"Thank you all for your input. I'll save the rest of the spells for when we handle the Razmirans then."
Merephel casts Aid and Bull's Strength, as quietly as she can. If the dragon doesn't respond, she will accept the horn from Calden, and look it over.
Shirzon nods to Merephel in thanks, her face serious as they all prepare to face the dragon. "This is it. Good luck to us, huh?" She smirks a little, but then moves forward when the others are ready to face the huge foe that stands between them and resolving Kassen's legacy.
"Yep, seems like this is it. Good luck, all!"
As soon as Merephel completes her last spell and blows in the horn of fog a deep, foghorn-like noise echoes nearby, with the note dropping abruptly to a lower register as a thick cloud of heavy fog is blown forth from the horn. The dragon immediately notices the sound and prepares to attack! Both Korech and Shirzon are within the area of the cloud of fog.
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Deciding to give his bow a chance against this creature, Korech rushes out of the cloud, aiming an arrow for the dragon's bony eyesocket before letting an arrow fly!
Deadeye guide my arrow... against the gold-covered bones. This is not a good target for arrows. Maybe I should bring a sling next time I fight gold-covered dragons.
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Merephel sees the dragon getting ready to attack, and she drops into a wide stance. Her hair is coming out of it's braid, and her eyes are narrowed. As she watches the dragon approach, she grips her mace, and holds it in front of her.
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Only when the skeletal dragon turns towards them to attack, does it truly come to Calden just what they are facing. It's massive! Dear Irori, I hope I've trained well enough. When we vanquish this one, perhaps we owe Pharasma a prayer.
Hesitating in attacking the creature outright, Calden shuffles forward, seeking some refuge in the fog cloud. He holds his quarterstaff behind him, poised to strike at range before the undead monstrosity fully closes the distance. "Have courage, friends. For Kassen!"
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Shirzon takes a deep, nervous breath as the dragon looms before her. You're tough enough to face this, she assures herself, although it's a hard sell. She tries to make herself smaller in the fog, hoping the dragon won't see through it.
When the dragon approaches, Shirzon bursts forth from the fog in ambush. She swings her maces in a flurry of motion, aiming for the thinnest bones on this huge skeletal creature.
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Calden moves into the fog with his companions, waiting for the dragon to strike before attacking himself. The skeletal creature, however, surprises everyone and lets out an eerie roar. It eyes turn red, a flame dancing in them. Then, suddenly, a burst of flame comes out of its skeletal mouth: the resulting explosion is huge, enveloping the heroes of Kassen in flames.
After the fire, comes the pain. Their skin burning, the Heroes of Kassen try to muster their courage in front of this fearsome enemy. Shirzon and Merephel wait hidden in the mist, while Korech manages to focus on his target and attacks: although his arrow cannot fully pierce the creature’s bony body, the archer’s attack is effective and harms the skeletal dragon, at least causing some minor damage.
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Shirzon
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Merephel, slowed by her armor, and further slowed by the cloud in front of her blocking her sight, takes the full brunt of the dragon's fire. She is scorched, and pain covers her body. She screams in agony, and immediately raises her holy symbol aloft, to heal her companions.
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Shirzon attempts to duck the gout of flame, but in her haste she trips over her own feet and stumbles directly into the blast. She swears loudly as the fire licks at her clothes and skin, finding some relief after Merephel sends out her healing energy.
Gritting her teeth, she moves up to the imposing bone dragon and braces herself. "Calden! I'm going to try to get behind it! Let's destroy this thing!"
Korech roars in pain as the dragon scorches him, despite diving away from the worst of it. Deciding that his bow is his best weapon, despite the dragons' resistance, he pulls out a fistful of arrows and starts firing like mad.
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Calden dives to the side at seeing the flame dancing in the dragon's eye, ducking away just in time to avoid the flames. "Sorry guys, I guess I was wrong..." As he turns his dive into a roll and comes back up, he's already moving forward towards the skeletal creature. "I'm with you, Shirzon. Go!"
Quarterstaff spinning, he charges towards the gold-plated dragon, sweeping one end of the weapon forward in a powerful attack, aided by his magically enhanced strength.
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After evading the dragon’s fire breath, Calden charges towards the gold-plated dragon. Before he can reach the dragon, however, the skeletal creature takes advantage of Calden’s charge to bite him with his long, bony fangs. Fortunately, Calden has complete control over his body and nimbly jumps atop the dragon’s skeletal head, holds his balance and sweeps one end of his quartestaff down in a powerful attack, aided by his magically enhanced strength. The quarterstaff hits the dragon’s head and produces several small cracks in its skull.
