Mari cleans her swords and holsters them.  She keeps a watchful eye on her surroundings.  

Lia beams at her friends.  " The Silver Blaze comes through yet again. Nice job everyone.  " She thanks Sune silently.  

Perry grimaces as Lawrance inspects the putrid pile. "Wizards..." he grumbles.

 Lawrance scans the smelly pile of refuse, but no traces of magic show up in the range of his spell.

 Cratol takes a moment to relax and once again breathe more easily now that another battle has been won.  Once everyone is ready he will follow along once again but ready for any other problem. 

The drow mercs hurry the group along, at one point ushering the Blaze into a small side passage while a gaggle of Derro rush by, apparently investigating the disturbance.

A few more days of this pass. One of the more interesting highlights of the journey involves dropping down an old vertical magma channel. Your escorts expertly set up ropes, and a few at a time the group proceeds down the shaft, which is almost two thousand feet in height, long enough for you to spend a long time in darkness with nothing visible above or below.

Eventually you reach your destination, or close enough. Vadim tells you, "The lair entry is a few thousand feet that way. According to the scouts the deep dragon went hunting and caught something big a few days back, so its probably not hungry right now. You guys are the dragon experts, how do you want to proceed?"

"Ahem, yes, dragon escorts...I mean experts. That's exactly what we are," Perry responds as he gives a glance to Velon. "As for the plan, hrmph-ph-ph, I say we offer this deep dragon a token of appreciation, then surprise it with the old KAPOW! Now here me out, as dragon esco...experts, we obviously know that dragons love treasure. I suggest we bring it an illusory wagon of purple treasure as an offering. While it is mesmerized by the shines, KAPOW in the kisser!"

"What do you say?" Perry asks, looking to the group expectantly. 

While the plans start, Lawrance refreshes the Telepathic Bind spell. enabling the connection between the party members once more. Out loud, he says "If this dragon is as wily as the rumoured, Invisibility for some of us may be advised at the start of our encounter. Then we can do a better KAPOW, as Perry says. I'll help Perry pick the right words that the dragon would listen to, if that's how we approach this."

Cratol Thinks about what this dragon will be like to fight.  He knows about the dragons on the surface with the evil side and the good side but these deep dragons may be a bit more difficult to over come.  Well he does have faith in his companions and knows that no matter what happens with this dragon that it too will join the ranks of the other dragons that have fallen to the might of the Silver Blaze.

  Lia  puts her hand on Velon's shoulder.  Uttering a few words to Sune he feels a sense of peace.  She gets an arrow of dragon slaying ready.  

  Mari gets 2 arrows of dragon slaying ready along with her short bow.  

OOC: She cast death ward on Velon.  No concentration required. 

Velon smiles at Lia in appreciation for her and the ward from her and Sune.

"Ah, Perry, that's a good start to a plan, I think.  Would we really come all the way down here just to pay tribute to this dragon we've never met though?  Maybe the tribute should be for safe passage through its territory?  Maybe you could even hint at needing passage to go after some sort of treasure near our destination?   It might show more interest in enough, you know, enough time to get ready for the, ah, KAPOW, or if you're REALLY persuasive it may even want to go looking on its own and cause trouble for these mind flayers and the like that we are going to tangle with."

Lawrance thinks for a moment and says to Perry and Velon "Dragons aren't typically very social creatures, but I bet that if we dropped some names of those dragons we know, it may have some influence on our attempt to con this one. After all, someone still owes Old White Death a dance. " He adds, looking at Lia with a smile. 

Once the group is ready to confront the purple dragon, Perry places two fingers on his lips and hums a quick tune. He pulls out a potion with a white liquid inside and drinks it, then casts another spell. He has both Lia and Lawrance prep him up before the big speech. 

