Right then, the gnome works carefully to get the Taldan words out clearly, I'll disappear, and throw one rock if it is safe to come up. and with that the gnome quickly upends two vials into his mouth and disappears!
Moving carefully ahead, he'll scout the scene, and throw one rock back in the direction of the party if it is safe to advance.
The light from outside dimly illuminates the tunnel mouth. However, after entering Seamus can't see the source of the sounds.
The gnome will turn around, and invisibly return to the party. I canna' see in there, too dark. says the disembodied gnomish voice, So if you want to creep up I can bring some lights in there with us, or if someone can see in the dark...
Jarrek laughs. "Ha! We should've thought of that. I can see in the dark and you can too, right Haftor?" He shakes his head. "We were going to go in first and distract the beast anyway, so we might as well head on in! The rest of you can slip in behind us."
"Likely it can communicate," Trianne said quietly. "Probably in Draconic, which I know. And likely of no use, I know, but--" She shrugged.
As she talked, she fished a sunrod out of her pack, nodding that she was ready.
Jarrek and Haftor move in, rounding the corner to see the still-wounded drake laying on a pile of reeds and eating a waterlogged and decayed cow.
Round 1:
Initiative order
Jarrek
Drake
Svarog
Haftor
Seamus
Trianne
Haftor nods to confirm he comes fully equipped with dwarven darkvision, then strides into the cave alongside Jarrek. "It's a bit rude to stroll into the beastie's home and start whacking at it, but to be fair, he started it. Plus, he's a beastie."
Jarrek grins at Haftor. "Come on, Haftor, let's kill this thing!" The big half-orc's enthusiasm is infectious and his confidence is inspiring. "Hello, beastie!" Falchion held high, Jarrek rushed the drake to keep it trapped in its nest.
Round 1 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Jarrek-acted
Drake-acted
Svarog
Haftor
Seamus
Trianne
Jarrek advances into the lair. In response, the drake rears back and spits a glob of mucus at the bard.
"Eww." Haftor wrinkles his nose in disgust as he moves toward the drake, wincing as Jarrek is struck by the toxic gob. He pauses for a moment, aims and fires his crossbow.
Trianne looked at Svarog with wide eyes and said, “The horse, I don’t-- can you tell what’s wrong with it? I’ll lead it out if it will stand.”
She talked as she moved, walking deeper into the lair. She almost stumbled over the sloping terrain and finally snapped the sunrod to life in response. She tossed it forward into the receding shadows and raised her voice in the language of dragons.
“You have taken what is ours serpent! Submit and you may yet live!”
The drake roars back in the same language: "NEVER!"
Snapping a witty retort in Draconic, Well, I guess you won't live then.. the gnome carefully aims an alchemical bomb at the drake, flinging it in its direction.
Jarrek dodges out of the way of the mucus, avoiding the worst of it. "Ha! Get him, Haftor! We got this, Seamus!"
Trianne, did you ever read the spoiler about the horse from your Appraise check?
Svarog took a moment to give the horse a careful look, at Trianne's words.
Then he ran after the others, waiting for Trianne to drop the light before firing his bow at the drake. "I don't know if you understand me, beast, but know that you attacked the wrong prey."
The drake is looking rather unwell.
Jarrek's blade bursts into pale violet flames as he draws it back for a massive strike. "We've almost got it done, folks! Keep up the pressure! Let's do this, Haftor!"
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Jarrek-acted
Drake-acted
Svarog
Haftor
Seamus
Trianne
Jarrek's blade turns on the drake's tough scales. It erupts into a fury of fangs and tail, savaging the bard and grabbing him in its jaws.
Ptttthbt. Dicebot is petty.
Svarog roared a challenge at the drake, stepping forward. "Drop our companion, foul monster, or suffer the fate of the animals you brought here before!"
He took aim and fired again, rapidly, and nearly caught the drake in the eye with his second shot - but at the last moment, it moved its head, and he merely pierced its throat.
The drake falls.
Aye, Jarrrek, I thought the idea wuz not to get eatin' by the big drake?Seamus jokes with the bard, helping him to his feet. Scanning the putrid lair, he adds, He's a big 'un for sure.
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Jarrek grabbed Seamus's much smaller hand and pulled himself to his feet with a groan. "Not big enough to swallow a slab of beef like this! That was actually easier than I..." As the big half-orc takes a step toward Svarog to congratulate him on his aim, his leg gives out and the grinning warrior collapses to the ground in a boneless heap.
