NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1460072" data-attributes="member: 143">Thanks for the kudos, readers.* * * * * Chapter 125The sound of metal striking metal throbbed dully throughout the huge temple chamber, muted by the slab of stone blocking its transmission.  But Dhorlot heard it.  The sound echoed once again, and then the heavy stone portal scraped slowly open, revealing a dark chamber beyond.  That was fine.  Dhorlot did not fear the darkness.  Dhorlot, called “the dragon-father” by the kuo-toa, was the darkness, was death as he lifted his body smoothly from its perch on the edge of the balcony high above, and glided out into the vast internal space of the chamber.  Though it was sacrilege to the fish-men—and who cared, most of them were dead now, along with that puffed-up fool Margh-Michto—the drake spread its wings to arrest its flight and settled onto the shoulder of the massive statue of Blibdoolpoolp. The doorway was quiet.  No doubt the invaders were lurking inside, waiting for him to rush in again, hoping to ambush him.  Well, he would show them a surprise or two...And then a tiny figure walked into the open out of the doorway.The dragon’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the gnome who had cut him.  The gash in his sinuous neck was a scratch, a trifle, but it still hurt, and it throbbed a bit as he adjusted his position on his perch atop the statue, as if to remind him of the indignity wrought upon his majestic person.  The gnome walked calmly out onto the platform, blissfully unaware of the death that waited directly above her.  She put her hands on her hips, surveying the shadowy depths of the cavernous temple chamber.  Finally, she spoke, her voice echoing in the vast confines of the place. “Well then, run off have you, mister dragon?  Can’t say I blame you!  There’s still plenty of this to go around!”  She drew out her tiny sword, and waved it in an elaborate flourish.  “We killed a red drake that was, dare I say, somewhat bigger and meaner than you on the way here.  Far better for you to play the coward!”Dhorlot’s eyes narrowed, though he did not make the slightest noise to give away his position as he leaned downward, his hind claws holding him steady on his perch, his long neck twisting until his dagger-shaped head was directly above the puny gnome with her insane threats.  His jaws opened wide, and a sibilant hiss came from deep within his body.  The gnome did not hear, already continuing her diatribe with another series of threats and insults, culminating with a rather provocative ditty about the ancestry of dragons that was accompanied by a little dance, her hips shaking in a twisting pattern. The song was cut off as a gout of acid engulfed the gnome, obscuring her from view momentarily in a spray of greenish droplets that splashed up as the dragon’s breath hit the solid stone of the platform.  For a heartbeat the loud splash and hiss of the acid obscured all other sound, then a terrible scream erupted from where the gnome had been, a cry that quickly drained away into nothing.  When the back blast from the spray had settled enough to see, there was nothing left but an unpleasant pile of smoking detritus where a vibrant, living creature had been moments before.  A shadow shifted in the depths of the doorway, and something shot up at the dragon.  Dhorlot felt an annoying pinprick of pain as a heavy quarrel stabbed into his thick, muscular torso.  He considered blanketing the doorway in darkness, but he’d already spent over a day waiting these intruders out, and did not want to give them a chance to barricade themselves in the high priest’s former chambers again.  Already hungry, the dragon was also impatient, still too young to have developed the long view of time common among the elders of his race. Plus, he wanted them to see the death that was coming for them. The dragon leapt from the shoulder of the statue, spreading his wings to catch the air and slow his descent.  He landed heavily on the platform, his claws sending up tendrils of wispy smoke as they splashed in the remnants of acid that had lingered on the damp stone in the aftermath of its breath attack.  In the shadows of the chamber beyond the doorway, there was a flicker of movement, but no one immediately moved to slam and barricade the door.  And now, it was too late.  Dhorlot, the Dragon-Father, had come to kill. Author’s note: I downgraded Dhorlot one age category, from Young Adult to Juvenile.  A Young Adult black dragon would wipe the floor with this party even if they were at full strength.  For some reason the builders of this mod seemed obsessed with putting in CR9+ encounters throughout Bhal-Hamatugn, even though the default party is supposed to be 7th level at this point.</blockquote>

Verification