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On The Dragon-War and its Aftermath (Updated 6/22: S4-1 "In The Forest Of The Night")
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<blockquote data-quote="Zurai" data-source="post: 3590747" data-attributes="member: 52324"><p><strong>Session 3 Part 2: ... Like Tears From A Star</strong></p><p></p><p>We had barely gone a hundred feet when another green flash lit up the rainy night. Without a word said, everyone began to run at full speed – even more so when we heard, even across the distance and barriers between us, the sound of something massively heavy striking wood. There were two impacts, then another, and then the sound of a terrible roar and the splintering of wood.</p><p></p><p>Risking a glance over my shoulder towards the remains of the house, I saw a squat, reptilian creature shoulder its way out of the wreckage. Following it closely was a large man wearing what appeared to be plate armor – presumably Mathis.</p><p></p><p>We continued to run as fast and far as we could, but when I again glanced behind me, the reptilian was running after us with astounding speed. It was already halfway to us, and moving at least three times as fast as the quickest of us. The knight, on the other hand, was barely visible even to my light-sensitive eyes.</p><p></p><p>Within seconds, the thing was upon us. It raced in a broad circle around the party, taunting us with its speed. The air around its head seemed to shimmer, as if in some unbearable heat, then a much larger, more draconic head faded into view superimposed over the creature’s. This, apparantly, was Adamardith’s herald.</p><p></p><p>“Hand over Master Ferallon and the Book and I will be merciful!” the Dragon roared at us. Even as I started to yell a denial back at him, Bronn darted towards the donkey and cut the rope binding the Master, sending him sliding off over the surprised equine’s rear. “Deal!” he cried, but the Master’s apprentices, as well as myself and V, quickly moved between the Master and the Dragon.</p><p></p><p>“What are you <em>doing</em>?” I hissed at Bronn.</p><p></p><p>“Not fighting a Dragon!” was his only reply, as he backed off away from the impending combat. “Princess, stay back!” he added, and I groaned.</p><p></p><p>“<em><strong>Princess</strong></em>?! Oho, and so I catch two birds with one stone! I wonder where you thought to take her – but there are only two choices if you were headed this direction, and I doubt the Brotherhood of Stars would take you in.*” Instantly, the creature was moving again, this time circling around us until it had a clear view of the Princess.</p><p></p><p>I, however, circled with it, placing myself between her and harm. V and the apprentices came with me, but Bronn stayed off by himself. I unwrapped my chain, setting the end spinning, and my companions similarly readied themselves for combat.</p><p></p><p>“Little worms, defy me and you will all be crushed!” the Dragon’s proxy roared at us – but I’d had enough. Combat was inevitable at this point; I’d rather fight the Dragon alone than the Dragon and the knight and whatever else came out of that Gate.</p><p></p><p>My companions seemingly had the same idea – they charged forward even as I was resolving to do just that. The three remaining glaive-wielding apprentices each jabbed at the Dragon, but their blows merely glanced off its scales. V and I charged forward as one right behind them – fortunately for us, as it turned out. The Dragon’s image reared back, and the air around the creature filled with sparks and little tendrils of lightning. Before the apprentices had a chance to react, a brilliant ring of electricity burst out from the image of the Dragon, evaporating the rain and sending arcs of energy coruscating over the apprentices. One of them managed to dive to the ground and avoid the worst of the attack, but the others took the full fury and crumpled over their glaives, smoke pouring from their blackened skin.</p><p></p><p>Stepping up into the newly-vacant positions ringing the beast, V and I lashed out with all our strength, rending its scales with oddly bloodless gashes. The remaining apprentice fled back to relative safety near the Princess, who by now had managed to string her short bow and launch an arrow at the Dragon. To her credit, it did hit; unfortunately, it failed to find purchase in its flesh, shattering against its larger upper body scales instead. I saw the Dragon shift its weight to one side and quickly dodged to the side, neatly avoiding a strike from its dagger-sized talons. My return stroke was immediate and effective, coiling around the creature’s neck, then biting into it and twisting the spine until it snapped as I whipped my hand back. The scaly beast shuddered, then crashed to the ground. V stepped forward and plunged his glowing sword into it to be sure of the kill.