Chrys opens her mouth, not sure if she's going to protest, or be thankful, but before she can even react, she realizes she can't see herself any longer. Surprised, she stands stock-still, not even sure what she should be doing, or what will make the strange magic wear off. It doesn't feel any different, but she puts a hand on the grip of Due Process -- still feeling as solid and dependable as ever -- to be sure that nothing's changed.
Guessing that it's a good thing that she was made invisible, Chrys turns to give Lumen a thumbs-up in thanks. Then she realizes that the bard can't even see her. Her brows constrict into an annoyed pout, and she tries her best to make her way to the cover of a tree, despite her transparent state.
(Chrys will be taking the dodge action for now while she makes like a tree and stands still next to one :P)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Just when Nym began to lament the lack of rain as it seemed the clouds were going with it when the the dragon's shadow approached. At Kess' command, a cold sweat and goosebumps broke out from the base of Nym's spine travelling upwards. A shiver was the only movement she allowed herself after she crept slowly towards cover of brush picking one no one else was already under. Seeing Lumen make Chrys completely invisible in just a breath, the woman tried to think of anything she could do to help but came up empty, simply mouthing a silent prayer for Eilistraee's guidance as she tried to remain undetected.
As Chrys suddenly finds herself invisible, Kess launches herself into the brush, disappearing from sight into a thicket of low hanging branches and bushes that grow on the forest floor. The rest of you also scramble with desperation, trying to avoid being seen by the dragon. Nym looks for a suitable hiding place, but realizes that her initial choice offers less cover than she was hoping. She turns around, looking for another place to hide as the dragon approaches.
Need one more stealth check from Nym, and stealth checks from Lumen and Vesper as well.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Realizing that there probably wasn't anywhere she could hide from direct view, Nym gave up and focused on remaining as still as possible, trying to calm her heartrate and breathing. Some predators underground hunted by detecting movement and heat, perhaps dragons might be the same? So she focused on relaxing, trying to think of the words to a song.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lumen also drops to the ground as quietly as he can. But not before inspiring Nym to make her second attempt to find a hiding spot perhaps go better than the first. (You get a d6 once on basically anything in the next ten mins.)
As Nym stands there, still as a blade of grass on a calm morning, her body pressed up against the trunk of a tree, the towering figure of the black wyrm swoops down to the ground before her. Its bat-like wings fold into its side, beneath its prominent rib cage. You notice that the dragon has a few missing talons on its front left claw, and one of its horns has been shattered. Floating around the dragon’s head is a spectral ball of light.
Its eyes trained on the drow, the dragon briefly shifts its gaze towards Lumen, who is belly-first to the ground just a few feet away and directly behind Nym. Its eyes snap back to Nym, then the wyrm opens its mouth and speaks in common with a thick draconic accent. Kess, Vesper, who are hiding in the brush just a few feet away from the beast, as well as the invisible Chrys, can smell the dragon’s reek of rotting vegetation and foul water.
“Impudent dolts! Leave my domain! These woods belongs to...”
Abruptly, the dragon stops speaking, as if she is interrupted by someone or something. Without warning, she exhales a gout of putrid smelling acid from her gaping maw right towards Nym and Lumen before taking off again and turning to the south as she begins to fly away.
Need DC 14 DEX saves from both Lumen and Nym. (Nym can use Lumen's Inspiration die). They each take 17 acid damage on a failed save, or half on a successful save.
As she felt the dragon's gaze upon her, Nym could no longer feel the thrum of her heartbeat, almost swearing that it had stopped completely, her head empty of thoughts as she stood frozen pressed against the tree. The drow wasn't aware that her eyes could get any bigger but they certainly did as the dragon spoke. Further thoughts were voided as acid suddenly rained down on her position and she attempted to throw herself and roll out of its path while a litany of curses and prayers in Undercommon fell from her lips.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lumen DEX save: 7
The half-orc, after offering a quiet bit of encouragement to Nym, who he thought was more exposed, does not see the dragon's breath coming, and as the dragon inhales, he darts up to try to find cover behind a tree off to the side. But the breath comes so quickly, immediate, and he is caught flat-footed. Even trying to stay out of sight, the poor bard's luck is on a bad run, though it looked like he might have helped Nym escape some pain.
