13th Age - of dragons, double crosses and living cities

Continuing from where we left off, Amras and NeOn eventually plucked up the courage to step through the magic portal, with no real knowledge of where they would end up. A tad reckless, and an ideal opportunity for the GM to end the campaign there and then! Still, they found themselves with the rest of the party members in a situation that was not very far from lethal, face to face with the Blue, one of the gigantic elder dragons that comprise the triumvirate of the Three in 13th Age.

It seems that the party was sold out by the Elf Queen. She wanted to make peace with the Three, and the Blue wanted to get her hands on Sartheen, the only red dragon born. Exactly why, is a matter of some conjecture still. Sartheen was in something of a pickle. The Blue was happy to let the other party members go - after all, the fragile peace could be jeopardised if she offed the Elf Queen's favourite diplomat and trouble maker, Amras.

Thinking quickly, Sartheen (spending a point from his Prince of Shadows icon dice), recalled that the Blue was somehow bound to the service of the Emperor, and that the device that held her in such servitude was in the custody of the Prince of Shadows in Shadow Port. He remembered seeing it - or rather the pyramid-shaped wooden box it was contained in - during a procession to the temple of Poseidon in Shadow Port. To avoid dissection, Sartheen offered to recover this item for the Blue. She in turn placed a geas on the crafty lizard, to ensure his compliance.

Using another magic portal, the team took their leave of the Blue, and turned up in a cave complex, where they encountered some black dragon born. Let us be clear here; last time we encountered the black dragon born was on the island, where they proved hostile and quite dangerous, equipped with rogue-like abilities to hide in shadows and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Hence, we took the view that it would be safer to eliminate them. It later transpired they were agents of the Blue, there to support our efforts. Oh well. I guess it stopped them interfering in our subsequent escape!

Shadow Port turned out not to have a wall - you can stroll in there. It is on an island, so I suppose that provides it with a modicum of security. That, and the fact that the town is alive, and can change the street plan at will. A lot. This obviously made it hard for Sartheen, returning to Shadow Port, to find a land mark like the temple of Poseidon. The party had to resort to asking strangers for directions. They proved surly and uncooperative. Sartheen and Jordan Young were all for roughing one of them up, but NeOn had qualms about this. Sartheen, it must be remembered, is a dragon born. In a previous life he hunted humans for food in the Fangs (a large delta region in the campaign). As a reptile, he still finds it hard to empathise with warm bloods. Jordan Young, on the other hand, is a pirate.

Still, an urchin was finally bribed to lead us to the square where the temple stood. Upon entering it, we encountered a trio of thugs, a wizard, a rogue, and a barbarian. In the epic fight that ensued, Jordan Young ended up battling the barbarian while Rarity, our combat monster, fought the rogue. The barbarian got in triple critical wound on poor Jordan, and lopped his head off, before in turn being nuked by NeOn (IIRC). Rarity made mincemeat of the rogue and would have done for the wizard too, but he almost blew her to kingdom come. He then looted her unconscious body and teleported out with one of her magic items.

The shell-shocked party searched the upper level and found the pyramid shaped box, but alas it was empty. Jordan had seemingly died in vain...