Hoard of the Dragon Queen [IC. 2014 rules]

Montar's fragile calm threatens to shatter, as the shouts and screams of the townspeople are transformed in his imagination into the death cries of his clan, cries he never heard but nevertheless occupy many of his nightmares. They nearly undo him, but the enlarged dwarf barely holds on. As does his luck, as his next bolt also hits true, and powerfully so (Atk: 19, Dmg: 14).

Despite his internal struggles, Montar manages to shoot another well-aimed bolt at the dragon. The colossal beast shakes its wings in agony, hit not only by the dwarf's pinpoint attack but also by a continuous, agonizing stream of blazing magic lingering from Thistlewick's spell. 

Escobert attempts to use the moment and shoot with the second ballista. Attack: 10 Damage: 12

In his frantic haste, the massive machine violently kicks back as the heavy bolt is released, sending the projectile flying wide into the night sky once again. Escobert curses loudly in dwarvish, kicking the wooden frame of the siege weapon in frustration. It is again Tam's turn!

Another flash of lightning and another dozen people disintegrated right before her eyes. This couldn't be happening. She was going to wake up and this was all going to be a terrible nightmare. Wasn't she?

But no, she shook her head. She had to stay focused. This was no time for childish fears or squeamishness. She had to help defeat this monster. She had the creature's moves down, now, and if she could hit it, she knew she could make it count. So she took aim and loosed another shot from the ballista, but her nerves proved too powerful and her shot went wide.

[Rolled a 6 + 6 + 1 = 13, so not enough to hit. Sorry.]

The dragon's eyes narrow as it watches the giant bolt fly at a safe distance past its head and its attention falls on Tam behind the ballista and the two humanoids around her. Taking a deep, terrifying breath, the beast opens its mouth and unleashes the pent-up lightning energy directly towards the three adventurers!

Tam, Draylin and Thislewick, please give me a dexterity saving throws. DC 19. On a failed save, each of you takes 12, on a successful one - half of that. 

Then, before anyone can even clear the smoke from their eyes, the creature powerfully flaps its wings and propels itself towards the very top of the keep. It swings its massive tail in a brutal arc,  dealing 18 damage directly to the tower structure.

The impact shatters the masonry, sending a dangerous rain of stone pieces and broken tiles crashing down towards the defenders stationed there, wounding 1 of them in the chaos. 

Before anyone else has a chance to react, the dragon flaps its wings powerfully once more and disappears high above the clouds. You all hear its roars of wounded pride and body echoing through the night as it finally flies away, abandoning the siege.

Tam tries to leap free of the ballista, but her foot catches and she can't get free. She takes the full brunt of the blast, the lightning singing the ends of her hair as she falls backward. She's still up, but it takes a lot out of her.

"You  better run, you disgusting wyrmling," Tam yells in draconic after the fleeing dragon (it sounds like a better curse in draconic.

Montar screams his displeasure in Giant. "Coward! Stay and die!" "He fires off a shot, but misses short (Atk: 8). It takes the dwarf a few moments to calm down.

The falling stone does eventually snap him out of it, and, while he's still of large size, he runs over to the tower and attempts to, at minimum, keep it from dropping further chunks of stone on anyone. (Mason tool use: 25)

Thistlewick - DEX Save:  22   
                        CON Save: Dirty 20

The atmosphere thickens with the scent of ozone as the blue dragon exhaled pure, concentrated plasma; the lightning breath bathing the stone parapet in a searing strike. The blast crashed into the battlements with a deafening thunderclap, violently tearing away the stone. 

Caught in the crackling arcs of destruction, Thistlewick is illuminated in a brilliant skeletal silhouette. For whatever reason --- his ever present halo of spores or his hand on a band of metal on the ballista's framework --- the discharging lightning strike packed only half the punch it might have.  (( Wick takes 6 pts dmg ))   Even so, he was launched backward across the cobblestones, his mushroom hat smoking and his body reacting to the jolt.

