Garrett's swing connects well, and the creature hisses in pain, the bulk of its body now pressing back against the wall, and some of it even pushed a bit through the window. As deep red blood oozes from it's wound it screaches back, "Give it to usss, sssoftssskin!"
Round 2
Sansa watches from her place a little away from the others (not too far as the space in the Tower was not that wide). The dragon would not see reason and it was a shame for it was such a unique creature, yet seemingly uncompromising, unwise. It wanted the stone. Her hand moved to her pocket and she fished it out, holding it tightly and discreetly in her small hand. This may be unwise but Corvina keeps her secrets and we are made to suffer. There is no choice. Sansa calls out to the creature, "Dragon, is this what you seek?" She holds up the bad stone, just time enough for the dragon to see it before she throws it out of the nearest window. The land around the Watchtower was covered with tall grass reads and rocks and the bad stone could get lost among the ground covering. But it would give them some time. To heal, to run, even to warn Mother Celeste and the town. Elarya was almost done and Garrett was bitten. Dante was ... she had no idea. Had her powers been greater, she would have stood her ground and held onto the stone. But that day was not today. If the dragon does not find the stone, I shall come back and look for it. I will unlock its secrets.
Not waiting for the dragon to act, Sansa runs over to the injured Elarya, mindful still of the wounded dragon's abilities and lays her hands on the older girl, hoping to give her some healing succour.
The quiet words leave her lips like a prayer and the blue light shimmers, expands and enters Elarya.
The creature's eyes widen and its focus rapidly shift when the small girl holds up the stone. "Give it to..." but before it can complete the words, the stone is out the window. Dante sees an opportunity, and tries to jump past the beast to get to the ladder, shielding himself with his arms. He manages to get on, but the serpent's position right at the opening proves to be too advantageous and it sinks it's fangs into his shoulder as begins to climb down the first few rungs. He whimpers in pain, slipping a little on his own blood but hurriedly makes it halfway down.
(fweew, not confirmed because Dante is in total defense)
Amara's eyes widen as the ground closes up and she feels the warmth surround her.
Well something happened, only time will tell what.
Her mind is spinning with questions. "That was amazing Jerem. What has become of the creatures? Are they gone or just unable to hurt us? Will they move somewhere else and threaten some other community?"
As she looks around trying to sense if anything is out of place or different, she sees Havak and Rook as well as the others and breathes a sigh of relief.
Rook rushes ahead of the others as they reach the clearing. One eye locks on Jerem studying him intently. He floats in the air, his wings beating furiously. Magic words well up in his throat.
Then he hears the townsfolk. And the birds flutter. He feels it, too. Something in the air. He grasps his frustration in his clenched claws. The wind begins to build, buffeting him backward. He forces himself to the nearest branch and grips tightly, wings close to his side. Still paranoia builds inside him, staring pointedly at Jerem. He must do something. Anything.
Yet he does nothing. A sensation flows over him, but his mind is too rigid to register. It's only when he sees the others awash with awe that he feels it, a bathing warmth, a soothing buffeting air. He sees Jerem glowing, comforting. The serpents disappear.
He almost gives in completely, relaxing in the glow, but a small part of his mind remains solid and unforgiving. He watches and waits.
Elarya tenacity finally pays off and she graps the creature just below the head. The stress and fatigue evident on her face, she is holding on with pure will. The serpent writhes and wriggles, trying to escape and its wild jerking movements prove to be more than the girl can handle. It launches out of her grip, using its wings to give it a little extra push. Once free, the serpent throws itself through the window, out after the stone. Dante swipes his dagger at it desperately as it leaves yelling "No, you can't have it, It's mine!" his desperate strike actually managing to wound the creature slightly.
Amara's eyes widen as the ground closes up and she feels the warmth surround her.
Well something happened, only time will tell what.Her mind is spinning with questions. "That was amazing Jerem. What has become of the creatures? Are they gone or just unable to hurt us? Will they move somewhere else and threaten some other community?"
As she looks around trying to sense if anything is out of place or different, she sees Havak and Rook as well as the others and breathes a sigh of relief.
