TSR 9291 - DLC1 - Dr.. - Free

trance to the fortress itself. If you
accept this opportunity, you not
only offer freedom to those of
your kin trapped within the walls
of the fortress, but you offer our
beleaguered folk a chance to escape
Qualinesti alive, a chance to
live that many of ours were not
given when your people caused
the Cataclysm, the turning away
of the gods.”
Thus is presented the plight of the
elves and the suggestion for the heroes’
help. If the heroes take on the
quest, go directly to encounter 90
below. If they decline, go directly to
encounter 91.
90. Kidnap!
Speed is important; Gilthanas feels
that the party’s chances to enter Pax
Tharkas are greater if they enter the
Sla-Mori at night. Therefore, the elf
urges that the party leave the next
morning. This should bring them, after
a long day’s travel, to the mouth
of Sla-Mori. Also, since draconians
prefer not to travel by day, this
lessens the chance that the PCs will
run into them.
The council has adjourned. As
they part, the people sing an ancient,
haunting song of the elves. At this
time, you may read or sing the song
“Elvenhome.” Immediately afterward
read this passage.
Laurana leads the way back to the
quiet hilltop grove. “Sleep peacefully,
for the road tomorrow is
long,” she whispers, then moves
silently down the hill.
Suddenly, the stillness of
Qualinesti shatters. A sharp female
scream rises from the direction
Laurana has gone. Even as
the echoes bounce from the hills,
a dark shape blacks out the
moons, settling among the aspens
of the city.
A wyvern, ridden by Fewmaster
Toede, lands in Qualinost. Toede has
decided to capture one of the party
as a peace offering to Verminaard,
who is surely going to be angry that
the caravan was raided and Gilthanas
freed. Six Kapak draconians have
also been carried to the elven city,
and even now move to attack the
characters. Whether the PCs move to
investigate or simply hold their
ground, they are attacked by the
Kapaks as the huge serpent, now
bearing two riders, rises across the
red moon as Toede shouts, “Your loyalty
is touching, my little Kapaks! To
give your lives is all that my grandness
could ask of you!”
The Kapaks were sent by Toede to
create a diversion, then abandoned.
Left on their own, they fight to the
death. The noise of the skirmish
arouses the community, but no elves
are near enough to intervene until
the battle is over. By then, it is obvious
that this was an isolated raid and
not a general attack.
If the PCs mention Laurana, the
elves know of her absence at once. If
not, it is morning before they realize
she is missing. In either event, nothing
can be done about the kidnapping.
The elves react to the
kidnapping with sad acceptance, and
tell the heroes to sleep while they
have the chance, for the next day’s
mission must go ahead as planned.
While the heroes sleep, the elves
load their packs with two weeks’
worth of the nourishing elven quithpa,
a kind of dried fruit. Quith-pa
functions in all respects as iron rations.
At this point, Gilthanas may become
a player character. Theros
elects to remain with the elves.
91. If the Heroes Refuse the
Elves
Of course, the Innfellows may reject
the elves’ appeal. In this case, the
elves are considerably colder to the
PCs; they no longer extend their hospitality,
asking the PCs to leave. The
next morning, Gilthanas and a band
of hand-picked elven warriors leave
for Pax Tharkas, gravely weakening
the fighting strength of the
Qualinesti nation.
The elves do not bother the PCs if
they consent to leave Qualinesti quietly.
At the first nightfall, priests in
the party have a prophetic dream.
Take your priests and read them this
passage!
The landscape you lie upon is
blurred, as is often the case in
dreams.
The wind has died away, and the
air seems far less chilly than it did
before. Indeed, a glowing warmth
spreads across your back.
When you turn toward the
source of the heat, you see that
Qualinesti forest is burning. The
fire withers aspen, snaps evergreen,
and the woodland erupts
into red columns of flame.
Dark shapes lope toward you
out of the fire. A rain of arrows and
spears cannot stop the rushing
draconians, their wings flapping
as they charge across the ground
like large, wounded bats. Your
comrades fall around you—first
one, then another, as your weapon
grows heavier in your hands.
Finally, seven draconians turn
toward you—toward you alone.
Three of them lick their swords.
Their lidless eyes stare hungrily at
your throat. They move coldly and
firmly in your direction, whispering
in dry, rattling hisses. They
surround you; one of them lunges
at you with a spear, and a whitehot
pain explodes in your chest.
The dragonmen appear to double
in size, and then suddenly
shrink to the size of sparrows.
Your weapon falls to your side.
Your legs do not work. Everything
is dark now.
If the PCs still do not take up the
quest, the dream comes true almost
to the letter. Qualinesti is in the
hands of the Dragon Highlords in
1d6 days; no matter which direction
the PCs go after one game day they
encounter draconians as they did in
encounter 94. These skirmishes continue,
one every game hour, until all
the PCs are dead.
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