GoCorral

This session was attended by Jamie, Trajan, Will, Tyler, and Avery. The session was a little shorter than others because I was helping my wife prepare her fifth grade classroom for her first year of teaching! Still lots of roleplaying action.

To Probe or Not to Probe?

As Amalius approached Invernix with Korm the magical dagger, Tagenadi shouted, “Stop!”
Amalius said, “What?”
Tagenadi continued, “You can’t kill him with that! You’ll only make the dagger stronger! Am I the only one who has a problem with this? And I suspect the dagger may be subtly influencing your behavior as well. You’ve been acting differently ever since it tried to take over you in the desert. You’ve been more aggressive and willing to use lethal force. You were even hitting Eathirilu with lightning during the fight with Invernix! The dagger is affecting your mind and I think it is best left in your hole where it belongs.”
Amalius replied, “You think the dagger is affecting my mind? Tagenadi, do you know what I’ve been studying for the past decade and a half? The magic of the mind. No one understands the mind better than I do. Trust me, there’s no way for Korm to affect me unless I make a mistake like I did in the desert or at the Bjorn’s Palace.”
“It still makes me feel uneasy. Why do we keep it around anyways.”
Korm piped in, “Because I know where Amalgami is and eventually you’ll want to find him.”
“There, you see?” said Amalius.
Tagenadi said, “Well if we need him for that then why don’t I hang on to him. My mind works differently because I’m dead, so he can’t control me even if I slip up. That way we can be sure he doesn’t do anything evil.”
“If it makes you feel better, sure. Here you go.” Amalius handed Korm and the dagger’s sheath to Tagenadi who fixed the dagger to his belt next to his potions.
“Thank you. I do feel safer.”
Korm said, “I feel like I’m tied to a dead thing.”
Amalius said, “As for the dragon… Maybe we shouldn’t kill it after all. It said something to me telepathically, ‘save her.’ What do you suppose that means?”
Torin said, “Definitely means the city, right? The dragon was defending it after all.”
Eathirilu said, “It could mean Mother Earth. Dragons are strongly connected to Gaia.”
Aldarian said, “Maybe he was just talking about one of his lady friends.”
Amalius said, “I’m inclined to agree with Torin. I think he meant the city. I’d like to make sure though by invading his mind. He’s unconscious so he can’t resist.”
Torin exclaimed, “What we can’t do that! It’s unethical!”
“Why is it unethical? Its no different than truth magic granted by Athena. And this way we’re sure it’ll work.”
“Invading someone’s mind while they’re unconscious is just wrong, even if it is a dragon. I think Tagenadi may have been right. Korm may have affected your mind without you knowing.”
“I can’t believe this!” Amalius stalked to the edge of the cave in fury.
Torin moved to follow, but Tagenadi put a hand on the dwarf’s shoulder. “Let him cool off for a little bit. Let’s talk about the mind reading. I think we should do it. After all mind reading isn’t inherently worse than beating the crap out of something which you seemed okay with.”
Torin said, “The issue is it’s unconscious. Do you think it’s ok to beat up captive creatures? The same applies when you go into someone’s mind. If they can’t defend yourself then it’s not a fair fight. It’s immoral.”
“No, I wouldn’t beat up a captive, but… I’m a soldier and there’s no reason to hurt someone who is down. But questioning someone to help you win a war? This doesn’t seem very different. And red dragons are horrendously evil monstrosities.”
“Unlike you, I feel all creatures are entitled to certain dignity, evil or otherwise.”
“You didn’t really address what I was talking about. I don’t think this is removing it of its dignity – certainly any more than speak with dead which I’m pretty sure you’re okay with.”
“Speak with dead is different. You’re not talking to the person. Really you’re inferring from the body.”
“I think you’re splitting hairs.”
Torin objected, “Some hairs are on the side of respect and others on the side of darkness.”
Tagenadi stated, “Not in this case. Prying someone’s secret out of their recently killed body for which you are responsible is not better than knocking someone out and reading their mind.”
“Yes, it is different because once they are dead you are in an entirely different moral realm.”
“Trust me,” Tagenadi said, “That’s not better. That’s worse.”
“Of course it’s worse but it has different morality.”
“But then speak with dead, which you are okay with, is worse than this?”
“No, because the dead lose certain rights.”
“So do enemy combatants, but your suggestion seems to be ‘kill helpless enemies so that it’s moral to question them’. That seems distinctly wrong.”
“No living person should ever have less rights that a corpse”
“Less does not equal the same!”
“Oh fine,” Torin said, “You can mind probe him, but I’m against it.”
Tagenadi asked, “Does anyone else have an issue with it?”
Aldarian said, “Nah, I was all for it from the beginning.”
Eathirilu agreed, “Yes. Me too.”
“Alright then.” Tagenadi walked over to Amalius and brought him back. Amalius prepared the mind probe magic and the questioning began.

