Round Surprise!| HP: 71/71 | Judgements 2/2 | Spells 1: 6/6 2: 3/3 | Perfect Strike 3/4 | Gravity Bow Wand charges 21 | True Strike 1/1 | Blood Scarab 1/1
Arbaro takes aim at them same wyvern and misses both shots.
Perfect Strike:
"Looks like there are some undamaged goods up there! Try not to smash um!"
Round Surprise | HP 48/48 | Advice 13/18 | Awaken Divinity 7/7 | Ki Pool 6/10 | Bardic Performance 7/9
AC: 28 FF: 25 T: 20 CMD: 25 Barkskin and Mage armor active
"Watch out for their Tails, they have stingers that deliver a potent poison! Also, they speak Draconic."
Thurl then pulls out his heavy crossbow and fires a shot at the injured wyvern.
Thurl yells at the wyverns "Stay back, we don't want to hurt you but we will defend ourselves!"
Round 1 AC 19, HP 73
The wyverns yell back:
The two wyverns lift off and fly toward the two of you, attempting to hover above Lem and Thurl.
They attack with their tails.
Round 1, AC 19, HP 73
Party is up.
Round 1 | HP 52/52 | AC 19 | Lay on Hands 7/7 | Smite Evil 3/3 | Arrows 45 | Spells: 1st - 2/2; 2nd - 2/2
Brag launches another round of arrows at the same wyvern.
Adamantine +3 Longbow Point-Blank (+1), Rapid-Shot (-2) Attack
All three arrows strike home.
"One is almost down. Finish him."
Round 1| rage -1
Lem attacks in a rage fiercely
Round 1| HP: 71/71 | Judgements 2/2 | Spells 1: 6/6 2: 3/3 | Perfect Strike 2/4 | Gravity Bow Wand charges 21 | True Strike 1/1 | Blood Scarab 1/1
Arbaro, frustrated that he missed with his first two arrows fires again at the attacking mini-dragon.
"One down, one to go!"
Perfect Strike
Round 1 | HP 48/48 | Advice 12/18 | Awaken Divinity 5/7 | Ki Pool 6/10 | Bardic Performance 7/9
AC: 28 FF: 25 T: 20 CMD: 25 Barkskin and Mage armor active
Thurl loads the crossbow and fires again at the remaining wyvern.
Round 2, AC 19, 43/73
The wyvern tries to stay up despite the onslaught.
And fails on the first try.
The wyvern full attacks Thurl.
Round 2, AC 19, HP 43/74
Party is up.
Round 2, rage -2
Lem moves in for the kill and swings
"These are sneaky lizard or I'm off my game.
Round 2 | HP 52/52 | AC 19 | Lay on Hands 7/7 | Smite Evil 3/3 | Arrows 42 | Spells: 1st - 2/2; 2nd - 2/2
Brag attempts to finish off the remaining wyvern.
Adamantine +3 Longbow Point Blank (+1), Thurl enhanced (+2) Attack
Seeing the wyvern fall dead, Brag looks around for more trouble.
"We should check out the cave these two came from."
Brag kills the last wyvern.
The cave opens up into the island, its black depths reeking of a sour reptilian stench. The tunnel is a natural cave, carved by the waves and ocean centuries ago, but has since risen above the tide line. You cannot see far inside before the blackness swallows the rock walls.
In the debris of the shoreline, Arbaro finds an intact chest marked with a symbol of interlocking rings. Popping it open, you see it belonged to a jeweler, score of carefully laid out rings pinned to velvet fabric. Most are tarnished from the years of saltwater seeping in through condensation or humidity, but a few are untouched by the elements due to their magical nature.
Communique rings (x2, or 1 pair)
Scholar's ring
Ring of protection +3
Ring of resistance +2
Ring of counterspells
Ring of ki mastery
Ring of sacred mistletoe
Ring of swimming (Improved)
"Hey guys, look what I found! A bunch of magic rings! Who wants what? Who is best at swimming? I'm not terrible but I am terrible at remembering all of your skill sets. Obviously, our Mer-friend is already better than all of us." Nodding to her.
