Battling a dragon: 2007 January Journal of Adventuring Teamwork
The Journal of Adventuring Teamwork is brought to you by the School for Adventuring Teamwork.
Out of game: Other than sneakers, few things are more anachronistic in a medieval fantasy roleplaying game than websites. Please imagine that the pages on this site are actually printed, roughly manufactured paper. NERO Alliance players are welcome to print these pages and bring them in game.
Having traveled to the Kingdom of Vandlar to open my School for Adventuring Teamwork, I was surprised to find that I would have only one student for the weekend. Most of the adventurers gathered were quite experienced; there were no novice adventurers seeking my help.
Many of these powerful adventurers had come to Vandlar accidentally as they traveled through the mists. Some wondered aloud why they had been called to the area as Friday evening saw only a handful of trolls and these were no match for the gathered adventurers.
Later Friday night saw several beings made of shadow attack. These were more formidable monsters but still quickly dealt with by the adventurers who worked together. It would not be until the following day that the adventurers would find themselves in real danger.
Saturday evening many veteran adventurers marched on muddy trails toward a site none will soon forget. Among the gathered adventurers were the Baronial Court of Nordenn and the Black Forest from Ashbury as well as the House of Games from Hoggany who reminded me of Ashbury’s former Baronial Court of Trellheim since each member had one or more damage aura weapons.
At first, the adventurers fought numerous obsidian golems but the mindless constructs were quickly destroyed by the more organized and powerful adventurers. Soon, however, the gathered adventurers met a dragon. The fearsome beast attacked with vicious bites, claws, and tail swipes while many adventurers were hit with magic spells so powerful that spell shields were made useless.
The warriors present surrounded the beast and devastated it with mighty blows from their swords. When the warriors were too spent to deliver their most powerful strikes, weapons with vorpal coatings and powerful celestial magics were used. Several adventurers noted that the magic of Lady Glorianna of Nordenn was particularly powerful and that King Redd from House of Games fought tough against the dragon. Soon the dragon had renewed twice but the adventurers had no more resources with which they could fight as the dragon was immune to even powerful weapon blows delivered by the likes of Gilwing, Draconis, and Gaara of Black Forest.
It became clear that the only hope was to break a peculiar sword away from the lone stone statue in the area. Eventually the magic words were discerned by Tieran Cyak Oza of House Whitesword with the assistance of Wizard Keres of Nordenn and Sir Headmaster Maxwell Moore of Hoggany's Public School and Library. Heaadmaster Maxwell had the paper and the idea to make a rubbing of the inscription so that it did not have to be translated in the middle of the battlefield. King Redd then spoke aloud the champion’s oath, unleashing magic that shattered the statue and released the sword. The champion, however, did not leave the relative safety on the fringes of the field of battle. The sword then instructed the nearest adventurer, Draconis of Black Forest to wield the weapon and slay the dragon. Those who heard the sword’s voice were surprised to learn that the weapon was intelligent but were soon accustomed to its urging Draconis to slay the dragon.
At least one Ashban was very displeased that Draconis obeyed the sword’s urges as Lady Glorianna was heard angrily chastising Black Forest for their greed. Most observers feel that her anger was misplaced because the sword itself instructed Draconis and the act of wielding the sword carried much risk. The would-be champion was also overheard threatening to exact revenge upon Black Forest by traveling to Ashbury.
The dragon then focused all its energy on Draconis. Gilwing and Gaara worked valiantly to block the dragon’s physical attacks as Draconis used the sword to tear large wounds into the beast. However, the dragon’s magic proved very difficult to overcome and Draconis soon needed a life spell.
As the dragon stood guard over Draconis, his teammates tried desperately to reach him with a lifespell. It was Lira, one of only two member’s present from Ashbury’s Black Unicorns (the other being Auric) who was able to deliver the life spell by sliding on the muddy ground between the dragon’s legs in order to reach the fallen warrior. Lira then lifed Draconis and prisoned both herself and the warrior as the dragon immediately tried to rend the two with its claws. The bards of Vandlar will sing songs of Lira’s heroism for many years to come.
Seeing that the dragon was still terrorizing adventurers as they tried to destroy the steady stream of obsidian golems, Gilwing then ordered Black Forest to lure the dragon away from the rest of the adventurers. This was a risky decision for the leader of Black Forest but one that made him popular with adventurers who could not face the dragon; at this point Draconis alone was capable of hurting the dragon and the sword continued to lend Draconis strength as it spoke continuously of the need to slay the dragon. On the new field of battle, Gilwing was able to keep his team moving into good positions shielded from the dragon's magical attacks and from which Draconis could quickly strike.
Although only Draconis was capable of injuring the beast, I would liked to have seen several warriors protect a team of healers and come to the aid of Black Forest and Black Unicorns as no 5 adventurers should be made to finish a battle with a dragon on their own. A Dwarven Baron from Vandlar stood out as he continued to battle the dragon although unable to injure the beast. Had another team been standing by to rush in with healing
Other adventurers, including those from Nordenn and House of Games disappointed many who wished to help Black Forest press the battle as someone called for a retreat. Some have claimed that Lady Glorianna called for a retreat, but this is not the case. I would like to know who called the retreat, for whoever did was effectively abandoning the few adventurers still dedicated to defeating the dragon. As some of the slower to give up adventurers continued to battle obsidian golems, several adventurers claim to have heard Lady Glorianna say, “This is not an organized retreat. Just run.” That does not sound like Lady Glorianna to me, however.
Luckily, even without much help, Black Forest was able to help Draconis slay the dragon. It then became apparent that this dragon was poorer than most novice adventurers or that in the confusion some adventurers were able to steal away with the beast’s treasure horde as only a handful of coins were found. I don’t know who sought treasure while others risked death to destroy a dragon and its mindless constructs but the guilty parties should be very concerned for if the truth does come to light I’m confident that justice will be swift.
For novice adventurer’s reading this there are several important lessons to be learned. The most glaring is the importance of teamwork. Clearly no individual can face a dragon and survive. However, by working with a team, Draconis was able to slay a dragon even though he alone could affect the beast. That is not to say that individual heroism is not important. Were it not for Draconis’ courage and fortitude the dragon would have won. Were it not for Gilwing’s risky order to move to another field of battle, the dragon would have continued decimating the assembled adventurers. Were it not for Lira sliding under the dragon to life Draconis, the battle may have been lost. Individual heroism is necessary, but only through working together did any of those individual adventurers have a chance to defeat the dragon.
Another lesson is the importance of finding your role in a given battle. As I mentioned, it would have been better had a team of warriors and healers stood by in case Black Forest needed healing. Too many warriors gave up when unable to damage the dragon. Having the right supplies and ideas (having paper and making an inscription for example) also makes an adventurer more useful.
Also important is to have all the facts before passing judgment. On this night, some thought that Draconis picked up the sword out of greed, but those who heard the sword speak to him knew better. Once the battle was over and the facts became clear picking up the sword actually involved much sacrifice as Draconis became the dragon’s primary target. Also, since the sword crumbled once the dragon was slain, this risk was rewarded not with gold or magic but with stories and songs.
Reports of the battle compiled by Sparktet Bone Littlebeard. The Journal of Adventuring Teamwork is brought to you by the School for Adventuring Teamwork.