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| Firenewt city circa 2023 (concept "art") |
Introduction
What is it like to read these session reports in sequence? Does the reader get any real sense of the campaign’s flow over time, or why the players have been taking the actions they have? Maybe, but I doubt anyone was sitting there wondering when the party would finally return to the firenewt city they first spotted while attempting to find the lair of the red dragon Lord Inferno back in session 31. Fast forward two years and it is a long time to leave such a threat just 30 miles from Minas Mandalf. I am still not sure what put the players off going back sooner, but eventually I set about creating a clear incentive for the adventurers to return and close the loop through Giuseppe and Echellet. This is the session where they finally do.
As I sat down to write this report, it became clear that a great many loose threads were converging here in ways that would be hard to follow without a run of supporting posts, four of which I have posted since session 95 and recommend reading. Now, at last, we arrive at session 96.
As the sketch above shows, I had, quite literally, only outlined the city of the firenewts and not even given it a name. I had decided that the island with the column of flame would be the key to reaching Lord Inferno’s lair, and my original idea was that the players would discover that the firenewts’ giant striders could run across the lava surrounding the city, capture some, and ride directly to the island. At the time of that first discovery one of the players had already captured and tamed a strider, but the realisation of its potential use never quite landed at the table.
That left me with the problem of how to flesh out the city. By chance, someone on Twitter quoted a line about the drow city in D3: Vault of the Drow along the lines of “How do you deal with a whole city of drow?” I thought, “Yes, how do you?” and reread it with an eye to mining material for my own purposes. It turned out to be almost exactly what I needed. I already had some sense of the components I wanted for the city, but the firenewts themselves were still a monolith in my mind; the noble houses in D3 were the perfect structure to borrow.
It is an amazing place to adventure, but in the original module there is very little to support actually coming and going from the city. Physically, it is sketched in over about a page before the text moves on to the noble estates. My impression is that most tables blaze through the city on their way to the next module in the series, and much of the implied detail around passes and cloaks ends up unused. I wanted almost the opposite: a place that could support adventures across as many sessions as the campaign would bear, and a level of detail that would also serve as day‑to‑day background for the Dragon Cult Leader as king of the city.
That sent me down a rabbit hole of later versions of Erelhei‑Cinlu, Dragon Magazine articles and a later publication, and sure enough, those efforts included a much more detailed map, which I adapted with some thematic changes. The key idea I borrowed was that the noble houses are each nominally responsible for one of the city’s eight quarters; by putting that information directly on the map, it becomes a very workable tool at the table. I also tried my hand at a replacement reference document good enough to use alongside the original; that experiment was more hit and miss, so in practice I used both together. By the time I was done I was reasonably confident I had built a fun place to adventure, and this session was where I began to find out.
Timekeeping
This session began on January 29th, with the player characters adventuring until the 1st of February. Downtime for these characters begins on the later on the 1st.
Player Characters Present
Sever the Wrathful (Level 10 Pegasus Corps Ranger of Machodor, wielder of Were'shbane and the Rod of Lordly Might, wearer of the Girdle of Cloud Giant Strength, rider of Mustang) with henchman Thomas (C7), Poindexter (M6), and Rabbit (FMT556)Fluid the Druid (Level 9 Druid, "Scourge of Trollopulous", former wearer of the Ring of Kings, current wearer of the Cloak of Druidish Awesomeness)Sheamus (Level 9 Irish Fighter from Brovenloft, rider of the Rocket Cycle and wielder of the Drewblade)Giuseppe (Level 8 Paladin of Rome, Brovenloft, wielder of Sanctus Draconis Interfector and the Shield of Protection from Missiles, rider of Bonecrusher) with henchmen Bishoy (F6), Tawadros (F6), Steelvein (F6), Rhoikos (M6)
Downtime
Follow‑up investigations into what the party had encountered in sessions 94 and 95 led to significant discoveries regarding the chaos windows and Cthugarak.
By now Sever’s fame had spread far and wide. Ranger Lord Sever, Pegasus Scout of Machodor and master of Fort Wrath, attracted around a dozen special followers who flocked to his banner (as per DMG pp. 16–17). Some of them were very special indeed.
Giuseppe, meanwhile, revealed that he had a source of information close to Lord Inferno. The source had told him of:
Two ways ascend into Inferno's lair: one, to an audience hall, is connected to the palace of their Dragon-King, the Dragon Cult leader, heavily guarded at all times, yet you might prevail by force of arms or guile.
The other from an island Temple just outside the city, guarded no less heavily. Here providence has aligned our fates once again. Sacrifices to Lord Inferno are made on every full moon — yes, the one time I am able to aid you. And more, the living fire that supposedly burns the sacrifices is in fact a portal to an annex in the lair where the dragon can consume them at its leisure.