</p><p></p><p>While its herald was, by all appearances, dead, the image of Adamardith’s head still persisted. If anything, the Dragon looked amused.</p><p></p><p>“Well. I must admit that was an impressive little display. Seeing as I have no more resources in the area, I’m afraid this will delay my wrath. Don’t worry though, now that I know where the Princess is, I’ll be sure to put together a welcoming party for her.”</p><p></p><p>With those words, the image shimmered again, then faded away. I knew, however, that the Dragon Adamardith had been bluffing on at least one point, however – the knight Mathis was still around. Spinning in place, I spotted him in the distance between us and the now-ruined cottage; having seen the herald die, he was already turning to run. I pointed him out to V and the pair of us sped off in pursuit. We caught him almost as easily as the herald had caught us, as we weren’t burdened by the weight of a suit of plate mail.</p><p></p><p>Mathis still had a bit of fight left in him, though. He had been watching us over his shoulder, and as soon as V drew close to him, he suddenly spun around and ran at the Gateborn. Screaming “Adamardith!” he put all of his considerable weight behind his falchion and the heavy blade bit deep into V’s metal plating**. To his credit, V reacted quickly, dodging one way then another in an attempt to get behind the screaming knight. I tried to pull Mathis’ to his knees with a strike from my chain, but he dodged deftly and spun with V***, catching the alien warrior in the exact location of the first hit. The powerful blow shattered V’s armor plating and crunched through whatever passed for his innards, emerging on the other side in a spray of metal and wooden splinters****.</p><p></p><p>The violet light emanating from V’s eyes slowly faded even as I opened myself up to Korinthos and sent my full power into my next few attacks, ravaging Mathis’s exposed back and sides until he, too, collapsed to the ground. As the last light faded away, I thought I heard V say “Until... later....”, but it could have been one of Korinthos’s tricks; I had opened myself enough to him by using his power against the knight.</p><p></p><p>Not knowing what else to do, I scavenged the dead knight’s belongings, taking what was useful and leaving the rest, then dragged V’s lifeless husk back to the rest of the group, who stared in horror. I merely shook my head and glanced down at my feet – were those tears dripping down my cheeks alongside the rain drops? I had only known the Gateborn for three days now, and yet it felt like I had lost a brother.</p><p></p><p>When I looked up again, Bronn was inspecting V’s metal composition. He tapped on the armor plating, hefted one of the shards in his hand, and took out his dagger to try to scratch a mark in it. Looking up, he shook his head and said “You know, I think V’s armor was mithral*****. We should hang onto this and get some weapons or armor made from it. I think V would appreciate being able to continue fighting, even like that, more than he would being buried.”</p><p></p><p>That said, all of us except one of the Master’s apprentices (who stayed behind to guard the still-unconcious Master, just in case) dragged the bodies of the two fallen apprentices a few hundred feet away and said a short prayer for their souls before burying them. Only after our silent prayers for our honored dead were finished did we all rise and return to the site of the recent battle.</p><p></p><p>Strangely, the reptilian herald was missing; where it had been now lay the massively scarred, naked corpse of a man. A dragon-shaped helmet was attached to his head, apparantly by means of a pair of massive screws. Shuddering at the thought of the torture this unfortunate victim of the Dragon had been through, we quickly buried him as well. Even as we finished, though, a new unpleasant surprise greeted us: simultaneously from the north, south, and west, flashes of green light lit up the stormy sky and the sound of war-horns were heard.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>* - Thankfully, Bronn’s player decided <em>not</em> to mention the artifacts we carried and the fact that no one had the slightest clue what the “Brotherhood of Stars” was. I was ready to smack him with a rolled-up newspaper for revealing that we had the Princess with us as it was.</p><p>** - A natural 20 confirmed with a 15 for ~30 damage.</p><p>*** - Failed Tumble check to move through Mathis’ square.