Let’s Play Dragonbane! The Lantern of Solitude, part 3
The adventure continues! Gil and Warren start the second mission in the smoldering ruins of the Ashen Sanctum.
The Ashen Sanctum was a sanctuary for fire-priests who believed the soul burned brighter in darkness. Now it lies collapsed and cursed, breathing heat and sorrow in equal measure. A shard of the Lantern glows beneath the embers.
Here are the current character sheets:
Waypoint 1: Blackened Gate
Campaign Threat: 1/10
Mission Threat: 1/6
Threat: Flames rise in a furious elemental blaze. Try not to get injured or suffer 3D8 Damage.
Branwyn told them a bit about the location. The Sanctum began as a monastery where priests followed a doctrine that said the flame could purify grief and loss. Travelers once carried the ashes of their dead there, hoping their spirits would ascend more quickly. When the Sanctum collapsed, its altars became burial pyres, and the heat never left.
I’ll treat the Blackened Gate as a simple passage to enter the Sanctum proper. Poor Gil is sweating his green butt off, and Warren’s heavy armor is simmering him. They need a Constitution check to pass unharmed.
d20 Gil’s CON check (13): 12, success!
d20 Warren’s CON check (17): 6, success!
The heat is just about to add baked frog legs to the menu, but the duo manages to advance unscathed.
Waypoint 2: Altar of Cinders
“An ornate stone altar lies buried beneath heavy ash. As you brush the ash aside, glowing embers flicker faintly beneath.”
Description + Focus: Chaotic + Cultivation
Gil and Warren reach an overgrown garden bathed in orange light cast by glowing roots, fiery petals, and kindled plants. Branches sway in the air, curling and whipping at random. The altar lies in the center.
2d20 Spot hidden (10, Boon): 19, 8, success!
They can see something on the altar, but to get it they’ll have to cross the chaotic garden. The vines cause 2d6 slashing damage.
d20 Gil’s Acrobatics check (7): 3, success!
2d20 Warren’s Acrobatics check (7, Bane): 1, 8, fail! > 8 damage, absorbed by armor
Mission threat: 2/6
They leap through the whipping vines, Gil crouching and evading them as best he can. He can hear the lashing noises behind him, but if he stops to check on Warren, they’ll both take a thrashing.
They get to the altar, and Warren whistles. “That was close! But I surprised myself. I did pretty well.”
Gil looked at him. His head was swollen, pressing against the helmet, and several red lines crisscrossed his face. His left eye was half-closed, and his mouth twice the normal size.
“Yes, you did great! Unrelated, but did we bring any ointments?”
I’ll draw a treasure card for the item on the altar: Gold ring worth 4d6 gold coins > 14
Warren tries to identify whether any of those weird plants are useful.
d20 Bushcraft check (11): 11, success!
Action + Theme: Follow + Momentum
He borrows Gil’s knife to harvest a bunch of Heatseeker. When crushed and thrown in the air, the plant will glide toward the heat signature of other living beings like humans, leaving a glowing trace as it reveals passages and hidden trails.
Waypoint 3: Unknown
Area: Temple
d4 area details: 3
Detail 1: Generic dressing > glassware / cauldron
Detail 2: Environment > calcium deposits
Detail 3: Environment > pooling water
Location + Description: Waste + Small
Action + Theme: Defend + Structure
They move forward, descending some stairs and into a small underground temple. Monks used to gather abandoned corpses of people and animals for alchemical experiments.
The outside heat makes water condense in shallow pools inside, leaving white calcium mounds. Cracked glass cauldrons and beakers lie half-submerged around the place.
Something defends the place. A creature… a construct!
When Gil and Warren approach, the calcium growths shift, forming shapes that block their path.
“Careful, Gil,” Warren said. “The place has a defense mechanism built in.”
The mineral golem trudged forward, slowly coming alive.
Gil stepped back. “Were they using souls to animate these things?”
“I’d guess so.”
“We can’t kill it, Warren. Let’s find a way to free it.”
Warren observed as it came closer.
d20 Beast Lore (10): 10, success!
These rolls are insane. I was gonna spend an action to roll mid-combat until I succeeded, but this is awesome.
Warren pointed to a shiny stone on its chest. “We have to break that thing. And it’s not gonna let us.”
“What if I ask nicely?”
“It’s an animated calcium accumulation, Gil, like a giant toenail. We need sandpaper, not words.”
