Meanwhile the other three continue to slash and bite at Lin and Ansrithar@Min: Dragon #1, bite at Lin(still flanking)
Bite:1d20 + 15 + 2 = (3) + 15 + 2 = 20Dragon #2, two claws at Lin(still flanking)
Claw:1d20 + 14 + 2 = (9) + 14 + 2 = 25
Claw:1d20 + 14 + 2 = (15) + 14 + 2 = 31
Damage: 1d8 + 5 =(7) + 5 = 12
Rider #2, fly check: 1d20 + 5 = (12) + 5 = 17
Rider #2 attacks Min with his Glaive: 1d20 + 7 = (9) + 7 = 16
As Blue dragon #2's claws smash through Min's heroic defense, knocking aside his lance blows and scoring a nasty blow into Lin's side, as silver scales scatter to the winds Lin shrieks in pain. Min's eyes burn with the force of the intensity that fills the bond between them, he locks eyes with the enemy dragonrider. Just as he easily deflects the incoming Glaive, Min points his lance at the other rider with the ease it takes to lift a paper weight. The intended threat was short lived though as Lin lunged at Dragon #1 and broke Min's eye contact with the fool he was going to destroy.
With the burning pain of the wound in her side Lin roars in rage at Blue Dragon #1 who, after being blasted with her mighty breath, still refused to fall. As she brought her full strength down on the riderless dragon again she roared in draconic. "Drnii iehudrni liydrniihu unmy stechchunrak anyon niylii!!"
The earth mother is calling you home!!
As the dragon's claws close in on Damian, his longsword flashes out to cut it. The blue dragon's frosty blood spills out, falling downward to the ground far below. As the dragon snatches Damian with his sharp claws, he steels himself for a bumpy ride.
With a flash, he lets go of Keythan's saddle with his legs, allowing the dragon to pull him upward free of his mount. Rather than attempt to break free, Damian slashes upward with his longsword at the open target the dragon had given him. The blade penetrates deep into the dragon, a critical blow.
As Damian lets go, Keythan goes into a sudden drop. They have trained in this maneuver, an eventuality in any aerial combat against the Dragonflight. Keythan swoops upward and snaps at the dragon, preparing to shred it from above as Damian stabs it from below. His bite glances off the dragon's tough hide, however, but both Damian and his mount know that the dragon has little strength left.
Syl gracefully leans into Ansrithar, guiding him away from the bite at the last minute. It's here she can only smile, a deft movement even for a dragon. She focuses clearly on the battle at hand, and aims to end this rider with the mount!
"Not before you join your brethren in the ground!"
@Sir Damian: As the dragon reaches for you, you plunge your longsword deep into its wrist. It screams as the blade, blessed by the inheritor and wielded by her agent, severs tissue, tendon, and since. A fey look comes over the earth dragon as its claws close around you. Perhaps it senses that this desperate gambit to separate you from Keythan is just that; desperate. Desparate and doomed. It barely has you inches out of your saddle when you switch grips on your sword and tear downward, causing scales and hide and blood to tear free as you shatter all the bones in its arm and rip open several veins.
The blue shrieks and lets go immediately. Its eyes glaze over and it loses consciousness, plummeting out of the sky. You land roughly back in the saddle, watching as your defeated opponent gracelessly describes a listless, spiraling arc towards the ground, a couple weak gouts of lightning issuing forth from its now unmoving jaw as its life-force leaves it.
With a massive thud it lands in a courtyard, where small boys throw rocks at the corpse.
@Min: Blue #1, tenacious and angered, is nonetheless beginning to show serious signs of wear. Some of the vigor has gone out of its flying, and it appears to be making less precise hits. It growls and winces as Lin tears more skin, great gouts of blood now flying off the earth dragon in between attacks.
You know, however, that it will soon be able to use its breath weapon again, which could mean the difference in this fight.
@Syl: Your opponent, Blue #3, continues to remain locked in, swirling and dancing in the air around you and Ansrithar. It grunts when Ansrithar wounds it, and shrieks in surprise as your lance gouges a deep rend in its back, scales being flung off it like roof tiles in a hurricane.
