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Before Exiel can act, you see some activity from behind the dragonkin. A Drakelands sorcerer riding on a frost drake swoops down near Lavode and casts a spell. He is quickly shot down moments after by crossbowmen at the Western tower, but the damage is done - Lavode finds himself momentarily paralyzed!
Meanwhile, the rest of the party endeavours to rescue the fallen dragonkin. Exiel opens with another of his dark necromantic spells, ravaging the bone structure of the white dragonkin from the Drakelands.
The dragonkin is unable to brace himself for the paladin's necromancy and roars in agony as his bones are crushed by Exiel's magic. The pain leaves him open and slows his reactions, making it easier for Nienna to land her shots, though one of her arrows still misses. 42 however, has no trouble scorching the dragonkin with his rays.
Between your combined efforts, the white dragonkin falls before he is able to finish off the fallen silver. The blue and gold appear very displeased by this development. The blue dragonkin descends to ground and breathes out a line of white hot lightning at 42 and Nienna, whilst the gold hovers about 30ft above ground and breaths a cone of scorching red flames over Exiel and 42.
Round 2
Exiel
Nienna
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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Exiel shrugs off the flames and Nienna dodges the lightning breath entirely, but 42 is burnt by both. His potion helps to take away some of the damage.
The gold dragonkin is painfully crushed by Exiel's spell and shot several times by Nienna, but still stands. Or flies. Seeing the necromancer as a threat, he swoops down on Exiel and stabs at him with a large glaive.
Alas, he would have struck the paladin, but his pain and exhaustion from having his bones shattered slows him down and allows Exiel to dodge the attack. He is now hovering 15ft above Exiel.
The blue dragonkin sees 42 retreating and wants to go after him, but also realises that Nienna is also a big threat, and flies up above her to stab at her instead. He is hovering 15ft above Nienna.
But in his eagerness to stab Nienna he fumbles his grip and nearly drops the glaive instead.
Round 3
Exiel
Nienna
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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Both Exiel and Nienna provoke attacks of opportunity from the dragonkin.
The weakened gold dragonkin does not come close to penetrating Exiel's defences, but the healtheir blue dragonkin just barely manages to stab Nienna lightly in the shoulder.
The gold has Exiel in close quarters and drops his glaive to swipe at Exiel with both its claws and teeth.
In its weakened condition, however, even its best effort scores a weak bite that does not penetrate Exiel's bark-like skin.
The blue dragonkin takes 2 stabs at Nienna, then lowers itself a little more, almost close enough to take a bite (but not this turn).
Its first glave strike strikes Nienna again, digging into her side and drawing a stream of blood.
Round 4
Exiel
Nienna
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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Exiel does thoroughly eviscerate the gold dragonkin with his attacks.
Nienna attempts to take a 5ft step towards the blue dragonkin, but remains in the range of its glaive for now.
Nienna's first shot sends two arrows into the blue dragonkin, but the dragonkin sees an opening and stabs her in return. The pain throws her off and she tries to fire her next two arrows by holding them by the arrowheads rather than at the fletching. Needless to say, it doesn't work well at all.
Round 4
Exiel
Nienna
-----------------------------resolved
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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42 pulls back a another 30 feet away from the dragonkin, pulling out a few sky rockets and alters them with his alchemy and lights two.
[shortened the length of two sky rockets so that they will go off at the end of this turn.[/ooc]
They are aimed to go right at the dragonkin (at a speed of 90feet per round.)
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42 lights a couple of rockets and sends them flying towards the dragonkin. They hit him in the face, but don't explode this round. The dragonkin looks at 42 confusedly, then returns its attention to Nienna.
He strikes Nienna once more, leaving her just barely clinging on to consciousness.
Round 5
Exiel
Nienna
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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Seeing Nienna in dire straits, Exiel flies up to the dragonkin to draw its attacks, stopping 15ft above it and then calling out Lauriel to aid him. Working together, Exiel casts a spell to conjure viscous adhesive fluids whilst Lauriel lifts the base of her mask and projects the fluids through her mouth to coat them over the dragonkin below.
If it fails its save, Exiel will yell out to 42, "Hey 42, I'm sending a present to ya!"
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The dragonkin takes a stab at Exiel as he flies close...
...but his attack glances off Exiel's shield spell. He then gives a roar of surprise when Lauriel spews her sticky white fluids all over his wings...
