They got to Alagarthas' stronghold by nightfall. Outlooks alerted Alagarthas of their arrival and he met them as they approached the ground level of the stronghold. He looked tired and sad but smiled upon seeing them.
"Welcome back from your investigations," he said as they dismounted from their horses. "I hope that you all had good success finding the green dragon."
"Yes, we did" said Borovik. "We found the green dragon's den. We killed his rider, and after a fight, the dragon sustained serious injury and fled. We do need to meet with you in private to report the entirety of what we found at the dragons den."
Very well," responded Alagarthas. "Come up to the tree level and have something to eat in the meeting hall. We will talk over the meal."
The guards took their horses to the stables and as they walked toward the lifts, Alagarthas turned to them and sighed, "Varis told me of Galin's betrayal. After consulting with my Council, I decided to have him arrested. He's under guard here now and will be put on trial."
The party members nodded, and Borovik said, "That was a development that none of us expected. We wish that hadn't been the case."
They rose to the tree level on the lifts and made their way to the meeting hall. Alagarthas had a hearty evening meal of venison stew, bread and ale placed before them. He then entered the hall and sat at the head of the table.
Borovik began, "We followed Galin's observations about where the dragon headed after the meetings. On our way there we met a local druid who gave us advice about where a potential den might be. We found the caverns, which were heavily guarded by a large contingent of cultists. During the battle, we slew the guards and the dragon rider. The dragon retreated to his lair, where we later had a battle with him. We dealt him serious injury and he fled, rather than die. We retrieved the journal of the dragon's rider, and it revealed his identity, as well as his connection to the Cult of the Dragon."
Borovik handed the journal to Alagarthas and said, "The journal reveals the dragon rider as Neronvain, one of your father's sons."
"Neronvain?" Alagarthas cried in shock. "That can't be! He disappeared years ago, after Father expelled him from the court! We assumed he was dead!"
"No, he survived, and joined the Cult of the Dragon. He became the Green Dragon Wyrmspeaker and led the many raids on the towns of the Misty Forest."
Alagarthas' eyes filled with tears. "Father will be heartbroken by this. Neronvain had been the heir to the crown, and I only became Prince when Neronvain was exiled. Now we find that he betrayed the entire Misty Forest and died in a battle with those who came to stop him. It's as if he died twice and we must grieve again."
Alagarthas bowed his head and cried, unable to speak further. Kellen began to play and sing an elven song of comfort, channeling magic through his harp to lessen Alagarthas' sorrow.
After some time Alagarthas regained his composure and said, "I will have the servants prepare you a sleeping quarters so you can rest for the night. Will you be staying here for a few days?"
"No," replied Borovik. "We have to get back to Waterdeep as quickly as we can to report on our activities."
"Very well. I'll make sure you get a good breakfast. Do you need your provisions to be replenished?"
"No, we shouldn't," said Kellen. "I will conjure a Teleportation Circle to quickly return us to Waterdeep."
They finished the meal and servants entered, offering to escort the party to their quarters. Kellen cast the Sending spell to alert Lady Silverhand of their progress, "Killed Wyrmspeaker raiding elven towns. Dragon fled. Returning tomorrow through teleportation circle."
Lady Silverhand replied, "Thank you. Awaiting the full report."
They rested quietly that night.
The next morning, they ate breakfast with Alagarthas. He told them he had sent a messenger bird to his father explaining what had happened. He looked weary, as if his nightly meditations had been troubled and had afforded him little rest.
"I don't even want to think of what Father's response will be," he sighed. "I only hope that the dragon Nymmyrh and his bronze dragons will be willing to help us rebuild, as well as protect us from further attacks."
"We will petition with the Council of Waterdeep to get some assistance for you, labor as well as money," Borovik assured him.
After eating, they descended to the ground level and saddled up the horses. Kellen used the magical chalks and inks he had purchased to draw a 10 ft circle on the ground, inscribing it with sigils matching ones surrounding one of the permanent teleportation circles in Waterdeep. One-by-one the party members guided their horses into the circle and were instantly teleported to Waterdeep. Kellen waited to make sure everyone else got through, then himself stepped into it.