He falls back down to the ground and tries to wipe acid off of himself.
Chrys opens her mouth to yell at the dragon, and then closes it again quickly as the dragon beats her to the punch, spitting acid all over her friends. The acrid smell of it reaches her nostrils even though the acid itself didn't. Nym seemed to manage to avoid the worst of the splash by the tips of her toes, but Lumen, once again, took a full beating. Rushing out from under the tree, she pulls Lumen away from the puddle of acid and tries to help him dot off the remaining harmful detritus from his skin with some sackcloth.
"Oi, Lumen, you didn't even start singin' yet an' that thing's already not a fan! Are ya alright? An' what made it run off like that?" she asks, as she inspects Lumen's wounds to see if he needs healing.
Once she's finished, she thinks hard about the strange ball of light floating around the dragon, trying to think of what it could be. Arcana or Religion, same difference: 21
(Chrys can restore 15 to Lumen in one go with Lay on Hands if you want her to do that, but that'll be it for the day for her. I'm fine with that if the healers want to preserve some slots though!)
Fortunately, Nym was indeed able to avoid being hit by a direct blast of the dragon's terrible breath weapon, largely spurned on by Lumen's inspiration. Still, she feels the pain of the putrid, toxic acid that splashed on her. Turning around, she sees that Lumen wasn't quite so lucky; he took a direct hit. The rest of you watch as the dragon climbs higher into the sky and disappears from sight.
Chrys
Chrys recognizes that strange floating ball of light that appeared by the dragon's head as a Will-o'-Wisp. Although she's never seen one in real life, she's heard enough stories about strange, malevolent balls of undead energy that lure unwary creatures into dismal latest and feed off of their suffering and misery. Tales tell of the souls of evil beings that are forever trapped in this state of magical energy, who savor the agony of the last breath of their prey as they consume the life from those who fall to their ambush.
Kessdarra had been VERY quietly nocking an arrow onto her longbow, holding it ready but for the life of her, she didn't have the faintest idea where to begin shooting upon Duskbringer's ebon hide if a conflict out; just where exactly did one shoot a creature naturally clad in armor from the tip of its tail to the edge of its nostrils...?
Then, without warning and between angry, rambling declarations, the dragon reared up and with a terrible, deep breath, turned towards the direction Nym and Lumen had been standing.
Kess felt her blood run cold and her heart rise up into her throat, nearly cryng out in a sudden realization of terror as the beast growled and loosed a bright violet plume of vapor, followed by the chilling sounds of splashing and what reminded Kess of boiling oil engulfed the vicinity. Kess sat in her hiding place, terror gripping at her as Lumen cried out in pain, having been blasted head-on. The ground began to bubble and singe and protest and then blacken under the violet assault, vegetation and even the very ground seeming to smoke and sag, then drip, then fall away and boil off into verdant-hued liquid and slime; parts of the ground where the dragon's acid touched down seemed almost as if a cleft had been seared and boiled into the very vegetation and earth, former bushes and tall grasses leaning and sagging and bubbling in a few small, deep puddle of purple liquid.
And by the gods, the smell...that awful, putrid smell! Kess had smelled decay before, but this was even worse!
Yet just as quickly as she had come, Duskbringer alighted and rose off into the sky. For a moment, Kess calmed herself, taking the time to regain her nerve and silence the protesting tattoo of her heartbeat, adrenaline draining from her veins.
And as soon as she was sure that monstrosity was gone, she immediately ran out to check upon her comrades, eyes wide with worry.
