Rel's Faded Glory Campaign (Thank You Old One!)
- Thread starter Rel
- Start date
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Bad Things Come in Small Packages
Speaks flew northwards and located Rhys and Raven camped in the forest below. He swooped in silently and stood between them before they even knew he was there.
"Gads!" exclaimed Raven, "It's going to take a bit to get used to that!"
Speaks described what happened with the Gnolls. It was evident to the others that the Druid had little stomach for further revenge if it involved killing any more of the Gnoll females and pups. Raven agreed that if the backbone of the Gnoll force, its warriors, had been defeated, the rest would crumble soon enough. Rhys felt pretty much the same. They resolved that in the morning, they would journey back to the tower and see to Krase's body.
Rhys also mentioned that since the purpose of the trek to Aquae Sulis was to make the town safe for the miners who would soon be going there, they should probably check out the mine itself. The others agreed and bedded down for the night, leaving Rhys on watch. A couple of hours later, just as he was considering waking Raven for his watch, Rhys heard a noise off in the woods nearby. He moved to his companions and gave each a small shake.
Speaks woke silently and grabbed his spear. Raven startled slightly as he woke, nudging one of the plates of his armor (which always stays within easy reach of the dwarf). The noises off in the woods stopped with the clanking of the metal plates. A moment later, a horrified voice called out in Gnollish, "It's THEM! They're everywhere!! Run!"
Raven quickly pulled out his bow and sent an arrow sailing into the form of one of the nearest Gnolls who screamed as it was struck by the missile. "Run you buggers!" he called after them. And run they did. The party settled back down and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.
In the morning, they marched back in the vague direction of the abandoned town. Krase's presence was missed as he always seemed to know his way in these woods. But Speaks was able to keep them on course by using his magic to Sense Direction. Near noon they marched back through the center of the ruined town and made their way back to the tower.
They received a rather unpleasant surprise when they went to where Krase lay: All of his remaining equipment was missing! They had taken a few of the items from him that they might need (a pair of healing potions and his Amulet of Communication in particular) but the rest of his equipment (especially his mithral breastplate and the orc-slaying short sword) was simply gone.
Without missing a beat, Speaks handed off his Amulet to Rhys and transformed into a dog. He began sniffing around and instantly caught the scent of the thieves. He led them out of the tower and southwards across the clearing to the tree line where the trail took an abrupt turn to the west.
Rhys looked at Raven and said, "Gotta be the dog-lizards. This is where they attacked us from when they helped the Gnolls." Following the lead of Speaks, they traveled several hundred yards southwest until they came upon the remnants of the road that led from Aquae Sulis south to the mine entrance. The trail of the thieves led south along the road and the party followed.
A bit later, they spotted a large wooden building on the east side of the overgrown road. Rhys declared that this must be the smelting works for the mine. They approached cautiously.
Speaks determined that the trail didn't seem to enter the building and it continued toward the mine entrance, now visible some 50 yards away. Rhys decided to check out the building anyway just to make sure they weren't leaving anyone behind them to ambush. He opened one of the doors to the building and peered into the dimly lit interior.
Inside were most of the types of smelting equipment that he was vaguely familiar with from seeing the smelting works in Glynden. At one end was an area where the ore would be broken up into small chunks with heavy sledges. A series of tubs and "jigging boxes" were set up to separate out the ore heavy with silver from the tailings. At the far end was a furnace where the silver-laden ore would be melted down and the refined silver poured off into ingot molds. Near the center was a large set of gears connected to a rope and bucket system for pumping out the lower levels of the mines. A large axle exited through the side of the building where it probably ended in another set of gears attached to a turn-style that would have been operated by mules. None of the equipment showed any signs of recent use.
The party exited the building and continued towards the mine entrance. As they approached, Speaks and Rhys spotted a bit of movement further up the slope but couldn't tell exactly what it was. Raven decided that they had better be safe than sorry and cast a spell to Protect them from Evil. Rhys supplied them all with Cat's Grace. Rhys drew forth his Everburning Torch and continued forward with the dwarf at his side. Speaks stayed just behind the others and continued to sniff his way along the trail.
