Invisible spider dealt with, but a spider necklace short, Gilmithel thanks us for our services with some money and a spell scroll for chain lightning. He tells us that he’ll probably be heading back to Torveldus and trying to track down the person who was trying to track/kill him, and I extend an offer to provide assistance if he needs it. We then head back to the CCMB.
I thumb through some articles about the aftermath of the war in the newspaper as Merric mentions to Momen that there’s another interesting article - one about dragons! Momen is certainly interested in pursuing the black dragon and we discuss some logistics. I also consider where to find more information about the invisible mechanical spider, and Momen brings up Kemany. He, however, is much more interested in hastily following the dragon into Torveldus. Dragon takes priority over everything else, even his spell scribing. Goras gives us some info about black dragon wyrmlings and Momen continues planning for battle.
I begin questioning the import and export laws, worried that we’ll run into some bureaucracy at the border given that we’re trying to bring back a dead black dragon, but Merric quickly handles the documentation and stamps a paper which he then hands to Momen. I also bring up the possibility of using our Crystal Ball to attempt to scry the dragon if we can track down the small group of adventurers that chased it off, and we debate how helpful this will be for a little while.
Momen uses augury on my adjusted proposition of seeking out the dragon from Wurmrise, which apparently returns “woe”, so we instead decide to start with the Cedar Combe Chronicle to take whatever information we can get, and then the battlefield to try to more directly follow the dragon’s trail from there. A helpful woman at the Chronicle tells us that it was the Hell Claw Kin which chased it off, and she tells us that they frequent an inn called the Dusty Grasshopper which we head to.
Rittlin boisterously shouts “HAS ANYONE SEEN THE HELLCLAW KITTY CLAN” at the patrons, and one of the more burly folks pipes up saying “THAT’S THE HELL CLAW KIN, TO YOU” Momen takes over the conversation and one of the kin, Arnold, proudly produces a shard of claw that he hacked off the dragon. Momen purchases the claw and we get the rough location on the battlefield where they fought the dragon and head back to the CCMB. The rest of us relax while Momen furiously continues scribing until we all head to sleep.
Bright and early, we make our way to the location on the battlefield that the HCK marked for us. Momen and I begin looking for signs of acid breath while Rittlin looks for dragon poop. We find acid breath near the collapsed bridge and Rittlin locates poop by the abandoned fortifications on the hill. Seems like we have indeed confirmed that it’s a single black dragon wyrmling based on the size of the poops… I ask one of the scavengers milling about and he confirms that the dragon seems to have flown off in the direction of Galegulch. We head in that direction and stop in at the Winking Beaver to ask around about the dragon. The bar keep confirms that the dragon passed by Galegulch, seemingly heading a bit north of Wurmrise.
I complement a dwarf sitting next to me on his beard and he very kindly passes me some fine Dwarven beard wax which smells quite medicinal with undertones of graphite, mentioning that my beard could use some better upkeep. I thank him greatly and we move on towards the border. Our documentation makes it smooth sailing through the border, and the officer confirms that the black dragon headed almost directly west from the crossing. We stop in Wurmrise and then head west northwest.
Momen attempts to scry the dragon on the way using the Crystal Ball, which he does so successfully. The dragon is currently flying around, and from the dragon’s view we spot the warforge camp, Rittlin (!!!), and then a rocky outcropping to the west which it lands on. We proceed with caution and make our way towards the outcropping…