Riverboat Gambler: Baradye the Blue

The edge of the old crater formed a ridgeline steep enough on both sides that the night creatures couldn't climb it. Norte sat on the edge and kicked his legs and watched the monsters crawl over each over like waves lapping at a cliff. They crawled and climbed and often managed to get a third or even halfway up the slope before the unliving pyramid collapsed and sent them all tumbling back into the pit.

He liked to imagine what the corpses did when there were no people for them to slaver at. If they rose out of the sand and stood and stared at the moons until the sun came up again. Perhaps they lived in ordered societies and spoke intelligibly to one another when nobody living was around to listen. He was a Man of the Forest by birth but he was first of his family to leave the path of flower and beast and tree. First to sail in a boat and shoot a gun and use coins dug up from the burning sands to purchase goods. It occurred to him that his father may have been correct regarding man and whether he was patient or plague. That here he was the interloper and the carpet of undead, however unnatural they might seem, were the rightful stewards of the place. 

Two shooting stars flashed before Norte's gaze. The air above the Plain was thick with them. Comets or ships in the void or celestial conflicts between elementals and the things that lurked outside the envelope of air that cushioned the world. The sparks flashed again, closer this time, a blue that hurt his eyes in the dark. Without taking his eyes off the spot he swept his hand across the snaplock of the long gun cradled across his knees. The sound, he hoped, would wake the others without the need to individually clout them to attention or hiss directions. 

Then she spoke to him.

Baradye the Blue Dragon is an extortionist who robs travelers to Hogman's Plain. She flies at dawn and dusk, looking for Adventurers loaded with treasure. It's hard to spot prey in a land lit blood red, which is what makes the game interesting. She lands outside the range of hand weapons and tells them she's extorting them for their carried wealth. She's good at assessing the maximum someone is willing to give up before fighting (for example leaving players with just enough treasure to reach the next level). If her victims lowball her or refuse entirely she acts like she's intimidated and flies away, returning to fire her lightning breath from its maximum possible range. 

Sometimes Baradye flies by night and lands in safe locations frequented by Adventuring parties. Rock formations the Zombies can't climb. River islands surrounded by swift flowing water the Ghouls can't cross. Adventurers woken up by draconic intrusion get the same offer as those caught in the open. She can't crawl into tombs but is an expert at ricocheting her lightning breath into confined spaces.

While fun, extorting people one-on-one misses out on a lot of good loot. She's thought about transitioning to a medallion system where Adventurers can pay a flat fee based on their experience level. Anyone with a medallion she would leave alone, anyone without she'd kill on sight. She hasn't tried it because it would be a lot of work up front and she likes being a mobster more than a CEO.

Baradye never attacks merchant ships and leaves farmsteads alone. Without commerce there would be nobody to dig up treasure for her to steal. The exception is the Church of the Grain Goddess. Baradye's son died raiding a farm. He got what he deserved if he was dumb enough to get kicked by a cow, but if she doesn't avenge the death of her child nobody will fear her. But wiping out the Grain Cult stronghold would remove most of the infrastructure bringing trade to the region. (She's also not sure she would win in a straight fight, but she won't tell anyone that). She'd consider the matter settled if either the head banker or chief of security died and she could credibly say she was behind it.

BARADYE'S LAIR

Baradye's lair is a cave in a huge sphinx shaped rock formation overlooking the Plain. There's no path to the top, it's only accessible by air or a difficult climb up the cliffs. She keeps her hoard under a huge rock to stop scavenging birds from making off with her shiny objects. In the pile:

• 84,700 SP in coins, gems and grave goods
• Spell scroll (colour spray, spook, seeming, visitation, light (darkness))
• Potion of Control Human
• Spell scroll (teleport, continual light (continual darkness), knock, animate dead, invisibility)

She can't cast from the scrolls and keeps them only for their value. The Potion of Control Human is for emergency use only.

Below the spire is a maze of hoodoos and canyons. This malpais is patrolled by a clan of Red Dwarves hired by the Dragon. The stout humanoids and their pet bears devoured the giant lizards and scorpions and other creatures that once sheltered amid the rocks.

THE RED DWARVES

The Red Dwarves (CC1 Creature Compendium) are descended from slaves taken by the Ancient Empire after the collapse of the original Mountainhomes. They fled into the desert long ago and have lived a nomadic existence in the hundreds of years hence (though this clan has agreed to longer term habitation of the rock pile per their agreement with the Dragon). Resource deprivation and the neverending fight to survive makes them unsentimental and violent. They rarely keep slaves, preferring to kill and eat victims. They would betray Baradye if it benefited them but there's not a lot that could convince them. They have little use for money and the Dragon gives them practical things. Thanks to her they no longer have to roam the Plain looking for drinking water.

The clan has 26 Braves, 2 Clan Leaders, 1 Chieftain and 4 Black Bears kept as pack and war animals. They dig simple burrows to hide from the sun and travel by twilight, painting themselves to blend in. Their canyon camp is protected by walls of piled stone, approaches covered by simple but well hidden pit and rockfall traps. A favored tactic is to leave an "obvious" way around a defense, like a wall that's easy to climb, then trap the shortcut. Entrances are Dwarf sized, forcing larger races to squeeze, except in spaces meant to accommodate bears. They obtain water by squeezing a captive Elemental Spirit, powers (per Monster Overhaul) neutralized by iron chains. They keep night creatures out by funneling them into kill boxes and raining projectiles on them. They use the bones and leather for crafts and their hardy constitution lets them eat the meat without getting sick.

The Chieftain Yabobaal wears a byrnie of Chainmail +1, belted at the waist with a rope of braided hair. He has no patience for social conventions but an opportunist's eye for profit.

Clan Leader Tophet wears a Cloak of Defense +3 as a singlet, bone pins holding it shut. She abuses her authority to take more than her share of everything.
 
Clan Leader Sherden wears a Ring of Protection +1, body paint and nothing else. He wants a gun because they look like a lot of fun to shoot, but Baradye keeps "forgetting" to bring him one.

 

Baradye's big fear is an air attack. Magic carpets, flying monsters and flying wizards could steal her stuff while she was gone. She's started ferrying Dwarves up to the cave while she's out on business as a last line of defense. She'd prefer a magic item or a flying monster she could control.