Okay, random encounter on literally the final day...

After a journey that was surprisingly uneventful, you see it in the distance, a dark island shrouded in mists...



You as you strain your eyes to see the island in the distance, an alarm goes up! Something is approaching...

Looking into the sky, you see three black dots. You could have mistaken them for birds, but as they grow closer, their shapes grow more distinct... and draconic. And as they grow closer still, you may even be able to make out what appear to be riders mounted on the creatures' backs...

You have a round to make preparations before the creatures are close enough to strike, and feel free to roll initiative as well.

(Also FYI: judging by the size, the dragons are probably either young dragons or, more likely, some kind of lesser draconic 'cousin' species).

Rhaenys, who had been happily watching what initially looked like nice birdies coming to greet them, suddenly gets worried. And nervous. "Uhhhhhm, that doesn't look well", she thinks. "No, it definitely doesn't. Protect yourself, Rhaenys!", Stafford whispers.

She'll quickly summon her arcane protection and move to the nearest place she can find around that offers cover but trying not to stay not too far from the fray, so she can also cast her magic comfortably when needed.

Rhaenys' initiative: 11.

Quote from Mister_Whisker>>

After a journey that was surprisingly uneventful, you see it in the distance, a dark island shrouded in mists...

(OOC: About how far in the distance?  Are we still miles away from the island when we see the dragon-ish creatures?  Or is it more like 1000 ft?  Hewelathan is wondering whether it would make sense for the party to abandon ship if the dragons attack the ship itself.)

draconic. And as they grow closer still, you may even be able to make out what appear to be riders mounted on the creatures' backs...

Hewelathan asks his companions, "What are the odds that they're not cultists from the Order of the Dragon?  We should scatter in case the riders are spell casters."

Hewelathanwishes that he were experienced enough with Wild Shape ability to transform into a giant eagle so that he could go attack the riders in the air.  Instead, he has to wait until they're no more than 120 ft. away before he can do anything to hinder them.  He gathers his gear and stands behind one of the masts.  Maybe that'll provide some cover, but it also gives him the option to climb the rigging if necessary to get closer to the dragons.

You have a round to make preparations before the creatures are close enough to strike, and feel free to roll initiative as well.

Hewelathan opens his case of darts.  Then he prays for [spell]guidance[/skill] and peers at the approaching forms.  He's hoping that he'll recognize what type of dragon creatures these are so that he has some information about what they're facing here (Nature 19, with bonus from guidance).  

Hewelathan also looks toward the riders to see whether the they look like any of the cultists they've seen.  Do they look like fighters or spell casters? (Perception 17)

Initiative for next round: 19

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

You have a round to make preparations before the creatures are close enough to strike, and feel free to roll initiative as well.

Hewelathan opens his case of darts.  Then he prays for guidance and peers at the approaching forms.  He's hoping that he'll recognize what type of dragon creatures these are so that he has some information about what they're facing here (Nature 19, with bonus from guidance).  

Hewelathan also looks toward the riders to see whether the they look like any of the cultists they've seen.  Do they look like fighters or spell casters? (Perception 17)

Initiative for next round: 19

(OOC: @Mister_Whisker - it would also be useful to know how close the dragons are to each other as they approach.  That'll tell our spell casters whether we can affect more than one of the creatures with a spell.)

You're still a couple miles out from the island... it's possible you could make the swim, but it would be difficult.

The dragon-things are currently flying in a fairly tight formation, but it looks like they're probably going to fan out as soon as they reach the ship and perform a multi-pronged attack.

Perception and Nature check results:

Hewelathan bellows as loud as he can to his companions and the sailors on the ship deck: "I think that the flying creatures are dragonnels!  Dangerous dragon-kin, but not true dragons: no dragon's breath, no magic!  But their riders appear to be spellcasters!"

Trying to think about what he can do, he calls out to his companions, "It might help to interrogate one of the riders.  Rhaenys, Jodie, do you have a way to bring those creatures down here?  Entangle their wings or something?  Or at least unseat a rider?  Flinn and I can't fly and are going to have limited options in a long range fight.  If I could get close, I might be able to knock the riders off of their mounts."

- Fly!? Oh I wish I could fly myself, but that is out of our league for the moment! - Rhaenys answers. "Hmm, yes, definitely not my area of expertise", Stafford whispers into his sorceress' mind, sounding a little sad - I could try to restrain one of them mid-air when they are nearer. But if you want to fly to get close to it Jodie is the one!  - As she finishes saying this, the changeling calls for Korba - Korba! Any chance you can help me restraining one of them? Same as in the mouther's cave!

(OOC: Btw, Stafford is at 50/50 since several days have passed)

Jodie init: 21

"I can make one of you fly, but I dare not go myself.  If I lose concentration, I'll plummet to my death.  I can only concentrate a one spell at a time, but will reign fire when they are close and use my bow with some cover."

