(( Dragon's Initiative: 13 ))

Initiatives are set!

Faith - 20
Drex - 19
Locke - 13
Gordon - 8
Dragon - 6

(( Round 1 ))

The dragon does not seem to react to your words; he remains silent, and deathly still, and you can almost hear his muscles tense.

Faith is up!

Keep moving. No straight lines. Faith repeats this thought again and again as the dragon’s eyes turn from target to target. 

He breathes hot air onto his ring and turns it once, before calling out a spell in scalding Primordial, now long used to the way the language burns his throat and sears his nostrils. 

A Phantasmal Force begins, Faith driving it to take the appearance of the Archmage the dragon seeks, stood on its far side, furthest away from the adventuring troupe. (INT save 13).

As the spell diffuses towards the dragon’s head to worm its way inside, Faith runs to the side to the nearest tree or trunk that he can shelter behind.

 Drex says in Draconic-(See spoiler if you understand Draconic)

 Persuasion

23

In common, "Let us part ways in friendship great dragon.  My name is Drex Dargo."

 Drex holds his action if possible until after the dragons.

(( Dragon's INT Save: 16 ))

Everyone can see the dragon's eyes glaze over for a moment as Faith finishes his spell, but the dragon bellows out "NO!" as he shakes his head violently. "NO MORE DECEPTIONS!"

Unfortunately, it is clear that the spell has failed--there is an even greater fire in the dragon's eyes now, and he ignores Drex's words entirely.

Faith - 20
Drex - 19 (holding his turn this round)
Locke - 13
Gordon - 8
Dragon - 6

Locke is up!

"Negotiations have failed," said Locke through gritted teeth. "Our only option now--" he began as he ran straight for the dragon, "--is to eliminate the threat!"

Closing in, the merchant leapt into the air spinning, and lashed out his leg to deliver a kick right toward the dragon's side; he then kicked off the creature's hide to quickly spin in the other direction, letting the same leg shift into a heel kick. Locke then folded his legs as he landed in a low crouch, lower than normal, and finally hopped forward with a straight lunging jab to deliver one final blow before returning to a defensive stance.

MOVE: To within melee range of the dragon
ACTION: Attack with an unarmed strike
* Spinning Front Kick - Attack: 6, Bludgeoning Damage: 5 (plus 5 if crit)
BONUS: Spend 1 ki point to use Flurry of Blows for two additional attacks
* Spinning Heel Kick - Attack: 24, Bludgeoning Damage: 11 (plus 8 if crit)
* Straight Lunging Jab - Attack: 20, Bludgeoning Damage: 9 (plus 5 if crit)
REACTION: Will make an Opportunity Attack if the chance arises

Two ki points left.
End of turn!

Locke's rapid attacks each land, catching the dragon by surprise if his widened eyes were any indicator. After a crunch that sounded from the third blow, the creature actually dropped to its front claws, its eyes closed in pain. "You maggots!" he groaned as he opened his eyes to glare at the party. His limbs shook as he struggled to rise back up.

Faith - 20
Drex - 19 (holding his turn this round)
Locke - 13
Gordon - 8
Dragon - 6

Gordon is up!

Gordon will sigh. "I really didn't want to have to do this."

He runs forward. Much like Locke, he attacks with his fists, but unlike him, the attacks are delivered with pummeling strength, rather than controlled speed. He goes in for a punch, grabs the dragon, and spins around to elbow it in the head, trying to knock it unconscious. (These are nonlethal attacks. If the dragon is dropped to zero hp, it is stable, and will eventually recover.)

Attack: 17 Damage: 12 

Grapple: 13 (if both of Gordon's attacks miss, he cannot attempt the grapple)

Attack: 20 Damage: 9

Dice roll retry: 

Attack: 27 Damage: 12

Grapple: 29

Attack: 28 Damage: 13

The fighter's blow lands with enough force to shake the entire beast, causing it to collapse onto its belly. Gordon then proceeds to grapple it, only to discover the dragon is, indeed, unconscious.

(( End of Encounter ))

(( The clock is now ticking as to the next encounter. The party may remain here for a while, examine the area if you like, even attempt a short rest. Or you can push forward to see what else awaits in the forest. ))

Gildor says, “I’m ok either way except we should put some distance between us and the dragon.”

Faith moves to the unconscious dragon, places one hand over its snout, closes his eyes for a moment.

”Yes, let’s go. There’s no telling when this mighty creature will wake.”

He sends his eagle out above again to look ahead. 

(( Faith's familiar spots a single, rather large mountain peak ahead of you, with the forest breaking against its base. He sees no immediate threats. ))

"Sounds like a good plan to me," agreed Locke as he dusted off his clothing. "I have no animosity to the creature, and I'd rather not stick around for a rematch." With that the merchant made his way toward the far end of the clearing and back into the heart of the forest.

Gordon apologizes to the unconscious dragon, then heads out with the rest of the party. 

Drex frustrated he could not reason with the copper dragon and says to the group, "I tried to reassure it we meant it no harm in its own language.  It must be mad with revenge and torment.  I....Drex hesitates unsure if he should speak....I am connected to a silver dragon and I appreciate that you didn't accidentally slay it.  I was prepared to strike, but I had to be sure it was going to attack and not change its mind as a test for us.  We did what we could my new friends to prevent the fight, so I am putting my mind at ease.  Let's rest up ahead, maybe if we can find a place not so easily seen should a dragon come looking for us.  I think won't perhaps with how quickly you guys were able to put the dragon down and I had not even dealt my own attacks on it."

The party continues forward through the forest, noting that there's a slight incline to their path. It is about an hour later when the trees suddenly cease, near the base of the mountain Faith's familiar spotted earlier.

(( Encounter 2 ))

?

The mountain ahead of you is smaller, rather shallow, and looks oddly out of place with no other mountains in sight. There is the occasional tree scattered along its slopes, but otherwise plant life on the mount seems to be minimal, in sharp contrast to the forest. It will take a while to climb, but it is in no way impassable, and in fact a few rocky paths provide proof that others have been this way before.

Standing over the start of the widest path twisting its way up the mountain, is a ornately-carved yet ancient-looking stone archway. No other structure is near it, and it's not as if you're blocked from simply walking around the "entrance"--which only serves to make its purpose that much less obvious.

Halfway between the archway and the party, about fifty feet away, are two squat stone pillars each with a statue of some hideous creature perched on top. Whether consciously or not, you've all slowed as you've noticed the life-like statues. But even so, everyone is caught off guard as the left statue blinks, then leaps from its perch, unfolding its wings as it swoops towards the party with a grinding screech!

Roll initiative!

(( Since no one had a high enough passive Insight, the creature will go first, getting a surprise round of its own; then we'll start Round 2 at the top of the initiative order. ))

(( Gargoyle's Initiative: 19, Locke's Initiative: 15 ))

Drex surprised that it came to life has a moment of what to do.

Drex's Initiative: 17

OOC - the roll macro wasn't working.  I edited it a couple times to see if it was not spaced far enough away from the Initiative: text and no change.  I am lowering the roll macro to a separate line to see if that works.  If not I'll roll in the game log.  I ended up having to roll in the game log.  I'm not sure why the macro wasn't showing up.  The coding was correct.