Round 1
Ideyoshi, Davro and Doraga charge, but the creature's hide is too tough for Ideyoshi's blade and Doraga's claws.
Before it can react, though, Davro circles around and strikes again, sword driving toward the creature's vitals though not deep enough that it penetrates.
Doraga's able to penetrate its hide, barely, on his second attempt, and the creature roars in pain.
when Skaar sees his companions charge the huge beast he quickly joins them. With a roar he leaps into the air and grabs its neck in a deathgrip.
The big orc works to crush the beast's windpipe.
Round 1 fin.
Skaar rushes in and leaps on the dinosaur's neck, trying his best to crush it, though he can feel the rock-hard hide resisting his efforts.
Badly hurt by Davro, it snaps at him, jaws crashing around the barbarian once and then again, locking in place the second time.
BE: 129
His opponent ignoring him in favor of the falchion-armed Davro, Skaar growls in frustration. The big orc flexes as he wrenches and shifts his weight to overpower the beast and drive it into the ground.
From his now superior position, Skaar continues to twist on the giant reptile's neck in an effort to snap it.
"Keep that beast away from me!" Tasha calls to the others. "We must protect the Chalice and the Tears! Sagittae magicae, omne errore vacuae, e manu meu evolent!"
Four bolts of arcane power fly forth from Tasha's hand, impacting the maddened dinosaur.
Davro roars as the dinosaur bits into his flesh, "You will not defeat me beast, I will destroy you!". Rageborn glows green as Davro's rage causes him to double in size. He brings the now even larger Rageborn down on the Dinosaurs head with one clean chop.
Then Doraga attempts to bring down the beast with a full attack.
Tasha: 12
Ideyoshi: 22
Skaar: 20
Davro: 16
Antagonist: 14
Tasha's bolts hit the creature, causing it to flinch just enough that Ideyoshi's sword is able to strike home, tearing its tough skin.
Skaar twists the creature's neck, trying to limit its movement as Davro struggles futilely to free himself from the creature's jaws. Just as the creature seems about to swallow the barbarian, though, Skaar makes one final twist and you hear the creature's neck snap. It falls, landing with a ground-shaking impact.
Skaar beats his chest in victory over the huge primordial beast for a moment before reaching down to offer Davro a hand out of its mouth.
”Let’s hope there aren’t too many more of these things”, the big orc says with a rumbling laugh.
"There is something here big and strong enough to put that cut on its face," Tasha says. "I need to make sure this water is what we need..." The Wizard carefully sets the chalice down, sits in the Lotus position a ways away, and magically scans the water, trying to exclude the chalice itself from her sight...
Despite your concerns, you make it back safel to the ship and smooth sailing eases your way back to Blackcrag Cove. Toward the end of the second day, an ominous plume of smoke can be seen over the horizon and the next morning, ash falls from the sky and continues to rain down day and night.
When the Nereid’s Kiss finally reaches Blackcrag Cove, the town stands mostly intact, though several buildings have burned to the ground. As Captain Valgarave maneuvers the ship into the harbor, a powerful tremor shakes the ground. Moments later, scorching hot rocks rain down over the ship and town.
Mayor Kostya meets the ship at the dock, a look of grave concern across her face. As you exit, she nods grimly at your return.
"Many townsfolk have already fled and others have died in the fires. Please, ou must make all possible haste toward Theana and divert the Queen's vengeance before it's too late!"
After 10 miles of travel, you reach the base of the 4,000-foot volcano. Debris and ash coat the mountain, making footing treacherous, and you can feel the heat radiating off the slope.
Despite the oppressive heat from the very active volcano, Skaar powers up the rugged terrain.
”This is it. All we gotta do is get the Tears inside and the town’ll be saved right?”
Noting the long climb ahead, the hulking greenskin looks to Tasha.
”Can you hit us with that magic flight again? It’ll take a while to get up there by foot.”
As you begin to ascend, the mountain rumbles below you, and a wave of hot ash cascades down its slopes. Fortunately, you're able to stay above it, but that's not enough as you reach about 1,000 feet up and bursts of small rocks fly at you. Davro is shielded by his companion, and the rocks just bounce off Skaar's tough hide, but Doraga, Ideyoshi and Tasha all are hit painfully.
You continue on and below you, you can see a river of lava flow down the mountain, forcing you higher into the air to avoid its extreme heat. The mountain begins to shake and tremble more, making you all he gladder to be in the air.
Finally, about 4,500 feet up, the smoke clears enough for you to spot a vast opening in the side of the mountain, with streams of lava pouring down either side of it. Oppressive heat radiates from inside the large chamber carved out of the rock.
Skaar brushes the pebbles off his hide and points toward the opening. ”That’s gotta be it!”
After creating a protective aura for his companions to take shelter in, Skaar uses his magical flight to zoom toward the opening.
"I wish we knew where to put the Tears, exactly," Tasha grouses while casting a protective spell of her own -- and follows after the others.
You enter the cave, the oppressive heat becoming even worse, hot air burning your lungs and reddening your skin.
The chamber itself is over 50 feet across, with a large domed ceiling almost 60 feet overhead and lava pouring freely into a pair of
troughs that run down either side of the room. Opposite the entrance is a set of gigantic bronze double doors, glowing with heat.
As you enter, you hear a female voice: "Bow down and submit to the justice of the Queen!" it demands.
"Who is speaking?" Tasha demands. "We do not bow to faceless voices, show your credentials and proofs of authority in the court of the Queen of Elemental Fire!"
Skaar growls in defiance even as his hide blisters under the heat.
"I am Sorzan, the Queen's Hand," the voice responds, as you search futilely for its source, the heat continuing to be stifling.
"And Her justice is for Her to decide, not you. Now, bow down, or be destroyed."
"We're not bowin' to you or any 'Queen' that's plannin' to massacre so many innocent people. We're not scared of you! Show yerself!" the big orc bellows.
"The Hand of the Queen fears nothing," the voice snarls as a blast of searing light suddenly lashes out toward the three speakers, hitting Tasha, Skaar and Ideyoshi with a blaze of heat.
In their wake stands revealed a red-skinned woman floating above one of the streams of lava.
Round 1
Laughing madly, she gestures again, shooting rays toward Davro, Doroga and once more toward Ideyoshi, hitting all three with the searing light.
Skaar recoils from the flames but doesn’t yield an inch.
"Allow me to return that compliment to you, hag!" Tasha snarls. ""
Howling polar winds erupt around the red-skinned woman, ice briefly creeping over every surface before it bubbles away in the murderous heat.