One-by-one, the party members appeared in the Wizards' Guild containing the Waterdeep portal. The horses were somewhat spooked by the experience but were easily calmed by their riders. The wizards in the room gathered around them to joyously welcome them back.
"Lady Silverhand asked us to send you directly to the Palace to meet with her when you arrived," said the guild leader.
The party nodded and headed to the Palace. They checked their horses at the entrance and informed the guards that they were here to report to Lady Silverhand. About half an hour later they were summoned to the Open Lord's Chambers.
Laeral Silverhand welcomed them in. "Congratulations on a job well done," she smiled. "Sit down and give me the full report."
Borovik began, with other party members chiming in with details. They explained how they had gone to Altand for the investigations, how they had uncovered the treachery of Galin, how they located the green dragon's lair, how they had defeated the dragon and his Wyrmspeaker, how they had discovered that the Wyrmspeaker was the long-missing son of King Melandrach.
"That's an astounding story!" exclaimed Laeral. "But the part about King Melandrach's son carrying out the raids against the Misty Forest elves is very sad. I can hardly imagine the sorrow Melandrach must now feel."
"He's probably just now finding out about it," said Kellen. "Prince Alagarthas had just sent a messenger bird to his father the night before we returned."
Mara spoke up, "The Misty Forest elves have a lot of work to do to rebuild their towns. We promised to petition for people and money to help them."
"I understand," said Laeral. "I will present the petition to the Council of Waterdeep. And I do have some news for you from the metallic dragons. Tazmikella, the copper dragon on the metallic dragon council, has agreed to help protect the Dwarves of the North from cultist attacks. Although Connerad Brawnanvil hates dragons, he has reluctantly agreed to work with them to keep cultists away from his people. He also understands that the metallic dragons are trying to compensate somewhat for the concessions he made to gain their allegiance."
Talis bowed her head, remembering that it was her mentor, Otaaryliakkarnos, who had demanded the concession from Connerad Brawnanvil.
After the debrief with Laeral Silverhand, the party elected to go back to Talis' offshore dwelling in the harbor at Mistshore. The residents of the Mistshore were overjoyed to see them and gathered around to hear the story of defeating the green dragon and his Wyrmspeaker. They sat by the Hearthfire and the crowd feasted on food from the Create Food and Water spell, as well as what people had on hand. The party gave gold to some of the children to buy more food so there would be plenty for everyone. Kellen played his harp and the people danced. Frostbite gave the children rides. The celebration went on until well after dark, winding down as the moon rose over the bay. The heroes rowed back to the derelict ship and Mara gave thanks to Mother Moon for keeping them safe and giving them success.
Back on the ship, everyone prepared to retire for the night. Mara and Talis lay down next to one another, with Talis snuggling against Mara's right side. She put her arm across Mara's chest and let her hand rest over Mara's heart. The steady beating filled her with joy, and she felt a desire to feel bare flesh under her hand. She reached under Mara's night shirt and once again placed her hand over Mara's heart. Mara turned to face Talis and kissed her. They made love, slowly and tenderly, relishing the freedom to spend as much time as they wished in enjoying each other's bodies. Afterwards, they chatted briefly and then drifted off to sleep. The sun was well up before they finally arose from their bed.
Talis and Mara quickly put on some clothing and ascended to the deck. Borovik, Bree, Kellen and Frostbite were sitting around talking.
"Well," smirked Bree. "Look who finally emerged from their cave!"
"At least they beat Neega and Preston out of their bed!" laughed Kellen.
Mara and Talis blushed and grabbed some bread and ale from the food laid out on the deck. They sat next to Frostbite and joined in the conversation as they ate.
"You know, this morning when I awoke, I felt more vigorous, as if I had more total health than I did before," remarked Borovik.
