Quest #46 "Slaying Dragon Slayers"

[Monsieur Rose]

The Princess

She hangs back a bit, allowing the others to crowd the opening. Instead, she looks up at the carving, trying to determine if the eye sockets are also caves.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel keeps looking around her, specially for traps, but her elven ears are also attentive to any noises that may come from the inside... or the outside.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Dragons Lair
Whereabouts Unknown
???/Cold

With their lights held high, the party slowly makes their way into the open maw of the carved skeletal opening. Tlachtga doesn't see any buffeted snow or tracks along the ground, but the size of this opening would certainly allow passage for a large beast to push itself through.

Wes moves ahead, trying to locate heat sources inside the opening before the light ruins his vision. He and Princess determine that the eye slots from the cave mouth must be positioned to allow natural light to enter the interior.

There is a slight bend to the left about 20 feet into the passageway, blocking your sight from anything that might be positioned beyond it.

Elnaerel sees no traps ahead with her magical vision.

The way is COLD.

Actions?

Lerrick: (C5) AC:5 28/28 5/5 first 5/5 second 2/2 third (Light Stone)
Tlachtga (D5) AC:7 35/35 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third (Light Stone)
Princess AC:6 HP 5/5
Cresty: (F3) AC:4 26/26
Elnaerel (C5) AC:3 37/37 5/5 first 4/5 second 2/2 third FT:22
Waesfaren (D6) AC:7 53/53 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third 1/1 fourth

[Monsieur Rose]

Oh good lord, has it been almost a week? What happened to the time?

The Princess

She takes the lead, as she is accustomed to doing, and moves to the bend hoping to be able to peer further into the cave. She makes note of the ground, trying to spot places of ice before they give her issues.

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

The cleric follows The Princess. In fact, she follows her very closely. She admires her bravery and somehow feels that she has to protect her more than she would anyone else. She continues to search for traps with the power bestowed upon her by her goddess.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Tlachtga moves up and peers inside as well.

Would the weather be appropriate for the call lightning spell?

[Jernau35]

Wes

Wes remains at the cave mouth for the moment. If there is something nasty lurking just beyond the bend, he reasons, there's no point in everyone standing close together to be attacked by it.

[OGRE MAGE]

You are essentially walking into a carved out mountain, so no Call Lightning allowed in here.

The Dragons Lair
Whereabouts Unknown
???/Cold

Gathering near the bend in the huge tunnel, all but Wes, who remains near the entrance, can suddenly hear the distinct sound of light chains rattling somewhere far off. A few steps deeper into the unknown reveals the sound of a distant woman sobbing.

Peering around the slight turn, the wide tunnel opens up into a vast unlit chamber deep within the bowels of this mountain. The air here becomes even colder. The noises you heard cease.

From the vast unlit emptiness before you comes the sound of heavy breathing, giving the impression of a very, very large creature ahead, possibly snoring.

The entire area in front of you is dark beyond your light sources. Elnaerel sees nothing with her magical vision.

Actions?

Lerrick: (C5) AC:5 28/28 5/5 first 5/5 second 2/2 third (Light Stone)
Tlachtga (D5) AC:7 35/35 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third (Light Stone)
Princess AC:6 HP 5/5
Cresty: (F3) AC:4 26/26
Elnaerel (C5) AC:3 37/37 5/5 first 4/5 second 2/2 third FT:20
Waesfaren (D6) AC:7 53/53 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third 1/1 fourth

[Monsieur Rose]

The Princess

She raises a hand and motions for everyone to back away. Whispering to those nearby "Something is in there, and did you hear the woman crying? We need a plan."

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"Agreed. Combat tactics are not my strong suit."

I was wondering about call lightning outside, in case we could lured the dragon outside.

[OGRE MAGE]

In that case, yes.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Thanks!

"I think maybe we should try to lure the dragon outside and both myself and Wes could hit it with lightning as it exits the cave."

[kruk]

Cresty

The fighter quietly responds to the druid's statement. Would you like me to boldly taunt the dragon with the intent of luring the giant wym outside? Cresty stands striking a proud pose. I would be honored to do so.

Lerrick

The cleric raises her eyebrow in approval but waits for others to respond.

[Jernau35]

Wes

Seeing the others in a huddle, Wes approaches. "Is fighting the beast our only option? The last one we fought almost killed all of us. This one is likely much more ferocious".

"Right now it doesn't know we're here. Is there a way to use that advantage while we have it?" Wes tries to sound more positive than he feels while asking the question. Then a thought strikes him.

"It sounded like it was snoring?" He looks at Lerrick and Elnaerel. "Your gods grant you magic to be Silent, correct? Obad Hai's magic will let me cover our scent...If it can't see, hear or smell us, could we risk sneaking by?"

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"What would stop the dragon from pursuing us or just taking the princess again? It has already done so once? I also didn't get the impression that the King would be happy with us if we return and say the dragon is still alive, now it is your problem. Not saying fighting it is our only option, just that if we go with another it needs to be very well thought through to the very end."

[Monsieur Rose]

The Princess

Still whispering: "Well, if we sneak Daisy out of there, I"m sure that would taunt the dragon enough to lure it anywhere we want to fight. The bridge, if we could prevent it from flying, or the town with a large amount of cover."

"You two could start getting your call lightning ready while others grab daisy and lure it out."

[Karaunios]

Elnaerel

"Very good ideas here! If we all agree, I can start by casting the spell for us to be silent. But that's something I'm going to do at the last moment, since then we won't be able to hear each other... or cast spells that need to be voiced."

[kruk]

Cresty

The fighter show a flash of disappointment as his idea was clearly rejected by the others. He listens for a moment while inspecting his dragon slayer sword, then moves away a few paces from the group to do a couple practice swings with it.


Lerrick

The cleric listens as the group brainstorm ideas on the plan of attack.

[Jernau35]

Wes

"As much as the king wants the dragon dead, surely he wants his daughter back more?" asks Wes.

At the mention of calling down lightning on the dragon, Wes looks a little dubious. "With both of us summoning it, I'd be surprised if the dragon survived the first stokes, but... what worries me is that it relies on the dragon doing what we want. That sort of thing just makes me nervous."

"I'm not saying I'm against it. It's probably our best chance." Wes turns to Tlachtga. "You know, since there's a while between each bolt, we don't want to be sitting out there with our arses in the breeze. Why don't we build some kind of snow holes to take cover in?"

He nods at the Princess' idea of restricting the dragon's flight. Gesturing around the cave and at the end of the bridge, Wes says, "If there's somewhere to tie a rope around here, I can lay a magical Snare. If it catches the dragon, he'll be in real trouble".

"There's one more reason to check that cave out too. What if it's not the dragon down there? It could be a trap. I mean, why take the Princess and just leave her alive, right there? Maybe the dragon is expecting someone to show up. A lot more meat on us than a single young girl..."

[OGRE MAGE]

The Dragons Lair
Whereabouts Unknown
???/Cold

The group converse in the bitter cold tunnel that leads to the vast chamber ahead.

Ideas are shared and discussed.

There is only silence from the immense darkness beyond.

Actions?

Lerrick: (C5) AC:5 28/28 5/5 first 5/5 second 2/2 third (Light Stone)
Tlachtga (D5) AC:7 35/35 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third (Light Stone)
Princess AC:6 HP 5/5
Cresty: (F3) AC:4 26/26
Elnaerel (C5) AC:3 37/37 5/5 first 4/5 second 2/2 third FT:19
Waesfaren (D6) AC:7 53/53 6/6 first 5/5 second 3/3 third 1/1 fourth