This is gonna be a normal battle. When the golem is defeated, I’ll roll for a melee attack on its stone core.
Creatures don’t roll skill checks to hit us. I’ll use the golem attacks from the Bestiary.
Gil switches initiative with the golem. The creature punches Warren, but his armor protects him from most of it (1 damage, HP 16/17). It was still strong enough to knock him down.
Warren gets up and lunges at the monster, but it dodges the attack. Gil inches closer and stabs at it, but it doesn’t affect the golem’s hard frame. He then uses Musician (WP 12/13), giving him and Warren a Boon to all rolls until his next turn.
Warren attacks again, chipping some of its calcium protection (4 damage, HP 16/20).
The golem punches Warren, but the plate armor stops its fist. Then it turns and goes for Gil. Gil dodges with grace (Dragon!), and Warren moves in to attack it twice. The morningstar smashes the golem’s head, and it crumples (he dealt 20 damage with one attack, reduced by the golem’s armor to exactly 16!)
Gil leaps, stabs at the shiny stone (Knife check successful) and shatters the core.
The rocks on its body collapse as the thing slowly falls to pieces. A white cloud streams from the broken core, disappearing with what sounded like a sigh, and the golem’s calcified body comes apart in a shower of fine dust.
As the particles fall onto a pool of water, the liquid sparkles with a magical quality.
Verb + Theme: Advance + Revenge
Let’s say that the magically calcified water creates a protective layer on the user and deals damage back to an attacker, then it wears off.
Gil puts some of the magic golem water in a test tube, then corks it.
Waypoint 4: Collapsed Choir
“Light streams through a fractured ceiling, illuminating benches and broken pillars. Faint echoes of an ancient hymn drift through the room. The air stills when you move too quickly.”
Gil will stabilize the air with his lyre, harmonizing with the ancient hymn, so Warren can proceed.
d20 Performance check (14): 10, success!
Warren crosses the collapsed choir as Gil concentrates on his lyre. Now he needs to not only keep playing but also move cautiously.
d20 Performance check (14): 10 again, success!
d20 Sneaking check (14): 6, success!
Gil steps forward and plucks his lyre with a batrachian dexterity that would make even salamanders jealous.
Waypoint 5: Unknown
Area: Refuge
d4 area details: 3
Detail 1: Environment > dung / urine
Detail 2: Environment > stagnant water
Detail 3: Environment > warm breeze
Location + Description: Waste + Small
Action + Theme: Locate + Resource
Sights: Bits of hair/fur
Sounds: Bellow
Ok, our greenskinned friends enter this disgusting room. It’s stuffy and reeks of shit, but also of something unsettling, like burned hair.
The room is supposed to be a refuge full of resources, but something feels off.
Is there any danger in the room?
d6 Oracle: 6, extreme yes!
Action + Theme: Affect + Hate
I’ll roll a Spot Hidden with Warren.
d20 Spot Hidden check (10): 3, success!
Something lurks in the shadows.
I was considering natural enemies of frogs, like snakes, which gave me an idea. I’m leaning into something more dangerous, that invites hate. It’s also tied to the setting, fiery and intense.
The duo went down the staircase leading into the darkness. Gil lit his oil lamp, proceeding beside Warren with care. The ground was warm beneath their feet as they wandered into the chamber that smelled of burned hair, filled with crates and boxes. A soft orange glow pulsed in a corner.
Warren drew his morningstar and raised his shield. “Something or someone burned here recently, Gil.”
“Before or after it soiled itself?” Gil gagged. “By Liliana’s belly, this is some foul stench.”
He glanced around, sweat running down his face. Tufts of singed fur lay around the room. “Maybe a haircut attempt has ended terribly. Do you hear that?”
A low rumble reverberated in his chest, coming and going in steady fashion. It grew louder until it turned into a raging bellow that shook the chamber, making the frogs stagger. The pulsing orange light exploded into a wall of fire. It subsided to reveal a fire demon, a horrible creature with a scorching body marked by molten veins.
It limped toward them, looking weakened. Steam rose from a curled horn snapped in half. Its reptile skin spouted flames that blackened the stones.
The fire demon roared and locked eyes with Gil, pinning him in place.
Ok, let’s do some playing before the story continues. The demon brings a past fear in Gil that requires a Willpower check. It gives him a Bane, but for backstory reasons he also gets a Boon because of Warren, so they cancel each other.
d20 Willpower check (13): 13! Success.
