Nasrin takes two of Elleros' potions and drinks them down rapidly.
The decision seems to have been made and they push onwards to take down the Wyrm.
Moving across to Corum he pulls out a scroll and smiles reassuringly at the warrior
I know you don't like magic Corum but I'm hoping you will like these spells. Trust in them.
Fugam, volant , avum he reads from the scroll and the arcane text blades with light briefly as he releases the stored energy and grants Corum the power of flight, barely pausing for breath he calls upon one of his own spells
Crescere, forma,persona duping his hand into his spell pouch he draws out a pinch of powdered iron and casting it in the air he unleashes the spell, the iron glows a fierce deep red before it lands upon Corum and seeps into him.
Moments later his form begins to grow as the magic increases his size and strength.
that should do it, when we get to the dragon, wait for my spell before you rage-attack.
it will give you extra speed for your attacks.
He says as he looks up at the force warrior and he can't help but be a little bit awed at the sight.
I hope it is enough
Drawing out another scroll he calls upon its power, wrapping himself in a protective aura against the beasts breath weapon and then adds his own spell, duplicating his image.
I am as ready as I will ever be. Let us go
Corum visibly flinches as the spells are cast but then a look of surprise crosses his face. Suddenly a dull ache begins deep in his bones as they grow more dense. Layers or muscle pack on top of them and the pain grows. His eyes seem to pop, his hair stands on end and his jaw distends as his skull expands. His shoulders seem to dislocate and reset and his spine twists. He doubles up in agony as sinews and tendons stretch and a low moan escapes his lips.
He remains hunched over for what seems an age and then he stands with a broad and savage smile on his face. A 11' behemoth of solid muscle.
He flexes his arms and the muscles jump and bunch as he revels in the new strength he can feel surging within.
He laughs and claps Elleross on the back, knocking the frail wizard sideways.
"This is good magic. I like it! Now lets go kill a dragon."
Squeezing her hand again. "You stood there and fought, even if you never landed a blow you made a difference."
--
"This is it.. We end this here." Greyston begins to fidget at the back, checking all his vials are in place and begins to formulate a plan in his head. Got to get high.. keep the dragon in range.
Sapphire nods in thanks at Greyston's words, despite her tiredness, she feels renewed hope. As her form becomes indistinct again thanks to her magic, her feet also leave the ground once more as she prepares to channel fire through her sword.
She glances up and down at Corum's suddenly huge visage and grins
Right then, no time like the present... charge!!!
As Elleros enchants Corum for their last effort Nasrin first gives Jagar a hard tug on his scruff. When he turns to look at her, she leans down and puts her forehead on his. After a moment, the wolf grins, hungry and the girl grins eager to punish the witches.
Del scratches his head as spells are cast and potions quaffed before the closed door. He shrugs and leans back against the wall as he waits for all preparations to be finished.
They are going to be really sad if this is a closet. He smirks to himself and flashes a wink at anyone who might raise a curious eyebrow but otherwise offers little else.
Once the spells are cast and Corum has swollen to a rather uncomfortable size, Del claps his hands together once. "Now then! We're doing this all wrong by putting our climax and finale smack dab in the middle instead of at the end while they belong, but I must admit to a level of thrill I hadn't expected by proceeding in this fashion."
Corum smiles down at Del "I don't understand Some of the things you say but yeah. This is fun!"
Well Del, you can chop and change the order of things to your heart's content later, I'll help you edit by sitting in your study whilst you write and drinking your wine whilst offering the occasional reminder about how brave and dashing we all were!
"That sounds like a positively lovely afternoon, my dear." The rake offers a wink and a grin along with his words. "It's good to never underestimate just how important dramatic tension can be."
Del explains further, "And by dramatic tension, I mean something like a long, pregnant pause just before a stunning reveal. Such as this door, for instance." He waves at the door in front of the group that leads, ostensibly, to a dragon. "Imagine if we'd been waiting for days, or even a week, to see if there's really a dragon behind this simple portal. Can you imagine the suspense? The anticipation?" The half-orc shudders with a grin. "It's as much about the waiting as it is the delivery. As is the case with so much in life." Something in his tone of voice, or perhaps the subtle arch in one eyebrow or the barely perceptible smirk at the corner of his mouth gives his statement the barest and faintest hint of suggestive innuendo.
A flight of steps climbs to a platform where a short ladder is mounted to the wall, leading to a closed trapdoor in the ceiling just above it.
A single door is set in the eastern wall. The area is otherwise barren except for a column of clockwork gears that rises right through the ceiling above it. An icy draft wafts from above, and the ticking and ratcheting of the gigantic clock drowns out any other sound.
Sapphire raises her voice to a shout so the others can hear her
I'm guessing the ladder leads to the dragon, but we shouldn't leave this one door unchecked in case there are more guards and they come at us from behind!
She moves over to the door and opens it once everyone is ready, flinging it open and immediately adopting a combat stance ready to defend herself.
The door is locked.
As Sapphire rattles the handle though a small voice, barely audible above the din cries out in fear;
W-who's there...?
Greyston looks up at the ladder, his stomach settling into knots at the thought of the dragon above them. We're ready... we have to be.
Hearing the familiar sound of Skald Greyston can't help here, So he moves to watch their backs and is always darting his eyes to the trapdoor above them.
Del arches an eyebrow at the voice coming from the other side of the door. Shooting the others a shrug, he offers in Skald, "We're terribly sorry, mysterious voice, but we're bona fide dragon slayers and we've got a date with the wyrm upstairs. Can you sit tight for a few minutes? We'll be back in two shakes of a jiff's tail." His face then screws up briefly as he looks as his allies and switches back to their southern tongue, "Huh. I don't suppose any of you have ever seen a 'jiff' or know how quickly they swish their tails? I hadn't considered it before now, curiously enough."
