Sparlock's Hoard of the Dragon Queen

As the fireball flies toward the cultist, barely missing him, the injured kobold comes forward, pulling out his sling and whirling it above his head. He looses a rock, sending it hurtling toward Lissandra. (Attack: 23 Damage: 5) It hits her solidly on the shoulder with a solid thud.

Darvin is up

"Well this is getting out of hand," Darvin says, reaching for his viol bow. "I wonder," he mutters idly, as he starts to run the viol bow along the string of his shortbow, which produces a sonorous D-natural drone, reminiscent of bagpipes only less abrasive, against which he sings an elven lullaby. The four remaining enemy combatants begin to nod their heads and blink their eyes sleepily.

Despite the lack of resonance that would be granted by a less improvised instrument, the doubly-bowed accompaniment carries into the distance along with Darvin's soothing voice. The injured kobold, already readying a second stone, falls asleep on his feet, the stone flying back towards the building with a thud. The three remaining combatants look towards him in confusion for a moment before all falling asleep simultaneously.

Lissandra rushes over to where Skiaceq is, and with a blessing, places her hands over his wounds, which close up as she heals him for 13.

As a quiet falls on the battlefield, broken only by the crackling of the burning straw, the party feels an urgency. It's only a matter of time until the sleeping foes awaken, and more will be arriving in a matter of minutes. In the distance, on the opposite side of the temple, a loud bang can be heard, as if some large blunt instrument were striking the front door of the temple.

"We have to get that door open and get the villagers out! Let's move the smoking bales and see if we can get everyone out before the patrol comes back!" Valji will use whatever he can find to push or slide the smoldering debris away from one door to give them room to open it.

 Skiaceq gives Lissandra a look of gratitude and relief as the pain fades. He pops his shoulders before stepping past her. "I leave them in your hands," he says to her with a glance. "Spare them if you wish, but know they will resume the moment they wake."

After gently moving Valji aside, Skiaceq begins furiously beating his wings at the blazing detritus.

"If we spare them, the others will be back around in minutes and let them go, and we don't have time to lug their bodies with us. We must be practical," says Darvin, as he heads toward the four unconscious enemies with his rapier drawn. "I'll try to make it quick."

Unless someone intervenes...

Attack: 25 Damage: 10

Attack: 19 Damage: 14

Attack: 14 Damage: 16

Attack: 23 Damage: 10

Back around to the third one, where his rapier got stuck in a bit of armor:

Attack: 13 Damage: 11

Skiaceq's powerful wings overwhelm the flames as Valji grabs a nearby pitchfork and moves the bales of hay out of the way of the entrance. Lissandra seems oddly quiet, helping clear the other door with Valji as Darvin executes the sleeping enemies. The oak back doors to the temple stand in front of the party.

Once the last gasps of breath have left the formerly sleeping kobolds and cultists, Darvin approaches the doors. "Well, no time to waste. Shall we? Ladies first," he says, looking at Lissandra and extending an upturned palm toward the door.

"Are the doors locked? Can anyone unlock it? Hurry up and get it open! Oh, and don't burn yourself on the handle...it's probably hot!" Valji is practically jumping from foot to foot in nervous energy, looking back and forth between the door and the corner where he expects the patrol to appear at any moment. He would help open the large wooden doors, but he can just reach the handle...it wasn't built for gnomes, obviously.

"Here, let me help you with that," Darvin says to Valji as he notices him stretching to reach the door handle.  Then, instead of simply reaching for the handle himself, he picks up Valji so that he can open it.

 As Valji is unexpectedly lifted into the air,  he tries the handle, but the door is stuck fast.

Darvin motions to Lissandra. "It's stuck. We could use your muscles over here. Hey, sorry about the chivalry earlier, to be honest I just wanted your heavy armor to go in front. But you probably figured that out; you seem like an insightful sort. Anyway, count of three? You may as well join in too, Ski. One... two..."

As the group pulls on the door, they encounter some resistance on the other side, as if it is barred somehow. From the other side, you hear a voice. "You're not going to get in here that easily, fiends!"

As the voice pipes up through the door, Darvin realizes what's going on and says back, "Oh! No, no, we're here to rescue you! My friends and I have defeated the kobolds and cultists that were trying to smoke you out! But there will be more of them soon; we haven't much time! Please, open the door and we can get you out of here and back to safety."

Persuasion: 9

Edit: Ughh

Lissandra places her hand on Darvins should as she adds, "Yes, we were sent by Governor Nighhill to assist you!"

Lissandra is assisting and giving Guidance. Make a second roll for advantage as well as the d4 roll for Guidance applied retroactively.

OoC: Hah, ok, cool.

Attempt #2: 25

Muuuch better!

There is a hushed murmur on the other side of the door, but soon you hear the sound of the door being unblocked, and the oak doors open into the temple. The party enters a fairly large room, obviously the main room of the temple. Off to one side, there is a staircase leading up, most likely headed towards the priests quarters and belfry. Ahead, there is an altar to Chauntea and pews full of dozens of townsfolk in various states of distress. Near the front, some of the more devout are knelt in prayer, hoping for divine intervention. Some of the townsfolk who were able to find rest in all the insanity are either splayed out on the floor or the pews, One family of four are cuddled together sitting up asleep, the kids laying out on the pews against the parents, wife against husband, and the husband precariously sliding down ever so slowly in his seat, soon to be falling down and taking the rest of the crew tumbling to the floor with him.

Before you is a tall, middle-aged man in the traditional garb of a cleric of Chauntea. As you come inside, two acolytes close the door behind you after taking a brief glance at the carnage outside. "Welcome to the Temple of Chauntea," the priest begins, "I wish we could welcome you under better circumstances, but its good that such powerful adventurers have managed to find there way here. I don't know how much longer these doors can hold against the these invaders." As if to emphasize the meaning of his words, a loud bang resounds throughout the Temple as you can see the front door in the distance shudder against a force of some magnitude. A large wooden plank seals the door shut against intruders, and behind you the acolytes place another such plank against the door you just entered through.

"We are here to rescue you!" the gnome cheerfully says. "We found a hidden passageway into the keep, but need to get you all out of here and over there. Come one - get everyone moving before the kobolds and cultists figure out what happened back here!" At the sound of the banging on the front door, Valji's head whips around, and then he goes running towards the sound. He will examine the door and the crossbar, looking for damage or cracks. He lays his hands on the damaged pieces, speaks an arcane phrase, and a flash of energy passes from the wizard to the door and crossbar. The cracks disappear!

(OOC: Casting Mending on the door and bar!)

"Yes, we must make haste. From the sound of it, my wizard companions valiant ministrations notwithstanding, those invaders will break through soon," says Darvin to the priest after Valji heads toward the damaged door. "Please, the way out the back door should be clear for another couple of minutes, but not much more. Can you lead your people that way? My friend Lissandra here is also a cleric... Religion is not exactly my own forté, but I think she even worships your god. In any case, you can trust us."

OoC: Not sure if further persuasion might be called for here? If so, I assume Lissandra will continue to help. In case it's needed, Persuasion: 25

"Yes, absolutely." With that, he orders the men who just barred the door to go gather together the civilians.

But there's something else you need to know... I think they're after this," he says, producing a scroll from the folds of his robe. "They were largely ignoring the temple until a young person fled here carrying this. He said he stole it from a lizard man, and it seems to point to a cave in the woods across the stream to the south. If these raiders see people leaving the temple, they may assume they have this and give chase."