"Yeah, me, too," said Bree, and Kellen nodded in agreement.
Bree continued, "I also felt luckier. It will be less likely that I fail on an attempt to use my primary skills."
"And I found that I know 2 new spells, Arcane Gate and Disintegrate, which are more powerful than any of the spells I learned before. Plus, the amount of magical energy I have to spend in a day has increased," noted Borovik.
"Same here," said Kellen. "I have more magical energy, and I learned Otto's Irresistible Dance, which before was beyond my magical ability to cast. Now I can force creatures to dance for me, even if they don't like my harp playing."
Mara and Talis looked at each other. They both also felt their total health had increased. Mara decided she would need to ask Mother Moon about this, and find out if she had gained increases in magical ability. Talis resolved to ask Otaaryliakkarnos similar questions.
Talis turned to Frostbite and said, "Maybe it's time for you to start accumulating a hoard. You could stash it down in the cargo hold of this ship."
Frostbite grinned. "I would love to do that!" he cried. "It's one of a dragon's favorite activities."
The assembled party members began discussing the loot they had taken from the last mission, and how some of it should go to Frostbite for his hoard.
"There were a few gems we picked up. And the gold and silver trade bars. Maybe we could give some of that that Frostbite," said Borovik.
"We also got a large number of coins," said Mara. "I would be willing to give him 100gp from my coin purse to get his hoard started. And maybe some of the silver and copper coins I have."
Others began to offer contributions from their coin purses to establish the hoard. Bree put in10pp. Borovik promised 300cp and 50sp. Talis and Kellen agreed to 100gp each.
While they were discussing this, Neega and Preston came up from below decks to join the group for breakfast. Both of them looked a bit bedraggled but had big smiles on their faces.
"Hey, Neega," Bree called, "Did you and Preston wake up feeling like you could take more injury during battle without falling unconscious?"
Preston looked at Neega and said, "You know, we did fell a little more robust when we woke up, but it was hard to tell whether or not it was just from having a night of fun."
The rest of the group snickered.
Neega added, "I also felt it would be harder to knock me unconscious, even if I was reduced to no health. Like sometimes when I would fall unconscious my body would be tough enough to rebound back to just barely conscious."
"Yeah," continued Preston. "And I realized when I awoke that I knew the spell Lightning Bolt. I can't wait to try that one out! And I now have a little more magical energy to expend."
As they sat eating, Talis sent a telepathic message to Otaaryliakkarnos, asking if she had become more powerful after the last mission. Otaaryliakkarnos confirmed that she had indeed gained in maximum health. Her added experience had also increased the difficulty of resisting her spells.
After a leisurely breakfast, the party decided to go shopping for magical supplies. They went to the Marketplace in the Castle Ward and located the stall of a dealer from whom they had bought magical supplies in the past.
As they approached the stall, the proprietor called out, "Borovik Stayanoga, my friend. Are you in need of supplies to transcribe more spells into your spellbook?"
"I certainly am," said Borovik, "I need 75gp worth of the fine inks, and a scroll of Detect Magic."
"The inks we have on hand. I'm afraid we don't have the scroll you desire, but we can contract with a local mage to craft one. I will cost 60gp and will be ready in 2 days."
"Very well," said Borovik as he made his purchases.
Kellen next inquired about the gem infused chalks and inks needed for the Teleportation Circle spell.
"Why, Master Kellen, didn't I already sell you 2 sets of those not too long ago?"
"You did," replied Kellen. "But I had occasion to cast the spell and need to replenish the set I used."
"Here you are," said the vendor, as Kellen handed over his payment.
Next Mara addressed the merchant. "I am searching for a gem encrusted bowl suitable for a Heroes' Feast spell. Do you have one?"
"Oh, my," said the merchant. "Those are expensive, and we don't get many requests for them, since they're used for a high-level spell. We don't have one right now. I will inquire among my contacts and get back to you when I have located one. Are you all still staying at the Flagon Dragon Inn?"
