Session # 130
12 Phoenix (17:30)
After you have cleared out the main court yard, you prepare to enter the main part of the keep.
You enter the main building of the keep.
Met with Draconian guards, you manage to defeat them and free the prisoners.
You find healing and medical supplies.
Healing Supplies
8 Potions of Healing
2 Potions of Greater Healing
3 Antitoxins
2 Healer's Kits
1 Keoghtom's Ointment (2 uses remaining)
Clerical Supplies
2 Vials of Holy Water
1 Scroll of Cure Wounds
1 Scroll of Lesser Restoration
100 gp worth of healing herbs and incense
Medical Supplies
Bandages and linen wraps
Splints for broken limbs
Burn salves
Fever remedies
Pain-relieving tinctures
Some discussion with Vingaard Keep guards, they were not expecting an attack from the draconians and were caught off guard in the middle of the night.
You decide to head to Brighblade keep in the morning. Horses are offered to you by the Vingaard Keep guards.
Evening rest and sleep.
13 Pheonix (07:00)
Next morning as you are exiting the keep. For a brief moment, all is quiet.
Then... the light changes. A vast shadow sweeps across the courtyard. Another follows.
A deep, rhythmic sound rolls across the sky.
WHUMP... WHUMP... WHUMP... Not thunder. Wings.....
You look upward. Breaking through the low clouds, two large green dragons glide over the keep, no more than two hundred feet overhead.
For a heartbeat, it feels as though those black eyes settle on you.
Then the moment passes. They circle back. High upon the neck of the lead dragon sits a lone rider in dark green Highlord armor, his cloak snapping in the wind. He points to your location, and the lead dragon turns in your direction.
Attack begins…
A few moments after the battle, a cry rises from the eastern wall. One or the guards points to the sky.
"Another dragon!"
A silhouette emerges from the clouds, gliding toward the keep. Then the sunlight catches brilliant brass scales.
The moment you see him clearly, you recognize him. Blaize! Your old ally.
Blaize. : Oh hello friends, It seems I arrived just after all the excitement."
Session # 131
13 Phoenix (08:00)
After the combat with the two green dragons and the Flight Marshal, Blaize lowers his great head, his expression suddenly grave.
The green dragon army is being defeated in Kalaman, these where scouts that managed to head west before the attack
"There is little time. The Red Dragon Army has broken through Brightblade Keep. Their forces are marching north toward Palanthas."
He glances back toward the northen sky. "But they will not reach it unopposed. My kin have answered the call. Even now, the metallic dragons gather. We fly to meet the Red Dragon Army before it can threaten the city." "The war has entered its final chapter... and every one of us has a part to play." We must make our way to Brightblade keep before the Red dragon Army gets away.
You check on the horses, and 10 out of 13 are still alive.
You leave Vingaard Keep shortly after 10:00, following the northern road toward Brightblade.
The journey should take about a day, but the persistent rain has softened the road and filled its deeper ruts with muddy water. Your horses maintain a steady pace while grey clouds conceal the surrounding hills.
The hours pass quietly. You travel through open fields, isolated woodlands and small farming settlements. Here and there, farmers work beneath the rain or watch cautiously as you pass, but the road itself remains largely deserted.
By late afternoon, the countryside begins to rise into low, rocky hills. The wind strengthens, carrying the cold scent of the river from somewhere beyond them.
Near sunset, you reach the crest of the final ridge. The broad river stretches across the valley below, dark and restless beneath the storm. You stop for about 4 hours so the horse and yourselves can rest a while.
14 Pheonix 08:00
Getting closer, on its far bank stands Brightblade Keep, guarding the crossing and the road into the northern lands.
From this distance, its towers and walls appear dark against the horizon. The long stone bridge reaches across the river toward its gates.
After a full day in the saddle, you have finally arrived. The storm grows worse as you continue along the road. Rain falls in sheets, and strong winds make every step a struggle. About a mile ahead, through the gray haze, the outline of a large fortress slowly comes into view.
As you get closer on the other side of the bridge, the keep finally rises before you through the thinning smoke.
Sections of its outer wall lie broken across the hillside. One tower has partially collapsed, and long black scars mark the stone where dragonfire swept across the battlements.
The keep’s main gates hang open. No sentries challenge your approach. No banners fly from the walls. The only movement comes from coils of smoke drifting from the courtyard and the occasional flame still feeding upon shattered timber.
Inside, the destruction is even more apparent. The stable roof has been burned away, leaving only charred beams and scorched stone. Dead draconians lie among the bodies of knights and soldiers. Broken weapons, abandoned shields and deep claw marks trace the path of the fighting across the courtyard.
Most of the Red Dragonarmy did not remain to occupy the keep. Judging by the tracks, discarded equipment and still-burning fires, an enormous force pushed through Brightblade only hours ago.
Their path leads North West. Toward Palanthas.
A handful of surviving knights emerge cautiously from beneath the keep. They are exhausted, wounded and blackened by smoke. Their armour bears no polish now—only blood, soot and the marks of a battle they were never expected to survive.
One of them lowers his sword when he recognizes you. You are the Heroes of the Lance, I recognise you from the High Clerist Tower ceremony. Welcome to what remains of Brightblade Keep.
