Gromff does indeed reach out and halt the earthbreaker at the back of the swing. "Lets what else they plan and give the drakes a prisoner. Make em less likely ta blame us."
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Roland seems reluctant. "They almost killed the wizard! They cannot be allowed to walk away from this!"
He catches his breath while discussing with Gromff.
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Oh, was I almost killed? Interesting… the mage hears the flapping of wings and the fast approaching drakes Oh, great! Our new allies! wobbling, she sits down, staring at the bolts piercing her body and flesh. There was that desperate moment when the bolts hit, all went blank, she wasn’t able to breath, and then blinding pain. I must be getting used to feel pain, to be able to cast magic in that condition…
From the street, she calls out ”Don’t kill them, we’ve drake’s incoming, it’ll be messy to explain why they are dead and we are not.”
Watching the approach of the drakes, Adakos will quickly move towards the gathering in the alley. Not wanting to get in between the big man and the assassins, he shuffles around him and begins to unceremoniously rip arrows from his targets, their cries of pain be damned. "Best put on your happy face you cowards. It's time to beg for your lives." he says, a sudden cold edge to his voice. He had no love for people such as these, who would attack anyone, especially a woman, like sneak-thieves in the night.
"I don't know if the appearance of these creatures," he says, aiming his gaze at the sky, "bears good or ill, but we best be ready."
2 of the 3 remain conscious but bloodied; their companion lay quietly on the alley floor in a growing pool of his own blood. The 2 survivors raise a hand in a silly attempt to ward off the incoming blows, but Gromff's strong hand and Miro's wise words hold the barbarian's rage and ranger's arrows at bay for the moment.
One of them men pulls back a hood, wet with his own blood, "Glory to Lord Sess, and glory to the Dragon!--" His words fumble momentarily, then he spits out a broken tooth and a mouthful of blood.
His companion remains silent as the other dying one next to him.
Two large drakes slow their descent with heavy flaps, then delicately touch down -- one, a dark green forest drake, on a rooftop overlooking the alley; the other, an orange and red fire drake, directly upon the ground where the group stands over the fallen assassins.
The fire drake sniffs at the air, smiling in relish. Its claws scratch deeply into the ground. It opens its fanged mouth to say something when suddenly a cacophonous thunderclap and lightning bolt rips out of the sky, shattering a pile of crates to smoldering kindling. Looking up you see a blue dragon zipping through the air. As it lands beside the orange drake, the lesser being bows its head in submission. The blue bares its teeth with a snarl, sending sizzles of lightning dancing along its rows of sharp teeth. The fire drake slowly backs away from the bloody scene, but remained in close proximity.
The proud, wicked blue looks at everyone, reveling in its superiority. The dragon now wears jewelry to accent its already magnificent glossy scales-- several crown-horns are adorned with gold and silver rings around them; a jeweled metallic bracer sparkles on its right wrist; a necklace of silver and gold dangles over its chest bearing a massive fist-sized yellow gem...
It inhales deeply through its nostrils. It looks around at everyone, waiting... for what, you're not sure.
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The gem calls Roland's attention, but he does not understand what is the blue dragon doing there. He minds his own business and moves to Catcher to check if she is still alive. "You ok kid?"
Thanking the Gods that Roland decides to check on Catcher instead of talking, Miro bows deeply to the dragon. "Greetings, Great One. To what do we owe the honor?"
Having neither the skill, nor experience, related to dealing with such a creature, Adakos stands there with his mouth agog, unsure of what to say or do. Standing before the legendary creature was more than his mind could take at the moment, and it quietly retreated to somewhere safe.
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"You are formidable. These cretins never stood a chance. It is a wonder that their master was foolish enough to send them against you."
The blue dragon then lowered its head, putting it eye-to-eye with the downed men. "You. And you. No longer are you Sess' men. He is a foul excrement not worthy of Her. You will now feed these ones--" The dragon lifted a claw and motioned it at the two drakes, causing the scaled monsters to narrow their eyes and smile. This notion evoked terror in the 2 men, each shaking their heads and mouthing the word 'no'.