"No," said Mara. "We now stay at a refurbished ship in the harbor at Mistshore."
The merchant looked surprised. "Mistshore? Isn't that a rough part of town? Aren't you afraid of getting attacked and robbed?"
Mara laughed. "With as much magic we have at our disposal, as well as the swordsmanship of our Barbarian, who will attack us? And the residents of Mistshore are happy that we heal their sicknesses and injuries, as well as help them get food. They're unlikely to attack and rob us."
"Well, alright, then," said the merchant. "I will send a courier to Mistshore to inform you when I locate the Heroes' Feast spell components."
Preston then asked the merchant if there were any items that could help him see better in the dark.
"You're in luck," smiled the merchant. "Just yesterday an adventurer came in and I bought a pair of Goggles of Night from him. They give you darkvision out to 60ft. You can have them for 600gp."
"I'll take them," Preston said.
Next Bree inquired about magical items that could make her more stealthy when she was sneaking.
"You're in luck," smiled the merchant. "Just yesterday an adventurer came in and I bought a pair of Boots of Elvenkind from him. While wearing them, you will make no sound when you walk, no matter what kind of a surface you're walking on. Your chances for being detected while sneaking will be substantially reduced. You can have them for 600gp."
"Great!" grinned Bree, handing over the gold.
Turning to Kellen, she said, "I can give you my Boots of Striding and Springing."
Kellen nodded with a smile and Bree handed him the Boots of Striding and Springing.
Next, they went to the stall of a gem merchant to purchase other spell components. Borovik picked up a tiny diamond suitable for the Chromatic Orb spell. Both Talis and Kellen purchased additional diamonds suitable for the Raise Dead Spell. Talis also purchased 2 sets of tiny diamonds suitable for the Revivify spell and 2 batches of diamond dust, suitable for Greater Restoration.
Finally. Neega wanted to go to a weapon vendor to see if she could get a +1 longbow.
When she asked if any were in stock, the weapon vendor said, "You're in luck. Just yesterday an adventurer came in and I bought a +1 longbow from him. You can have it for 675gp."
Neega produced the gold and grinned as she accepted the longbow. She then sold the longbow she looted from the green dragon's den to the merchant.
With much lighter coin purses, they began walking toward the Flagon Dragon to see about getting a noon meal. They chatted merrily, Talis and Mara walking hand in hand, Neega and Preston doing the same. Citizens of Waterdeep were going about their business. A few city watch members were standing around with bored looks on their faces.
Suddenly, they heard a scream from one of the passing citizens. They turned to the man and saw him looking at the sky, pointing. They looked in the direction he was pointing, just in time to see an adult black dragon swooping down toward them. Before they could do anything, it spewed a 60 ft. long, 5 ft. wide line of acid at them. Talis had just enough time to send a panicked telepathic message to Otaaryliakkarnos that they were being attacked by a black dragon.
The dragon breath weapon hit Bree, Borovik, Preston, Neega, Kellen and one unfortunate citizen. The citizen was instantly killed, while Kellen and Preston suffered severe burns. Neega's barbarian resistance meant her burns were not nearly as bad. Evasive Bree escaped injury. The dragon then flew back up into the air to give its breath weapon time to recharge. The people on the street scattered in terror and ran as fast as they could to get away from the dragon.
At that point, a humanoid wearing a hooded cloak, who was standing in an alley just to the north of them, threw off its disguising cloak and ran toward the party. Under the disguise the humanoid was wearing regalia that the party recognized as belonging to a dragonsoul from the Cult of the Dragon.
"Hail Mother Tiamat!" it yelled as it ran up to Neega and attacked.
The dragonsoul hit Neega once with its shortsword, but Neega's resistance kept the injury to a small amount.
"Die, cultist swine!" screamed Neega, as she went into a rage.
She attacked twice with Hazirawn and delivered nasty slashes to the dragonsoul's chest and sword arm. Hazirawn's necrotic damage further weakened it. Frostbite was also within melee distance of the dragonsoul and attacked it. His bite sank into the dragonsoul's shoulder and delivered a lot of piercing and cold damage. One of his claw attacks also hit, and the dragonsoul was shaken by the extent of his injuries.