Stamina, Stubborness, or Supreme Luck --- Thistlewick held his concentration and got in one last 'burn jolt' of his own as the dragon flew away.
7 pt fire dmg

Draylin

Even as the heavy projectile is flying towards the dragon, Draylin is on the move.  He is unaware of the miss, head down, arms pumping furiously to reload the gigantic machine.  Sweat runs into his eyes, but before he can begin to wipe it away he is suddenly laying on the ground!  His hair dances wildly as the energy dissipates, carried away from his twitching body on small swirls of smoke.  

He rises quickly, bloodied, but not out of the fight entirely.  With singed clothing and hair still standing on end, the freshly fricasseed friar stands wobbly to his feet.  He takes a step forward, teetering and stumbling a few paces to the right before bumping into Tam.  The wild eyed monk looks down and says simply, "Ouch."

Draylin quickly pulls himself together and then moves to check on the others, tears of grief and anger streaking down his ash covered face when he looks upon the decimation of the brave men and women who died defending their home.   Husbands and wives, friends, parents, brothers and sisters, dozens of lives snuffed out in the blink of an eye; the blink of a cold, wicked reptilian eye.  He stopped, burning an image of the dragon into his mind, the scales, the wings, the evil smirk on it's ugly face when it inhales to create it's lightning.  He had a feeling that they would encounter this beast again, and he would remember.  The defenders of Greenest would be avenged.

***DEX save 14***

Combat is officially over.

There is one last roar that echoes through the night sky as the dragon disappears completely. Whether it is pain from Thistlewick's final attack or in mockery to those shouting after it, is not clear. In the distance, you see Greenest still in flames, raiders pillaging and shouting. But it seems a bit quieter than before and you all get the feeling that the worst has passed. The question that remains is whether all has passed...

Draylin and Tam, both bloodied and burnt pretty bad, and Thistlewick, whose spores and quick reflexes mitigated a lot of the potential harm, all feel the tingling from the lightning magic still in their bodies. Montar manages to catch a large block of stone before it falls and hurts the wounded defender further, his expert eye quickly evaluating the extent of the attack. It would take weeks to fix the keep properly, but he spots almost immediately the most critical parts that would need to be addressed in the coming days before further damage follows the half-demolished tower.

Governor Nighthill is holding his left arm with his right, after some debris from the attack seems to have broken it. Escobert is sweaty, dirty and his eyes are blazing with rage but also glory as he stands up to take stock of the aftermath. Leosin almost collapses next to the ballista, clearly on the verge of losing consciousness. A lot of the defenders are in shock. Some are openly sobbing and weeping, a few are staring in the direction where the dragon disappeared, with the majority checking for survivors.

Despite all odds, it seems that there are still 7 defenders who are on the verge of death, yet miraculously still alive, albeit badly burnt from the lightning breath attack that at first appeared to have wiped them out.

The priests and clerics hiding in the keep come rushing out, healing those that are most critical. Governor Nighthill limps towards the party and beckons you to follow him downstairs, back to the main area of the keep as others arrive to carry the victims and the badly wounded.

"I... I will be forever grateful for your assistance tonight, adventurers. Without you, I'm afraid none of us would be standing here today... Please, let's make our way to the main floor, it might be dangerous to still stay here."

With that, he begins limping downstairs towards the big hall where Thistlewick got treated a few hours earlier by one of the clerics. The room is full of wounded people and volunteers trying to clean their wounds and help as best as they can. Seeing you all come down, one of them quickly rushes you to an empty corner with a few bedrolls spread on the floor so you can catch your breath before they lead the Governor away to treat his broken arm and a large gash on his head that has started bleeding heavily. 

Draylin

The monk wants to help with the wounded.  He wills his wobbly legs to support him a little while longer.  Leaning against the wall he surveyed the room.  The clerics and healers were going about their good work efficiently, triaging resources with the most badly hurt.  It took only a moment for the monk to realize that he was in fact the wounded.  With a deep sigh he rubbed his eyes, smearing the soot and tears into an interesting spiral pattern before sliding down the wall and landing with a plop in a seated position.