"I grant you the advantage. Go now, run!" The two injured men clumsily got up and promptly fell back to the ground, slipping in Miro's magic grease. They then crawled out of the slick and sprinted in opposite directions. Their flight tickled the blue immensely and it laughed an ugly, joyless laugh that sends chills down your spine.
The two drakes took to the air in pursuit, each following their own meal. Almost simultaneously they opened their mouths to fire a breath weapon attack, sending a green mucus ball and a fireball in opposite directions. Down the lane to the north you hear a bubbling sizzle intermingled with cries of pain; to the south you hear the rush of intense flame. Each drake lands moments later to devour their prey where they fell.
The blue looks to the party. "You did nothing wrong and have no need to fear retribution, but watch your backs for Sess. He is not as stupid as he sometimes appears to be," The dragon's eyes grow wider then says, "though if he deigns to attack you again without provocation, bring me his head on a pike!"
The blue takes to the air with a powerful leap. It circles to gain altitude and leaves you with parting words, "Welcome to Kingscrown!"
"Thanks for the welcome..." Miro responds barely above a whisper, the strange elf's behavior in the Tavern explained at this point. He shakes his head, wondering what other surprises were in store for them here.
"That was the elf wasn't it?" Gromff says almost matter-of-factly. He doesn't appear worried outwardly but they definitely dodged a bolt of lightning. Good thing this Sess made the first move.
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Roland stopped looking at Catcher to pay attention to the dragon's words. He had to hold his urgency to position himself between the men and the drakes, but it worked, since he was prepared to do just that in this city. He then returned his gaze to the wizard, confident that she knew about he elf already. "Hey Catcher, why don't we make it this way: you starting walking around town, and we follow you by some distance. Eventually trouble will find you, and voila, we have a fight!"
Gromff ignores Roland's foolish idea and steps forward to the lass with a wand and starts repairing the wounds from the bolts. He pulls them out without the least bit of consideration to Catcher. "Shouldnae left. Lizard just promised ta kill us and ye wander out inta the street alone. Ye shoulda known he was going ta leave some behind ta watch us and take a shot in a moment a weakness. So congratulations, your spat with the lad nearly got ye kilt. Ye gonna give it a rest or do one o ye have ta die first?" He looks pointedly between Roland and Catcher waiting for an answer.
Afterwards he suggests we all go get the chits exchanged so they can get the amulets. They seemed important.
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"Why don't you shut up as well?" she says getting up. "There you are, so mighty and smart deducing something that we all see happened already. Don't to that, you are only proving you don't know nothing."
She looks around and says "You three, " pointing to Roland, Miro and Adakos "Go exchange your chits as Gromff suggested. And you" she says looking to the talkative dwarf "I have some things to take care off before we enlist, and I'm going. Decide if you are tagging along." she says walking away, heading towards the market.
Miro chuckles at the wizard's exclamation, rolling his eyes. Hopefully the young fool would grow some wisdom, and quickly. He looks to Adakos, "How about we go get our badges of honor with the dragon army. I'm sure nothing could go wrong."
Evil. That was evil. This whole place...is evil.
Not at all comfortable with the position he has found himself in, Adakos listens as the group continues to quarrel and bicker among themselves. Wondering how they managed to get this far he can only hope they manage to sort things out before something takes advantage of the distraction and eats them.
"I don't know..." the half-elf says, eyeing the chit and considering Catcher's orders, "Are we sure we should be throwing in with this lot? I mean, those things, they seemed...evil. I can't say I'm comfortable with dealing with them." He didn't know what to think of the whole mess. "If we have no other option, then so be it. But I still cannot fathom what we hope to gain."
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”What we hope to gain? Easy enough to answer” the mage stops at Adakos question ”To stay alive long enough until we can actually do a damn thing about anything, and I have a plan, which considering our current situation, it’s worth mentioning it’s a fairly good plan.” she raises a hand stopping any question ”Not here, not now. Go trade your chits and meet me, ” eyes the dwarf ”maybe us, in the enlisting area.” Catcher finishes and starting heading off towards the market.