Jodie instinctively chooses Hewelathan and begins casting during her prep round

I wish that he could fly
Into the sky
So very high
Just like a dragonfly

Smiler 😈: 3

"Go get them!" (bardic inspiration to Hewelathan)

Seeing the dragonriders approach, Korba pulls his shield up to protect himself from ranged weapons, and with his other hand readies a [Tooltip Not Found] towards the first to enter his range (120ft)

blast: Attack: 25 Damage: 13

(OOC: With @frandal's blessing, here is Flinns preparation turn)

- Just when we were about to land, damn our luck! - the paladin exclaims. But knowing what TruthSeeker expects of him, he readies both sword and shield and moves to stand before the party, hoping the holy sword's aura (*) covers any of them while making himself visible so the enemies focus on him.

"This is the way, boy. Can't believe I'm actually begining to feel proud of you."

Flinn laughs slightly and then proceeds to bless Jodie, Korba and Hewelathan.

Flinn's initiative: 17.

(*) TruthSeeker's aura: While you hold the drawn sword, it creates an aura in a 10-foot radius around you. You and all creatures friendly to you in the aura have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Jodie compliments Korba's speed in taking position, "You are fast Korba, but how is your aim?"  (Bardic inspiration to Korba)

Jodie nocks an arrow and awaits the first rider to come into normal range (150') and fires.

Longbow: 27 (blessed) 13 piercing

"How about that shot!" she giggles with delight.

Initiative for the bad guys:

Cultist Leader: 10

Cultists 1&2: 4

(I'll just have the dragonnels take their turns right after their riders for simplicity's sake)

There are also 4 guards on deck whom I should probably have rolled initiative for to begin with. Captain Blythe is busy steering the ship, and all the other crewmen are running for cover as they see what appear to be three dragons approaching.

Guards: 20

Looks like our initiative order will be:

Korba (27)
Jodie (21)
Hewelathan (19)
Flinn (17)
Rhaenys (11)

---
Guards (11)
---

Death Cultist Leader (10)
Death Cultists (4)

The cultists rush into battle on their draconic steeds... and as soon as they get close enough, Jodie unleashes an arrow, striking one of the death cultists who cries out in pain and anger! (Jodie, are you striking at one of the 'normal' cultists, or did you attack their leader?)

Jodie targets one of the 'normal' cultists.  She wonders if Hewelathan could tame the beast if it loses its rider.

She cautions Hewelathan, "Don't rush ahead just yet.  You will be overwhelmed.  Let them come closer before revealing your flight and we'll see if we can unseat a rider."

Since the attackers are too far away for her other spells, Rhaenys aims a thin red fiery bolt at the same cultist Jodie has attacked. (OOC: 17 to Hit/ 6 damage)

Meanwhile, Flinn, to far gets ready to land a blow in whichever enemy gets closer and dares to threaten any of his companions (OOC: Readies a sword attack. Will roll the attack in a separate thread since I cannot use @frandal's sheet) 

Flinn's attack (when it takes place): 27 / Damage: 7

Quote from Faux_Beau>>

Jodie targets one of the 'normal' cultists.  She wonders if Hewelathan could tame the beast if it loses its rider.

Yeah, that thought had occurred to me. 😈

Longbow: 27 (blessed) 13 piercing

(OOC: @Faux_Beau - that damage roll seems to be missing the +2 damage from the bracers of archery.)

She cautions Hewelathan, "Don't rush ahead just yet.  You will be overwhelmed.  Let them come closer before revealing your flight and we'll see if we can unseat a rider."

Hewelathan nods, "Good point.  I don't want to get captured beyond the range where you all could render aid."  He's not sure whether it's smarter to scatter so that the cultists cannot target them all at once or to stay near Flinn to take advantage of Truthseeker's protective aura.  For now, he moves to stand behind FIinn, next to Rhaenys and Jodie. (If Korba stands next to Flinn, then I guess the other three should have room to behind them and still in the aura.)

Since it's his only truly long range attack, Hewelathan uses his circlet of blasting as soon as the cultists get within 120'.  He grips the handle of his moon sickle and then focuses on the riders.  Three searingly bright rays lance out from the gems on the circlet, shining brilliantly against the dark clouds surrounding the distant island.  He sends 2 beams at the cultist that Jodie hit and 1 beam at the lead cultist just to try to disturb the leader in case their already concentrating on a spell.

Movement: move to position himself behind Flinn, next to Jodie and Rhaenys
Action: Use Circlet of Blasting to cast scorching ray with w/ bonuses from bless and using the moon sickle as a focus.
  Ray 1: target lead cultist 17, Damage: 5 fire
  Ray 2: target cultist hit by Jodie's arrow 19, Damage: 4 fire
  Ray 3:target cultist hit by Jodie's arrow 10, Damage: 7 fire
Free Action: Talking

As the first come into range, Korba shoots off another sand blast towards whichever is nearest, watching their approach carefully.

Attack: 1+12 Damage: 14

Quote from Ben_Evolent>>

Longbow: 27 (blessed) 13 piercing

(OOC: @Faux_Beau - that damage roll seems to be missing the +2 damage from the bracers of archery.)

(OOC:  It's right, 13 is the max.  1d8 +3 dex +2 bracers)

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

  Ray 3:target cultist hit by Jodie's arrow 13, Damage: 11 fire

(OOC: Remember both Hewelathan and Korba have Bardic Inspiration.  Unsure if you're saving it, but could add 1d6 here and likely hit)