Blue Dragon #2, ever-so-briefly, snaps its head up as if it were listening to something, or listening for something. Suddenly, it disengages and launches itself to the ground, a blue streak heading straight for the now-burned courtyard below.
@Min:
Dragon #1 attacking Lin
@Syl:
Dragon #3, attacking Ansrithar:
Min jerks in the saddle as Lin continues her savage and almost reckless assault on the remaining blue dragon. He tries to bring his lance in an attempt to block the oncoming attacks but fails to find an opening between the two raging dragons. As he turns, preparing to block an incoming glaive again, he see the other enemy blue scream past, too quick to strike out at as they flew by intent for the courtyard below. He felt a shock in their bond as Lin was wounded again, he grunted at the same time as her as if he had somehow taken the hit instead.
As her instincts scream that something terrible is about to happening, Lin moves into the blows of her opponent. She grunts as her enemy finds purchase on her wounded side worsening her injuries. She fights desperately to bring down the other blue dragon before more harm befalls Min, barely noticing that the other dragon has broke off its attack.
Damian let's gravity grab hold of him, his descent slowed from the magic of his ring. Keythan flies to allow Damian to gently return to the saddle. He sheathes his sword and pulls the lance out. Hopefully, the pair of dragonriders will soon join him. He closes his eyes, quietly thanking the Inheritor for her blessings. When he is done, he spurs Keythan to the west, to the red dragon of whom he was warned.
Glorfindel roars in defiance as the courtyard comes under attempt. He continues to roar as Na-Calanon streaks off into the sky in defense of the city. He sees the elves and their dragons fly off with the human soldier and his griffon. Glorfindel looks around, waiting for Dolo to leap onto his back and urge him into the sky as well.
That time doesn't come. He paces the courtyard, unsure what to do next. He attempts a mental connection but finds it blocked - apparently his master is concentrating hard, probably using magic. He knows to leave his master alone when this happens - bad things could happen.
Glorfindel grows impatient and gazes into the sky, following the life-and-death struggle unfold. He wishes to join in but dare not leave for fear of not being there when his master needs him.
Glorfindel locks onto the battle and continues to watch, waiting.
@Belsarious: After taking a deep breath, you slide back into a strange state of limbo, a waking dream-state. You are standing on a blasted, rocky plane. There are mountains in the near distance. This time, your familiar is not with you. You are surrounded by a globe of pale green light, and currents of air and energy are moving around you in a specific pattern. As you walk, these protections move with you. The sky above is pitch-black and starless, and there are no clouds. The only things you can see in the sky are three strange slashes. There is a shifting in the air, and your senses tell you: something is stirring behind the mountains.
A giant figure, ancient and somber and solid as rock, rises up then, towering over the mountain range. Its head is the size of a single mountain, and it is several times higher than the highest peak. It is wing'd and horn'd, with glowing greenish-white eyes. You cannot make out any of its features as it is sheathed entirely in shadow, but you feel...something familiar about its presence. Something on the edge of your senses.
No sooner has this creature, this god, appeared than it turns away from you, and the three slashes in the sky open, hideously, and revel themselves to be an eye and a mouth and a yawning abyss, blacker than night and deeper than the sky. A massive rumbling shakes the ground, like an earthquake, and you realize that the sky is laughing. Low, long, and hideously.
A peculiar dance begins, then; the sky is trying to fold down on the world, this desolate rock you're standing on, and in particular it keeps reaching for you, stretching out sticky, mouthed tentacles that hiss the names of blasphemies committed in the past and atrocities yet to come, a litany of pain and death and betrayal. Avoiding these things takes every ounce of concentration you have, though, and those tentacles that you don't dodge get deflected by the orb of energy around you. The first creature you saw, the one you think you know, is also protecting you, engaging itself with the thing that is the sky, getting stuck and unstuck, moving with it, shoving it away.
You notice a mist escaping your body. Like the vapor that rises from you after a long run on a cold morning, a terrible black vapor is rising up from you and becoming part of the sky.
Suddenly, your defender falters and the orb of protective energy disappears at the same time you are focused too keenly on the somehow hideously beautiful mist coming out of your pores. In an impossibly swift motion a single tiny tentacle of blackness reaches up and attaches to the back of your head and disappears.