The dragon roars furiously, forcing Calden to jump down as quickly as he jumped up. The flames dancing in the dragon’s eyes start flickering with rage as the creature steps to Calden’s side and then stretches out his skeletal neck, trying to hit Calden and push him off the bridge in the molten gold canal below.
***
Calden’s companions eyes go wide as they see their trusty ally being pushed off the bridge by the skeletal dragon. Calden was not quick enough to dodge the dragon’s maneuver, and now, unless he performs an amazing feat of dexterity, he’s seriously risking to plunge in the molten gold below. Something that will likely kill him instantly.
***
Gritting her teeth, Shirzon moves up to the imposing bone dragon and tries to get behind it rolling below its skeletal body. She’s so quick and nimble that she manages to get behind the dragon without being hit at all.
In the meantime, Korech steps back, pulls out a fistful of arrows and starts firing frantically, in an attempt to draw the dragon’s attention away from Calden. With an amazing display of archery skills, Korech fires two arrows at once at the dragon, and both of them hit the undead creature, piercing its bones with deadly strength. Perhaps tired by the effort, Korech’s remaining arrow do not hit their target, passing between the dragon’s hollow chest.
Merephel raises her holy symbol aloft to heal her companions, helping them to recover from the terrible dragon’s breath aftereffects.
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Shirzon
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Overwhelmed by the surge of strength he feels, Calden lets his guard down just for a second. He doesn't realize that his charge to him precariously close to the edge of the bridge, until it's too late and he find himself scrambling for grip on the edge.
"NOOOOOooooo!"
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Calden falls to his death in the molten gold river below the bridge. The Heroes of Kassen are shocked at that sight, but that the dragon appears not to be willing to give you time to rescue your ally and cry his death. The creature attacks furiously, focusing its rage on Shirzon.
Shirzon dodges the first attack, a bite, but is caught off guard by the second attack, a claw. She regains her defensive stance and parries another claw attack, but she's caught by surprise from a quick wing attack which knocks her to the ground. The half-orc stubbornly stands up but she's not able to avoid another wing attack pinning her to the bridge. Resorting to all of her strenght of will and determination, Shirzon removes the bony wing from his belly and rolls over before jumping on her feet again, just it time to avoid a tail slap.
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Shirzon
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Shirzon screams as the boy plummets into the gold below. She barely has time to register his demise before she has to fend off more attacks from the dragon skeleton, coming out bruised and bleeding from the assault.
She cranes her neck to look over the dragon's gleaming golden form, trying to make eye contact with Merephel. "Merephel! I need you to move up! Please!" Shirzon glances at the maces in her hands: worthless trinkets against this guardian if she can't get the right attack in. She waits for Merephel to approach the dragon, primed to strike when the beast shows even a hint of distraction.
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Merephel, tears streaming down her face, runs to Shirzon's aid.
"Caaalden! NOOOOOOOO!"
"No! CALDEN!!!" Korech's world becomes nothing but red as he fires at the dragon again and again.
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As Calden hits the river, he finds himself slowly submerging in the searing mass of liquid gold. The pain prevents him from even crying out, but he holds fast to a single thought. I'm sorry, Dimi. I'm not coming home after all...
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As he's about to loose a torrent of arrows, Korech realizes that from everything he's studied and read, he can't let Calden's body go away. Perversely thankful for the incredibly dense lava, Korech grabs his rope before hurrying along the ledge to fish down with the grappling hook.
"Keep Shirzon healed!" calls Korech as he goes for Calden's body.
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As Merephel moves toward the dragon, the skeletal beats takes advantage of her movement to seize the opportunity to bite her. The dragon’s razor-sharp teeth plunge in the girl’s neck causing her to scream in pain; then, with a violent move, the dragon bends his skeletal neck and breaks Merephel’s neck, leaving the girl bleeding to the ground.
Without a flanking ally, Shirzon tries to hit the dragon with her mace, but she’s too shaken to focus on her blow, and she misses. In the meantime, Korech manages to pull Calden’s body out of the golden river: the Kassenite guy’s corpse is a mass of molten gold attached to his bare bones.