Roland quickly enjoys the order Catcher gave them. He saluted her immediately. "Yes sir!"
But of course it would not be that easy, he waits until she is some 30 meters (100 feet) away and reveals his true intent. "It's so nice when she agrees with my idea... Now we just have to follow her and find the trouble! Common!" Roland will stalk her until the bookshop, and then when she gets in he will try to trade his chit.
Impressively enough, the barbarian even try to calm Adakos down. "Don't worry about them, Adakos. Although they are not nice, we haven't done anything evil so far, nor will we. Our goal is important, so we can stand killing some evil folks for a while."
Catcher makes her way back into the center of town and to Bookhaven where Gilderoy greets her with a wide guileless smile. "Yes! I'll show you to my workshop right away. Take all the time you need. Shall I have supper delivered in a few hours?"
Gilderoy leads you to a back room of his shop where there are comfortable chairs, quills, parchment, desks, scales, tools, rags, buckets of water, several rats in a cage, and most impressively-- a skeleton of a wyvern upon a large table with flagged notes denoting each bone and its scientific name. Nearby there is a large jar with a nasty gland floating in yellow fluid labeled 'Wyvern Poison Sac'.
This room is perfectly suited to research and magic item creation.
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Roland accompanies Catcher to her book shop where she arrives safe and sound. Walking onward he makes for the main town square where he finds the moneychanger.
Adakos, not surprised at this point by the continued drama between the barbarian and wizard, follows along behind the big man. "I don't think we need to see out trouble at all. It finds us." the half-elf says, sure of the fact that they were a beacon for trouble at this point. Once at the moneychanger's he will exchange his chit for the credit and brooch, putting the latter on as it seems to help keep away at least a minimal amount of local bother. Holding the ceramic piece of tender in his hand he asks, "Now where?"
Evil. That was evil. This whole place...is evil.
Not at all comfortable with the position he has found himself in, Adakos listens as the group continues to quarrel and bicker among themselves. Wondering how they managed to get this far he can only hope they manage to sort things out before something takes advantage of the distraction and eats them.
"I don't know..." the half-elf says, eyeing the chit and considering Catcher's orders, "Are we sure we should be throwing in with this lot? I mean, those things, they seemed...evil. I can't say I'm comfortable with dealing with them." He didn't know what to think of the whole mess. "If we have no other option, then so be it. But I still cannot fathom what we hope to gain."
"We ain't throwing in with this lot. Trust me. But we need information and ta get them kids out o here if'n their still alive. Anyone else see that stone on his neck?" Gromff does indeed follow Catcher if only to make sure the two don't kill each other or get themselves killed. Their stupid feud nearly did that already and yet that seemed to only make her more angry. Oh well. She'd learn or she'd die.
Miro also goes to the moneylender to cash in his chit and gain the credit and brooch, pinning the brooch visibly on his person. "Well then, that's done. I guess we find the other two and figure out what the plan is?" The halfling's tone gives every indication he is not very hopeful of it being a good plan. Or at least, a wise one.
"Indeed I saw that Gromff" - says Roland, talking about the gem. "It looks special, by all means. We will need to... take it back... but not now, of course. Do you remember that dragon's name, by the way?"
"Yeah Miro, let's go back to get the wizard and then we can focus on the problem at hand, before she finds herself another date."
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After they are gathered, Roland wants to know what is the suicidal plan this time. "So, stop beating around the bush Catcher."
Miro follows after Roland, wishing to know the plan before it is hatched. He hopes his, Gromff's, and Adakos' presence will help calm the two hotheads.
I simply can't wait to hear this plan.
Adakos follows the group, mindful of the fact that any choice they make at this point is likely fraught with danger.
"I saw the large gem, is that was you are referring to? What is the significance of the stone?" he asks, unsure of what the yellow gem has to do with anything at all.
