Velon's tries to hide his surprise a bit when Perry tries to get the dragon to join them and reveals their plan, but it is replaced by amusement as Perry's plan seems to indeed have potential. Already flanking Perry closely to support and protect him, if even possible, Velon takes half a step forward in acknowledgement of Zz'Pzora's command. He waves an arm for everyone else to do so as well. "Greetings Zz'Pzora, I am Velon of the Silver Blaze. We could extend our efforts to strike at the elder brain of Ch'chitl, yielding you a much larger territory and perhaps even a better lair, although admittedly I have never seen Ch'chitl."
Your drow escort steps out of the shadows as well, clearly uncomfortable and itching to get back into cover. Zz'Pzora eyes them warily but says nothing about them. Instead she responds to Velon with a thoughtful tone.
"So now we speak of more than just a raid, but an assault on the center of their city with extermination in mind. The risk continues to go up."
"My territory would not be expanded by this. Too many hostile powers in between this place and there for it to be useful in that way. The possibility of a new lair is more likely, though far from a guarantee. The city is well located, there is an issue for me being that maintaining proper defense and maintenance of such a location will require additional underlings, though that is easily remedied."
"So, let us pretend that this intrigues me for the moment, not least because everyone has reason to loathe those things. What is your plan? If you were hoping to rely exclusively on my strength, forget it. I could slaughter the mind controlled minions of that city easily enough, but my kind and the mindflayers have a difficult time having a meaningful impact on each other. Tearing each of them apart with my claws would be more than tedious, and should they get lucky enough to capture me, a fate far worse than death awaits."
Poljen steps out with the others, a slight scowl on his face. He listens as they 'bargain' with the dragon, then adds, "Bah. We will tear apart the mindflayers if you will not. Or can not."
Cratol will step out of the shadows so that he can be seen. He still watches what is going on and does not say anything that may be harmful to the negotiations.
Lawrance steps into the line of fire as well, bowing low and introducing himself. "Our goals here are very much the ending of the Illithid's hold in these areas, as much as we are able to. If an alliance benefits you and you lend your aid to our goal, why not see yourself gain much in the attempt? We will not be remaining to secure the stronghold we liberate, leaving a power vacuum that surely one who laid low the renowned Pharx would be able to take advantage of! Our own renown on the surface has brought this colony to our attention, and those who called up to do so know that we have the ability to take care of it, even on our own. Your aid would make the task all that much easier, and allow us to leave knowing they will not be able to rebuild their abhorrent colony for your continued presence."
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Perry looks at Zip with a soft smile and a soft touch on her claw. With a short bow he whispers back to her, "I aim to please and would be honored, my dear."
Regarding the overall discussion, Perry says, "Great Zz'Pzora, the group before you may not look like much to one as beautiful and powerful as yourself, but the Silver Blaze here actually has quite a track record with exterminating powerful monsters. Together, they have slain both a white and a green adult dragon, they have faced down a yuanti horde and a weird mummy guy, they have defeated the thugs of the legendary Bodunk the Shark, they have fought an entire army led by a crazy blue half-dragon guy, there was a vampire and some giants once too I think, and much more. In fact, Velon here is still wearing that half-dragon's guy's armor. I've written many songs of their exploits in my travels with them and I promise you we can take out a big fat brain and some squids, especially with your help. If I may, would you like to hear some of the songs I've written so far?"
Lia puts away her bow and joins the others. She bows before the dragon. " Greetings, oh great one. I am Lia Galanodal, servant of Sune. As has been said, we are familiar with and have worked in alliance with your kin. I have spoken with Lenninthon, the honorable blue. We actually worked alongside an ancient white dragon who is called Old Man Death. I speak to him daily through spellcraft and he is a friend. I still owe him a dance. " She pauses and smiles. " We have also worked with Protanther an ancient Gold. We can be valuable allies in this and it will benefit all of us. I can stay close to you during the battle and dedicate my healing powers to keeping you safe. Let us work with you.. ." She gestures casually towards the dragon and a warmth pervades the dragon. " Enjoy the blessing of Sune. "
The drake turns to look at you all, bluntly stating, "I believe the surfacer expression for this is beating around the bush. You have no plan then. Did you hope for me to take care of all the details? No, you would be foolish to trust that to an unknown quantity. You're making it up as you go along."
