The Undying Dragons - Campaign Thread

Vonth...

     Vonth looks at Avaria for a moment, a faintly puzzled expression crossing his face, then the hint of a smirk follows. He gives a small shrug.  “I talk when needed,” he says simply. “Many just need to talk.”

     He shifts his attention to Solomona and gives a single nod.

     “Deception may be needed,” Vonth agrees. “But slow. Draw out what we can. Learn first.”

     A brief pause.

     “Rushing to join them would be… suspicious.”

Marrin, coming out of her trance, shifts her weight on the branch. The raspy scratch along her back focuses her attention. 

From above her, in her current tree, or perhaps the one right next to it, or is it both, Marrin hears singing. Even for a bard who has heard so much music and listened to so many singers, Marrin is hard pressed to remember when she has heard anything quite so beautiful as what she’s listening to now.

It’s so beautiful she almost feels compelled to move closer to the source.

(Wisdom Save please - DC 11).

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Far across the valley and close to the high mountains, a small dusty, rock gremlin continues his flight.

From inside her inner ring sanctum, Jan hears an owl hoot loudly nearby. Then hears the sound of large wings flapping; the sound almost coming from right next to her. Finally she hears some angry gravely rocky raspy chirps, like sand rubbing against granite and then nothing.

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Vonth finds nothing of great interest in the room. He does see the french doors to the small balcony do lock, but none of the interior doors have locks. The rods holding up the heavy tapestries seem securely anchored to the walls but a little force and the weight of a goliath will probably make short work of them. The tapestries themselves are nothing more than idle drawings to Vonth.

Geffroi has chosen a spot in the middle of the room to place his pack. He takes a book out and looks through a mix of notes, drawings, and ruinic marks. As he does, he leans back against the pack and nods to himself.

As the conversation continues, he looks up and looks at Avaria.

“I think we only had the orc’s word for it that he was a prisoner,” Geffroi says. “We may have surprised him and that’s what he came up with on the spot.”

He finally finds a spot in his notes that he was looking for and then looks back up.

“Ethel had found some information out about that book, the Chronicle of Years to Come. There was a prophecy of some sort that related to what’s going on. I think it said something about you and the others. Then with the mayor trying to get a hold of you, it all makes me think you’re wrapped up in what’s going on without even knowing it.”

Solomona isn’t really searching the room, but his keen sense of his surroundings and a predilection for discovering that which others don’t want discovered, leads him to the eastern wall. Even someone looking directly at the wall would miss what Solomona has found. The outline is nearly imperceptible, but Solomona runs his fingers along the wall just to confirm what he thinks he’s found. Yes, it’s the outline of a hidden door.

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Wisdom save from Marrin.

A description of what Jan and K’ are going to do as her time inside the ring comes to a close.

And what are those in the lodge doing?

At this point everyone can have had a short rest, except for Marrin who has managed to get a long rest in.

Vonth...

     While the others search the room—tapestries, walls, anything that might hide a threat—Vonth gets to work.

     He borrows a length of rope and moves to the doors. The French doors are simple enough. He binds the handles together, pulling the rope tight, knotting it down with practiced efficiency. The other door takes more thought.

     If it opens outward, he runs a line from its handle across the room, anchoring it to the French doors. If it opens inward, he wedges what he can—tools, weapons, anything solid—against the base to slow it.

     Then he improves it.

     He runs lines from the handles to the tapestry rods. Tight. Subtle. If the door opens, the rods will tear free and crash down.

     Noise. That is the goal.

     None of it will stop a determined entry. But it will buy them seconds. Sometimes, seconds are enough.

     Vonth works in silence, tightening knots, testing tension, adjusting where needed. As he does, he listens to Geffroi—following what he can, committing what makes sense to memory, even if the full meaning escapes him.

     Understanding can come later.

     Survival comes first.

Solomona attempts to push or pull the door, seeing where it leads.

Ava nods as Geffroi talks about the book.  "Oh yes, Ethel was obsessed with that thing, though I don't know anything about it.  She was very secretive, I mean, is very secretive?  Its not like she is dead, just... gone."

She turns away from the group at this point, and then notices what Vonth is doing and gives him anything he needs to help rig up the room.  But when Sol finds a door... she smirks, "I wonder if they had planned to set us up in here no matter what - that it wasn't really a choice after all."  She backs up her new friend.

Vonth...

     Vonth pauses.

     Blinks.

     Solomona has found a hidden door. And is already opening it.

     “Wait...” the word rises in Vonth’s throat, but he swallows it. Too late, the wide one is already committed.

     Vonth exhales slowly through his nose. That one has no impulse control at all...

With the others already inwardly cringing at what Solomona might have just released, the monk pushes on a small, nearly invisible plate. The door swings open smoothly, and without making a sound.

Three open windows let in moonlight; the room’s walls are adorned with stuffed animal heads, including a large 14-point stag, a mountain goat, a bear, two winter wolves, and what can only be an ankheg’s head. Two tattered banners hang from the ceiling, and two leather chairs and a handful of braziers, unlit, complete the comfortable parlor.