It isn't like we are going to take it from the thing! Maybe Catcher plans on walking up and asking the beast to turn it over. That would make perfect sense to her I'm sure.
Roland gets a little bored by the amount of questions asked by the half-elf, but he answers it anyway. "Yeah, that sounds like the deal. We've found one of those before, but it was not quite like that. There's only way to know for sure." He firmly closes a fist, as if getting the gem in his hands already.
Miro starts asking around the tavern and on the street, getting bits and pieces of information here and there about the children's whereabouts in the cavern system, what to expect behind the waterfall, etc.
Roland will look for the enlistment officer to ask a few questions. "Hey, I wanna enlist but I still need to wait for some guys here in town, so, do you think there is any mission for me to do in here for the next few days? I don't like to sit idle and wait."
He wants to use this opportunity to get to know the place better. He's afraid his mission will send him to some place where they will be too far away from their goal.
Not nearly as smooth talking as Miro, nor cutting the impressive figure of Roland, Adakos resigns himself to scouting. "I'm going to have a look around town, maybe some of the surrounding land closeby, see what I can learn." he says, figuring he needs to find himself a way to be useful while the hot-tempered wizard does her thing. "If something comes up, leave a note at the Piton. I'll check in there regularly."
Adakos will spend his time exploring the areas surrounding the town, gaining a better understanding of the comings and goings of the various creatures there. He will also attempt to learn a little about the lizardmen encamped near the waterfall, mostly watching their habits and actions from a nice, secluded, vantage point.
At some point during the next few days he will also check in with the militia, showing them the document as well as his brooch and letting them know he is interested in signing up.
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”No, not yet. I’m not quite ready yet. There are some things I must know first.” she says answering Roland. ”I understand that my demands for time is something troubling, but I think it’ll help us.”
With this part solved, Catcher uses the next three days to work on the items, study dragons and talk with Gilderoy.
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”So, Gild.” she begins ”What are you doing here? I mean, I’m not sure what I’m doing here, but well, why you set shop here in this town?”
"I'll be back tomorrow, and you'll tell me how you acquired that." she says pointing to the skeleton.
”So, Gild.” she begins ”What are you doing here? I mean, I’m not sure what I’m doing here, but well, why you set shop here in this town?”
"Oh, it's rather boring actually. I could make up some grand tale about how I vanquished the beast... but alas, I did not kill it. Much to this wyvern's chagrin, it turns out that She doesn't care for them. When She first made appearances, drakes, wyverns, and even a few dragons came to pay her homage. The wyverns proved too hard to get along with, too pig headed. Before long She ordered them all killed! Blood rained from the sky that day... it was incredible. The air-to-air combat was a sight to see. When the skirmish was over, many dead wyverns lay upon the ground and the rest flew off to die another day."
"I was once part of the Sweetwaters underground. For decades people have been hiding away tomes, books, scrolls -- items considered to be contraband by the devils. I was the bookkeeper in a dank corner of the Sweetwaters sewers... it was awful. It was a constant battle to prevent water damage. I lost dozens of valuable tomes. When I heard about the Dragon and this town, it just felt like the right time to move. It turned out to be the best decision of my life. I mean, look at all this knowledge! Imagine, bereft of my intervention it all would've been burned or washed away down some drain." He shudders at the thought.
With this part solved, Catcher uses the next three days to work on the items, study dragons and talk with Gilderoy.
Miro starts asking around the tavern and on the street, getting bits and pieces of information here and there about the children's whereabouts in the cavern system, what to expect behind the waterfall, etc.
The bard uses this spare time to poke around and ask questions. Finding many folks simply unwilling to discuss the fate of the children, he does happen upon multiple similar accounts that indicate two things:
-When children arrive to Kingscrown through various means they go through a process where their names and origins are logged, they're inspected by someone named Rokzanosh, then finally they're delivered to the Dragon. They are then brought through the falling curtain of water by the Dragon, never to be seen again.-It seems to be the general consensus that no one except the Dragon and her captive children ever see behind the waterfall.
