Lost Dispatches of Feraso #33 - The Dragon Temple of Sost

WEISSMACH LETTER #11

The Free City of Nauzlanti, Gran Duchy of Regan

To His Lordship, the Viscount Wilfrick of Verbobonc,

With the dread elf Talanth Blackash and his crew of ne'er do wells long vanished from Nauzlanti, we in the Order of Merit kept our roles as bounty hunters in search of them, or any business opportunity that came up.

While continuing our inquiry on Blackash, we subtly investigation any information we could on this massive Green Dragon, Vesikant, that allegedly ran the town from afar.  To keep our composure among such thieves, pirates, and ne'er do wells, we kept to our rule of never splitting the party into more than two groups, and engaged in the morally ambiguous but the very lucrative world of political assassination.

If it eases His Lord's mind, we simply became ensnared in the local neighborhood gangs when we ran afoul of them when they wished to murder and rob us, and we simply had to turn the tables.  This pleased certain elements and angered others, and we somehow we ended up as a powerful, largely neutral third party.

While we are all picking up the Nevskian tongue, our translator and ally Andrei has proven indispensable soothing tensions, convincing some of the larger players in the city that we merely wish to remain in town a bit longer to resupply and not cause a riot.  For awhile, our cleric Celeste was consistently purifying our meals and drinks as a precaution, and not to be surprised, but regardless of any truth to poison in it, the food actually tasted better afterwards.

In our two months "recuperating" in Nauzlanti, we came upon two actual individuals who aided us in the locating the dragon.  First was a weaponsmith named Jan.  She was unnervingly direct to us that the power within the town itself flowed through the high priest Sost at the Dragon Temple, and then through a Yorick who held the secular power.

Yorick's "Palace" seemed far too well-guarded, but the upper layers of the temple, as Jan described them, was guarded more by fear and a few well-laid traps.  The Dragon Temple had never been a player in our unwanted political machinations, so we hoped we had some element of surprise, with Jan's assistance, of course.

We stormed the very public temple at twilight, killing the two lizardmen guards and a handful of common worshipers inside.  With the sanctuary secure, we tried to work our way into the temple, only to be met with a magical rune of some sort.  It's magicks overtook Andrei and Celeste with an outburst of rage we needed to quickly subdue and bind, if we were to keep any element of surprise.

It simply amazes the entire Order how arrogant and overconfident the High Priest Sost was, but worshiping the dark demon dragon Tiamat and his alleged position with the dragon Vesikant might have been enough for him to have two guards, a magical marking, and an animated idol to Tiamat to protect him.

The idol, with its heads spouting elemental death at us, wounded us, but it was its tail we learned to fear.  After toying with us a bit with its heads, the tail struck out at Jan, killing her instantly.  But as her body hit the floor, it broke down into clods of dirt!  With that shock to our strategy, Morya and Murag pounced on the abomination and smashed it to bits.

High Priest Soth of the Dragon Temple

Compared to the idol, we three remaining heroes quite easily dispatched Sost.  Relying on his wards and enchanted statues, he put himself in a corner, and despite some lackadaisical spellcasting, we killed him within moments.

With our friends recovered with quickly searched the complex, desecrated the evil temple, and left under cover of darkness through a side door with some of the richer spoils offered to Tiamat.

With our time fleeting with the destruction of the Dragon Temple, we wisely decided against infiltrating Yorick's palace, but rather figured it was smart to leave town, at least for a bit, so we used our second contact, Sir Erilec.

Yours in Service,

Elsderth Greyhawk
Sage of the The Order of Merit, Former Sellsword - Extraordinaire
Wielder of the Legendary Betrayer.
Defiler of the Temple of Tiamat
Freigraff of the Totenlinden of Amberstoll

DM Notes: As the original group with Talanth Blackash acquired some new members in the city and fled, I felt it only proper for Elsderth's group to give the pirate city and the plot lines a chance.  

The idea that the Order was a "neutral political faction" is an exaggeration.  It simply dispatched thugs, thieves, and would-be assasins way too easily.  In fact, as I tried to resolves some random city encounters, the "tanks" of Murag, Morya, and Celeste mopped the floor with the local guards... and attracted the attention of Jan (the Jann).  

The town in "Vesicant" is as evil and vibrant as it is deadly.  None of the order (including the Lawful Good Celeste) is necessarily interested in destroying the pirate city, especially the leader's well guarded compound, but taking an evil temple down that runs things behind the scenes is more their speed.

Next: #34 - Finally, Vesikant?