"Let me take a stab at guessing what happened here. You want these Tears for your own purposes, these Bregan D'aerthe dogs were hired to get rid of me due to my raids on skullport. Each group convinced the other to help. On coming here, at the last minute you thought to try and use me against the mindflayers rather than waste the opportunity. How close am I?" She snorts in apparent mirth, a bit of light purple smoke emerging from her nostrils.
"Lucky for you I like a bit of intrigue, and the tiefling is such a beautiful speaker that I would indeed like to hear him sing. It would be such a shame to tear him or his mind apart. So, I present to you a choice. We can fight this out now, and you can find out just how well prepared I am for such an occasion, or you can be my guests for tonight. It has been quite some time since I have entertained visitors, and the threat you pose makes the possibilities all the more interesting. We can discuss whether or not we will be killing each other tomorrow over dinner, and if the answer is no, perhaps we can discuss other things, like this half cocked plan of yours and whether or not it is viable."
Zz'Pzora walks a few paces away, shrinking as she goes. Within a few moments, she has turned into a mostly humanoid figure. A beautiful woman in a sleek black dress, with shining purple scales adorning her in various places like jewelry. Her crest is still there, poking like a fin out of her shoulder length light purple hair.
She turns back to you, raising a hand in greetings as she declares, "I swear upon my mother's heartscale that if you step forward in peace now, then I will not break that peace until you depart my lair or until one full day has passed, whichever occurs first, so let it be known."
Vadim whispers into Velon's ear, "Such an oath is not to be taken lightly, her kind will lie, murder, and worse in a heartbeat, but in the end they take such vows quite seriously. Still, I'm not going in there. You want to take the chance fine, but we're staying outside. Think of it as insurance, we'd be able to spread word among her kind that she's an oathbreaker if there is a problem."
She rolled pretty dang high on her Insight check, so...
At that announcement, Lawrance relaxes a bit, still wary but more than happy at an out come that doesn't see such a marvelous being destroyed wantonly. #I'm all for fireside chats and peaceful dinners. If our goal is just to stop her depredations, we may yet come to an agreement to suits all of us.#
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Perry nods along as Zip sees through their entire plan and purpose of being here. As she transforms into humanoid form, his eyes grow wide. He turns to the party, his eyes beaming with admiration for her, and exclaims, "She's so smart you guys! She already figured everything out!"
He's clearly infatuated.
He pulls himself together, then turns back to address Zip. He lets out a weary sigh, "Yeah, I mean, you're right to be honest. We should probably put together a real plan. Perhaps you could help us with that, my dear? I'm sure you know this place better than these dark elves here. Matter of fact, the only reason we even hired these jamokes was because that guy over there..." Perry points to the Jarlaxle look-alike, "...looks like a famous dark elf named Jarlaxle, what with the hat and all. Of course, he's not actually Jarlaxle, but I still got his autograph. Anyway, the point is, maybe over dinner we could discuss some other angles of approach. We have a wizard and a lot of tricks. We have an earth elemental named Geode who does great work if we want to burrow. I'm afraid I’m more beauty than brains myself, but I'm certain that together we can create a good plan with some teamwork!"
"Besides, dinner sounds much more appealing to me than fighting. The boss man over there makes the final call, but I'm sure he'll agree as well," Perry says to Zip, referring to Velon. Once the talking is done, and everyone is ready, Perry will follow Zip wherever she leads them.
---
At the dinner, Perry changes his disguise to a nice formal purple and black suit with some gold jewelry adorned on the wrists. He lays his black scimitar on the ground. Shadows coalesce around the blade as it grows and morphs into a large grand piano. Perry sits at the bench and calls out to the crowd as they all eat dinner, “I’ll play some songs from the past in a moment, but this time I’d like to start with something new that I just came up with.”