After everyone has made their preparations, Perry moves forward with his hands up. He attempts to get the majestic creatures attention, "Oh great, and majestic purple dragon! We come in peace. My name is Peregrine Maximillian Cornelius Pennington, but please call me Perry. My companions and I seek safe passage through your domain if you will allow it. You see, oh great dragon, I too am purple like you. Us purple creatures need to stick together, for the world would truly be sad and dull without our vibrant bodies to brighten it. But I do have information to trade for this passage. A great and shiny artifact lies deeper in the Underdark, held by evil creatures known as mindflayers. If you wish, you could certainly crush them and take this treasure for your hoard. What do you say oh great purple one?"

Velon moves forward with Perry, shield secured on one arm but his hammer and any other weapons put away for now.  He readies himself to try to cover Perry from any incoming damage.

Poljen simply waits in silence, ready for the call to action, his axe resting on his shoulder.

  Lia smiles at Velon.  The smile masks both excitement and fear.   " I do indeed owe Old White Death a dance.  I haven't  forgotten. After this is over I will pay him a visit.   " She winks at Lawrance as she glances at Velon.  " Perry, by all means let us hope to befriend this majestic creature. It is such a shame to harm one.  "She concentrates and requests that Sune aid Perry.  

She cast guidance to aid his attempt.   

Lawrance, still a bit unsure as to this frontal approach, keeps his spells ready, near the back of the group, ready to cast his protective magics over the gang as the negotiations begin. 

The group pushes up, the passage turning to a rather forbidding cavern. Jagged rock formations frame the area, and spots of a strange purple light drift around the area, causing strange shadows to shift and dance all over the walls, making it very difficult to be sure nothing is hiding.

Any concerns about this issue prove well founded as Perry steps up and makes his challenge. Seemingly out of nowhere, a large figure steps out from between the rocks right in front of Perry, placing a wickedly clawed forelimb on the tiefling's shoulder, the weight of it threatening to stagger him.

The dragon is quite large, but much more slender than most of its cousins, giving it a distinctly serpentine appearance, especially as it smoothly winds its way around the obstacles in this cavern. Its scales are a smooth lustrous purple. "Tell me more of this treasure."

Perry shakes a little bit as the weight of the claw bears down upon him. He attempts to maintain his composure as best as he can as he replies to the huge dragon, "Wow, very nice large but slender claw you have. Love the shade of purple you have going. *cough* Right, anyway, the treasure is some sort of shiny artifact called Lathander's Tears. I'm not too terribly sure what it does to be honest because I was eating lemon cakes while they explained it, but knowing how Nikolas speaks of Lathander - with all the holiness and whatnot, it has to be quite shiny. I'm sure those squidbeards down there have even more treasure too, being a race of conquesting aliens and such. Say, oh great purple one, we'd be happy to accompany one as purple and majestic as yourself to assist in its retrieval. Pathetic and meager as we are compared to your majesty, we do have some talent in spellcasting and mundane fisticuffs. Also, what is your name so that I may address you better, if you don't mind my asking?"

Perry winks at the dragon.

The dragon raises her head in an apparent gesture of pride, "I am Zz'Pzora, stalker of the deeps, slayer of Pharx the terrible. This was his lair once." A claw gently rubs against Perry's face before she removes the hand. She speaks in a sultry whisper for Perry's ears alone, "Continue to please me and perhaps I will allow you to call me Zip."

She turns away, her tone changing, "I presume you speak of the city of Ch'chitl. Such a raid would not be an impossibility, but a matter of considerable danger, even for one such as myself. So, you tempt me with this artifact. But then if I were to claim it, what would you have to gain? I think that these Tears are your goal. If that is the case, and you claim it as yours, what then would be in it for me? Whatever remains of whatever treasure the mindflayers may or may not have claimed? You will have to do better than that."

Gesturing around the cavern, she declares, "And while we speaking of this potential agreement, I would look upon you all, I have little trust for those that cleave to the shadows. Come out here, now."

Through the mental link, Lawrance relays what information has come to him about the former owner of the lair, hoping the details help Perry is his endeavors to win over the dragon's aid. "She has to have heard the Horn, Perry. That might be a way to get her to help, if she understands what is going on on the surface."