As short distance inside the mine, they discovered a passage to the east but Speaks determined that it hadn't been used recently. They pressed onwards.
Another 50 or so feet down the passage they came to an intersection. Again, Speaks sniffed around and found plenty of scents but determined that those who had come from the tower went straight up the middle passage. They followed.
They progressed another 20 feet down the main shaft when suddenly an enormously loud sound detonated among the party. They were momentarily shaken but not utterly deafened by the sound. Then, a volley of the Magic Missiles that the dog-lizards had previously used came sailing out of the darkness ahead to strike Rhys.
Rhys was the first to recover from the surprise and he decided that the one place he didn't want to be was the place where the ambush was planned. He ran forward to confront his attackers. He quickly spotted a foursome of the dog-lizards standing in the passage ahead of him. Two of them leveled their crossbows and fired at him, one of them striking home.
Just as Rhys advanced to engage the enemy, more of the dog-lizards appeared from the intersection they had just passed through and began firing crossbows at Raven and Speaks. Raven cursed aloud as most of the bolts ricocheted off his platemail. "I shoulda known as soon as you said 'dog-lizards'. Those are Kobolds!" He waded forward to engage them but as he did so, he came into view of four more of the creatures. A pair of them unleashed more of their Magic Missiles which unerringly struck the dwarf. The damage he sustained distracted the stout holy-warrior and he missed the runt he swung his warhammer at.
Speaks realized quickly that his present form was next to useless against their opponents and took a moment to transform into human form. He glanced up and down the hallway. He could see that Rhys was facing several of the Kobolds at his end. He had some doubts that the sorcerer would last long against so many foes. Speaks hurried in that direction to lend his aid.
One of the Kobolds in front of Rhys fired another Magic Missile at point blank range, further wounding him, while another spoke an incantation and a soft glow surrounded his hand as he moved forward to attack.
At the other end of the corridor, a fresh volley of Magic Missiles flew from the hands of those who Raven faced. The dwarf knew that he couldn't take such punishment all day but he hoped the Kobolds missiles would run out soon.
Rhys drew forth his rapier and plunged in to attack one of the crossbowmen before him. His blade went wide of the agile Kobold however. In response, the Kobold dropped his crossbow and drew out a short sword and sliced at Rhys. His blade missed as well but the other crossbowman had likewise dropped his weapon and pulled a short sword as he had moved around to Rhys' flank. He plunged his weapon into the small of Rhys' back and cackled with glee as the sorcerer grunted in pain.
Several of the Kobolds facing Raven moved in to close range to engage the dwarf. They too wielded short swords and sought to maneuver around the dwarf. In response to this threat, Raven swung his mighty hammer and collapsed the chest of one of his diminutive attackers. His swing continued and barely missed the Kobold adjacent to the first.
Speaks moved further down the corridor and used his magic to again call forth a Salamander Ally whom he conjured forth amid those who attacked Rhys. The Salamander immediately attacked one of the Kobolds but its spear and tail failed to connect.
One of the Kobolds near Rhys (the one who had been flinging the Magic Missiles) backed up a step from the Salamander. The one with the glowing hand reached out to touch Rhys but the dexterous sorcerer remained elusive.
Back at the intersection, a new pair of Magic Missiles flew at Raven and another of the Kobolds shot him with a crossbow, his aim seeming supernaturally accurate. With no backup and almost surrounded, things seemed grim for the dwarf.
Rhys saw that his three adversaries were in a particularly perfect formation and in a flash, he whipped out his wand of Burning Hands as he stepped back and toasted all of them. All were burned but none fell to the attack. In response, the pair that had previously flanked him, tried to maneuver back into that position. The one on his left found that he couldn't get to Rhys' rear without exposing himself to attack. He bided his time.
The Kobolds surrounding Raven performed a quick sidestep and allowed another of their number in until each of the four was opposite another Kobold. This fearsome foursome flailed at the dwarf with their small swords but his platemail protected him from their attacks.