He begins to play some soft notes on the piano as the song begins. Purple and gold fey lights begin to dance around the cavern, dimly illuminating the area as he plays. With each keystroke, a different pattern of lights fade in and out. ♫ ♬♩ ♪ Baby, don’t understand, Why we can’t just hold on, To each others hands, This meal might be my last, I fear, Unless I, make it all too clear, I need you sooooooooooooooooooooo,
(Woah-oooooohhhhhh)
Take, these purple wings, And learn to fly again, Learn to live so free, When you hear my soft voice sing, The book of love will open up, And let us in, Take, these purple wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings ♩ ♬♪♫
He continues to perform a few older songs, then comes back to dinner with everyone. He tries to make conversation with Zip, “You look fantastic in that dress. So, how do you like living down here? Do you ever come to the surface? I’m from a city called Neverwinter on the coast to the North, but lately I’ve been traveling with the Silver Blaze here. Say, do you like lemon cakes?”
The bard produces a lemon cake. He hums a brief tune as purple lights encircle the cake and freshen it up.
Cratol will follow the group into the cavern and to dinner as more plans are made before we either fight this dragon or get it to help us with the mind flayers. Either way it sounds like a nice dinner is what we are currently getting out of this.
Zz'Pzora nods in satisfaction as most of the group begins following her. "Very well, come along then Balaena, we have guests for tonight. Perhaps you could show them how well you dance?"
Out of a shadowy corner steps another figure. She looks a bit like a drow woman, but with more bestial facial features and a second pair of arms emerging from her shoulders. Balaena is clearly garbed for battle, wearing a set of armor that looks like scales taken from some large reptilian beast and dyed a dark grey. She carries a pair of drow made hand crossbows and a wand sits at her side. She doesn't say a word, and instead glares at the group before stiffly walking back into the dragon's main lair. Vadim and the others with him beat a hasty retreat, soon disappearing into the underdark.
The lair in question proves to be a surprisingly comfortable and well appointed series of chambers. Each of them are large enough to accommodate Zz'Pzora in her natural form, but some are clearly designed with smaller creatures in mind. Such as the lounge area you are ushered to. The center of the space is wide open, and the outer areas are lined with colorful cushions and pillows, the largest of them big enough to serve as a young child's bed on their own.
A whistle from your host summons another figure. Another woman, although this one is perhaps only an inch or two over three feet tall. Her skin and hair are almost the same color, a pale stony grey. The deep gnome grows visibly excited upon seeing you, "Visitors! Oh, finally. Zip, does this mean...?!" "Yes Gabble, break out those good recipes of yours, we're having a feast tonight." Gabble practically dances out of the room, and soon faint clattering noises echo in the distance.
Zz'Pzora lounges on the cushions, and indicates for the Blaze to do the same while Perry sings. She claps as he finishes, smiling. Answering his questions, she says, "I like it here well enough. Life is harsher than the surface world, but is it ever truly easy anywhere? And yes, I have visited the surface from time to time, mostly out of curiosity, I do not care for that sun of yours, it does not suit me."
She takes the lemon cake and nibbles on it as she asks, "And what of you all? You do not strike me as simple treasure seekers. What brings you down to these realms? It has been some time since we have heard much from the surface."
At the sight of the scowling, multi armed figure, Lawrance's eyes go wider and he admires her as he recognizes the rare variant of the species. Through the link, he tells the group that that was a Draegloth, the offspring of a Drow priestess, a demon lord and powerful divine magic rituals. #The males are a bit more common, and far more demonic. When the lucky result is a female, the connection to their patron Lloth passes through these beings and allows them to tap into the divine magic as a Drow priestess would! They are reported to be higly intelligent and fierce foes. I wonder why she's working with ZZ'Pzora? They are the Favoured Ones, considered holy and a symbol of Lloth's divine support, and usually remain in the priesthood. For one to leave Her service, there must be a great story.#
Answering Zz'Pzora's question for his own, he says "For the most part, my own path is to seek knowledge. Meeting this Realm's unusual and unique beings and creations, and learning more and more of all the wonders that divine and mortal hands have wrought, and trying to apply what I learn to help those in need. Recently, my own goals have been put on hold in favour of a far more serious threat, as I'm sure Perry or Velon will tell you the details of. I'm sure you've heard the call of the Horn. OThis is more than a localized problem, but a cross planar threat. One that truly threatens to shake our world, down even beyond the forgotten depths of the Underdark itself. We all stand in the path of destruction and do what we can to prevent it."
