You little bastard!!!!!!! the dragon roars as the flame scorches the flame hits the dragon between the eyes. It's attention is now firmly on the drunk tinker gnome; the injured knight is ignored.
The dim light of the building reveals a circular room, 40' wide, topped with a dome. The room is divided into 6 alcoves, each with a statue standing on a pedestal. One larger statue of a woman stands in the middle of the room, opposite the door, along the back wall. An altar of some sort lies 10' in front of the woman's statue.
Hu'tonkton watched the gnome fall under a flurry of claw and tooth. Blood sprayed the fountain, more than Hu would have expected such a small body could hold. Then it was over.
Hu's face grows warm. Blood pounds behind his eyes. The bow tumbling from his fingers, his hands fall to the worn hilts. The swords slip free with a slow rasp of steel. Light plays along the blades.
"Kender - see to the gnome." Then he leaps from the stairs, howling in Elven.
Hu moves in toward the dragon, his blades a whirling blur as he strikes.
The dragon, pelted with arrows, seems oblivious to their threat. One shot by Janos pierces its hide near the abdomen, but the creature does not flinch. Instead it pauses to lick the gnome blood from its claws. The monster speaks to itself, as if lost in thought So frail these mortals are. I had forgotten this in my long slumber. With Rumal's death the light source fades and the area returns to dim light. After cleaning one claw, the dragon turns to the two warriors Flee this place. Tell all that you meet that their days are numbered. We, your lords have returned, and we are hungry. The clearing falls into complete darkness.
Seeing what he does through the darkness the dwarf drops his crossbow and grasps his family warhammer and charges towards the dragon. Letting out a angered roar as he charges the dragon he is stopped and knocked back by the force of the creature flying up. The dwarf Looks up and yells, "I'LL HAVE YOUR HIDE AS MY BOOTS! THIS I PROMISE YOU WYRM!!" Then a single tear shows itself on the dwarves angered face then focuses on the his fallen friend. "Aye lad, I am but Rumal..."
"I am here," Hu'tonkton answers Sir Donner. He moves toward the fallen gnome but stands off a pace, letting his friends tend him. Rumal is clearly dead, but he says nothing as the knight tries in vain to put the life back into him.
Hu checks on his horse, patting its side and murmuring quiet words of comfort. Then he retrieves a torch from his saddlebag and, lighting it, moves to the well. He leans over the opening and drops the torch, watching as it falls to see what will be seen.
Continuing to work, even past the point he knows it is in vein, even going so far as to rip the patch the Kinder placed on him to keep himself alive, and ignoring the questions for a moment, hiding the single tear from the Kinder, He is gone
Return this, . . . Gnome-man to Huma's breast. Beyond the wild, impartial skies. Grant to him a warrior's rest. And set the last spark of his eyes. Free from the smothering clouds of wars.
Upon the torches of the stars. Let the last surge of his breath. Take refuge in the cradling air. Above the dreams of ravens where. Only the hawk remembers death. Then let his shade to Huma rise. Beyond the wild, impartial skies.
The turmoil within his heart is like a frivolous ocean bounce from side to side. Within the temple, he remembered seeing a statue. A statue of one of the "true" gods, or so the elf had implied. They had ventured here, another quest in search of beings that, if they ever existed, had chosen to remain apart from the suffering we mortals bear. Choose not to lend a hand to those that would seek their aid. Choose not to hold back the darkness and the evil of old legends reborn. Choose not to empower true champions, true knights and warriors against te coming evils we have already witnessed prepairing.
And yet, a Gnome. A brave and crazy Gnome, without their aid stood against that evil for his friends, and even a stranger traveling with them. Though it cost him everything, he stood so that others might live. With out them. It is for that, that his anger would wait. He had more important, more holy tasks at hand in carring for his friend. We need to find a place to lay him to rest. Does anyone know the Gnomish custom for such things looking towards Durom and truely hoping not to hear any of Trap's good natured, but crazy stories about his expeditions to Gnomeland on a 3rd hidden moon. . .. I vaguely recalleth tales of a "life-questing"?
Several moments pass and the light gradual raises to full dailylight. The torn body of Rumal lies in a pool of blood, missing an arm. No sign of the dragon remains.
The dim light streaming in the doors leave the statues covered in shadow. From left to right is a statue of a woman astride a sea turtle hoisting a trident, a well dressed merchant holding an unbalanced set of scales and wearing a blindfold over one eye. In the center, the tall statue of the woman. To the right a man with a bull's head, followed by a skeletal man wearing a crown, and finally a half-rat man.
The area in the center of the statues has been swept clean- the rest of the room is scattered with debris. The altar, you note, is covered in layers of filth and offal- whatever was beneath is buried in several inches of trash.
Hu frowns as the falling torch flickers and dies. The monster is gone, for the moment.
Straightening, he takes in the surroundings. "We should move Rumal inside, at the least. Mayhap we can shut him in, behind closed doors, where scavengers can not get at him. Nor, the dragon."
He moves to one of the fallen doors and tests the strength of it. "Durom - your kind has an eye for matters of construction and the like. Do you think we could close off the well's opening with these and keep that dragon trapped below?"
Rumal takes in the room, delighting in the heady aroma of the brewing process and all the machinery involved. "Thankyoukindly, IfeellikeIhavebeenthroughtheringerandcouldreallyuseadrinktosettlemystomach. " He drinks thirstily. He puts his cup down briefly, to look around in confusion, "Ivaguelyremembercomingherewithsomefriends, haveyouseenthem? Maybetheycouldn'thandlethedrink." He shrugs and goes back to his cup. Nodding in appreciation of the drink, he compliments "You know, this is a great brew? I can truly feel the shpiris kicking in *hic* they run shtraight to muh ize. Um awreddy feein dro.." His eyes roll up as he does a face plant into the table and begins snoring loudly.
Dorum lost in thought staring at Rumal's Limpless body is startled by the elves shouts at him. "...yes yes, let me help. Janos be careful with our friend there, move inside quickly." He pulls out a hammer and two pitons, "Let us secure it, at least we'll have a warning." The dwarf trying to distract his despair by building this barrier.
The center altar seems to have some sort of writing across the top, at least from what you can see amid the filth.
After looking at the door you see that the marble pinions and their housings are cracked open. Other than propping the doors up across the entrance, which would require the strength of the entire party to carry. The northern building's doors seem untouched (and have not been tested for whether it's locked).
I'll take the time to bandage myself up, still looking very hurt. We need to decideth what we are to do now. With an army on the move, and our friend gone, I just don't know. I mean to say, I had heard rumors of war and evil building to the north. But, not of dragons. . . . I'm not delusional, am I. That was, indeed, a dragon, yes?