... gluing them together and causing him to fall to the ground!
The fall itself barely fazes him, but he is now confined to the ground for two rounds, and it is 42's turn...
Round 5
Exiel
Nienna Possum
-----------------------Resolved
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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The prone and entangled dragonkin poses an easy target, but 42 stumbles a little in his haste to close in, and manages to just barely miss the dragonkin's head. The dragonkin hisses in anger and rolls onto his feet takes a step back and stabs at the magus.
The large glaive almost gets 42 in the chest, but at the last moment the sticky strands restrict his movement and slows him down just enough for 42 to barely dodge out of the way.
Round 6
Exiel
Nienna Possum
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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42 swings at the dragonkin as it rolls around.
and
Easily dodging the attack from the dragonkin, 42 calls upon an old spell and casts defensively Vampiric Touch
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42 swings at the dragonkin as it rolls around.
** spoiler omitted **Easily dodging the attack from the dragonkin, 42 calls upon an old spell and casts defensively Vampiric Touch
CD: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (17) + 14 = 31
Attack 1: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (9) + 14 = 23 doubt that hits
Attack 2: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19
42 and Exiel swing at the entangled dragonkin from different directions, drawing blood. The dragonkin stabs at Exiel with his glaive as the paladin closes in...
He misses.
With both the magus and paladin harrying him at close quarters, the dragonkin drops his glaive and gets to brass tacks, going for 42 since Exiel has proven all but impossible to strike.
His bite snaps at empty air, but his claws dig in and dig in deep.
Round 7
Exiel
Nienna Possum
Lavode?
42
Dragonkin
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Exiel thrusts his sword deep into the dragonkin's chest, causing it to rear back in pain. As the dragonkin brings his head forward again, Exiel reverses his swing and lops off the dragonkin's head.
As you look around after the battle, you see that the Drakelands forces have been thoroughly routed and are in full retreat. The grounds of Spurhorn are littered with bodies, but those of the Drakelands forces far outnumber those of Spurhorn's defenders, and much of that can be attributed to your efforts.
The silver dragonkin whom you saved from a coup de grace is still unconscious, but her chest rises and falls slowly. So does Nienna's, but at least she is (just barely) conscious. You can hear and see in the distance the various commanders of the Spurhorn troops doing headcounts and organising first aid to those who can still be saved. The mood is mixed - on the one hand, the soldiers of Spurhorn mourn those who have fallen in the defence of their keep, but on the other hand, the defence had gone far better than any of them had hoped, and even the simplest soldier is able to gain some idea that the tide of the war has shifted significantly.
You have no doubt that eventually Commander Pharamol will want to speak to you. You can heal up and make preparations beforehand if you wish, or just wait for Pharamol to find you.
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42 blinks out of the way as the frightful claw swept towards his face, returning just in time to strike back at the beastie as he casts another spell defensively. ghoul touch
Whilst you are discussing your options, Commander Pharamol himself seeks you out and commends you on your efforts.
"We are indebted to you for your efforts in defending Spurhorn. You have our deepest thanks, and have more than earned the reward which you requested. Yet out of necessity, I must ask that you perform one more task for us. The siege has been all but broken for now, but the siege was maintained under the leadership of one General Malesinder. Malesinder is aide to Yrax, one of the ruling Warlords of the Drakelands, and unless he is defeated, it will only be a matter of time before Yrax musters reinforcements, either from his own forces or requests them from the other Warlords, and the siege is resumed."
"With the Drakelands forces defeated and in disarray, Malesinder will be struggling to hold his forces together, and this presents us with the perfect chance to strike. Malesinder is a great terrifying winged beast of ice and fury, and we are so spent from that battle that I fear even our best will find it difficult to engage him on our own. You, however, with the prowess you have displayed, I believe are best equipped to prevail against him in direct combat. We can escort you to his doorstep and keep his troops at bay whilst you battle him. We will of course offer you a sizeable share of the spoils for this, and with the siege broken we can also divert resources to help you find that other artifact which you said you were seeking."
"Will you help us?"
When you mention Alden's disappearance, Pharamol frowns in concern as he considers the situation.
