Session 15: Dragon Barrow

The adventurers meet a new face and explore the tomb of a legendary dragon slayer.

Summary
The party made their way into town where they saw an peculiar-looking figure being yelled at be the town's blacksmith, Godwin.

Latham approached as Godwin beckoned for him. The blacksmith congratulated the adventurers on the completion of their keep and pledged his service to the adventurers, which they gladly accepted.

The peculiar-looking figure approached the party and mentioned something about the Shielding Hand. The peculiar individual introduced himself as Jester Crowley, a traveling magic user that was looking for work and adventure. After demonstrating his skills to the party, the adventurers invited Jester, or "Jess", back to their manor, which Latham and his companions had now dubbed "Dawn's Shield Keep."

Midsummer
Days after meeting Jester, the adventurers brought a rabbit stew — that Spills the Stew made with the party's help — to Qelline Alderleaf the town green for the celebration of Midsummer.

L'aela and Carp offered neatly wrapped gifts to the adventurers that turned out to be a mischievous prank. L'aela explained that followers of Tymora often reveled in acts of mischief during Midsummer before offering the party their own boxes of mischief.

The adventurers celebrated Midsummer with their own mischief with Moneux and Quoorin even pulling pranks on Harbin Wester and Daran Edermath. Though, Daran and Don-Jon also managed to slip Quoorin a magical concoction that sprouted a long beard from the elf's face.

A Mysterious Letter
The morning after the celebration of Midsummer, the adventurers dragged themselves to the feasting hall of Dawn's Shield Keep to rest their heads.

Don-Jon Raskin presented a letter to the party which he had found wedged underneath the door of the entrance hall. The adventurers were dubious and attempted to sniff out any scent of orc on the letter but could not determine who sent them the letter. "'Between here and Neverwinter lies the barrow mound of a warrior whose magical dragon-slaying sword helped fell a green dragon terrorizing the High Road a century ago. Rumor has it the dragon slayer sword is buried there too! It is a powerful blade whose hilt is fashioned as the head of a dragon to represent the blade’s greatest feat — splitting through the horrible green dragon’s skull!'"Spills the Stew arrived shortly after and wondered if the letter was instructing the party to seek out a burial tomb near Neverwinter called Dragon Barrow. The tabaxi told the tale of Lady Alagondar Tanamere, a dragon slayer that was laid to rest at a barrow outside of Neverwinter along with her dragon slaying sword.

Though still suspicious, the adventurers made ready for travel toward Neverwinter in search of the dragon slayer's grave and their sword.

Dragon Barrow
The party ventured toward Neverwinter for two days before leaving the main road toward a series of hills topped with white stones. Before the could make it to the barrow, a centaur approached the party, asking them what their business was and warning them of the dangers around the barrow.

Latham and the centaur exchanged words about the dangers of the wilderness and of Neverwinter Wood in particular. When the party told the centaur that they had defeated Gorthok the Thunder Boar the centaur was taken aback before asking the adventurers to follow them to one of the white stones atop the hill. The centaur showed the party a large stone surrounded by unsettled earth that other adventurers had used to enter the tomb below the hill, the centaur then left for Neverwinter Wood.

The adventurers managed to move the large stone, revealing a stairwell that descended into the hill. Varien and Jester sent their familiars within the barrow and learned that the tomb spanned much of the surrounding hills. Jester stayed outside of the barrow to keep watch while the rest of the party ventured within. Inside the tomb the party encountered an array of traps, uncovered treasures within and Moneux even bonded with a skeletal horse that allowed the ranger to ride it, but they could not find the sword of the dragon slayer.

The Deck of Many Things
Resigned to leaving the barrow without the dragon slayer's sword, the party left to find a deck of cards placed just outside the entrance. Spills the Stew recognized the cards as the Deck of Many Things and pleaded for his companions to leave the deck be.

Dismissing the bard's words, the party drew many cards from the deck which created magical effects with each draw, though the effects of each card had yet to fully materialize. Of the many effects that were produced, a female elf warrior appeared in front of Quoorin and pledged themselves to him. Additionally, an Avatar of Death appeared to take Quoorin's life, but the elf was able to defeat the Avatar and fight off death once again.

Latham's Cards
Balance. Your mind suffers a wrenching alteration, causing your Alignment to change. Lawful becomes chaotic, good becomes evil, and vice versa. If you are true neutral or unaligned, this card has no Effect on you.

