You fly up and approach the cave. When you are about 100' away, the massive dragon heads rising from the cliff bellow in unison. The red dragon's voice is clear and the loudest; the blue dragon's is deep and gravely. The green dragon's voice is screeching, the black dragon's voice hisses with rage and malice, and the white dragon's voice is an animalistic howl.
As they get closer, Tal'ariel casts Shield.
As Hamailii starts talking, Tal'ariel starts calling forth magics, as she looks for an enemy to face.
Trellara is quickest to react. She begins INSPIRE COURAGE +2, singing of the party's great victories to date and how they will triumph over this foe! With her move action, she draws her bow.
Tal'ariel begins casting a spell.
Emerging from the cave is a massive blue dragon, larger than any of the dragons you have seen.
It takes to the air and lets forth a massive lightning bolt, striking Tal'ariel and her owl with a thunderous crash.
Blackthorn takes the full brunt of the breath weapon but still lives.
Round 1
Trellara
Tal'ariel (Blackthorn -50)
Dragon
Hamailii
Mikail
Bran
Tal'ariel miraculously dodges the effects of the dragon's breath weapon. But Blackthorn pays the price, taking the full brunt of the damage and nearly succumbing.
Seeing the dragon come out, and feeling the magic of Desna protecting him, he went in to approach via owlback without moving too close. All he needed was about thirty feet, "My friend, if if blasts you, let me fall; I will be protected."
He quickly studies the dragon's movements, coming up with a plan.
Sitting low on the back of her giant owl, Mikail sweeps out her sword and urges the great bird towards the dragon. She directs her mount under the dragon and stretching out, slashes at the creature's stomach.
Attack:
Damage (w/smite evil):
Hamailii gives Bran the power of flight.
Bran moves up and prepares for combat.
The dragon's neck jaws lash out and bites at Mikail's owl as she moves in.
Mikail's sword fails to pierce the dragon's combination of tough hide and magical wards.
Tal'ariel's spell completes and Bran is now the size of a giant. His owl can no longer bear his weight , but his Fly spell allows him to keep aloft.
Trellara moves up and casts Vanish on Bran, seeing the dragon's great reach.
Round 2 Active - INSPIRE COURAGE +2
Trellara
Tal'ariel (Blackthorn -50)
Dragon
Hamailii
Mikail (Owl -25)
Bran (Large, Invisible, Flying)
Tal'ariel moves forward on the injured Blackthorn, draws a scroll, and casts Fly on Mikail!
The dragon recognizes the Fly spell, and so shifts its attacks from the owl to Mikail.
The Huge blue dragon unleashes a mighty roar.
You feel deep in your bones that this creature is something greater and more terrifying than any you have faced before.
Mikail is pummeled by the dragon and falls unconscious and bleeding.
She careens sideways in the saddle and topples off her owl!
Round 2 Active - INSPIRE COURAGE +2
Need DC 19 Will Save vs Fear from All
Trellara (Shaken)
Tal'ariel (Blackthorn -50)
Dragon
Hamailii
Mikail -88; Owl -25
Bran (Large, Invisible, Flying)
Remembering the mysterious sculptor in the Boneyard, Bran recalls the words he said. What do you think? Needs work. Maybe a bigger dragon, depending. You may not be here long... This time, at least. All come back. You would not stay here, of course. We hope that your home will be in Kurgess's Field. But all who die are recorded here. His faith making him unbreakable to the screams of the huge dragon , the warrior catches a glimpse of Mikail starting to fall and realizes he has to make this quick. Feeling his size grow he kicks off the owl and moves to charge the dragon, using the cover of invisibility to get in.
"Come! We will fall like the stars! A dance of Desna and Kurgess!"
. Tal'ariel is afraid for what might come next--it is only Trellara's inspiring words that keep her going.
As Mikail falls, Tal'ariel saves her from worse harm.
She knows its a long shot, but seeing the devastation that the dragon has wrought convinces her that the dragon needed to be hindered. Blacktorn flies to the ledge so there is solid ground closeby, while Tal'ariel calls forth a spell and conjures a cloud of nauseous smoke!
*Edit* - After creating the cloud, if the dragon is not affected, Tal'ariel uses her sipping jacket and disappears from view.
As Mikail floats down to the ground thanks to Tal'ariel's spell, Bran flickers into view grabbing the dragon's neck!
It roars and struggles but his grip holds. It starts to struggle in the air but manages to remain aloft!
This dragon is much stronger than Ozzyrandion. It refuses to fall.
The dragon begins hacking and coughing from Tal'ariel's spell!
Hamailii is up!
One of Hamailii's arrows manages to hit.
Trellara moves up and casts Heroism on Bran. She ends her song and lets it linger.
The dragon is unable to do anything except fly... and it chooses to not fly. It chooses to fall, taking Bran with it, hoping the impact will kill the human. It doesn't know about his boots.
Bran lands on his feet, maintaining his grip on the dragon even as waves of pain shoot through his knees and hips from the fall.
The grace of Iomedae is with Mikail.