Two humanoids wearing hooded cloaks, who had been lounging against a wall just to the south of the party, stood up and threw off their cloaks, revealing themselves to be dragonwings of the Cult of the Dragon.
One of them cried out, "It's Talis, the traitor! Kill her!"
It ran up to just in front of Mara, which placed it within melee range of Talis. Attacking with its scimitar, it hit and cut her leg. The other dragonwing ran up to directly face Talis and attacked. Since one of its allies was within 5 ft. of Talis, it had added chance of hitting her and it nailed her with both attacks. Despite her magical scale armor, Talis suffered a nasty gash to her side and an additional cut to her already injured leg. She cried out loudly and staggered from the pain.
The first dragonwing's path had left it within Bree's melee range and she attempted to stab it with her Dagger of Venom. The dragonwing was fast on its feet and dodged the blow. The city watch members began running toward the disturbance. Two of them got with melee range of the dragonwings by running as fast as they could but didn't have time to attack. The other 3 were far enough away that they couldn't get within melee range, despite running furiously.
"Prepare to be crushed!" Mara screamed in fury at the dragonwing directly in front of Talis.
She assumed the earth elemental wildshape and, with a roar of anger, punched the dragonwing. Two mighty blows gave it serious head wounds and it fell it unconscious. Borovik then attempted to frighten and deliver psychic damage to the remaining dragonwing with a cast of Phantasmal Killer. The dragonwing saw the spell coming and dodged out of the way.
The party suddenly found itself enveloped in darkness that even darkvision couldn't penetrate. Preston recognized the Darkness spell had just been cast on them and he took a few steps away from the group, successfully getting outside of the spell's area of effect. He spotted a mezzoloth, who was hiding between 2 buildings, and who was probably the source of the spell. He cast Ray of Sickness at it, but its tough hide deflected the spell.
The black dragon's breath weapon had recharged, so it swooped in for another attack. Because of the darkness spell, it could no longer see the party, so it aimed the breath weapon at the center of the dark sphere. It managed to get Neega, Borovik, Kellen, Bree, Mara and the 2 city watch members close to the group. The acid blast also hit one of its own allies, the remaining dragonwing. The 2 city watch members were killed. Kellen, Borovik and the dragonwing took the full acid damage and all fell unconscious. Mara also took full damage, but the robustness of the earth elemental allowed her to weather the damage. Neega's resistance reduced her injuries to half, but by now she was in pain from serious acid burns. Bree had escaped uninjured.
Talis heard 2 screams of anguish. Limping on her injured leg, she stumbled in the dark until she came upon the unconscious form of Borovik. She did a cure wounds, using additional magical energy to get more healing. Borovik was returned to consciousness. Her healing spell also provided a little healing to her own body, which she applied to partially close the wound in her side
The dragonsoul knew that Neega was right in front of it but couldn't see her. Therefore, its chances of hitting her were reduced. It made 2 attacks but only hit with one and did little damage because of Neega's resistance to slashing damage. Neega took a step out of the darkness bubble and now could clearly see the dragonsoul. She hit with one of her attacks and injured its sword arm so badly it dropped its scimitar. Frostbite, on his turn, stepped out of the dark sphere and was able to attack the dragonsoul. His bite clamped down on the dragonsoul's neck and it sank to the ground.
Seeing that Frostbite had left the darkness sphere, Preston called out, "Frostbite! There's a mezzoloth over here!"
Frostbite flew over to the spot where the mezzoloth was hiding and attacked with his claws. He hit with one of the attacks. Although the mezzoloth's resistance to slashing damage ensured it took little injury, it lost concentration on the darkness spell. The sphere of darkness surrounding the party expired and vanished. One of the city watch members ran up next to Frostbite to help fight the mezzoloth, but didn't have time to attack. The other 2 city watch continued running to the disturbance.