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With Merephel and Calden down, the dragon focuses on Shirzon. The half-orc knows she must be both lucky and quick in order to dodge all of the dragon’s attacks. Despite her efforts, however, Shirzon can’t prevent the dragon form plunging its bony teeth in her right arm, causing her to scream. Right after, the dragon’s claws delve deep in Shirzon’s skin as the half-orc, still shocked, is not quick enough to avoid the attack. Close to her death, Shirzon dodges another claw with the strength of desperation, rolls to avoid a wing attack and gets hit by the other wing. She still stands, though, and she’s able to jump and avoid the dragon’s tail slap.
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Korech stares blankly at Calden's body for a moment.
That's not Calden. Calden said things. He laughed. He was very smart and said the right thing. This is just... bones... but we will return the bones to the Goo---OH MY GOD
Korech staggers back as he sees Merephel almost killed outright by the dragon and Shirzon brutally wounded as well. Shaking from head to toe, he does his best to draw the ire of the dragon away from Shirzon.
Can't run yet... maybe dragon die soon...
"YOU! UGLY DRAGON! YOU STUPID AND SMELL BAD! I AM KORECH OF KASSEN AND I WILL KILL YOU! AND... AND I HATE GOLD!"
Korech does his best to get the dragon's ire.
After Korech's rain of arrows, the dragon is almost destroyed. Its bones critically cracked in several spots, the majestic guardian of the Jewel of Everlasting gold stays up, but Shirzon might be able to put it down with an accurate attack if she manages to hit the monster.
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Shirzon sees Merephel drop, and in her distraction loses focus: her mace swings wide and before she can react there are dragon teeth in her arm. She howls in pain, bleeding and dodging between the golden bones ripping her to shreds. She starts to fade, her vision darkening as the pain overwhelms her, but she pushes through to consciousness. I have to stay alive... help Merephel... bring Calden back...
Teetering on the edge of life, Shirzon summons her fury and unleashes her attacks on the dragon, swinging at the cracks in the gold.
Her first swing goes wide, her aching body screaming out from the effort. She grits her teeth, tusks grinding against her dry, blood spattered lips, then swings again, aiming for the crack in the dragon's skull where Calden smacked it before he fell.
Shirzon resorts to all of her strenght, will and determination. She tightens her grip on her mace and swing it with fury. Her mace hits the skeletal dragon's head. With a resigned and terrified glance, she sees the dragon managing to stay up despite her blow.
But then, slowly, the dragon's golden bones starts to fall apart, crumbling into a useless pile of fine gold power before the wind takes it away. Before fading away, however, Shirzon had the impression that the dragon whispered something to her. And the same did Korech, who was able to understand the words in Draconic.
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Shirzon takes a deep breath, then painfully and slowly lowers herself to a lying position. She digs through her bag, pulling out a small healing potion. Crawling over to Merephel, she eases the potion into her friend's unconscious form.
That done, she turns her head toward Korech and croaks out in Orcish, "We did it... Help Merephel first..." She then lies flat, drained of energy and staring up in a mix of exhausted triumph and numb shock as she dwells on Calden's death. We can get him back... I just hope it's not too late.
As the dragon collapses and whispers its final words, Korech simply stares at it dumbly.
I don't understand... it was a prisoner?
Snapping to his sense, he rushes over to Merephel's side, checking over her for signs of life before he places the wand on her, praying again and again.
As soon as Merephel is healed, the party uses the salve of second chance on Calden's corpse. The Heroes of Kassen wait with bated breath for the result.
Gradually, the salve starts to have its effect. Calden's body is restored to health, the molten gold covering his body goes away and...he turns into...a human! You take a long breath of relief upon seeing your friend coming back to life, human as he was before, his body unscathed. There's only one difference in Calden's appearance: his eyes are now the color of molten gold.
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Merephel gasps as she comes to her senses.
"CALDEN!"
She looks around frantically, and eventually remembers the events. She sees her friend's charred body, and begins dragging herself over to him. She cradles his still smoldering body, her hands and clothes singing at the touch. Merephel starts to sing, a mournful funeral dirge, and as she sings, she points to the top pouch of her backpack. It is where the Salve of the Second Chance is kept.
Her voice starts soft, but she finds her inner strength, and gives the Calden she once knew a proper send off.
