Introduction
After some well deserved R'n'R in the tavern, the adventurers struck out to carry on with (what they thought was) their main quest: finding their mentor, the old treasure hunter, Solomon.
The excavation site
The adventurers reached the dragon mound going by the directions given by the old farmer. They found the site quite active. A couple of human workers were hauling crates around and digging in the earth, with two guard drakes napping at the entrance. To the left, a gnome ("P") was having an animated conversation with a sinister, shadowy figure ("H").
Trying to be sneaky, the party did not approach from the main road, instead going round through the forest and coming up in the north-west of the map. They were detected nonetheless, but were in an advantageous position for the coming fight.
When the adventurers were noticed, all activity halted, as the workers eyed them curiously, the drakes perked up, and the gnome and the shadow of a human woman stopped talking. The gnome approached them and invited to come down for a talk, but a quick Insight check revealed that he's lying. The shadow, somehow sensing the turn of events, ordered them all to attack the adventurers. So they did.
When the adventurers were noticed, all activity halted, as the workers eyed them curiously, the drakes perked up, and the gnome and the shadow of a human woman stopped talking. The gnome approached them and invited to come down for a talk, but a quick Insight check revealed that he's lying. The shadow, somehow sensing the turn of events, ordered them all to attack the adventurers. So they did.
Combat
The workers and the drakes tried to rush the adventurers, but they first had to run over the open ground, then climb the sheer walls of the excavation. The drakes were successful in biting the paladin's ankles, who kept pushing them back. The workers were struggling with getting up there, but finally managed, too.
The gnome climbed the wall to the north and shot his crossbow. He was targeted soon enough by spells, so he escaped using gnomish invisibility. He managed to get off a few more shots before running away.
The shadow teleported to safety up on the rocks, then started casting spells. Ghoulish hands emerged from the ground and took hold of the party. The dead workers rose up as zombies, soon to be killed again as the druid threw flaming seeds at them.
One party member was singled out by the shadow. Sensing a powerful caster, it unleashed a terrible spell on the gnome wizard. To the party's eyes, she merely disappeared. In fact, she was trapped in a pocket dimension (looking like a small stone room from the inside, with no way out). I intended for this to be a puzzle for her to solve (referencing her background story), but no solution was forthcoming (even after I dropped the hint of an astral link back to the shadow). Finally, she realized that she had to unleash her unstable power. Channeled into the quickly fading astral link, it tore apart the space between dimensions, depositing her back to her original location. The accompanying energy blast (as determined by dice rolls) was devastating. It annihilated any remaining attackers, and knocked half the party unconscious.
The gnome climbed the wall to the north and shot his crossbow. He was targeted soon enough by spells, so he escaped using gnomish invisibility. He managed to get off a few more shots before running away.
The shadow teleported to safety up on the rocks, then started casting spells. Ghoulish hands emerged from the ground and took hold of the party. The dead workers rose up as zombies, soon to be killed again as the druid threw flaming seeds at them.
One party member was singled out by the shadow. Sensing a powerful caster, it unleashed a terrible spell on the gnome wizard. To the party's eyes, she merely disappeared. In fact, she was trapped in a pocket dimension (looking like a small stone room from the inside, with no way out). I intended for this to be a puzzle for her to solve (referencing her background story), but no solution was forthcoming (even after I dropped the hint of an astral link back to the shadow). Finally, she realized that she had to unleash her unstable power. Channeled into the quickly fading astral link, it tore apart the space between dimensions, depositing her back to her original location. The accompanying energy blast (as determined by dice rolls) was devastating. It annihilated any remaining attackers, and knocked half the party unconscious.
Resolution
The party suffered no permanent casualties. The wizard, however, was severely weakened by the ordeal (with her power drained by the jump through dimensions).
Their enemies lay dead, except the gnome, who managed to escape.
After some fumbling around, the adventurers did discover Solomon, tied and gagged, inside one of the crates. He was captured and interrogated by what he could assert was an evil cult, trying to open a portal for a demon prince to crawl through to this world. Of course, he regretted his decision to go on this last treasure hunt, and started back home. Before leaving, he tasked the adventurers - no longer his students - to stop this new menace.
Later edit
I had a nice and inspiring story ready of how Solomon came with a bunch of guards and crew, and they were ambushed in the night by a powerful sorcerer and a band of monsters - goblins, kobolds and the like. I was at the point where the old man was holding them off with his arsenal of magic items, and his students laughed in his face and called him a liar. Oh well.
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