The sky laughs again.
Immediately after, the energy shield comes back up and there is a roar from your mountains-high defender. The rest is so fast. With a few motions the sky is beaten back, howling in rage. Now exhausted, you sit on the rocky ground. As the sky fades back, your protector turns around. Your vision goes dark as it crosses its arms and stands over you and you realize; this is your Patron.
@Dolo: You have fallen into a trance-like rhythm with Luaera's dance and Liminaltor's chant. The academic in you cannot help but notice that at different times in the ritual you have been in sync with different people in the room. What this accomplishes, you couldn't say for sure, but you're assuming the color-coding of the Telestari dress indicates different societal functions. Having watched Liminaltor and seen the energy it dispenses, you would guess green is a nature, or possibly healing, or protecting function. Arialanar, in Blue, is obvious; he is a killer. You have not seen him work any magic, but during the ritual various weapons and other, more sinister devices have been visible under his massive cloak. The sheer efficiency and creepy silence of his movements also belies his function.
Iassurallas, however, in red. About it, you do not have any idea.
You see the teapot shaking, jumping, and a new shadow appears over poor Belsarious, who is again coated in sweat and writhing and mouthing words that are not words. If the last shadow was a hideous, swirling malignancy, this shadow is hell itself. With a million mouths, and stubby tentacles growing off of it -- themselves covered in eyes and mouths -- and a multitude of giant red eyes staring hatefully in the direction of the Telestari, then Luaera, then you. (If you never again have to experience the ageless, putrid hate and fury those eyes were able to communicate with just a look, it will be too soon.) Then, hideously, as if coming from across the planes itself and being dragged across every star and mountain along the way, a low, croaking voice fills the room.
"Y O U H A V E N O W H I T E N O S T A R Y O U C A N N O T C O M P L E T E T H I S I W I L L C O N S U M E Y O U A L L"
The cloud however, seems unable to touch Belsarious, held back by some invisible force, and the teapot continues to jump and buck harmlessly at his feet. You notice that every now and then some liquid spits out the spout, hissing when it strikes the marble and eating right through it.
You are in the last third of the scroll when the unthinkable happens; a shadow passes over the skylight window in this room, there is a *W H U M P F !* and a series of explosions outside, and just for a second, just the tiniest moment, the ritual is interrupted. You stumble over a word whose homonym you forgot had different syllabic emphasis. Luaera pauses mid-step, her eyes suddenly blue. Liminaltor twists his head at the sound of screams from outside and Iassurallas looks pained. The shadow over Belsarious barks a single hideous laugh and shoots out six disgusting pseudopods of misty blackness, one at each of you.
It is, perhaps ironically, Arialanar Maren, the killer/assassin, who protects you all. With a knifelike motion of its hand it severs the blackness heading towards it, then makes a swirling, pulling motion over its head and pulls the rest back towards it. It wasn't quite quick enough, though, and the pseudopod reaching for you brushes the scroll in your hands and...did...did it just touch Belsarious' forehead before getting pulled back?
Luaera resumes her dance with vigor and strength, her eyes once again leaf-green. Iassurallas and Liminaltor renew their chanting and movement and you immediately pick up your spell-chanting. Unfortunately, now the upper half of the scroll is a horrid, demonic face, and it spews your words back at you in reverse, and in random other languages, making it exceedingly difficult to concentrate. However, angered as you are, you power through the last of the scroll, ending on a triumphant note at the same time the others finish their pieces, and a towering figure of evil, a huge shadow, gets pulled down out of thin air and trapped in the teapot. The Metallum Aeternum, which had originally eaten away at the protective banding around the teapot, now wraps itself around it, then flings itself back on the wall, leaving some of its own...flesh? self? permanently fused on the item.
@Belsarious: Your eyes snap open. You are conscious, and your familiar is overjoyed to see you awake. You are able to sit up.
@Belsarious and @Dolo: You are both gasping for air, and tired. Each of your heads throbs with an immense headache and your limbs feel like lead. Luaera is gone. Lying on the floor is Captain Merit, covered in sweat and out cold. Liminaltor and Iassurallas have both disappeared. Distantly, as if in a dream, you hear voices outside:
"Another dragon!"