Seeing that he was in grave peril, Raven stepped back and began to cast a curative spell on himself. Doing so opened him up to attacks from a pair of the Kobolds but again, their swords rang off of his armor and he was able to complete his spell. He felt slightly better but was far from healthy.
Speaks looked at how the battle was shaping up at Rhys' end and decided that he needed some additional help for the sorcerer. He began the motions to call forth some further Allies but his spell was cut short as the Kobold closest to the Salamander shot the Magic Missile he had been saving for the druid. The bolt of force distracted Speaks and the felt the strands of magic fall apart within his grasp, the spell wasted.
Seemingly in retaliation for his master, the Salamander moved in to attack the offending Kobold and struck him with his spear. The Kobold, decided that fact to face with the fiery beast was not where he wanted to be and retreated into a previously unseen side tunnel. The one that had earlier menaced Rhys with his glowing hand moved across the tunnel and put his back against the wall, performing some arcane gestures in the process.
Raven took yet another Magic Missile but that was the least of his worries. One of the Kobolds in the intersection began calling out orders of some kind (Raven doesn't speak Draconic) and a large, black reptilian head poked around the corner.
Rhys meanwhile took another slash at one of his attackers. Once again the Kobold managed to dodge the tip of his blade. Growling in frustration, Rhys took a step back to continue thwarting the Kobolds' attempts to flank him. The Kobolds pursued and pressed their attack but seemed no more capable of hitting Rhys than he was of hitting them.
A couple of the ones that Raven faced attacked him, again being thwarted by his armor. But the other pair cleared out of the way with a slight hint of fear in their eyes. Before he could react further, Raven found himself looking the jaws of a dragon the size of a pony. A moment later, the black maw of the beast closed on his shoulder and all went black.
To Be Continued...
Speaks flew northwards and located Rhys and Raven camped in the forest below. He swooped in silently and stood between them before they even knew he was there.
"Gads!" exclaimed Raven, "It's going to take a bit to get used to that!"
Speaks described what happened with the Gnolls. It was evident to the others that the Druid had little stomach for further revenge if it involved killing any more of the Gnoll females and pups. Raven agreed that if the backbone of the Gnoll force, its warriors, had been defeated, the rest would crumble soon enough. Rhys felt pretty much the same. They resolved that in the morning, they would journey back to the tower and see to Krase's body.
Rhys also mentioned that since the purpose of the trek to Aquae Sulis was to make the town safe for the miners who would soon be going there, they should probably check out the mine itself. The others agreed and bedded down for the night, leaving Rhys on watch. A couple of hours later, just as he was considering waking Raven for his watch, Rhys heard a noise off in the woods nearby. He moved to his companions and gave each a small shake.
Speaks woke silently and grabbed his spear. Raven startled slightly as he woke, nudging one of the plates of his armor (which always stays within easy reach of the dwarf). The noises off in the woods stopped with the clanking of the metal plates. A moment later, a horrified voice called out in Gnollish, "It's THEM! They're everywhere!! Run!"
Raven quickly pulled out his bow and sent an arrow sailing into the form of one of the nearest Gnolls who screamed as it was struck by the missile. "Run you buggers!" he called after them. And run they did. The party settled back down and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.
In the morning, they marched back in the vague direction of the abandoned town. Krase's presence was missed as he always seemed to know his way in these woods. But Speaks was able to keep them on course by using his magic to Sense Direction. Near noon they marched back through the center of the ruined town and made their way back to the tower.
They received a rather unpleasant surprise when they went to where Krase lay: All of his remaining equipment was missing! They had taken a few of the items from him that they might need (a pair of healing potions and his Amulet of Communication in particular) but the rest of his equipment (especially his mithral breastplate and the orc-slaying short sword) was simply gone.
Without missing a beat, Speaks handed off his Amulet to Rhys and transformed into a dog. He began sniffing around and instantly caught the scent of the thieves. He led them out of the tower and southwards across the clearing to the tree line where the trail took an abrupt turn to the west.
