Following the attack on Bloodfall by Frostvinge and Isfang the Ice Dragons, our heroes gathered to deal with the menace once and for all. Long ago, promises and oaths were made and today was the day they would be fulfilled.
Raylan had the helm, using scrying from Ojisan's Palantir to help zero in on the dragons' lair. They had moved from their previous glacial spot after the PCs robbed their hoard some months back. Turns out satellite surveillance wasn't on their bingo card.
Using a bunch of math to convince me to roll 2d6, Ojisan worked with the rangers to locate the long ravine that the dragons had holed up in along with the remainder of their gnoll army. They scouted a bit and located the gnoll tribe underneath a large overhang. The adventurers did not see the cave one of the dragons was sleeping in because it was hidden behind ILLLLUUUUSION. Ooooh, aahhhh.
Anyway, Thorgal wanted satisfaction from the very same gnolls that chopped off his hand after agreeing to set him free during a prior captivity. He rolled up with some mercs and demanded a duel with Chief Biter. See, gnolls are chaotic evil and not very honorable or trustworthy. Biter said suuuure buddy let's duel, with no real intent of risking himself to danger. His 7 bodyguards were to jump in if Biter got hit or after a few rounds.
So that happened, alerting the rest of the party hidden away that things had not gone Thorgal's way. They rushed in to engage the gnoll tribe with their small merc army as Thrice-killed parried for all he was worth. A battle made too long by unlikely morale rolls dragged out. Once contact was made, I had determined there was a chance the patrolling Isfang would return. Ojisan on overwatch discovered the ancient dragon was inbound and warned the party.
Raylan bolted to go fight the dragon at the top of the ravine while the rest of the warriors finished off the gnolls. Ojisan flew invisibly and threw his Rope of Entanglement at the dragon, hoping to cause it to crash. A white dragon is longer than a storm giant is tall, which is the largest creature mentioned in the item description. It was close enough that I left it up to chance, requiring an attack roll from the magician. He hit, Isfang crashed to the ground, and Ojisan jumped on her back to stab her with his dagger. A 50 year old magic user that "speaks with spirits" btw.
Tons of noise from the dragon fight above woke the sleeping dragon in the cave, who started to stomp and rumble. I failed to roll the dragon fear for Isfang as Raylan arrived and Ojisan flew away. Oops. With leveled PCs it wasn't that impactful anyway. Isfang broke the rope and charged Raylan who drew the dragonslaying blade Istand and met it. Raylan chopped off a dragon wing, took a shot from a bite, and Isfang collapsed. Ojisan dropped flaming oil on her head and that was that. One down, one to go.
Frostvinge, with Leadbelly's spear sticking out of his eye, emerged from the illusory wall and roared. This time I remembered the fear and then realized it really only matters for mercs and low level folks. The party found themselves without their dragonslaying sword since Raylan was up top. They were undaunted, declaring unanimously that they would charge the beast (except Floki who was paralyzed with fear). Initiative would decide how impactful that charge might be.
Frostvinge reacted faster, breathing a cone of deadly ice shards on most of the party. That killed Thorgal and Rune the warriors outright, severely damaged Ormr and Broderick, and killed some horses. It was do or die, so Broderick and Ormr charged. Frostvinge rocked from the initial blows, but killed Broderick the Neon, Hersir of Bloodfall, with a wicked 123 combo. Ormr hung in and Ojisan flew his last flaming oil in to drop it on the dragon's head. The beast fell, the terrors of Bloodfall slain, but at what cost? Ormr plucked the glowing raven tipped spear from the dragon's eye.
Floki and Ormr ate of the dragons' hearts, the party recovered what hide and scales they could, and the group returned with their friends on their shields. Cairns were raised with the arms and armor of the heroes interred within to continue the fight in Valhalla. A great donation was made in Thorgal's name to finally get Thor some mfing representation in Bloodfall. Temple will just need a priest.
Grading:
I don't want to. The death toll on this one hurts. ~11 PC levels gone, like tears in rain. Funny thing, Norse gods can't really heal or raise dead. Not the ones you'd want to do it anyway. Deities and Demigods stays winning.
Thorgal: Excellent. RIP
Ormr: Excellent. Held the line, supported his brother warrior, no guts no glory
Raylan: Excellent. Led, bled, slayed.
Rune: Excellent. RIP
Broderick: Excellent. RIP
Floki: Excellent. Used his single spell to effect, tried to be useful. MU1 is a mfer.
Ojisan: Superior. Great use of magic and magic items to locate and engage the enemy. Jumping on the dragon's back, while metal af, was outside of MU territory.
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