</p><p>**** - Another natural 20 to hit followed by a natural 20 to confirm and a high damage roll, putting V at -20 something. Even minimum critical hit damage would have killed him.</p><p>***** - It was. He had taken Mithral Body at 1st level. The DM made Bronn pass an Appraise check to identify the mithral, though.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Zurai, post: 3590747, member: 52324"] [b]Session 3 Part 2: ... Like Tears From A Star[/b] We had barely gone a hundred feet when another green flash lit up the rainy night. Without a word said, everyone began to run at full speed – even more so when we heard, even across the distance and barriers between us, the sound of something massively heavy striking wood. There were two impacts, then another, and then the sound of a terrible roar and the splintering of wood. Risking a glance over my shoulder towards the remains of the house, I saw a squat, reptilian creature shoulder its way out of the wreckage. Following it closely was a large man wearing what appeared to be plate armor – presumably Mathis. We continued to run as fast and far as we could, but when I again glanced behind me, the reptilian was running after us with astounding speed. It was already halfway to us, and moving at least three times as fast as the quickest of us. The knight, on the other hand, was barely visible even to my light-sensitive eyes. Within seconds, the thing was upon us. It raced in a broad circle around the party, taunting us with its speed. The air around its head seemed to shimmer, as if in some unbearable heat, then a much larger, more draconic head faded into view superimposed over the creature’s. This, apparantly, was Adamardith’s herald. “Hand over Master Ferallon and the Book and I will be merciful!” the Dragon roared at us. Even as I started to yell a denial back at him, Bronn darted towards the donkey and cut the rope binding the Master, sending him sliding off over the surprised equine’s rear. “Deal!” he cried, but the Master’s apprentices, as well as myself and V, quickly moved between the Master and the Dragon. “What are you [i]doing[/i]?” I hissed at Bronn. “Not fighting a Dragon!” was his only reply, as he backed off away from the impending combat. “Princess, stay back!” he added, and I groaned. “[i][b]Princess[/b][/i]?! Oho, and so I catch two birds with one stone! I wonder where you thought to take her – but there are only two choices if you were headed this direction, and I doubt the Brotherhood of Stars would take you in.*” Instantly, the creature was moving again, this time circling around us until it had a clear view of the Princess. I, however, circled with it, placing myself between her and harm. V and the apprentices came with me, but Bronn stayed off by himself. I unwrapped my chain, setting the end spinning, and my companions similarly readied themselves for combat. “Little worms, defy me and you will all be crushed!” the Dragon’s proxy roared at us – but I’d had enough. Combat was inevitable at this point; I’d rather fight the Dragon alone than the Dragon and the knight and whatever else came out of that Gate. My companions seemingly had the same idea – they charged forward even as I was resolving to do just that. The three remaining glaive-wielding apprentices each jabbed at the Dragon, but their blows merely glanced off its scales. V and I charged forward as one right behind them – fortunately for us, as it turned out. The Dragon’s image reared back, and the air around the creature filled with sparks and little tendrils of lightning. Before the apprentices had a chance to react, a brilliant ring of electricity burst out from the image of the Dragon, evaporating the rain and sending arcs of energy coruscating over the apprentices. One of them managed to dive to the ground and avoid the worst of the attack, but the others took the full fury and crumpled over their glaives, smoke pouring from their blackened skin. Stepping up into the newly-vacant positions ringing the beast, V and I lashed out with all our strength, rending its scales with oddly bloodless gashes. The remaining apprentice fled back to relative safety near the Princess, who by now had managed to string her short bow and launch an arrow at the Dragon. To her credit, it did hit; unfortunately, it failed to find purchase in its flesh, shattering against its larger upper body scales instead. I saw the Dragon shift its weight to one side and quickly dodged to the side, neatly avoiding a strike from its dagger-sized talons. My return stroke was immediate and effective, coiling around the creature’s neck, then biting into it and twisting the spine until it snapped as I whipped my hand back. The scaly beast shuddered, then crashed to the ground. V stepped forward and plunged his