Rhys looked at Raven and said, "Gotta be the dog-lizards. This is where they attacked us from when they helped the Gnolls." Following the lead of Speaks, they traveled several hundred yards southwest until they came upon the remnants of the road that led from Aquae Sulis south to the mine entrance. The trail of the thieves led south along the road and the party followed.
A bit later, they spotted a large wooden building on the east side of the overgrown road. Rhys declared that this must be the smelting works for the mine. They approached cautiously.
Speaks determined that the trail didn't seem to enter the building and it continued toward the mine entrance, now visible some 50 yards away. Rhys decided to check out the building anyway just to make sure they weren't leaving anyone behind them to ambush. He opened one of the doors to the building and peered into the dimly lit interior.
Inside were most of the types of smelting equipment that he was vaguely familiar with from seeing the smelting works in Glynden. At one end was an area where the ore would be broken up into small chunks with heavy sledges. A series of tubs and "jigging boxes" were set up to separate out the ore heavy with silver from the tailings. At the far end was a furnace where the silver-laden ore would be melted down and the refined silver poured off into ingot molds. Near the center was a large set of gears connected to a rope and bucket system for pumping out the lower levels of the mines. A large axle exited through the side of the building where it probably ended in another set of gears attached to a turn-style that would have been operated by mules. None of the equipment showed any signs of recent use.
The party exited the building and continued towards the mine entrance. As they approached, Speaks and Rhys spotted a bit of movement further up the slope but couldn't tell exactly what it was. Raven decided that they had better be safe than sorry and cast a spell to Protect them from Evil. Rhys supplied them all with Cat's Grace. Rhys drew forth his Everburning Torch and continued forward with the dwarf at his side. Speaks stayed just behind the others and continued to sniff his way along the trail.
As short distance inside the mine, they discovered a passage to the east but Speaks determined that it hadn't been used recently. They pressed onwards.
Another 50 or so feet down the passage they came to an intersection. Again, Speaks sniffed around and found plenty of scents but determined that those who had come from the tower went straight up the middle passage. They followed.
They progressed another 20 feet down the main shaft when suddenly an enormously loud sound detonated among the party. They were momentarily shaken but not utterly deafened by the sound. Then, a volley of the Magic Missiles that the dog-lizards had previously used came sailing out of the darkness ahead to strike Rhys.
Rhys was the first to recover from the surprise and he decided that the one place he didn't want to be was the place where the ambush was planned. He ran forward to confront his attackers. He quickly spotted a foursome of the dog-lizards standing in the passage ahead of him. Two of them leveled their crossbows and fired at him, one of them striking home.
Just as Rhys advanced to engage the enemy, more of the dog-lizards appeared from the intersection they had just passed through and began firing crossbows at Raven and Speaks. Raven cursed aloud as most of the bolts ricocheted off his platemail. "I shoulda known as soon as you said 'dog-lizards'. Those are Kobolds!" He waded forward to engage them but as he did so, he came into view of four more of the creatures. A pair of them unleashed more of their Magic Missiles which unerringly struck the dwarf. The damage he sustained distracted the stout holy-warrior and he missed the runt he swung his warhammer at.
Speaks realized quickly that his present form was next to useless against their opponents and took a moment to transform into human form. He glanced up and down the hallway. He could see that Rhys was facing several of the Kobolds at his end. He had some doubts that the sorcerer would last long against so many foes. Speaks hurried in that direction to lend his aid.
One of the Kobolds in front of Rhys fired another Magic Missile at point blank range, further wounding him, while another spoke an incantation and a soft glow surrounded his hand as he moved forward to attack.
At the other end of the corridor, a fresh volley of Magic Missiles flew from the hands of those who Raven faced. The dwarf knew that he couldn't take such punishment all day but he hoped the Kobolds missiles would run out soon.
Rhys drew forth his rapier and plunged in to attack one of the crossbowmen before him. His blade went wide of the agile Kobold however. In response, the Kobold dropped his crossbow and drew out a short sword and sliced at Rhys. His blade missed as well but the other crossbowman had likewise dropped his weapon and pulled a short sword as he had moved around to Rhys' flank. He plunged his weapon into the small of Rhys' back and cackled with glee as the sorcerer grunted in pain.
