(RoT-2) "...or your babies!"

Or: How to influence Snake-People.

Having seen their friends brought back to life, and the having survived (in some cases, barely) the council of Waterdeep, our intrepid heroes are on the march again. This time to Boareskyr Bridge, where there was a recent sighting of Varram the White, one of the Wyrmspeakers, and nemesis of Venmir and Nyvan's close friend, Talis the White. In fact, Nyvan has promised to kill him for the woman he once had a crush on (and recently killed him).

Starring, in order they sit around the table:
Sigurd, (played by Iain) a travelling swordsman, still shaking his head a week later.
Venmir, (played by Brett) an elven clergyman, who for once hasn't gotten thrown out of a meeting on his arse. 
Nyvan, (played by Jason) a elven knight, alive (but absent this evening).
Rodin Halfbeard, (played by Lorne) the dwarven axeman, alive, but as clumsy as ever - will he ever manage to stay upright?
Nandrin the Naughty, (played by Hilton), the elven mage, alive, but somewhat prone to encouraging attacks on the party.

and The DM, (played by Alex), who loves to comment in blue. And writes this blog. He's also a bit of a git and likes to make life difficult for his players.

Oh Rise of Tiamat, you are so mean to our heroes. Between slippery bridges and paper-thin walls, the environments alone are killer here - surely they couldn't make it worse, could they? Read on, and find out!

They stood in the paladin keep near Boareskyr Bridge, considering their options. They knew Varram had headed up into the hills, with an entourage, but where to or what for, no-one was sure. They needed more information - and they started with the Paladin Captain. He respectfully suggested they try to get a scout and, if possible, keep an eye out for one of his patrols, four men strong, which was several days late.

The cunning adventurers made their way back into the tent city, intent on finding a scout. they stopped a local tribesman, carrying a number of rabbits, eager to find somewhere to sell them. Despite some cunning bartering by Sigurd, the hunter walked away without doing a deal - but a local urchin caught Sigurd's eye and told him the name of the best escort in town, Eldebard.

Luckily, he also sent them to the only place they knew, Bolo's Tentside Inn. They walked in to find the halfling serving girls avoiding Rodin, but Bolo stopped for a moment when Rodin caught her attention.

"No more fighting, city dwarf!" she warned.

"No, ma'am!" he replied, respectfully as she eyed him warily, "and I'm not a city dwarf" he said super quietly under his breath, in case she heard him.

"We're looking for Eldebard." said Sigurd.

"You're wanting a scout..." replied the halfling innkeeper. She pointed at the makeshift bar, where a man dressed in furs sat on a stool, face down on the bar in a puddle of drool. "That's him over there, sleeping off his last scouting mission."

They walked over, where after several attempts, they got the attention of the drunk hunter, who leapt to his feet, daggers in his hands! They quickly calmed him down.

"What do you want?" he spat, wiping a patch of dribble from the side of his face.

"We are looking for a guide into the Serpent Hills." said Sigurd.

"Oh, you're just fools, then?" replied the surly hunter.

"Perhaps. Do you know your way around the Serpent Hills?"

"Yes. The charge is 200gp. 100gp now, the rest when we arrive at whatever your destination is."

"Speaking of that. Um.....what is in the Serpent Hills anyway?" asked Sigurd.

"A whole lot of serpents, beasts, ruins and bodies."

"Fair enough, you're hired." said Sigurd, as the tracker held out his hand for the first part of his payment.

They left immediately, walking up towards the hills, which were little more than badlands, filled with mesas and rocky plateaux, filled with small groups of trees and filled with long grass. After a couple hours of walking, Eldebard halted them.

"Something ahead." he stated, as he pointed in front of him at a small clump of trees. 

"Stay behind us!" instructed Venmir as they walked forward.

"Yeah....I wasn't intending on moving, anyway." muttered the hungover hunter.

The party walked forward and found a body lying in a small clearing. It was a human, in full plate armour. A trail of blood lead off - he had obviously crawled there. He groaned - and they leapt into action.

Venmir quickly cast a healing spell, while Nandrin leant down to comfort the man. 

"Who are you?" asked the man.

"Friends." replied Nandrin.

"Obviously. But who are you?"

"We saved your life." said the mage.

"Yes, I noticed, thank you. BUT WHO ARE YOU?" said the man, growing increasingly irate.

