Miro roused the spirits of his friends with an old favorite, spurring them to potential feats of heroism.
Adakos hustled into the dragon's conjured mists, hoping to position himself for a good shot at the remaining foe.
Roland releases his fury with his magical maul flying to and fro, but only one of his blows connected with flesh. It was a solid hit that broke scales and spilled blood -- and caused the dragon to look his way.
Gromff healed himself with a flash of light and a twinkle in his eye, followed by pair of devastating blows that positively rocked the dragon. The spikes of the morningstar pulled away shattered scales and ripped dragonflesh, sending blood dripping to the cave floor.
Catcher finished the beast with brutal efficiency -- with a glaive in one hand and a flourishing gesture in the other, she sent her Acid Bolt toward the dragon which slammed into its bloodied flank. The life went out of the dragon's eyes and it slumped down to the floor. A gaping, sizzling hole opened at its side, exposing broken ribs and gory red inner flesh.
1-Ring of Sustenance
2-Metamagic Rod - Silent, lesser
3-Chime of Openning
4-Yellow Harbinger Keystone
Searching the downed foes and the cavern floor for loot, the party finds an empty potion bottle in the darkness where the lizardman was presumably hiding, and the pathetic remnants of a leather pouch that was strapped the dragon's upper flank. Inside the pouch is a delicate metal tube that hangs from a tiny chain, and the melted ruins of a magic rod. A detect magic spell reveals the last wisps of magic contained in the rod seeping out into the nether.
The spell reveals the metal tube to be magical, but luckily it was not damaged by the acid bolt.
A further search reveals a few more items as well.
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"Hahaoooowww." Gromff's celebratory hurrah is cut short as the adrenaline fades and the pan hits him. He had quite the headache too, from the dragons wing slapping him on the helm. And dwarven heads were hard. He takes a moment to heal himself a little more before turning his attention to the surroundings, making sure there was no more enemies. Or another dragon.
Almost as an afterthought, as his eyes scan the cavern, they fall on the yellow gem. He knew its purpose and pockets it before the other dragon or a stealthy lizard could grab it.
"Well fought, everyone! One step closer to our end goal, eh?" He walks up to Gromff, adding a couple of small curative spells of his own to the mix.
"Thanks. Now I know what its like ta be the lad. Once we're sure there's nothing else I'll use me wand."
Roland watches the dragon fall with a disappointed look on his face. He hold his hammer in the air longer than usual, and looks around the place to see if there are any more enemies to be fought. She is definitely not in sight, and apparently there is no one else here. He drops out of his enraged state, and doesn't even sit this time. The barbarian wasn't even breathing heavily this time. He looks at the pitiful body, only for long enough to wonder why did the lizard folk fear this pathetic guy. "Yesterday you were stopping me from fighting a sleeping Barbazu inside Sujourn, and now we're killing dragons in a matter of seconds? When did we get this strong?"
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While the others observe the place, the mage tries to identify each of the magic items they found.
”We aren’t strong. Just lucky and well prepared. There was no battle where we didn’t have the upper hand. That’s what makes them easy.” she says as a matter of fact. Deep down inside, she was proud of herself. She helped the not-so-cool elf and killed a dragon. Quite a feat, one would say.
Catcher:
Chime = Chime of Opening
Ring = Ring of Sustenance
Short Sword = Short sword +1, corrosive, engraved with the name "Drip" in draconic.
Studded Leather = Studded Leather +1, Fortification, light.
Yellow gem = It contains similar strands of magic to the familiar blue gem. It is clearly a sister-stone to the blue gem already in your possession.
The yellow gem is mounted on long chain of silver and gold. It is easily valued at 2,500 gold pieces.
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She weights the sword in her hand and tries some deft swings. After resting in bluff, she finally understood how to use efficiently the combat maneuvers she devised by herself.
”Miro, I think this sword suits you best. With a command word, the weapon becomes slick with acid that hurt your opponents even more, and it just sized for you, don’t’ you think?” she says offering the sword to the bard.
