Strange Magic
| Strange Magic | |
|---|---|
| Date | 5/2/25 |
| Storyteller | Jolyne |
| Tier | Trainee |
| Player Characters | Phyl, Uravas, Arumi, Anima, Hogo Pok'sharr |
| Rewards | 275 exp, 116gp, 25sp, 1x each Scrolls of: 500 Toads; Threefold Limb; Friendfetch; Elysian Whimsy; Pocket Library; Overselling Flourish; Exchange Image; Grease; Sleep; Flicker, 2x Scrolls of Enfeeble |
| Result | Success |
| Author | Tire |
| Downtime | 0 |
Log
A wizard in town apparently needs help with some rats that are eating the scrolls in his basement. Zyrtec greets us in his bathrobe and his general demeanor is... unusual. The others definitely seem to feel the same, as Anima and Hogo plot without really hiding their intentions about what to do about a crazy wizard. Rats don't usually eat paper, unless the paper is wrapping food, so this didn't really sound like rats to me, but the two tieflings seem to recognize this as a sort of paper dragon. Zyrtec leads us into his basement, and we gloss over the crazy fact that a regular wizard in town apparently has created a demiplane in his house. Anima also convinces the wizard to disable his wards temporarily, so that we can move freely.
We reach the "basement" and begin to look around. We can easily find some of the paper "crumbs" but no obvious signs of any paper dragons. As Hogo and Anima jumped behind a big desk area reminiscent of a lobby's reception, they stumble upon a tiny paper dragon, who begins speaking in Draconic. Before I can speak up, Arumi shows off her fluency. They spend a bit of time talking, and with Uravas's urging, she asks if the paper dragon would like to get a job, or to join Uravas's pirate crew. An odd choice, asking a wild (if intelligent) creature like a paper dragon to get a job. Anima and I whisper about the dragon, and when I point out that it seems like paper, in particular paper imbued with magic like magic scrolls, are the main part of its diet, Anima chooses violence.
Knowing they were known as dragons, I figure out that while they don't have a breath weapon, they are capable of absorbing magic from the scrolls they consume and casting those spells. As Anima moves in to start fighting, I make the smart decision to spread out, to avoid area spells. We figure out more about these unusual creatures as we fight them - the siblings knew it was weak to fire from the start, which makes sense since they're also made of fire, but we also figure out from Hogo's gun that it resists blunt damage, so Hogo decides to use his head, literally using his horns for most of the mission. Anima is more than strong enough to easily take out most of the dragons, and Uravas's spell slinging is also quite potent, but it seems he got a bit too headstrong and took a nearly mortal wound from the last one's spell. With the last one down, we patch up our wounds and look around some more. At the other end of the large chamber is a large vault behind a gate. Hogo climbs some stairs and jumps over the railing for some reason, unnecessary since the gate was unlocked. The vault door, however, was not. The two onispawn work together and manage to open the massive vault.
Within the vault is a massive treasure trove, and there is a much larger paper dragon within. Larger, but still not much that much larger than I am. It seems much more intelligent, speaking to the party in the Common tongue, Uravas once again tries to get a wild animal that eats magic scrolls apparently exclusively to join his crew, but while they attempt to discuss this, I decide to get into a favorable position. Part of the vault seems to have mineral depositions, so I sneak around there. The conversations break down and fighting starts again, and the larger dragon seems much stronger than the tiny variants, but still of the same species. The dragons unleash some brutal magic and Hogo takes a nasty papercut, right between in the webbing between his fingers. Turns out he's a bleeder. A nasty smelling cloud obscures my shot, so I have to reposition a bit, but the cloud affects most of the others. Uravas is also afflicted with a Sleep spell, so he's out of the fight, but only temporarily. While Arumi and I pelt the dragons from a distance, the melee fighters start to abuse the larger dragon. One of the spells seems to backfire on the creature, as it teleports into its own smelly cloud, which immediately makes it sick and unable to consume any more scrolls. With everyone bearing down on the big one, I manage to sneak in the last blow with a headshot just after it manages to recover from nausea and eats a spell.
The dragons were slain, so we picked up some of the scrolls that the dragons had consumed.
Bestiary Update
Subject: Paper Dragon
Physiology: In spite of seemingly being made out of paper, it seems to have something resembling a regular creature's biology. Not a construct like an animated doll made of paper, but its body is mostly paper anyways. Like paper, it is weak to fire, and resists bludgeoning damage. It gets sick, and has to retch. The smaller ones don't seem to demonstrate flight, but the larger one seemed to be capable of it - it's still not terribly fast. Its diet seems to be paper based, and it draws much of it nutrients from the magic within the scrolls it eats. No breath weapon like other dragons, but it can unleash magic from the latest scrolls they consume. Eating paper seems to immediately heal its wounds. Befitting its status as pseudo-spellcaster, it's not particularly sturdy nor does it possess much fortitude, and seems incredibly willful. Dragons are intelligent creatures, and while these don't seem to be "true" dragons, these creatures certainly don't fall short of their namesakes. Their sizes vary from tiny to roughly humanoid sized, with their overall combat strength increasing with their size. While I only witnessed a few size variations, it's possible these creatures can continue to grow, and if so, even larger variants may prove even more dangerous.
Spellcasting: I can't recognize spells yet. As mentioned above, it seems capable of casting spells only from the scrolls it consumes. This suggests it has magical talent, but nonspecific unlike the more famous dragons.