Adventure of Dagg Nabbitt

Dagg’s assurance steadies the frightened room. Elbee bars the tavern doors and organizes willing hands to carry messages, supplies, and names while the patrons remain safely inside.

A towering giant woman rises among the tables, standing seven and a half feet tall. Broad-shouldered and powerfully built, she wears warrior braids threaded with bronze beads, with shield and warhammer at hand.

Shock passes through the tavern, but Dagg alone meets Tarna’s presence without fear. Tarna is an adult giant woman with weathered gray skin and a square, scarred face. The mayor gathers guards and prepares a guarded response while Elbee keeps civilians behind the barred doors.

Dagg and Tarna leave through the tavern’s side door, moving along the granary road. Steady Under Watch steadies his pace, while his caution tests every birdcall and shifting shadow for darker significance.

At the first bend, Dagg Reads Hidden Signs: fresh boot marks cross the dust, red fibers cling to a thorn, and a black dragon-eye has been chalked beneath a merchant’s shutter.

From the rise, Dagg confirms the pattern: seven red-cloaked cultists hold the old lime road, four gather near the east granaries, and two watch the ferry path. Varessa Flint is nowhere visible, but the entire thirteen-person screen is located.

Dagg draws his elven longbow. Steady Under Watch keeps his breath and aim measured as the enchanted arrow gathers a quiet violet glow, then crosses the distance without a sound.

The arrow strikes the red-cloaked cultist on the roof, and the figure drops from sight. Dagg lowers the bow a fraction, his shot accomplished before the other watchers understand what happened.

Tarna smiles, rears back, and sends her warhammer sweeping through the air. Its force breaks into a thunderclap that strikes three red-cloaked cultists in succession, dropping them from the lime sheds.

The hammer curves back into Tarna’s waiting hand. She grins with unmistakable pride, but the thunder rolls across the road and alerts the nine surviving cultists at once.

Red cloaks turn toward the rise, weapons coming free as movement spreads between the granaries, lime sheds, and ferry road. The quiet scouting attempt has become an open confrontation.

Dagg watches Tarna’s warhammer arc back into her hand, impressed and plainly puzzled. He raises his elven bow, violet light gathering around the arrowhead as purple smoke smolders along its shaft.

His relaxed nature makes the shot feel like a contest instead of a duty, but Steady Under Watch keeps his breathing exact. The enchanted arrow splits into five glowing shafts in flight.

All five arrows strike their marks among the red-cloaked cultists below, dropping five figures from the road and sheds. The remaining four break for cover as the volley scatters them.

The bow’s recoil wrenches Dagg’s shoulder and forces one boot back across the gravel, but the fivefold shot lands exactly as intended.

Tarna plants her shield and squares herself toward the surviving cultists, while Dagg steadies his sore shoulder and keeps the bow trained on the broken line.

Tarna springs from the rise, nearly weightless despite her immense frame. Her landing falls just short of the nearest cultist, striking the earth beside him with a concussive boom that throws him sprawling and staggers the other three.

Her planted foot crushes the cultist’s weapon and pins his cloak to the dust, leaving him stunned rather than beneath her full weight. The difficult leap has carried Tarna into the enemy line, but not cleanly onto her chosen target.

Tarna whirls her warhammer through the staggered formation. The first two cultists drop unconscious beneath the sweeping blows, while the third twists aside and retreats toward the lime sheds.

Her momentum carries the hammer past him, smashing open a lime shed’s warped door instead. Inside, red cloaks and a black dragon-eye mark point toward a narrow rear passage, offering a clear route beyond the surviving cultist.

Tarna regains her footing, shield raised as the remaining cultist disappears through the shed. Dagg’s earlier bow volley has left the line broken, and the open passage gives him and Tarna a usable choice beyond repeating the leap.

Dagg walks down from the rise toward Tarna, boots crunching over dust and splintered weapons. He keeps his posture easy, though the narrow passage waits beyond her shield.

They laugh together, the sound briefly easing the tension. Dagg tips his hat and gestures toward the tunnel, while his relaxed nature tempts him to linger instead of pursuing the work.

The compliment wins her trust, but the cost is clear: Tarna now expects that public acknowledgment and meal as a debt. She raises her shield and leads into the passage, with Dagg following.