"These interlocking rings look familiar. Everyone come take a look and see if you recognize them."
I think I recognize these, maybe.
"Oh huh, looks like some fun rings in there. Interestingly enough that Mistletoe ring looks nice."
Thurl stands nearby and is almost as interested in the lore of the company as he is in the rings themselves, ”Actually, that symbol belongs to a particularly...unscrupulous jewelry company. I heard about them in Absalom, but they have been out of business for quite some time.” Thurl then takes the time to look at the rings and notices one with the symbol of Irori on one of the rings. Thurl picks it up and feels the simple elegant lines and places it on his finger.
Brag struggles to decide between the scholars ring and the ring of resistance. He eventually takes the Scholars ring, but remembers that Thurl is the ultimate history scholar and puts it back.
He picks the ring of resistance and places it on his finger. He shuns the swimming ring, not wanting to venture in the water, ever!
"There, I've made my choice."
"Anyone want to pair up with these Communique Rings? I've got a free hand and it'll let us communicate in whispers up to a mile if I remember right. It'll help us if we're running errands in town or split up across a pipe again."
"We might need more of the swim rings when we go visit that whale and wreck again too."
"Actually, that's a pretty good idea, I'll take one of those talking rings with you."
"Well if no one else wants it, I'll use that sturdy looking ring. If any of you have any need, I have a smaller version of it.
"This misletoe ring looks good. I'll use it!"
Arbaro takes off his shoe and puts the Ring of Sacred Mistletoe on his toe.
After donning his boots again, he checks the entrance of the cave and whatever else he can sense without going in.
Inside the cave slopes downward, and looks as if curves east along the length of Dragon Island. The smell is unpleasant, similar to the stench of the wyverns above, but somehow furrier.
You feel the ground sloping downward before it evens out, and around the bend you hear the sound of two large creatures breathing deeply.
"Ah! I thought they smelled bad on the outside! It is either a pair of chimera or wet wookies."
"Looks like we'll be under the water level a bit, but not by much."
Arbaro hops in place a bit, impatiently waiting.
"Everyone ready to fight some chimera? Do we know anything about them?"
Arbaro's sneak for later:
Brag takes a second ring, the swim ring, remembering that some water adventures likely lie ahead.
Brag draws the stealth hood over his head as he walks with halfling quiet down the cave, his bow at the ready.
He whispers, "Let me go first and see what is the source of the smell and how many chimera there are."
Brag creeps forward and
Brag continues his slow, stealthy move forward.
He looks intently at the cords and tangles of nets between himself and the sleeping beasts. He taps his bracers of falcon's aim and considers what is before him.
While percepting, he also detects evil on the creatures.
He quietly returns to his friends. "The is a cord or rope that glistens and sparkles like gold. I think we'll need it."
If they're evil, Brag will suggest returning and opening fire. If not, he's open to what others suggest for retrieving the golden cord.
Thurl sneaks forward with the rest of the group into the mouth of the cave, but lets Bragoleb go and scout. When he returns, "Would you be able to sneak in and retrieve it without waking the creatures?"
"They are chimera and are always evil."
"I want to rid the island of these evil creatures and would prefer to destroy them first, but if the team would rather attempt a theft. I will do that, but would like Arbaro to have his bow ready to fire at the first movement or change in breathing of either one of them."
GM, did Brag's 19 perception reveal a head color? If so, would he know the type of breath weapon that color indicates?
Brag returned from stealthily sneaking and observing the chimera only to find the entire rest of the party unconscious, passed-out on the floor of the tunnel into the cave. He tries quietly and desperately to wake them so they can act to complete their quest before the chimera rouse themselves to feed. Only Thurl is responsive with just a grunt or two.
Brag whispers to himself, "It must be a spell. Who would do such a thing?"
He resolves himself to stand guard until they awake.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Arbaro says as he sits up.
"Did we win? What's happening? Are we under attack?"
Arbaro prepares himself to fire at the creatures should they wake and attack Brag.