[dice=perception] 1d20+6
[dice=knowledge nature] 1d20+7
"The creatures have been told by the One to leave this place. They will not return. They will go far away, and no longer be a threat to anyone."
Jerem turns to the small crowd and holds out his hands. "Good folk of Solace, you have nothing more to fear. The serpents have been sent away, their home reclaimed by the earth. All this by the Glory and Will of the One. If only you show the One reverence, you will be watched over as well."The few townsfolk that are present seem dumbfounded to what has happened, and oooh and aaah at the flowered vine that has seemingly come from nowhere. Jerem clasps Amara firmly on the shoulder and gives her a smile before going to the citizens to speak kind words to them.
The wind seems to calm a bit, but is still blowing quite strongly.
** spoiler omitted **
The creature weaves it's way out of Elarya's tired hands and begins following the stone out the window giving Garrett a prime chance to strike at it with the warrior woman's axe.
[dice=AoO Attack]1d20+5
[dice=AoO Damage]1d6+7As it manages to get its head and wings outside, he makes a wild dive after it...
[dice=CMB Grapple]1d20+4+8
Round 3
As the dragon is fleeing from the window, Sansa, like the others, takes the opportunity to hit it and stop its hunt for the bad stone.
Sadly, it was too quick and her mace hit the air, again. Sansa silently screamed her frustration.
Now my foolish brother makes a dash for the stone. He will get himself killed! Stupid boy!
Sansa glides over to the swaying Elarya. "Can you climb down the ladder on your own or do you require assistance?"
Dante continues down the ladder in a hurry, but in his hurry he slips off the rungs and is sure to fall, but he miraculously catches himself! However he makes no progress down the ladder, clutching with white knuckles to the side.
Rook's mind relaxes a bit as the winds subside. Wheels spinning in his head, he realizes he has been staring at Jerem. He turns away, slipping back into animal mode.
"He did that all too easy. Someone with power like that...could easily have brought those creatures here in the first place."
He sifts through the catalog of stories and folk tales about what Jerem just did . Rook slinks back into the shadow of tree cover, keeping an eye on Jerem. He will follow him closely back to his home.
"So... uhhh.... where to?" Havak muses in no particular direction.
best not address Rook in front of others.
Elarya almost falls as she loses her grip and her anger subsides. She feels the full brunt of what happened and staggers over to the edge of the tower and vomits over the side as whatever the snake did to her finally registers.
"Go," she manages to croak out, "'M fine, jus' go."
Round 4
Sansa looks at the older girl, shaking, and then heaving the contents of her stomach out her Tower window.
She announces quite unemotionally, "Then take cover, lest it comes back to finish the job. I will return for you if I am still alive."
Sansa spies her oil lantern, still intact even with the man-sized dragon fighting them in her Tower. She picks it up and hooks it to her belt as she does her mace.
Sansa looks out the window to determine where the dragon is before leaving Elarya in the Tower.
She cannot see it from her current position and has no time to look through the other windows.
She runs to the ruined trapdoor and puts her foot on the first rung. Sansa begins to descend the 30 ft ladder, mindful that Dante and Garrett are somewhere ahead of her climbing down also.
"'M done hiding."
Amara examines the area around the change making note of the vines, commiting them to memory in case she ever sees anything like them again. She bends down and smells the flowers.
Who else could have been here and yet told no one?
She turns to walk back to town but makes sure to follow the others and looks for any footprints that match the ones she has seen.
Dante finally makes it down the rest of the ladder and gets out of the way of the others. Desperately, he pants "Please, don't let it get the stone."
Outside, the serpant can be heard thrashing around in the grass, most likely looking for the stone.
Amara examines the area around the change making note of the vines, commiting them to memory in case she ever sees anything like them again. She bends down and smells the flowers.
** spoiler omitted **
Jerem speaks with the townsfolk for several minutes, and then the group begins to walk away. Those who are not now asking about how this strange feat was accomplished are muttering among themselves, mostly in wonder and curiosity.
The scene is left with Havak and Erec, with Rook hidden in a nearby tree.Amara examines the newly formed plant life, smelling the sweet scent of the flowers, which gives off a fragrance not unlike honey, but with a hind of black pepper.