Elleross moves closer to the door.
Fear not lady we are friends, are you Bella? he says in perfect skald we are here to free you. Do we have a key for this door? We should release her now, she can stay with the children until we return he says to the others but we must be quick whatever we decide to do
Corum shakes his head "No time for this." he snarls. "If you've no key or magic to open it then I say leave her there. It might take too long to break down. The door is locked so no enemies will come from there so let's go up there and kill the wyrm."
He begins to climb the ladder and reaches up to open the trap door.
Yes, yes it's Bella! Please, you have to get me out of here! the woman cries desperately.
Sapphire glances around and then digs in her belt pouch for the sets of keys the party has picked up whilst in the tower, trying them in the hope that one will fit.
If we free her we should send her down to wait with the children whilst we go about our red work up above...
she glances around at the others.
"It's Bella? We have to let her out, it will take a second and as Sapphire said she can move down stairs to the kids." If no on moves to open the door Greyston will moves and open it with the keys himself.
Greyton fumbles with the keys but eventually finds the right one. It rattles in the lock before opening with a thud.
Within, he finds a comfortable suit that holds a bed, dresser, chair and bookshelf. A large mirror hangs on the eastern wall above the bookshelf.
A woman stands pressed against the far wall, clearly suspicious of you. She is dishevelled but beautiful, with raven black hair and wide, blue eyes.
Did... Did Solveig send you? she asks hopefully.
Nasrin grabs the oversized Corum by the arm and gets his attention. She points at the trap door and shakes her head. After Greyston gets the door open she leans in and sees the mirror. Knowing the witches use the mirrors to spy and communicate she brusquely steps past the woman and then arranges the bed with pillows under the cover, as if someone was sleeping. Then, interrupting the conversation between her pack and the woman she ushers everyone out of the room, closing the door behind her.
As the others busy themselves with the prisoner, the enlarged Corum flies awkwardly up to the trapdoor in the ceiling and shoulders it open. With effort, he squeezes his now massive frame up through the opening and into the room beyond where instantly he is hit by the cold breeze of outside air.
This large chamber contains the workings of an enormous clock, with huge clock faces on the north, west, and south walls. To the east, the entire exterior wall has been knocked out, and a platform of gleaming ice extends out into the open air. A chill wind blows through the opening. Tracked rails weave in and out of the corners of the room, passing through five-foot-square openings in the walls. A block of clockwork gears and mechanisms runs to the ceiling toward the west.
This level of the tower is almost 50 feet off the ground and Corum can see the vantage point it affords the room's single denizen.
A lithe, white servant reclines on the freezing ice at the mouth of the tower. It opens one eye at the sound of the trapdoor flying open and a hungry smile curls on its lips, revealing row upon row of teeth within.
Have you come to feed me? it asks amused, uncoling itself and stretching it's wings. Now standing on rear limbs on the ice the creature towers over fifteen feet tall with a wingspan twice that. What a fool you are to challenge General Logrivich. it adds, flapping it's wings and rising into the air.
Wait! Bella cries as Corum floats up toward the trapdoor. That's Logrivich's lair!
Her hand covers her mouth aghast as the barbarian barges through and into the chamber beyond.
Corum ignores the warning from below and squeezes through the trapdoor. His skin tingles with the icy cold and he looks around warily.
His eyes fix on the serpentine form ahead and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. An almost primal thrill runs through him, part fear, part the thrill of a hunter finding his prey and partly barely suppressed rage.
He looks the dragon up and down as it rears. Not so big. Still deadly though. Be careful. Buy time for the others
He knows he would likely die if he faced this wyrm alone but also his blood may need to spill to gain enough time for his comrades to join the fight.
He looks the dragon in the eye and says. "I heard the captain was a dragon but didn't believe it. I'm here to kill you. Want to surrender now or when I smashed you up a bit?"
come on Elleross. If you're gonna make me fast. Now's the time.
Intimidate
The old Elf turns away from the frightened woman as he hears Corum shoulder the trapdoor open and the cold voice drifts down to him.
Corum! Damn it man you should have waited! Now we are separated by this damn ladder he thinks angrily as he weighs up his options.
Seeing there is little other choice he moves to the ladder and climbs as quickly as his leg will allow, ignoring the pain he hustles up the ladder with surprising speed.
augendae, celeritate ,tempora! he barks out the words of the spell and a wave of power emanates from him, seeping into the party one by one.
As Old Wolf casts his blessing, Nasrin takes the potion of Fly from her belt and quaffs it. She then turn towards a window...
Del is just about to flash his most charming of smiles to Bella when the sound of the trapdoor overhead clattering open causes the grin to fall into a mortified frown. As Bella calls out and a dragon's rumbling voice carries over the noisy gears, the half-orc slaps one hand to his face and shakes his head ruefully.
He watches Elleross expectantly, and once the old half-elf has woven his magics, Del nearly sprints up the ladder and into the chamber, remarking as he passes, "At least at that size he's too big for the dragon to swallow in one bite."
Darting as quickly as he can to a rear corner so he and the others aren't clustered together, Del then brings Ruby around and slips one of his special bolts into the cradle before letting it fly.
HP: 24/30
AC: 19 (15 T / 14 FF)
CMD: 19
F/R/W: +6/+10/+5
Grit remaining: 1/2
Hero Points remaining: 2
Regular bolts remaining: 43/80
Cold Iron bolts: 40/40
Tanglebolts: 4/5
Ongoing Effects
Vigilant Loading
Gunslinger Initiative
Flame Arrow: 16/50
Deadly aim: -2/+4
Haste (1/5): +1 to hit, +1 dodge, +1 ref, +30 ft movement
tanglebolt: +1 seeking (ignores all miss chances; such as for concealment)
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