Here be Dragones! A full Tyranny of Dragons Play-Through (Game Thread)

(OOC:  It looks like JoJo made it well into the Kobolds group formation with his knife-punch-kick trifecta, would he be within range for an opportunity attack on the remaining kobold if Cass misses?  If the kobold has to disengage instead of just dashing away, I believe both JoJo and Neega (Using adrenaline rush) have the ability to catch up by dashing then attack before he gets too far away.)

*maybe not an opportunity attack, but you can certainly run him down*

*@Naiya_Varma Action has come to Cass*

Quote from MrDicestone55 >>

*maybe not an opportunity attack, but you can certainly run him down*

OOC*if I'd run him down, how far is he from JoJo, and can you explain in the OOC thread how it works.*

Cass watches the last kobold turn and run, burdened by stolen goods and suddenly deprived of every companion it had moments before. “Knew a man named Cedric Thorn,” he says as he steps forward with his mace already in motion. “Cedric used to say that leaving one messenger alive was a fine way to fight the same battle twice.”

The old cleric brings his mace around in a short, economical swing aimed squarely at the fleeing kobold’s back, putting more effort into certainty than style. If the creature is determined to carry tales of what happened here, Cass intends to ensure it does so from the afterlife rather than the streets of Greenest.

Attack: 13
Damage: 19

Sorry!!!

Damage way wonky…
Damage:7

JoJo seeing the last Kobold fall, smirks and whispers, lets keep moving....Motions to Lina to continue to guide us forward....assists whoever needs it to continue and to follow Lina.

As the last to actually follow JoJo continues to pull rear guard.  Perception 15

The group manages to get inside the keep just as they are closing the gates and barricading them. Jojo notices that the group hasn’t been followed.

*For various reasons, we’ll now use milestone leveling. Going forward, this means everything levels up almost every chapter.

TL;DR: Everyone advances to Level 2.*

Cass waits until the gates are secured before allowing himself a moment to relax, though his grip never fully leaves his shield. His eyes move across the courtyard, taking stock of wounded townsfolk, exhausted defenders, and anyone issuing orders rather than receiving them. 

He begins making his way through the crowded keep, watching faces and listening to conversations as he searches for whoever appears to be organizing the defense and holding the town together.

Insight:12

*What sort of information is Cass trying to glean?*

(He is looking for who he receives may be in charge within the keep. Sorry, I should have added that to the roll)

Fuzzpaw huffs and puffs as he runs through the gates. After spending so much of his life cloistered away studying, he was not used to having to run so fast, for so long.

I'll need to get in better shape if I want to be a successful adventurer like these folks, he thinks to himself.

He continues to follow Lina and the group from earlier, wondering what to do next. He wanted to help the people of the town, but did not know how. Fuzzpaw catches up to Cass and taps him on the shoulder.

"Hullo," he says to the man, "What do you suppose we should do now, what with everything going on out there? I've never done anything like this before. Will the townspeople be safe in here? I wish I could help them more. Are you all adventurers? Do you do this kind of thing all the time?"

He continues to rattle on before stopping himself, "Oh my, I've been asking you so many questions and I haven't introduced myself! My mother would give me a stern talking to, if she ever found out. I'm Fuzzpaw," he says as he extends a furry hand, "Well, that's my nickname, at least. My father gave it to me, and I like it better than the name I was born with."

Quote from Naiya_Varma >>

(He is looking for who he receives may be in charge within the keep. Sorry, I should have added that to the roll)

 Cass finds the head honcho easily on a parapet, overlooking the burning town—Governor Tarbaw Nighthill, an imposing but injured man. The right side of his face and head are bandaged, his right arm hangs in a sling, and his light blue tunic is stained with his own blood. These wounds were from the early stages of the attack, and he hasn’t spared himself the time for more than cursory first aid.

”Damned raiders,” Cass hears him growl to himself as he approaches him. “Why in the Nine Hells do they need a frickin’ dragon?”