"Enemy troops! Attacks from the North and west!"
"Look out for the archers!"
For the first time, Arialanar speaks. Its voice is is the sound of a knife in a back, of a loved one dying in an alley alone, of your last words, and of your final breath stolen. It is a low, precise sound you wish never to hear again.
"The Essence has touched Belsarious.
Yet what curses him will be a boon to your mission.
Now.
Please.
Come with me.
We must defend this place.
Our work here is not done."
Arialanar then leads you out of the room of ritual, where you note even the once-mad swirlings of the Metallum Aeternum have slowed to a strange, subdued flowing motion. As you get closer to the exit of the Citadel, the sounds of war and dying get closer and closer. At the entrance, you are brought up short; enemy soldiers (Humans and Elves! Half-elves and Half-orcs! What on earth is this!) in silver platemail, stylized red draconic jaws painted across their breastplates, are moving steadily across the courtyard. Paladine and Clerics have come from all over to defend, but are badly outnumbered. On the edge of the courtyard to your left, a few hundred feet away, is a blue dragon. It is sticking its head into each building in turn, and then pulling it out. It is being very systematic. It is obviously looking for something. Around the dragon are eight soldiers, also a mix of human, elven, and half-breeds. They are all in dragonscale armor of some sort, and have compound longbows and multiple shortswords. Their armor has been painted with dyes and juices to have a camouflage pattern resembling the leaves and trees of a deep woods. Their hair is tied back with cloth kerchiefs and they have eyeblack under their eyes. On their backs are multiple quivers with strange arrows; some have cardinal feathers for fletching, others have cedar waxwing feathers. A third variety has redwing-blackbird feathers. You've no idea what this could mean, but it can't be good.
Wordlessly, Arialanar charges across the courtyard towards the dragon and its eight escorts. As it runs across the courtyard you see it moving its hands in spellcasting motions. Suddenly it is surrounded by a huge shield of black energy. Then just as it gets close to the dragon, it unleashes a single barking syllable and two of the camouflaged soldiers are flung high into the air, some 1000 feet or so, as if by a massive invisible hand. A second syllable causes one of the camo'd soldiers to scream briefly and then fall to the ground, dead. Pulling out a pair of swords, Arialanar attacks the dragon.
Roll initiative, please
Sylsalitae has no longer been so graceful - her attacks, which would be an artful display, have changed for the worse. She no longer does movements that would simply end it, one way or another; her attacks seek to kill this beast before her, to remove the dark creature from her sight. She moistens her lips, and ensures her hair is pushed back, and strikes forth again - in synchronization with Ansrithar's mighty blows.
It's almost brutal, how ferocious the pair are fighting.
Glorfindel roars in defiance as the courtyard comes under attempt. He continues to roar as Na-Calanon streaks off into the sky in defense of the city. He sees the elves and their dragons fly off with the human soldier and his griffon. Glorfindel looks around, waiting for Dolo to leap onto his back and urge him into the sky as well.
That time doesn't come. He paces the courtyard, unsure what to do next. He attempts a mental connection but finds it blocked - apparently his master is concentrating hard, probably using magic. He knows to leave his master alone when this happens - bad things could happen.
Glorfindel grows impatient and gazes into the sky, following the life-and-death struggle unfold. He wishes to join in but dare not leave for fear of not being there when his master needs him.
Glorfindel locks onto the battle and continues to watch, waiting.
"Glad I am to be still within this world, it seems some approach who want it to be otherwise."
"Dolo my friend did you come through this as well?"
Initiative
Min jerks in the saddle as Lin continues her savage and almost reckless assault on the remaining blue dragon. He tries to bring his lance in an attempt to block the oncoming attacks but fails to find an opening between the two raging dragons. As he turns, preparing to block an incoming glaive again, he see the other enemy blue scream past, too quick to strike out at as they flew by intent for the courtyard below. He felt a shock in their bond as Lin was wounded again, he grunted at the same time as her as if he had somehow taken the hit instead.