Seamus looks down in mild horror, and then looks at his hand, I, um, I didna do anything... Um.. he stammers, looking at his hand in abject horror. Experimentally he taps Jarrek with his other finger, and when Jarrek doesn't get worse, Seamus calls out, Um, I think we need something to wake Jarrek up?
He then drops to his knees, and begins stuffing a loose bandage in Jarrek's wounds.
Seamus is able to stabilize the half-orc.
Svarog had also hurried forward when Jarrek fell, but his scowl eased when he saw that the half-orc still drew breath. As Seamus tended Jarrek, Svarog raised his voice. "Haftor, Trianne, do you possess healing? I have given all my draughts already; none remain."
Deciding that watching Seamus work wasn't that enthralling, Svarog went about searching the lair. "Faugh. What has this beast been eating..."
In addition to various feculent fragments of past meals, the ranger finds a buckler and heavy pick, both well-made; three vials; a sealed scroll case; a carved bloodstone; and 157 gp worth of miscellaneous coinage (11 pp, 50 gp, and 70 sp).
Haftor, who had just managed to free his hammer from his belt, shuffled to a halt, letting out a long breath and a surprised harrumph.
"Right then, that's a job of it." He re-sheathes his hammer and steps over to Jarrek, casting a quick healing.
Jarrek looks blearily up at Haftor as he comes to. "Damn thing must've dropped me smacked me harder than I thought. Thanks." The big half-orc sits on the ground for a few seconds, catching his breath. "How's the horse?"
The horse is wounded and skittish, but calms down once free and out of the lair. You emerge from the cave to a rousing cheer from the boat's crew.
“No. No healing here,” Trianne called out as she picked up the sunrod and helped to escort the horse out. “You are one salty animal,” she said to the mount in a soothing chuckle.
Returning to aid in and add light to the search, she said, “And I didn’t prepare magic detection today, but I can after a little time back on the ship. Unless anyone else has that particular bit of study in their arsenal right now?”
As the search of the lair continued, Trianne also collected a blood sample from the drake in one of her empty vials. She held the vial up against the brightness of the sunrod and shook it a bit, nodding approval at the sample.
“Do we want anything else from it?” she asked as an afterthought. “Teeth or the like?”
Seamus shakes his head in the negative to Trianne's question. Nay, not me. seeing her recover the sunrod he adds, Next time You can save that, I can make light appear freely, well, maybe once everytime the sun comes up. I do know how much gold those there things go fer, an' we should conserve resources where we can. Sorry I dinna' think o' it at the time.
“That’s alright, Seamus. Good to know,” Trianne replied. “I can work light too, if I study on it, but it’s always a bit wonky. Truth be told, I thought it best to be safe,” she waggled the sunrod. “Didn’t know how big a space we were getting into, and I didn’t want any surprises lurking in the shadows. Not with that slippery of a beast. Coin well spent as far as I’m concerned.”
Haftor nods at Jarrek's comment, looking him over appraisingly. "Hrm. Yeah. You still look like you've been dragged through a hedge backward. I'll give you another go."
Haftor looked at Trianne with confusion, and a hint of displeasure as he watched her extract fluids from the defeated beastie. He shakes his head in the negative when she offers up more body parts, wondering whether she was some sort of secret necromancer. "Thank you, no."
Trianne eventually finds out that the buckler, the three vials, and the scroll in the case detect as magical.
Trianne took some time away from mucking while she was eating to work her studies against the items they had found that resonated with the weave.
She hoped the ale she spilled on the buckler didn't skew her understanding of its workings too much.
"Appreciate it, Haftor." Jarrek grins at his friend and shakes his head. "Gotta watch out for that tail next time!" The big half-orc waves at the crew as they cheer. "Damn tough horse you got here! Barely even bothered by that drake!"
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A particularly vicious copepod nips at Jarrek while wading back to the boat, but other than that there are no incidents.
I always thought Jarrek looked like a plankton, but I figured it was just me.
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The rest of the day passes uneventfully, as does the night.
Seamus will return to the sounding position, and keep watch to make sure they don't run aground...
Do na worry, I won' let us run aground in the fog! the gnomish alchemist heads to the forecastle, and begins slinging a line into the river to test their depth and draft.