Sparlock's Hoard of the Dragon Queen

As the drake rider falls in two pieces onto the ground, Quarion chases after the fleeing urd, brandishing his rapier. He charges full speed toward its back, attempting to skewer it on his sword. (Attack: 11 Damage: 10)

Quarion catches the kobold square in the left wing, driving his rapier through the leathery hide, and into the its back. There is a splash of blood on the door in front or the urd, and all is momentarily quiet, save for the scrambling of civilians as the building begins to fill more with smoke.

From outside on the wall, you hear men scrambling back into formation, and a couple of burnt guards are being run in to the infirmary by their comrades.

Valji

You finds yourself in the basement with Urokris and the two remaining guards. The smoke is thick, and you can't help but cough a little after each breath you take. The door to the tunnel is left wide open following the assault, and there are a couple burning boxes in the room. The floor is littered with bodies, as well as a single glistening diamond on the floor next to the dead sorcerer. One of the guards is attending the their murdered colleague while the other is watching the boxes burn with a look or panic on his face, frantically looking around for any way to put it out.

 "Well that sure was something," said Quarion, still quite hopped up on adrenaline. "I suppose we should go help with the uh... dragon, shouldn't we? Just as soon as we retrieve some of the spoils of this little adventure." Pulling a piece of clothing out of his bag to wave the smoke away from his face, Quarion went back into the basement to retrieve his daggers, the drake rider's sling and remaining bullets, and finally the sorcerer's diamond, still in the hands of the kobold's charred remains. He then proceeded to look through the pile of charred kobold for anything else of value.

 Running back up the stairs he offers the sling and bullets to Skiaceq. "You might want something you can... propel. You know, if we're to fight off an honest-to-goodness dragon. Don't get me wrong: you're clearly quite the martial artist, but I'm not sure punching it is exactly going to be a viable option." Flipping the diamond in the air, he continued, "I trust no one will object if I hang on to this beauty for a bit? After all, it did play a starring role in the spectacular Near Death of a Darvin. I just hope nobody has an appetite for an encore performance."

The kobolds have little else of value left on them. A search of the drake's saddle bag revealed a couple of scorched empty sacks similar to the ones Quarion had seen this group empty into the cultist's war chest. There's also a poorly drawn map of the castle, prominently featuring a black circle near the portcullis.

Outside, the sounds of the Dragon menacing the defenders on the wall resumes. Some of the less brave guards rush into the keep. Somewhere outside the castle you hear a loud banging sound.

"Perhaps we should ah... help?" Quarion says urgently, amped up from the fight that just ended and currently deluding himself into thinking he might be able to take on this dragon after all. He makes his way toward the wall to join the guards, hoping his companions are going to come with him.

OoC: Did Skiaceq take the sling and ammo?

(OOC: Since Quarion beat me to the diamond...)

Valji looks around the basement, hoping to find something that he can use to douse the flames threatening to smoke him out of there! He also tries to close the door to the tunnels, and if there is any lock left he will engage that, too. Of course, being vertically challenged, he has a better chance to stay below the layer of smoke than his higher comrades, but he still doesn't want to choke to death down here! Once he does as much as he can to help, Valji will get himself back up the stairs and see what everyone else is doing...

(OOC: If he can find water or something to help put out the fires, he will do what he can. If not, he will try and find a spear haft or a pole to push whatever burning material he can into the tunnel and then close the door, perhaps filling the tunnel with smoke instead of the basement!)

Valji, unable to find water to put out the fire, pushes the crates into the tunnel with the help of the guards. As the door is sealed, the smoke seems to dissipate a little.

OoC: That's what you get for trying to be helpful and put out fires, Valji. You miss out on shiny things!  :-) If there's something special you were wanting to do with it, I'm sure Q would entertain the idea. He's just planning to sell it and split the proceeds.

Skiaceq grabs the sling and bullets, nodding to Quarion as he leads the group outside.

With everyone having fled inside, the courtyard seems to be deserted. Above on the wall, the city guard can be seen, bows at the ready. As you are watching, there is another roar as a cone of fire torches a couple of the guards. The one catching the brunt of the blast collapses in a pile of blackened flesh and melted metal. Another guard, a bit less lucky, screams as his entire body is lit on fire, running away from the winged beast you presume lies behind the wall and directly into the courtyard, his screaming stopping as his body hits the ground with a dull thud.

As you walk into the center of the courtyard, you hear a metallic scraping sound to the left, where the entrance to the sally port lies.

His burst of brash overconfidence dissipating at the sight of the immolated guards, Quarion is no longer feeling like confronting a dragon head on is in his best interest. "Perhaps we should, um, see what that is?" he says, gesturing toward the sally port entrance. "Could be more of those kobolds trying to get in. May be more manageable foes than whatever's up there..." he adds, glancing at the wall.