Several of the Kobolds facing Raven moved in to close range to engage the dwarf. They too wielded short swords and sought to maneuver around the dwarf. In response to this threat, Raven swung his mighty hammer and collapsed the chest of one of his diminutive attackers. His swing continued and barely missed the Kobold adjacent to the first.
Speaks moved further down the corridor and used his magic to again call forth a Salamander Ally whom he conjured forth amid those who attacked Rhys. The Salamander immediately attacked one of the Kobolds but its spear and tail failed to connect.
One of the Kobolds near Rhys (the one who had been flinging the Magic Missiles) backed up a step from the Salamander. The one with the glowing hand reached out to touch Rhys but the dexterous sorcerer remained elusive.
Back at the intersection, a new pair of Magic Missiles flew at Raven and another of the Kobolds shot him with a crossbow, his aim seeming supernaturally accurate. With no backup and almost surrounded, things seemed grim for the dwarf.
Rhys saw that his three adversaries were in a particularly perfect formation and in a flash, he whipped out his wand of Burning Hands as he stepped back and toasted all of them. All were burned but none fell to the attack. In response, the pair that had previously flanked him, tried to maneuver back into that position. The one on his left found that he couldn't get to Rhys' rear without exposing himself to attack. He bided his time.
The Kobolds surrounding Raven performed a quick sidestep and allowed another of their number in until each of the four was opposite another Kobold. This fearsome foursome flailed at the dwarf with their small swords but his platemail protected him from their attacks.
Seeing that he was in grave peril, Raven stepped back and began to cast a curative spell on himself. Doing so opened him up to attacks from a pair of the Kobolds but again, their swords rang off of his armor and he was able to complete his spell. He felt slightly better but was far from healthy.
Speaks looked at how the battle was shaping up at Rhys' end and decided that he needed some additional help for the sorcerer. He began the motions to call forth some further Allies but his spell was cut short as the Kobold closest to the Salamander shot the Magic Missile he had been saving for the druid. The bolt of force distracted Speaks and the felt the strands of magic fall apart within his grasp, the spell wasted.
Seemingly in retaliation for his master, the Salamander moved in to attack the offending Kobold and struck him with his spear. The Kobold, decided that fact to face with the fiery beast was not where he wanted to be and retreated into a previously unseen side tunnel. The one that had earlier menaced Rhys with his glowing hand moved across the tunnel and put his back against the wall, performing some arcane gestures in the process.
Raven took yet another Magic Missile but that was the least of his worries. One of the Kobolds in the intersection began calling out orders of some kind (Raven doesn't speak Draconic) and a large, black reptilian head poked around the corner.
Rhys meanwhile took another slash at one of his attackers. Once again the Kobold managed to dodge the tip of his blade. Growling in frustration, Rhys took a step back to continue thwarting the Kobolds' attempts to flank him. The Kobolds pursued and pressed their attack but seemed no more capable of hitting Rhys than he was of hitting them.
A couple of the ones that Raven faced attacked him, again being thwarted by his armor. But the other pair cleared out of the way with a slight hint of fear in their eyes. Before he could react further, Raven found himself looking the jaws of a dragon the size of a pony. A moment later, the black maw of the beast closed on his shoulder and all went black.
To Be Continued...
Thorntangle
First Post
Unless they can pull something big out of their....hats, they are so toast.
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Bad Things Come in Small Packages Part 2 - Worse Things Come in Really Big Packages!
As Raven descended into darkness, his thoughts became somewhat detached. In that final moment, as the dragon's jaws had closed around his shoulder, he had glimpsed the beast up close. He had never seen a dragon before and felt that if he were going to die by one, he should at least get a good look at it. He was surprised by what he saw.
