The dragon spins around to face Akshara, hissing and spitting--not terrified of her but clearly unsure about attacking. The little beast starts to fight more desperately, trying to escape back into its frozen room; it scrambles towards Bellicus and attacks!
Val repositions, and attempts to strike the the dragon through the open doorway, but misjudges the angle. Her mace connects with the stone wall instead, sending a few sparks shooting into the corridor.
"Oww!"
|
Bellicus withdraws again as the dragon moves upon him, striking at it again with the flat of his blade. "As a lad, I'd heard tales of brave Chelish knights subduing dragons and making them swear oaths in exchange for their humbling," the warrior says. "I always imagined they'd be bigger."
Attacking for nonlethal again.
The dragon skitters back into the room, quickly turning around and opening its mouth wide in preparation to blast you with a wave of freezing wind and shards of ice--but Bellicus takes advantage of the split second when the creature's back is turned to follow up with a blow to its head with the flat of his blade.
The dragon whimpers and skids along a patch of frozen floor, slumping to the ground. The room goes quiet... except for Meepo's excited squeal.
"So there really was a dragon. Who would have thought!" Elion will take a look around the room to see if there's anything worth picking up.
Val steps into the room and gingerly picks up the unconscious dragon, making sure that it's still alive. She marvels at the creature's beauty, and at the danger the creature poses. She then locks her gaze on the gleeful-looking kobold and the sack he is holding, and regards him with an accusitory look.
"Given the reaction of this creature upon seeing you, it really didn't seem to like you very much, Meepo. I thought that the dragon was your tribe's friend, or at least a beloved pet, not a slave. I do not approve of keeping slaves. Honestly, it looks like the goblins were treating it better than you were!"
Meepo blinks in astonishment at Valeria. "Slave? No!! Dragon not slave!! Dragon protect us. We feed it, it keep us safe from nasty goblins! Yusdrayl say that Meepo is Keeper of Dragons, in charge of feeding and watching and hitting it with stick when it thinks we goblins and attacks us... and making sure it not break cage and esca..... ohhhhhh....."
He ponders for a few moments before asking, "Is dragon slave? Is Meepo slave?"
|
|
Bellicus smirks for a moment as the kobold ponders his status in the kobold hierarchy. "It sounds like King Yusdrayl doesn't have your best interests at heart, Meepo. She is using you to cement her position in the tribe - and with a white dragon, who could challenge her? Now, we could take the dragon back to her, and everything would be the way it was - the dragon is enslaved again, you go back to being the dragon's keeper, at least until it gets big enough to eat you, and King Yusdrayl continues to rule unchallenged."
Bellicus kneels down next to Meepo, and lays a gauntleted hand upon his shoulder. "Or, we change things. Yusdrayl doesn't have the dragon any longer, does she? Her right to rule is in question. We hold the dragon now, Meepo - and that means we can renegotiate the terms to our liking. I think it might be time for a new leader in your warrens. Tell me, Meepo - how would you like to be King?"
Anton doesn't hide his surprise, nor how much he enjoys it.
A grin crosses Val's face. "Bellicus, you continue to surprise me!"
She then examines the unconscious dragon to see if she can gague how long it will remain knocked out.
|
|
Akshara, relieved that the dragon has fallen, crouches down and tilts her head to the side in curiosity. The political maneuvering that Bellicus plans is lost on her, and instead she sees fit to pad over to the young dragon's motionless form and give it a cursory sniff, accompanied by a flick of one of her ears.
"Eat?" Akshara asks without looking away from the dragon, though as she catches the horrified look Meepo throws her at that question, her nose wrinkles and shoulders curl forward in a shrug. "Find... rat maybe. Fat rats here."
To her credit, Akshara seems either unaware of unconcerned about the outburst of supernatural terror she was able to unleash on the dragon. Though, her upbringing considered, she may not even realize what it is she did.
______
Elion furrows his brow, "It sounds like a good idea, but how are we to accomplish this coup?"
"It should not prove too difficult ...for a man of your skills.'
|
|
"A good question, Elion," Bellicus says, looking at the elf. "We could simply march back and demand that she leave, or call her out into defending her throne, but that leaves us in charge. I've no taste to rule a kobold's warren, so I'd like to arrange it so that Meepo faces her. Do we have any magics we can give him to even the odds?"
Meepo's eyes widen at the prospect of facing Yusdrayl. "Meepo hates King, but King Yusdrayl has powerful magics! Armor made of nothing and nasty stinging arrows! Meepo only has his broadsword."