"By the gods... that thing is Duskbringer...? No wonder my brethren were so harried... Lumen...? Nym...? A-Are you both okay?" Kess asked, doing the best she could to hide the emotional stutter in her voice; this was not an experience she had enjoyed watching, not in the slightest.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Nym smelled the acid on her before she felt it, hissing in pain as it burned through some of her clothing and onto her left arm and leg. She gagged at the putrid stench before looking up and saw that Lumen hadn't been as lucky as her. Glancing up with wild darting eyes as the dragon swooped back south, the drow scooched back over to the tree, swallowing bile. It was odd hearing Chrys' voice and seeing Lumen's body being moved by the invisible dwarf. At Kess' question, she shook her head uncertainly. "I-I don't know. It didn't-um, didn't get me as bad."Turning to the bard she asked the half-orc with a wretched expression, "Why didn't you try and help yourself? Not that I'm ungrateful for what you did. Thank you." The last word of gratitude being laced with magic to heal the man back up to his previous health. Then leaning back a bit, Nym looked down at her own acid speckled leg, gingerly lifting the cloth pants away from the skin with a wince before closing her eyes and resting a hand on herself to cure her wounds. Eyes fluttering open as she looked at her companions, the drow whispered mostly to herself, "There's no way we can fight that thing..."A quiet realization laced with horror. Her own conscience wrestling with her self preservation internally. "That dragon didn't act like she was injured. And Duaric was sure that it would take her longer to heal..."
((I'd prefer that, thanks! Lumen heals for 6 and Nym heals herself for 7 Also would like to roll perception to see if Nym noticed whether or not Duskbringer was injured or where/how: 24))
Chrys looks at Lumen with a critical eye. "I 'preciate yer bravery, but ya know I keep tellin' ya ta let me take them hits instead. Ya won't ev'n be able to move through the forest in that state,"she says, assessing Lumen's still-gaping wounds. Reaching forward, she places a hand on his shoulder and closes her eyes. Strangely enough, when she prays seriously, she loses much of her thick dwarven brogue, her words soft and quiet.
"Watchful Eye. Finder-of-Trails. We cannot keep walking your path without your strength to guide us. Heal this one. His spirit is willing. Let his body match the spirit."
A gentle blue light underneath her hand glows as she speaks, sinking into Lumen. Skin knits back together as she prays, and when she's done, she moves her hand away and inspects Lumen's wounds again. (Lay on Hands: 5 hp back)
"That's a lil' better. Now... You were askin' bout that dragon. She ain't healed. She's been infected with an undead rider. That glowin' ball o'er her? I recognized it, I think. 'Twas a Will-o-Wisp. I heard they're really undead soul energy, lurin' depressed creatures inta their traps, an' feedin' off o' their sufferin' an' misery. I think that thing's eatin' that dragon 'cause o' her injuries, in fact. But I dunno. E'en if it's some kinda parasite livin' on that dragon, It sure ain't no ally o' ours."
Lumen's breathing becomes a bit less strained as Nym heals him, and he gives her a look of thanks. "I was trying to encourage you in your efforts to hide from that... that thing."He barks out a laugh. "I didn't think it'd see us, much less nearly dissolve us. How in the nine hells did we just happen to run across it? Was it looking for us, and if so, how did it find us? Every day, we get one answer, and forty more questions and a dozen more life-or-death tasks to do."
When Chrys comes over, he replies quickly: "I assure you, my friend, I was not trying to be brave. I was laying on my belly, and only darted up to run to hide behind a tree when it had obviously found us. Perhaps I am cursed -- these monsters always seem to find me. I'm not carrying the mask shard, am I? Should we dispose of it before we consider getting closer to this dragon? Wouldn't want it finding it."
When she heals him, his eyes close, and his sits back against the tree trunk a bit more easily. "Thank you as well."He listens more. "Will-o-Wisp? Add that to the pile of things that I once thought were fairy tales and now have been personally menaced by. Undead, though? I wonder if you and Nym might have some tricks up your sleeves to deal with it. Do we want to deal with it? Maybe a black dragon with or without a floating ball of undead light is bad news for us."
He sighs. "I'm supposed to inspire you, keep you going, be tough and brave. But I honestly don't know how we can do this. The dragon apparently knew about us already, and could find us in the middle of the forest. It could melt us all in less than a minute. We don't know much about it, so setting up a distraction to get it away from those kids to rescue them is a tall order. What are we even doing?"
Silence returns to the forest, albeit an eerie silence after the terror you just experienced. As Chrys and Nym perform healing on the poor bard, most of the wounds begin to close up and heal over, although his body still harbors a few patches of painful red burns from the acid. Fortunately, the damage to his being is minimal after the healing, although the memory of the attack is sure to linger in Lumen's mind for quite awhile. And, he'll have a few burns in some of his clothing to remind him.