Mara could now see and realized that Kellen was unconscious. She used her bonus action to return to half-elf form and ran to Kellen to cast cure wounds on him. This got him back to consciousness, although he was still heavily injured.
Bree stepped a little to the south to get a good line-of-sight on the dragon and fired with her shortbow. The arrow bounced off the dragon's tough hide. Borovik regained his feet and threw magic missiles at the dragon, using the maximum amount of magical energy he could muster for a single cast. Eight darts of force hit the dragon on the head, The dragon roared as blood flowed from its wounds.
The mezzoloth was afraid of Frostbite so it transported away, ending up about 50 ft. to the north, a little east of the rest of the party. Preston moved a little to get a good line of sight on the mezzoloth and cast Lightning Bolt. Although the spell hit, the mezzoloth had resistance to damage from magic and took relatively little damage. Kellen also stood up and cast Hold Monster on the mezzoloth, hoping to paralyze it. The mezzoloth jumped out of the way as the spell was cast and avoided being held.
Frostbite flew over to within 30 ft of the mezzoloth's new position and blasted with his cold breath. The mezzoloth dodged the worst of the damage and also had resistance to elemental damage. It took very little damage from the attack, but its injuries were beginning to mount. Adding to its miseries, one of the watch members came up to the left of the mezzoloth and attacked with its spear. It hit, dealing another small dose of injury. Another watch member sidled up to the mezzoloth's right side and attacked, although the watch member's spear wasn't able to pierce the tough hide. The final watch member ran up behind the mezzoloth and jabbed with its spear, adding a little more damage.
The black dragon's breath weapon once again recharged, and it came back in for another attack. Neega, Borovik, Kellen, Mara and Bree were in the line of the acid breath. Borovik and Kellen were once again rendered unconscious by the acid injuries. Mara took a great deal of damage, leaving her feeling faint. Neega took only half damage because of her resistance, but her injuries were piling up. Bree once again was unscathed. Talis did a Mass Cure Wounds at high level to relieve some of the injuries on the party members. Borovik and Kellen regained consciousness. Again, her healing spell delivered some healing to herself, which she applied to her injured leg.
Neega then pulled out her longbow and fired at the dragon. She hit once and added a little to its injuries. Mara cast Sunbeam at the dragon, moving a little to the side to make sure no party members were in the line of the spell. The dragon was tough enough to only take half of the radiant damage and it avoided becoming blinded. Borovik jumped to his feet up and cast Bigby's Hand, placing it next to the dragon. He ordered it to punch the dragon, but it missed. He then moved away from the group a little to reduce their clumping. Kellen stood back up and cast Countercharm on Neega to give her advantage in her next save against the Frightful Presence. He then focused his will and broke the frightened condition.
The mezzoloth attacked the watch member on its left side, injuring the watch with its trident. Preston cast Lightning Bolt once again at the mezzoloth. It again managed avoid the full impact of the spell and the additional injury was minor. Preston then moved away from the party to spread them out.
The dragon's breath weapon didn't recharge, so it prepared for melee. First it did a Frightful Presence, targeting everyone in the area except the mezzoloth. Borovik, Frostbite, Talis and Bree avoided being frightened. However, all 3 of the watch, Mara, Preston, Kellen and Neega were frightened. The dragon then flew down to do melee attacks on Neega. It hit with its bite and did piercing as well as acid damage. Neega resisted some of the damage, but her strength was failing. It then hit her in the chest with 2 claw attacks and she succumbed to the injuries.
Talis cast Heal on Neega and cured a great deal of her wounds.
"By the sword of Tempus," Neega shouted at the dragon in Orcish. "I will cut your snout right off!"
She jumped to her feet and attacked the dragon. Because she was frightened, she had a reduced chance of hitting with her blow. Despite this, she hit with the second attack and the dragon screamed loudly as the slashing and necrotic damage from Hazirawn cut into the side of its neck. She then focused her will and broke the Frightful Presence. Seeing that the dragon was sporting heavy injury, Bree ran up next to it and attacked with her Dagger of Venom, but its tough hide deflected her blow. She then used her bonus action to disengage and got out of the dragon's melee range.