“The dragons broke through before dawn, Red dragons—more than we could count. Soldiers, draconians, siege engines… everything followed them across the river.”
His eyes move toward the western horizon. “They did not come to take Brightblade. They came to remove it from their path.”
For the next hour, Brightblade Keep remains unnaturally quiet.
The wounded are gathered. Fires are extinguished. The dead are moved from the courtyard and laid beneath the remains of the eastern wall.
The remaining Dragonlance are gathered and placed together. 5 Greater and 3 lesser.
Above you, the sky grows darker. At first, it appears to be another bank of storm clouds rolling down from the mountains. Then you notice movement high above the western ridge line.
Six large shapes are approaching. Their wings catch the fading light—gold, silver, bronze, brass and copper flashing against the clouds.
A knight in the courtyard shouts a warning, but the cry quickly dies when the first dragon descends beneath the cloud cover.
Pyrite leads them. The dragon you met in the City of lost names..
The ancient gold dragon lowers his enormous wings and lands beyond the broken wall. The impact sends dust rolling through the courtyard. Behind him, six metallic dragons descend in succession, circling the keep before landing among the ruins.
Several are wounded. One silver dragon bears long claw marks across its flank. A bronze dragon’s wing is torn near the outer edge, and dark blood stains the scales beneath its shoulder. Even Pyrite carries fresh burns across his chest and neck.
For several moments, the ancient gold dragon says nothing. His golden eyes study the ruined keep, the surviving knights— and finally, each of you.
When he speaks, his voice is deep enough to make the loose stones beneath your feet tremble.
Pyrite : Kalaman was attacked by the Green Dragon Army, but we managed to stop them. The Green dragon Army is no more…
Pyrite turns his head toward the North-West.
Pyrite : Come lets move to the north field and leave these courageous people tend to their wounded.
And pointing to the Dragnlances, : bring those with you..
You all move north, outside of the keep.
Pyrite : “The Red Dragonarmy has crossed the river and their soldiers march upon Palanthas, and their dragons have already taken to the skies ahead of them.”
Behind Pyrite, the other metallic dragons shift restlessly. Claws dig into the earth. Wings stretch wide, eager to return to the battle.
Pyrite “If we wait for them at Palanthas, the city will become the battlefield. Thousands will die before its walls. So we will not wait.”
A deep rumble of approval passes among the metallic dragons.
Pyrite “We will fly from Brightblade and strike the Red Dragonarmy while it is still on the march. We will break their aerial formations, destroy their siege engines and force their dragons to turn and face us before they reach Palanthas.”
The Seven metallic dragons move forward. Each approaches the hero.
Pyrite : We offer you are wings and strength, let get ride of these dragons, forever.
“We shall teach them otherwise. We fly to meet the Red Dragonarmy.”
Le Nordais - Pyrite, ancient gold
Dorren - Argentis, ancient silver
Jack - Copperspark, adult copper
Kelson - Blaize, adult bronze
Heimdall - Aurix, adult brass
Hermes - Moonsteel, adult silver
Tyvar - Dawnfire, adult gold
Pyrite: “Mount your dragon. Secure your weapons and prepare your lances.”
Pyrite turn to Le Nordais and asks, are you ready?? But before you can answer.....
With a thunderous sweep of his wings, Pyrite launches himself into the sky. One after another, the metallic dragons follow, carrying all seven of you above the broken walls of Brightblade Keep.
you feel yourselves being push by gravity into your saddles not able to move for about 10 secs.. Once high in the air, Pyrite turns his head gives off a large roar. A few seconds later, 3 large silver and 2 gold dragons fly over you and head at full speed ahead of you.
Pyrite mentionnes that they will take care of the ground troupes, we will deal with the one in the sky.
You hear Blaize yell out "Yeah baby, here we come"
In the skies
You fly for nearly two hours at high speed, following the broken roads and scorched countryside northward.
Far ahead, beneath the darkening clouds, a column of nearly one thousand Red Dragonarmy troops marches toward Palanthas.
Draconians, mercenaries and heavy wagons fill the road, their formation stretching across the valley below.
But the army is already under attack.
The five metallic dragons sent ahead, are sweeping repeatedly across the battlefield. The silver dragons release great cones of freezing breath into the tightly packed ranks, covering the road in ice and scattering entire companies. Others descend low over the battlefield and unleash their paralyzing breath, leaving scores of draconians frozen helplessly in place.
The gold dragons strike the strongest formations. Their weakening breath rolls across the army, draining the strength from heavily armed soldiers and reducing disciplined ranks to stumbling, exhausted survivors. They then descend upon the officers, siege engines and supply wagons with devastating precision.
The Red Dragonarmy’s ground forces are being annihilated. Soldiers abandon the road and flee across the surrounding fields. Wagons lie overturned, officers struggle uselessly to restore order, and shattered units scatter beneath the relentless attacks. The five metallic dragons move from one formation to another, leaving the surviving troops incapable of continuing their advance.
Yet the battle below is only part of the war. As you look beyond the ruined column.
Through the storm clouds ahead, enormous red shapes circle against the fading light. The Red Dragonarmy’s ground forces may be broken—but its dragons remain, and they are turning to meet you.
As you hover over the ground troups, in the distance a large number of red dragon are coming towards you.