The tunnel widens into a vast chamber lined with pews. Iron candelabras hang between dragon statues, while red banners bearing the black dragon eye descend from the ceiling. Tarna’s shield scrapes stone as she enters behind Dagg.

Dagg searches the pews, alcoves, and statue bases without rushing. Steady Under Watch keeps his breathing measured, while his bow remains ready in his hand without straining the wrenched shoulder.

Reads Hidden Signs reveals fresh dust smears beneath three pews, wax drippings still warm, and boot tracks leading behind the central dragon statue. The marks confirm the chamber was occupied moments ago.

Superstition prickles at the sight of so many carved dragons and black eyes. Dagg checks the shadows twice, wary of a hidden curse or the Lich Queen’s influence, but finds no living presence.

Behind the central statue, Dagg finds a concealed stone door standing ajar. Dust and a torn red thread mark the route onward, giving him the cultists’ direction without revealing anyone still inside.

Dagg and Tarna search the hidden chamber together. Steady Under Watch keeps his attention patient and methodical, while his bow remains lowered so his wrenched shoulder is not strained.

Reads Hidden Signs reveals thirteen wax impressions near the altar, matching the cultists’ reported strength. Twelve sets of disturbed dust end in the chamber, while one narrow trail continues through the concealed door.

Dagg’s elven bow catches a faint violet shimmer beside the tracks, exposing concealed red fibers and a smear of fresh lime dust. The trail leads toward the old lime road’s abandoned kiln.

Superstition makes Dagg inspect the dragon statues and banner shadows twice, expecting a curse or the Lich Queen’s hand. Nothing supernatural answers, but a hidden tally beneath the altar confirms seven cultists remain elsewhere.

The search yields both answers: the cult’s gathering place lies beneath the abandoned kiln on the old lime road, and seven cultists remain unaccounted for. Tarna raises her shield toward the passage.

Dagg studies the concealed door, the lime dust, and the narrow trail. Reads Hidden Signs places the freshest marks toward the kiln’s lower passage, though the branching tracks leave one detail uncertain.

Dagg’s relaxed instinct lingers over the choice, costing them a few quiet moments while he checks the dust twice. Steady Under Watch then fixes his attention, and the elven bow’s violet shimmer reveals the safer turn.

Tarna raises her shield and leads through the lower passage. Dagg follows close behind, bow lowered to spare his wrenched shoulder, both of them moving toward the abandoned kiln on the old lime road.

Dagg crouches over the lime dust and traces the lone runner’s path without touching it. Reads Hidden Signs separates the drag from ordinary scuffs: a narrow tail mark rises and falls beside two-toed, clawed prints.

Steady Under Watch keeps his inspection calm despite superstition urging him to search every shadow for a curse or the Lich Queen’s hand. The enchanted elven bow gives a faint violet shimmer over the freshest impressions.

The marks confirm a slender tiefling runner, not a dragonborn: the tail dragged lightly through dust, and no broad claw or scale pattern interrupts the trail. No scorch, ash, or heat-distorted stone suggests a recent fire spell.

Dagg follows the confirmed trail toward the kiln’s lower passage. The runner moved quickly but alone, leaving no second set of prints, and the evidence gives Tarna a clear threat to guard against.

Dagg and Tarna hasten through the lower tunnel, following the tiefling runner’s narrow prints as the passage bends beneath the abandoned kiln. Their footsteps echo softly through the lime dust.

Reads Hidden Signs separates the runner’s tail drag from older marks, revealing where he squeezed through a low arch and crossed a thin layer of fresh ash without stopping.

Steady Under Watch keeps Dagg’s pace controlled despite his superstition, which makes every blackened crack resemble a lurking curse or the Lich Queen’s sign. The bow’s violet shimmer confirms the freshest trail.

The tunnel opens into a kiln chamber beneath the old road. A narrow side door stands ajar, and the tiefling runner’s tracks end inside beside a dropped red thread and a hastily abandoned satchel.

Dagg and Tarna reach the chamber without losing the trail. The satchel, ash-marked passage, and remaining footprints place them at the runner’s hidden staging room, with the route behind them secured in memory.