Last time on the Adventures of Team BAJA! The party thwarted a dastardly plot by the Cult of the Dragon, which resulted in a cult leader’s demise. The party is now in the possession of a Dragon Mask, a powerful artifact that emanates the power of chromatic dragons. What forces lurk in the shadows? What are the consequences for the party’s heroics? Find out!
The party decide to journey to Illinathar in the hopes to unearth details of their what has begun to seem a foreboding, ominous future. Before leaving, the team gather supplies from Elias and are debriefed by the dwarf commander Brimstone before their departure. The encounter proved weary as Brimstone and Illya believed that the dragon mask the party recovered in their confrontation with Ramiaz should be stored away under the custody of the Sunsingers. After some debate, the party believed it was better in the safety of the vaults of the Purple Order. The party began to show concern over Breadon’s arcane prowess, but the dragonborn remained elusive in his answers, trying his best to withhold vital information of the origin of his powers.
Before their departure, the group decide to spend their remaining night at Elias’ wooden cottage outside of the town. The spirit of intellect, Bob had other plans. Impressed with the druid’s lack of social etiquette or rather his disregard, the spirit promised to teach the half-elf the finer art of ‘social encounters’. As the team bunkered down for the evening, Jimmy felt as if he was in a waking dream, only to awake in an oversized bed in the local tavern with nearly twenty people sleeping along the bed and floor. The druid quietly retreated back to the party, unsure as to the festivities or activities from the night before. It was later revealed that Bob had taken possession of the druid during the night, exploring the town and its folk, emphasis on the exploration.
After packing Arcaelus’ cart, the party journeyed along the road to Illinathar. They first arrived in the small trade town of Berk, which served as a trading hub between the more out-reached towns and the rest of Illinathar proper. Aydan reunited with the gnome businessman, Benard, and collected her reward for locating the gnome’s missing caravan. The party rested and enjoyed the festivities within the tavern before setting off on the longer three-day ride along the major highway to Illinathar.
The trek went by largely without incident, some animals brushing along their camps at night and a few passing merchants. On their third day, they spotted the edge of the city walls by dusk; as the last bits of sunlight fell below the horizon, crossbow bolts flew from the surrounding underbrush, several landing into Arcaelus. Jimmy summoned a field of sharp thorns, but sadly this did not deter their would-be assassins. Pushing through the thorn bush, they reach the druid and quickly send him to the ground. The dragonborn rode on his steed towards the city, hoping to get some relief for the group but was stopped but a well placed crossbow bolt on his mount. The dragonborn tumbled along the road, seemingly incapacitated. Meanwhile, Aydan did her best to defend her fallen friends, though it seemed rather bleak at this point. When all hope seemed lost, arrows found their marks on two of the assassins, with another’s throat slit in the early evening’s shadow. The last assassin fled, though it proved futile as he too was quickly dispatched. From the shadows, a halfling draped in blue-gray leather armor and armed with two daggers approached the bewildered Aydan. The halfling introduced himself as Rainer, who happen to be passing by when he heard of the team’s plight. The tiefling sorceress was rather skeptical of this sudden aid, but had more pressing matters as she needed the halfling to help resuscitate the rest of the party.
After Jimmy and Arcaelus regained consciousness, the trio and Rainer went to search for their dragonborn companion, there they found the horse carcass and a ring of snow but no dragonborn in sight. The party were unsure of the circumstances and dumbfounded as well. Many questions remained with very few answers, the party decided to retire at Arcaelus’ home in Illinathar with Rainer promising to return in the morrow.
The party began to dress their wounds that evening, while the halfling found his way to an dockside tavern. Rainer orders a drink before motioned by the barkeep that the drink was paid for by an individual cloaked in a corner. The halfling made his way over, plopping himself on the seat before hearing a familiar voice.
“Did you secure the item?” The hooded figure remained still to avoid attention.
“No, it disappeared with the dragonborn. But don’t worry, I will gain the group’s trust and eventually they’ll lead me to the mask your employer tasked me to acquire.” Rainer remained firm and sure, he did not break eye contact with his contact.
There are plots hidden deep in the shadow of the truth, what is the dragon mask the team found in Greenest? There are other forces at play, all of them hidden like a nest of shadows.
Oh boy! What an interesting turn of events, yes? I hope you enjoyed this little episode of our adventures. If you have any questions or comments, please post them down below. If you want to support the us or want updates, please subscribe to the blog, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please help support the website too, we have a donation button up as well. Thanks again for reading along our adventures. See you in the next episode!
Death By Mage 