Within moments the young half elf's breathing evened back out.  Thin shoulders rose and fell rhythmically as he fell within himself.  His awareness flowed through his limbs, sensing the delicate balance of his well honed form, exploring the extent of his injuries.  When he was content that a brief rest would help him recover fully, he shifted his focus.  Opening his awareness further, he tapped into the flow of ki energy that permeated all living things.  Drawing this power back into himself, he exhales deeply, body and mind ready to face whatever new challenges awaited them.

***If we have time for  a short rest Draylin will use HD and meditate to regain his ki points.  If we do not have time for a short rest he will probably bleed and hope a cleric wanders by.  :) ***

Thistlewick watches silently as wounded keep coming in as the clerics try to save all they can.   Seeing Draylin try to push beyond his limits, Wick comes to a decision.   Shuffling over, Wick bends down and lightly touches Draylin's shoulder.  

"You did well.  Let us hope it made a difference."

He then shuffles into a corner; adjusts his 'shroom hat to cover his eyes and tries to catch a brief rest.

Montar, now returned to normal size, pushes himself further to patch the damaged masonry. At least until the third townsperson to instruct him to rest, in order to be ready for another wave, finally gets through to him. Dazed, he stumbles to a bedroll, grasps his maul, and closes his eyes.

A couple of hours pass, letting you all catch your breath and gather some of your strength back. From partial conversations overheard between the exhausted defenders and the busy volunteers, you gather that the raiders have finally begun leaving the town. A light drizzle has fallen outside, helping to smother some of the smaller fires.

Just then, another warning bell rings sharply through the keep.

The brief moment of peace vanishes instantly. Governor Nighthill, Escobert, and whatever defenders remain healthy enough to stand hastily begin to make their way back up towards the battlements...

Montar leaves off his repairs and is up and following them toward the battlements in a flash.

"Once more into the breech, my friends!"

"What could it be now?" Tam asks.

Draylin

The young monk finishes his meditation shortly before their latest summons.  With a deep, steady final breath he opens his eyes.  WIth a tired smile he raised his arm, hoping for an assist to get back to vertical.  With a groan, the road weary half elf was up and moving with his companions and what remained of the defenders of Greenest.

Hearing Tam's comment, he paused and offered optimistically, "Perhaps the dragon wishes to repent and mend it's wicked ways?"  With a friendly pat on the shoulder, he heads up with the rest, body ready, once again,  to stand and fight whatever new nightmare approached.

From the darkness, a creature strides into the dim light of the dying fires around the keep. Although it is shaped roughly like a human, it is at least seven feet tall, its skin is covered in blue scales, its fingers bear wicked claws, and its face has the muzzle and reptilian eyes of a dragon. The creature stops about eighty yards from the main gate of the keep and scans the walls. A line of kobolds fans out behind it, with another line of raiders standing a bit further back. With their spears, the kobolds prod six human prisoners into the dim light. You can make out two women, a man, a teenage boy in a blood-soaked tunic, and two children. Then the half-dragon creature hails the keep.

“Defenders of Greenest! This has been a successful night, and I am feeling generous. Do you see these six pitiful, useless prisoners? We have no need for them, so I will trade them back to you. Send out your best warrior to fight me, and you can have these six in exchange."

There is a sudden, sharp gasp that comes from one of the defenders of the keep. "Oh no! My sister! And her children! Let me go, let me go!"

The man tries to rush out into battle, but Escobert and a few other defenders restrain him. "Don't be foolish, lad! You stand no chance!"

Draylin 

Draylin's eyes narrow as he stares down at the cult's champion.  "I remember that son of a basliks," he said with a scowl, spitting on the floor as if the memory left a bad taste in his mouth.  

The monk quickly scanned the area for Leosin, waving him over to pow wow with the party.  When he arrives, Draylin says, "I do not wish to throw my life away, but I would not see harm come to them.  Do any among us possess the skill to defeat him?"  His eyes move from face to face, strangers days ago, now comrades forged by blood and fire.  His eyes speak his heart, he has grown very fond of this rag-tag group of prisoners turned heroes.  Those most perceptive could find a hint of sadness, and a quiet goodbye hidden beneath a smile.  He would step on the field without hesitation to save those poor people. 

***OoC: He is asking about Leosin's knowledge of the creature from his time in their camp.  Insight check to try and answer his own question: 21 ***