Round 3 Active - INSPIRE COURAGE +2
Trellara (Shaken)
Tal'ariel (Blackthorn -50)
Dragon (out of cloud, nauseated 2 rounds, prone, -96)
Hamailii
Mikail -88, stable, prone; Owl -25
Bran -14
Bran didn't know what to expect when he saw the gas cloud come from Tal'ariel. Bran didn't know what the dragon would do or how it would react. He figured it would fight and struggle... He did not expect this.
The thoughts raced through his head as he dove to the floor a hundred and forty feet down, spiraling with an ancient evil in his grip . He felt like a falling star, a legend, and it pained him to know that it might have come at the cost of one of his friends.
Just before the he slammed into the ground, his boots gave him feline reflexes; and he managed to absorb the brunt of the blow.
He wouldn't forget the sound of the impact.
Hearing the dragon's groans, the crunching of bones, he still held fast.
"I am Bran, the Strongman's Arm! Prepare to meet your end! We are unbreakable!"
He throws the dragon to the floor , knocking it prone before spreading his weight everywhere. Within moments the champion becomes a tangle of sinew and constriction.
Bran wrenches the dragon's neck as it tries to cough out the poisonous fumes from Tal'ariel's spell.
Tal'ariel is up!
Tal'ariel chases the falling dragon down, down, as she tries to catch up to the battle! She fires a dart of acid as she descends!
;
Tal'ariel's acid dart sizzles as it hits the dragon.
With poison in its lungs, the dragon cannot muster any sort of opposition to Bran's grip.
Round 4 Active - INSPIRE COURAGE +2 (last round of lingering)
Trellara (Shaken)
Tal'ariel (Blackthorn -50)
Dragon (out of cloud, nauseated 1 more round, prone, -134)
Hamailii
Mikail -88, stable, prone; Owl -25
Bran -14
Pinning the dragon down and hearing its exhausted coughs, he knows now is the time to finally end it.
Although the dragon's jittering movement makes it unpredictable to continue to pin.
Tal'ariel and Blackthorn move in behind Bran as he seems to lose his grip, trying to do her part before the dragon recovered!
;
Bran finishes off the dragon. Although much stronger than those you had fought before, it had no answer for the poisonous fumes.
Even if not for the crits killing Bran in Round 3, it would have crashed when Pinned for another 14 damage to Bran. Point is, that was a very clutch spell.
While Trellara uses a new wand that she acquired to revive Mikail , a search of the cave reveals that it contains several nests. This must have been the lair for all of the dragons whenever they were at the Fane of Tiamat.
One smaller nest near the entrance is mostly empty, aside from piles of neatly stacked bones.
Another small lair actually has furniture, including a small table, chair, and bed. This must have been the lair of the black dragon that had a goblin rider. This lair has bones scattered everywhere.
The next lair is much larger, with elaborate swirls and hollows carved into the floor and walls.
Another large lair stinks of sulfur and ash. An extensive collection of skulls is mounted on the wall, affixed there by molten metal. No doubt the lair of the red dragon.
Each of these four has a small cache of coins, gems, and valuable objects, but nothing magical.
The largest alcove must have been the lair of the blue dragon you just fought. It is decorated with carvings of Tiamat. This lair has a very impressive hoard, including:
A +2 Adamantine Shocking Burst Greatsword
A pair of Boots of Striding and Springing
A set of Eyes of the Eagle
A +2 Heavy Steel Shield
A Cloak of resistance +2
A Wand of Fireballs (CL 8, 22 Charges)
It also has far more coins, gems, and valuable objects than the other hoards.
The dragon itself wore an Amulet of Mighty Fists +2.
|
Hamailii, the next arrow already knocked, watches in amazement how Bran wiggles the live out of the mighty dragon.
This is....wow! I was really afraid of that dragon. Tal'ariel, your spell was well placed. Guess it saved us a great deal of sorrow, otherwise we might have had problems with this one.
How is Mikail? Was gruesome to watch how the dragon teared into you...Do you need anything else? How are you feeling? Thank you Trellara for healing him! This would have taken a lot of my magic.
Tal'ariel begins to heal Blackthorn and Mikail's owl with her own wand.
"That dragon was fearsome, the strongest we've fought yet. I'm glad the dragon succumbed to the magic--it was touch and go with the way the creature tore into Mikail. Of course, leave it to Bran to wrestle down a dragon with ease!"
Tal'ariel identifies and begins to hand out the magical items they had discovered. "These magic items could all be a huge help as we enter the temple."
She also uses a Pearl of Power to get back Enlarge Person.
Feeling the dragon's life leave its body, the warrior lets its neck slam to the ground and gives a howl of victory.
Regrouping with the party he shrinks back down and find his way back up the lair. "If it wasn't for Tal's magic in both senses I would be dead or stranded on the bottom of this cliff side." He examines some of the weapons, "We're able to do this together, and that is really what gives us our strength. Imagine if those dragons came at once at us... In the same way we did to them." The wrestler shudders at the thought and tries to balance the greatsword. Despite the heavy material it was no more difficult than anything else.