One door on the southwest corner is the only other visible entrance to the room.

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Wisdom save from Marrin still.

And, a description of what Jan and K’ are going to do as her time inside the ring comes to a close.

Survival roll from Vonth (w/ Advantage from Avaria's help in setting up the ropes, et al)

Vonth...
Survival w/ Advantage from Avaria's help:  (20,16)+5 for 25 with a Nat 20 :D

((Ah, playing to Marrin's strengths with that wisdom check! :P ))

Wisdom save: 17

Marrin knows better than to show too much interest in the competitions tune's and responds with her own best lute accompanied song of woe and hope, the Dryad's Lament seems fitting in the current circumstance.

Performance: 20

She doesn't do her best work as she scans her tree and the ones next to her for the source of the song.

Perception: 14

Ah, this is better! Solomona says as he looks around the new room. I'd rather sleep with bears and goats and stuff, than all those dragons tearing up the world. He heads over to one of the leather chairs, and tests to see if it's comfortable enough to sleep in... perhaps rocked back against the window. Maybe even light a brazier for a bit of cheer...

((OOC: Just reading back on the description of the first room...  Is the gold and silver and gemstones simply depicted in the tapestry? Or are there actual gold and silver and gemstones as part of the tapestry itself? ))

IN THE LODGE:

The one tapestry, showing Tiamat, has gold and silver thread, not actual gold and silver, but there are a number of gemstones (garnets, agates, moonstones, and others) worked into the tapestry itself.

The leather chairs are comfortable and wide and heavy. They could be pushed back against a door or window, though rocking them at an angle could be tricky and might require some work to keep from tipping over while sleeping.

Vonth is reasonably sure he's got the doors and windows secured with a semblance of an alarm system hooked up in the tapestry room. Though now there is the additional door and windows in the trophy room to think about.

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IN THE WOODS:

Marrin knows enough about weaving magic into music to realize that the music she's listening too did just attempt to take some control over her mind. But because of her experience, she resisted the pull easily enough.

Her own performance is beyond good. She almost feels disappointed using it on a non-paying audience. She hears a slight easing off of the volume of the other music as if the singer is listening to what Marrin is playing.

Then the other song stops completely.

Above her, through the leaves and upper branches, Marrin can just make out two shadowy shapes - one in the tree she's chosen to nest in and one in the next closest tree over. Both shadows are about 20' above Marrin.

Just as she spots the shadows and registers that the song has stopped, another song from another voice - the shadow in the other tree, begins to sing a stunningly beautiful rendition of what Marrin was just playing.

((Another DC 11, Wisdom Save))

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NEAR THE MOUNTAINS:

The steady whispering wind is all that Jan can hear now. 

She's getting the sense that she may be getting close to the end of her time inside the ring and needs to plan out how she's going to go from passenger to pilot without plummeting downwards.

Vonth...

     Vonth sighs as Solomona casually finds, opens, and steps through the concealed doorway.

     He gives the ropes and knots he rigged one last glance, then shakes his head. With a nudge to Avaria, he moves to follow.

     Inside, Vonth takes in the room at a glance—animal heads mounted along the walls, moonlight spilling through the windows, a pair of comfortable chairs.

     And Solomona already seated in one of them.

     Of course.

     “Maybe we check what’s behind door number two,” Vonth suggests, nodding toward the southwest doorway, “before you settle in?”

Avaria smiles as she sees Sol getting comfortable.  Not a bad idea.. if they weren't in the house of the enemy.  She nods at Vonth's suggestion and heads to the southwest door.  She listens at it first, figuring their good luck at this last door will probably run out.

Perception: 14

If she doesn't hear anything, she'll turn back to the others.  "Maybe we just block this one.  We are no longer in the area they expect us and we have that rigged up to hear if anyone tries to come at us.  Maybe set up our watch in this room and try and get some rest?"

Avaria hears some movement; footsteps, quick, close together footsteps, getting louder then quieter.

Wisdom save: 15

Marrin hums along with the performance until she feels the magical touch on her mind again and decides she probably needs to interrupt. Loudly she says,

"Okay, that's enough of that."

She casts light on a branch above her, going with a color as close to daylight as she can manage.

Avaria relays what she hears but still thinks they should hold up here.

But isn't stubborn about it if others want to try and sneak out.

     Vonth is fine setting up camp in this new room if one of the two doors can be secured fairly securely.  Though he does point out the windows are a weak point and the group of us will be more cramped here than the meeting room if attacked despite the defenses.

((Jan has been inside the ring for 6 hours, if its getting close to her time. Could she have used the middle 4 hours to trance and have gotten a long rest? And she's heard nothing but wind for how long?))

Solomona cheerfully helps out with any of Vonth's initiatives to secure the room, but only out of comradeship, not because he sees the need to barricade themselves in either room. If he can hold the end of a rope or lift a brazier or reach up to tie off an end on a tapestry hanging, he does so. If he finds himself in the vicinity of the Tiamat tapestry though... well, he will have to check how securely those gemstones are fastened to the design... They are guests here, so the gems are as much theirs as anyone else's, right...?