Nerd Dice: Chapter 5: Demon in the Dark

After their narrow escape from Greenlocks' ambush, the party decide to pursue her employer, an alleged demon hiding out in the Forest of Wyrms. They use a map they found with the other things Greenlocks left behind in The Drunken Ox. At the edge of the forest, they see a trail large enough to fit a wagon, which has obviously had traffic on in the past few months. As they travel through the trees they see acid damage from the green dragons on the trees.

Shrike the pseudodragon flies ahead and spots a cave opening into the ground. The party head into the cave, Milos leading the way, and as they pass into the opening a strange scent wafts over them. The first thing they notice is an enormous pile of treasure. The second thing they notice is a winged humanoid figure sitting atop the treasure. The creature has red skin, hooves, and black eyes. In the dim light filtering from holes in the cave's ceiling, Mirabelle sees him holding something in his hand, but she can't quite make out what it is.

They talk to the demon, demanding to know what he's been up to. He seems strangely cooperative, and Milos manages to manacle him. Suspicious about his complacency, they pour the truth potion down his throat and question him some more as they begin to lead him out. Halfway along the passage outside, the demon shifts and changes, growing into his true form-- a green dragon. The party struggle with the dragon, trying to avoid his acidic spray, massive tail, and deadly claws and teeth. The dragon wins its way outside, then flies off only to turn around and ambush the cave opening.

In the end, however, the dragon is slain, and the party fetch their cart and fill it with the dragon's hoard. When they search the cave, they find a book the dragon has written. The details explain that the dragon found a wand of polymorph and changed his shape into a demon, then started a cult with evil types like Darkblade and Greenlocks. He got them to bring him gold and treasure with which he built up his hoard without ever having to leave his cave.

The party return to Scornubel and divide up the silver pieces they found in the dragon's treasure. They all make generous donations to their deities for the building of temples. After resting up, they move on to Berdusk, where they give Greenlock's encoded book to the Harpers. The Harpers are able to decipher it and find some of the information quite useful for dismantling the last of the evil cult.

Until their next adventure, the heroes feel greatly fulfilled at the end of their quest to put a stop to another slice of evil in the Western Heartlands.