As her instincts scream that something terrible is about to happening, Lin moves into the blows of her opponent. She grunts as her enemy finds purchase on her wounded side worsening her injuries. She fights desperately to bring down the other blue dragon before more harm befalls Min, barely noticing that the other dragon has broke off its attack.
Bite w/power attack 1d20 + 10 - 2 (15) + 10 - 2 = 23
Bite Damage1d8 + 3 + 4 (6) + 3 + 4 = 13
Claw +1 w/power attack1d20 + 11 - 2 (14) + 11 - 2 = 23
Claw Damage1d6 + 3 + 4 + 1 (3) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 11
Claw +1 w/power attack1d20 + 11 - 2 (8) + 11 - 2 = 17
Claw Damage1d6 + 3 + 4 + 1 (3) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 11
Dolo does his best to keep up with the others. His short little legs pump furiously, fearful of having left his companion in the courtyard where the action was about to unfold.
Dolo reaches out mentally to reassure Glorfindel, letting him know he would be there shortly.
Dolo does take time to strengthen himself and his companions before the battle.
The first dweomer crafted is to make himself invisible from sight. The second is one from his wand and provides an intangible but forceful shield for Glorfindel. The last, using his rod to extend the effects, is one to haste everyone within range.
Min jerks in the saddle as Lin continues her savage and almost reckless assault on the remaining blue dragon. He tries to bring his lance in an attempt to block the oncoming attacks but fails to find an opening between the two raging dragons. As he turns, preparing to block an incoming glaive again, he see the other enemy blue scream past, too quick to strike out at as they flew by intent for the courtyard below. He felt a shock in their bond as Lin was wounded again, he grunted at the same time as her as if he had somehow taken the hit instead.
As her instincts scream that something terrible is about to happening, Lin moves into the blows of her opponent. She grunts as her enemy finds purchase on her wounded side worsening her injuries. She fights desperately to bring down the other blue dragon before more harm befalls Min, barely noticing that the other dragon has broke off its attack.
Bite w/power attack 1d20 + 10 - 2 (15) + 10 - 2 = 23
Bite Damage1d8 + 3 + 4 (6) + 3 + 4 = 13
Claw +1 w/power attack1d20 + 11 - 2 (14) + 11 - 2 = 23
Claw Damage1d6 + 3 + 4 + 1 (3) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 11
Claw +1 w/power attack1d20 + 11 - 2 (8) + 11 - 2 = 17
Claw Damage1d6 + 3 + 4 + 1 (3) + 3 + 4 + 1 = 11
@Dolo and @Belsarious:
@Belsarious:
@Sir Damian: Looking to the west, you see nothing but the sparkling of sun off the water of the Deepest Lake. No red dragon approaches. Behind you your dragonrider companions remain locked in combat, though one of their enemies has flown down to the courtyard. A company of soldiers -- not Black Dragonflight, these are in shining silver armor. What madness is this? -- is rushing the Citadel, though you can see Dolo and Belsarious and Arialanar have all joined the fight.
It would appear you have some options.
Belsarious sees those coming in the distance calling upon his patron
he points at the advancing enemy....
"Hamper and bind them in your artic blasts, prevent them from me!
School conjuration (creation) [cold]; Level druid 3, sorcerer/wizard 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (dust and water)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area cylinder (40-ft. radius, 20 ft. high)
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
Driving sleet blocks all sight (even darkvision) within it and causes the ground in the area to be icy. A creature can walk within or through the area of sleet at half normal speed with a DC 10 Acrobatics check. Failure means it can't move in that round, while failure by 5 or more means it falls (see the Acrobatics skill for details).
The sleet extinguishes torches and small fires.
"Now focus upon the distant enemy, for if we aid there, unexpected we can get aid here, I hope to buy time enough to strike!
@Syl and @MinDespite the ragged appearance of Min's opponent, both it and the other blue dragon suddenly start to laugh gleefully, lightning crackling and spewing around their fangtoothed maws. "THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH! NOW YOU DIE!" Hellish blasts of lightning rocket towards your mounts.
Belsarious sees those coming in the distance calling upon his patron
he points at the advancing enemy...."Hamper and bind them in your artic blasts, prevent them from me!