Nym, who had a front row seat to the dragon's arrival, definitely noticed that her body did indeed show some pronounced injures, namely a few missing talons on the left claw, as well as the fact that one of its horns had been shattered and she has a few tears in the webbing of her wings. And despite the severity of her acid attack, it does seem that for a dragon of this size, you can imagine that it could have been worse....much worse. So yes, she is definitely not at full strength right now, just as Aelar had indicated.
As things calm down, you being to realize that the sprinkles have returned. They're not heavy, just a few light drops that fall through the sparse canopy. It's still mid afternoon, so you figure you have another four or five hours until darkness comes.
((You've already been walking for about six hours. A typical travel day is 8 hours, but you can always push on beyond that, with CON saves for each additional hour to see if you can continue without suffering from exhaustion. A long rest reduces exhaustion by one level.))
"Well, look,"Chrys says, glancing at the sky. "Whether or not we can do it, I dunno. But if we don't at least try ta save them kids, we'll regret it fer the rest o' our lives. A long life filled with regrets ain' that much better than a short one doin' what ya could, if ya ask me. Who else is gonna try? Are we gonna let a dragon just have her way al o'er us? Pah! I'll go down fightin' 'fore that happens." She stands up. "That dragon ran off in a real hurry. Means somethin' distracted her. Somethin' distractin' her means more time for us to get closer without a dragon landin' on our heads. Let's make tracks. Well, let's not make tracks, in fact. Let's lose that dragon an' get closer to tha' castle, fast as we can," she says, encouraging the group to keep pushing on.
"Yes, it's worth trying to save those who need it, but if we can find a way to do it without seeing that thing, we'll be a lot more successful,"Lumen says to Chrys.
Lumen says that he can keep going a bit, but not much longer.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Chrys opens her mouth, not sure if she's going to protest, or be thankful, but before she can even react, she realizes she can't see herself any longer. Surprised, she stands stock-still, not even sure what she should be doing, or what will make the strange magic wear off. It doesn't feel any different, but she puts a hand on the grip of Due Process -- still feeling as solid and dependable as ever -- to be sure that nothing's changed.
Guessing that it's a good thing that she was made invisible, Chrys turns to give Lumen a thumbs-up in thanks. Then she realizes that the bard can't even see her. Her brows constrict into an annoyed pout, and she tries her best to make her way to the cover of a tree, despite her transparent state.
(Chrys will be taking the dodge action for now while she makes like a tree and stands still next to one :P)
Just when Nym began to lament the lack of rain as it seemed the clouds were going with it when the the dragon's shadow approached. At Kess' command, a cold sweat and goosebumps broke out from the base of Nym's spine travelling upwards. A shiver was the only movement she allowed herself after she crept slowly towards cover of brush picking one no one else was already under. Seeing Lumen make Chrys completely invisible in just a breath, the woman tried to think of anything she could do to help but came up empty, simply mouthing a silent prayer for Eilistraee's guidance as she tried to remain undetected.
Stealth: 9 + 2 = 13
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
As Chrys suddenly finds herself invisible, Kess launches herself into the brush, disappearing from sight into a thicket of low hanging branches and bushes that grow on the forest floor. The rest of you also scramble with desperation, trying to avoid being seen by the dragon. Nym looks for a suitable hiding place, but realizes that her initial choice offers less cover than she was hoping. She turns around, looking for another place to hide as the dragon approaches.
Need one more stealth check from Nym, and stealth checks from Lumen and Vesper as well.
Realizing that there probably wasn't anywhere she could hide from direct view, Nym gave up and focused on remaining as still as possible, trying to calm her heartrate and breathing. Some predators underground hunted by detecting movement and heat, perhaps dragons might be the same? So she focused on relaxing, trying to think of the words to a song.
Stealth: 13 + 2 = 6
((Heeeeere dragon dragon dragon~))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Vesper does her absolute best to do what stealthier people do, trying to tread lightly and not make too much noise with her breath.
Stealth:22
And she does it well, following in the example of Kess.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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Lumen also drops to the ground as quietly as he can. But not before inspiring Nym to make her second attempt to find a hiding spot perhaps go better than the first. (You get a d6 once on basically anything in the next ten mins.)
