until they reached the edge of a wide lake.

Before the group could contemplate their strange luck for long they spotted a trio of shapes moving toward them from the center of the lake. As the shapes grew closer they resolved themselves into the heads of three massive alligators. When the heads raised out of the water the party could see that they were attached to the same massive body. The three-headed alligator was a mutated monstrosity with six legs and an elongated and forked tail. The beast rushed forward out of the water to attack the adventurers.

Dawn dove behind small tree and Snarl ran to be near and protect her from the hydra-gator. Mongo dropped the unconscious girl, Lisa, onto the wet ground and charged into battle. Jym, Macros and Lethe each took up blades and faced off with one of the heads each. Scion stayed well out of range of the creature and peppered it with arrows and poisoned kruthick spines. Rudiger hid behind some rubble.

The hydra-gator swatted Macros with its tail, knocking him away and sprawling onto the ground. It then snatched up Lethe, Mongo, and Jym in it's massive jaws and carried them backward into the lake and underwater to drown them and eat them. Scion, Dawn, and Snarl fired arcane missiles and arrows at the roiling water, hoping to hit the beast and not their allies. Macros dusted himself off and ran to the edge of the lake before leaping out over the water and diving deep to strike at the creature with his outstretched swords. Mongo went into a rage and struck at the head biting him to escape the grab and knocked the hydra-gator upsidedown. The monster turned and lashed out at him with his tail, driving Mongo back to the shallows. Lethe and Jym held their breaths until they could escape their respective grabs. Once they got a lungful of air they dove back down and slashed at the beast, cutting and bleeding it.

Mongo charged back into the water and slew one of the heads. The enormous reptile grabbed Jym and Macros with its remaining two heads and swam deeper into the lake. Jym and Macros continued to hold their breaths and fight back. When Lethe caught up to it the three of them were able to slay another of the heads. The monster fought hard to the bitter end, but it was losing the battle. Mongo flipped the beast on its back one more time and then it was soon over for it.

Mongo and Jym drug the carcass of the beast back to the shore. Mongo skinned it and kept the skin and some of its teeth as trophies. Another piece of chaos crystal came out of the monster's guts along with a remarkably intact pair of robes. Jym took the crystal and threw it in the bag with the others. Lethe washed off the robes in the lake and then claimed them for his own, since they appeared to be magical and came in his size.

The group trusted in the bullywugs' fear of the lake monster and made camp nearby in a convenient lean-to made of ruined masonry. Lisa had finally awoken at this point and they got a chance to talk with her and Rudiger while they sat around the camp fire and had something to eat. Lisa wasn't much help though and only repeated the story Rudiger gave them, about being carried away from Elkridge along with others by Dragonborn soldiers mounted on flying drakes. They had landed in the bog and when the soldiers were distracted by the other prisoners Lisa and her brother got away. Unfortunately they stumbled directly into the bullywug village and were captured again. Rudiger stayed close to Lethe while his sister told their story. Lethe began to teach the boy how to hold a knife and wield it.

The next morning after everyone had recovered from the previous day's adventures they took a reading on the compass and then began to look for a way around the lake. Jym caught sight of a group of drakes flying overhead among the clouds and told everyone to hide until the drakes were out of sight. When they were gone the group skirted the edge of the lake. The ground began to rise out of the bog and large pieces of broken masonry became more prevalent. Students of history determined that the chunks dated back to the Dragonborn empire of Arkhosia and that the remains of Ustraternes must be nearby. Jym's compass was glowing brightly, revealing the presence of a strong chaotic magic all around them. As an outward expression of that magic the travelers witnessed pieces of stone and masonry floating above the ground, the pieces getting larger and higher off the ground as they progressed.

The next landmark they found was a shrine to warriors that fell during Ustraternes's last battle. A group of statues depicting Dragonborn soldiers stood on top of a stone dais. Some of the statues appeared to have fallen down in the past but recently been set upright again. As the party approached the dais a female Dragonborn spirit separated itself from one of the statues and addressed them.

