Enemy of my Enemy by Matt Meyer
Difficulty: hard
Magic: high
Keywords: dragon, construct, magic
Terrain: frozen forest
Treasure: major
The entrance to the cave is marked by a sharp line of snow and ice. The snow and ice end at a single row of carefully arranged stones that run along the opening. Small tufts of grass sprout between the cracks. Just beyond the entrance, the cave leads straight into the side of the hill. Except for the row of stones, this would appear to be a bear cave.
Once inside, the cave leads further into the hill. The walls of the cave and ceiling are smooth. There are small orbs placed about ten feet from the floor and fifty feet apart that provide light to the cave’s interior. The hallways ahead meander in two different directions.
A deep voice emerges from one of the passages saying, “Welcome travelers, enjoy a respite from the frightful winter.Take the right fork and join me in my room.“
As you walk, the voice continues, “I see that you could use a rest. My furnishings may not be comfortable, I’m afraid, but I will do what I can to see to your needs. I hope that we can talk while. As you might imagine, visitors are quite rare and intelligent conversation is wanting.“
The passageway begins to widen. It opens into a very large antechamber. The walls of the cave are just as smooth as the passageway. The ceiling is very high. The roof of the antechamber cannot be seen as it appears that sunlight pours in from an unseen opening.
“Thank you for coming,” the unseen host says, “I do hope that you will stay awhile.“
From behind a tall column of rock, a robed figure emerges. He opens his arms wide as a greeting to you. “Welcome to my humble home. My name is Christoga Pazara Voshem Dom’Krazny, but you can call me Pazara.“
Pazara is wearing a dark blue robe with a simple light-colored tunic beneath. He has a large, almost chiseled face with straight black hair. Some of his hair that hangs over his face is a dark red color. His strong hands point to a pile of pillows on the floor in front of a single throne like chair carved from the floor of the cave.
“I’m so glad that you’ve come. Please rest awhile. Would you like some wine?“
Background
Toga Pazara is the youngest in his clan, but he considers himself the best and brightest of the litter. Physically he is quite large, even by draconian standards. Despite his size, Pazara considers himself an intellectual equal to most dragons much older than him. He also believes that he is much smarter than any human, alive, dead, or otherwise. His siblings chose to have territory near their parents while he intentionally flew as far away as he could. He believes that his family indulges in political games with other dragon clans more than they should. Moving far away allows him the ability to escape his siblings’ frequently unsuccessful political intrigues.
When he settled in the forest seventy-five years ago, it was a lush forest with mild winters and short summers. There was plenty of food available, including a nearby village. Behind the cave he chose as a home base was a river teeming with fish. At night he could hear the water rushing over his cave and hurtling toward the falls about a half mile away. He has continued to hollow out more rooms in his home. Some of these rooms hold a growing hoard of treasure that he has collected over the years. Other rooms contains items involved in his magical research. He is not a gifted dragon spell caster, but he does a fair amount of research and practice.
Another feature of his home is the presence of an unusual brass statue. When Pazara first saw it, the statue had the form of a very large human with bird-like wings. Its arms stretched skyward and nearly touched the roof of the cave. As he approached this curious statue, it changed shape and took on a form very much like his own. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the statue took his form. He now considers the statue’s present appearance as the perfect physical specimen of a dragon. Pazara also considers the face to have a very intelligent and thoughtful look.
The statue plays upon Pazara’s vanity and narcissism. He finds the image of himself so alluring that he has decided to stay in the forest despite the physical pain caused by the cold. He uses his magical abilities to protect himself and the cave from the cold outside. On the increasingly rarer occasions that he leaves the cave for food, he employs several spells to ward off the effects of snow, ice and cold.
At one time, Pazara attempted to find a new territory to claim as his own. Although seeking a new territory would likely result in a battle with another dragon, he considered a fight to be a better alternative to enduring cold winters. As Pazara weighed his options, he decided that he only wanted to take the statue with him. He didn’t like the idea of losing so much of his treasure, but moving his hoard would risk losing any newly acquired territory. Trying to move the statue, however, proved impossible. No magic he found could move it. When he touched it, the statue corroded and withered into dust before his eyes. For the next day he was sad that his greatest treasure was gone, but when he went back to where it had stood, it found it was there as if nothing happened.
Pazara considers himself to be a pure breed of dragon in House Krazny. He is very proud of his thick coppery scales rimmed in a blood-red color. All his closest relatives that are also members of the Family Chistoga (which means purity), bear a striking resemblance their ancestor Krazny. It is from his physical appearance and lineage that extends to the primordial dragon god himself that is the source of Pazara’s pride. He cannot admit to himself that Neivare defeated him in combat. Instead, he chooses to describe his encounter with her in sweeping tones that emphasizes the large number of minions she commands.
