Session 11 – Dregan’s Isle

[avisarr]

Session 11 – Dregan's Isle

[DM Note: Beth was running a new character – a morphian – although she claimed to be a linguist, map specialist and code breaker. I can't remember all the details and I'll rewrite this to incorporate more accurate information... but the main thing is that sometime between Session 9 and session 11, Beth came back to the campaign with a new character – a morphian who maintained the guise of a human and pretended to be a linguist, historian and scholar. With these skills and several years of work, she had positioned herself in the right spot in the empire to be included in this important mission with the player characters. She was included and she joined the team]


The Current Situtation
The players had just banished Draxorith in the courtyard. The temple and city guards helped with cleanup. Many nobles were present along with King Davillon and Senator Nitavla. Once the military had regained control of the situation and the after math was cleaned up, it was a time for questions and answers, a time for celebration and a time for heroes.

Once again, the players were HEROES in Myranor. A massive celebration got underway as a major victory had been accomplished. The group rested and re-equipped during all of this. The highlight of the celebration was a large feast. During the feast, the players were wined and dined by all many of nobles and officials. Captain Bretaig thanked Beth personally.

The officials asked many questions of the characters. (Listed Below)

1.  Officials ask the characters to continue their service with another mission.
2.  Debriefing Questions
3.  What are the strengths of the enemy?
4.  How tight was security in the Citadel?
5.  What did the Shrine look like?
6.  What were the defenses of the Shrine?
7.  How did you penetrate the Shrine defenses?
8.  How did Perault die?
9.  How did your companion die?
10. Was any information captured with her?

Two days later, the characters were invited again to meet with officials to discuss a new threat and a new mission.

The Briefing
A refresher - some months ago Duthelm discovered the wreckage of a ship on the coast of Dregan's Isle. The ship bore strange markings and a language that had not been identified.

Among the cargo and treasure, agents of Duthelm found a map that bore the symbol of the Jaidor Talisman. This along with other contextual clues led Myranor to believe that the map indicated the resting place of that artifact.

Myranor spies confirmed that Duthelm had established a camp on the island shore where they discovered the wreckage of the ship. Duthelm was using this base of operations to prepare a small fleet of ships for a voyage to Aggradar in order to locate and retrieve the artifact.

Many Myranor officials believed there is a high probability that Duthelm had at least one copy of the map there at the naval encampment (which would undoubtedly go with the ships). But it was unlikely that it would be their only copy. The original map was probably still back at the Citadel under heavy guard.

A copy of the map held in this camp would be, it was felt, easier to get access to than sending the players back to the Citadel. The Myranor officials wanted the players to infiltrate the Duthelm island camp and complete two tasks.

One - either steal the camp's copy of the map or make an accurate copy of the map (using a spell that would be provided by a Myranor wizard)

Two - reconnoiter the camp and bring us details of their progress.

1. How many men does the camp have?
2. How many ships are they sending?
3. How close are they to launching their ships?
4. What are they taking with them?

Once the players had a copy of the map, Myranor would begin preparations to send the players and a small armed force to Aggradar. The mission... cross the ocean to Aggradar, journey across the lands and reach the Jaidor Talisman before Aggradar at any cost.

The players were told that they would be sailing to Aggradar in the finest vessels of the Myranor navy and that the Third Wind would be joining them. Funding had been sent to the shipyards in Mercia. Men were working on the Third Wind around the clock with the help of a few wizards. The Third Wind would be finished much sooner than originally planned and would immediately set sail for Aridorn. Estimated time of arrival was one month. During that time, the players would make their covert infiltration of Dregan's Island and get a copy of the map.

The characters bordered a ship and left Myranor. They arrived, hours later, in the fog of early morning. Some five miles from the island, the characters slipped into a long boat. Each was given a potion of water breathing (duration 5 minutes only). They rowed close and then slipped into the water. A deckhand took the rowboat back. The characters walked underwater to the shore.

The characters made a study of the main encampment. Guard patrols were patrolling the island in random sweeps.  Dogs were being used. Over 200 soldiers were camped here. The camp was built around a central harbor with docks, piers, five large vessels and the wreck of a ship. Several small buildings had already been built. The forests around the area had been cleared.

The players could see the main central building with the main pier jutting out from it. A pen of slaves was near it. Watching the Duthelm soldiers come and go, it became clear that most of the officers were in that large central building.

Everyone began taking up positions. Rothgar took to the hills overlooking the encampment and, like a sniper, began carefully picking off guards who would not be missed.

Martin began picking the lot on one of the slave pens.

Callister swam up to one of the ships and then silently slipped from the water and snuck aboard.

Beth's character, the morphian, snuck into the building under disguise. She took the form of a Duthelm Black Sorcerer she had seen exiting the main building. She managed to get past guards and bluff her way through a conversation with another mage and finally got into the main office on the second floor where she saw the map. The map was being copied by a scribe. Beth couldn't believe her luck. The second copy was almost 80% complete.

At an opportune moment, she morphed, extended gelatinous pseudopods out knocking everyone to the ground. She then grabbed the map, leapt out the window (transforming into a large bird) and took to the air.

Meanwhile, hearing the shouts of guards and the alarm being raised, the other members of the party, who had spread out around the encampment, sprang into action.

Rothgar began firing arrows into the camp as fast as he could. Mutaki began flinging spells. Martin free the slaves and prisoners.

Callister, who was now in the belly of the ship, set fire to the powder magazine and fled before it blew. He managed to leap from the deck of the ship just as the entire ship blew sky high. Flaming wreckage rained down upon everything within 300 yards.

The players fled to the water where Mutaki transformed them all into dolphins and they swam at top speed back to the Kitaran ship. The ship set sail and the ship mage cast a spell to speed it onward with magically summoned winds. The ship made excellent time and soon Dregan's Isle was far behind.

The plan had been a success. The Empire of Rukemia now had a copy of a map. But so did Duthelm. It was now a race.