Let's Fight A Dragon!
In our previous game, the party had ascended the path to Icespire Hold undetected and bypassing the gatehouse by climbing up the cliff face into the hold proper. Inside, they found some loot, fought a few stirges, then ended that game by finding Wylston the firbolg cleric's brother, Wartstew, dead: frozen by Cryovain's frost breath while giving the orc children time to escape through the undercroft. It was quite possibly the most emotional game we've played.
Read character bios here.
In last night's game, the party discovered four Stone-Cold Reavers mercenaries hiding in the gatehouse and attempted to enlist their help but were refused. Figuring that this group was untrustworthy and likely to attack them as soon as the dragon was down to take the hoard for themselves, Bird the tabaxi monk used her Wand of Pyrotechnics and Wylston cast Thaumaturgy to wake Cryovain and alert him to the Reavers' presence– which, despite getting a couple of solid hits in, did not go well for the Reavers as the dragon tore into the gatehouse and completely annihilated them.
Then the party launched their surprise attack from inside the hold– Fireball, Toll the Dead, Magic Missile; *BOOM-squelch-BAMBAMBAM*.
Unable to get his bearings with the sudden onslaught, the dragon flew up and away, out of sight, so the party waited as the dragon circled somewhere above…
After several minutes and no sign of Cryovain, they decided to take things to the roof and set up a trap using Miala the drow eldritch knight's Deck of Illusions. Easily enough, the illusion fooled Cryovain and the dragon swooped in to strafe the “ogre” that had just emerged, blasting the roof – and Skolis the yuan-ti paladin, who was just a little too close – with his frost breath.
The party took the chance and sprung into action.
Bhaurbeeah the human barbarian: “RAaAaAGE!!!11one” *slashy gushy cracking noises*
Wylston: “I Command thee to kneel before me and: 'Grovel!' Also, while you're down there… Spiritual Weapon: Warhammer!” *flash of light, thud-cracking sound*
Miala: “ELDRITCH BLAST!” *zapzapwhamwham*
Eldrith the fire genasi wizard: “FIREBALL AGAIN MOTHERFUCKER!”
Bird: *vanishes in a flurry of fur and claws*
Skolis: “Um, okay, hey, yeah, I see what you're probably thinking and I'd like to offer a Suggestion; flying is probably a bad idea–” *smirks* “–but also, “COMPELLED DUEL ASSHOLE! COME AT ME BRO!” *slithers away at top speed across the roof*
Already badly wounded, suddenly strangely disturbed by the mere idea of flying, and with tunnel vision on that asshole snake, Cryovain dove through the roof and into the hold below. For a brief second, the howling wind was the only sound, then – CRASH! – a hole opened up in the roof and Skolis vanished in a flash of white claws as the dragon pulled him under and began tearing into him.
Bhaurb: “OH HELL NO! AAAAAGH!!!” as she ran for the hole, tripping over an upturned block but recovering as she flipped into the hole, driving her Dragon Slayer Greatsword into the base of Cryovain's skull, forever silencing the beast.
Easily one of our funnest fights. I don't even care that they took my BBEG down in three rounds. It was fuckin' awesome! And such an amazing final scene for our barbarian, who will sadly not be joining us for the next adventure as this campaign continues.
As we watch her walk off into the sunset, dragon skull slung over her shoulder – and occasionally dragging on the ground behind her – we all hope that Bhaurbeah the Barbarian, Slayer of Cryovain and Hero of Phandalin will someday return…
Image Credit: “White Dragon” by sandara
Tags: #DungeonsAndDragons #DnD #DragonOfIcespirePeak #TTRPG #DnD5e #5e #ForgottenRealms #Fantasy #TabletopRPG #RPG