I was wrong in thinking that the storm would just blow over and everything would be back to normal. As i sit here writing I’m currently inside the Rusty Dragon Inn, inside of Sandpoint after being thrown into a whirlwind quest with three random and odd people. When the storm subsided the next morning I set out to look at the surrounding area, as expected the local flora had taken quite a pelting from the strong winds the night before. However I ran into more than I bargained for, during my search I was ran into by a goblin, probably from one of the mountain tribes. Luckily a single goblin isn’t so much as a distraction and one arrow stopped his life short. Which lead me to the next problem the giant orcish fellow that was obviously hunting the goblin. Both taken by surprise I had the upper hand already having my bow and arrow knocked, before we were joined by two more both of them staring at me. The two newcomers one clearly elven, the other with at least some elven features quickly took in their surroundings. The elven girl, introducing herself as Zaradae, quickly called out in Elven for me to lower my weapon, that that orc wasn’t a threat and was in fact a trusted companion. Begrudgingly I lowered my bow, while confident in my abilities I don’t think taking a 3v1 fight was in my best interested.

After being introduced to the Half-Orc Pring, Wood Elf Zaradae and Half-Elf Moonfeather I inquired as to why they were heading through these woods. I was astonished to hear that they had been conscripted by the town to deal with a dragon that had been plaguing the farmers in the area. During my time camping I had heard a giant creature in the surroundings but I had stayed hidden and never caught a good view of it. Knowing that a dragon was in the surrounding area filled me with dread. I knew that the town was right in dealing with the dragon, and I knew from my classes back home that this would disrupt the balance in this ecosystem. I agreed to join in with their mission, knowing that it could be extremely deadly but as a warden of nature I couldn’t sit idly by. I followed my new allies to a cave deep in the woods, trying to learn a little about they to try and survive as best as possible. Pring is turns out is a master of martial prowess, preferring to be up close and personal with his enemies. Moonfeather is a magic user who controls the power of arcane, preferring to fight at range, she seems to have an owl that is constantly around here called Archimedes. At a look it was clear to me that Zaradae is a ranger like my father was, and prefers fighting at ranged with a bow. Taking these facts into account I decided to focus on my own magical talents to help protect and support these three adventurers.

It took all of about five seconds inside the cave to confirm my first thoughts about Pring. Half-orcs notoriously aren’t too bright and generally think that punching things should be the first and last method used. We came across an abandoned goblin camp, probably where that one I ran into earlier was from. Pring in his infinite wisdom found a chest and decided that smashing it open was the best way. While i suppose it was an effective method if he had waited an additional ten seconds we would have been able to open it with they key I found under one of the goblin mattresses. Heading deeper into the cave we came across a fountain, out of place considering it was in the middle of the cave. Moonfeather was able to make out some of the writing around the edge which essentially wanted anyone who wanted to drink the water to make a donation of kinds. Pring again showing his lack of intelligence decided to drink it, while nothing seemed to happen he would feel the effects later.

While waiting for Pring to drink the from the fountain both Zaradae and myself heard voices coming from around a corner. Deciding to follow the voices we found ourselves face to face with a small group of goblins. Moonfeather, appointing herself as voice of the party managed to gain us an audience with the goblin known as King Fatmouth, who was the leader of this troop. King Fatmouth said that the dragon we were after ‘Blackfang’ was deeper in the cave but if we wanted to go into his lair we would have to do a favour for him first. This favour was to find his sister, who had taken Fatmouth’s favourite dragon toy and left. Accepting the task we backtracked to the fountain as we had spied a doorway on the other side before hearing the goblins and decided to check it out.

Opening the doorway and keeping it from closing by jamming swords taken from goblins, we looked into the seeming empty room. The floor was adorned with a pattern causing all of us to think that it may be a trap. There was a large ruby sitting on the far wall that looked valuable. As a budding alchemist I’m always interested in precious materials and seeing a ruby this large had peaked my interest. Cautiously I entered the room managing to make it all the way to the ruby before all hell broke loose. We were correct in assuming that this room was trapped as giant gouts of flame erupted from the floor. In my haste to grab the ruby I was hit by one of these giant gouts of flame. Surprisingly as I thought my life would be over, I didn’t feel a thing, the ruby in my hand however was glowing a bright red, resembling the glow of the fire. At once the room returned to normal the magic held within the trap seemingly expended. We moved through the doorway on the opposite side of the trap room, opening up into a cavern that was covered by spider webs. Searching through the cavern we were set on by a number of giant spiders. A harsh and grueling fight later we emerged victorious. Our search of the room was fruitful finding the corpse of a goblin with a toy dragon, claiming our prize we headed back to Fatmouth to fulfill our end of the bargain.

On arriving back to Fatmouth he was overjoyed to be reunited with his toy, and not terrible upset with the news his sister was dead. Deciding that having his toy back was worth celebrating Fatmouth grabbed the ale and taking his new best friend Pring as they had bonded over their love of ale decided to drink for some time. Moonfeather, Zaradae and myself used this time pondering why the two of them was with Pring a man who despite having the discipline to learn martial arts clearly had no willpower at all. With the party dying down we decided to have a look down the other path of the cave before climbing the wall that would lead to Blackfang himself. Coming across an underwater lake and an island across it which Pring had spied a glinting item we decided to go across and find out what had caught his eye. This turned into another fight was while traveling over the water we were attacked by a reefclaw that called this lake home. After defeating the reefclaw we managed to obtain a sword that was left on the small island.

Gathering our courage we knew that our only course of action was to fight Blackfang himself. Pring and I managed to scale the wall fairly easily and help Moonfeather and Zaradae up the wall. At the top we were set upon by moving skeletons. I had heard of the walking dead before, but this was the first time I had seen them with my own eyes. They caused quite a problem for our small group as the three skeletons took hits that would have felled even the mightiest beasts with ease while dealing heavy damage to us. Having taken a beating from the skeletons we took a while to heal our wounds, with a combination of my healing spells from my druidic background and some potions that the others were carrying.

After resting we moved down a corridor that opened into a giant cavern opening, and inside sat the dragon Blackfang that was our current goal. With Pring leading the charge we entered the cavern and threw ourselves against the black dragon. For the record the stories that you hear growing up about leaving dragons alone, they are 100% right dragons are scary. The element of surprise served us well as before Blackfang knew what was happening we had hit him with several big hits wounding the dragon. This was before Blackfang had enough of us and reared back and breathed his acidic breath all over me. For the second time I thought was life was over, and for the second time this ruby I took saved my life. The ruby seemed to absorb some of the damage that Blackfang would have caused. After several tense more moments Blackfang deciding the fight wasn’t worth it and sporting several wounds took to the skies flying away from the cavern, leaving us barely alive. I don’t even remember the journey back to town. Moonfeather dragged us before the mayor of the town, essentially a settlements version of an elder who was the one who ordered the mission to deal with Blackfang. Our reward (somehow without accepting the quest I was now apparently part of their party) was some gold and new weaponry.

That night we retired to the Rusty Dragon Inn, spending the night recuperating from our injuries and reveling in the fact that we faced a dragon and survived to tell the tale. Having a bed for the night was much appreciated, although I still prefer the outdoors. I think I’m going to hang around with these guys for awhile, It’s been a good few years since I had any companions, it might be nice to travel with some company. I can hear Pring still snoring behind me, for a brainless half-orc he seems to be less vicious than the stereotypical ones of his race and came in handy during our combats yesterday. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

Venalis