Havak will attempt to examine the same plants Amara is, looking for any with interesting alchemical properties.
[dice=alchemy]1d20+11
Havak will attempt to examine the same plants Amara is, looking for any with interesting alchemical properties.
How are they narcotic? would their mere presence account for the warm feeling we got here, or would they have to be more directly used (ingested/injected)?
When Jerem and the others leave Amara hangs back and motions to Havak and Rook.
"Something is not quite right. Jerem apparently needed directions to find this place but the tracks around the site indicate he has already been here!" she does qualify with "Although it could be someone else of a similar height, weight and foot size as him. How did the others know how to get here? Did they just seem to follow us?"
Her brow furrows as she considers the implications and she muses out loud, "How long do reptile eggs usually take to incubate? I wonder if their laying coincides with Jerem's arrival in town."
With regards to the others, They followed Havak and Erec (and unknowingly, Rook) to get to the site.
Seeing her suspicion, Havak feels it is pertinent to add, "These flowers are narcotic in nature."
Dante has stepped aside off the ladder to let the others go, while Elarya waits for everyone else to get down to the first level. While Dante catches his breath, the serpent can be heard in the grass, thrashing around and searching for the stone. It's apparent that the creature is becoming more and more frustrated, as its thrashing becomes more violent. Curses in a strange language issue from a spot, making the creature's location hard to miss.
Amara recollects her lore on serpent eggs and begrudgingly reveals to the others,
"Normal serpent eggs would have taken a lot longer than a week to hatch. I may be getting a bit ahead of myself. I don't know much about magic though so who knows how those creatures really behave in that respect."
She regards the flowers a little more warily after Havak shares his knowledge.
"That seems like a strange choice, not exactly benign."
She ponders all the information for a minute then grunts in dissatisfaction.
"Well, I don't know what is going on around here and I'm not convinced it is as over as Jerem may think, she pauses a moment, or indicates anyway... I, for one, will remain on my guard for a while yet."
"So...where are we headed now? Rook made it sound as if there were some danger here."
"So...where are we headed now? Rook made it sound as if there were some danger here."
"I...I don't really know. I heard you asking Abram about looking for something. I could help you out."
She looks around suspiciously. "It doesn't look like there is anything here."But I definitely don't want to be wandering around by myself.
She does pluck one of the flowers and tucks it into her pocket to perhaps show Samel.
"well now it might be too late in the day for Havak to get moon silver from the graveyard. Havak does not want to be in the graveyard at night if Havak can help it. "
"Well thank you both for coming to help. If you need anything from me just let me know and I will be glad to help you.
Round 5
Sansa finally descends the ladder (it seemed to take her longer than usual but then again, this was no ordinary day in the Watchtower). She spies Garrett and Dante up ahead, as well as the thrashing, angry dragon.
The bad stone is important to Dante and so we must find it. He seems to know more than his tongue is willing to disclose at present, Sansa muses privately with some annoyance.
She begins to make her way forward quickly and is currently about 5 or 10 ft behind Garrett. My sight is keen enough, perhaps I shall find this accursed stone before the violent dragon.
Seeing Sansa clear the ladder, Elarya climbs down 20 feet and drops the last 10, landing in a crouch.
Rook follows the conversation intently, nodding.
"Yes I do not trust this man Jerem. There must more to this. I suggest we discuss our findings with Abram and have him look over the scene...or the flowers. Do you both think it's safe to take sample with us?"
"It's fine. Just don't put it close to your face and inhale powerfully. Or mash it up and eat it. That'd be bad. Or good. Depending on what you were trying to do."
Thrashing around in the tall grass, the ten foot long serpent flails its wings, screeching in frustration. It hisses and yammers in a foreign tongue, whipping its body about in search of the "bad stone". Seeing the creature distracted, Garrett takes his chance on a powerful strike. Steadily, and with both hands gripped firmly about the haft of the axe he brings it down in a diagonal motion just above the dark feathered wings of the beast. The blow strikes true, truer even than he would have thought, and thick red blow spills out, splattering him in the face and chest. The heavy blade carries through still, shattering bone and moments later, the serpent only twitches, its two halves quickly losing the life they once had in spurts of red.