Rise of Tiamat - Episode VIII - Vision of Death

Another enemy has evaded defeat. Skywalker assists the party collect Jolnur's treasure, and the party escorts Skywalker and the villagers through the portal - following closely behind. On the other side, at the Hunting Lodge, the party is greeted by the sight of the Farseer.

Immediately, they prepare themselves to take the Farseer through the underwater path to the tower. Oloril and Myllyn transport the Farkeeper to a sanctuary where they are able to determine the location of the impending cataclysm - Alvator's Hidden Sanctuary, under the Sea of Swords near Candlekeep.

Killian and Dain return to Waterdeep to report and to the Council and witness the birth of Fal'lel Battlehammer, Dain's son.

The party regroups at the lodge and enters the icy teleportation circle to discover several dragons circling the Palace of Burning Ice. Wisely, they quickly teleport out and return to base. They send a message to Bardu alerting them to this information, and then teleport to Candlekeep. Hiring a ship and crew, they set out on the Sea of Swords.

They find their mark, Killian detecting a half-elf and man made structures deep below the surface. Down they go. On the bottom they make passage through a large opaque wall into the presence of a large undersea castle. They enter. And meet Alvator, the half elf. Welcomed warmly, they rest the night in the submarine abode.

In the morning he suggests that the party needs to work to unify the counsel. Mistrusts must be overcome. Alvator allows the party to scry through an orb - which allows them to see the well of dragons. They see a caldera in a temple. The Greypeak mountains are blighted.  Dragon flights, patrols of hill giants, legions of devils, encampments of mercenaries, cultist troops, red wizards guard the temple. It is a bleak vision. Alvator explains that the party will die, but they can use this to their advantage.

With this in mind, the party returns to base.

Rise of Tiamat - Episode VII - Jolnur the Elusive

 The party finds itself with a dead companion and a burning hatred for the elusive blue dragon, Jolnur. The first step they take is to search for traces of their enemy. Along their way they encounter a large group of over-sized scorpions in a large cavern. With Killian leading the assault, the group engages in heated battle, Without issue, the arachnids are slaughtered.

The room now cleared, a shaft is visible 40 feet above. Light shines down. With the help of Oloril's magical tower and some rope, making their way out is a simple task. Above, no sign of the dragon can be detected. They climb to the top of a nearby mountain, but still gain to indication of their nemesis.

They do, however, see a vulture fly towards them, and transform into a genasi. The genasi introduces himself, quite arrogantly, as Skywalker. Returning to the cave, Skywalker prepares a feast (from somewhere) that greatly strengthens the heroes. Still no sign of the dragon - even after many hours of searching.

Finally, Mullyn casts a spell locating the dragon. It is less than 1,000 ft away in the direction of the village. They march forward . .  and meet it. Then, taunting the group from the mountain, the dragon then disappears and appears behind them - spewing lightning breath on Oloril! The battle commences!

The battle is grueling. The party attacks fiercely, slashing away at the dragons strength. But the dragon flees to its lair, summoning air elementals and ahnkeg in its wake. A skirmish ensues, wasting precious time.

They clear the hoard and re-engage the dragon . . . who escapes, yet again.

Rise of Tiamat - Episode VI - The Blue Dragon

So, what have our heroes been up to? Well, they made it back to the Council (sans Varam) and reported what knowledge they had discovered. Whilst with the Council, they discovered a traitor in their midst - a relatively unknown little fellow named Pip. Pip, however, killed himself as soon as he was discovered. Do other traitors to the cause of righteousness infect the Council? Perhaps even those close to the party? We shall see.

In the meanwhile, the party is given various tasks to thwart Tiamat's plan. They return to the Lodge to prepare the way, and free villagers from the grasp of the cult. Once that is done, they set out to test the remaining unexplored portals.

The first portal takes them to a sand village filled with cultists. The party artfully eliminates all the opposition, and receive gifts (and wives) from the grateful tribesman. Then, hearing of a blue dragon, our group hunts it down and engages it in battle. While they did manage to severly wound it, the dragon escaspes their grasp - and not without a price. Poor Roscoe, is dead.

Rise of Tiamat - Episode V - What of Veram?

The party located Veram in the underground complex, about to be sacrificed by a serpent like people. Killian was able to exchange his father's sword for Veram. A heavy price, but worth it f they could gather intelligence from their captive. Oloril seemed to have other ideas, however, nearly killing Veram. Questionable? Yes. Out of character for Oloril? Not necessarily. Roscoe made a strange request of Veram, asking him if there was something he wanted to show him? A symbol or badge of allegiance perhaps? Odd indeed.

Needless to say the party was attacked on their way back to Waterdeep - by a dragon. And, as fate would have it, Veram was stolen away. Was anything gained from Killian's exchange? Perhaps not . . .

Rise of Tiamat - Episode IV - The Search for Wisdom

Making their way out of Scornubal, our heroes ventured North to the small town of Subar. There they were informed that a dwarf matching Veram's description had ventured into the Serpent Hills with a dozen or so companions. This was welcome news to our little band. They traveled hastily toward the Serpent Hills, where they came across what appeared to be a ruin of an old town.