If Balaena interacts with Lawrance in any way, he tries to engage in friendly conversation. If that fails, he'll shrug but still pay more attention to her than Zz'Pzora, on average.
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“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?" "Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied ― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Morgaine will step out of the shadows and stand next to Poljen. She does not speak a word only listens and keeps a watching eye and ear for danger.
Upon entering the Dragons's lair, she takes a cushion as close to Poljen as she can and listens to Perry's song. She almost becomes entranced by it as he plays and the lights dance around the place.
Poljen enters the dragon's abode, more to protect his companions if things go wrong than any interest in dining with the creature. He mostly stays silent, watching. Once his friends eat and drink with no ill effects, he will partake of the food and water, but unusually, no ale.
Perry pulls out what appears to be a smoking pipe from his bag, then responds to Zip’s questions. “Well, you see my dear, your earlier observation was correct. We are here because we were told by this evil vampire lady...”
As he mentions the vampire lady, Perry inhales smoke from the pipe then breathes it out in a plume of smoke that morphs into a small, smokey version of the vampire lady.
“We allied with this evil vampire lady at a bizarre slave orgy in order to defeat her boss who is this famous lich you see.”
He breathes more smoke to show a lich.
“Anyway, the food was great but in order to defeat the lich we allegedly need a powerful holy artifact to destroy his fried pastry, which is what allows him to resurrect you see, and be immortal and whatnot. And the reason we need him dead is because he is working with this evil cult.”
He breathes out smoke to show a cultist.
“This evil cult that plans to end the whole world by summoning some dragon goddess.”
He breathes out smoke to show Tiamat.
“A dragon goddess who they naively believe isn’t going to just eat and/or enslave them all when she arrives anyway. Us being mere ant-like mortals, we clearly have a vested interest in stopping that from happening, you see. And so we hired Jarlaxle Faeux-rae over there to lead us to this illithid hole.”
He breathes out smoke to show a mind flayer.
“And then we met you.”
He blows a final plume that morphs into a really badass version of her dragon form with some hearts around it.
“And that’s pretty much why we are here,” Perry says.
Zz'Pzora states, "The issue with this cult certainly does sound serious, and not at all surprising. My cousins living on the surface have always taken themselves and their gods too seriously as far as I'm concerned. What is this about a Horn I'm supposed to have heard of though?"
She smirks at Perry's explanation, "I can only assume that this handsome fool is so taken with me that he forgot some important details there. Would anyone care to fill in the blanks?"
Just then, the deep gnome you saw earlier comes back, supervising a small earth elemental as it carries a large platter full of tea cups and some manner of pastries, though the texture and color of latter is unusual, its clear that something other than wheat was used. Your hostess waves in her direction as the gnome rushes back out. "That was Gabble, flighty little thing isn't she? Met her about a decade ago, alone and starving. She had the temerity to steal a leg of meat from one of my kills. I was going to eat her, but by the time I got to her, she'd cooked that meat to perfection, it smelled divine. Offered her a job on the spot. Startled her so badly she fainted rather than answering me right away. But it worked out in the end."
Balaena meanwhile sits in a corner and glowers at you all. Its fairly clear that she doesn't trust you, and is waiting for you to take some hostile action.
"I believe I heard what you did." Velon looks sideways at Lawrance wondering what that says about this particular dragon. "One of our chromatic allies confirmed they are summoning Her allies together."
Velon tries to subtly cast Detect Poison and Disease over the meal to see if anything has been mixed into their food. If she catches him, oh well, they have reason not to trust one another.
Velon suddenly stands and knocks his chair over, but then looks like he doesn't know what to do next. "Ah, a toast, to the potential for an alliance here. Also, a question for our host... How valuable would a piece of information have to be for you to trade your cook for it?" He holds his glass out toward her in an effort to keep her from drinking again just for a few seconds.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lia has a cautious look on her face. The dragoness is pleasant to converse with but the drow hybrid is concerning. She glances at Mari who subtly nods. Lia partakes of the food and drink but Mari doesn't. She pretends to sip her drink though. Mari listens intently to see if they are being played in any way.