** spoiler omitted **
"Now focus upon the distant enemy, for if we aid there, unexpected we can get aid here, I hope to buy time enough to strike!
There are yells of confusion and coarse oaths from the massive, 80'-diameter circle of enemy troops as they are blanketed in a massive ice storm. They continue forward, but at a much slower rate.
@Dolo:
Lin ignored the wounded blues threats as she felt the crackle of electricity filling the air, just as the blue prepared to unleash his powerful breath...
Lin with a single beat of her powerful wings, easily dodged the blues attack. As she came back at him, he barely had time to recover before she moved in, and continued to savage the blue with her powerful strikes.
@Min: The blue dragon has nothing left. After seeing its breath attack spin wide and arc harmlessly into the sky, it turns to face you but its defense is sloppy. Lin hits the wounded Blue like a ton of bricks, blasting it back as she tears great hunks of flesh out of its body. The blue starts a low keening howl after the first claw lands, then screams briefly in agony as Lin's second claw plunges into your opponent's chest, crushing its heart. The scream is abruptly cut off as the light goes out of its eyes. Its wings continue to flap for a few moments -- some last nerve impulse -- but it falls, turning lazily as the wind has its way with the once-mighty flier and it slams into the ground, dead.
Where was that dragon? Having been granted the blessing of Iomedae, who granted him the vision of the red dragon?
1d20+6
Where was that dragon? Having been granted the blessing of Iomedae, who granted him the vision of the red dragon?
@Sir Damain: Taking advantage of a break in the action to concentrate, you realize your angle of approach is not ideal. Your skills as an air warrior help you conclude that a dragon seeking to come in unseen would need to be flying low, so the shining of its scales would be lost in the shining of the water. If you lower altitude and fly out past the west edge of the city, you should have better odds.
As soon as Ansrithar notices the energy within the blue dragon's mouth, he tucks and does a very, very quick movement to the left, dodging the entire blast with little to no effort. It's here that he laughs now, his teeth gleaming as he spoke one time more.
"It seems you are as incompetent as loud as you speak. Your time is over - you must die."
Here Syl can only laugh, and nods to Ansrithar - she lifts her lance up high, and aims as her companion makes his attacks, and looks for an opening to otherwise shove that lance down the blue's throat, and into its mouth, to impale the creature's skull on its tip, ending this skirmish.
"Dolo shake it off, you are needed!"
Damian presses his feet down into the stirrups and leans coward, causing Keythan to go into a dive. He pulls the griffon up above the water of the Lake. He can taste the spray of the water, which cools his body of the exertion of battle.
He and Keythan scan the Lake for the red dragon. The gods would not send a false vision to him. He would find this dragon and stop it from harming Izmir.
@Syl: Clearly shaken by Ansrithar's clean dodge and the removal of its cohort from the skies by Min/Lin, Blue #3 is not ready as you dive right back into combat, not a split-second after lighting shot by you. This time, all your attacks score true as Ansrithar rends the blue, causing it to howl in pain, then your lance pierces its thick hide and it lets out an anguished shriek. It is badly hurt, flying unevenly, but the Blue Dragon remains aloft.
@Belsarious:
@Sir Damian: No matter how many times you see it, you will never cease to be amazed by the lake's crystalline purity; its clean, sparkling depths. Unfortunately this time your reverie is short-lived as you see it; evil incarnate shooting at very low altitude over the lake. A very large, very old Red Dragon. Whatever spirit it was that spoke through Captain Merit, it spoke true.
Thankfully, your tactics are sound, and have bought you some time. The dragon is still a ways from the city, and you know there are at least 100 archers stationed outside the city walls who could assist if they knew this threat was coming. As is, the dragon will be over them and gone before they can even nock an arrow. But with warning, they could be of great assistance in at least slowing the creature.
Belsarious continues to take in the scene....
"Dolo my friend, I am glad the archers are so distant from us here, do you think my magic and voice is enough to them all"
Waiting for Dolo to find out what he thinks about using magic.....
