Bright red dragon soaring away from the burning remains of a city atop a mountain.

Episode 26 – Just Deserts

Wednesday, November 29th, 2017

First order of party business is to loot the bodies to try and gather some additional information about the Sanatorium and its residents. Apart from some potions and a couple wands, Krask finds two sets of keys which the party hopes will grant them access to the rest of the building.

As they travel upstairs, they find a series of detainment cells and two figures within. One of them is an old, senile man named Wald who babbles incoherently as if he were in the middle of a great battle. The other person is a blind, emaciated kobold named Brudik. Since he is able to hold a conversation, the party begins to ask him about himself – how he became an inmate, where he’s from, etc.

Through their dialogue, it is learned that Brudik is actually from the same kobold clan as Krask – the Dirt Diggers. After Krask had stolen from the dragon, Longtooth went into a rage, believing that Krask was not the first to have stolen. Over the course of several weeks, he underwent an extensive interrogation of the clan, eventually wiping out all of the kobolds. The dragon crafted a massive, grisly, charred bone chime in his cave from their remains – all except Brudik. He was allowed the live, albeit maimed and blinded, under the orders to locate Krask and notify Longtooth of the Deserter’s whereabouts.

Krask is uneasy about letting Brudik know that Krask was standing right in from of him; there was an element of shock and surprise that Longtooth had exterminated so many kobolds for such a seemingly insignificant offense. Theo silently indicates that they could just leave Brudik alone, none the wiser, but Krask’s curiosity eventually gets the better of him.

Brudik requests a dagger and proceeds to cut open his lower abdomen, revealing a bloody glass vial. He throws it to the ground, shattering it, and revealing the dragon’s message to Krask:

“The mountains shake. The river weeps. The sky chokes. The world knows and remembers the transgressions of The Deserter, emblazoned in our minds with a boundless flame of writhing hatred. Foolishness defines the acts of a coward, scuttling away with his ill-gotten prize. Forget not, the scheming joy you felt in that moment, when you held your golden salvation aloft, believing that you had triumphed over me. Me, the rock that had sheltered you from the torments of the world. Instead, you choose to be eroded and erased from existence. You choose to be crushed by the suffocating weight of my wrath. You choose death.

As such, the Deserter shall become naught but dust, joining the wretched and worthless of this land, void of legacy and life. He shall quiver underneath my boiling fury, and his debt shall become due in full, a thousand-fold. His bones will smolder before joining the remains of his fellow worms in my Chimes. And the wind will regale the tale of your folly with a somber, hollow melody with every gust of its disappointed breath. I, Brindrisdin, the Hollow Tyrant, Sovereign of the Dust Worms, and the Ashen Collector shall be repaid. And The Deserter will become one with the desert, barren and without life.”

As the message fades, Krask is visibly shaken. His little act of defiance has caused a murderous ripple, and having a dragon seeking you out was akin to a death sentence. The party unlocks Brudik’s room and agrees to help him reach the House of Blue Stones in Sandpoint where he can live out his days as a monk at the monastery. They continue searching the Sanatorium.

To quickly sum up the results of their findings, they find a manic wererat whom they leave untouched, a series of invasive surgical tools, and a necromantic workshop down in the basement which includes Caizarlu’s spellbook. Satisfied, they head back to Sandpoint, arriving around nightfall.

They immediately visit the Cathedral to cure Fobias’ blindness. The healers are generous and restore the half-orc’s sight for a relative discount. Before heading to debrief Sherriff Hemlock, they make a pitstop at the House of Blue Stones and drop off Brudik. Brudik cautions Krask to watch his back and hopes that he survives this terrifying ordeal before heading inside.

At the garrison, the party notifies Sheriff Hemlock of the events at the Sanatorium, including the deaths of Habe and Grayst. Even though Hemlock is inclined to give the party the benefit of the doubt after the services that they’ve provided to Sandpoint, but still needs to exercise his due diligence in fact-gathering to verify the party’s story. He asks them to sit tight overnight while he investigates the Sanatorium and reach a verdict.

The gates of the holding cell close with the entire party behind them.

What did Caizarlu know about the Sihedron Rune? Was he creating undead to feast on Sandpoint’s citizens? Will Sherriff Hemlock find Isotoners at the crime scene?