Lumen stealth: 13
As Nym stands there, still as a blade of grass on a calm morning, her body pressed up against the trunk of a tree, the towering figure of the black wyrm swoops down to the ground before her. Its bat-like wings fold into its side, beneath its prominent rib cage. You notice that the dragon has a few missing talons on its front left claw, and one of its horns has been shattered. Floating around the dragon’s head is a spectral ball of light.
Its eyes trained on the drow, the dragon briefly shifts its gaze towards Lumen, who is belly-first to the ground just a few feet away and directly behind Nym. Its eyes snap back to Nym, then the wyrm opens its mouth and speaks in common with a thick draconic accent. Kess, Vesper, who are hiding in the brush just a few feet away from the beast, as well as the invisible Chrys, can smell the dragon’s reek of rotting vegetation and foul water.
“Impudent dolts! Leave my domain! These woods belongs to...”
Abruptly, the dragon stops speaking, as if she is interrupted by someone or something. Without warning, she exhales a gout of putrid smelling acid from her gaping maw right towards Nym and Lumen before taking off again and turning to the south as she begins to fly away.
Need DC 14 DEX saves from both Lumen and Nym. (Nym can use Lumen's Inspiration die). They each take 17 acid damage on a failed save, or half on a successful save.
As she felt the dragon's gaze upon her, Nym could no longer feel the thrum of her heartbeat, almost swearing that it had stopped completely, her head empty of thoughts as she stood frozen pressed against the tree. The drow wasn't aware that her eyes could get any bigger but they certainly did as the dragon spoke. Further thoughts were voided as acid suddenly rained down on her position and she attempted to throw herself and roll out of its path while a litany of curses and prayers in Undercommon fell from her lips.
DEX Save: 12 + (Guidance) 1 + (Bardic Inspiration) 1 = 14
((UNCOMFORTABLY close @_@;;; ))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen DEX save: 7
The half-orc, after offering a quiet bit of encouragement to Nym, who he thought was more exposed, does not see the dragon's breath coming, and as the dragon inhales, he darts up to try to find cover behind a tree off to the side. But the breath comes so quickly, immediate, and he is caught flat-footed. Even trying to stay out of sight, the poor bard's luck is on a bad run, though it looked like he might have helped Nym escape some pain.
He falls back down to the ground and tries to wipe acid off of himself.
Chrys opens her mouth to yell at the dragon, and then closes it again quickly as the dragon beats her to the punch, spitting acid all over her friends. The acrid smell of it reaches her nostrils even though the acid itself didn't. Nym seemed to manage to avoid the worst of the splash by the tips of her toes, but Lumen, once again, took a full beating. Rushing out from under the tree, she pulls Lumen away from the puddle of acid and tries to help him dot off the remaining harmful detritus from his skin with some sackcloth.
"Oi, Lumen, you didn't even start singin' yet an' that thing's already not a fan! Are ya alright? An' what made it run off like that?" she asks, as she inspects Lumen's wounds to see if he needs healing.
Once she's finished, she thinks hard about the strange ball of light floating around the dragon, trying to think of what it could be.
Arcana or Religion, same difference: 21
(Chrys can restore 15 to Lumen in one go with Lay on Hands if you want her to do that, but that'll be it for the day for her. I'm fine with that if the healers want to preserve some slots though!)
Fortunately, Nym was indeed able to avoid being hit by a direct blast of the dragon's terrible breath weapon, largely spurned on by Lumen's inspiration. Still, she feels the pain of the putrid, toxic acid that splashed on her. Turning around, she sees that Lumen wasn't quite so lucky; he took a direct hit. The rest of you watch as the dragon climbs higher into the sky and disappears from sight.
Chrys
Chrys recognizes that strange floating ball of light that appeared by the dragon's head as a Will-o'-Wisp. Although she's never seen one in real life, she's heard enough stories about strange, malevolent balls of undead energy that lure unwary creatures into dismal latest and feed off of their suffering and misery. Tales tell of the souls of evil beings that are forever trapped in this state of magical energy, who savor the agony of the last breath of their prey as they consume the life from those who fall to their ambush.