Instead of the stretching sinews and forked red tongue accentuating a mouth of ivory fangs dripping in caustic saliva, he witnessed only darkness. The dragon's maw was very real, but yet seemingly composed only of invariable black. The form of the beast shifted awkwardly in the light cast by Speaks' distant torch. Rather than the shining, glittering scales he would have expected, the dragon's flank had wavered, indeed almost flickered. Not unlike a shadow…
Speaks heard Raven cry out and spun around to see him fall to the black dragon that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Whipping back around he saw that two of the Kobolds were still maneuvering to flank Rhys, a third had his back against the wall and appeared to be performing some kind of magic and the fourth had disappeared down a side passage. As he watched, he saw his Salamander dart up the same passage in pursuit.
Speaks felt that he needed to respond immediately to the dragon threat, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Rhys without any assistance. He made another try at the spell that he had failed before. Suddenly, three badgers appeared among the Kobolds near Rhys and began menacing them. One was felled almost immediately while another took a vicious bite to the ankle. The third, up against the wall, easily fended off the badger that attacked him as it appeared to bounce off some kind of invisible barrier. In response to the attack, the Kobold stabbed at the badger with a dagger and drew blood. This sent the badger into a raging frenzy.
Rhys took advantage of the momentary distraction and stabbed at the Kobold in front of him, wounding it. The Kobold saw that the odds had turned against him and retreated in the direction of the dragon.
A voice rang out above the din of battle, "Fall back! Let the dragon finish them!" Those Kobolds who were in the corridor near the dragon and the fallen Raven moved away from the dragon, back down the side passages at the intersection leaving the dwarf unconscious and bleeding in their wake.
The dragon showed no signs of retreat and lunged forward past the dwarf and bit at Speaks. Speaks thrust at the beast with his spear as it attacked but failed to strike it. The druid winced in pain at the attack, but through the pain, he noticed the odd fact that this dragon seemed different than the one they had previously fought. Its form was shadowy and indistinct, almost insubstantial.
Meanwhile, the badgers he had summoned proceeded to make quick work of the other Kobolds nearby. One moved slightly to the flank of the Kobold against the wall and lunged for the small humanoid with bloodlust in its eyes. The frail Kobold crumpled under the assault of claws and fangs.
The other badger ran after the Kobold trying to retreat. The Kobold turned briefly to fend off the attack but failed. The badger burrowed through the thin leather armor the Kobold wore and into flesh. The pitiful creature let out a high pitched cry and expired.
Speaks was face to face with the bizarre "Shadow Dragon" but there was no time to ponder the implications of such a thing. He stepped back out of the reach of its jaws and called forth a Flaming Sphere along the flank of the dragon. The ball of fire rolled into the creature and began burning away at its shadowy substance.
Rhys was now left with no further adversaries (Although he was briefly alarmed as a light came from the small side passage one of the Kobolds had bolted into. It turned out to be the Salamander returning to the battle.) and saw Speaks facing the dragon alone. He rushed to the aid of his friend.
The dragon came at Speaks again, this time unleashing the full fury of its attacks. Speaks ducked and weaved, fully utilizing the Cat-like Grace granted by Rhys' spell. Astoundingly, he was only hit by one of the dragon's wings, which only wounded him slightly.
He responded by stepping back out of reach again and with a gesture, the ball of fire again slammed into the side of the creature. One of the badgers ran in to defend the one that had summoned it, only to be slashed in twain by one of the dragon's claws. The Salamander also moved quickly to fight along side the druid.
But it was Rhys that dealt the final blow to the wispy Shadow Dragon. He strode the last few feet toward the creature and a slash of his rapier passed through the neck of the beast. Instead of crumpling to the ground, the corpse vanished like so much oily smoke.
As second later the corridor darkened slightly as the Salamander vanished, returning to its fiery plane of existence. It briefly reminded Speaks of how the lights would be dimmed at the closing act of one of the plays put on by travelling performers back in Oar during his childhood. But this was no play. Danger remained all around them.
He stooped and channeled some of the healing magic of his wand into the prone form of Raven. The dwarf regained consciousness and began to ply his own healing magics upon himself while Speaks continued to heal himself and Rhys. A few moments later the question inevitably came as to what they should do now.