The chimera rumbles in its sleep, muttering to itself.
Brag attempts to remember what the white and black head color mean on the chimeras.
"Be careful, the white headed one has a 20' cone Cold breath attack, the black headed one has a 40' line Acid breath attack."
When the party is fully awake and engaged. Brag will attempt to steal the gold cord as the part backs him up.
Return stealth .
Thurl sneaks forward up to the Chimeras' lair with Bragoleb and assists him, being careful not to trip any traps the Chimeras may have had placed in the area, focusing his Ki to soften his steps.
Brag is able to stealthily walk to the thread and begin untangling it from the flotsam and dirt in the ceiling above. With Thurl's help they are able to unravel 2/3 of the thread... but hit a snag. The Golden Thread is knotted around a clump of debris against the southern wall. The chimeras are still sleeping peacefully, but yanking the cord would likely upset the old driftwood and cordage and wake the chimeras. Cutting it seems unwise (and, since it is magical, impossible). But untangling it slowly will require a more delicate touch.
Thurl places his hand on Bragoleb's shoulder as he pulls on the cord. In a barely audible whisper, Thurl says, "Looks like if we pull it now, the whole tunnel will collapse, even if we are careful, the tunnel might even flood. Just yank it and run."
Thurl prepares to lend Bragoleb his Ki so he can run faster.
"Thanks for the Ki for speed, Thurl. With my boots and striding and jumping and your help, should be able to escape with the cord. I'll pull it as far as I can before giving the final tug to break things loose. You go now and get the others up to the opening of the tunnel. The water shouldn't reach that high. But, be ready to fight the chimeria. I'll give you to the count of 100 to get ready."
Brag begins to count in his mind "1, 2, 3, ... 98, 99, 100.
He takes a deep breath, stretches the cord to taut and pulls with all his might.
"It was enough, but barely."
Keeping his grip on the cord he sprints up the tunnel as fast as he can - missing his longer human legs, just a little. Any obstacles in the way he jumps lightly over.
The golden thread pulls taught, the tension making the scintillating cord thrum with a heavenly tone, as if a heavenly harp had struck a note. Then the walls came crumbling down, the earth and roots and loose rocks crashing into the tunnel. Behind the thick walls of dirt comes an even louder sound, filling your ears with a deafening thunder as the very ocean itself pours into the cave. You see through the debris the two chimera startle awake and leap into flight, their black and white eyes glinting at you through the rubble before your vision is blocked by the gush of water.
Thurl, Arbaro, and Lem see Brag in a flash of silver and gold run past, shouting something, and behind him you see the cavern collapse and fill with muddy, silty saltwater, a wave two fee high boiling toward you.
You grab the hands of your friends, stumbling through the crashing waters, rising slowly through the stone cavern to emerge from the wyvern's den into the fresh but cold air of the saltwater breeze off the Dragon's shoreline. Bragoleb holds the golden thread in his hands, the color even more brilliant in the clouded sun's rays.
Lem stands up and sees the cord, ”incredible. Very well done. That’s one menace taken care of and 1 more relic found for the temple.”
Arbaro, ever cautious of angering creatures and stealing from them. "Did we get the chimera?" He says, searching the cave they exited and the area around them.
"We should find the bodies to confirm."
Brag begins to coil the cord. "The cave collapsed, the chimera may fly out through the hole the ocean flowed in from. Look to the sky."
When he finished with the cord, he hands it to Thurl and readies his bow.
"Be aware!"
Lem tries to check the skys.
"I want to destroy the evil chimera and free up the island from their cursed presence."
Brag touches his bracers together. They grant better perception and ranged attacks. He looks for the Chimera in the tunnel and the sky. Sensing for evil in both places.
"Well, we can't fight them if we can't find them. They may have perished in the cave in right? Lets head back to town. We still have the plains left right? We have the Shield, the Rope, and the Pegasus. Only one more to go!"
"I agree with you, Thurl. I'll watch our backs. You lead us back to our friendly ride."
Brag takes up the rear guard and walks backwards facing the lair of the chimera.