"This is a beautiful weapon. It would be a shame to not continue its legacy."
The party divides the magic items. "Thank you, Tal'ariel," says Trellara as she takes the Wand of Fireballs. "I don't know how good I will be with this, but I can try." Trellara also takes the Cloak of Resistance (as none of the others seem to need it).
The party flies back down to the ledge where the massive double doors lead into the temple.
Killiar will wait outside with the owls while the party enters.
"Where we're going I don't think we can risk even the most minor of injuries. Straight into the dragon's mouth so to speak." He asks Trellara if she can help him with the wand and then continues, "I'm ready when you all are." The warrior swings the greatsword a few times and nods.
"I'll take the lead; I don't think we should split up here at all."
Flying down to the massive double doors, Tal'ariel dismounts her trusty owl, Blacktorn, giving him an affectionate pat. As she hands Blacktorn off to Killiar, she gives the elf a long goodbye kiss. "Stay safe, we'll need the owls to be well so we can go home once we're done here!" Tal'ariel avoids the grim talk of what else might happen as they say their final goodbyes.
Looking toward the double doors, Tal'ariel checks to see if they are warded or trapped.
"There's still value to scouting," she notes, as Bran talks about sticking close together. "But I won't try to scout TOO far ahead."
Tal'ariel determines that the entrance is trapped somehow. She cannot find the trigger at first, but then sees some subtle arcane runes.
If the door is touched without speaking a pass-phrase, the trap will be triggered. It has an evocation aura, so a blast of energy seems the most likely effect.
Seeing Tal stop he waits with her, "What's wrong? Did you find something?" He was almost certainly sure he wasn't able to help her but he tried in his own way, "Is there some kind of pass code or something? Hail Tiamat? Hail Hydra? Something like that?"
He didn't want to touch anything but he did wonder if the blade he held would be able to slice it through given enough time. Not that he was going to of course, but it was an interesting feat of strength.
After staring for some time, Tal'ariel explains what she sees. "There's magic warding the door. There is a pass phrase that must be spoken; otherwise if the door is touched, the trap will be triggered. Probably a blast of energy. If everyone else steps back, I could try touching it and then dodging out of the way. I mean, it's not my favorite idea. Maybe you could get a big rock and throw it at the door?" She considers if that would be enough to trigger the magic, and whether it would target the rock as opposed to the thrower.
You could certainly try having Bran throw a rock at the door. Given the width of the ledge, he couldn't be very far away from the door, so depending on the blast radius he might be caught in it.
And depending on how the trap resets, triggering it once might not be sufficient to eliminate the threat it poses. If someone were to open the door and hold it open, that would likely prevent it from resetting.
Bran considered it, "Let's give it a shot, we can try your method after. I would rather risk a rock than risk you getting blown to bits."
Finding a large boulder, he waits for the others to get clear and then the hulking man enters a state of adrenaline and fury and tosses it, hoping to break the door.
Tal'ariel clears some distance but observes the effect closely to understand it and see if it resets.
The five dragon heads surrounding the door let forth blasts of flame, ice, lightning, and acid. Bran is just outside the blast radius.
His boulder does not break or budge the door, and barely chips it. The door does move enough to show that it is not locked or latched - it is just heavy enough that it will require sustained force rather than a brief impact to open it.
Tal'ariel can tell the trap has reset.
"The trap is back," reports Tal'ariel. "I wonder if it's possible to damage the heads to stop the trap . . . but it seems hard because the trap is magical. Otherwise, it might be a matter of pushing the door open and dodging out of the way, which is hard but not impossible. Unless anyone else has a better idea, I'm going to try that."
Throwing the boulder was the easy part, dodging the blast was the hard part. He saw the weaves of magic flying out and managed to lay flat to the floor behind a stray rock and avoid the elemental beams.
Fatigued he stands back up, "Okay, we have to try something else."
Resist Electricity is still up.
So what's the plan?
Hamailii to try to Dispel the trap, or Tal'ariel to open the door and try to dodge the blast?
If there is no consensus in 24 hours, I will move forward with the first posted idea (Tal'ariel).
Bran knows nothing about magic, "We know of one solution to this problem here... Brute force. We don't know if your dispel magic will work, and if it is we're back to square one again."
He looks at Tal'ariel, "If you're confident, we can make a run for it."
"I think I can get out of the way. Stand back!"
Tal'ariel pushes the door hard, then tries to leap out of the way!
Trying to recall the timing and angle of the blasts, Tal'ariel makes a run for the door and pushes it open. Either her calculations or her reflexes were slightly off, and Tal'ariel takes the blast of the five stone dragon heads.
She is badly scorched, frozen, and corroded, but is able to hold the doors open long enough for you to get through.
"Tal'ariel! Are you okay?"
Trellara gasps at the awful sight. Once safely past the doors, she takes out her wand and begins healing Tal'ariel.
The doors open onto a hallway, 10' wide and 80' long. At the end is another set of double doors, these of iron. Tal'ariel determines that they are not trapped. Listening at the door doesn't reveal any danger behind them.