Tirion informs the others of what was seen the night before when they awake.
Several manticores passed through here in the night. The headed southwest. We have seen manticores in the service to this dragon lord scum before, so I think that we should follow in that direction to see whether that is where this dragon lord makes his home.
Survival: <-- Tirion is clueless
Survival(for Mirrin): <-- since he has not posted since Wed.
Lorth speaks not against the choice, merely manfully attending to his legs and feet to follow.
The company travels throughout the day making their way in a southwesterly direction. The terrain is difficult and the going is very hard. You pass to the south side of the Gorge as you follow it up to its headwaters in the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. If it were not for the dwarf's guidance, travel would have slowed to a near halt.
After hours of travel, the sun begins to set behind the clouds, and the company reaches the base of large rocky hill. Mirrin, the ranger, points out a path that leads upward. It appears to have been used by some sort of medium sized dragonspawn. However, the most disturbing sight is the evidence of a great claw print left in the earth by what could only be an adult dragon.
"I would rather ascend and fight the dragon now rather than let him hunt us at night. Maybe that wonderful winged creature can scout for us? It might be better than going in blind. I can pop around up front if we go without an aerial view, but that seems imprudent."
Running a thoughtful hand through his beard Lorth muses "It would be best to try and come upon it without being surprised... The Dawnbringer has gifted me with boons to shield us from the beast's breath... but we would need know it's colour first."
Tirion looks to Lorth:
Well, we have fought those of the green, black and red variety. That only leaves two more colors. White and blue.
Did Cebrë ever tell the tale of what the crazy person told her on the hill before the festival? I believe it was about Azurr Khull and he was wearing blue dragonscale armor. This was before I joined the party, in the first 2-3 weeks of the campaign.
"White and Blue... so unholy that two such opposite bloodlines might hunt the same location"
Bofus, you believe the tracks to be relatively fresh. They also appear larger than any dragon you have yet faced.
A vision as told by an old man:
The dry hilltops danced with fire. Thousands of warriors had gathered- hobgoblins in armor dyed scarlet, thick-thewed bugbear berserkers, goblin worg riders and skirmishers and archers, and the scaled ones as well, who often towered over the rest. For so long they had fought each other, tribe against tribe, race against race, engaged in the endless test of battle, feud, and betrayal. But they stood together, hated enemies shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting together as brothers. And they saw that they were strong, and together they danced and sang and shook their blades at the smoke-hidden stars overhead. “We are Kulkor Zhul!” they shouted, and the hills shook with the thunder of their voices. “We are People of the Dragon! Uighulth na Hargai! None can stand before us!”
One by one the tribes fell silent. Armor creaked as thousands turned to look up to the Place of Speaking. There, a single champion emerged from the assemblage and slowly climbed the ancient stone stair cut into the side of the hill. A hundred bright yellow banners stood beneath him like a phalanx of spears, each marked with a great red hand. The warpriests holding the banners chanted battle-prayers in low voices as the champion ascended.
On the hundredth step he stopped and turned to face the waiting warriors. He was tall and strong, one of the hobgoblin chieftains, but dull blue scales gleamed along his shoulders, and jutting horns swept back from his head. “I am Azarr Kul, son of the Dragon!” he cried. “Hear me warriors of the Kulkor Zhul! Tomorrow we march to war!” The warriors roared their approval, stamping their feet and clashing spear to shield. Azarr Kul waited, holding his hands aloft until they quieted again. “The warpriests of the Doom Hand have shown us the way! They have taught us honor, discipline, obedience-and strength! No more will we waste our blood fighting each other. We will take the lands of the elf, the dwarf, and the human, and make them ours! Under the banner of the Red Hand of Doom we march to victory and conquest! Remember that you stood here this night, warriors of Kulkor Zhul! For a hundred generations your sons and your sons’ sons will sing of the blood spilled by your swords and the glory you will win in the nights to come! Now, my brothers-to WAR!”
The burning hills were too small to hold the shout the Kulkor Zhul gave in answer to their warlord’s call.
The old man passed away upon telling this story.
Tirion taps Bofus on the shoulder:
Don't you have the journal of that lady who was with you all when I first met you?
Didn't it mention something about someone named Azul Kur or something wearing armor of blue dragon scales? I bet he is the high dragon lord.
"Both are worthy trophies to decorate my wall. Let's try to tackle them one at a time, shall we?"
Making to ascend "Never leave until the morrow what could be done today"
"Let's do it!!"
Tirion looks to the others:
We need to be rested. If you all think you can continue, I will not object. I can easily cast magic when tired, I just want to make sure that you are all ready to fight dragons and dragon spawn that are likely to be not far before us.
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Tirion taps Bofus on the shoulder:
Don't you have the journal of that lady who was with you all when I first met you?Didn't it mention something about someone named Azul Kur or something wearing armor of blue dragon scales? I bet he is the high dragon lord.
Of course I do...Cebre wrote down the words of the dying man who was having some sort of vision. Yeah, here it is...
feel free to read the spoiler above.
Ascend it is, with Poppy flitting ahead to pick a trail and spot problems...
