Bastard Son of the great-grandchild of the sister's gibbon's friend of the nephew of the Campaign that Would Not Die, now in 3.75e Møøse Trained By: Hugh Foster

Master of Dragons

Room 15, Meepo and the Dragon

The Sunless Citadel, Desolation, 16th September, 2156

15. The door swung open onto a large and irregularly shaped crumbling chamber, adorned with crudely executed symbols and glyphs scribed in bright green dye; Borax recognized this as Krultac, language of dragons - and kobolds - though he didn't understand it. A large pit in the chamber's center showed evidence of a recent bonfire. A metallic cage in the centre of the southern wall was marred by a gaping hole and stood empty. A small wooden bench draped with green cloth stood before the cage, and upon it sat several small objects. A bedroll lay near the wooden bench, from which the sound of whimpering was plainly audible.

Meepo, Master of Dragons

It was only when Borax actually nudged this with his boot that the occupant paid any attention. A small, scarred and pathetic-looking kobold stared at them in terror, only restrained from fleeing by their position between him and the door. Trapped, he collapsed into terrified sobs.

Conversation with him in broken Common revealed him to be Meepo, the keeper of the kobold clan's greatest weapon; "The clan's dragon ... we've lost our dragon. The wretched goblins stole Calcryx, our dragon!" Goblins, apparently, had staged a raid and stolen the "mighty dragon". By the size of the cage, he was mighty only on a kobold scale. To most other questions, his answers were variations on "Meepo don't know, but the leader does. Meepo take you to meet the leader, Yusdrayl, if you make nice. Grant you safe passage, if you promise not to hurt Meepo. May be if you promise to rescue dragon, leader make nice to you, answer your questions." He did, however, explain that the NW door was to a room for "bounders"; these apparently were kobold guards.

There was a ticklish moment when Meepo opened this door, and the three bounders reacted to three "biggers" in their territory, but after a flurry of Krultac between them and Meepo, they agreed to escort the party to their queen. Calvis checked the other doors, which led to an empty room and one filled with food for the dragon. Looking at it, they began to suspect the dragon was probably a less-than-eager ally.

Escorted by the four kobolds, the party moved along a series of passages, past several more doors and cross-halls; Borax queried where these led, and was told "Empty, hall, dungeon". At Dungeon he stopped them, and demanded to see inside. The prisoners turned out to be several surly goblins, rather than humans to be rescued, and they moved on.

19. Eventually they reached a turning and emerged into a long room. Deterioration and decay thrived here as everywhere; however, a double row of relief-carved marble columns marched the length of the hall, depicting entwining dragons. Three more kobolds with slightly better gear were patrolling the area, and had to be explained to in the same way as the bounders.

Turning left, the end of the hall came into view. A short throne stood near the west wall, constructed of fallen bits of masonry stacked against an old altar. A kobold in red-dyed robes sat in the throne, and a force of six more stood guard. The altar's top contained a variety of small items, while the portion of the altar that served as the throne's back featured a carving of a rearing dragon.

Room 19, the Throne Hall

This was Yusdrayl, the head of the kobold clan, and while she clearly had a very poor opinion of Meepo, she was open to discussion with the group about a tradeoff. She offered treasure for the rescue of the dragon, though she did not in fact have very much to offer - no coin, and a few potions and scrolls she didn't know or wouldn't tell the function of. She could, however, confirm that a party of four "biggers" had passed through the Citadel - not through Kobold territory, however - and not come out.

Suddenly, Ruby noticed that from the mouth of the carved dragon behind the throne dangled a large key.

Yusdrayl was eager to offer this as a reward for success, insisting that it would open the door they had failed to breach in Room 6. Calvis thought it looked likely to fit, so an agreement was made. The party were quietly of the opinion that if they reached their rescuees or their corpses and got out, they might not bother to retrieve the dragon, but on the other hand, anything that well locked might well be worth the effort. She sketched a rough map showing the direction the prior party had taken, as far as they knew it.

Room 26, Fountain. This is the map I bloody forgot!

Just as they were turning away, Yusdrayl dropped in the detail that Meepo would be accompanying them, as a guide. It was pretty clear that she wasn't terribly bothered if he wasn't returned in good condition. Meepo himself was clearly frightened, but keen to go, obviously feeling his clan status could only be improved by a heroic rescue of his dragon.

Pausing to brew a cuppa and eat some lunch, the party - enlarged by one kobold - moved on.

