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Dragonbane recap session 1 to 5

Principal Characters

Chapter 1: The Castle of the Robber Knight

Session date: 1 Feb 2025

For two days, the party had wandered the wilds, drawn ever closer to their destination. At last, they stood before the ruined Castle of the Robber Knight, its crumbling walls perched atop a grassy hill. The warm glow of an inn’s fire seemed like a distant dream as the old woman’s warning echoed in their minds:

"Many have sought the lost treasures of Rothgar Wolfsbane. None have returned."

But this band of adventurers had no intention of turning back.

A Treacherous Approach

As they trudged along the solid path, Moby’s sharp eyes caught a glint of metal. With characteristic curiosity, he approached and retrieved a horned helmet, its twisted spikes giving it a menacing appearance. Meanwhile, Grim’s keen instincts led him to a concealed trail behind the shrubs—perhaps a hidden route for those who wished to move unseen.

Reaching the castle’s gates, they made a fatal mistake: they did not check for traps.

Grim triggered a tripwire, sending a silent signal to unseen watchers. In the shadows of the ruins, goblins prepared an ambush. Moments later, Grim and Golden nearly plummeted into a hidden pit, escaping only by sheer luck.

Near the eastern side of the courtyard, a heavy wooden cellar door drew their attention. Before Munin could smash it down with her axe, the skies erupted into a torrential downpour, reducing visibility. Ariana conjured a soft glow on the stairs, sparing the need for torches.

The Prisoner in the Cellar

Descending into the damp cellar, the group met Gruntha, a captured orc who revealed the goblin leader’s sinister plans. She had been forced to blow a magic horn that would summon the ghost of Rothgar Wolfsbane, now a wight. She pleaded for aid—not only for herself but also for her beloved pet pig, Merle.

A deeper search revealed a chained skeleton, clutching an aged scroll bearing the name Embarius and a painted portrait of a man. The mystery deepened.

When they emerged from the cellar, the goblins were waiting.

The Goblin Ambush

From behind a gnarled dead tree at the heart of the courtyard, ten goblins sprang forth, weapons glinting in the rain.

As their numbers dwindled, the last three goblins fled into the darkness. One escaped. Their leader remained unseen.

Secrets of the Castle

With the battle over, the party searched the ruins.

Inside the helmet, a skull remained lodged. As Golden pried it free, the jawbone snapped off.

And then… A piercing shriek shattered the air.

The Wight Awakens

Rothgar Wolfsbane had returned.

The spectral knight emerged in the courtyard, his ghastly presence sending chills down their spines.

Realizing that the wight sought its helmet, Arasin recalled ancient lore—a spirit bound by its stolen possession. Thinking quickly, Golden offered his old helmet as a replacement. The wight vanished in an instant… but the danger was not over.

The castle began to collapse.

A Desperate Escape

As the ruins crumbled, the adventurers raced for their lives.

With sheer determination, Grim hauled her free, and Ariana’s magic brought her back from the brink of death.

As the dust settled, Gruntha stood before them, gratitude shining in her eyes.

"I owe you my life—and Merle’s," she said, handing them a map of the Misty Vale.

With a long rest ahead, the party set their sights on Outskirt, the frontier settlement on the edge of the unknown.

The adventure was only beginning.

Chapter 2: Drakmar Pass & Outskirt

Session date: 15 Feb 2025

The party was travelling north through Drakmar Pass toward Outskirt when they came upon a man collapsed on the road. A pool of blackened blood spread beneath him, and a poisoned arrow protruded from his back.

As Grim approached, the pale, dying man thrust a bundle into his hands and urgently whispered:
“Quick, take it! Leanara will understand… message from the Master Weatherman… must find all four pieces… the secret of the Dragon Emperor!”
Moments later, the man died.

Almost immediately, the party was ambushed—goblins closed in from both the front and the rear. Golden stepped forward to block three goblins from reaching the others, while Arasin circled around to engage a fourth. Grim fought two goblins near the fallen man while coming under arrow fire from two goblin archers positioned at a distance. Moby slipped behind one of the goblins attacking Grim and struck with a precise backstab, while Munin charged in with an axe against one of the goblins threatening Golden.

The battle escalated when a goblin riding a worg burst from behind a boulder ahead of the party, barking orders as he charged Moby with a spear. Moby managed to parry the attack and retreat before the rider could strike again. Sorilea then unleashed a fireball, which ultimately brought down the worg rider and ended the fight.

