Loose threads None
Participants
Cati, Dretal, Luz Cielo, Russ'Ruk, Toma
Locations Lifebloom Thicket
Short summary:
Went to slay a dragon. Fought a lot of incredibly powerful elementals along the way. Finally killed the dragon along with the physical manifestations of its negative emotions.
Full Report
Following the events of A cultivation of stone and silence, Luz and I decided to hunt down the dragon Augathor. To do so, we enlisted a team of elite adventurers while I spent a couple of days in the Assembly's library.
Augathor was last seen on top of a mountain near New Hezrath. Failing to Scry his location by magical means, we journeyed to New Hezrath to gather clues the old fashioned way. We learned of certain weather anomalies occurring at the far end of the Coalition Territories which were consistent with Augathor's ambient aura. Had the dragon switched locales?
Thus, we departed New Hezrath for Halcyon City and the forest beyond its walls: Lifebloom Thicket. The locals of Halcyon complained about a sudden increase in the forest's temperature radiating from an epicenter. We hypothesised that this was Augathor's doing.
Lifebloom Thicket is infested by these nigh immortal creatures called Living Husks. While their regeneration proved no trouble for our party, caution is advised for less experienced folks travelling in the area.
Our first major confrontation was against the local flora: two living thickets infused with ambient Qi and a wood elemental hydra. They fell to our fiery assault quite easily.
Soon after we were struck by a wave of repulsive Sorrow Qi. Luz and I were quite familiar with it, having encountered it last time we faced Augathor. Thus, we were able to trace a safe path through this wave and each subsequent wave afterwards.
We soon felt the ambient heat climb to severe levels, with Luz reporting a great infusion of fire Qi in the forest's ecosystem. It seems the trees here had lost their innate weakness to fire, instead becoming vulnerable to spiritual energy. Not too long after this discovery, we were attacked by more elementals.
A sapient wooden carving of two warriors started hurling debris at us from atop a hill. With means magical and mundane, we reached it fast and started our counterattack. Another elemental, imitating a tree, attacked our flank and Cati who didn't climb the hill ended up fighting it alone. Both enemies had already been infused with fire Qi rendering our fire attacks less effective (though not completely ineffective). Additionally, the twin carvings possessed a Beacon of Qi that seemed to energize itself and its ally.
While Luz was able to successfully disarm and disable the Beacon, Cati ended up unconscious under the tree's assault. We fought back and took down both threats, barely scraping by without casualties.
We pushed on after a short rest. As we reached colser to the epicenter, the terrain became more uneven and chasmous while the winds picked up in speed, threatening to throw us off the edge. Looking for shelter, we found a clearing among the trees. Inside the clearing we saw a large chasm, Sorrow Qi flowing in and out of it simultaneously. The Qi flowing out coalesced into two sentient Hurricanes while a Centaur like creature emerged from the chasm.
A literal uphill struggle ensued. While I was able ward to the party against lightning bolts before the elementals' attack began, I wasn't able to grant them the ability to fly quickly enough. Luz and Russ invoked their celestial and draconic heritages respectively to take flight while the rest of us were swept into the chasm by strong winds stirred by the Hurricanes. First me, then Dretal, then Cati.
It took some time to get the three of us air-ready but when we were all done, the trio of enemies stood little chance. The Hurricanes tried to keep their distance, dispersing elsewhere when damaged. The centaur creature flew around, projecting itself into multiple futures and only resolving its most favourable outcome. Still, with all five of us in the air, we chased them down and struck them out.
At this point all my magic was exhausted and the heat left all of us at the point of fatigue. We decided to run out of the woods and set camp at its outskirts but the ambient Sorrow Qi prevented our retreat. Instead, we followed the forest animals and found a place unharmed by turbulent negative emotions.
The next day, we arrived at the epicenter and found Augathor. He was conducting a ritual to infuse Fire Qi into the forest elevating it from Five Elements Forest to Six Elements Forest. The trees at the epicenter were already fully harmonized with Fire Qi. To what end he was doing this, was unknown.
Our attempts at conversation quickly went south and combat ensued. Contrary to my estimates, Augathor, an Ancient Dragon, was far beyond our strength. None of our attacks could scratch him, while he leisurely decimated us with his spirit breath. However, we were soon drawn into Augathor's inner realm, where his Sorrow resided. Whilst in this mindscape, we were set upon by physical manifestations of Augathor's grief as well as a younger version of himself, back when he had just lost his partner, Sova.
It was an unconventional battle to be sure, but we persevered through and came out victorious. Cati eliminated the demons with his Holy attacks while Russ landed the killing blow on Augathor. We awoke in the clearing and recalled soon after.