glowing sword into it to be sure of the kill. While its herald was, by all appearances, dead, the image of Adamardith’s head still persisted. If anything, the Dragon looked amused. “Well. I must admit that was an impressive little display. Seeing as I have no more resources in the area, I’m afraid this will delay my wrath. Don’t worry though, now that I know where the Princess is, I’ll be sure to put together a welcoming party for her.” With those words, the image shimmered again, then faded away. I knew, however, that the Dragon Adamardith had been bluffing on at least one point, however – the knight Mathis was still around. Spinning in place, I spotted him in the distance between us and the now-ruined cottage; having seen the herald die, he was already turning to run. I pointed him out to V and the pair of us sped off in pursuit. We caught him almost as easily as the herald had caught us, as we weren’t burdened by the weight of a suit of plate mail. Mathis still had a bit of fight left in him, though. He had been watching us over his shoulder, and as soon as V drew close to him, he suddenly spun around and ran at the Gateborn. Screaming “Adamardith!” he put all of his considerable weight behind his falchion and the heavy blade bit deep into V’s metal plating**. To his credit, V reacted quickly, dodging one way then another in an attempt to get behind the screaming knight. I tried to pull Mathis’ to his knees with a strike from my chain, but he dodged deftly and spun with V***, catching the alien warrior in the exact location of the first hit. The powerful blow shattered V’s armor plating and crunched through whatever passed for his innards, emerging on the other side in a spray of metal and wooden splinters****. The violet light emanating from V’s eyes slowly faded even as I opened myself up to Korinthos and sent my full power into my next few attacks, ravaging Mathis’s exposed back and sides until he, too, collapsed to the ground. As the last light faded away, I thought I heard V say “Until... later....”, but it could have been one of Korinthos’s tricks; I had opened myself enough to him by using his power against the knight. Not knowing what else to do, I scavenged the dead knight’s belongings, taking what was useful and leaving the rest, then dragged V’s lifeless husk back to the rest of the group, who stared in horror. I merely shook my head and glanced down at my feet – were those tears dripping down my cheeks alongside the rain drops? I had only known the Gateborn for three days now, and yet it felt like I had lost a brother. When I looked up again, Bronn was inspecting V’s metal composition. He tapped on the armor plating, hefted one of the shards in his hand, and took out his dagger to try to scratch a mark in it. Looking up, he shook his head and said “You know, I think V’s armor was mithral*****. We should hang onto this and get some weapons or armor made from it. I think V would appreciate being able to continue fighting, even like that, more than he would being buried.” That said, all of us except one of the Master’s apprentices (who stayed behind to guard the still-unconcious Master, just in case) dragged the bodies of the two fallen apprentices a few hundred feet away and said a short prayer for their souls before burying them. Only after our silent prayers for our honored dead were finished did we all rise and return to the site of the recent battle. Strangely, the reptilian herald was missing; where it had been now lay the massively scarred, naked corpse of a man. A dragon-shaped helmet was attached to his head, apparantly by means of a pair of massive screws. Shuddering at the thought of the torture this unfortunate victim of the Dragon had been through, we quickly buried him as well. Even as we finished, though, a new unpleasant surprise greeted us: simultaneously from the north, south, and west, flashes of green light lit up the stormy sky and the sound of war-horns were heard. * - Thankfully, Bronn’s player decided [i]not[/i] to mention the artifacts we carried and the fact that no one had the slightest clue what the “Brotherhood of Stars” was. I was ready to smack him with a rolled-up newspaper for revealing that we had the Princess with us as it was. ** - A natural 20 confirmed with a 15 for ~30 damage. *** - Failed Tumble check to move through Mathis’ square. **** - Another natural 20 to hit followed by a natural 20 to confirm and a high damage roll, putting V at -20 something. Even minimum critical hit damage would have killed him. ***** - It was. He had taken Mithral Body at 1st level. The DM made Bronn pass an Appraise check to identify the mithral, though. [/QUOTE]
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