"Your Captain sent us to look for you" said Sigurd.

"Thanks, but who.....oh never mind." 

"What happened to you? Did you drag yourself all the way here?" asked Venmir, looking at a huge hole in the front of the paladin's armour.

"I must have damaged myself crawling over a rock. I prefer to drag myself rather than walk." he replied.

"Sarcastic arse." muttered Rodin.

Venmir decided to follow the blood trail. Almost an hour later, he found himself standing in another clearing, where three other heavily-armoured bodies lay dead. He returned to the others. They further interrogated the paladin, and found out he knew little - he had been in the lead and was struck from his horse without warning, knocking him from his horse. They decided to escort him back to Boareskyr Bridge. 

Eldebard pointed out an obvious trail in the grass - it leads straight to Diderius' Tomb, he told them, which was the resting place of a mage who claimed to know everything or knew where to find everything, or some such nonsense. He gave them simple directions.

Once back at the base, they decided to leave the scout behind. 

"Excellent news!" he announced, holding out his hand for the rest of his money.

And ain't nobody gonna pay me enough to come and collect your bodies. Idiots." he said in a loud voice, as he walked away.

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Later the next day, after a quiet night spent resting in the hills, they soon found themselves standing near a ruined village at the base of a cliff. There was a well, and several buildings, as well as a campfire which was still smoking. There were three bedrolls next to it, and a number of shallow graves nearby. Two large statues stood either side of the path which lead to where a series of stone steps would have lead up to a hole in the wall, had they not collapsed years ago.

As they walked between the statues, they started to move, and then voices came forth from the air:

"Halt! You come before Diderius, ether walker and conduit of clairvoyance. Behold ye now his wondrous triumphs. Diderius extends wisdom and Diderius offers knowledge. Which do you seek?"

"We come seeking knowledge." announced Sigurd. The others didn't speak.

"Diderius shall grant what you seek, but only if you heed him and continue to show proper respect!" and with that the statues returned to their original position.

They walked forward, until Rodin noticed something in the grass at the base of the cliff. 

"Stop!" he shouted to his companions and pointed into the long grass. 

Venmir started to sneak forward, while Rodin threw rocks into the dense grass. Sigurd ignored them and walked forward, where he quickly announced that the dangerous beast they were sneaking around was none other than a ladder.

They set the ladder against the wall and climbed up it.

They walked through the entry chamber and found themselves in a long chamber flanked by statues with deep hooded heads. Sigurd heard a warning in his head from nowhere, and warned the others not to look into the darkness under the hoods. Everyone duly put their heads down and walked through the room quickly.

The next room had a tiled floor, which showed a massive chimera. Sigurd thought he noticed it moving as he walked into the room, but dismissed it as a figment of his imagination. They others filed into the room, The door on the west wall had the word "safe" written on it in chalk.

"That could be a trap!" said Nandrin.

"Maybe, or maybe......." said Rodin, just as the chimera on the floor started to rise. It was a strange beast, half monster, and half tiles, when it turned sideways, it became barely visible. 

Combat was joined, and the party leapt at the beast, suffering several bites from its jaws, and barely dodging horrible flames from its dragon's head. Nandrin struck the creature a mighty blow with a shatter spell, and the others all slammed their blades into the beast and, despite it's best efforts to dodge, soon found itself shattered into a thousand tiles. 

The party moved west and found a well, with a strange basin up on the wall to the north. The room was filled with bright red mushrooms.There was a contraption for bringing water up from the well, but the party ignored the room and moved on.

North from the mosaic room lead to a room with a large dry well. On the floor was a body, pierced by multiple arrows with stone heads, shaped like fangs. They spent little time in the room, and moved to the next, making their way past some heavy broken doors.

The next room was oppressive, with a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room. The walls were covered in frescoes, which Venmir and Rodin stepped forward to examine. Rodin slipped and his hand smashed through the fresco which was nothing but a thin veneer of plaster. He pulled his hand back, but all of a sudden, a wiry undead hand shot out from the hole, gripping his forearm. As Rodin squealed in fear, a mummy burst out of the wall to attack him - and three others did the same from around the room.

The room descended into chaos. The party found themselves attacked from all directions. They lay about them with fire and blade, and the mummies fell back for a moment, but just long enough for the massive lid of the sarcophagus to be flung back. A figure stood up and loomed over them. It was like a mummy, but heavily built and strong-voiced. It's bandages were clean and it was feet taller than the other mummies.