Infiltrate the city — disguise, subterfuge, alliance with a discontented noble house perhaps — and use one of these methods. It will not be easy; the newts guard their secrets with fire and fanatic zeal.
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| Poindexter's idea |
With the pendants, the map, and a letter of introduction, the party now had a plausible means of infiltrating the city. They had the intent, but who could pass for a fire giant? Poindexter made a suggestion to Sever: “Boss, it doesn’t read like the firenewts in the city have ever seen a fire giant up close — just the basics: tall, strong, red hair. I’ve got a crazy idea…”
Session Report
It had been a particularly harsh winter in and around the Bandit Mountains, and the 29th of January was no different. The whole area lay under deep snow, and it kept falling throughout the day, spoiling their travel plans. Thankfully it cleared on the 30th, and they set off two days ahead of the full moon. They flew to the hidden cave discovered last session, landed, disabled the rocket cycle as usual, and left Sever’s henchman Roger with orders to return daily with the pegasi until their return. They crossed the dam wall that cut off the underground river and entered the primary lava‑tube passage indicated on the map. The tube was split evenly by a channel in which lava flowed periodically, with a raised ledge on either side. At the dam they had to choose which side to travel; they chose the south ledge.
They travelled invisibly, but not knowing when their ruse might be needed, kept Sheamus enlarged and towering above everyone else in his role as Gorvak.
The lava‑tunnel journey to Cthugarak was one I wanted to move through quickly, to leave space in the session for events in the city itself. As it was the party’s first time travelling this way, though, even with a map they needed to move with caution, and I still had to account for the likelihood of encounters along the route. There is always a tension between keeping real‑time play moving and respecting time in the game world. In future sessions, once they were familiar with the tunnels, the trip could be resolved with just a few rolls — if they were lucky.
The versatile henchman Rabbit scouted ahead to make use of his infravision. As they approached a junction in the primary passage, he spotted something high up off the path.
Encounter #1: Shriekers
Rounds: N/A
Result: Party evaded
Highlights: A cluster of shriekers clung to the tunnel wall just close enough to the path that the party’s light would have set them off despite their invisibility. Rabbit’s careful scouting picked the fungus monsters out in time, and he guided the others around them, avoiding both the shrieking itself and whatever might have come to investigate.
Passing up the chance to leave the primary passage here and explore down a narrower secondary passage, the heroes kept on moving. Later, at another junction, they heard the tell‑tale sounds of combat and the screams of monsters echoing from some indeterminate distance. This too they ignored and pressed on. Some time later there was the sound of something large running towards them along the primary passage.
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| Like this, but upside down |
Encounter #2: Female firenewt merchants
Rounds: N/A
Result: Party evaded (watched them go past)
Highlights: A string of giant subterranean pack lizards came pounding along the ceiling of the lava tube, their riders clinging easily to the inverted saddles. This was the first time any of the party had seen female firenewts — the Fiend Folio only pictures males. At some point while I was working out their society it occurred to me: what if the females had giant cans? And the rest is history. I had not originally intended to introduce them by having them ride past upside down; there were meant to be some at the end of the underground river in session 94, but the heroes never crossed their path there. Only Fluid suggested calling out as the merchants hurried by, but the others ignored him, and so we will never know what might have happened if he had.
In the last stretch of the primary passage, things suddenly went crazy. Huge creatures with iron-like claws and large ivory coloured mandibles, possibly sensing the party’s movements from the vibration of their footsteps, erupted from the southern wall of the tunnel as they passed.
Encounter #3: 2 Umber hulks
Rounds: 3
Result: Party fled
Highlights: The heroes won initiative and sprinted ahead. Three rounds later they were well out of sight and able to make use of the Evasion rules. They got away clean while the monsters were left wondering what they had been chasing, and, thanks to this course of action, the party remained invisible as they continued their journey.
Rounds: 3
Result: Party fled
Highlights: The heroes won initiative and sprinted ahead. Three rounds later they were well out of sight and able to make use of the Evasion rules. They got away clean while the monsters were left wondering what they had been chasing, and, thanks to this course of action, the party remained invisible as they continued their journey.
Soon after eluding the umber hulks, the primary lava‑tube passage opened out into the vast caldera at the heart of the active volcano. The city of Cthugarak sprawled on a raised island of volcanic rock before them, surrounded by a sea of molten magma. At last the adventurers had reached their penultimate destination, and it was time to try their ruse with Sheamus. They dropped out of invisibility and approached the cylindrical watch‑tower known as the Basalt Gate‑Tower.