"Cry above a nameless grave
But all that's there is motionless
Angels sob with vermin's fangs
A funeral dirge drifts slowly by
Puppets they who come and go
And laugh but smile no more
Evil things in robes of sorrow
They are neither man nor woman
Hear the menace of their tones
In the silent watch of the night
Evil things in robes of sorrow
They are neither man nor woman
Cry above a nameless grave
But all that's there is motionless
Angels sob with vermin's fangs
A funeral dirge drifts slowly by"
After her dirge ends, she explains to Korech and Shirzon that the group needs to find a safe place to hole up, so that she can use the Salve on Calden. It takes over an hour to work.
Korech weeps openly at Merephel's song, and gathering what they can, he settles in while the salve does his work. The entire time, Korech paces nervously, completely unsure of what to think about the concept of reincarnation and how the salve works. When the charred bones begin to warp and shift he gasps as they return to the form of the Calden he knew.
"CALDEN! YOU BACK! How... how you feel!? What was it like?!"
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Shirzon continues to lie still on the bridge as Merephel cries out, then begins to sing. Soothing, cool tears well up in her eyes, rolling down her face and evaporating quickly in the hot air. Her stomach feels like a heavy rock, and she catches sobs in her throat, worried that letting cries out will further agitate her wounds. Eventually she pushes back her grief, knowing that they can bring Calden back, and stands painfully while wiping her face clear to see.
After retreating, Shirzon gets some healing from her friends as they prepare to bring Calden back. Her wounds closed, she can focus all her worry on the ritual. What if it didn't work, or they did it wrong? What if it made him come back in a form he hated? What if he didn't want to coffee back at all? After one of the longest hours of Shirzon's life, Calden's body starts to reconstitute. As the gold melts away, Shirzon can't restrain a huge grin as Calden returns to life, looking the same as ever - except for those eyes.
Tears welling up in her eyes again, she lunges at him before he can stand and embraces the boy in a tight hug with a cry of "Calden!" She holds him tightly, half crying and half laughing, her tears rolling fast and wet onto his newly formed body. Once Shirzon regains her composure, she leans back with her hands on Calden's shoulders, beaming at him through her tears. She wipes her wet eyes and nose on her sleeve and laughs quietly in a nervous, relieved way. "Calden, I..." Shirzon starts. Her grin fades into an uncertain expression as she searches for the right words, and then her brows furrow and her tusks curl out as she snarls. She punches him hard on his upper arm, more hot tears forming as she shouts, "Idiot! I can't believe you did something so stupid! We could have lost you for good! Be more careful, or next time - well - well, there better not be a next time!" Shirzon fumes for a moment, but then sheepishly looks away. She scratches the back of her neck as she stares down, and by way of apology says, "...You're important to us. We need you." She stands up and ventures a glance at her revived friend, offering him a hand to help him up.
When the salve has done its work, Calden slowly finds his way back into the world and regains consciousness, helped by the voices of his friends. With his eyes still closed, sensations and thought comes back to him. So much pain. They must never know...
Like dying in reverse, Calden takes a first shallow breath, and then another, getting reacquainted with his body. When he feels up to it, he slowly opens his eyes, seeing the world through a haze of warm yellow. Even before he can speak, he finds Shirzon bearing down on him in a firm hug. To his surprise, he finds that the contact does not hurt, as he had expected. When she lets go, he beams a warm smile at her, one that hold even when she suddenly and violently punches him on his arm. He suffers her raving in silence, accepting her apology with a nod. It takes him a while to get up to his feet, even with Shirzon's help. How odd. It feels so comfortable, even though it's not my own body. Or is it?
Once he's back on his feet, he gives Shirzon a hug of his own, then turning to all of them "It's ok. I need you too. I'm really glad that you were able to bring me back." Back to life, so that I can go back to Kassen... Still smiling, with the wisdom of someone who knows a private joke, he continues. "Thank you for what you did to me." To Merephel in particular, he says "That was a wonderful song, Meph. It helped me get back. You should sing more often. And yes, Shirzon, I will be more careful in the future." As soon as he's spoken the words, his smile fades when memory comes back to him. "The dragon! I was smashed off the bridge when we were fighting it. What happened? Did you defeat it?"
Korech pulls out his battered copy of The Parables and flips through it as Calden returns from death.
A lot about how to do funerals... not so much about how to deal with return from the dead. A blessing is a blessing though.
The lanky half-orc nods a bit as Calden speaks.
"Bad fight but we killed it. Dragon nearly killed Merephel and Shirzon was hurt bad. I got some good arrows in, Shirzon broke it though. I think we al... we are close to the cultists. You come back to finish this fight and for people you leave in Kassen. We will win, the Gods want it to be so."
