(OOC: Once Tamphalic relays what he saw through his familiar, I assume that the party will make a quick plan to rescue Cynurrarth.

@Mister_Whisker - How big are the relevant parts of the dragon's lair?  For example, how wide and long is the part of the chamber where Cynurrarth currently is?  How far away from them are the two guards who are keeping watch?  And is it a straight shot / line-of-sight from the two on watch to the 6 around the dragon?  Or is that around a bend in the cavern?

Thinking about which spells might be effective, it depends a lot on range and whether our opponents will be spread out across a 30'-wide chamber or a 100'-wide chamber.  I'm also hoping that the cavern has enough features that could provide at least half-cover for our spellcasters.)

There's a good amount of space inside the dragon's lair... for simplicity's sake, I'd say 100' across.

As for the two on watch, there are enough obstacles between them and the other cultists that they probably couldn't see anything clearly from where they are. There are plenty of bookshelves, chests, etc. (most of which were knocked over in the battle between the cultists and the dragon) that could be used as cover for our heroes.

Jodie is visibly upset at the thought of the loss of Cynurrarth's knowledge.  She feels duty-bound to aid him...and perhaps in doing so might pale at whatever task the dragon would have set upon them.

"Fowl Zolgu.  I knew he was not to be trusted.  Yes, let's get the drop on the cultists.  I could try charming one or both of them.  If someone has a good idea that might help in luring away the others..."

When the party decides, Jodie moves within 30' of the guards stealthfully (19)

If Tamphalic relays what he learns through Whiskers, Nickeline would respond, "If we want to set a trap or ambush for Zolgu, I could be the bait. He seems to be in charge, and he doesn't like me very much. Or I could be a distraction if someone wanted to sneak over to free the dragon."

As for dealing with the first two cultists, Nickeline takes out her light crossbow, because all of her spells make light or noise, and stays a distance away so she's not heard. She waits and listens for signs she should shoot.

"Be wary... Zolgu's magic is great and terrible..." Ruby says uneasily. "Ruby once saw him freeze a dozen dwarves solid at once with only a single spell..."

A shiver runs down her little spine as the realization that she's about to help you fight Zolgu dawns on her... she didn't even look this scared in the Black Crypt!

Gorash, meanwhile, brandishes his staff and looks ready to break something.

"Well then I'll just have to use my magic to end him before he can use it against us," the half-orc mage growls.

Hildegard is aghast at the news. "I am not one for intrigue," she says, "and I would fain ride to battle against these evil cultists, and such a traitor as Zolgu that would betray his master."

Oh, also, Jodie's Stealth check was successful. The two cultists on guard duty have no idea she's sneaking up on them.

Tamphalic of course relays everything he sees, when he thinks he saw everything he gets back to his own senses.

"Let's take care of the two on guard quietly, and than move forward to the rest."

While the party discusses what to do, Korba draws his sword and again draws it across his arm to spill a few drops of blood (Korba takes 3 dmg).  Then he holds the sword in both hands and focuses.  A dark form seems to appear in front him, over his spilled blood.  Korba then joins the others to listen to what they want him to do while his Moonblade's elf shadow lurks in the darkness behind him.

Quote from Secretfool >>

Tamphalic of course relays everything he sees, when he thinks he saw everything he gets back to his own senses.

"Let's take care of the two on guard quietly, and than move forward to the rest."

Hewelathan says, "Do you think that we could draw a few of them out of the cavern into our own ambush?  Or does that put Cynurrarth at too much risk?"  Hewelathan would rather draw the cultists into a trap that the party sets than to move forward into the area that the cultists currently control.  But if they need to do that latter to preserve the element of surprise, then Hewelathan definitely votes for sending one or two [Tooltip Not Found] party members to sneak to the far side of the cavern, beyond the cultists.  If they could free the dragon and attack the cultists from both sides, that would give the party a better chance.

(OOC: @Mister_Whisker - How tall is the cavern?  High "ceilings" would be good if Hildegard wants to fly on Perdita and attack the cultists from above.)

Jodie reminds her troupe she has illusionary magic.  "I like the idea of attacking from both sides.  If the Zolgu's strongest magic is arctic blast, we best not all be in one spot for it.  I hope to confuse the cultists surrounding Zolgu.  Perhaps Nickeline could even silence his sorcery?"

Jodie prepares a visual disguise with her disguise kit, branding the dragon cult amulet and hiding her hair.  She creeps close to the guards and strums an enchanting melody

Don't laugh, you'll make me cry
So long, good luck, goodbye
I know we will be together
In my mind, you're mine forever

DC 15 Wis with disadvantage from lute, directed towards both guards.

"We've cornered the remaining kobolds, but need reinforcements.  One of you remain with me.  The other, run and fetch as many as you can spare...."

deception: 16

"I can't Silence anyone today, or cast any spells of that caliber, unfortunately," says Nickeline.

As she waits for Jodie to lure the cultists into a trap, Nickeline considers how Flandal's divine protection probably wouldn't help her all that much against the ice spell Ruby described. "We should definitely be super careful. I tried to scry on Zolgu last time we were here and it didn't work. It might just have been luck, but I doubt it. It's usually very hard to evade its sight."

From the Death Cultist stat block:

Dark Devotion. The cultist has advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

So they're going to be making straight Wis saves...

Portly Cultist: 16
Street Girl Cultist: 11

Alright, looks like the two cultists are charmed.