After the battle, the party examined the contents of the bundle: a strange object and a map. They noticed that the object was depicted in the lower-left corner of the map, alongside three other similar symbols in the remaining corners—strongly suggesting that the bundle contained one of four pieces.

Continuing on to Outskirt, the party persuaded the guards at the gate to let them enter. Inside, Captain Hardy welcomed them and directed them to the Three Stags Inn. In the town square, they noticed an ancient statue at the center—and realized that the object they carried closely resembled the statue’s base.

At the Three Stags, they were warmly greeted by Vagnhild, who offered them mead on the house. They also ordered roasted boar. Annabella served their meal and answered several of their questions. When the party mentioned the mark and the strange object, Annabella advised them to meet her later that night, after her shift ended.

During their stay, Grim attempted to speak with a lady knight, but she ignored him—and also brushed off Sorilea, who tried to intervene.

Leaving the inn, the party explored the town. They visited The Twins blacksmith, hoping to purchase weapons and armour, but quickly realized their funds were limited. Still, they ensured that everyone at least had basic protection, such as leather armour.

Their final stop was Dranath’s Hut, thick with smoke inside. Dranath shared ancient lore of the Misty Vale and spoke of Um-Durman, the Sword of Eledain, once wielded by the Dragon Emperor. He revealed that three factions were racing to collect the four-part key needed to open the crypt where Um-Durman rests:
The Keepers of the Immaculate Flame, the Followers of Sathmog, and Chief Maladuk’s orc forces.

With this knowledge—and one piece of the key already in their possession—the party realised they had become part of a much larger and far more dangerous struggle.

Chapter 3: Riddermound

Session date: 30 Mar 2025

The session opened with the party already inside Riddermound, standing in the antechamber beneath the ancient burial mound. From there, they advanced cautiously, discovering two tunnels leading in opposite directions and a guardroom ahead. It quickly became apparent that sound carried unnaturally far within the mound, and careless movement risked drawing unwanted attention.

In the servants’ crypt, the party encountered Grub, a miserable goblin hiding among the dead. Dirty, panicked, and barely holding himself together, Grub begged for his life and offered to help the group if they spared him. Though clearly more trouble than he was worth, the party allowed him to follow them. Throughout the exploration, Grub proved to be a constant liability—frequently panicking, provoking danger, and narrowly avoiding being the cause of everyone’s death.

The group continued into the family crypt, where they found several stone sarcophagi. They looted the tombs and recovered coins, but doing so disturbed the mound further. Not long after, their noise drew the attention of Riddermound’s true horror: a ghostly knight bound to the burial mound.

The ghostly knight was a towering figure clad in ancient plate armor and a horned great helm. Its skeletal face stared from an open visor as it moved slowly but inexorably through the mound, passing through walls and closed doors alike. Its presence was always announced by the dreadful sound of scraping metal. Whenever the party grew careless or loud, the knight appeared again, relentless and impossible to predict.

As they pressed deeper, the party eventually found a way past a locked portcullis into The Lady’s Hall. The chamber contained an oak table, burning wall torches, and a mummified woman seated at the far end, still clad in gilded chainmail. When the group attempted to strip her armor, her spirit rose in fury, forcing a tense confrontation. After defeating her ghost, the party claimed the Fiendcrusher warhammer and her ornate chainmail as spoils.

Throughout the exploration, the ghostly knight continued to hunt them. The party resorted to improvised fire attacks, preparing them in advance before entering rooms. These tactics proved effective enough to slow the knight and buy time, but never enough to truly stop it. The group quickly realized the creature was far stronger than anything they could defeat head-on.

Despite this, they eventually reached the tomb of the Dragon Knight itself. In the burial chamber stood an ornate stone sarcophagus on a raised podium, with a painted image of a dragon and rider looming over the far wall. Inside the sarcophagus, the party discovered a gilded crown inscribed with ancient runes. Those able to read them learned of its enchantment: the crown halves all damage taken from demonic attacks. Alongside the crown, they also found a single piece of a carved statuette, clearly part of a larger key they had been collecting elsewhere.

By this point, the party understood the truth of Riddermound. The ghostly knight was bound to the mound by ancient draconic magic and could not be destroyed within it. Even if brought low, it would rise again and continue the hunt.

The session ended in a desperate retreat. Accepting that the enemy was too powerful, the party made a frantic run for the exit. The ghostly knight pursued them relentlessly through the tunnels as they fled. Grim stayed behind to hold the knight back, buying the others enough time to escape. When it became clear the creature could not pass beyond the outer cave, Grim even had time to taunt it before climbing the escape rope to safety.