Miro asks a few of the more forthcoming fellows, trying to gain corroboration. "Where exactly is this Rokzanosh person? Is he around?" The halfling tries to make his question sound like innocent curiosity.
"Where exactly is this Rokzanosh person? Is he around?"
Multiple strangers describe the foul-mannered blue-robed elf that you met at the Golden Piton in response to your question.
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In pursuit of an enlistment, Roland walks around town for hours, eventually finding a small fort behind a spiked wooden wall. This fort seems to be a hub of military activity in town. Its square shape is nestled against the cliff face overlooking the lizardfolk city, not far from the top of the waterfall. In addition to the many soldiers about there are dozens of masons, carpenters and bricklayers busy at the task of building a more permanent fort stone wall, using the existing wooden wall as a guide.
Outside the fort walls are more than a hundred green recruits, all wearing leather armor and practicing fighting techniques with blunted faux weapons.
Finding a stern looking human man standing apart from the training but wearing green-scaled armor much like Delmont's, Roland makes the assumption that he is a higher rank. The burly barbarian walks confidently up to him and says...
"Hey, I wanna enlist but I still need to wait for some guys here in town, so, do you think there is any mission for me to do in here for the next few days? I don't like to sit idle and wait."
The man has firm demeanor and doesn't appear to be impressed by Roland's size. He looks up and down at the warrior, sizing him up. His eyes linger on the gold emblem embedded in the banker's veracity brooch, to which he raises an eyebrow.
"Mission? Who are you? There are always missions of importance that need the attention of Her fighting forces. You are not a soldier yet, but I can see you are a man of importance. I might have a job up your alley, but there are details that need working out. I can use you but only if you become one of us. If you plan on enlisting make yourself known over there." He points to the fort.
Adakos will spend his time exploring the areas surrounding the town, gaining a better understanding of the comings and goings of the various creatures there.
The ranger roams the countryside for the next few days. Finding much activity but little of interest, he returns to town with the discovery of multiple small villages, wilderness trails with trappers/hunters, snowy, muddy roads busy with wagon traffic...all with the growing city of Kingscrown as their hub.
Adakos has counted at least 30 individual drakes that frequent the area, most of whom spend their hours within the borders of town. They occasionally dart off to nearby clusters of woods or hills but inevitably make their way back to the cliffs surrounding the waterfall that overlooks the lizardfolk city.
He will also attempt to learn a little about the lizardmen encamped near the waterfall, mostly watching their habits and actions from a nice, secluded, vantage point.
Observation has shown that the lizardfolk worship the drakes as god-things. To this point you find many of the drakes revel in this status and seem to hang around for the adulation. Their primitive tent city is vast and bustling, but their behavior is patterned after, even if a bit forced, the more civilized folk who live on the rise above them.
At some point during the next few days he will also check in with the militia, showing them the document as well as his brooch and letting them know he is interested in signing up.
Like Roland before him, Adakos finds the military fort positioned on the cliff's edge overlooking the lizardfolk city. He is greeted by a recruiter wearing green-stained leather armor. This man welcomes the half-elf and explains that the first step will be an assessment of potential.
"If you pass our threshold for skill you will be fast-tracked into the ranks, and may go straight to initiation."He explains how each group of initiates -- both military and dragonpriest -- must state their allegiance in their own words and then drink from the dragon's chalice.
As the sun is setting on the heroes' second night in Kingscrown, a great familiar roar shatters the normalcy of the evening, heralding the return of the Dragon. The streets are suddenly filled by townsfolk spilling out of nearly every building, clamoring for a good view.
In the powerful claws of the great green is a cage-wagon filled with small figures. Echoing through the air are high-pitched screams of terror coming from this wagon. The sound is soon muffled into submission as the glorious monstrosity flies closer to the waterfall, down into the lizardfolk valley.