A slightly sleepy look settles on their faces as they listen to Jodie's instructions.

"I suppose I should go fetch the others so the last of the kobolds can be dealt with," the portly cultist says. "I'll be back in a few moments."

"I suppose that means I shall stay with you then, sister," the street girl cultist says.

The portly cultist waddles off (how in the Nine Hells did this guy even survive the fight with Cynurrarth?! He looks like he might have a heart attack crossing the cave!) towards the other cultists. One of the cultists, who looks like the leader of the 'squad,' glances at him as he approaches.

"Is something wrong, brother?" the cultist squad leader asks.

"No... yes... maybe... one of our sisters said that the rest of the kobolds have been cornered and we need to go finish them off."

The five cultists and Zolgu all look at the man... I'll go ahead and have the cultists' squad leader and Zolgu roll Insight against Jodie's Deception check to notice if something is off. The other cultists will listen to whatever the two who are 'in charge' say.

Cultist squad leader Insight: 7

Zolgu Insight: 9

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

Cultist squad leader Insight: 16

Hmmm... extremely close...

I'll go ahead and say that he's going to be cautious rather than immediately seeing through the ruse.

"And where did our sister say the kobolds are pinned down? And how many of them remain to be dealt with?" the squad leader asks. "We cannot afford to let the dragon escape... if he were to slip free while we hunt down some kobolds that could spell disaster for us."

The portly cultist looks a bit dumbfounded...

"Our sister... didn't tell me," he says after a moment.

The leader curses under his breath.

"Everyone on high-alert," the leader sighs. "Two of you are coming with me. The rest stay here with Zolgu... finish off the unworthy dragon if we are not back within ten minutes."

"With pleasure," Zolgu chuckles, giving Cynurrarth an evil grin as he begins gloating. "Now, my dear master... did I ever tell you how I did it the first time I killed a dragon? Oh, of course not... you never asked. You arrogantly believed the tale was pure fiction. But no... I'm afraid it isn't. I persuaded a very temperamental giant that the white dragon Glethegar had laid waste to the giant's herd of goats. Oh you should have seen the look on the white dragon's face when he thought he had won the battle with the giant, only for me to appear and strike one final death blow! I learned a very valuable lesson that day... your kind are not gods. You are nothing, just like the rest of us. Three of you have already died by my hand... all because none of them could even imagine that a kobold would dare to betray them. I have long sought a worthy master... but all of you have disappointed me sooner or later and suffered the consequences. Now I realize that only a dragon feared by the gods themselves could be worthy of my service."

The dragon snorts, but doesn't dignify the traitorous white kobold's provocations (and confession to essentially being a serial killer) with an answer.

Assuming that Tamphalic is willing to cast Spider Climb on Korba and maintain that concentration long enough for Korba to get to the other side of the cultists and off of the ceiling, Hewelathan will cast Pass without Trace and then Wild Shape into a Giant Spider.  Korba will take the Dust of Corrosion

While Jodie goes to charm the guards, Hewelathan-spider and Korba (spider climbing) will creep stealthily along the ceiling and into the chamber where the cultists have Cynurrarth bound.  (I'm assuming that the cavern is tall enough that a giant spider crawling into that part of the chamber would not be super obvious.)  If there's a large space "behind" the cultists and dragon, then Hewelathan and Korba will descend there and try to sneak up behind Cynurrarth.  If not, Hewelathan will just wait on the ceiling until Jodie's guards create a commotion, and then he'll descend on a strand of web to land on top of Cynurrarth with Korba in his many legs.  

Hewelathan-Spider Stealth 34 with bonus from Pass without Trace

Korba Stealth 28 with bonus from Pass without Trace

(OOC: I think that climbing down the wall and then creeping up behind the dragon is more fool-proof, but it's hard to resist the image of a dragon chained to a cavern floor with a giant spider descending on a thick rope of spiderweb with a drow half-elf held in its legs!  That image just screams Underdark adventure, right?)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

While Jodie goes to charm the guards, Hewelathan-spider and Korba (spider climbing) will creep stealthily along the ceiling and into the chamber where the cultists have Cynurrarth bound.

 

(OOC: I had the page open for a long time when a bunch of other action got posted, and I may have gotten confused. Splitting up the enemies doesn't really help us if I split up the party at the same time.  😜  Maybe Hewelathan and Korba are supposed to stay back and help Jodie finish off the guards that she leads away first.  And then they could creep back into the dragon cavern quietly after that.  Or did we want to have them get Cynurrarth free ASAP while Jodie leads the others on a wild goose chase?)

((I think the plan was to split the cultist rather than the party indeed, with Jodie leading a couple to us))

Jodie decides to continue the chaos with the young guard a few moment the other leaves...

"There's no time to wait.  You'll need to run ahead and let the others know help is on the way.  It's a bit of a ways, but you look strong and fast.  Light a torch so the others know the way.  We'll be a few minutes behind you."

Jodie gives the cultist directions back towards the Black Crypts (good luck)

When the cultist isn't looking, Jodie waves and points in the direction back towards the party as if to indicate the guard is coming back.  Whether they are able to be stealthy enough to let her pass, it's unclear.  Perhaps the guard may help to lead the other cultists beyond, further dividing them.  But if Jodie can file the unsavory folks back one at a time this be an easy fight...

When the guard is out of sight, she moves to the outside of the cavern to hide (11) behind a fallen bookshelf to take aim with her bow.