"Polite beings ask before they grab, oh Great One," Pril snips as she continues to kick at the dragon as it holds her.
"I don't know why you are even bothing with it. It said it wanted to devour us. I think that's the end of politeness." She fires three more shots at the deverourer.
"Dragons are always worthy of respect," Pril says even as she continues to kick at the creature holding her. "Even if they are being rather rude."
Ervan strikes the dragon with a more powerful lightning bolt. Illy’s arrows fail to pierce its scales again, but Pril lands one good punch. The dragon continues to squeeze the gnome in its coils, slapping her with its tail for good measure.
"And sometimes extreme measures must be taken with rude beings, no matter how much respect they're due," Pril continues as she kicks and kicks.
"Hang in there, short stuff!" Illyiana shouts out as she dials in her focus on the dragon and lets three more decent shots fly at it.
The bida somehow twists entirely away from Ervan’s lightning. Pril lands a good hit, and Illy finally finds her mark, landing three good arrows. Lucius blasts the dragon with searing light, and at last it releases Pril, thrashing about in its death throes until finally laying still.
You dispatch the final dragon pillar without difficulty. The time has finally come to assault the Cinderclaws’ main encampment!
The dragon pillar contains a pair of black fire opals, worth 200 gp each, that serve as the idol’s eyes. The bida itself keeps a sizable treasure hoard of its own piled just west of the dragon pillar, consisting of 310 gp, 2,400 sp, 8,500 cp, a pair of healer’s gloves, a spined shield, and a wand of widening (lightning bolt).
"How you doing over there, Pril? Nice work standing toe to toe with that thing, you've got some serious grit in your, girl." Illyiana offers as a compliment.
The gnome stretches and twists sideways a little, grimacing in the process. "He got a few good licks in. Makes me thankful for the Cardinal," she says, giving the man a wink. "All in all, though, I've been banged up worse than that."
When they find the dragon's hoard, her eyes widen. "What would someone do with that much coin?" she exclaims. "Hey! I know! We could some of it to fix up the citadel." She turns to Illyiana. "You don't know about that. Back home we have the deed to a entire citadel. It used to belong the Hellknights, but they gave it up and we've got the deed now. It's kind of a fixer-upper, but that's something we can use the coin for."
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"Once you've paid my bill for all the healing you consume Miss Piddwiemog." The Cardinal says, mock sternly. "I estimate that will only consume about eighty percent of the coin we've found."
He smiles to show that he's kidding and turns to Illyiana before she gets the wrong idea. "Abadar teaches that all services must be paid for in kind, so that neither side might be taken advantage of. As with many teachings though there is some room for individual interpretation. Pril and I have an understanding - she saves my life, I keep her standing and we call it even. Abadar hasn't disapproved yet."
"If he decides that the agreement isn't to his taste then I hope you'll let me know before I rack up too large of a bill, okay?" Pril replies with a grin.
"So, should we rest up before checking out their main camp? Or are we ready to go?"
Illyiana considers what Lucius says, nodding "Seems fair. She stands there and takes the blows and lets me put pointy things into them from a distance, I'd say she and I are even."
She turns to Pril when she asks about how to proceed, looking back at Lucius for a decision "I'm good to go, but how much does the good Cardinal have left in him for today?"
You travel toward the Cinderclaws’ main encampment, resting once overnight on the way. Thick roots of gnarled trees crisscross this portion of the jungle, as the sodden earth gives way to the waters of a darkened swamp. A squat fortress made of red clay rises out of the murky water, surrounded by towering dragon-shaped pillars topped with blazing bonfires.
Ervan offers to use invisibility sphere to mask your approach.
"Looks like we're swimming," Pril says with a grin. "Just remember to stay together."
"Just don't swallow the water and you should be fine," Pril offers cheerfully. "Besides, do you see a boat anywhere?"
Ervan renders the group invisible, and you stick close together as you swim through the swamp water towards the fortress. You still make a fair bit of noise splashing about, though, and an enormous shape suddenly emerges from the water and begins moving towards you. An enormous, primeval crocodile the size of an elephant casts about, trying to locate you!