Speaks advocated them pressing on. He felt that the Kobolds must have spent most of their magic (including whatever that Shadow Dragon thing was) during the encounter and they would have little left. Seeing as how the group was mostly healed, they decided to press on.
NEXT: Frankly I Don't Know What's Going to Happen. We Play Tonight!
As Raven descended into darkness, his thoughts became somewhat detached. In that final moment, as the dragon's jaws had closed around his shoulder, he had glimpsed the beast up close. He had never seen a dragon before and felt that if he were going to die by one, he should at least get a good look at it. He was surprised by what he saw.
Instead of the stretching sinews and forked red tongue accentuating a mouth of ivory fangs dripping in caustic saliva, he witnessed only darkness. The dragon's maw was very real, but yet seemingly composed only of invariable black. The form of the beast shifted awkwardly in the light cast by Speaks' distant torch. Rather than the shining, glittering scales he would have expected, the dragon's flank had wavered, indeed almost flickered. Not unlike a shadow…
Speaks heard Raven cry out and spun around to see him fall to the black dragon that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Whipping back around he saw that two of the Kobolds were still maneuvering to flank Rhys, a third had his back against the wall and appeared to be performing some kind of magic and the fourth had disappeared down a side passage. As he watched, he saw his Salamander dart up the same passage in pursuit.
Speaks felt that he needed to respond immediately to the dragon threat, but he couldn't bring himself to leave Rhys without any assistance. He made another try at the spell that he had failed before. Suddenly, three badgers appeared among the Kobolds near Rhys and began menacing them. One was felled almost immediately while another took a vicious bite to the ankle. The third, up against the wall, easily fended off the badger that attacked him as it appeared to bounce off some kind of invisible barrier. In response to the attack, the Kobold stabbed at the badger with a dagger and drew blood. This sent the badger into a raging frenzy.
Rhys took advantage of the momentary distraction and stabbed at the Kobold in front of him, wounding it. The Kobold saw that the odds had turned against him and retreated in the direction of the dragon.
A voice rang out above the din of battle, "Fall back! Let the dragon finish them!" Those Kobolds who were in the corridor near the dragon and the fallen Raven moved away from the dragon, back down the side passages at the intersection leaving the dwarf unconscious and bleeding in their wake.
The dragon showed no signs of retreat and lunged forward past the dwarf and bit at Speaks. Speaks thrust at the beast with his spear as it attacked but failed to strike it. The druid winced in pain at the attack, but through the pain, he noticed the odd fact that this dragon seemed different than the one they had previously fought. Its form was shadowy and indistinct, almost insubstantial.
Meanwhile, the badgers he had summoned proceeded to make quick work of the other Kobolds nearby. One moved slightly to the flank of the Kobold against the wall and lunged for the small humanoid with bloodlust in its eyes. The frail Kobold crumpled under the assault of claws and fangs.
The other badger ran after the Kobold trying to retreat. The Kobold turned briefly to fend off the attack but failed. The badger burrowed through the thin leather armor the Kobold wore and into flesh. The pitiful creature let out a high pitched cry and expired.
Speaks was face to face with the bizarre "Shadow Dragon" but there was no time to ponder the implications of such a thing. He stepped back out of the reach of its jaws and called forth a Flaming Sphere along the flank of the dragon. The ball of fire rolled into the creature and began burning away at its shadowy substance.
Rhys was now left with no further adversaries (Although he was briefly alarmed as a light came from the small side passage one of the Kobolds had bolted into. It turned out to be the Salamander returning to the battle.) and saw Speaks facing the dragon alone. He rushed to the aid of his friend.
The dragon came at Speaks again, this time unleashing the full fury of its attacks. Speaks ducked and weaved, fully utilizing the Cat-like Grace granted by Rhys' spell. Astoundingly, he was only hit by one of the dragon's wings, which only wounded him slightly.
He responded by stepping back out of reach again and with a gesture, the ball of fire again slammed into the side of the creature. One of the badgers ran in to defend the one that had summoned it, only to be slashed in twain by one of the dragon's claws. The Salamander also moved quickly to fight along side the druid.