Velon's tries to hide his surprise a bit when Perry tries to get the dragon to join them and reveals their plan, but it is replaced by amusement as Perry's plan seems to indeed have potential. Already flanking Perry closely to support and protect him, if even possible, Velon takes half a step forward in acknowledgement of Zz'Pzora's command. He waves an arm for everyone else to do so as well. "Greetings Zz'Pzora, I am Velon of the Silver Blaze. We could extend our efforts to strike at the elder brain of Ch'chitl, yielding you a much larger territory and perhaps even a better lair, although admittedly I have never seen Ch'chitl."
Your drow escort steps out of the shadows as well, clearly uncomfortable and itching to get back into cover. Zz'Pzora eyes them warily but says nothing about them. Instead she responds to Velon with a thoughtful tone.
"So now we speak of more than just a raid, but an assault on the center of their city with extermination in mind. The risk continues to go up."
"My territory would not be expanded by this. Too many hostile powers in between this place and there for it to be useful in that way. The possibility of a new lair is more likely, though far from a guarantee. The city is well located, there is an issue for me being that maintaining proper defense and maintenance of such a location will require additional underlings, though that is easily remedied."
"So, let us pretend that this intrigues me for the moment, not least because everyone has reason to loathe those things. What is your plan? If you were hoping to rely exclusively on my strength, forget it. I could slaughter the mind controlled minions of that city easily enough, but my kind and the mindflayers have a difficult time having a meaningful impact on each other. Tearing each of them apart with my claws would be more than tedious, and should they get lucky enough to capture me, a fate far worse than death awaits."
Poljen steps out with the others, a slight scowl on his face. He listens as they 'bargain' with the dragon, then adds, "Bah. We will tear apart the mindflayers if you will not. Or can not."
Cratol will step out of the shadows so that he can be seen. He still watches what is going on and does not say anything that may be harmful to the negotiations.
Lawrance steps into the line of fire as well, bowing low and introducing himself. "Our goals here are very much the ending of the Illithid's hold in these areas, as much as we are able to. If an alliance benefits you and you lend your aid to our goal, why not see yourself gain much in the attempt? We will not be remaining to secure the stronghold we liberate, leaving a power vacuum that surely one who laid low the renowned Pharx would be able to take advantage of! Our own renown on the surface has brought this colony to our attention, and those who called up to do so know that we have the ability to take care of it, even on our own. Your aid would make the task all that much easier, and allow us to leave knowing they will not be able to rebuild their abhorrent colony for your continued presence."
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Perry looks at Zip with a soft smile and a soft touch on her claw. With a short bow he whispers back to her, "I aim to please and would be honored, my dear."
Regarding the overall discussion, Perry says, "Great Zz'Pzora, the group before you may not look like much to one as beautiful and powerful as yourself, but the Silver Blaze here actually has quite a track record with exterminating powerful monsters. Together, they have slain both a white and a green adult dragon, they have faced down a yuanti horde and a weird mummy guy, they have defeated the thugs of the legendary Bodunk the Shark, they have fought an entire army led by a crazy blue half-dragon guy, there was a vampire and some giants once too I think, and much more. In fact, Velon here is still wearing that half-dragon's guy's armor. I've written many songs of their exploits in my travels with them and I promise you we can take out a big fat brain and some squids, especially with your help. If I may, would you like to hear some of the songs I've written so far?"
Lia puts away her bow and joins the others. She bows before the dragon. " Greetings, oh great one. I am Lia Galanodal, servant of Sune. As has been said, we are familiar with and have worked in alliance with your kin. I have spoken with Lenninthon, the honorable blue. We actually worked alongside an ancient white dragon who is called Old Man Death. I speak to him daily through spellcraft and he is a friend. I still owe him a dance. " She pauses and smiles. " We have also worked with Protanther an ancient Gold. We can be valuable allies in this and it will benefit all of us. I can stay close to you during the battle and dedicate my healing powers to keeping you safe. Let us work with you.. ." She gestures casually towards the dragon and a warmth pervades the dragon. " Enjoy the blessing of Sune. "
She cast bless on the drake.
The drake turns to look at you all, bluntly stating, "I believe the surfacer expression for this is beating around the bush. You have no plan then. Did you hope for me to take care of all the details? No, you would be foolish to trust that to an unknown quantity. You're making it up as you go along."