Frostbite's breath weapon recharged, but he didn't use it to because he was afraid he would catch his allies in friendly fire. He ran up to the mezzoloth and attacked, hitting with both claw attacks. Despite having resistance, the mezzoloth's injuries were mounting and it was now seriously injured. The members of the city watch all struck at the mezzoloth with their spears, but all missed. However, 2 of them did manage to break the fear brought on by the dragon's Frightful Presence. The weary mezzoloth teleported to the top of a nearby building to get away from its attackers.
Mara cast Blight at the dragon. Although it wasn't able to blunt the full effect of the spell just through its toughness, it used one of its Legendary Resistance reactions to blunt the effect. So, it only took half the damage. Mara then tried, but failed, to remove the Frightful Presence from herself. Borovik used his bonus action to move the Bigby's Hand next to the dragon and gave it a good punch to the face. He then cast shatter at the dragon, expending extra magical energy to increase the damage. The dragon was tough enough to avoid half of the thunder damage, but still saw its health decline.
Preston moved a little to get a clear line of sight on the dragon, then cast Lightning Bolt on it. The dragon used another of its Legendary Resistance reactions to blunt the lightning damage from the spell. Nevertheless, even the reduced amount was enough to knock it unconscious. Upon seeing the dragon go down, the heavily injured mezzoloth was afraid to face the entire party by itself, so it flew away.
Talis looked around and saw the 2 dead city watch members. She realized that there was still time to cast Revivify on them before the 1-minute time window ran out. She cast it on first one, then on the other, and both of them returned to life. She then gathered the most seriously wounded around her and cast Mass Cure Wounds. Two of the three injured watch were restored to full health. Neega, Mara, Borovik and Kellen had their injuries significantly reduced. The self-healing she received from the spell closed up the wound on her side. Mara did an additional Cure Wounds on Kellen, using extra magical energy because he still had significant injuries. She then did a Cure Wounds on the remaining injured city watch member. Talis then realized with shock that there was also a dead citizen on the street.
"Oh no! I used up all my Revivify components, on the watch members!" she moaned. "And I don't have enough magical energy left to do a Raise Dead."
"I don't either," Kellen said, sadly. "Maybe we can do it tomorrow."
About this time, Otaaryliakkarnos arrived. She helped them make sure the black dragon was really dead and would never again attack them or the city. The party described to her the attack and the subsequent battle.
"This is an ominous development," she said, shaking her head. "The Cult of the Dragon really wants all of you dead, and I'm sure there will be more attempts on your lives. You've caught their attention in a bad way.
"Go home and rest. Don't worry about the dead citizen today. I will create a cold place to store the body until tomorrow and you can do the Raise Dead spell then. I'll give you a suitable diamond from my hoard, so you don't have to use up more of your expensive spell components.
"I must excuse myself now to go report these developments to Bahamut. We need his input on how to proceed."
She flew away, taking the dead citizen with her for preservation until the Raise Dead spell could be performed. They looted the coin purses of the cult members and found 110gp,12sp, 17cp.
The party wearily finished their trek to the Flagon Dragon Inn to get their noon meal. Around them they could hear the frightened citizens talking about the black dragon attack.
"I saw it with my own 2 eyes!"
"No kidding? What did it so"
"I didn't stick around to find out. I ran away as fast as I could!"
"Look, the Phandalin Heroes! Did you see the dragon?"
"Yes, we did," Borovik responded wearily. "It was specifically trying to kill us. But you don't have to worry about it anymore. It's dead now."
A cheer went up from the assembled citizenry and the party acknowledged the accolades. Many questions followed, and they attempted to answer them as well as their exhaustion would allow. They then finished their meal and returned to their ship in the harbor at Mistshore.