Kessdarra had been VERY quietly nocking an arrow onto her longbow, holding it ready but for the life of her, she didn't have the faintest idea where to begin shooting upon Duskbringer's ebon hide if a conflict out; just where exactly did one shoot a creature naturally clad in armor from the tip of its tail to the edge of its nostrils...?
Then, without warning and between angry, rambling declarations, the dragon reared up and with a terrible, deep breath, turned towards the direction Nym and Lumen had been standing.
Kess felt her blood run cold and her heart rise up into her throat, nearly cryng out in a sudden realization of terror as the beast growled and loosed a bright violet plume of vapor, followed by the chilling sounds of splashing and what reminded Kess of boiling oil engulfed the vicinity. Kess sat in her hiding place, terror gripping at her as Lumen cried out in pain, having been blasted head-on. The ground began to bubble and singe and protest and then blacken under the violet assault, vegetation and even the very ground seeming to smoke and sag, then drip, then fall away and boil off into verdant-hued liquid and slime; parts of the ground where the dragon's acid touched down seemed almost as if a cleft had been seared and boiled into the very vegetation and earth, former bushes and tall grasses leaning and sagging and bubbling in a few small, deep puddle of purple liquid.
And by the gods, the smell...that awful, putrid smell! Kess had smelled decay before, but this was even worse!
Yet just as quickly as she had come, Duskbringer alighted and rose off into the sky. For a moment, Kess calmed herself, taking the time to regain her nerve and silence the protesting tattoo of her heartbeat, adrenaline draining from her veins.
And as soon as she was sure that monstrosity was gone, she immediately ran out to check upon her comrades, eyes wide with worry.
"By the gods... that thing is Duskbringer...? No wonder my brethren were so harried... Lumen...? Nym...? A-Are you both okay?" Kess asked, doing the best she could to hide the emotional stutter in her voice; this was not an experience she had enjoyed watching, not in the slightest.
Nym smelled the acid on her before she felt it, hissing in pain as it burned through some of her clothing and onto her left arm and leg. She gagged at the putrid stench before looking up and saw that Lumen hadn't been as lucky as her. Glancing up with wild darting eyes as the dragon swooped back south, the drow scooched back over to the tree, swallowing bile. It was odd hearing Chrys' voice and seeing Lumen's body being moved by the invisible dwarf. At Kess' question, she shook her head uncertainly. "I-I don't know. It didn't-um, didn't get me as bad." Turning to the bard she asked the half-orc with a wretched expression, "Why didn't you try and help yourself? Not that I'm ungrateful for what you did. Thank you." The last word of gratitude being laced with magic to heal the man back up to his previous health. Then leaning back a bit, Nym looked down at her own acid speckled leg, gingerly lifting the cloth pants away from the skin with a wince before closing her eyes and resting a hand on herself to cure her wounds. Eyes fluttering open as she looked at her companions, the drow whispered mostly to herself, "There's no way we can fight that thing..." A quiet realization laced with horror. Her own conscience wrestling with her self preservation internally. "That dragon didn't act like she was injured. And Duaric was sure that it would take her longer to heal..."
((I'd prefer that, thanks! Lumen heals for 6 and Nym heals herself for 7
Also would like to roll perception to see if Nym noticed whether or not Duskbringer was injured or where/how: 24))
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Chrys looks at Lumen with a critical eye. "I 'preciate yer bravery, but ya know I keep tellin' ya ta let me take them hits instead. Ya won't ev'n be able to move through the forest in that state," she says, assessing Lumen's still-gaping wounds. Reaching forward, she places a hand on his shoulder and closes her eyes. Strangely enough, when she prays seriously, she loses much of her thick dwarven brogue, her words soft and quiet.
"Watchful Eye. Finder-of-Trails. We cannot keep walking your path without your strength to guide us. Heal this one. His spirit is willing. Let his body match the spirit."