"STOP!" it said in a deep, powerful voice which caused everyone in the room to stop where they were. 

"You said you came here seeking knowledge, but now I find you killing my advisors? What madness is this?" it asked.

"We're terribly sorry, Master Didorius!" said Sigurd, bowing his head.

"My name is Diderius! Show respect!" he cried.

Everyone bowed their heads, and Rodin dropped to one knee. They all showed respect.

"Excellent. I am prepared to overlook this matter." he said with a wave of his hand, as the mummies moved back into their holes in the wall and the plaster flew up to reform in front of them. "What do you want?"

"We seek Varram the White..." said the swordsman.

"Ah yes, the dwarf who came seeking what was once his. The serpents have him. They are beyond this place - prepare yourselves." he waved his hand and a door opened in the far wall - one they had not seen before. He settled back into his sarcophagus.

The party relaxed and sat down to prepare, when a rush of lizardfolk rushed into the room. The heroes, however, were experienced with their fighting techniques and they lasted only seconds.

They decided to move on swiftly.

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The next room was empty, but the one after that was dominated by a bridge across a massive chasm. It dropped so far into the darkness they could not see the bottom. The wide stone bridge was covered in moss and slime, and the walls and ceiling dripped with condensation. The room was warm and humid. On the far side of the bridge were four lizardfolk and two serpent men - Yuan-Ti.

Nandrin quickly summoned a flaming sphere, which blocked everyone's view. Venmir fired his bow, and Sigurd ran forward, only to slip on the slimy bridge and barely catch himself on the enge. Rodin watched the swordsman fall, but decided the only way was forward, and he charged across the bridge, also slipping but catching himself. The cold-blooded enemies fired their bows and spells and arrows answered them. Rodin and Sigurd pulled themselves to their feet, and Sigurd charged across the bridge, slamming into one of the yuan-ti. The lizardfolk were dead or gone. He found himself facing off against the two serpentmen, but he was undaunted. Rodin ran after him, but once more fell off the bridge, barely catching himself.

Nandrin sent his sphere forward and burnt one of their foes, while Sigurd carved the other up with his blade. More spells came from Nandrin, and the yuan-ti fell dead. Rodin clung to the edge of the bridge.

"Help!" he squeaked, and Nandrin sent his sphere across the bridge, drying out the slime. Rodin pulled himself up......nor at least he tried to. Rodin reached forward and grabbed hold of a clump of moss, but it came away in his hands (roll anything but a 1, Rodin....and he rolled a 1!) and he fell backwards into the darkness, neatly avoiding Venmir's despairing dive...

Luckily, Sigurd jumped to the edge and, with a word, slowed the dwarf's fall and he landed a hundred feet down, waist-deep in water. Convinced he was not alone, the dwarf cried out for help, his voice cracking. The others combined their ropes and dragged him back up. they continued further.

They followed several passageways before finding themselves standing above a massive pit. The floor writhed with hundreds, if not thousands of baby serpent-men, cracked eggs, new eggs, pieces of flesh and bones sticking up from the moving mass. In the centre of the room stood a massive yuan-ti, nearly twenty foot long, it held in its hands a massive bow and it screamed in rage when it saw the intruders.

"No!" shouted Sigurd. "We are not here to harm you."

"....or your babies!" added Nandrin.

Everyone looked at Nandrin in horror as the creature screamed.

"My babies!" and with that started firing arrows at the heroes. They fled back down the corridor and waited for signs of pursuit, but were pleased to find the creature was reluctant to leave its offspring.

they walked across the corridor to another room.

Inside it, they found a number of lizardfolk, and a strange yuan-ti, which resembled a scantily clad female with bright green eyes.

Nandrin immediately flung a fireball into the room and the lizardfolk died instantly. He scanned the room expectantly (I'm checking to see if her clothes burnt off, he announced, out of character).

Sigurd, ignoring his pervy party-mate, ran up to the beast and slashed at her (if my blades cut her clothing free, that's not my fault, he declared) but his blade avoided her clothing and she fell dead at his feet.

"What a shame" he said, as he pushed her over with the point of his blade.

He turned to the others and shrugged. They were all grinning.

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