Changing Plans

Amalius delved into Invernix’s mind. First he looked for who or what Invernix was talking about when he said, “Save her.” She turned out to be Invernix’s mate, Sartoria. For centuries she had been trapped in the Orb, powering the very object that served to enslave her descendants. Aldarian was particularly entertained that the “her” was, in fact, a lady friend. Invernix was willing to do anything to free his mate and on that note, Amalius got an idea.

What if instead of using the Red Orb of Dragonkind on the dragovinians, they used it on Invernix? An ancient red dragon would certainly give them the firepower they needed to remove the dragovinians from Greshendale and possibly a number of other cities as well. Who knows? Maybe Invernix would even be in favor of the idea due to Blendegad’s attempt to usurp the title of greatest dragon in the world. Amalius shared his plan with the group and they seemed to like the idea.

Amalius tried to find memories of the Xorian invasions or the dragovinians in Invernix’s mind, but found none. The dragon had been cut off from the world. Next, he tried to discover whether Invernix would submit to domination in exchange for the release of Sartoria. It took some puzzling of the dragon’s past emotions, but Amalius learned that Invernix would even swear an oath on the River Styx to save his mate. The party also learned that if Invernix was freed he would seek revenge on the descendants of those who enslaved him.

With the plan approved, Amalius began to psionically dominate Invernix. After multiple attempts to break through the beast’s magical defenses he got through and took control.
Amalius spoke telepathically to his new thrall, “Now, Invernix, my friends are going to bring you around and you’re not going to hurt us are you?”
“As you say, weakling.”
“Don’t get up or speak when we heal you either.” Amalius then turned to Torin and said, “Alright, heal him up. But not too much.”
Torin healed the dragon with a cure light wounds spell. Invernix’s eyes opened. Amalius said, “We have a proposition for you that involves ‘saving her.’ In exchange we want you to do a few things for us. Now you can answer me. Do you know how to destroy the Orb?”
“Yes. A mortal must wield the Orb and command a dragon to destroy it.”
“And destroying the Orb is the only way to free Sartoria?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let me on your back. We’re going to go get the Orb.”

Contact with the Dragon

Invernix growled and smoke hissed out of his nostrils as Amalius floated up to land on the dragon’s neck. The beast rose and ran forward on his four legs, bursting through the wall of stone placed in the fight earlier. He leapt through the cave entrance and began to fall before unfurling his wings and beating them mightily. The dragon took flight.

Invernix flew to the sphere of force surrounding the Orb and hovered next to it. Amalius carefully launched a disintegrate and destroyed the sphere of force. The Red Orb of Dragonkind fell into Invernix’s claws. Amalius commanded the dragon to fly back to the cave and they landed safely.

When they returned, Amalius took the Orb and looked into it. The Red Orb felt hot to the touch. Inside, Amalius saw a ancient red dragon exactly like Invernix. The dragon roared and flew in a circle breathing fire. Amalius sensed the anger emanating from the Orb. The dragon landed and the image zoomed in on its face. The dragon puffed smoke out of its nostrils and then laid down, ready to be commanded. Sartoria.

Invernix submitted to domination by the artifact. The party began conversing telepathically about not destroying the Orb at all but commanding Invernix for as long as they could. Then, recalling that the dragon was in the room decided to get an oath from him.

Amalius temporarily suppressed the domination commands on Invernix before saying, “I have released you from my magic for a moment. Before we release your wife we have a few tasks for you to do. First, you just swear an oath to not hunt down the descendants of Tentineh the wizard.”
“I so swear it.”
“On the River Styx. And know that if you try anything I will teleport away and you will never see Sartoria again. You will never find me in the many planes of the multiverse.”
Invernix puffed himself up and shouted, “I WILL SWEAR NO OATH TO YOU!” With that, he began casting a spell. Amalius panicked and teleported to the ground below Greshendale.

