The Egg Beneath Pennytown
The Egg Beneath Pennytown
“One egg can save a city, doom a nest, or wake what sleeps below.”
— Hook · retrieve
“The magistrate's map ends at a hill two days south of Pennytown, where an enormous cave has become the lair of a young adult chromatic dragon named Rummage. She guards a nest filled with eggs, and one of them may be the only thing preventing her brood from threatening the capital. Your task is simple: enter the lair, retrieve the egg, and return before the next storm seals the hill.”
— Hook · retrieve
The journey ends beneath a sky darkened by a fast-moving storm. South of Pennytown, the party finds a hill split by a narrow stone opening. Warm air rolls from within, carrying the smell of rain, ash, old metal, and something faintly sweet. Inside, the cavern widens into a vast chamber where several mounds of treasure glitter beneath the light of scattered lantern crystals. At the center stands a large flat rock, and upon it rests an enormous nest. A young adult chromatic dragon coils around several eggs, one claw resting protectively over an egg marked by pale metallic lines.
Magistrate Elian Voss
Magistrate Elian Voss summons the party to a guarded office in Pennytown after receiving reports from frightened travelers. He offers official payment, a travel writ, and limited authority to act in the city's interest. Mara Pell is present as an informal adviser and quietly warns the party to question whether the egg should be taken by force.
Rumours
d5 · table- 01Rummage can smell gold through solid stone.
- 02A courier escaped the dragon's cave carrying a single blackened feather and has not spoken clearly since.
- 03The hill was once a mine, but the miners abandoned it after hearing something breathing below the deepest shaft.
- 04Pennytown's Arcanum has been buying dragon relics and sealed volcanic glass.
- 05Some travelers claim Rummage returns stolen goods if approached without weapons.
If the party fails, Rummage may move her nest toward Pennytown, the Arcanum may obtain a powerful living relic, and the buried volcanic rift may begin to awaken. If the party succeeds only by force, they may prevent an immediate dragon attack while creating a larger threat for the future.
Background Lore
Two days south of Pennytown, a weather-scarred hill conceals an enormous cavern once used by miners, smugglers, and, more recently, the chromatic dragon Rummage. She has gathered treasure from abandoned caravans, forgotten vaults, and offerings left by frightened locals. Deep within the cave, she guards a clutch of eggs, including one unusually large egg marked with faint metallic veining. Pennytown officials want that egg removed before Rummage's brood hatches, but the truth is more complicated than a simple theft.
Pennytown has learned that Rummage, a young adult chromatic dragon, is protecting a nest inside a hidden cavern two days south of the city. One egg is unusually large and valuable, and the magistrate believes removing it will prevent Rummage from raising a dangerous brood near the capital. The party is hired to enter the lair, retrieve the egg, and return before the storm makes the hill inaccessible. Rummage may be hostile, but the party can discover that her motives are more complicated than simple greed.
