Let’s Play Dragonbane! The Lantern of Solitude, finale
It’s time to settle this ghostly business in Mirewake once and for all! Our frog buddies have collected all pieces of the broken Lantern of Solitude and are ready to reforge it.
Let’s investigate that vision first.
Gil pushes open the door to the Pale Ash Tea Room, and the bell above it jingles softly.
Inside, the pleasant smell of fresh teas and a comforting warmth embraces them. The place feels cozy, but something in the air prickles the frogs’ smooth skin.
Behind the counter stood Narael the Pale, a tall and slender elf. They squinted at Gil and Warren, then slowly nodded. “Ah. The Lantern,” they said. “That explains it.”
Gil frowned. “Explains what?”
Narael gestured toward a table with three teacups and a kettle. “There is a ghost in my tearoom. It seems to be waiting for you.”
Warren’s hand moved to his morningstar. “Should we check it?”
“Yes, I think we should,” Gil said after some consideration. “But let’s avoid violence in this lovely teahouse.”
“I strongly agree,” Narael said, looking like the interval between bored and outraged.
As they moved toward the ghost, Warren whispered, “They’re awfully intense for someone serving tea.”
“I heard that!” came the voice behind them.
They ignored the elf and sat down at the haunted table.
Let’s get a random roll for the ghost with Just One Dragon:
Action + Theme: Persevere + Fellowship
Ok, there’s also an NPC Spark Table. Let’s use it:
Name: Eirunn
Goal: Return
Nature: Friendly
Careers: Craftsman
I’m changing the name to Irene. The rolls make me think she wants to persevere in her craft, and that, like Warren, she also craves companionship. Her goal is to become a master so she can finally rest (or ‘return’).
Since she appeared at the Pale Ash Tea Room, let’s make her a tea brewer.
The air around the empty chair shivered and condensed into a shape. A translucent figure sat there.
The ghost blinked into a more visible, but not entirely concrete, form. A frog lady wearing a pink flower hat sat with perfect posture, her legs politely crossed. “Um,” she began timidly. “Hello. I am… Irene Bellefleur.”
She paused, wringing spectral hands. Gil and Warren introduced themselves.
“I am terribly sorry to disturb you. Your compassion is known in Mirewake, and the ghosts whisper your names. You honor the dead and assist the living. Would you help me?”
Gil and Warren looked at each other. Gil said, “Of course. Tell us how.”
“I want to disappear.”
Warren’s wariness melted into concern.
“I died before I could finish something important. Now I’m stuck.”
“What did you want to do?” Warren asked.
Her translucent hand picked the kettle to pour tea into a cup. The tea splashed over the table and onto the floor. Irene covered her face with her hands. “Oh, I’m hopeless!”
d20 Gil’s Persuasion check (14): 1, DRAGON!
YOU KNOW HOW WE ROLL HERE!
I was gonna do this in parts, rolling a few checks during the conversation, but this is just too sweet.
“What if you could improve with the time you have left? You’re still here for a reason, don’t you think?”
She looked at Gil. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe your story isn’t finished yet. Not the way you think.”
He gestured toward the spilled tea, the shaking kettle still hovering near her hand.
“You’re not hopeless, Irene, you’re trying. That’s more than most ever do.”
Warren opened his arms. “Everyone starts clumsy. Some stay clumsy, and the road is bumpier. We’ve been tripping through caves, falling off ledges, smacking skeletons. Improvement doesn’t look pretty.”
Irene slowly lowered her hands. Her face brightened. “But… I wouldn’t know how to start.”
“That’s easy,” Gil said. “Just take the first step. We set off from Three Ponds without knowing better. I just knew I wanted to create a legendary song that would be remembered for a lifetime. Now I’m after the perfect theme, subject, inspiration… I’m after perfection, I guess.”
She nodded, understanding, then turned to Warren. “What about you?”
He looked at his feet, deep in thought. “I guess… I’m trying to be stronger. Worthy of Gil’s trust. Someone who can protect others like he protected me, someone who can uphold the title of Knight of the Greenleap Order. Deep down, I’m still that clumsy tadpole at the pond, being mocked. But he’s gone when I’m with Gil.” He raised his head, serious and earnest. “What I mean is: come with us. We may never find perfection, but we might find something better.”
Irene stared at him with glittering eyes. “I don’t think you understand how valiant it is to voice your fears in the open. You are stronger than you think.”
Gil opened his mouth, but couldn’t bring himself to speak his mind. He would never put that much pressure on Warren.
He could search the Misty Vale and beyond for the jolt of inspiration that would fuel his masterpiece, but the muse had already struck him during childhood. His inspiration hopped by his side since they were tadpoles. He looked at his lifelong friend with admiration.
Bragat the Brave, the ultimate inspiration. In a world that demanded strength, endurance, and perfection, Warren shined with vulnerability, compassion, and heart.
What a song it would be.
Gil stood and offered a hand. “Will you join us, Irene?”
“You would really take me with you? Like this?”
Warren waved at her. “We’re all a little unfinished.”
