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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Softwind" data-source="post: 1243335" data-attributes="member: 13893">Fifteenth Session (Part 2) “Um, hello?” asks a timid Athena. “Who are you?”Snapped out of its daze, the head whips up, again focusing on the party. “Are you smart, then? Do you dare a riddle? ” His voice trailing off, the androsphinx begins to pace again. Stopping, it faces the party, its stenerous voice, loud but frail as a spring breeze, begins to chant: “What is half of dragon/but has not a wyrmling’s strength?What is half a canine/ but has not a mongrel’s length?What is it that is of two halves/but has but half to stand on?” Ujaset looks expectantly at the party, its pained face also tragically anxious as he waits for the answer. After some consultation with the others, Tombit steps forth and announces, “Kobold. Dragon in distant ancestry, canine in voice, walking upright, with none of the strength of its forebears.” "Meow", he adds as an afterthought.  “Excellent. Excellent!” Ujaset’s voice gains in strength, “You are just the sort of clever heroes I was hoping to find this night. As a reward, I offer you the chance to find the place where I laired just nights ago, where I kept on hand my personal horde of treasure. Of course, you must eliminate the disgusting kobolds that evicted me from my home.” “His lair isn’t the *only* thing he was evicted from,” quips the Halfling. Ujaset’s head whips around towards Tombit. “Yes, I am dead. Well, mostly dead. I’m a ghost – I think.” Raising a paw to forestall the halfling’s next question, “No, I don’t want to talk about what it is like. Do you want to talk about your short lives? I thought not.” “Do you mean, er. You were killed, by kobolds?” asks an incredulous Grimnyr. Ujaset’s head dips, his voice lowers. “Okay, I admit it is humiliating to have been killed by kobolds, but, there were a lot of them, lead by a sorcerer. And the ambush was while I rested from a large meal.” “Sigh, okay, it’s still humiliating, I know. I do not wish to speak more on it.” Athena steps forward, compassion in her eyes. “We have had dealing with the kobolds, ourselves. We know how tricky they can be. How then can we be of assistance? I am not strong enough in my faith to restore you to this life…”“I do not ask that of you! Only avenge this insult, and all I have collected is yours.” His head meets Athena’s gaze. “Find my lair, and track down those yipping pests!” The party erupts with questions. “Where is your lair? Why can you not kill them yourselves? What kind of treasure? Do you know where they came from? Do they rest nearby? Have any pie?” The last, from Tombit, draws stares from the gathered companions. “What”, he asks, innocently. “I’m hungry” “Grrah. Just follow these directions, and find my killers!” Ujaset rattles off a list of landmarks, and fades away, disappearing like the rapidly setting sun. “Being dead is no reason for being so grumpy!” someone quips, and amid chuckles from the others, the group decides to press on before making camp. Athena puts her new ranger skills to use, and with the help of the wild elf archer Skylar, finds a suitable place for the night some time later. When morning arrives, the party looks around a bit to gain their bearings, and search for the landmarks described before. The trail leads through the trees, up a grass covered slope, opening into a hillside meadow. Stopping at the edge of the clearing to enjoy the view, the party is startled by a draconic screeching, as something large and scaly swoops down, grasping at Tombit. Claws gripping the Halfling by the shirt, and flapping leathern wings, the wyvern lifts up into the sky before Tombit’s dangling feet can be grabbed by his friends. Rapidly gaining altitude, the creature’s ascent is slowed by two arrows suddenly appearing in its chest. Taken aback by the pain, the beast releases its hold on Tombit. Much like a cat, the monk lands on his feet, unhurt by the relatively short drop. His companions rush around him, taking a defensive stance, watching the skies uneasily. Apparently either undeterred by pain, or goaded by hunger, the creature swings around again for another attempt to snatch one of the party members. As it nears, Athena’s scimitar and Grimnyr’s axe cut furrows into the flesh of its wings. Off balance due to the reduction of aerodynamics on the extremities, it wheels off, up the hill, following the edge of the woods. Its indignant cries of frustration and pain are echoed some distance up the grassy knoll. Emerging from an opening in the hill, a second scaled head shows framed against the sky. With a mighty snap of down thrust wings, the second wyvern takes to the air. Seeking safety and a position of height in the trees, Tombit awaits the arrival of one or the other of the creatures, as his companions wait below. Acting in concert, without really understanding what the Halfling is up to, they herd one of the creatures towards the trees where he crouches. When it draws near enough, he leaps upon its back, dagger bared, ready to plunge it into the creature’s back. Skylar continues to fire her deadly missiles with good effect into the other opponent, while Grimnyr and Athena struggle to connect with their weapons on their airborne foes. The wyverns proceed to drop rocks on them, causing some injuries, but not without having more wounds appear on themselves from the retributive strikes of the gnome and dwarf. Plunging his dagger over and again into the creatures back soon coats the Halfling with spilled blood, as his “mount” tries in vain to shake him. With grim determination, and the occasional exuberant “Wahoo”, Tombit literally rides the beast into the ground, tumbling off the corpse as it hits the ground, already lifeless. The other, upon seeing this, goes into frenzy, diving at the party repeatedly, until it too succumbs from the wounds.  Sore from falling rocks and claw scrapes, bleeding a bit from numerous small wounds, the Companions seat themselves under the cover of the trees as Athena plies her healing abilities. In a few minutes, whole once more, they move up the hill, towards the lair of the wyverns. Sending Tombit in ahead to check for others that might still be within, they are relieved to find that only the two were dwelling here. Amidst the gnawed bones and rotting remains, the Halfling discovers a few trinkets left behind by previous victims, including a silver pendant depicting a perforated shield. Storing it away for later study, Tombit emerges from the hole and rejoins his friends. Athena points further up the hill, to a rocky outcropping near the crest. “That looks like what Ujaset described as his lair” she tells the others.</blockquote>

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