I was too exhausted last night to return to yesterday’s entry, so I would write it today instead.
. . .Kylma caught up with us on the road, bringing word that the dragon was already attacking Dougan’s Hole. We knew it was likely too late to matter, as we would never reach it in time. I found some comfort in knowing Edvar and Hilda had left before any of this began.
Our caravan was simply too slow to keep pace with a dragon tasked with the destruction of the Ten Towns. Nine, now, I suppose.
A woman called to us not long after, introducing herself as Vellynne Harpell. I recognised the name. Dzaan had spoken of her, a necromancer among the Arcane Brotherhood, cold and uncaring as the corpses she animates. Her sleds were pulled by undead kobolds, of all things. I was unhappy with that, but we needed whatever help we could get.
She offered us passage, faster than our caravan could manage, in exchange for help retrieving something she called the Codicil of White. She did not explain what it was, only that it would open the way to a buried Netherese city the Arcane Brotherhood had long been searching for. We accepted, seeing as there was no time to negotiate further.
The Aasimar paladin had snuck off with drinks as we left the fortress and was thoroughly hammered by the time we set out. They stayed in the sled.
. . .I voted for Easthaven. It was better defended, and we might have had time to prepare before the dragon arrived. Kylma wanted Good Mead instead. It supplies mead to every tavern in Ten-Towns, and Kylma was not willing to let it burn without a fight. The party went with Good Mead.
By the time we arrived, the dragon had only just reached the town. A stroke of good luck, however small.
. . .We positioned ourselves around what remained of the town square.
The dragon came in low, dropping bursts of radiant fire onto Good Mead, the explosions continuing every few seconds without pause. Kylma stayed at range, firing into it continuously. CawCawk closed the distance, but something in the dragon’s presence took hold of him, and he turned on the Air Genasi paladin instead. The Air Genasi paladin struck him twice, and channelled divine power into the second blow, to no avail. Luckily, CawCawk came back to himself shortly after and returned to attacking the dragon.
I stayed well back with the shield guardian, which I have named Alfredo, between myself and the fighting. I called on the divine power within me to strengthen the party, and slung what I could of it at the dragon directly.
CawCawk was the one who ended it. Spectral wings sprouted from his back, and he flew up to meet the dragon, throwing his trident into the mechanism of its wing. It dropped from the sky and fell directly into its own bombs. The explosion finished it, scattering chardalyn all around.
. . .Alfredo and I retrieved what chardalyn we could from the wreckage afterward. I am pleased with the amount of testing material I now possess.
. . .For today proper, we stayed in Good Mead, pitching in and helping where we could on the town’s reconstruction effort. After Sunblight and the dragon, it was strange to spend a day simply rebuilding instead.
Tomorrow, we will have to make good on our end of the deal with Vellynne. The Codicil of White, and whatever buried city it leads to. I find myself very curious despite my gut feeling on Vellynne.