Our female warriors have made their way to Baldur’s Gate, a huge trade hub along the Coast Way trading route. After encountering someone from Nimby’s (gnome ranger) past and buying a few bath bombs, they find a “dragon expert” druid who teaches them about the types of evil and good dragons. The group also discovers two of the three eggs they have been carrying around died in the bag of holding. Charlie inspects the third by pressing his ear against it for several minutes with his eyes closed.

Charlie sighs and says, “I hear a heartbeat, but it is very faint. Eggs need air to breath, which is probably why these other two died. There is no air in a bag of holding once you close it. It’s a shame. These are beautiful specimens. And I am intrigued by your idea. What if a chromatic dragon could be raised away from its home and taught to be good? Such a thing has never been attempted.”

Zelena (elf wizard) tears up and puts the dead eggs back into her bag. “I didn’t know I was killing them.” Her voice breaks, “They were innocent babies, and I killed them.” She starts crying, and Issa (tiefling druid) pats her shoulder.

Charlie says, “The thing is, this one is dying too. It needs acid. Black dragon eggs can only hatch if engulfed in a pool of acid for a few days. I can obtain the required materials tomorrow, if you are willing to let me try to save it.”

Fluffy the pseudo dragon emerges from under Vola’s (half-orc wizard) hair and stares at the egg. Vola kneels down and puts her hand on the egg, but she quickly retracts because it burns her fingers. “We should leave it here. Charlie, I believe you will do what you can to save it.” They all murmur in agreement. All except Phoebe (human paladin). She stands with her arms crossed and a concerned look on her face, but she says nothing. Earlier, she had raised the question on whether these chromatic dragons were evil from birth.

Charlie stands. “Well, it is late. I must retire to my room. You are welcome to stay and use my house as you wish. It looks like you’ve been on the road a while. I have a bathroom upstairs you may use to tidy yourselves up. There is also a tea shop across the street with lovely blends and an inn a few blocks down. I will see you all in the morning.” He shuffles inside, and the circle of chairs walk behind him back into his kitchen.

Zelena sniffs loudly and pats the black egg, “You’re going to be fine.” Vola whispers something about wanting to find a temple and saunters off alone. Phoebe stays behind to guard the egg. She plans to sleep in the garden. Zelena and Issa (tiefling druid) depart for the tea shop across the street called the White Lotus.

Nimby heads upstairs to make use of her newly bought bath bomb. She finds the bathroom to have a luxurious tub, big enough for her gnome self to swim in. This room is also covered in plants, as is the rest of his house. Behind the tub is a huge window open to the garden. The water stays warm for hours because of the hot coals placed beneath the tub. She falls asleep in the water in total peace.

In the dead of night, when the city block was all quiet, Vola circles back to Charlie’s house. In her heart, she believes the dragon must be returned to the cult to be taken care of properly by those who worship dragons. She climbs the garden wall, but immediately hides herself from view because it seems Phoebe is still awake. The righteous paladin has risen from her resting place and faces the black egg, broadsword in hand. She says, “You, dragon, will not be born to spread evil in this world.” She raises her blade and slashes away at the egg. It has a surprisingly hard shell, protected by sharp scales, so it takes her a few stabs before it cracks open, spilling the dragon fetus onto the mossy garden floor. Vola gasps in horror but remains hidden. Phoebe then finds a shovel leaning against the garden wall and starts digging a hole. After a few minutes, she scoops the remains into the hole and refills it. She does her best to fix the moss to look like undisturbed ground.

The sound of blade striking scales stirs Charlie from his slumber. He stumbles downstairs into the garden, wearing just a robe. “Phoebe, what have you done?”

Phoebe wipes her brow with her sleeve. “Removing evil from this world.” She puts the shovel back where she found it. “Now, I must pray for its journey in the afterlife. Excuse me.” She exits the garden through his house and heads out into the street, searching for the local temple to Thor. Charlie watches her leave in peace and closes his eyes for a moment. A single tear rolls down his cheek. 

Vola, having witnessed the entire scene, is livid. She slinks back into the street silently and follows Phoebe for a block. When she turns into a particularly dark alley, she reveals herself from the shadows and shouts, “Phoebe! Stop right there.” She freezes and turns to face her friend. Before she can speak, Vola shoots a bolt of lightning straight at her head.

Phoebe ducks out of the way and yells back, “You! I knew you would turn on us eventually.” She rushes toward Vola and thrusts out her broadsword, narrowly missing Vola’s torso. From behind Vola’s hair, Fluffy the black pseudodragon flares its wings and hops onto Phoebe’s back. It sinks its teeth deep into Phoebe’s ear, and she screams in pain. Vola’s eyes flash green and she reaches out a hand toward Phoebe’s left arm. A spray of acid pours out and melts the chain mail armor. She yells even louder and drops to her knees.