"Let me take a stab at guessing what happened here. You want these Tears for your own purposes, these Bregan D'aerthe dogs were hired to get rid of me due to my raids on skullport. Each group convinced the other to help. On coming here, at the last minute you thought to try and use me against the mindflayers rather than waste the opportunity. How close am I?" She snorts in apparent mirth, a bit of light purple smoke emerging from her nostrils.
"Lucky for you I like a bit of intrigue, and the tiefling is such a beautiful speaker that I would indeed like to hear him sing. It would be such a shame to tear him or his mind apart. So, I present to you a choice. We can fight this out now, and you can find out just how well prepared I am for such an occasion, or you can be my guests for tonight. It has been quite some time since I have entertained visitors, and the threat you pose makes the possibilities all the more interesting. We can discuss whether or not we will be killing each other tomorrow over dinner, and if the answer is no, perhaps we can discuss other things, like this half cocked plan of yours and whether or not it is viable."
Zz'Pzora walks a few paces away, shrinking as she goes. Within a few moments, she has turned into a mostly humanoid figure. A beautiful woman in a sleek black dress, with shining purple scales adorning her in various places like jewelry. Her crest is still there, poking like a fin out of her shoulder length light purple hair.
She turns back to you, raising a hand in greetings as she declares, "I swear upon my mother's heartscale that if you step forward in peace now, then I will not break that peace until you depart my lair or until one full day has passed, whichever occurs first, so let it be known."
Vadim whispers into Velon's ear, "Such an oath is not to be taken lightly, her kind will lie, murder, and worse in a heartbeat, but in the end they take such vows quite seriously. Still, I'm not going in there. You want to take the chance fine, but we're staying outside. Think of it as insurance, we'd be able to spread word among her kind that she's an oathbreaker if there is a problem."
She rolled pretty dang high on her Insight check, so...
At that announcement, Lawrance relaxes a bit, still wary but more than happy at an out come that doesn't see such a marvelous being destroyed wantonly. #I'm all for fireside chats and peaceful dinners. If our goal is just to stop her depredations, we may yet come to an agreement to suits all of us.#
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Perry nods along as Zip sees through their entire plan and purpose of being here. As she transforms into humanoid form, his eyes grow wide. He turns to the party, his eyes beaming with admiration for her, and exclaims, "She's so smart you guys! She already figured everything out!"
He's clearly infatuated.
He pulls himself together, then turns back to address Zip. He lets out a weary sigh, "Yeah, I mean, you're right to be honest. We should probably put together a real plan. Perhaps you could help us with that, my dear? I'm sure you know this place better than these dark elves here. Matter of fact, the only reason we even hired these jamokes was because that guy over there..." Perry points to the Jarlaxle look-alike, "...looks like a famous dark elf named Jarlaxle, what with the hat and all. Of course, he's not actually Jarlaxle, but I still got his autograph. Anyway, the point is, maybe over dinner we could discuss some other angles of approach. We have a wizard and a lot of tricks. We have an earth elemental named Geode who does great work if we want to burrow. I'm afraid I’m more beauty than brains myself, but I'm certain that together we can create a good plan with some teamwork!"
"Besides, dinner sounds much more appealing to me than fighting. The boss man over there makes the final call, but I'm sure he'll agree as well," Perry says to Zip, referring to Velon. Once the talking is done, and everyone is ready, Perry will follow Zip wherever she leads them.
---
At the dinner, Perry changes his disguise to a nice formal purple and black suit with some gold jewelry adorned on the wrists. He lays his black scimitar on the ground. Shadows coalesce around the blade as it grows and morphs into a large grand piano. Perry sits at the bench and calls out to the crowd as they all eat dinner, “I’ll play some songs from the past in a moment, but this time I’d like to start with something new that I just came up with.”
He begins to play some soft notes on the piano as the song begins. Purple and gold fey lights begin to dance around the cavern, dimly illuminating the area as he plays. With each keystroke, a different pattern of lights fade in and out.