Entrall
School enchantment (charm) [language-dependent, mind-affecting, sonic]; Level bard 2, cleric/oracle 2, inquisitor 2
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Targets any number of creatures
Duration 1 hour or less
Saving Throw Will negates; see text; Spell Resistance yes
If you have the attention of a group of creatures, you can use this spell to hold them enthralled. To cast the spell, you must speak or sing without interruption for 1 full round. Thereafter, those affected give you their undivided attention, ignoring their surroundings. They are considered to have an attitude of friendly while under the effect of the spell. Any potentially affected creature of a race or religion unfriendly to yours gets a +4 bonus on the saving throw.
A target with 4 or more HD or with a Wisdom score of 16 or higher remains aware of its surroundings and has an attitude of indifferent. It gains a new saving throw if it witnesses actions that it opposes.
The effect lasts as long as you speak or sing, to a maximum of 1 hour. Those enthralled by your words take no action while you speak or sing and for 1d3 rounds thereafter while they discuss the topic or performance. Those entering the area during the performance must also successfully save or become enthralled. The speech ends (but the 1d3-round delay still applies) if you lose concentration or do anything other than speak or sing.
If those not enthralled have unfriendly or hostile attitudes toward you, they can collectively make a Charisma check to try to end the spell by jeering and heckling. For this check, use the Charisma bonus of the creature with the highest Charisma in the group; others may make Charisma checks to assist. The heckling ends the spell if this check result beats your Charisma check result. Only one such challenge is allowed per use of the spell.
If any member of the audience is attacked or subjected to some other overtly hostile act, the spell ends and the previously enthralled members become immediately unfriendly toward you. Each creature with 4 or more HD or with a Wisdom score of 16 or higher becomes hostile.
Damian Lamorak is just a man, a simple one at that. He knows that he cannot stand next to the majestic might of an old red dragon, a being whose power dwarfs his by several orders of magnitude. Damian knows this and accepts it.
The right man, at the right time, can make all the difference in the world.
Damian turns Kythan towards the city, streaking as fast as possible. He pulls himself low onto the griffon's back, trying to find every bit of speed possible. Damian swoops toward the city, just hoping he would arrive before it is too late. He pulls Kythan to a halt at the city wall.
The attention of the archers is directed inward, toward the battle in the city. Damian shouts to them in a clear voice. "Soldiers! A red dragon approaches from the Lake! Take up your bows and prepare to fire on my signal!" Damian turns to face the oncoming storm.
He is one man, but now he does not fight alone. He lowers his lance and steels himself. This charge will likely be his last, but he hopes to buy some time for the city.
@Sir Damian:
@Min:
Lin gave a roar of triumph as her opponent finally fell to earth, she hung there for a brief second as her and Min surveyed the battle around them.
Lin gave a roar of triumph as her opponent finally fell to earth, she hung there for a brief second as her and Min surveyed the battle around them.
1d20+10
You see Syl and Ansrithar still locked in combat, obviously, plus fighting in the courtyard in front of The Citadel -- it looks like Dolo and Belsarious are back outside and judging by the massive ice storm that surrounds a large scrum of soldiers in the courtyard, they are working their magic just fine.
You also see the one unhurt Blue Dragon (#2), digging around in buildings in the courtyard as four soldiers attempt to protect it from Arialanar Maren, who seems to be a lethal combatant, whatever he, er, she, er, it is.
Lastly, you see Sir Damian, the Cavalier, over on the western edge of the city, by where it meets the lake. He is marshaling the archers on the outer reach, and you recall him saying something about a red dragon approaching from the west, but currently you don't see one, though there is a disturbance of some sort on the blinding, sparkling waters of The Deepest Lake that you realize could easily be caused by a large creature, flying very low.
They're singular triumph was short lived and it doesn't take long for the pair to decide where to go next!
They wheel around, Min brings his lance to the fore as he prepared to charge towards the blue that is still locked in combat with Syl and Ansrithar. As the bond burned with their combined wills, they both knew what had to be done. With several powerful strokes of Lin's wings they gained speed, bearing down on the blue with Min's Lance poised to pierce its hide...
Min charge with his Lance at Blue #3
@Min:
@Dolo:
Damian sits atop his griffon, awaiting the certain doom coming for him. He hopes that the archers will stand with him in defense of their city.
