Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#21 Post by AleBelly »

DM rolls dice

The party begins to circumnavigate the lake, traveling counterclockwise. After a mile or so, they find themselves on the south side of the lake, tracing the shore in a northeasterly direction. Angus, scouting ahead, realizes that they are in the largest lake shown on this map:

viewtopic.php?f=176&t=4667#p204550

Yenny sees the occasional beaver dam, but no beavers with which to converse.

Moments later, the party can barely make out the figure of Angus stumbling into a clearing 90' ahead.

Zhym, see private forum. Others, please hold off a bit. Will post again when you can act.

Date: 14 Culling, Year 42
Time: 15:16
Conditions: 43°F, NW wind 14 mph (additional -1 missile fire penalty), scattered clouds
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Sun
Intended Direction of Travel: tracing lake counterclockwise, 13.6 miles traveled today, 1.35 mph travel through forest
Injuries: None
Last edited by AleBelly on Tue Oct 25, 2016 11:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#22 Post by AleBelly »

The party sees Angus dash off to his right, into the clearing. Seconds later, a shrill inhuman shriek is heard. Then, silence again.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#23 Post by CAI4 »

Chet goes pale with fear. He walks towards the clearing to see what happened.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#24 Post by Keehnelf »

Sagthistle draws her sword and straps on her shield as quick as she can, then rushes toward the clearing.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#25 Post by tkrexx »

ANGUUUSSS!!! Hyde bellows and charges forward, his patented AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! waking whatever dead may dwell in the area.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#26 Post by AleBelly »

Those in the party that rush forward nearly collide with Angus, who is making his way back to the group. At the mouth of the clearing, they see a pile of wood that may indeed be a shelter. The ranger has somber look on his face...deep in thought.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#27 Post by Zhym »

Angus nods his head toward the pile of wood. "Turns out the dragon what we killed wasn't a loner," he says somberly. "There was a young'un back there. I...done killed it. Ain't rightly proud of it, but it had to get done."

The woodsman turns away and goes to investigate the shelter.

Flash back one beat:
Zhym wrote:Angus sighs heavily as he wipes dragon blood off of his sword. There is no sense of triumph, no feeling of victory in slaying the young dragon. What he did was necessary, he tells himself. Little dragons become big dragons over time. This one, no bigger than he is, would happily have made dinner out of him given the chance.

As for tales that people had tamed dragons, turned them into steeds—nonsense. Old myths. Fantasies. White dragons are mean and evil. An evil mount? For Angus? Ridiculous! Could very a young one be trained not to be evil? It's an interesting question but dangerous to test. Besides, it's expensive enough as it is just to feed Beelzebub. Imagine how much it would cost to keep a growing dragon eating—a beast what'd think of his mule as a snack! Angus only recently chided Hellebore for treating wild critters like pets. If Angus had done the same with a dragon of all things, they should release the druid from prison just so she could come smack him in the face for being a damned idiot.

No, it's for the best, he decides. Still don't make it feel good, though.

He walks back within sight of the rest of the party and somberly waves them toward him.

I sure as hell hope that was the mother we already killed, he thinks.
Last edited by Zhym on Wed Oct 26, 2016 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#28 Post by Keehnelf »

Sagthistle simply nods and accompanies Angus, not sheathing her sword.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#29 Post by Zorroroaster »

"Gods... that's horrible. Let's go have a look. There may be more about."

Arnulf will go with them to investigate the pile of wood.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#30 Post by enn.in.me »

Yenny runs in with the crowd.

"Angus, that's a difficult one but I feel you did right. But we'd best be on our guard. Not just other small dragons, but perhaps some larger ones. I don't know how large their groups are. Not sure anyone does, except maybe that old sage." Yenny lowers her shield and weapon as she speaks, but her eyes are darting left and right.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#31 Post by AleBelly »

The party cautiously approaches the shelter. Several curious adventurers may inspect the dead wyrmlet. Its head and body are nearly separated by a vicious slash across its neck. Thick bluish blood lies in a pool on the ground.

Many have heard tales of a dragon's lair at their father's or mother's knee. But this is nothing like that. Under the haphazard shelter of sticks is nothing more than a deep, burrowed mudhole. Closer inspection of the dugout reveals decidedly non dragon-like items. A couple of old waterlogged wooden shields. Crude eating utensils. But most striking are the bones. Piles and piles of bones.

Most are game - deer, pig, and the like. But there are unmistakable signs of at least a half dozen goblin skulls and a dozen small kobold skulls. Worryingly, the party also sees a skeleton of an 8' tall humanoid with a long snout.

The only sign that a white dragon ever lived here is a very large bare spot, and a thick rime of frost inside the dwelling itself.

In a corner near the huge bare spot, where two frozen mud walls meet, are found a small collection of gems. 4 light pink rhodochrosites, 2 chunks of blue quartz, 4 polished pieces of amber and a red fire opal. The gnomes and dwarves have the most expertise at valuation. The lot seems to be worth about 3460 gold pieces. Two pieces of amber, intricately carved, and the fire opal are especially appealing. These are the only items of value found in this hole.

With two and a half hours left of daylight, thoughts turn to shelter for the night. This dug out hole, while macabre, would do the trick. But they could also travel a decent distance with the daylight left them.

Actions?

Date: 14 Culling, Year 42
Time: 15:56
Conditions: 43°F, NW wind 14 mph (additional -1 missile fire penalty), scattered clouds
Known Spells in Effect: None
Light bearers: Sun
Intended Direction of Travel: tracing lake counterclockwise, 13.6 miles traveled today, 1.35 mph travel through forest
Injuries: None

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#32 Post by Zhym »

Angus takes a close look at the lair. Is there any sign that it's home to three dragons, not two?

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#33 Post by AleBelly »

It's hard to believe that the slain pair had enough room in here. Three is pretty much out of the question.

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#34 Post by mjulius »

Ernest pushes the bones about with his foot, examines the young dragon then squints his eyes along the treeline, It's bold to make camp in this lair. Shelter doesn't mean much should we face this lizard's angry kin. With the stink of blue blood on us, we might soon be the hunted.

There was a confirmed kill before this'un? So two total.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#35 Post by Keehnelf »

Sagthistle whistles at the lair. "Not much of a setup, but I think we'd best be on our way back to the farm with this haul unless we have more business here."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#36 Post by enn.in.me »

"We've all slept in worse places of late, and frankly this doesn't smell much worse than the bear, but I'd suggest we be on our way."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#37 Post by onlyme »

Dandelion scoffs at the idea of sheltering there, given her sensibilities, and suggests heading back toward the farm.
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#38 Post by Zhym »

"I done promised to take a message to Sambord," says Angus, holding up one of the two scrolls he got from Targus the sage. "I reckon I'd better do that before going back to the farm. Besides, I thought we'd agreed to stay out of Alleborg due to certain powerful folk having it in for us."

He scowls at the dragon nest and looks west. "We can leave now if y'all want. But let's go westish to the fort. We don't want to deprive Jorbin the pleasure of seeing my pretty face any longer than we have to."

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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#39 Post by onlyme »

Dandelion nods.
OK. That should work as well. Afterall, isnt that where we were supposed to be going?
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Re: Chapter 12 - Where da Lair?

#40 Post by Keehnelf »

Sagthistle nods. "That makes sense to me too."

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