“To linger with purpose instead of disappearing with regret. All right, I… I would like that.” Irene let out a timid laugh. “I would like that very much.”
Warren extended a hand as well. “We’ll help you brew the best tea in the world.”
As her ghostly hand took theirs, a tiny discharge zapped the three frogs, followed by a soothing warmth.
Something clicked into place for Gil, Warren, and Irene.
Their fates were now bound together.
Irene Bellefleur has joined the party!
I got a little carried away with this scene, but man did I love it. A new party member? And a frog to boot? I blame Moses for putting those juicy hooks in the adventure.
So here’s the Minion template:
What could be the relevant skills for Irene? I’m going to go with Staves, Spot Hidden, Crafting, and Healing.
With our party larger and merrier, it’s time to craft the Lantern!
We’ve had to rest after the last mission, so the Campaign Threat is already at 4. I think the safe bet is going to Branwyn, as I don’t feel like facing aggressive ghosts. They’re immune to physical damage, and that’s all I have. Even though they’re susceptible to Persuasion, I think I’ll pass. I already have a Ghost General to deal with.
d4 Campaign Threat increase: 4
Campaign Threat: 8
No one will ever love you, d4. You are incapable of love.
They handed the Lantern shards to Branwyn at her workshop. She arranged them on a worktable as they hovered behind her, Irene floating above her shoulders.
“Touch the shards,” Branwyn ordered. “All three of you.”
Gil and Warren stepped forward. Irene hung back, uncertain. She looked at Gil as he smiled and nodded at her. Warren’s expression showed honesty and kindness, a face that couldn’t hide emotions if his life depended on it. She chuckled and put her immaterial hand on the shards.
The pieces sparked and glowed brighter, engulfing them, then brightening the entire room. When the light went out, the shards orbited each other in the air. They spun faster and faster until they blurred and became a single point that exploded in more light, emitting a chiming sound.
They protected their eyes from it. When they looked at it again, the Lantern floated in front of them, pulsing and warm like a beating heart.
Branwyn looked spent, sweating and out of breath. “It is yours,” she said. “Take it and hurry, friends. Make good use of it.”
The Lantern of Solitude is whole once more!
The trio follows to the Stillspire, the watchtower where the Ghost General lingers. They climb the levels until the Lantern Cradle, an antechamber of concentric stone rings. Warren puts the Lantern on a pedestal in the center.
The air grows heavy as the Stillspire hums. The stones vibrate, and a form wavers in front of them. Flickering like a torch in the wind, the Ghost General stares them down, his eyes burning with the weight of countless wars.
“You have rekindled the Lantern of Solitude.” His voice rolled out like a war drum. “And you bring a spirit unmoored.” His fiery gaze fixed on Irene. She wavered, but stayed put.
“I’ve destroyed it for a reason,” he continued. “Such insolence. You dare defy me?”
Warren raised his shield, heart pounding, but Gil stepped forward.
d20 Gil’s Persuasion check (14): 6, success!
“General,” Gil started, “you fought wars. You saw people lost and broken. The Lantern carries the grief of thousands of fallen. Grief should not be used to spread fear.”
d20 Gil’s Persuasion check (14): 8, success!
Gil shook his head. “I’m no warrior. I’m just a bard, and a frog trying to do good. I don’t know much, but I know that grief should not be forgotten or destroyed. It’s a breath that fills us, then we hold, then we let go, and it lingers forever. It marks us. We honor the fallen by remembering them.”
The General’s ghost flickered, his expression neutral, considering the words.
“I also honor them with my art,” Gil said, and pulled his lyre to play a song.
Gil is seizing this window to use the HA Musician (WP 12/13), giving his companions a better chance against the General.
2d20 Warren’s Myth & Legend (10, Boon): 12, 2, success!
“I grew up on stories,” Warren said. “Myths about heroism and sacrifice, of turning hardship into strength. I always thought those were for other frogs. Better, bigger, more skilled frogs. I’m learning something different.”
He met the General’s stare.
2d20 Warren’s Myth & Legend (10, Boon): 12, 4, success!
“True strength doesn’t come from one story like in the myths. It comes from within, from trying to do the right thing time after time, even when it’s the hardest path.”
2d20 Warren’s Myth & Legend (10, Boon): 5, 14 success!
At this point, I guess I’m just challenging the dice to make me fail and write around it. They love these frogs. Not complaining, so do I.
Warren seemed to grow taller. His armor gleamed before the General. “Even if we fail and take a path we are not proud of. To look back and realize our mistake, that’s strength.”
The Ghost General blinked, his eyes now showing doubt and regret. His form flashed intermittently.
Irene drifted toward him. Warren’s hand tensed around the morningstar, but he didn’t intervene.
She said, “I thought my pain should be carried alone until I vanished, but I was wrong. There’s no shame in letting others help us.”
2d20 Irene’s Healing check (12): 17, 10, success!
Her translucent hand touched the General, soft as a petal. Silver light spilled from the point where they met.
“We feel your pain,” Irene said. “You’ve been carrying it for too long. You’re not alone anymore.”