The last blue dragon flying is weaving like a punch-drunk fighter, its flight erratic and its strikes sloppy as gouts of blood pour out of the wounds it has sustained. Taking a breath, it steels itself and continues recklessly to fight, spurred on by its rider.
@Syl:
As soon as the blue dragon finishes this attack, it is hammered by a lance strike from Min, one it never saw coming. It growls, much of the fight has left it. Its flying is even weaker.
@Syl:
1d20+10
Damian sits atop his griffon, awaiting the certain doom coming for him. He hopes that the archers will stand with him in defense of their city.
There is a moment as you fly by, a single hanging moment of doubt when the archers of Izmir just watch. Some look dubiously at the insignia of the Silver Flame on your shield. Then, as you turn to face the approaching dragon, there is an uproar around the walls. The officers begin yelling to the men:
"Are you fools?! Did you not see him in the sky defending your city? Single-handed did he destroy a blue dragon, and now he is offering you a chance to aid him as he does it again, against an even greater foe! Rouse yourselves! This supercedes all orders! Face outward and take cover. Lookouts, get us a read on the target. Prepare to fight!!"
Dolo takes advantage of the chaos sown by Belsarious and cast another defensive spell. Glorfindel will need all the protection he can take. It seems the defense of the Citadel falls mostly to two arcanists and a draconic spirit companion.
"I protect you from the evils of deed and spirit, Glorfindel."
Dolo will then cast Glitterdust on the lead group and then Glorfindel will charge the leader, pouncing on him in a deadly dance of viscious slashing attacks!
Glorindel senses that his master is ready and leaps into the air and straight at the leader of the advancing soldiers. He attacks with wonton abandon!
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[ooc]Buffs on Glorfindel = Prot Evil, Haste, Mage Armor, Shield. Buffs on Dolo = Shaken, Haste, Invisibility [/occ]
"Dolo, you forgot to tell me how capable your familiar is, what are you thinking for our next trick, aside from avoiding physical combat of course?"
"Dolo, you forgot to tell me how capable your familiar is, what are you thinking for our next trick, aside from avoiding physical combat of course?"
Dolo shouts to his friend Belsarious, "Enthrall as many as you can! Chaos will serve us well here as we are undermanned. Support Glorfindel as best you can but stay out of harms way!"
Dolo is but a voice in the air as he has vanished from sight but his intent is clear. Let Glorfindel do the heavy work and the mages will do what they do best - control the battlefield the best they can!
Sylsalitae groans - the fight is going on for far too long, and she takes the opportunity presented by the appearance of Min in their combat, and strikes hard and able. Her lance flies true as can be, while Ansrithar claws about in a feral and frenzied state - taking hits like that was something he was not prepared to do, but this was what he had left.
Syl would have something to say about this show in a while, but not until their foe was perished!
Dolo takes advantage of the chaos sown by Belsarious and cast another defensive spell. Glorfindel will need all the protection he can take. It seems the defense of the Citadel falls mostly to two arcanists and a draconic spirit companion.
Dolo will then cast Glitterdust on the lead group and then Glorfindel will charge the leader, pouncing on him in a deadly dance of viscious slashing attacks!
Glorfindel charges forward, bashing into the enemies, who are already confused, cold, covered in ice, and now also covered - and in some cases blinded - by glitterdust. The first Red Dragonflight soldier is able to duck away from Glorfindel's attack, but the second one is not so lucky. Dolo's familiar pulls a human soldier down with a lightning-quick bite and tears the man's throat from his neck, killing him near-instantly.
@Syl: The remaining airborne blue dragon is no match for the whirl of fury that is you and Ansrithar. Though his claws glance off tough blue hide, Ansrithar's bite finds its mark, and as the blue gurgles and its rider screams in frustration, your lance buries itself deep in the enemy dragon's chest. Ansrithar releases the enemy and it slides limply off your lance. It falls straight down, like a rock, its wings torn and collapsed, colliding with the ground in a hideous mash of hide and bone and blood. The rider paddles futilely at the air as he falls, screaming a high, boyish, miserable scream before his life is cut off with a horrid, resounding *CLUNGNGNG* as his armored body embeds itself into the marble walkway far below.