"This sad valley is haunted by the dead and is no place for the still living. I am the spirit of Vrak Tiburcaex. My soldiers and I mean you no harm, but our preference will be meaningless if you continue past here. I am duty-bound to the last scion of our once glorious empire to watch these lands and defend them against invaders. The new steward commands us against our will, but we can only stand idle for so long."

The party parleyed with Vrak for as long as they dared. She answered their questions willingly, but gave ever increasing threats that she would be forced to attack them if they lingered in the valley. The adventurers learned that the "new steward" of the area was Bjek Vuthaner, a name Mongo recognized from his past. Bjek was once a trusted advisor to the old King Dlanodcam and would speak with nostalgia of the old empire of Arkhosia for hours on end.

Bjek had come here with many other Dragonborn, presented Vrak with documents showing that he was a direct descendant of the last emperor of Arkhosia, and commanded her obedience. In deference to their shared noble history, Vrak complied and pledged her loyalty and that of the ghostly army she led. Mongo asked about his brother, Ecamirg, and Vrak admitted seeing the large red Dragonborn warlord with Bjek. When they asked more about Bjek, it was obvious that Vrak viewed him with disdain in large part due to his outward worshiping of Zehir, an evil serpent god, and breaking from the Dragonborn traditions of worshiping Bahamut. She pointed out a tabard that had been placed on one of the statues that had the symbol of Zehir painted over the heraldry of Dlanodcam as an example of Bjek's blasphemy.

When asked as to the location of Bjek and Ecamirg, Vrak only pointed to a network of floating structures in the distance, but warned that if the party went anywhere near there she would have to report to Bjek and alert him to their presence. Mongo tired to convince Vrak that he was a prince of Dlanodcam and that she should follow his lead, but she viewed him skeptically and asked for proof, of which Mongo had none. Vrak did say, if the party could convince her that Bjek was an impostor then she would not be bound to his service any longer.

The party thanked Vrak for her time, promised to look into Bjek's story, although they did not know where to begin, and they left the area. As they left they once again saw flying drakes in the sky above them, but without riders. The party tried to avoid detection, but Mongo was too slow and could not find anywhere suitable to hide his massive bulk. One of the drakes wheeled away from the main group and shot straight down at him. The drake barreled into him knocking him flat and pinned him to the ground with its forepaws and then began to drool and lick at his exposed face. Mongo finally recognized the drake as the one he had named "Bingo" and then set free. Soon the other drakes landed nearby and Dawn was able to converse with their matron, the large and intelligent drake the party had saved from the mob of villagers and set free from her control collar.

The matron drake greeted the party civilly. Dawn asked about other drakes in the area and was told that many nested nearby, and some were being abducted and trained as mounts by the Dragonborn living at the floating citadel. The matron agreed to have her pod transport the party back to Elkridge when they asked. The party mounted up and flew back to Elkridge, landing in a forest clearing nearby where they left the drakes in the care of Snarl along with some alligator steaks as incentive to stick around for when they returned.

At Elkridge the party returned the children, Rudiger and Lisa, to their mother. Their father had been carried off in an earlier attack by the Dragonborn drake riders. Lethe was sorry to see the young boy go and intimated to the mother that he might want to continue the boy's training and someday make him his cup-bearer. The mother was a bit off-put seeing Lethe wearing her missing husband's religious token around his neck, but Rudiger told his mother about how exciting it all was and how heroic Lethe had been which put her more at ease.

Mongo went in search of a leather worker to give the massive alligator skin to in the hopes of crafting something of use. The one he found said he would see what he could do and would return it to him in the morning.

Then the party sought out Marvos with their bag of chaos crystal shards. Marvos was impressed by the collection and paid the party with 200 gold coins and one of the old fossilized dragon's teeth that Jym had requested. He also gave them a choice of two magic items from his collection. Jym chose a suit of Tactician's Finemail +2, and Scion received a Screaming Longbow +1. Mongo traded with the scholar, exchanging some animal and bug parts for alchemical items in Marvos's possession.

When they told Marvos about discovering the remains of Ustraternes, he became very excited and requested the opportunity to return with them the next day so he could study the ruins first-hand. The party agreed and made plans to set out again on the following day.