The Red and the White

Brumbar arrived in Merrydale and made contact with Marjon the Druid who was horrified to find that the artifact had been removed from where it was hidden. He advised the Paladin to return it at once to its secret garden. There it was generally safe from scrying eyes. An item as powerful as it was sure to attract unwanted attention.



Just then, a commotion was heard outside the village. Brumbar and Marjon exited to find an ancient red dragon laying in the midst of the town square. It introduced itself as Chindraxocrandis and said that it was minding its own business a few days previous when it spotted three Halfling boys walking down a road with a very powerful magical item between them. It was just about to swoop in, when it watched Brumbar overtake the boys on magic carpet and relieve them of… something. Then, as the Paladin took hold of it, the magical item was secreted from the dragon’s senses. He decided that anyone able to mask the dweomer was one he wanted to meet… and hire.

He said, “I wish no harm upon you or these simple folk. If you succeed in the quest I have in mind for you, I will spare the people of this shire, otherwise, I will sear the flesh off their bodies with my breath and dine on their entrails."

When Brumbar did not object, the dragon laid out a contract. Far to the North of Merrydale lies an endless ice expanse. Three days journey into that expanse lies Fangg Mountain. Within the heart of the mountain lairs the treacherous wyrm Arauthator. If Brumbar proved able to take a specific item from Arauthators lair, Chindraxocrandis would let the halflings go free.

The red dragon’s fanatically loyal followers, the so-called “Torchbearers” would accompany Brumbar to the glacial edge and show him to the rift which leads into the endless ice expanse. After arriving there, Brumbar was to have just three days to complete the task. His return journey would be expedited by a specific item -- a staff, which when broken, would transport Brumbar and anyone near him immediately back to Chindraxocrandis’ presence.

So staff in hand, Brumbar left the shire with all haste. He first attempted to return the Halfling crown to its original resting place. But when he determined that the magic had been drained from the secret garden and the maple in its center was dying, he decided it could no longer be trusted to guard the artifact.

Then he teamed once again with Snow, Apollo, Urambe, Fr. Brendan, Ivy, and Samantha and presented his dilemma. For their part, Apollo and company explained their meeting with a giant and Apollos desire to see the slaves freed. Long discussions were had whether it was better to steal Arauthator’s item, fight the White Dragon, turn the two dragons on one another, enlist the giant to slay the dragon, go back and slay Chindraxocrandis outright, or just leave altogether. In the end, all of them eventually met up with the Torchbearers – a tribe of Daizu warriors, and traveled north across the steppes toward the glacial rift.

After defeating another tribe of Daizu, the party entered the glacial rift and nearly lost Apollo in a fight with four remorhaz. They then met up with the Old White People – the descendants of a tribe of Daizu that originally entered the rift to find a new source of mammoth. The Old White People were very pleased because the remorhaz had preyed on their people for many years, they traded their curious armor to the party for any metal that could be had.

Chalaba, the shaman of the Old White People, told them of the Fangg mountain and the Master of the North – the dragon that lived therein. Then she tried to marry her son to Samantha. Finally, she attempted to conscript the party to kill Jurathenkis -- the queen of the remorhaz. The party steadfastly refused both requests.

There in the hot spring oasis of the Old White People, Brumbar demanded that Samantha use her spells to identify the magic staff given to them by Chindraxocrandis the Red. Samantha determined that the item was actually two – a staff which would teleport as described (with the horrifying twist that anyone transported thusly would arrive unarmed and unarmored) and a red crystal orb which allowed someone on the other end to hear, see and read the thoughts of anyone within a thirty foot radius of the bearer. After distancing herself from the staff, Samantha broke the news to the party that all their previous conversations and progress had been monitored.

Another conversation broke out with long debates about the true nature of their quest. If the nature of the staff meant that they could not return the item to Chindraxocrandis, perhaps his goal wasn’t to gain an item at all, but simply to have the party battle the ancient white and kill or weaken him. The whole adventure was nothing more than a trap and the assumption was that the Halflings were probably already dead.

Suddenly, Brumbar retrieved the artifact crown placed it on his head and ordered Apollo to do jumping jacks. Apollo immediately complied. He then looked at Samantha and demanded that she want to marry him. She refused. He tried again, and this time she complied. Test results in hand, he determined that there was a chance that even a very intelligent red dragon would be forced to accede to his wishes.

After some contemplation, Brumbar strode to the staff. He demanded that Chindraxocrandis fly at once to Fangg Mountain and engage Aurathator in single combat. He did not know how many times the device could be used, or whether it would be used effectively, so he kept repeating his demands until the crown lost its luminous glow and became a lump of cold metal.

It was nearly a full day before the party saw the red dragon streaking across the sky toward Fangg Mountain. Though many miles distant they thought they could hear the sounds of combat and roars that must be occurring. It was a day later that the Master of the North was seen emerging from his lair and perching upon its snowy peak, emitting a great triumphant roar and a blast of cold into the air.

Chalaba of the Old White People took this as a sign and again asked the party to defeat the Jurathenkis for her people. The party refused. Instead, they took their leave and asked for a ride back to the great ice rift, which was provided.

Upon emerging from the rift and back onto the Steppes, the party found the Torchbearers awaiting the return of their master and idol Chindraxocrandis. A battle ensued. The party defeated their enemies only to be joined at battle’s end by an ancient white dragon who flew from the north and landed amidst them.

Speaking Eastrun the White Dragon said, “You who have trespassed in my domain owe me a boon. You must return to the rift and slay Jurathenkis as an act of apology.” When the party refused, a battle broke out, with the creature spewing cones of cold from his nostrils. Only Apollo refused to believe the illusion and demonstrated it to be the last ditch effort of Chalaba to get her way. The party moved south and encountered a few fog giants gathering food, which they narrowly avoided. They then came across a Dwarf on Mammoth back and attempted to avoid it, but then attacked over the protests of Apollo. The Dwarf defended himself using a magical horn and did great damage to the party before finally exploding into a fiery ball.

When the party at long last returned to Merrydale, they found the halflings in mourning, for the old wyrm had slain their curate Marjon before departing. No other lives had been lost.

Quote of the Day: What makes you think my Foulwing is evil?