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Ela takes a single shot at the dragon, striking it in the center of mass... or is it? Something seems a bit... strange to her. It seems as though an illusion is augmenting it's size?
As it turns to glare at Ela, Fuzzzy's blade strikes it along the shoulder, causing it to roar in pain.
A pair of sprites begin to bind the dragon's wings, making it difficult for the creature to fly, and in the chaos Endir takes a quick step back, draws back an arrow and fires a shot straight up it's... erm... tail. The dragon howls in pain and sputters acid and blood. Savannah pushes forward to try to finish him off, but her spear is deflected by a clumsy wing.
The dragon descends and coughs. It's large form shrinking down to a much smaller size. "I..." **COUGH** "yield to you... I surrender... spare my life and I'll leave you to do as you wish..."
The dragon is quite gravely wounded given that barrage of attacks and, while it could still quite possibly wound or even outright kill one of you, seems to realize that the lot of you would most certainly overpower him very quickly.
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"Aha! A fine bout! It's wise to surrender when you know you have lost. We accept your surrender if you answer our questions and assist us in our investigation of this... storm thing here." Savannah raises an eyebrow at the dragon. "Agreed?"
If he agrees Savannah asks, "What have you managed to learn of this... thing? How long have you been studying it?"
Savannah gestures at Fuzzzy and the others to continues their investigation of the portal.
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Ela suddenly becomes calmer, squints at the dragon and cocks her head as if focusing on a sudden realization.
I... think it might not be so big. The way my last shot landed tells me that an illusion is at work here.
Once it shrinks, revealing this to be true and yields to the party, Ela nods and holsters her pistol.
So, now that it's clear that we won't be kneeling to you, let's have a more agreeable discussion.
The young mage seems to be trying to take advantage of their newfound upper-hand, conveying authority and confidence.
She then defers to Savannah's questioning for the time being.
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The Tempest Monarch... dethroned... sits in a corner defeated. “It
appears to be a tangle of the Planes of Air and Water. Catastrophic elemental events can sometimes cause these ripples, like folds in a draped cloth. They often fade on their own, in time. I was researching how to keep this one open permanently, so that its power may serve me.”
“I noticed that it doesn’t hunger for mortal beings or items, it only agitates water and air. I have found that elementals and other summoned creatures from its own planes are drawn into it and beyond, while those of earth and fire are weakened within its range. The rest... are in my notes.” It motions towards a chest at the edge of the room.
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In addition to the notes, a small stash of equipment is bundled up in the chest, including a nice longsword, a potion, 50 ft of very high quality rope, and 250 gp in assorted coinage.
Ela is able to get a much better understanding of the anomaly as she references the notes and the journal. It is pretty clear that this anomaly will not be able to be closed with the skills that you have, but with the notes you've gathered along with your own observations, you think that Venture-Captain Benarry should be able to assign a group to continue studying and hopefully close it.
"Are for opening!"
”Naughty, naughty!” the hat agrees.
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On Savannah's first attempt, the boat is pulled hard to one side, bashing it against the rocks and damaging the hull! With some effort and help though, she manages to guide the swan boat down the narrow channel and out of the cave. Finally you manage to break free and ride the receding tides out of the cave and into open seas.
A pinpoint on the horizon resolves into the sight of another small boat. As it nears, it brings with it the fragrant scents and bright colors of garlands of flowers. In the boat are several masked figures, unarmed and wearing ceremonial regalia. They seem shocked to see a vessel emerging from the cave, and stare openly. “What was your business in the sacred grotto of our god?” one of them calls. “No one, not even we, may enter!”
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Before they depart on the boat...
Ela notices several dragon scales from the recently ended fight littering the ground. She whispers to her teammates.
I think these might be valuable. I'm taking them.
She casually reaches down and starts to pick them up.
------------------------
On the boat, going out to sea....
Our boat was pulled into that cave. We had a lovely conversation with the brine dragon in there and it agreed to let us go on our way.
”Inside there!” the hat echoes.
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"Were it true that a dragon resided in the Grotto of the Deluged God, then surely you must be servents of the eye for to leave without facing the wrath of the God's worldly manifestation. That is... if you speak truth that you have seen him... and this... portal?"
They look at you rather skeptically... not certain what to think about these new developments, but don't seem too keen on taking you at your word.
"Dragon... eye... god! Portal... HAD!" the hat explains quite cleverly.
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Ela thinks for a moment about what might convince them...
Well, I suppose you'll have to see the portal for yourselves, but it does seem to be the cause of the strong currents. On the other hand, I can prove that the dragon is in there...
She fishes one of the previously acquired scales out of her belt pouch and holds it up to be plainly seen.
See?
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They eye the scales and mutter a bit among themselves. "This... is a development we will have to break to our high priests... But as witnesses of the eye and it's guardian, please accept our offering on behalf of the Deluged God."
They place a crate of items onto a small driftwood raft and push it out towards your boat.
"May the eye watch over and protect you."
With that they prepare their sails to return to wherever they came.
"OPENED!"
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The crate contains a feather token, a wand, and a carved marble idol in the shape of a hurricane.
The remainder of your journey is thankfully dull. You finally return to the Grinning Pixie and find Calisro Benarry waiting, with a few exhausted sailors. "Welcome back! So... as it turns out the few survivors of the shipwreck made their way to Driftport, where I found them at the bar. I also found out a bit about the Master of Gales. Apparently he has been in Port Peril on official business for several months, so I guess that rules out his involvement in the whole mess. So... I got these tired sailors stories... what did you lot find?"
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Ela begins a comprehensive summary with the briefest overview she can manage.
On the ship, we found little more than straggling zombies to put down. However, we noticed a spyglass pointed at a mysterious cave. After a choppy ride in a little dinghy we arrived in a cave to find two fascinating things. First, a tear in the fabric of reality where the plains of air and water were colliding, holding a portal open. Second, a brine dragon calling itself the Tempest Monarch demanding worship. We were able to best it and get this minimal information about the portal...
As she finishes this first chunk she scatters a few of its scales onto the table Calisro is seated at. She continues a more thorough report, including the objects found at different points in their journey, about Nalu and his Kelp, and the cult members who approached them on their exit from the cave.
--------------------
Detect Magic rolls for the newfound items..
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Savannah nods. "It was a team effort! Everyone did their part and really helped push us through to a win. Great skills we saw on the field today. Top-notch teamwork. We're gonna need more of that, of course. The portal requires specialists to close, and the dragon won't be happy to be disturbed again. A focus on defence is important! The local Eye worshippers weren't very happy to see us heading inside, and they'll be angry to have the portal closed. So will the dragon, of course. A tough situation! Nothing a crack team of Pathfinder can't handle." She grins at her teammates and claps her hands. "Great job out there today, team! Really great job!" She proceeds to clap all of her fellow agents on the back for a job well done.
"You know!" the hat echoes, complimenting Fuzzzy on being so clever and wise.