♫ ♬♩ ♪
Baby, don’t understand,
Why we can’t just hold on,
To each others hands,
This meal might be my last, I fear,
Unless I, make it all too clear,
I need you sooooooooooooooooooooo,
(Woah-oooooohhhhhh)
Take, these purple wings,
And learn to fly again,
Learn to live so free,
When you hear my soft voice sing,
The book of love will open up,
And let us in,
Take, these purple wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings
♩ ♬♪♫
He continues to perform a few older songs, then comes back to dinner with everyone. He tries to make conversation with Zip, “You look fantastic in that dress. So, how do you like living down here? Do you ever come to the surface? I’m from a city called Neverwinter on the coast to the North, but lately I’ve been traveling with the Silver Blaze here. Say, do you like lemon cakes?”
The bard produces a lemon cake. He hums a brief tune as purple lights encircle the cake and freshen it up.
Performance with Advantage: 38, 25
Cratol will follow the group into the cavern and to dinner as more plans are made before we either fight this dragon or get it to help us with the mind flayers. Either way it sounds like a nice dinner is what we are currently getting out of this.
Zz'Pzora nods in satisfaction as most of the group begins following her. "Very well, come along then Balaena, we have guests for tonight. Perhaps you could show them how well you dance?"
Out of a shadowy corner steps another figure. She looks a bit like a drow woman, but with more bestial facial features and a second pair of arms emerging from her shoulders. Balaena is clearly garbed for battle, wearing a set of armor that looks like scales taken from some large reptilian beast and dyed a dark grey. She carries a pair of drow made hand crossbows and a wand sits at her side. She doesn't say a word, and instead glares at the group before stiffly walking back into the dragon's main lair. Vadim and the others with him beat a hasty retreat, soon disappearing into the underdark.
The lair in question proves to be a surprisingly comfortable and well appointed series of chambers. Each of them are large enough to accommodate Zz'Pzora in her natural form, but some are clearly designed with smaller creatures in mind. Such as the lounge area you are ushered to. The center of the space is wide open, and the outer areas are lined with colorful cushions and pillows, the largest of them big enough to serve as a young child's bed on their own.
A whistle from your host summons another figure. Another woman, although this one is perhaps only an inch or two over three feet tall. Her skin and hair are almost the same color, a pale stony grey. The deep gnome grows visibly excited upon seeing you, "Visitors! Oh, finally. Zip, does this mean...?!" "Yes Gabble, break out those good recipes of yours, we're having a feast tonight." Gabble practically dances out of the room, and soon faint clattering noises echo in the distance.
Zz'Pzora lounges on the cushions, and indicates for the Blaze to do the same while Perry sings. She claps as he finishes, smiling. Answering his questions, she says, "I like it here well enough. Life is harsher than the surface world, but is it ever truly easy anywhere? And yes, I have visited the surface from time to time, mostly out of curiosity, I do not care for that sun of yours, it does not suit me."
She takes the lemon cake and nibbles on it as she asks, "And what of you all? You do not strike me as simple treasure seekers. What brings you down to these realms? It has been some time since we have heard much from the surface."
At the sight of the scowling, multi armed figure, Lawrance's eyes go wider and he admires her as he recognizes the rare variant of the species. Through the link, he tells the group that that was a Draegloth, the offspring of a Drow priestess, a demon lord and powerful divine magic rituals. #The males are a bit more common, and far more demonic. When the lucky result is a female, the connection to their patron Lloth passes through these beings and allows them to tap into the divine magic as a Drow priestess would! They are reported to be higly intelligent and fierce foes. I wonder why she's working with ZZ'Pzora? They are the Favoured Ones, considered holy and a symbol of Lloth's divine support, and usually remain in the priesthood. For one to leave Her service, there must be a great story.#
Answering Zz'Pzora's question for his own, he says "For the most part, my own path is to seek knowledge. Meeting this Realm's unusual and unique beings and creations, and learning more and more of all the wonders that divine and mortal hands have wrought, and trying to apply what I learn to help those in need. Recently, my own goals have been put on hold in favour of a far more serious threat, as I'm sure Perry or Velon will tell you the details of. I'm sure you've heard the call of the Horn. OThis is more than a localized problem, but a cross planar threat. One that truly threatens to shake our world, down even beyond the forgotten depths of the Underdark itself. We all stand in the path of destruction and do what we can to prevent it."
If Balaena interacts with Lawrance in any way, he tries to engage in friendly conversation. If that fails, he'll shrug but still pay more attention to her than Zz'Pzora, on average.