After returning to Room 15 and exiting by the NE door, the party followed a corridor through several turns and eventually came out in a square room. Empty and lightless, the lonely chamber was home only to rat droppings, crumbled flagstone, and nameless stains. It did, however contain tracks; a lot of rat tracks, and traces of four booted humanoids heading north around a month ago. A door in the north wall led onwards. There were also cracks and crevices in the walls, big enough for the rats they'd fought above, so Borax plugged these with loose stones.

26. Beyond this was another room of similar size and shape. Dust and odd bits of stony debris and rubble lay scattered on the floor, and an ornate fountain was built into the eastern wall. Though cracked, stained, and dry, the fountain's carving of a diving dragon retained its beauty. A relief-carved stone door stood on the western wall, and an open passage led north.

Searching around, they discovered a badly-worn but legible inscription on the fountain. It was, again, in Krultac, but when asked Meepo was quite happy to read and translate it. "Nainarya," he announced; "Let there be fire". As he spoke, the fountain rumbled and then red fluid poured into the bowl below. Cautious experimentation finally deduced that this was probably a potion of Fire Breath, and it was collected and taken along. Repeats of the word, sadly, produced nothing further.

The door to the west proved difficult. It was locked, and a couple of near misses established it was trapped with a swinging scythe blade. Those who approached it also felt unnaturally cold, especially Calvis for some reason.

It, too, had a Krultac inscription, which Meepo translated as "Channel good, open the way". This puzzled the strictly secular Ruby and Borak ("Beer beer beer", though about something good, did not work), until Calvis tried a wild shot and directed a Turn Undead at the door - which opened it.

27. Inside, it was no less ominous. Six dusty sarcophagi stood on end in this silent chamber; three along on the north wall, and three along the south. The carved stone lids each resembled a lizard-like humanoid in ceremonial robes; Ruby hazarded a guess that they might represent Kin. A shrine carved of obsidian was set in the center of the west wall, on which a single candle yet burned. With the door clearly sealed for centuries, that alone was interesting and probably valuable. The party moved in.

Room 27, The Sanctuary. I couldn't find upright coffin symbols!

Carefully exploring while not touching the sarcophagi, the party finally entered the pool of light from the candle - and with a crash the lids toppled off all six sarcophagai. Skeletal lizard-like humanoids emerged, sharp claws reaching to extinguish the hated life before them.

These proved tough opponents. Calvis, on the north side, had room to move but Borax was pinned against the wall and struggled to avoid being flanked. As the fight continued, Meepo gathered his minimal courage and threw himself into the fight, jabbing at a skeleton with his crude halfspear. Though he hadn't a hope of hurting it, he distracted it enough for Calvis to perform a Turn Undead. Four of the things turned and fled, and the tide - literally - turned. Borax, badly wounded by now, managed to kill another, and Calvis Turned the last one and it too fled out of the room.

Battered and wounded, the party made use of Calvis' healing spells and searched the room. As well as the everburning candle, they found a potion of endure elements (fire), six 10gp peridot gemstones and an enchanted whistle made of what appears to be very hard glass and carved like a coiled dragon. Inscribed on the whistle in Dwarvish was the word Azangund, which Borax translated as Night Caller.

Retreating to Room 26, they forted up, spiking the south door - through which the fleeing skeletons seemed to have gone - and a blanket over the north passage.

The Sunless Citadel, Desolation, 17th September, 2156

Room 28; I didn't get this one mapped in time!

28. The next morning, they moved on north, Calvis and Meepo (carrying the candle) at the front, discovering corridor lined with tattered doors, chewed and holed. Sure enough, when one was opened, dire rats flooded out and swarmed over the adventurers.

Individually, the rats were pretty weak, but in numbers they were terrifying. While Ruby clove through them on the left, Calvis and Meepo disappeared under an avalanche of furry bodies. Calvis staggered to his feet and fought on, his rapier proving a poor weapon against the rats, leaving Meepo dying behind him. Ruby and Borax slashed and hammered their way through more rats, though Borax was wounded again and again and was nearing collapse. Calvis, however, received what he knew to be a mortal wound. Desperately, he flung a copper into the air and screamed a healing spell; it dragged him back from the edge of death. Ruby killed two of the last three, and the last rat fled into another of the cracks in the wall.

Behind them, Meepo lay, his life ebbing away.

Will the gang save him, will they stand around & laugh at his plight or will they use him to practise H&S in the workplace & then put a claim in for industrial injuries? Who the fuck knows. Maybe we'll find out on Monday? - Borax Glassbiter

Session Date: 29th January 2026