"That is troubling. We have always known that Spurhorn was warded against teleportation, but the details were classified information and my predecessor was killed in battle before that knowledge could be passed on to me. Hmm... if the ward works by diverting teleportation, then one would hope that you can follow your friend by attempting teleportation again and submitting to the diversion. Since the ward was put in place to protect Spurhorn as a bastion of the Skyfire Mandate, it is possible that some way of extricating one's self from the trap is available to those who can prove themselves to be loyal to the Skyfire Mandate. If you will pledge to aid us against Malesinder after your small friend is rescued, I will send Bescaylie and Efrixes to aid you. Is that agreeable to you?"
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Exiel nods quickly and enthusiastically.
"We've already committed to helping you break this siege and I for one am not about to leave this unfinished. Odds are we've made enemies of this Malesinder anyway. But we also want to rescue our ally as soon as possible, and if you can help us with that, we'd be very much obliged. If you think Bescaylie and Efrixes will be of help to us, we'd be very grateful for their assistance too."
"One more thing... When you this Malesinder is "a great terrifying winged beast of ice and fury"... do you know what manner of creature he is precisely? Is there anything more that you can tell us about his abilities and tactics?"
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Exiel triggers the scroll, and the three of you feel a lurch as you are pulled through space, suddenly halted, and then yanked away roughly in an altogether different direction. When you become aware of your surroundings again, you find yourselves in a disused square stone chamber. The decomposing corpses of a Triaxian and a frost drake lie crumpled on the floor, the thick dust around them showing signs of recent and violent disturbance. A sealed stone portal stands in the western wall, long lines of script engraved above it. The door is a solid block of granite 10 feet in diameter, and you can't tell how thick it is. A 15-foot-tall iron statue of a dragon-headed humanoid stands against the west wall, ominously clear of dust.
In the corner, you see a very familiar helpful halfling sitting on an equally familiar and helpful wolf, both eyeing the humanoid statue with more than a little nervousness.
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"Well, we kicked some serious butt out there and the invaders have retreated. Commander Pheromones wants us to go after the head-honcho, and we figured we'd bring you along for as a good luck charm," Exiel says with a mischievous grin, relieved to see that Alden and Naala are safe and sound.
"I see you're made some new friends too," he adds as he points at the corpses and the stone statue. "So...now that we're all here, I don't suppose you've worked out a way to get out of this place? And what's the deal with tall dark and stony over there?"
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Exiel thoroughly searches the room and scans it for magic, and is able to find several items on the dead triaxian that Lauriel and 42 identify:
Amulet of Natural Armor +2
Cloak of Elvenkind
Scholar's ring
Stone Golem who is not attacking for now
The writing on the wall is in Triaxian, but Bescaylie is able to read it easily.
"We must never forget the sacrifice of the Great Ones. Honour the fallen by naming the first and the last."
She thinks about the statement before saying, "this appears to be a history test, designed to allow true soldiers of Spurhorn to pass. Of the champions of the War of Heroes, Aernon and Vayus were the first, and Nurylae and Zentar were the last."
As soon as she speaks, the huge statue in the corner raises its head, then bows and places a massive arm against the block of granite sealing the stone portal, and pushes. You hear the sound of crumbling masonry as the granite block recedes into the wall, then rolls aside to reveal a corridor lit with torches. A small mound of mortar and stone lies at the entrance, and beyond it, several triaxians wearing the colours of Spurhorn look at you in confusion and alarm before finally recognising you. As you leave the chamber, the granite block slides back into place at the golem's beckoning, and from the other side you can see that up until now, the entrance to the hidden room had been completely covered by a thin wall.
After some questioning, you discover that you are in the underground complex beneath Spurhorn's central keep, the same underground complex you prevented the Drakelands troops from infiltrating earlier during the battle. You are brought back before Commander Pharamol, who is surprised by your speedy return and even more surprised by the report of your discovery.
"You continue to amaze me with your contributions to our cause, and I cannot thank you enough! We will certainly hold a feast in your honour, or as much of a feast as our supplies will permit, once this siege is finally broken. However, yet one more task remains to be done. Our scouts have confirmed that Malesinder's troops are still in disarray, but the remnants are slowly rallying to his camp. Our scouting parties have stalled the rallying of his troops substantially, and we should have little trouble clearing a path through his camp for you to engage him."
"We await your word that you are ready."
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with the assumption that you might have one of the triaxians aid us in combat, perhaps?