Several blue-cloaked figures mill about the site, repairing what they can of the abandoned camp.
One waves his hand about the campfire, and it roars to new intensity.
Bobby watches Sheila and Diana and another warden dote on Hank's body. Sheila dabs the last of the noxious borthak-spew from his head, and Hank visibly relaxes.
Riffel and Argentus approach the heroes.
Many thanks, young heroes. We would not have lasted much longer without your timely arrival.
Yeah, you're welcome, but technically we thought we were being led to something called the Three Moons Vault?
Heh, heh. Yeah, but this was on the *way,* anyway.
Annnnd, the Blue Flame Wardens can help!
Help *how,* exactly?
Before we can begin our tale, there is something that must be made known.
Oh jeez. A story before the story before plan before the action? Get on with it already.
Riffel suddenly convulses his body, then stands boldy upright -- in the form of a werewolf!
Oh, I'm sorry! Are we *boring* you?!
Holy sh*-- it's a whu-- werewolf!?
Peace! Peace, barbarian! We of the Blue Flame Wardens are all werewolves, yes. But benevolent. We worship the nature god Habbakuk, and therefore stand opposed to Lord Soth and his legions of death.
Bobby! Hold up. They've done nothing but help us so far. Let's-- let's hear them out.
Aye. And your true enemy is foe to us all. Teremini Nightsedge. Failing to become a Blue Flame Warden, she turned instead to Lord Soth. She's recovered a powerful artifact from the peylon tree to fuel a powerful ritual out of revenge, and surely will doom us all.
Well, that tracks. Everyone wants a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts.
Our leader, Valendar, headed the assault upon the Three Moons Vault to stop her. But she was waiting for us, routed our forces, and has trapped Valendar somewhere inside.
And, let me guess, Valendar is the only one who might know how to stop this ritual?
See?! That's why the thing before the thing so we can do the thing!
Alright. So it's a smash-and-grab and smash some more. Perfect! What are we waiting for?
(gives a sideeye glance to Sheila)
(gives a rueful shrug back to Diana)
Rest up! Time for a Rest.
Within a crater-like depression rises a ruined tower; once a part of a walled, castle-like structure, it vainly stands against the night, crumbled by some long-ago cataclysm.
A wide beam of concentrated red light covers the entirety of the tower, like a curtain.
Shambling beings of darkness crisscross the area, blindly patrolling.
Death Knights, to be sure. And worse inside. Soth has decided to keep the Three Moons Vault for himself, yet allows Nightsedge to oversee. She is the one who brought the power of the red moon over this place. All who get caught inside shall be forced to transform to their beast within.
But not me, eh, Argentus?
Indeed.
(to the heroes again)
We have blessed Riffel with a charm so that all those within his aura can stave off the effects of the red moon. But you must act quickly.
Right. No offense, Riffel, but I don't want to catch you on your bad side.
A-cha-cha-cha!
Well, what are we waiting for?
No! Not that way! Come on! There's a goat path!
The goat path dead-ends at the convergence of three steep cliff walls. Two austere pillars flank a stone double door set into the wall.
Next to each pillar stands a silver statue of a tall, dignified human-- each with a featureless, cresent moon-shaped head and a smooth, pointed handless left arm. Red highlights flash over their bodies as they glint from the curtain of red moonlight beaming upon the area.
This doesn't seem like an improvement
Also, were there *supposed* to be goats on a goat path? 'Cause I didn't see any goats.
Moonlight guardians. They'll come alive and attack anyone on sight.
Well, then. I'm guessing... "ding dong dash?" Might be tricky without Presto.
Give me five minutes. Better be in position.
to be continued in 8.8 Side Entrance . . .
GM FOOTNOTES:
I'm having fun with Riffel. I guess I was the kind of guy that always liked kender. I'm a rare breed, though.
There's a lot that's weird about this chapter. There's a TON of backstory, which isn't necessary to the nuts and bolts, so how is it supposed to come out, unless it's by way of a slog of NPC exposition. But still, who should know what, and when? I have to assume that the Blue Flame Wardens were abushed, otherwise they have wards against the very thing they are worried that Nightsedge will do to them. But how long ago was that? And another example, if they suspect that Valendar is transformed, and the ritual around Riffel makes allies immune, why not send Riffel into the vault instead of making him wait outside? And in the first place, is it a tower or a castle or ruins or what? It says it's heavily guarded, but not by what? So you take the secret entrance that Riffel knows about, but also he doesn't know about the trap? Etc.
I hope I've done OK streamlining all the things-- the art of the screenplay format lets me just jump into it; forget about wasting time with exposition unless it's really needed to jump into to it.
I understand that Krynn has a feature of three moons, so making werewolves a feature of this chapter makes sense. But you know what would also make sense for this Dragonlance setting? Dragons. Maybe. Dragonkin. You know.