Chymon's Chamber

5th Day of Fireseek, CY 592

The Guardian
The battle had begun against the guardian of the fire door. The dragon had Uthgar in her mighty jaws, and before she flew back into the massive chamber, she swallowed him whole. Our mages cast fly on Victor and Erwin, and Delvanos cast haste on the party. Two rounds of preparatory spells would hopefully be enough against this huge wyrm.

The dragon, Chymon, breathed fire down on us as we moved into the chamber. Thankfully, our protective wards absorbed most of the damage. Victor and Erwin closed with the dragon remaining close to the ground, while Delvanos reminded us of our past glories. His tales always bolstered our morale, which was crucial in this pitched battle. Vannay targeted the dragon with a dispel magic, and it brought down a few abjuration wards. Erwin’s ice storm could not penetrate her scales.

After Delvanos fired off a volley of arrows at the dragon, she swooped down and picked him up in her jaws. Soon he would join Uthgar in her fiery belly. Victor moved quickly up to Delavanos, and cast freedom of movement on him. He fell safely to the ground. Vannay attempted to shock the dragon with a powerful lightning bolt, but once again it had no effect. Lucas was successful with an orb spell.

The dragon thought she could grapple our monk priest, and it was her undoing. He was cut by her razor teeth, but she could not keep hold of him. Delvanos aimed his arrows into her underbelly and pierced her several times. Victor moved into grapple the huge dragon. He grabbed her horns and established a firm grip, and then he followed through by locking on to her neck. A loud crack echoed through the chamber as Victor snapped her cervical vertebrae. The dragon’s lifeless body fell to the floor.

After some healing, we began searching through her nest of coins in the pit. Lucas found a hatch underneath the hoard. The hatch opened up to a large ladder leading down into the darkness. We decided that resting for the night was the best idea before seeing what lay below.

The Skullcrushers
Vannay created his magical hut for us to rest in for the night. Staying in the dragon’s chamber seemed the most sensible option. About an hour into our first watch, Erwin heard some loud clanking noises coming down the hallway. Apparently, the earlier battle had attracted attention. Vannay made himself invisible, while Erwin woke the rest of the party. He was still in his ape form, so it was mostly with grunts.

Six ogre-like creatures entered the chamber. They were all clad in black full-plate armor with sharp spikes, and they carried spiked steel shields and bastard swords. Erwin identified them as skullcrusher ogres. Lucas laid down some black tentacles, but they had no difficulty avoiding entanglement. Vannay fired a chain lightning at them, and it seemed to be quite effective. The rest of the party closed with the ogres, while Delvanos began inspiring courage.

The martial prowess of the ogres was soon evident. Erwin was severely wounded by their spiked shields. Victor cast righteous might and moved into melee. The dragon’s pit and the tentacles caused some movement problems, and this prevented Uthgar from getting to join the melee. Lucas cast slow on the ogres, which limited their combat options.

Erwin healed himself, while Victor began grappling. Delvanos’ precision archery once again dealt severe damage to the ogre closest to Erwin. It was not enough though. The ogre’s shield caught Erwin in the jaw and dropped him to the ground dead. He shifted back into human form.

A few of the ogres had dropped, and one of them was circling around the party to get to the casters. Vannay summoned a large air elemental to guard that flank. Uthgar had moved through the pit to get better access to the ogres, but he was knocked over by a charging ogre, just after he climbed out of the pit.

To be continued . . .