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Message: <blockquote data-quote="H.M.Gimlord" data-source="post: 5609625" data-attributes="member: 79440">[GM]OK.  Game On![/GM]Though Gensai entreats him to awaken, the unconscious wizard does not stir.  The ronin, leaning in close, gleans some hope as he discovers that his friend is still breathing slow and even breaths as if in a peaceful sleep.  Beside Mervin lie the remains of another fellow who was not so fortunate.  Suddenly the large chamber goes still as if the air around them has ceased all movement, as in a calm before a great storm.  At first it seems as though a silence has settled over the cavern, but then the adventurers realize that it is not silent, it is simply clearer, as though every tiny wavelet of water, every fish, every whirlpooling eddy in the stream below them can be heard, as though some background noise has lifted away, revealing auditory details previously unnoticed.   The fires in the braziers sputter and pop in crisp eruptions of flame, no differently than before, but more clearly now. [sblock=Nature DC 18]The background noise was the skittering of cave-dwelling creatures such as rats, mice, bats, and insects.  They  have fled the cave in fear that something horrible is coming.[/sblock]The adventurers pause, taking in the new sensation, but the pause is brief.  Instantly, the stillness is shattered by a howling wind that courses through the river-tunnel below, erupting through the opening in the floor and smashing itself on the ceiling of the cave.  The small band of five is almost knocked flat to the floor by the force of the pressure wave, which does not dissipate, but continues to grow for several seconds.  The hairs on the back of Fenwick’s neck rise.  The orc feels as though he is being targeted by a closing enemy, and looking to his companions, he realizes that they are all experiencing the same sensation, even as the wind howls.    The braziers flicker and blow out, throwing the room into relative darkness as the hurricane builds to a deafening crescendo at which time an enormous, leathery silhouette launches through the hole in the chamber floor backlit by the fires below.  Like a bat out of a watery hell its ascent is dangerously rapid, spreading its wings to a width of over forty feet to halt its ascent with stunning suddenness just short of the cavern’s ceiling, at which time the wind dissipates, and the creature descends gracefully, yet threateningly to light on a boulder at the southern end of the cavern.   Bones and rock crunch beneath the beast’s clawed talons as it moves.  Though cloaked in darkness, its black eyes glow visibly with magical energy, floating, disembodied, seeming to maintain contact with all five adventurers at once.  It’s breaths are deep and heavy, but strong, vibrant, and deadly.  Without warning, the creature’s teeth crackle with electricity arcing in splitting forks to instantly ignite all of the cavern’s braziers simultaneously.  The new light, now, reveals the creature for who he is: a blue dragon, some ten feet at the shoulders.  His scales are deep sea-blue, refracting the firelight like sapphire-infused prisms, into multicolored displays that dapple the cavern walls.  His face is bearded with scaly growths, and adorned with a line of two sharp, boney horns between his nostrils, which smoke slightly from the recent electrical display.  “Hello….” The dragon's voice is low, and resonating as he cracks a hungry smile revealing razor-sharp, serrated teeth. He cranes his neck down to a more humanoid level.  “Now,” he continues, “give me three good reasons why I should not eat you.”[sblock=Nature DC 30, or History DC 30, or Dungeoneering DC 30]”Give me three good reasons why I should not eat you”  is a common greeting given by dragons to unsummoned guests. Having passed this skill check you will be relieved to know that this dragon does not want to eat you…...yet.  He is curious as to why you are here.  If you satisfy his curiosity, he will let you live.  If you threaten him, he will display his power (a display you might not survive <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devil.png"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":devil:" title="Devil    :devil:" data-shortname=":devil:" />).[/sblock][sblock=Map]<img src="http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss151/HMGimlord/WalrynsLair3.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[/sblock][GM]Though this encounter presents itself as material for a skill challenge, I will forgo the formality of such, and continue with a simple parlay until it seems more fitting to formalize the encounter.  Feel free to use whatever skills you deem relevant, and I will allow the strength of your rolls (based on #sigma from mean) to guide the discussion.  Skill checks, however, are not necessary, unless you wish to direct (rather than influence) the discussion.For example:  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you want to ask a question, ask away.  No check required.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you want to find out whether or not the dragon is lying, that would require a skill check</li> </ul>[/GM]</blockquote>

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