Comet. If you single-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or group of monsters you encounter, you gain experience points enough to gain one level. Otherwise, this card has no effect.

The Fates. Reality's fabric unravels and spins anew, allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never happened. You can use the card's magic as soon as you draw the card or at any other time before you die.

Rogue. A nonplayer character of the GM's choice becomes hostile toward you. The identity of your new enemy isn't known until the NPC or someone else reveals it. Nothing less than a wish spell or divine intervention can end the NPC's hostility toward you.

Vizier. At any time you choose within one year of drawing this card, you can ask a question in meditation and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question. Besides information, the answer helps you solve a puzzling problem or other dilemma. In other words, the knowledge comes with wisdom on how to apply it.

Moneux's Cards
Sun. You gain 50,000 XP, and a wondrous item (which the GM determines randomly) appears in your hands.

Throne. You gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill, and you double your proficiency bonus on checks made with that skill. In addition, you gain rightful ownership of a small keep somewhere in the world. However, the keep is currently in the hands of monsters, which you must clear out before you can claim the keep as yours.

Quoorin's Cards
Flames. A powerful devil becomes your enemy. The devil seeks your ruin and plagues your life, savoring your suffering before attempting to slay you. This enmity lasts until either you or the devil dies.

Idiot. Permanently reduce your Intelligence by 1d4 + 1 (to a minimum score of 1). You can draw one additional card beyond your declared draws.

Jester. You gain 10,000 XP, or you can draw two additional cards beyond your declared draws.

Knight. You gain the service of a 4th-level fighter who appears in a space you choose within 30 feet of you. The fighter is of the same race as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the fates have drawn him or her to you. You control this character.

Skull. You summon an avatar of death--a ghostly humanoid skeleton clad in a tattered black robe and carrying a spectral scythe. It appears in a space of the GM's choice within 10 feet of you and attacks you, warning all others that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights until you die or it drops to 0 hit points, whereupon it disappears. If anyone tries to help you, the helper summons its own avatar of death. A creature slain by an avatar of death can't be restored to life.

Talons. Every magic item you wear or carry disintegrates. Artifacts in your possession aren't destroyed but do vanish.

Varien's Cards
Star. Increase one of your ability scores by 2. The score can exceed 20 but can't exceed 24.

Gem. Twenty-five pieces of jewelry worth 2,000 gp each or fifty gems worth 1,000 gp each appear at your feet.

The Bell Over Phandalin
Spills the Stew was concerned about the effects of the cards and took meticulous notes about each effect in hopes of saving his companions from any ill effects. The tabaxi lead the party back to Phandalin, lecturing the whole way back until he heard something in the distance, the ringing of a bell. The adventurers looked in the direction of the sound to see smoke rising from Phandalin and a white dragon circling above.

Player Characters

 * Amos the kenku druid of spores
 * Jester the satyr arcane trickster
 * Latham the goliath paladin of devotion
 * Moneux the shifter beast master
 * Quoorin the wood elf battle master
 * Varien the half-elf warlock of the fiend

Non-Player Characters

 * Adabra Gwyn, the female human alchemist in service to Dawn's Shield Keep.
 * Carp Alderleaf, the young male halfling son of Qelline Alderleaf.
 * Daran Edermath, the gray-haired male half-elf owner of the apple orchard in Phandalin.
 * Don-Jon Raskin, the male human overseer formerly employed by the Neverwinter Consortium. He is now the chamberlain of Tresendar Manor.
 * Elf Warrior, a female elf that was summoned by the Deck of Many Things to serve Quoorin.
 * Godwin, the male human blacksmith of Phandalin that has pledged his service to Dawn's Shield Keep.
 * Harbin Wester, the male human townmaster of Phandalin and doppelganger in disguise.
 * Knock, the magical familiar of Jester.
 * L'aela, the female elf sister of Tymora in Phandalin
 * Morgana, the panther animal companion to Moneux.
 * Poe, the raven familiar to Varien.
 * Qelline Alderleaf, the female halfling owner of Alderleaf Farm.
 * Spills the Stew, a male tabaxi bard and adventurer looking to catalog the adventures of heroes.
 * Tibor Wester, the male human contractor and half-brother of Harbin Wester. He now runs the Phandalin Mining Exchange.
 * Xanth, a centaur that warned the adventurers of the dangers within Dragon Barrow.