Neega keeps moving with the group until the gates are closed behind them and the barricades are dragged into place. Only then does she stop.
She lowers her shield, wipes her blade clean, and sheathes it with a sharp click. Her eyes pass over the courtyard, the wounded, the defenders, the exits, and the walls above. Then her posture shifts.
One hand rises to the side of her head. Her fingers press hard against her temple, and her eyes lose focus for the space of a breath. Neega turns her shoulder slightly away from the others and holds still until the moment passes. When her hand drops, her face has settled back into the same hard soldier’s mask. She looks toward the parapet where Cass has gone and quickly follows.

When she gets there, she asks Tarbaw "Do you have any idea who these raiders are? Not many can take down a dragon, let alone tame one."  

JoJo after getting through gate, goes to the side, drops his ruck sack cast Prestidigitation a few times to wash his hands/arms and boots.  Use the spell to clean his gear and rucksck.  Does one last cantrip to clean most of his body.  

JoJo heads off to find Lina and her family to make sure the children are alright as well as her husband. Once he finds her JoJo profusely thanks her for getting us to this sanctuary.  

JoJo now blends into the unwashed masses.  Easily spotted if one looks for a clean spot, but otherwise just blends in and hides in plain site, finding a place to bed down Stealth 26

Quote from Character77006 >>

JoJo after getting through gate, goes to the side, drops his ruck sack cast Prestidigitation a few times to wash his hands/arms and boots.  Use the spell to clean his gear and rucksck.  Does one last cantrip to clean most of his body.  

JoJo heads off to find Lina and her family to make sure the children are alright as well as her husband. Once he finds her JoJo profusely thanks her for getting us to this sanctuary.  

JoJo now blends into the unwashed masses.  Easily spotted if one looks for a clean spot, but otherwise just blends in and hides in plain site, finding a place to bed down Stealth 26

 The people don’t pay that much attention to Jojo, so he can move about freely and do whatever with no questions asked. He hears everything that Governor Nighthill tells the others.

Quote from cndnd >>

Neega keeps moving with the group until the gates are closed behind them and the barricades are dragged into place. Only then does she stop.
She lowers her shield, wipes her blade clean, and sheathes it with a sharp click. Her eyes pass over the courtyard, the wounded, the defenders, the exits, and the walls above. Then her posture shifts.
One hand rises to the side of her head. Her fingers press hard against her temple, and her eyes lose focus for the space of a breath. Neega turns her shoulder slightly away from the others and holds still until the moment passes. When her hand drops, her face has settled back into the same hard soldier’s mask. She looks toward the parapet where Cass has gone and quickly follows.

When she gets there, she asks Tarbaw "Do you have any idea who these raiders are? Not many can take down a dragon, let alone tame one."  

 “Who knows?” He says wearily. “I’ve seen cultists in my campaigns but these are unlike any other. Usually, when cultists join themselves to a dragon, they do the dragon’s bidding; here, it seems that the opposite is true. Taming a dragon is easier than it seems, but this is unusual.” The blue dragon, in the fading daylight, strafes the downtown district with brilliant lightning, lighting the twilight like high noon for a moment.

Cass studies Governor Nighthill for a moment, his attention lingering less on the bloodstained tunic than on the fact the man remains on the parapet despite his injuries.

His gaze follows the blue dragon as another blast of lightning turns the fading light into a harsh midday glare before settling once more on the governor. “If these cultists are serving the dragon, they are dangerous enough, and if the dragon is serving them, then we have found ourselves in something far worse than a raid.” Cass folds his weathered hands over the pommel of his mace and inclines his head slightly. “Governor, tell us where you need hands most, because speculation can wait until the town is no longer burning.”

A muscular dwarf with fiery red hair has just arrived. Governor Nighthill introduces him as Castellan Escobar the Red.

After a brief intro, the governor lays out the situation: The raiders have isolated the keep from the town with encircling groups of guards, but they haven’t organized an attack. Governor Nighthill thinks the raiders don’t intend to attack the keep; they seem interested only in loot. The real danger is to the town and to those people who didn’t make it into the keep before it was cut off. Nighthill wants the characters to slip back into the town and help people who are cut off or harass the raiders. A stealthy group can make it out of the keep and back in again without drawing too much attention.

“We don’t expect you to accept, and that’s fair, but it would be nice to know what they’re up to,” nodding at Cass. “Like you said, speculation can wait.” He looks at the sky. It is now about 10 PM.