The ceiling above the party continues to shake violently, with bits of rock and dirt dislodging themselves and falling to the ground. The bone chimes clatter against each other, and Krask becomes concerned that his reconfiguration of the structure might not hold.
And then….there’s silence. There’s only the occasional drip of water from some of the longer stalactites splashing on the stone below.
After a few minutes, the silence is broken by a familiar sound echoing through the tunnels: the exciting wooping of the skulks.
That’s when you hear a booming voice coming from the southwestern tunnel.
“YOU RATS HAVE THE GALL TO SEND A MESSAGE AND THEN BURROW DOWN INTO THE EARTH IN FEAR?! SCUTTLING AWAY BECAUSE YOU ARE WELL AWARE OF THE PAIN YOU HAVE GUARANTEED FOR YOURSELF. BRINDISDRIN SHALL BE AVENGED. NOT BECAUSE OF LOVE OR LUST, BUT BECAUSE OF THE COWARDLY ACTS OF A COLONY OF DISEASE-RIDDEN RODENTS.”
Down the tunnel, the party can hear muted screams end abruptly, accompanied by what sounds like the snapping of dry twigs.
“THE LIVES BEING EXTINGUISHED ARE ON YOUR HANDS. THIS BLOOD IS SPILLED BY YOUR ACTIONS, RATS. BUT AT LEAST YOU SPARED ME THE INCONVENIENCE OF DISPOSING OF YOUR FRAGILE CORPSES.”
Just then, the shape of a MASSIVE cobalt-blue dragon shambles down the hallway, blood spattered across her front and the half-eaten body of a skulk dangling, caught between her long teeth.
“THESE TUNNELS WILL BE YOUR TOMB. GLORY BE TO GHLOROFAEX!!!”
The party jumps into action to get as much damage in on the dragon as possible. Krask, with his classic pillar-peek, fires off several rounds towards the dragon but misses all of them. Fyn slows down time, giving himself ample opportunity to summon a nalfeshnee and a trio of dire crocodiles to even the odds. Meanwhile, Barnaby waits for Ghlorofaex to get close enough, at which point he sends the bone chimes crashing down upon her.
Enraged, the dragon lets loose a blast of electricity breath, scorching Fobias, Richard, and Trace in the process. Richard and Fobias emerge from their position behind Longtooth’s corpse, trying to set up a flanking position. Barnaby descends from the ceiling and engages with this draconic menace.
Now that the dragon is in the room, she quickly becomes surrounded by the summoned creatures and the party. However, as Krask lands an attack, he notices that the blood doesn’t spatter quite right. It takes the party a few hits to catch on, but finally Fyn is able to discern that this is a Mirage ability that some dragons possess. The real Ghlorofaex has to be controlling it via line of sight.
This changes the battle entirely! The nalfeshnee demon locates the real dragon still waiting, invisible, down the tunnel. Realizing she’s been found out, she sheds her invisibility in favor of an all-out assault. She greases the floor that Trace is standing on, likely confining him for the battle. And her attacks are brutal, striking out against Fobias and nearly killing him outright.
Fortunately, the party is able to find some of her weaker spots, and incapacitate her from performing a full-round attack action. This allows Fobias enough time to run away, desperately pulling a potion from his pack in the process.
The combined might of the demon, crocodiles, and the holy blade of Trace do their worst, and Ghlorofaex is vanquished. Once again, it is Krask who deals the final blow, defiantly closing the supplementary chapter to Bridisdrin’s story.
They loot the Sihedron ring from her clawed hand, and take another magical ring from her body as well. As they flee down the tunnels, they notice that several skulks perished in Ghlorofaex’s assault. They find a skulk nearby and ask for some intel. Apparently, the giants haven’t invaded the tunnels yet, so the party requests a safe place to rest.
Will the giants invade the skulk tunnels? Did Ghlorofaex have a secret hoard? Were any skulks harmed in the making of this adventure?
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