Meepo's tiny blade is most assuredly a dagger.
"You have a .... broadsword... and a dragon. If you could get the dragon on your side you would prevail. Of couse I don't think the dragon likes you very much right now. Maybe Anton could help you with some training"
"Mere wizardry, and nothing too complex at that. Had I all my powers ..." Anton trails off.
"She has power of dragons! No kobold question her might. Maybe... if Meepo had power of dragons..." Meepo trails off as he eyes the pile of treasure in the back of the room.
"Don't be a fool, Elion," Bellicus scoffs. "The dragon would eat Meepo long before it works with him." He turns to the more mystically minded of the group. "'Armor made of nothing' and 'stinging arrows'. I'm no mage - what is he talking about, how do we counter it?"
Elion shugs, "A fool? Maybe, but I'm not sure Meepo would survive a direct confrontation and I doubt he has any kind of power base amongst his peers. How else is he to depose the queen?"
|
|
"But we don't," the warrior replies to Anton. "Until we do, we'll have to be content with your green thumb."
"Power base?", Bellicus chuckles. "What do you think this is, Westcrown? There aren't houses scheming against each other, each ready to send assassins in the night with long knives in order to gain power. They're beasts, and they respect whoever has the power. Whether Meepo defeats Yusdrayl by himself, or if we defeat her and place him upon the throne, it will make little difference - they will respect whoever wears the throne out of fear."
Bellicus smiles when Meepo brings up the dragon's hoard. "At last, a brilliant suggestion. You'll make a fine Kobold King, Meepo."
"After seeing what you did to the Goblin king I have no doubt you could remove the Kobald queen from her throne whenever you want. But if you place Meepo on the throne in your stead he won't last past you walking out the door. I think he has to be the one who deposes her at least be percived as the one who does. If not, he'd be better off keeping his current job." Turning to Meepo he asks, "When the queen casts her magic does she use spell components or a focus of some kind? If so, we can defuse her power if we can get them away from her."
The little kobold beams at Bellicus. "Meepo always wanted to be King. If Meepo is King, you be rewarded many times!"
Meepo thinks for a moment before responding to Elion, "no, she use only wavy hands and old dragon words. Sometimes has magic stick for making nasty stinging arrows!"
The current "king" reigns only through sheer arcane power ...and clearly leads poorly. Meepo would also be a terrible king, but the eventual revolt has the best chance of seating the canniest of them. The Cycle.
"Meepo, I believe it my duty to seat you in that throne."
"Meepo, you would be a great king. And, I think you should treat your little dragon friend here better-- maybe not keep it in a cage, perhaps? And certainly not hit it with a stick! If you can get your dragon to LIKE you, imagine what a strong king you would be!"
Meepo looks up at Valeria as he stuffs the dragon's unconscious body into the sack. "Dragon like me... and then help Meepo rule? How we get dragon to like Meepo?"
"Well, that depends on how you treat him. Her. Whatever. Let's get you on the throne first!"
Meepo shrugs and shoulders the sack. "King Meepo..." he says to himself, over and over, as you make your way through goblin territory and back to the hall of the kobolds.
As you approach, the kobold guards stand aside, eying the party up and down.
Yusdrayl stands from her throne and beckons towards Meepo. "You have dragon? Bring it here!"
Meepo steps forward to stand just in front of the party... and stops. "Is Meepo's dragon now!" he says, and a hush falls over the hall....
|
|
For the second time in two days, Bellicus stands in the hall of the kobold king, and his mood has only slightly improved. He grins as Meepo openly defies Yusdrayl, and his hand moves to the hilt of his blade. "The dragon is not yours to command any longer, Yusdrayl. All bow to Meepo, King of Kobolds, first of that name!"
And if that doesn't provoke her, then nothing will...
Yusdrayl jumps up from her throne and shrieks in anger. "You defy King Yusdrayl?! KILL MEEPO! KILL MEEPO FRIENDS!"
The kobolds fear their cruel king much more than Meepo and his companions... for now. They brandish their pathetic weapons and yap menacingly at the PCs.
|
|
"Good luck with that, pretender," Bellicus spits, and he is racing forward to her throne as she stands. He pulls his blade as he approaches, and slashes at one of the kobolds preventing him from getting to Yusdrayl. "Meepo and I killed the goblin leader in one blow. How many do you think it will take to kill you?" He grins with a grim satisfaction, his blade sweeping forth to cut down his foes like wheat before the reaper's scythe.