"Quite a show in there, by the way. How's that blaster hand of yours holding up?" he adds as an aside to Valji, touching his shoulder. As he does so, a brief white glow flows from Valji's shoulder up into his head and the wizard's eyes glow white for a brief moment [bardic inspiration for Valji].

Valji grins at Quarion (or whatever his name was...=) and produces another bolt of flame, rolling it around and over his outstretched hand like it was just a ball. "Seems just fine! Let's go see what's making that awful noise over there! It wouldn't take much for a dragon to just swallow me whole...not looking for that tonight!" 

As you reach the southern inside of the castle wall, you enter a ten foot by ten foot arched passageway. At the far end, there is a gate, after which the passageway forks around a central wall to reach the gate of the sally port. A little further in there is another gate, in front of which is a guard staring speechlessly at a man in dark robes while his partner lies unconscious on the ground, a sling bullet lying close by.

"Open."

The sentry hesitates for a second, but nonetheless opens the gate for the goateed man. The gate slides to the side, allowing the man passage. In the light of the torches anchored to the wall you can see the glint of a golden amulet or holy symbol around his neck. He's immediately followed by a angry looking drake and four kobolds.

Initiative Round 1

Kobold Alpha
Valji
Quarion
Skiaceq
Ambush Drake
Guard A
Other Kobolds
Guard B (stunned, bloodied) (6 damage)
Robed Man

Stepping through the gate, the largest of the kobolds rushes the guard who just allowed them entry and slashes at him with his dagger, but the blade is deflected away by the guard's chain shirt. (Attack: 11 Damage: 3)

Valji is up, followed by Quarion and Skiaceq. You are in a 10 ft by 10 ft arched passageway. There is a gate with a 5 ft entrance 20 ft ahead of you. On the left in front of the gate is the guard on the ground, and on the right is the guard who opened the gate. Between the guard and the party is the big kobold that just attacked him, and the acolyte is straight across from him on the other side of the gate. The ambush drakes is positioned to go through first, followed by the other kobolds clumped behind it.

"What are you thinking, man? You just let the enemy in! Oh - you must be an enemy, too... Well, then, I have a little welcome gift for you." The tongue of fire that Valji was handling suddenly leaves the wizard's hand, flying towards the robed man! 

Ranged Attack: 8 Fire Damage: 2

A small section of the man's robe catches fire, and he yelps a little bit as he tries to put it out, but otherwise seems unscathed.

Quarion pulls his viol from his pack and sets it on his shoulder. He then begins bowing it with his rapier and singing something in elvish. 

Elvish:

 To those on the near side of the gate, the sound of the instrument resembles a cat being skinned in more than one way. But those outside experience it as a gentle lullaby. They begin to feel sleepy. 

 Quarion then turns to Skiaceq, and laying a hand on his wing, says, "Go get the big one." Skiaceq's eyes briefly glow the same white that Valji's did a few seconds earlier.

Quarion then withdraws to just around the corner of the arched passageway so that he is out of sight of whichever foes are still conscious. [OoC: I think this is possible from the description, but if not he will just try to get out of range.]

Hearing the sweet lullaby, the three kobolds and robed man drop to the floor immediately. The drake looks back and forth at it's allies in confusion, gingerly nudging the robed man's foot with its fore-claws. The kobold who attacked the standing guard turns around and glares at Quarion in anger. "You regret that," he hisses.

 Having never heard aural magic before, the dreadful wailing of Darvin's viol sounds to Skiaceq's ears like a child shredding the wires. 'My playing is better, and I'm no professional! How can a bard play like that?' he marvels internally.

Setting aside the temptation to critique, Skiaceq centers his attention on the enemy. His wings slash the air in a frenzy, propelling him forward with terrible acceleration. He speeds directly into the greater kobold, hooks the ground with his taloned feet, and whirls around to face the beast from behind. "You will be the ones regretting," Skaiceq craws lowly as the talons of his hands rend through flesh. (Unarmed Strike: 10 Damage: 4, Bonus Attack: 6 Damage: 6) His wings unfurl, obscuring vision beyond the gate and blocking passage by the drake. No one shall pass through the gate if he has say. "Finish him! I will handle the lizard!"

Bardic Inspiration on first attack roll: 5

Skiaceq's claws rip into the goblin as it staggers back, looking bloodied but still in the fight.

The drake continues to nudge at the robed man, and you hear a muffled complaint, "Not now, mom... 10 more minutes..." A moment later, the man's eyes shoot open, and he looks around in confusion, unsure about what just occurred.

The guard who opened the gate looks around in a bit of confusion, unsure exactly what happened. Seeing Skiaceq locked in combat with the kobold, he rushes to the other guard, grabbing him under the armpit and attempting to retreat back into the keep. As he moves out of range, the kobold leader slashes at him with it's dagger, catching his side as his clothes begin staining purple. (Attack: 8 Damage: 6) Dragging his comrade, the guard is able to move him around 10 feet back from the gate. From the rest of the kobolds, the sound of snoring fills the passageway.

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