Gil stands his ground and faces his dread. He pulls his lyre, eyes set and mouth locked with determination, quivering just a little. His knife hangs heavy on his belt, ready to be used.
Weakened fire demon’s stats
**HP**: 30
**Ferocity**: 2 (this is the number of times a creature acts in a turn)
**Armor**: 2
**Scorching Body**: Anyone who touches the scorching body of a fire demon immediately takes D3 damage (armor has no effect). The extreme heat also gives all opponents a Bane on melee attacks against the demon.
**Immunity**: Fire demons are immune to fire damage.
I’ll use the Fire Demon’s attack table from the Bestiary as inspiration for its actions.
I’m also drawing two Improvised Weapons cards for the battle: Boulder and Stalagmite.
Initiative
Fire demon: 10, 3
Gil: 7, 5
Warren: 8, 4
The fire demon’s stare launched Gil into the past in Three Ponds. Already a curious tadpole back then, he had crept into the house of the wolfkin merchant living in the village. The foreigner had traveled the Misty Vale and beyond, and his stories stirred a yearning inside Gil that would never be quenched.
In the dark, he rummaged through the strange drawings and paintings of distant places and exotic creatures, fascinated.
Until one painting froze him, and little Gil’s breath caught in his throat.
A demon leered at him through the parchment, its eyes gleaming with malice and hate. He knew right away that the creature hadn’t merely been drawn from imagination. It existed somewhere, and it was coming for him, laughing, clawing its way to Three Ponds to hunt him down.
To this day, those eyes sometimes gazed at him in his mind, and it sent shivers down his spine.
When Gil met his first love, music, he understood the incredible power of art. He vowed to create a masterpiece that would evoke the same lingering feeling in people, but inspiring instead of terrifying.
A song that would be remembered for a lifetime.
The demon whips its tail at both frogs, getting them unprepared.
d20 Gil’s Evade check (14): 19, fail
I’ll push the roll, leaving Gil **scared**: 15, fail again! > 7 damage (Gil's HP 6/13)
Warren takes the hit, but his armor absorbs the damage.
I’ll switch initiatives here (Warren > Gil).
Gil gets knocked back, away from the demon’s reach. He gets up, wipes the blood from his mouth, and uses Musician (Gil’s WP 11/13). They get a Boon to all rolls until Gil’s next turn, so it cancels out the Bane from Scorching Body.
Warren gets furious at the attack on Gil and lashes out at the demon.
d20 Hammers check (15): 5, success
d20 fire demon’s Dodge check (15): 5, dodged
d20 Hammers check (15): 15, success!
2d8 + d6 damage (-2 armor): 8! (fire demon’s HP 22)
Warren takes d3 damage from Scorching Body: 1 (Warren’s HP 15/17)
Initiative
Fire demon: 6, 7
Gil 4, 8
Warren: 3, 1
Warren switches with the demon. It vomits a stream of fire at him, dealing 3 damage (Warren’s HP 12/17).
The demon dodges Warren’s swing again. He’s frustrated at missing and at letting Gil get hurt. His skin burns from the flaming puke, worsening his mood.
He leaps toward the fire demon with a battlecry, driving the fiend into the wall and crashing through it in a burst of flame and stone.
(I’m using the Stalagmite card here. It hits automatically and can be dodged, but the demon has no more actions).
d6 bludgeoning damage + d6 STR bonus: 9 damage! (Fire demon’s HP 13)
d3 Scorching Body damage: 2 (Warren HP 10/17)
Gil, once again, stared at Warren’s back as the knight faced the darkness. Again he felt small, incapable, and guilty for failing his dearest friend.
Back to that distant day, after leaving the merchant’s place in panic, shaking uncontrollably, Gil had tried to run home, to the safety of his parents, but collapsed in terror.
Warren found him in tears, hiding by a tree. He knelt beside him. “What’s wrong, Gil? Who did this?”
“The demon… it’s coming for me,” Gil explained between hiccups. “It’s staring at me and laughing.”
Warren rose, brows furrowed, searching the horizon. “Where is it? Show it to me, and don’t worry. I’ll deal with it.”
“You will fight the demon?”
“Just tell me where it is and stay behind me.”
Warren planted himself in front of Gil, looking for the imaginary demon, a tadpole standing like a giant, hands resting on his hips. An aura of determination seemed to frame him as he loomed tall and fierce, a hero of legend.