You climb this rocky hill upward for about half an hour, as the sky grows darker. A winding ledge along the face of a sheer cliff rounds a corner, and suddenly the vista is one of terrifying beauty. The ledge leads over a ten-foot-wide natural bridge and then continues to wind up the face of the cliff on the other side to a large, flat ledge. The cliffside soars several hundred feet up from this ledge. The vista is dominated by the lifelike rendition of a five-headed dragon carved out of the stone of the cliff face.
The dragon is massive - easily a hundred fifty feet tall - and carved to look as if it were perched upon the wide ledge and emerging from the stone itself. The dragon's five serpentine necks arch up and then back down. The heads protrude from the cliffside, each leering down as if to challenge any who dare to approach. Each head is that of a different dragon, and each has a mouth agape in an eternal roar.
At the base of the cliff, under the dragon's belly, a huge pair of closed stone double doors are set into the cliff. Each door is six feet wide and twelve feet tall. The motif of the five-headed dragon is repeated here, although this time only the dragon's necks and heads reach out from around the door's frame. Each of these heads seems crafted from a different type of stone - obsidian, alabaster, soapstone, malachite, and marble- corresponding to the coloration of each head.
Quietly and in some degree of awe Lorth puts his shield upon one arm and draws his scimitar in the other and mouths "Well... it seems like we might be in the right place"
Tom looks skeptical. "You want to take the chance of having a dragon wake you up rather than try to wake it up? I wouldn't take a chance like that to be snug in a warm bed."
Softly and in calming voice to Bofus "I have called upon none of the grace the Dawnbringer gifts me, nor expended any of my righteous fervor... I am as ready as I will ever be"
Tirion laughs at Bofus' comment:
Your next 4 meals? Does that mean you are actually not going to eat for the next 2 hours?
Tommy points out the dangers of walking close to the left edge and getting pushed off I you aren't riding a magic dog or flying creature.
He plans to hug the right side as they approach and blink.
Unless those more stealthy prefer to walk in advance, Lorth would walk as the first wave and in the center.
Mirrin follows close using Bites as a means to cross gaps if necessary keeping an eye out for sentinels in the sky or along the cliffs.
PErception +2 against dragons +4 against goblins.
Tommy pops forward using his blinking dog. He is careful to appear only on spots the experienced ranger has trod on.
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Lorth's intent is to move along the centerline until directly south of the double doors.
Bofus lightly puts a hand on the drednaught's forearm. Before you go stomping in there, howzabout I take a quick look? There may be traps or ambushes or other ornery stuff. I"d rather you know about it before you set them off. ;-)
Bofus does his thing...moving along the northern wall to AO 19, then back to report.
please note I've got Trapspotter, and perception is +19 for traps.
Although stealthier than many of his new companions, Tirion stays back knowing that he is not the best suited for combat or traps.
Lets take it slow. While we have defeated several dragon armies, we know that these goblins and dragons are far from stupid. If we do not take care and move slowly, then we are likely to be in a dangerous position.
"A sensible idea, no point coming all this way to die in a hole we didn't see!"
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Bofus returns...
and materialized out of the growing shadows. He maintains silence, and even beckons the party farther away from the cliff and the entrance.
OK, I didn't get close enough to the door to find specific traps, but if the entrance *isn't* trapped, then Tirion is a halfling dipped in chocolate. The reason I didn't get closer is that there's a blue dragon about a hundred feet up, in a cave. I *think* it's sleeping, but even so I doubt we could sneak up on it--we'd have to scale the cliff or find a way to fly up there.
bofus points to the cave entrance so they can all see what's what.
Suggestions?
"Aye... or bring it down to us... but that would seem unwise given our position."
Tirion whispers:
It would use a fair amount of my magic, but I can fly us all up there. Only issue would be stealth.
Considering the dragons we have fought, catching this one in its lair would be far preferable.
Tirion pauses considering.
I could make two of you bigger, say Red and Mirrin. I could then make them invisible and give them the ability to fly. The rest of us could be carried up, or even hide in a bag of holding or something. I can also give people immunity to lightning damage, it only protects against a certain amount of damage however.
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You don't have to worry about me. I can climb up there--I've got a potion of Spider Climb that this seems like a good time for--and if *I* can't get up there quietly, *no one* can! I've got some arrows that will be very nice against this big lizard. If I can plug a couple into its arse while it's sleeping...
"If we gird for battle, I can put a song in your hearts and share the pain that one of you feels. A scion of Torag also gifted me a servant of the Earth that could be unleashed."
"So we killin the dragon?"
"I like the plan"
Stealth (with Invisibility bonus):
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Bofus will drink a potion of Spider Climb and get ready to start climbing.
I'll try to stick as many of these new arrows I bought into him before he knows what's what. After that, I'll be willing to flank him with the melee guys--but I'll be honest, that scares me a little!!
He gets ready to spider up the cliff once everyone indicates they're ready
<--ha! just as stealthy as the invisible guy
Tom quaffs an invisibility potion and feeds one to his dog if there is enough.