Charge, Power Attack, and attempt to murderize the kobold directly in front of me! AC is currently 17.
Elion will fire at one of the Kobold guards.
(flat footed)
Bellicus swiftly dispatches one of the kobold guards, but Elion's shot veers slightly too high.
Akshara springs up from her tensed crouch as the kobolds begin to yap aggressively and Bellicus charges forward. It is very clear that it's time to FIGHT!
Her jaws clamp down on one of the kobold's heads and she easily flings it aside. It smashes into the wall and crumples lifeless to the floor.
Meepo cries, "worship me or die!" The kobolds still feel that they have the advantage, and press the attack.
Valeria sings a prayer to Desna, granting a blessing to her allies.
King Yusdrayl stands atop her throne and draws a gnarled black stick, waving it in Bellicus's direction. "You who challenge King Yusdrayl die a nasty nasty death!" An arrow dripping with acid springs forth from the stick, striking Bellicus in the chest. The arrow vanishes, but the acid seeps between the scales of his armor and sears his skin.
As the two kobolds close in from behind, clumsily tripping over their own spears, Anton cuts one cleanly in half.
The sound of reinforcements in the rooms to the north and south grows louder...
"Not all ye kobolds need be reaped ...but stand against us and ye will."
Elion will shoot an arrow at the queen.
Val starts singing an improvising a song about King Meepo and his dragon. She steps back between Meepo and Elion, and hurls her starknife at the kobold that had been threatening her. But the kobold parries the spinning blade, which clanks across the floor.
Val then draws the damaged magical starknife recovered earlier.
Valeria seems to be preparing to cast a spell.
|
|
Bellicus hisses as the acid splashes against him. He steps forward past both kobolds directly towards Yusdrayl. "That one was free, witch," he spits as he advances. "You have to pay for the rest, now." He strikes at her, thrusting his sword at her chest.
Moving up on Yusdrayl. Both kobolds get to attack me. Power Attack! Let's see how her AC is.
|
|
Barely able to feel the flow of blood down her side from the injury the kobold inflicted, Akshara moves like a hunting cat across the stone floor; sinew and muscle shifting in one fluid motion. Ears folding back, the lunges at the kobold pincered between she and Bellicus, jaws opening and eyes shutting as her mouth closes around its shoulder. Sharp teeth sink into flesh and the feral tiefling's neck muscles bulge as she lifts the kobold off the ground and begins shaking it back and forth in her mouth like a hunting dog with a fox.
______________
(hit)
>
Bellicus feels light prods as the kobolds try to attack his legs, but his armor protects him. His sword strikes the Kobold King, causing her to shriek in pain as her magical defenses fail to stop the blow from cracking her ribs. Akshara dispatches one of the remaining guards with ease.
Meepo shouts "throw down your weapons! You cannot stand against me!" but the sound of doors being unbarred and spears clacking against stone signals the imminent arrival of reinforcements, so the kobolds continue their attacks.
As Bellicus raises his shield to defend against Yusdrayl's next attack, the kobold behind him gets in a lucky stab at the back of his knee. Anton suffers a deep cut to his arm.
Valeria attacks with her starknife, but it clatters harmlessly to the floor.
Yusdrayl steps away from Bellicus and raises her hand; a bolt of force strikes him square in the stomach, nearly knocking him off his feat. The acid continues to burn at his chest, but despite the onslaught of magic he remains standing.
(miss)
(miss)
(hit)
(possible crit)
(crit)
(success vs DC 17)
"Bellicus!"
Seeing the knight take heavy damage, Val changes her spell mid-casting. Her prayer to Desna switches from asking the Starsong to send send a divine servant to aid our fight to beseeching for divine healing.
A cloud of silver-and-blue energy glitters around her hand, and one can see faint images of butterflies fluttering therein. She steps past Meepo and lays her hand on Bellicus' shoulder. "Feel the healing power of the Song of the Spheres!"
|
|
Bellicus wobbles and reels from the magical assault that Yusdrayl sends out, and nearly topples as the kobold behind him finds a way past his armor. Still, he refuses to fall, and raises his sword again. "Time to end this, Yusdrayl."
Attacking the King again. By the way, I've got Step Up, so if she tries to retreat, I follow her. Power Attack worked last time, so let's do it again!