The Poison Scribe

We stared this session by leveling up to Level 3. The melee characters gain their Archetype at this level, Owen decided Grapé was an Assassin while Eddie decided that Korth was a Battlemaster. 

We left off when Korth, Grapé and Ethelred had slain the Ettercap Alchemist named Hotzenplots. He was using some sort of red "arcane mutagen" to breed large spiders. Exiting out of that break in the mysterious forest they returned to the first grove and traveled up in the path where there were no tracks. The path was overgrown with grass and wound back and forth like the neck of some huge snake. It opened up into a huge circular glade with a large pile of melted bones in one corner, a small babbling brook falling into a pool in the center, and a large green dragon hunched over it. From its mouth leaked green gas that smelled of sour apples and chlorine and swirled over the surface in arcane patterns. The dragon's jaws snapped shut with a note of finality as it proclaimed:

"I see you have decided to finally say hello. Yes...I know you have been here. My eyes have seen the spilled blood of my acolytes: and I am not happy." The abundance of wildlife in the surrounding forest all simultaneously turn to look at the PCs and stare them in the eyes for the rest of the encounter. Cahpicus laughs a deep and haughty laugh. "You come into my domain clueless to who I am...killing my followers, my advisor, and expect me to BOW TO YOUR MIGHT? I am Cahpicus the Poison Scribe, fools!" 

Ethelred turned into a dire wolf and charged at the dragon. He attempted to leap over the small brook and attack Cahpicus's neck, but rolled a 1, slipping on the smooth stones and falling into the pool. As Korth and Grapé approached they realized that something inside the pool was dragging Ethelred underwater. A huge 12 foot tall lobster creature called a Chuul was at the bottom of the pool and had its many eyes set on the dire wolf. As Grapé began to slice into the dragon's metallic hide Korth reached down and pulled Ethelred out, the Chuul falling back into its hibernation. As Ethelred and Korth joined the fight the dragon drew back its head and breathed out a cone of green gas they could see its effects first hand. The acrid smell they had experienced earlier was concentrated into a form that choked their lungs like blades of glass and burned their skin like fire.

Even so they were able to recover and attack the dragon. They worked together to slice its vulnerable wings and knock its feet out from under it, but Korth was knocked into the water when he tried to jump on its back. This resulted in a wrestling match between him and the reawakened Chuul, only to be pulled out of the water by Grapé. Infuriated by these events Grapé dealt the final blow: a sickening flesh wound across Cahpicus's neck that caused blood the flow out like a river. The dragon stood on its hind legs and drew arcane energy from the carved tree-stumps around the pool, forming a tablet of wood in its claws. It attempted to say something aloud: possibly some sort of spell to heal itself or blast the meddling mortals: but only acidic spittle and blood blew out of its slack jaws. It fell over dead, the PCs triumphant.

Behind the dragon they found a pile of 500 copper coins (only 40 of which Ethelred could carry if he wanted to). Atop that pile was a necklace with a metal pendant in the shape of a leaf, an ornate shortsword with a clear gem set in the hilt, an ornate maul, a black leather spellbook with a seven-pointed star, and a wooden box. The necklace was a Leaf of Falling and casts the spell Feather Fall whenever the wearer falls more than 10 feet. The sword was a Sword of the Visionary and deals an extra d4 of damage depending on the color of the wielder's eyes. The maul was an Arctic Maul and allowed the wielder to live in cold climes, while the Seven Pointed Spellbook contained some spells Ethelred was able to learn. The wooden box was engraved with the crest of House Cannith and House Orien...this is what they were paid to find. It contained 11 vials of the same red liquid that Hotzenplots was using to create the huge spiders. Ethelred did his best to analyze it and believes it is some kind of "arcane mutagen" used to modify living beings. 

With what they came for in hand they left the dragon's lair and gathered their friend Derek. The 7 day walk from Windshire to Fairhaven would be an arduous journey but a confident one since they all knew they'd get paid.