Gil’s fear evaporated. Bragat the Brave*, he thought to himself.*
The demon choked on its laughter and disappeared.
Fear did not exist with Warren by his side. Warren gave him courage. He made him stronger. Made him want to be a better frog, worthy of his unwavering loyalty and faith. Most of all, he made Gil believe in himself.
Warren was home.
As long as Warren leaped with him, there was nothing they couldn’t accomplish. Nothing they couldn’t overcome. No demon they couldn’t fight.
Together, they were unstoppable.
I want to stand by your side, my friend, he thought as he ran, jumped on a pile of boxes, and unleashed a flying kick at the demon.
d20 Acrobatics check (7): 2, success!
I’m using the Boulder card here. It requires an Acrobatics check to jump up on a boulder and throw yourself at the enemy. I changed the boulder to boxes.
2d6 bludgeoning damage (-2 armor): 1. That tracks lol (demon’s HP 12)
d3 Scorching Body damage: 1 (Gil’s HP 5/13)
Warren watched in disbelief Gil’s dramatic and highly ineffective action. The bard sweated profusely, drenching his clothes, while the fire demon recoiled its leg. Warren leaped toward it, but it was too late.
The hoofed foot exploded upward in a savage kick. It launched Gil against the wall with a thunderous crack.
2d6 bludgeoning damage: 6
“Gil!” Warren yelled, eyes open wide.
The demon howled in pain. Its leg hung twisted and broken. Warren looked at Gil. He lay crouched, hands pulling the hat against his face, knees trembling.
Gil hadn’t been sweating profusely. He had used the golem water.
Gil had another turn after his box jumping, so I used the water to fish for a counterattack. A demon’s gotta wake up pretty early in the morning to pull one over our little bard.
Luckily, it didn’t use a fire attack, because it would have protected Gil but caused no damage.
The demon’s HP is now 6. As it acted, the order now is Warren x2 > Gil x2 > demon.
Warren uses the HA Leaping (WP 9/14), jumping to attack the fire demon with a Boon (canceled by the Bane). The fiend dodges.
Switching with Gil. He uses Musician (WP 10/13), filling Warren with determination. To their dismay, however, Warren misses.
The demon roars. Fear grips Gil. He has a choice between playing to support Warren or running to distance himself from any attack.
Or something else.
Gil pulled the knife from his belt. He’s had enough of those eyes haunting him all his life.
His hand reached far back as he took aim, then he threw.
d20 Knives check (14): 11, success!
d8 + d6 damage (-2 armor): 7!
“Stare at this!”
The knife flashed in the air. It punched the demon’s eye with a spark.
The creature reeled back, clutching its face as a gout of fire burst upward. Gil shielded himself, scared out of his amphibious mind.
A loud boom. The demon stumbled and stayed still.
Silent.
Defeated.
Warren dropped his morningstar. “Gil… you did it!”
*“No.” He looked dumbfounded. “*We did it! You made this happen, Warren. You’ve always given me courage. And you want to know something, just between us?”
“What?”
“I was aiming for the other eye.”
By Liliana’s belly, what a fight! I know I said that this would be lighthearted and not so lethal, but I feared I had made a mistake putting a demon here, even a weakened one. I’m really happy it all worked out!
Our heroes will get 3 treasure cards, 1 from the demon and 2 from the resource room:
3d6x10 silver coins: 100 (1 gc)
2d6x10 copper coins: 40
4d6x10 copper coins: 120 (1 sc and 20 cc)
Since this is extremely long (the longest session I’ve ever written so far), I’ll cheat a bit on the next Waypoint. Warren uses the Heatseeker plant to find a shortcut into the Chamber of Coals and the Lantern Shard.
With the second piece in hand, Gil and Warren prepare for the next part of their adventure! I’ll probably have to go back to Mirewake and rest, but I’ll leave it for the next session.
Skill advancements
Gil: Acrobatics increased to 8!
Warren: No advancements
Bummer.
I’ve also awarded our frogs a new heroic ability each! Alone in Deepfall Breach suggests:
So I’ll use it here.
Gil gets Fearless. WP 2. Automatically resist fear without a WIL roll.
I think it fits the story. He can use the ability as long as he’s with Warren.
Warren gets Shield Block: WP 2. Gets a Boon to parry with a shield. You can also parry physical monster attacks (not area effects).
And that’s it for today. Thanks for reading, and I really hope you’re enjoying it.
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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