The General trembled, and his deep voice cracked. “I’m not alone.”
His form stabilized, gaining clarity and depth. The General looked real once again as he towered over the frogs.
“I’m not alone,” he repeated, “and the war is over.” His gaze fell on them one by one, now without any hint of ferocity. “Thank you, little friends, for bringing light into my darkness.”
The Ghost General lowered his head and let out a long sigh, the final breath of a tired soldier. “You understand what I could not.”
He extended a heavy gauntlet into the Lantern. It glowed, reacting to him, and his figure began to dissolve into embers. Some went out the vertical holes in the wall of the Stillspire, floating across the sky like fireflies.
The General disappeared, his essence fused with the Lantern of Solitude.
Warren dropped his weapon and shield and leaned on his knees. “Whew, that was tense.”
“Demons, skeletons, and generals,” Gil said. “I was expecting blankets with holes for eyes.”
Irene smiled softly. “Thank you both… for letting me be a part of this.”
“You’re stuck with us now,” Gil replied.
Warren rose and turned to her. “And we don’t provide refunds.”
They returned to Mirewake. The Lantern shone in the chamber on the pedestal, its light spilling over the windows.
Back at the Broken Breath Tavern, Warren was on his third cup of Mireroot Fizz, giggling at every sip, trying to explain the heavenly bubbly feeling to Irene. “It’s remarkable, they just pop on your tongue!”
Gil looked at them affectionately, feeling the luckiest frog in the world.
They had a well deserved rest before departing for more mirth and mayhem.
Toward adventure.
20 YEARS LATER
“I wish we had more time,” Gil said. He stood in front of a grave at the cemetery on a hillside in Three Ponds. He put a beautiful, colorful bouquet on the headstone. “But that’s how it always feels, I suppose.”
The wind blew gently through the grass, rustling the surrounding treetops. Gil crinkled his nose, deepening the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.
“I’ve been to so many more places I wanted to tell you about.” He took a deep breath. The sky looked blue and pretty, but the wind was changing fast. “I really miss you.”
He heard the clink of metal and steps crushing the ground, then a voice came from behind him. “Sorry to bother you, old friend.”
He turned around to look at Warren in his armor of the Greenleap Order. He stood tall and mighty as ever, carrying his age with gentle dignity and reserved strength. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in that.”
“Yes, well, I have news. How’s mum?”
Gil inspected the headstone one more time, caressing it. “I hope she’s well.”
Warren nodded. “I’m sorry, Gil. We’ll talk later.”
“No, tell me.” He approached the knight. “What’s happened?”
“Do you remember Mirewake?”
“What do you mean, do I remember Mirewake? That’s where we met your wife.”
“Well, you could have forgotten. We are getting old, Gil.”
“Yes, Warren, I’ve forgotten where we met the ghost you fell in love with and that we helped restore to life. Those small, meaningless details never stick.”
They laughed, Gil’s round belly bouncing up and down.
Then Warren looked serious. “The Lantern has broken.”
Gil frowned. “But the marshes are safe. The protection seems fine.”
“Not for long. But that’s not all.” Warren took a deep breath. “Gail and your boys are going to Mirewake to restore it.”
“Willem and Warwick are here?”
“Yes, and they’ll be leaving soon.”
Gil scratched his chin. “Our tadpoles going on their own, huh?”
“Not tadpoles anymore.”
“By Liliana’s belly, Warren, they’ll always be tadpoles for us. Do you think Gail will marry Warwick?”
Warren shrugged. “My daughter is a free spirited bard like her godfather. I just don’t see it happening. If you ask me, I think they’ll be close friends, and that’s it.”
Gil closed his eyes and smiled with glee. “I like that. Friendship is underrated.”
He paced around for a while, then said, “Well, I’ll go hug my tadpoles and wish them good luck.”
Silence fell between them as the wind blew stronger. Warren didn’t move.
Gil finally said, “Follow them from a distance?”
“Obviously. Irene is waiting.”
“I’ll get my lyre.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Tea?”
“Always.”
Warren quivered with anticipation, remembering the fizzy beverage that permeated his dreams for so many nights over the years. He asked, “What’s that drink called again?”
“Wakebubbly root.” Gil tapped his own temple a couple of times. “Nothing gets past the old noggin.”
The wind picked up as they descended the hill, their steps matching effortlessly. Leaves whooshed in circles all around the duo.
And together they walked once again, side by side, like countless times before.
Toward adventure.
Thank you very much for reading the exploits of these little frogs in Mirewake and their quest to restore the Lantern of Solitude. I had a lot of fun, and am having a hard time saying goodbye to them.
But who knows, they might reappear someday. The Misty Vale is vast and always in need of brave greenskinned heroes.
And as we now know, their lives were filled with mirth and mayhem.
I hope it made you wanna try Dragonbane and the adventure The Lantern of Solitude.
Until next time.
Check out Dragonbane on the Free League site and wherever RPGs are sold near you.
The Lantern of Solitude is available on DrivethruRPG.
Just One Dragon is available on Itch.io.
Frog images created by Artcher.
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