But it was Rhys that dealt the final blow to the wispy Shadow Dragon. He strode the last few feet toward the creature and a slash of his rapier passed through the neck of the beast. Instead of crumpling to the ground, the corpse vanished like so much oily smoke.
As second later the corridor darkened slightly as the Salamander vanished, returning to its fiery plane of existence. It briefly reminded Speaks of how the lights would be dimmed at the closing act of one of the plays put on by travelling performers back in Oar during his childhood. But this was no play. Danger remained all around them.
He stooped and channeled some of the healing magic of his wand into the prone form of Raven. The dwarf regained consciousness and began to ply his own healing magics upon himself while Speaks continued to heal himself and Rhys. A few moments later the question inevitably came as to what they should do now.
Speaks advocated them pressing on. He felt that the Kobolds must have spent most of their magic (including whatever that Shadow Dragon thing was) during the encounter and they would have little left. Seeing as how the group was mostly healed, they decided to press on.
NEXT: Frankly I Don't Know What's Going to Happen. We Play Tonight!
Broccli_Head
Explorer
easy dragon
I can't believe they killed a shadow dragon that easily. This is one of the creature that one of my PCs says is broken (CR too low...). How old was the dragon? Was it advanced or jus the basic dragon of that age in MoF?
I can't believe they killed a shadow dragon that easily. This is one of the creature that one of my PCs says is broken (CR too low...). How old was the dragon? Was it advanced or jus the basic dragon of that age in MoF?
Tony Vargas
Legend
Re: easy dragon
I'm guessing the Dragon was shadow-conjured or an illusion. It sounded just like the old Shadow Monsters spell.
I'm guessing the Dragon was shadow-conjured or an illusion. It sounded just like the old Shadow Monsters spell.
Darklone
Registered User
Shadow dragon
The real bad thing about the shadow dragon is his breath weapon ... So all you have to do is summon undead creatures to fight for you and he's toast. His fighting skills are not that impressive. Ok, he's a dragon. But not a very large one.
But I agree that this one probably was a summoned or conjured version. Perhaps by some kind of magical figurine?
The real bad thing about the shadow dragon is his breath weapon ... So all you have to do is summon undead creatures to fight for you and he's toast. His fighting skills are not that impressive. Ok, he's a dragon. But not a very large one.
But I agree that this one probably was a summoned or conjured version. Perhaps by some kind of magical figurine?
Rel
Liquid Awesome
Before I get the B.A.D.D. crowd (That's Bothered About Disposable Dragons for those of you not familiar with the thread over in General Roleplaying) breathing down my neck (yes, that was a breath weapon joke), let me clarify that a couple of the above poster are hitting pretty close to the mark. I can't reaveal more since my players read this thread but let's just say that this dragon was "a shadow of his former self".
I admit that the way I portrayed the dragon in the post above was a bit misleading. That is precisely the way the players felt at first. Things were not looking great for them and then POW - The Dragon. You could just see their faces go cold with resignation that they were probably going to all die. But they plunged into battle with the dragon anyway and found that it wasn't as tough as it looked (by contrast to the Kobolds who were a lot tougher than they looked).
Anyhow, I hope you are still enjoying the story. Last night's session was another harrowing adventure but I probably won't be able to get it posted until near the end of the week. Sorry.
In the mean time, if there are any other questions I can answer about the campaign, I'll be happy to do so.
I admit that the way I portrayed the dragon in the post above was a bit misleading. That is precisely the way the players felt at first. Things were not looking great for them and then POW - The Dragon. You could just see their faces go cold with resignation that they were probably going to all die. But they plunged into battle with the dragon anyway and found that it wasn't as tough as it looked (by contrast to the Kobolds who were a lot tougher than they looked).
Anyhow, I hope you are still enjoying the story. Last night's session was another harrowing adventure but I probably won't be able to get it posted until near the end of the week. Sorry.
In the mean time, if there are any other questions I can answer about the campaign, I'll be happy to do so.
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