To the rest of the party, she tell what the other items do ”The leather, can save you from lethal attacks if you are lucky enough, the Mithril tube, can be used to open doors, even those sealed by magic. The ring continually provides its wearer with life-sustaining nourishment. The ring also refreshes the body and mind, so that its wearer needs only sleep 2 hours per day to gain the benefit of 8 hours of sleep.”
To Gromff she says, Let me see the gem, I want to try something…
Roland shakes his head, disagreeing with the wizard, as usual. "Nah, not really. The dragon attacked first, from the unseen darkness. It had the grip on us. Had it been more clever it would have attacked Miro or Catcher. Gromff took multiple and is still standing... The devils in the kid's cave also were in favorable conditions. The terrain favored them, the weather, the altar and whatever you can think of. Still we destroyed them." He looks at his Ring of the Battleborn and gets contemplative.
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"Don't argue with me. Until now, we were always prepared and full on our resources whenever danger came our way. Miro and Gromff were always capable of healing, you could always use that inner fury, which I must admit scares me sometimes." she looks at the barbarian as if teaching a little child ”Don’t you see? The conditions were always favorable. Imagine now, if this same dragon had attacked us just after the battle at the bluff? Would you still be so confident? Would it still be that easy?”
Stepping out of the dissipating mists the ranger says, "Obviously the stories about dragons are a bit, embellished. You all handled that one rather handily, favorable conditions or no. Adakos will move to the other part of the cavern and collect his arrows before returning to the group, completely impressed by the way the dreaded beast was soundly defeated.
"Hmmmmm, perhaps. I've taken a liking to this dagger, though." Miro beams in the aftermath of their victory, then a thought occurs to him.
"Ummm...maybe we should get going? For all we know, Asariel went to gather the dragon legions to storm the caves."
At Catcher's question he takes a look at himself, analyzing his wounds and getting to a conclusion. "Another Blue could attack us now and there would be not difference, we would beat it all the same." He shrugs, knowing the wizard would never avoid arguing.
But then he realizes Adakos didn't even shoot him, and their supposed challenge rating gets even higher. "I think if Adakos was not busy with the other scaly we could even have taken Asariel down, you know..." It's clear he's just boasting around, show-off.
"Indeed I think we should get going. Staying here will only let She realize that Blue is no more, and then send someone else after us. Whatever we need to discuss" - he glances at Catcher and the gem in her hands - "or study can be done later." Do you want to recheck the cave for anything we've missed, although it can put us in danger??
"This skin would make for superb armor if we have the time to harvest it." the half-elf says, admiring the amazing kill. Speaking to Roland he adds, "You'd wear it well, and it wouldn't hinder your movements much. But, it means I'd need some time to skin this thing carefully." He stands from the corpse and says, "Your call."
Roland is starting to get worried with the madness of the group. "You're not planning on skinning this thing right now, are you? We might lose our chance to escape."
Realizing he didn't need an answer to his question, he gets in the guardian spirit and stands between the entrance of the cave and the corpse, so anyone who came that way would have to go over him first.
Catcher,
Ever since you made physical contact with the blue gem while in close proximity to Asariel, you feel like some sort of connection has been forged between you two. At present, it is only a vague feeling with little to grasp for further understanding. One thing you seem to feel intuitively, as knowledge imparted through the gem -- you're virtually certain that Asariel is miles away right now.
Wasting no time, Adakos sets to work on the remains of the massive creature, trying to remove the largest sections of the hide while taking care to keep the cuts beneath the layer of fat separating the tough hide from the muscle beneath. He works the hide with various tools, switching from his dagger, to scissors, to a leather paring knife where appropriate. Several times during the process he looks to the wizard with various questions, taking in advice on which pieces would be most suitable for crafting into armor.
Miro looks about, still smiling in the glow of their astounding victory. "So what's next, friends? Any ideas on where to find the third?" He doesn't mention what third, in case there might be someone listening in.
Gromff grunts and hands over the gem. It was probably the most important discovery of the day so he stuck close to her and Adakos while Roland took the entrance. Seemed a little wrong to skin the dragon. Felt a little like skinning a dwarf or human. But their skin wasn't nearly as tough. Well, his didn't so tough now either. Still, he didn't feel like saying anything after his head nearly got chopped off. "Hurry it up elf we got another potential dragon ta deal with. Probably won't be long afore her or the the lizard priest shows up."
