“…but we came here to help them!” pleads Seelah the Paladin.

“We have been in this region too long. There are many far lands to explore.” says Amiri the Barbarian.

“My pets are missing the forests.” says Lini the Druid.

Sajan the Monk is silent. His arms are folded.

Seelah sighs, “Listen, the gold in a dragon’s treasure trove is worth more than you can imagine!”

Lini’s pointed ears perk up. Her pet tiger nuzzles her leg.

Amiri puts down her pint. “I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.” she says.

An empty money pouch drops onto the table. It is Sajan’s. His face is impassive, but his point is made.

Seelah gets up. “Right. We meet outside the Temple at first light.”

The others exchange glances. Amiri calls to the bartender, “Two more rounds over here!”

The next day, late in the afternoon, the Crusaders assemble at the Temple. Seelah orders Lini to the Desecrated Vault, Sajan into the Temple, and Amiri over to the Shrine to Lamashtu. She stomps off alone to the Throne Room.

In the first chamber of the Descrated Vault, Lini surprises the Dragon by tripping over his tail. She only escapes by flinging caltrops behind her as she dashes back along the tunnels. Scrambling into daylight, she thanks the Maker. At least they know the location of his lair. Leaving the Vault behind, she heads off to the Thassalonian Dungeon.

Amiri strides into the Shrine of Lamashtu, swinging her warhammer before her, and connects with an Ancient Skeleton’s skull. The skeleton explodes in a shower of splinters, and Amiri quickly checks that the rest of the Shrine is clear.

All is peaceful at the Temple. Sajan wanders the grounds picking up blessings from the priests.

Things are not so serene in the Throne Room. Just in time, Seelah recognizes the carvings that indicate the trigger for a pit trap, steps around it and neatly beheads the Plague Zombie hiding around the corner. Shortly afterwards an Ancient Skeleton bites the dust and the Throne Room is closed.

Lini is having trouble in the Dungeon, so Seelah quickly heads over to help. As they meet up, the resident Skeleton looms out of the darkness. Caught off-guard, Seelah mistimes her attack and her shield is shattered as she narrowly avoids a fingerbone to the eye. Lini steps up and casts an Inflict spell that kills the Skeleton but she doesn’t have the arcane skills to close off the Dungeon. They are going to have to clear it out room by room.

Sajan has collected a longbow and shortbow. He can’t use the longbow and can’t keep either weapon after this adventure, but he has fun pinging monsters in the Warrens.

The sun is starting to set when Seelah and Lini finally finish up in the Dungeon, and they hurry to meet Amiri back at the Vault to make a last rush for the Dragon’s lair.

They try to retrace Lini’s steps and on the way find a chest of weapons, pick up a potion and dispatch a Siren and a Traitor. The sun begins to dip below the horizon when Lini is nearly burnt to a crisp by an Enchantress. Then finally, as darkness falls, they enter Black Fang’s cavern and face the Villain.

As they square off, the Dragon breathes an acid cloud over the three adventurers. The corrosive vapour is stopped by Seelah’s armour, but Lini gets some acid burns to go with her scorched hair. Meanwhile Amiri side-steps the cloud, dodges forward and twirls her bastard sword around her head. Sajan is doing backflips in the entrance to the Warrens so Black Fang has no way to escape. Amiri flings the sword at the Dragon’s heart and pins him to the cavern wall. The Crusaders are victorious again!

Amiri pulls her sword out of the scaled body. “This treasure had better be worth it.” she mutters.