Miro grits his teeth in frustration as he spies the Dragon carrying its precious cargo to its final destination. He didn't care what these others thought. The next time that dragon left, he would combine his already decent skill at avoiding notice with a spell of invisibility, and see what was what behind that damned waterfall.
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He didn't care what these others thought. The next time that dragon left, he would combine his already decent skill at avoiding notice with a spell of invisibility, and see what was what behind that damned waterfall.
”Ah, fascinating! Even tho it was in the sewers, it must have been good to be free to pursue your aspirations.” she says somewhat sad ”Among other things, grew up as a slave, until I was sold to one noble at Vault. Only he was a great mage in disguise. He set me free and taught me the basic of the art. Those were fun and happy days, while they lasted.” she finishes bitterly.
On the second day, she intentionally leaves her Grimoire easy to be seen, even if it’s still locked. If that does not incite any question from the other mage, she’ll in the last day, over a cup of tea, try to talk him into sharing their knowledge.
”And here we are, as I promised, having tea and talking about spells.” she smiles to the man. Even if she didn’t felt attracted to him, it was sure better than that hot-head barbarian. At least she was able to have a descent conversation, without having to fight for each word she said. ”Should we compare what we know? At this point I must say I’m fairly curious to see how much I’m behind you.”
The ranger watches as the dragon returns, its parcel clutched tightly in its talons.
Well, if there was any doubt before, its cleared up now. That thing, no matter the outcome, is evil.
He resolves to himself to find someway to end this madness. There can be no good reason for the kidnapping of children in such a way. Something very nasty is going on, and the thought of it chills him to the bone.
Speaking plainly to the recruiter, "And after initiation, if I'm needed elsewhere, are there to be any problems? I have obligations back home and am not privy to when word might come that my presence is required there." he asks. "I just want to be clear that while I am offering my services, I am not turning over my soul."
"Moradin's Balls," Gromff curses as the Dragon returns...and not alone. Even from here he can hear the screams of the children. It takes every ounce of will in him not to march over there and through the waterfall alone. When the others return that night they get a table near the back and away from prying eyes and ears. He sits there sullen, contemplative and serious. Without preamble he says very quietly, "We need ta git in there. Tonight." He looks up at the others, hoping they are of the same mind and that someone has an idea.
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Catcher uses both of her codespeak spell, to allow everyone to communicate freely, without fear of being overheard.
”Probably yes, but not for the same motive you are thinking.” Catcher says, once she is back again from her item enchanting session.
”Here, take this, try to be careful.” she says handling the Adamantine mace to the dwarf.
”Now, please hear me out, and don’t judge me because your beliefs.”
The waits until she is certain everyone is paying attention.
“Is it a shame the dragon is taking children? Yes, it is. In the end, does it matter? No, it does not matter, because if we don’t win this war, there’ll be lot more of dead children, this assuming the dragon is eating them.” she continues ”Since the beginning this whole thing is strange. A chromatic dragon that does not hoard treasure? A dragon that laid waste to a city because they hurt children?” she waits her words set in before saying more ”I have no proof, this I’m about to say is nothing more than wild conjecture, but I think there’s two possibilities for this behavior.”
She raises one hand, and lift one finger indicating her first conjecture ”The dragon is looking for a child in particular, and it is a good dragon, treating them fairly and just in that big cave. I don’t need to tell you I don’t consider this option something that really could happen.” She lift a second finger and continues ”The dragon is looking for a child in particular, and using the others to grow stronger. Dragons take years, centuries to grown up in size and power, and assuming this greeny is the same one we saw some months ago, she is a lot bigger, and that is not natural. My bet is that she is sacrificing or using the children vital essence in some sort of ritual, to make her stronger.” she looks around and asks ”What do you guys think?”
Gromff looks at Catcher with shock. She was being far to impassive about this. "Its a dragon," he says loudly now that the codespeak was up. "I know this whole place is odder than a goblin scholar but it ain't so odd that dragon is good, don't ye doubt. Long run or short I ain't sittin by while it does Moradin knows what ta them. We need ta get in there tonight and find out what is going on."