"In any case, there might be dozens of drakes and other flying creatures around this place. If they find us in the open their flying capability will certainly beat us. I don't see any reason for us to stay here, so, why don't we take whatever we need and move away as fast as we can? I think our best bet is to navigate the river east, using the flow to move faster in boats of some kind. In some days we will get to Sweetwaters, and from there we could decide on a better option."
"Alternatively, we could go south, to Sojourn. It's not as far Archdale, and we can now get the city rid of demonic influence, and maybe find some clue on the path. We found the girl and the gem there, there might be more to the city than meets the eye."
To Catcher: "Call er back if ye can."
To Roland: "Yer a durned fool. This is why you don't make the plans." Gromff says harshly. "There's kids back there what need ta be let free and given back ta their families, changes or no. There's a durned portal to one or several levels of the Abyss that cannae be left un gaurded. There's a pouty dragon, woman thing flitting about somewhere at the center oh all this and connected to the gem. And ye want ta leave?" Gromff shakes his head. "We need ta figure out what's going on here and only then can we move on. Stay on watch if ye feel like it but I'm going ta see if the kid's are willing ta move. Maybe if their all gone the portal will close."
Roland stares harshly at Gromff. "Out of this cave there are several hundreds of drakes, dragons and lizard folk, all starving, and everything that prevents them from turning this city and all its citizens into a mess is Her presence. If we "save" the kids, we undermine her authority, and shortly after her kingdom will fall, leading all of these creatures into chaos."
He raises both eyebrows, to see if you understood his point or not. "The kids are growing in power there, and they are not being mistreated. Yes, they are there against their will, as I once was, but we must put things in perspective in my opinion. It could be worse, they could be demon's slaves, and then they would suffer much more than they do now. At least they are learning how to fight, as I once did, although I would rather be in a place like that than out amidst the devils, depending on mercy and luck to remain alive." He lets you digest those words for a couple seconds, before continuing.
"She is not bad as we thought, and didn't give us much of a reason to destroy her. He came here expecting to find the bodies of the children, and a reason for these folks to hate her. On the contrary, we found them being trained. Of course, that's still slavery, but the devils are doing that everywhere and we've been keeping our distance from their main armies. I can also guarantee what they do is a lot worse. We are still unsure of what to do with The Three, we are certainly not ready to use the keys to bid them to our will, specially cause we have no idea of what will happen if we try. Plus we would have to go after the third in any case, dragging Asariel along."
"I've said this and I still think this way: We've got good information and a lot more knowledge than we gathered anywhere else. Let's begone to find the third, and when we do, we know how to count our steps back to get the second, using whatever we need to in order to guarantee the safety of the mission."
"I wanted to kill a sleeping devil inside Sojourn, but you stopped me, saying it would be risky for the mission. Carrying the kids out of here will be risky for the mission. Their sacrifice is what's keeping these civilizations together. I would call it a day and find someone who actually wants my help, because they definitely don't seem like in a hurry to leave that place."
"So just because we're doing it ta fight the devils means its okay? There are all kinds a greys but this ain't one o them. And the fact that they're growin up like you ain't helping ye fool. Look how ye turned out. Swinging at anything that angers ye. Ye want to put them through that? If that's the case then whatever happened ta you obviously wasn't that bad."
"And tryin ta compare then and now is stupid. That devil was in the middle o a busy street. Soon as ye done it the whole town would have been attacking us. Ye see any alarms or enemies runnin for us? We had a choice then. Didn't have one now. Big difference."
"Besides, we're not for knowin what she'll do when she comes back. She's a touch nutty. Not sure which direction she's leanin right now. Might come back and kill em all thinkin ta save them from death at the hands o the devils. We are not leaving. Less o course anyone actually agrees with ye?" He looks at the others for thoughts.
Roland is offended. "Have I swung at you? Or did you forget about the shower?"
"And of course we have a choice. That time was much safer then now, there were no enemies around that monster, and once we got away there wouldn't be any flying creature breathing fire on us!"