A gentle blue light underneath her hand glows as she speaks, sinking into Lumen. Skin knits back together as she prays, and when she's done, she moves her hand away and inspects Lumen's wounds again. (Lay on Hands: 5 hp back)
"That's a lil' better. Now... You were askin' bout that dragon. She ain't healed. She's been infected with an undead rider. That glowin' ball o'er her? I recognized it, I think. 'Twas a Will-o-Wisp. I heard they're really undead soul energy, lurin' depressed creatures inta their traps, an' feedin' off o' their sufferin' an' misery. I think that thing's eatin' that dragon 'cause o' her injuries, in fact. But I dunno. E'en if it's some kinda parasite livin' on that dragon, It sure ain't no ally o' ours."
Lumen's breathing becomes a bit less strained as Nym heals him, and he gives her a look of thanks. "I was trying to encourage you in your efforts to hide from that... that thing." He barks out a laugh. "I didn't think it'd see us, much less nearly dissolve us. How in the nine hells did we just happen to run across it? Was it looking for us, and if so, how did it find us? Every day, we get one answer, and forty more questions and a dozen more life-or-death tasks to do."
When Chrys comes over, he replies quickly: "I assure you, my friend, I was not trying to be brave. I was laying on my belly, and only darted up to run to hide behind a tree when it had obviously found us. Perhaps I am cursed -- these monsters always seem to find me. I'm not carrying the mask shard, am I? Should we dispose of it before we consider getting closer to this dragon? Wouldn't want it finding it."
When she heals him, his eyes close, and his sits back against the tree trunk a bit more easily. "Thank you as well." He listens more. "Will-o-Wisp? Add that to the pile of things that I once thought were fairy tales and now have been personally menaced by. Undead, though? I wonder if you and Nym might have some tricks up your sleeves to deal with it. Do we want to deal with it? Maybe a black dragon with or without a floating ball of undead light is bad news for us."
He sighs. "I'm supposed to inspire you, keep you going, be tough and brave. But I honestly don't know how we can do this. The dragon apparently knew about us already, and could find us in the middle of the forest. It could melt us all in less than a minute. We don't know much about it, so setting up a distraction to get it away from those kids to rescue them is a tall order. What are we even doing?"
Silence returns to the forest, albeit an eerie silence after the terror you just experienced. As Chrys and Nym perform healing on the poor bard, most of the wounds begin to close up and heal over, although his body still harbors a few patches of painful red burns from the acid. Fortunately, the damage to his being is minimal after the healing, although the memory of the attack is sure to linger in Lumen's mind for quite awhile. And, he'll have a few burns in some of his clothing to remind him.
Nym, who had a front row seat to the dragon's arrival, definitely noticed that her body did indeed show some pronounced injures, namely a few missing talons on the left claw, as well as the fact that one of its horns had been shattered and she has a few tears in the webbing of her wings. And despite the severity of her acid attack, it does seem that for a dragon of this size, you can imagine that it could have been worse....much worse. So yes, she is definitely not at full strength right now, just as Aelar had indicated.
As things calm down, you being to realize that the sprinkles have returned. They're not heavy, just a few light drops that fall through the sparse canopy. It's still mid afternoon, so you figure you have another four or five hours until darkness comes.
((You've already been walking for about six hours. A typical travel day is 8 hours, but you can always push on beyond that, with CON saves for each additional hour to see if you can continue without suffering from exhaustion. A long rest reduces exhaustion by one level.))
"Well, look," Chrys says, glancing at the sky. "Whether or not we can do it, I dunno. But if we don't at least try ta save them kids, we'll regret it fer the rest o' our lives. A long life filled with regrets ain' that much better than a short one doin' what ya could, if ya ask me. Who else is gonna try? Are we gonna let a dragon just have her way al o'er us? Pah! I'll go down fightin' 'fore that happens." She stands up. "That dragon ran off in a real hurry. Means somethin' distracted her. Somethin' distractin' her means more time for us to get closer without a dragon landin' on our heads. Let's make tracks. Well, let's not make tracks, in fact. Let's lose that dragon an' get closer to tha' castle, fast as we can," she says, encouraging the group to keep pushing on.
Did the dragon head off in the direction we are? Or elsewhere?
The dragon flew off to the south, which in the same general direction you are traveling.
"Yes, it's worth trying to save those who need it, but if we can find a way to do it without seeing that thing, we'll be a lot more successful," Lumen says to Chrys.
Lumen says that he can keep going a bit, but not much longer.