"I was unconscious for a good portion of the fight myself, actually."
She rubs her neck absent-mindedly.
"I try not to sing, unless it's a special occasion. Let's have the next time I sing be your wedding, not your funeral, okay?"
Calden's smile fades slightly as Korech relates the story about their battle with the dragon. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help, but it's good to hear that you managed to work together and defeat that monstrous thing."
He stands a bit closer to Merephel when the topic of singing comes up, and puts an arm around her shoulder. His smile is back again, and his golden eyes seem to glaze over for a moment. "My wedding? I'm not sure that I'm old enough for that yet." He's quite for a while, lost in thought. "On the other hand, when we're done here we'll have had enough adventures for a lifetime. Who knows, when we get back to Kassen...?"
Merephel leans into Calden's arm.
"I think when this is done, we will all have a lot more time to reflect on our adventures. I, for one, look forward to my retirement."
After a moment to clean her face and take a deep breath, Shirzon is back to her usual focused self. "Yeah, the dragon is gone. I thought we were done for, but somehow we pulled through."
She pauses, dwelling on Kassen as the others chat. Their warm homecoming had been what Shirzon wanted for a long time, but did she still need it? Did Kassen still need her? Shaking her head to clear these thoughts and focus on the present, she says, "We can't go back until we find Kassen's amulet. It looks like we're at the center - we can't be far now."
Looking at Calden, she looks at him quizzically. His eyes were now gold, but there was something else off about him. He always traveled light, but... "Uh, Calden? I'm glad you're back, but we couldn't really save any of your stuff. Here, take what you need..." Shirzon puts her bag down and empties it out on the golden ground, laying down some of her backup weapons next to it. "Once you're geared up, let's continue. It's time to finish this."
Korech nods solemnly, his shaggy hair falling over his face.
"We are here for important reason. Must stop cultists. Also find pants for Calden. Maybe two important reasons."
Calden laughs with Merephel. "Eighteen and retired. Who would have believed that some weeks ago."
When the talk comes to dealing with the Razmirans, Calden returns to seriousness. "You're right, Shirzon. From what I remember of the Chronicle, the Jewel should be here in the center." He shrugs as Shirzon and Korech mention his equipment, that couldn't be saved. His golden eyes glaze over again, and his voice takes on a grave quality that shows what he went through. "That's ok... I think I finally realize that I don't really need any of that stuff. I can rely on my own wits and body. Well, my new body that is. It feels... unfamiliar yet, but we don't really have time for that."
He takes some spare clothes from the others and tucks Shirzon's spare dagger and sling behind his belt. "Done."
After the shock of Calden’s death, his resurrection and the breath of relief everyone took upon seeing his form not changing, the Heroes of Kassen are ready to push forward. The door to the Tabernacle of the Jewel of Everlasting Gold is locked. It takes a while for Shirzon to unlock it, but without the guardian of the tabernacle interrupting her, the half-orc has all the time she needs to open the door. As soon as he picks the lock, Calden opens the door.
The door opens to reveal a small, 10-foot-by-15-foot ledge high above a pit filled with gold coins. A similarly sized platform lies across the pit to the north. A door stands partially open in the northern wall on the far platform. A rope stretches across the pit, secured by pitons to the walls next to the doors in the north and south walls. The ceiling ends in high arches above the platforms.
The pit itself is 45 feet deep and is filled with coins to a depth of 15 feet, coming up to a level 30 feet below the ledges. Both the north and south platforms have handholds carved into their sides, requiring only a DC 10 Climb check to climb up or down either of the platforms. The room is not naturally lit, though light creeps in from the open door on the northern ledge, casting the platforms in dim light and leaving the pit in darkness. The ceilings are 20 feet high above the platforms.
As soon as the you enter the room, a snake-like monstrosity appears in the coin pit 30 feet below. A sharp-featured humanoid head crowns the powerful, sinuous body of this creature.
Calden is very careful when opening the door. He's still all too aware that any moment of carelessness could kill him, and that there's no more second - or third - chances for any of them. I promised I'd return...
When he steps into the room, making sure Shirzon is close by his side, the first things he sees is the platform across, with the open door. "I could still make that jump, I think," is the first thought that pops in his head and out of his mouth. Just then the snake-like creature appears, and Calden takes a few involuntary steps back. "Yikes. What is that?!"
Worried that the monstrosity might reach up to the platform, Calden draws his dagger and gets ready to fend it off.