"Tell you what, use this time while Adakos is busy and go inside to try to convince them to leave that place. Then we talk."
Miro nods at the barbarian's suggestion. "A fair compromise, Roland. Gromff, let's you and I try to talk to the children and see where their loyalties truly lie. Perhaps one actually understands the nature of the place and how to stop it from functioning, both closing the demiplane and the strange connection to Hell it seems to have."
Trying to use her connection with the blue one, and trying to replicate how she felt, the mage tries to glean any secret out of the yellow jewel.
The jewel is undoubtedly magical and very powerful. You feel about the same way you did when you first encountered the blue gem -- you know that the power within it is ancient, primal magic, but with little specific detail. It reveals no secrets...yet.
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Meanwhile, while Adakos goes about his skinning...
Thinking to himself as he goes about the busy task of collecting the skin...I wonder what dragon would taste like...
Roland will not go inside the children's cave again. He watches the surroundings while Adakos work, and is wondering how gross it is to see a creature skinned. He's imagining Asariel's anger when she sees the remains of the Blue dragon, all dark red for showing only muscle. Roland would certainly be infuriated at seeing a human skinned.
Miro reenters the fog that leads to the demi-plane, hoping to find the children still there. If so, he smiles, "Children, my friend Gromff and I would like to know a certain thing. If you could choose, would you choose to remain here, or return to the world?"
After that, he cocks his head to the side, pensive. "What's going on with this place, anyway. Has Asariel shared any of her plans with you?"
"Let's go," he agrees. "Ask em if they want ta leave and how to close the portal or if the devil's can git through. Oh and where Asariel goes sometimes when she's upset." He rambles off a few more questions but they are ones Miro has probably already thought of.
"Yeah. And look where he is. Just come in the fog if things get tense. Doubt she'd do anything in front of them. Sides, this will be easier if we can convince her to see reason. She may be the only one that knows what that place is."
Miro reenters the fog that leads to the demi-plane, hoping to find the children still there. If so, he smiles, "Children, my friend Gromff and I would like to know a certain thing. If you could choose, would you choose to remain here, or return to the world?"
The kids give off mixed signals at this question. Some of the kids begin acting gung-ho about battling legions of evil, and at the time some of the less assertive talkers appear sheepish and state they would like to see their parents again.
After that, he cocks his head to the side, pensive. "What's going on with this place, anyway. Has Asariel shared any of her plans with you?"
The children are at a loss. They all have been told, and seem to believe, that this is heaven.
"Ask em if they want ta leave and how to close the portal or if the devil's can git through. Oh and where Asariel goes sometimes when she's upset."
None of the children have any idea how to close the portal. They have never seen a devil get through, but they admit that they're not always on patrol of the bluff, so it is possible.
Some say yes, some say they want to fight in the Day of Reckoning before going back home.
No, none of the children have left.
None have tried yet, afraid of Asariel's wrath. You pick up some dichotomy here -- you sense their love and admiration for the fallen angel, but they clearly fear what she might be capable of.
They are unsure but suggest she might be looking for more children.
(answered above)
Some of the kids get red-faced at this question. They admit that a handful of children have indeed been killed in their skirmishes upon the bluff.
Roland thinks they are taking too long to return. Maybe something happened in there, and he's getting impatient.
Miro nods at the children at the end of his questioning, grim-faced. "I thank you for your help, young friends. You are all very brave, and I am sure when this Day of Reckoning comes, many will sing of your honor and glory."
With that, the Halfling goes back through the mists, coming through to the other side and explaining to the others the conversation he had had with the children in the makeshift Heaven.
Gromff exits the mist with Miro and finally lets go of the fury that had been building up. He swings his morningstar at a stalagmite and shatters it in one blow. "Got the childurn more afraid a her than death. Think that's heaven in there. Probably don't even realize those that die are dead. I'm not even sure they are. No telling what happens to a soul in that place being so close to the 9 hells." That realization is more awful than all the others. Were good people going to hell just because of proximity? It was too much to take in. "Need ta get them out and close this place. We can cave in the tunnel if need be."
Roland gets a little angry with the dwarf. "You wanna get them out of here? Are you ready to fight Asariel and her whole city?"