Ervan reacts quickly, summoning a water elemental in the shape of a shark to attack the crocodile! "Let's move quickly while it is distracted!" the wizard whispers.
The elemental fails to hit the crocodile, and the beast responds by snapping up the creature, destroying it in two bites! At least it kept the beast distracted for a few seconds...
Grimacing at the noise her companions are making, Pril knows that the rest of them will fair poorly in a water battle.
Pril tries to gauge the temperament of the oversized critter. "Uh, guys? Swim. Swim as fast as you can," she says calmly before beginning to swim towards the beastie.
"Hey, you're not such a bad guy, are you?" she says in what she hopes is a calming voice. Pretty sure that this is going to go badly, she hopes to give the others enough time to make it to shore.
As Illyiana and Lucius make a break for the fortress, Pril unwisely attempts to calm the giant crocodile. But that just reveals herself to it, and it begins to bear down on her. Ervan curses and quickly conjures a resilient sphere around the gnome, seconds before the crocodile's jaws snap shut around her!
The sphere holds up against the beast's asault, though it starts to weaken. "Pril! Get out of there!" the wizard calls.
You make a break for the fortress ahead of the giant crocodile. The fortress palisades surround the central building like a ledge, rising 15 feet out of the water. Several 30-foot-high watchtowers break up this palisade ledge.
Alerted by the crocodile's thrashing, several boggards hop along the palisades, croaking loudly to raise the alarm!
There’s only one traditional entrance into the fortress—a pair of clay-reinforced timber gates at its southern end. These gates are large and heavy--
--but Illyiana shoves them open, allowing you all to rush in and slam the doors closed behind you!
The interior walls of this hallway are covered with six-inch wooden spikes carved to resemble dragon’s teeth. Along the north wall stand four wooden doors, and a clay statue of a humanoid dragon stands in the center of the room.
Unfortunately, the statue immediately starts to move towards you--out of the frying pan and into the fire!
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"Abadar, aid this warrior in her battles!" The Cardinal prays as he grants Pril heroism
"I'm sure I recall this spell being more effective in the olden days." He mutters.
Ervan blasts the golem with water, the clay construct’s weakness! Even as it starts to melt, the golem strides forward to swing on Pril! It just misses!
Pril takes the swing as a gesture of aggression and returns in kind.
"Eyes ahead!" Illyiana informs the others, bringing her bow around to the moving statue.
Pril and Illyiana each land one good hit, while Ervan blasts the golem with water again. The construct suddenly quickens its movements as it attacks Pril again! It lands a critical hit and one follow up strike.
Pril shakes her head to attempt to clear it from the ringing in her ears, but continues trying to strike the magical construct.
Watching Pril take a beating, she does her best to end the threat as quickly as possible. Drawing and firing three more arrows, she uses the cardinal's assistance to put two of them on track to hit her target.
Pril lands a good hit on the golem and Illy shoots it with two arrows. Unfortunately, Ervan's out of magic that can harm the construct. The golem punches Pril twice.
Now!
Illyiana had been waiting for the right window and it just presented itself to her. In rapid succession, she sinks three excellently placed arrows into the golem one after the other.
Whether she's just having a run of bad luck or beginning to get punch-drunk, Pril's blows fail to land as she begins flailing.
Illyiana lands several devastating hits, but Lucius and Pril are unable to finish off the golem. It slams Pril into the floor with two powerful hammer blows, then strides to Illy and misses with its third attack.
"S!$&." the ranger curses when the gnome goes down. "Cardinal!" she shouts, "We need her back on her feet!".
She draws three arrows and fires them, one after the other, hoping to land at least one.
One arrow hits, but it's enough. The golem falls and does not get back up!
Pril struggles to her feet and steps away from the wreckage of the golem. She shakes her head to clear it and grimaces in pain. Her face scrunches up in distaste and a moment later she spits a tooth into her hand.
"Dang," she says. "That's getting old. Is everyone else ok?"
You can hear boggards croaking and charau-ka chattering deeper in the complex. Several doors lead away from the entry hall.