Encounter #4: Cthugarak
Rounds: N/A
Result: Party Infiltrated
Highlights: Sheamus displayed the brooch indicating the favour of House Ignisalam (randomly determined on the slain Fire Giant, with long‑term consequences), together with the letter of introduction. It just so happens that the firenewt language is a dialect of Lizardman, which the fighter had spent considerable time and effort learning from his henchman McScales; now he finally saw a payoff he had never anticipated. The bailiff responded immediately and positively to “Gorvak Ironbrand”, had the paperwork expedited, issued heat‑cloaks for “Gorvak’s servants”, and assigned his lieutenant to escort the party across the causeway bridge to the Foreigner’s Quarter. Lieutenant Vraks was absolutely full of information about his city, most of which streamed past the players’ ears, though they did latch onto the three levels of accommodation available in the quarter and elected for the most expensive option after hearing what passed for “suitable” among the cheaper establishments.
The streets were packed with a menagerie of fire‑using creatures: as well as the ever‑present firenewts there were slaves of many races, and even the occasional salamander and efreeti. Giuseppe drew his heat-cloak’s hood down and kept his eyes lowered. The party took adjoining rooms in the Drake's Ember Rest and were relieved to find them properly temperature controlled, and much cooler than in the streets outside. Sheamus stayed indoors and allowed himself to return to his usual size. With so much evil all around them in need of smiting, the ranger and the paladin in particular were on tenterhooks, but they stayed on mission and sent their henchmen out to gather information.
The casters rested. Sever tasked Rabbit with exploring the city and reporting back in the morning, while Fluid and a couple of Giuseppe’s henchmen went down to mingle in the bar.
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| Of course, the druid took one look at the barkeep and was in his element. |
The next part of the session, after about two hours of play to reach this point, was pure payoff for a DM. I had no idea how the players would achieve their goal, but I had everything I needed to adjudicate their actions, whatever they tried.
To be continued.
Graveyard
Oblate (Illusionist Level 3), killed and eaten by the Nathruk in the Skalrath in session #140
Eniac (Magic-User level 1), killed by a poisoned Grothak spear in session #137
Rhoikos (Henchman Magic-User level 4), smashed by a Mummy fist in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Thomas (Henchman Cleric level 6), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Josef Ironbeard (Dwarf Fighter level 1), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126.
Matthias Steelvein (Henchman Fighter level 4), Killed by a Symbol of Death in session #126. RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Sever the Wrathful (Ranger level 9), Killed by two pains in the Annis in session #122. RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Anri (Henchman Magic-User level 4), found dead with a ghastly chest wound in the Ice Castle, with her heart missing she was unable to be revived, in downtime after session #122
Symeon (Henchman Cleric level 2), Only strong enough to wear studded leather, he was torn to shreds by Troglodytes in session #121
Paul (Henchman Paladin level 3) Effected by the Imprisonment spell touch attack from a Styx Devil in session #117. Might not be dead, but is definitely at least six feet under for all intents and purposes.
Gurt the Green (Paladin level 6) killed by a poison needle trap in session #114 RAISED FROM THE DEAD (with a roll of 94!)
Solaire the Fallen (Henchman Fighter (paladin) level 3) killed by Stone Giants acting as catapults in session #114
Paul (Henchman Paladin level 1), reduced to 0 hit points by white dragon breath when climbing down a rope ladder in session #108. Killed not by the fall; but by the sudden stop at the bottom. RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Ignatius the Smiter (Cleric level 1), horrifically mutilated and killed by double hit from a Shoggoth in session #106
Domby (Henchman with Dex 5), double surprised and turned into a pin cushion in session #87
Luke (Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 1), tragically killed by a normal hydra while trying to cauterise one of its neck stumps in session #86
Gurt the Green (Paladin level 3), killed by a hydra bite in session #86 RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Pleasance (Footman level 0), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81
Siegward (Henchman Fighter level 1), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81
Tawadros (Henchman Fighter level 4), killed by a phase spider bite in session #81 RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Patria (Footman level 0), killed by a two headed snake bite in session #81
Deltacron (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 1/1), threw his last flask of oil at, and was level drained to death by, a Vampire in session #76
Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), wrong place, wrong time; killed by Sever the Ranger in session #72 RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Petrov the Prestidigitator (Magic-user level 1), killed again by the toxic gas of an Achaierai in session #72
Red (Paladin Level 1), always popular with the ladies, he was eaten up by a female Roc in the Pizza Slice of Doom during session #67
Jacques Ocular (Magic User level 1), a fat green worm burrowed into his head and turned him into a Son Of Kyuss in Brovenloft in Session #43
Pino (Dwarf Footman level 0), Killed by a Frost Giant axe to the head in session #39
Paro (Dwarf Fighter/Thief level 2/2) Killed by Winter Wolves and frozen in session #39
Zabib (1/2 Elf Fighter/Magic User level 1/1), Killed by Frost Giant rocks in downtime prior to session #39
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