Invernix had said under the mind probe that he would swear an oath on the Styx. What changed? Dragons can detect lies and read people’s emotions extremely well. When the party telepathically discussed not freeing him, Invernix began to see their intentions from the expressions on their faces. Even if he could not hear the conversation, he knew generally what they had decided based on the context.

Invernix finished casting his heal spell and more of his wounds knit back into whole dragon flesh. The rest of the party tensed for a fight.

Back on Track

Amalius gathered his wits on the ground and realized he had used up his magical reserve for the day. He had no way to teleport back to the cave and he was out of range of his natural telepathy ability. The range of communication to Invernix was infinite though. Amalius reached out his senses and commanded the dragon, “Say nothing except what I tell you. Say that this is Amalius and that I’m stranded on the ground. I need someone to come and get me.”
Invernix repeated, “This is Amalius and I’m stranded on the ground. I need someone to come and get me.”
Tagenadi said, “I’ll do it on my nightmare mount.” Tagenadi summoned his nightmare and climbed on top of it before taking off. They slowly made their way three miles down to the surface. Tagenadi pulled Amalius onto the firey horse with him and they rose into the air once again. About a mile into their climb, the nightmare could go no further. An invisible barrier blocked its flight.
Puzzled, Tagenadi stuck his arm through where the nightmare indicated it existed. He could go through, but the nightmare could not. Amalius attempted to fly up, but could not.
Out of ideas, Amalius telepathed to Invernix, “Still stuck on the ground, reconvene down here.”
Invernix, still under the command to not speak, ran to the cave exit and took off once more. Eathirilu barely ducked out of the way. Aldarian grabbed hold of the dragon’s tail as it passed and hung on for dear life as the beast dived.
“Make sure he reaches the ground safely,” commanded Amalius.

Eathirilu turned into a pterodactyl and followed. Torin clicked his heels together and teleported down. Invernix dived past the descending Amalius and Tagenadi. As he neared the ground the dragon unfurled his wings and landed roughly. Aldarian released his death grip and rolled away to catch his breath. Invernix turned on him and stalked towards Aldarian. Two gigantic claws struck the ground, flanking Aldarian where he lay. Invernix leaned down and breathed hot, sulphurous smoke into Aldarian’s face. Aldarian, to his credit, did not wet his pants. There was a lot of screaming though.

The party regrouped on the ground and talked it over. Clearly Invernix would willingly do nothing for them. If they kept him enslaved he would eventually break free and possibly join the Xorians. It was decided that it would be best to free him and break the Orb. After all, two powerful dragons could make strong allies even if they are evil. Amalius set down the Orb and commanded Invernix to destroy it one minute from now. Everyone backed away.

The party was silent as the seconds ticked away. Torin turned to Amalius and asked, “Are we sure this is a good idea? The dragon is evil after al-“

Invernix leaped upon the Orb! His claws ripped into it, pounding it again and again into the soft dirt. A crack formed in the Orb, then another and another. Then it broke.

A great red light burst forth from the Orb. The light filled the sky with a sunset glare. The party tried to cover their eyes. Aldarian and Amalius were too slow. The light blinded them. When the light faded, those who retained their vision saw Invernix necking with his freed mate, Sartoria. He whispered something in her ear and she flew off to the northwest. Torin healed the blindness in Aldarian’s and Amalius’ eyes.

Released the Dragon

Invernix walked over to Amalius and looked down at the psion, “What would you have me do now, mortal?”
“Go, be free.” Amalius dismissed his own dominate, freeing Invernix.
“Then I shall. Thank you for your service, psion. As for you, ELF!” Invernix whipped his snake-like neck towards Eathirilu. “You should watch yourself in armor like that. If I see you again, you’re dead.”
Eathirilu looked down at his enchanted red dragonscale armor and said, “We’ll see who the dead one is then, lizard.”

Invernix grunted and narrowed his eyes. The party feared he might start a fight, but he turned away instead. The ancient dragon took flight and followed his mate into the wilds of the northwest.

Torin said, “Talon is going to be pissed with us.”
Amalius said, “We’d better get back to Lakatia. I need to rest to restore my power. We can deal with Talon and the whole mess tomorrow.”

The party agreed and they teleported back to Lakatia using the last charge of the day on Torin’s boots.