At this point Nimby has woken up in the bathtub overlooking the garden. In fact, the thunder crack of the lightning bolt woke up the entire city block. Nimby looks out the window to see the egg missing and Charlie meditating on the ground. She gasps and quickly dresses. Zelena and Issa are also awakened at their room in the inn a few doors down. They look out the window into the street and see people gathering on their porches, looking confused.

In the dark alley, Phoebe whispers a prayer to her god Thor. She takes her broadsword in her right arm and shoves it up into Vola’s body. The street echoes with another thunder clap, and Vola is thrown twenty feet back and hits her head on the alley wall. Phoebe then yanks Fluffy off her ear and throws it as hard as she can onto the wall next to Vola. Both bleeding and bruised now, Phoebe and Vola stare at each other with hatred. Vola gathers Fluffy to herself and says to Phoebe, “You won’t get away with this.”

Phoebe smirks and says, “I already have.” Nimby then rushes up from the druid’s house, hair wet and bow in hand. Phoebe points at Vola and yells, “She did it! She killed the baby!”

Nimby joins Phoebe and raises her bow toward Vola. “Why would you do it? We trusted you!” A crowd starts forming in the street as locals leave their porches to see what the noise was about. Vola curses, snaps her fingers, and vanishes from sight.

Zelena and Issa push through the crowd to find Phoebe’s arm burning from an acid wound, her hair singed from lightning, and Nimby looking confused with her bow drawn. Zelena asks, “What happened? What is going on?”

Phoebe repeats herself, “Vola killed the dragon egg. I caught her in the act then she attacked me.”

Zelena’s eyes go big. “WHAT! We were going to save it! How could she?” She rushes back into the druid’s home through his sliding doors to the garden to find Charlie lighting incense and humming. The egg is no where to be seen, so she points her staff toward Charlie with tears in here eyes. “What happened to the egg? Why did you let this happen? You were supposed to raise it!”

Charlie sits down, unbothered by her tone. “I do not have the energy for quarrels among friends. I am tired and just want to tend to my garden. The egg is now gone. Life comes and goes just as the cycles of the moon continue forever. Let me ask you instead, why did you come to this city to begin with?”

Zelena slams her staff on the ground and yells back at him, “How can you be so nonchalant about this?”

Charlie calmly turns to her. “I was once part of an order called the Emerald Enclave. It is made up of druids and rangers, mostly lonely folk that seek to preserve the natural order. They keep civilization away from wilderness, and the wilderness out of civilization. This incident that has occurred is the result of an imbalance and was out of my control. In my past life, I tried to fix an imbalance on my own. I stood against the dragons in their decision to kill a tiefling infant for fear of what her lineage represented. We came to a compromise that the child’s life was spared, but I was removed from my position. Exiled from my own druidic tribe. What I am trying to say is, maybe this happened in my own garden because the universe required a life from me since the tiefling was spared all those years ago. Maybe.”

Zelena scoffs and crosses her arms. Soon after, Issa, and Nimby return to the garden as well. Issa pats Zelena’s shoulder and says, “What is done is done. We still have a job to do. Phoebe will meet us at the caravan. She went to pray for Vola at her temple.” Zelena nods, and the three turn to exit.

Charlie calls after them, “Good luck on your travels, ladies. Stay alive.” They leave without another word and head to the North gate where the caravans gather.

Several streets away to the south, Vola reappears in a flash of smoke. She is in another alley, this one lit up with street lanterns. Her eyes dart around quickly. She whispers to Fluffy, “We have to get out of the city before…” Her voice cuts off when five hooded figures emerge from the building next to her.

One of them removes her hood to reveal a familiar black-scaled face. “I’ve been looking for you, traitor.” Rezmir spits out. Vola curses and twists her arm up to touch Fluffy, who then disappears in a puff of smoke. Immediately the four hooded figures pounce onto her. One removes her staff. One yanks off her belt and spell book. The other two grab her arms and cover her mouth in fluid movements. “I’d like to have a word with you about your new companions.” Vola struggles, but to no avail, and she is dragged into the building Rezmir came from.

-Vola assisted in the writing of this episode.

-This sort of incident was difficult to keep contained. The other players complained they were not around to witness or stop what happened. But Phoebe waited purposefully for everyone to leave before she announced her intent. I suggest to other DMs that if a player wants to do something in secret to discus it in secret as well. The other players will still be mad, but at least they won’t feel useless as it unfolds.

-This was Vola’s last session with the group. I love a good dramatic exit. Vola’s player wanted to make a new character, who will be introduced next time.