Pazara appears in a human form to entreat the player characters. He intends to ask them to go fight Neivare, herself, so that things will get back to normal. The previous battle with Neivare was unsuccessful. He barely survived. Any physical attack on the sleepless drift seemed to have little effect. In fact, the result of the attack was that Pazara contracted frostbite. He was quite surprised that his spells to ward off the cold proved so ineffective. His fiery breath appeared to provide some advantage, but after the first fiery blast, she was able to avoid it altogether. Neivare’s minions provided enough protection to prevent him from trying different tactics. He believes that a good spell caster could be able to defeat Neivare, but he only has ideas of what may work.
Objectives
- Pazara has information about how Neivare responds to combat. He is aware of her minions, including a group of centaurs and a remorhaz that fight together.
- The player characters may decide to attack Pazara and take his treasure. If they have not discovered that he is a young dragon, they are in for a big surprise.
- The entrance to Pazara’s cave is lined with Pyrestones. Pazara can direct them to a cache of them. There are enough of them that everyone in the player characters can have a large one (backpack size) or two small ones (pocket or moneybag size).
Optional Objective
- The presence of the shape shifting brass statue can provide a hook to find other, more operational constructs.
Tactics
In conversation, Pazara will steer the conversation to the Sleepless Drift and how to combat her. He will defer in regards to any details about himself as much as possible. He employs flattery and increasing the offered payment if he believes it will change the topic back to Neirave. If the player characters agrees to investigate Neirave, he will also offer the pyrestones.
He will also talk about the large brass statue that appears as a centerpiece in the cavern. It has a large pedestal that prevents human-sized creature from being able to touch it. He can talk endlessly about the ‘craftsmanship’ of the statue. He will express admiration for the choice of a subject. He may betray a deeper knowledge of dragon lore than he should. The effect of the brass statue is powerful enough to overcome his better judgment. Despite this, he will not be deferred long from the main topic he wants to discuss.
In combat, Pazara uses the high ceiling to allow him aerial attacks. In this cavern he has enough room to use his tail as an effective weapon. He has smoothed the walls of this cavern so there is no place for opponents to hide when he uses his breath weapon. He uses his spellcasting abilities to teleport short distances or blink. The central cavern is large enough for him to blink to any flank of his opponents. If he can blink within range of his huge maw, he will attempt to bite or swallow whole the target in front of him. His favorite spell is one that makes his breath weapon appear to be lightning, instead of fire.
Development
Pazara is trying to be cordial, but doesn’t have a lot of experience when it comes to humans. If the conversation becomes aggressive, he will attack by reverting to dragon form and flying to the ceiling of the central cavern. He wants Neirave gone, but he will not tolerate belligerence or disrespect from creatures he considers little better than cattle. If the player characters doesn’t appear interested in fighting Neirave, there is a very good chance that he will attack the player characters from behind as they leave.
In combat, Pazara will flee through an upper cavern near the ceiling if it looks like he will lose. Taking a pyrestone with him, he will change to human form and leave the cave until the player characters leaves. If Pazara is subdued, he will offer any and all his treasure, including the statue. He is confident that if he cannot find a way to move it, neither will the player characters. If Pazara is killed, the statue will revert to its angelic form.
If the player characters becomes interested in the statue, he will admit that he knows little about it. He will also state plainly that he found it here. When the player characters returns for payment, it is possible to convince Pazara to fund an expedition to find other statues.
If anyone manages to touch the statue or if the statue is attacked, it will appear to corrode and dissolve into dust. This will enrage Pazara and he will attack. The knowledge that it is a temporary disappearance is of no consolation to him.
Awards, Findings, & Treasure
Pazara has a typical dragon’s hoard of treasure. If the player characters are hired and are successful in defeating Neirave, Pazara will honor the terms of the contract. If the player characters press for information about the statue, Pazara may hire them to look for more statues. If the player characters can negotiate this deal, Pazara will double-cross them when they come for payment.
Pazara will give the player characters a little something for their trouble, if they successfully find a way to attack Neirave. He will be aggressive in trying to discover details about successful attacks on the Sleepless Drift. If the player characters escalate, Pazara will likely attack them to save himself the trouble of paying.
If the player characters kill Pazara, the statue will choose a member of the player characters and take their form. The statue will choose the player character that can communicate telepathically, is able to cast spells or rituals, or is the most intelligent. It will continuously attempt to mentally make contact until it is successful or the player character dies.
If a player character is able to make mental contact with the statue, it will attempt to convey the following facts:
- It is an intelligent and self-aware creature called a homunculus or an anthroparion.
- It was created by a human, whom it calls ‘father’.
- It has been attacked mentally and is greatly incapacitated.
- It can be moved with the proper ‘password’.
Unfortunately, whatever attacked the statue has seriously damaged its mind (presumably Neirave). It can communicate only in what sounds like tortured screams and rambling mumbles. Given enough time the player character contacted should be able to ascertain the four facts. The statue is affected by any spells or magic that affect the mind.
Enemy of my Enemy by Nevermet Press is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.nevermetpress.com/contact.