“Can you tell me the difference between a witch and a wizard?"
"Sure, a wizard is what they call you when they want to hire you, and a witch is what they call you when they're getting ready to run you out of town.” SunWolf replied
― Barbara Hambly, The Witches of Wenshar
Morgaine will step out of the shadows and stand next to Poljen. She does not speak a word only listens and keeps a watching eye and ear for danger.
Upon entering the Dragons's lair, she takes a cushion as close to Poljen as she can and listens to Perry's song. She almost becomes entranced by it as he plays and the lights dance around the place.
Poljen enters the dragon's abode, more to protect his companions if things go wrong than any interest in dining with the creature. He mostly stays silent, watching. Once his friends eat and drink with no ill effects, he will partake of the food and water, but unusually, no ale.
Perry pulls out what appears to be a smoking pipe from his bag, then responds to Zip’s questions. “Well, you see my dear, your earlier observation was correct. We are here because we were told by this evil vampire lady...”
As he mentions the vampire lady, Perry inhales smoke from the pipe then breathes it out in a plume of smoke that morphs into a small, smokey version of the vampire lady.
“We allied with this evil vampire lady at a bizarre slave orgy in order to defeat her boss who is this famous lich you see.”
He breathes more smoke to show a lich.
“Anyway, the food was great but in order to defeat the lich we allegedly need a powerful holy artifact to destroy his fried pastry, which is what allows him to resurrect you see, and be immortal and whatnot. And the reason we need him dead is because he is working with this evil cult.”
He breathes out smoke to show a cultist.
“This evil cult that plans to end the whole world by summoning some dragon goddess.”
He breathes out smoke to show Tiamat.
“A dragon goddess who they naively believe isn’t going to just eat and/or enslave them all when she arrives anyway. Us being mere ant-like mortals, we clearly have a vested interest in stopping that from happening, you see. And so we hired Jarlaxle Faeux-rae over there to lead us to this illithid hole.”
He breathes out smoke to show a mind flayer.
“And then we met you.”
He blows a final plume that morphs into a really badass version of her dragon form with some hearts around it.
“And that’s pretty much why we are here,” Perry says.
Pipe of Smoke Monsters
Zz'Pzora states, "The issue with this cult certainly does sound serious, and not at all surprising. My cousins living on the surface have always taken themselves and their gods too seriously as far as I'm concerned. What is this about a Horn I'm supposed to have heard of though?"
She smirks at Perry's explanation, "I can only assume that this handsome fool is so taken with me that he forgot some important details there. Would anyone care to fill in the blanks?"
Just then, the deep gnome you saw earlier comes back, supervising a small earth elemental as it carries a large platter full of tea cups and some manner of pastries, though the texture and color of latter is unusual, its clear that something other than wheat was used. Your hostess waves in her direction as the gnome rushes back out. "That was Gabble, flighty little thing isn't she? Met her about a decade ago, alone and starving. She had the temerity to steal a leg of meat from one of my kills. I was going to eat her, but by the time I got to her, she'd cooked that meat to perfection, it smelled divine. Offered her a job on the spot. Startled her so badly she fainted rather than answering me right away. But it worked out in the end."
Balaena meanwhile sits in a corner and glowers at you all. Its fairly clear that she doesn't trust you, and is waiting for you to take some hostile action.
"I believe I heard what you did." Velon looks sideways at Lawrance wondering what that says about this particular dragon. "One of our chromatic allies confirmed they are summoning Her allies together."
Velon tries to subtly cast Detect Poison and Disease over the meal to see if anything has been mixed into their food. If she catches him, oh well, they have reason not to trust one another.
Velon suddenly stands and knocks his chair over, but then looks like he doesn't know what to do next. "Ah, a toast, to the potential for an alliance here. Also, a question for our host... How valuable would a piece of information have to be for you to trade your cook for it?" He holds his glass out toward her in an effort to keep her from drinking again just for a few seconds.
Lia has a cautious look on her face. The dragoness is pleasant to converse with but the drow hybrid is concerning. She glances at Mari who subtly nods. Lia partakes of the food and drink but Mari doesn't. She pretends to sip her drink though. Mari listens intently to see if they are being played in any way.
Mari insight: 29