In the abandoned area, several graves were found. After digging two of them up, the group discovered the bodies of two of Veram's companions - one lacerated with a thousand magical cuts and the other burned to a crisp. More searching and the party discovered two giant stone colossi. When approached, one of the stone collosi asked the party if they sought wisdom or knowledge. Caught off gaurd, Killian whispered a suggestion to Dain, "Wisdom." For better or for worse, the colossus took Killian's covert proposal as the final answer. So, with the permission of the colossi, the party made it's way forward into a narrow crevasse. Perhaps this "wisdom", should they find it, would lead them to Veram.

The passageway led to a series of rooms in which they ecountered many strange obstacles, including a magical mosaic chimera, trolls, a large white-bearded humanoid on an oversized throne, and a table populated by otherworldly devils.

When they came to what appeared to be the last room, the party noticed a divination pool filled with some kind of liquid. Could it hold the wisdom they sought? Would it give them insight into the whereabouts of Veram the White? Well, at the suggestion of Mullyn and Dain, Killian peered downward into the shimmering depths - this was not good. For, as soon as he did so, he became seemingly possessed, attacking the party and floating through the air. Quite the spectacle.

Thankfully, Mullyn dispelled whatever foul nonsense controlled the barbarian. The pool was clearly not the answer . . . but what was?

Creatures Encountered List - Third Update

Here's a up-to-date, cumulative, and comprehensive list of all of the villains, bad guys, monsters, and creatures the party has encountered and/or fought since the beginning of level 1:

Acolytes

Adult Blue Dragon

Adult Red Dragon

Adult Black Dragon

Ambush Drakes

Ash Zombie

Assassins

Berserkers

Bugbear

Bullywugs (including Pharblex Spattergoo)

Cloud Giants (didn't fight)
Commoners (innocent and not innocent villagers)

Crocodiles

Couatl

Cultists of various ranks
Cultists (Named): Favric, Rezmir, Frulam Mondath, Langdedrosa Cyanwrath, Dralmorrer Borngray, cult ally Captain Othelstan, and encountered but did not fight Talis the White)

Death Tyrant

Doppelganger

Dragon Eggs (Red, White, and Black)

Drow

Ettercaps

Evil Mage

Flame Elemental (didn't fight)

Flameskull
Flesh Golems

Gargoyles
Ghosts

Giant Bat

Giant Boar

Giant Centipedes

Giant Frogs

Giant Lizards

Giant Spiders

Ghoul

Goblins

Gray Ooze

Grick

Guard Drakes

Guards

Half-Dragon (Blue and Black)

Helmed Horror

Hobgoblins

Hobgoblin Captains

Hobgoblin Warlord

Kobolds
Kuo-Toa

Kuo-Toa Archpriest
Kuo-Toa Whip
Lizardfolk
Marid

Nothic

Ochre Jelly

Ogres

Orc

Otyugh

Owlbear

Perytons

Redbrand Ruffian

Red Wizards of Thay (Azbara Jos and Rath Modar)

Roper
Shadow

Skeleton

Spectator

Specters

Stirges 

Stone Golem

Swarms of Bats

Swarms of Rats

Swarms of Centipedes

Trolls

Vampire

Vampire Spawn

Veterans

Violet Fungi

Will-O-Wisps (didn't fight)

Winged Kobolds

Wolf

Wraith
Wyvern

Young Green Dragon
Young White Dragon

Yuan-ti Malisons

Yuan-ti Purebloods

Zombie

That list keeps getting longer and longer! What a variety of villainy vanquished by our voyagers! Have we exhausted the endless variety of the monster manual? NO! But even at level 12, the party can still be sent running to the hills by stirges! Beware the stirges!

Rise of Tiamat - Episode III - The Sorcerer and the White Dwarf

After pilfering their weasly black guts out, the party continued their search of the icy subterrane. It was not long before they encoutered a group of scholarly frost toads who had evidently taken it upon themselves to document a detailed history of the great white dragon, Arathator. Through conversation with these bookish amphibians, our heroes leaned that the Drachorn, once owned by Arathator, was traded to a group of men dressed in black not long ago. Not only this, but allegedly McCaff the Crimson was residing on this very glacier!

Thankfully, without much trouble, the long lost sorcerer was located. After the group persuaded her to accompany them back to Waterdeep, they convinced the Frost Toads to come along - with their invaluable draconic tomes! Marflub was delighted to know his life's work was to be published!

And so, the council of Waterdeep warmly welcomed our adventures' return. Much had been learned by the council in the party's absence, however. Leosin advised the group that a Zhentarim thief had stolen a white dragon mask from a Dwarf named Varram the White - a dragonspeaker! This Dwarf was last seen near Bariskyr Bridge. There was no time to waste. Leosin gave the party a pass to use a teleportation circle leading to Scornuble, and tasked our intrepid lot with capturing or killing the dragonspeaker.