All of them emerged from Riddermound alive. They carried gold, powerful artifacts, and another fragment of the key they sought—but more importantly, the hard-earned lesson that survival sometimes means knowing when to run.

Chapter 4: Return to Outskirt

Session date: 28 Jun 2025

After their escape from the haunted depths of Riddermound, the party received troubling news from Grub. The goblins and orcs of the valley are not merely roaming aimlessly; they are searching for fragments of a key said to unlock a weapon capable of utterly destroying the demon Sathmog.

Even their chief, Maladuk, hunts for the pieces—not to unleash the demon, but to stop it, for even the orcs fear Sathmog’s return. Grub urged the party to seek Maladuk near the Kummer Mountains to the southwest, suggesting that their efforts might be joined for the sake of the valley.

With this knowledge, the adventurers turned back toward Outskirt Village. Their path was not easy: they became lost in the wilds and realised their supplies were insufficient. Food, cloaks, and other survival gear would be essential before venturing further.

Then came a grim omen—rain began to fall, but the droplets were not water, but blood. Evil was stirring.

Moments later, cultists ambushed them, demanding their fragments of the key. The battle turned when Alfilia Shadowleaf, a Dragon Knight of the Keepers of the Eternal Flame, arrived in pursuit of the cultists. With her aid, the attackers were slain, save for one survivor.

Under interrogation, the cultist revealed that their orders came through secret messages hidden around Outskirt—beneath rocks, near houses, and by the gates. Before more could be gleaned, Alfilia crushed the cultist’s skull, ending his usefulness but proving her conviction.

She introduced herself formally, explaining that her order serves the dragon emperor Eledain and seeks to prevent Sathmog’s return. The cultists, she warned, are after the Sword Um-Durman, a weapon that could secure the demon’s resurgence.

When the company returned to Outskirt, Captain Hardy welcomed Alfilia warmly. He repeated to the party the old tale of Riddermound: how a dark knight was buried alive there with his kin, cursed by the gods when the world was young. The adventurers knew the truth, having just emerged from that place, but kept their counsel.

The group scattered about the village. Munin sought Dranath’s tutelage and, after donating six gold pieces, mastered the spell Lightning Flash. Dranath hinted at greater opportunities for coin and knowledge in Bothild’s Lode, the legendary dwarven mine in the Kummer Mountains. Though abandoned, it is said to still hold mountains of gold and gems, as well as horrors unleashed long ago by Bothild the Vile.

Meanwhile, Grim came upon a grisly sight in the street: a bat carcass on the ground, pinned by a crossbow bolt, a tiny scroll tied to its leg.

The message, once deciphered by Arasin, read: “Newcomers in Outskirt, purpose unclear, keeping an eye on them. All might to Sathmog, our three-tongued liberator.”

Captain Hardy himself had shot the bat from the sky, though Grim—perhaps too cautious—told him he had seen nothing. He regretted the choice almost immediately.

That evening, the party gathered at the Three Stags Tavern, where Vagnhild the innkeeper served them stew.

Another adventuring band entered—a weary human thief, a wolfkin warrior, and a mallard wizard. They spoke of seeking the Troll’s Spire, a silver tower visible only beneath the full moon, rumoured to house an ancient alchemist who brewed an elixir of eternal life after angering the dragon emperor. Grim dismissed the tale as pointless babble and left them to their weariness.

At the same tavern, Annabella the serving girl inquired whether the party had found a key fragment in Riddermound. When they denied it, she hid her disappointment with a smile and offered another rumor. A farm boy named Roric had been taken, his tracks leading into the Iron Forest and the Oracle Cave. The Oracle is said to be ancient and all-knowing, seated on immense wealth—but at times demands human sacrifice. Annabella feared that Roric’s fate was already sealed.

There ended the session, with the party holding several threads of fate before them: the orc chief Maladuk in the Kummer Mountains, the gold and horrors of Bothild’s Lode, the mysterious Troll’s Spire, and the dire Oracle Cave.

Chapter 5: Into Bothild’s Lode

Session date: 30 Aug 2025

The party set out from Outskirt Village toward Bothild’s Lode, following Dranath’s advice. Legend says Bothild the Vile and Greedy once mined there, unearthing both treasures and nameless horrors.

Journey to Bothild’s Lode

The Gates of Bothild’s Lode

Mention of Grub, the goblin they had saved, persuaded the guards to let them pass to seek Maladuk, the orc chieftain.

Exploring the Flooded Tunnels

The White Death

Bothild’s Tomb

Meeting Maladuk