Grana looks wide-eyed, from Soar to the cultists to Jalt and back again at Soar. She seems hesitant, unsure of what to do or say.

Jalt looks to Soar and then looks to the bodies. We must leave this place at once Jalt says We've been allowed to leave here in one piece, and it's in our best interest to do so tastefully. 

Soar, the cultist leader says simply. No. Your things are now the property of Lord Chuth. And he has not granted anything to you, except your lives. Be grateful.

At Grana's agreement, the elves help you carry Tangle and Bazavur out of the cave; the cultists escort you, and instruct you all to dive into the pool that exits the dragon's lair. You leave in silence. 

The cultists do not follow; you stand outside, by the side of the same pool near where you camped and rested before. Twelve elves stand with you, blinking in confusion, not willing yet to believe they have been released, but not daring to ask questions. Between them, they carry the bodies of your fallen comrades. But they have nothing on them except their torn clothes.

They look to you for guidance on what to do next.

A shape moves in the forest, and Candelabra emerges, walking slowly towards Soar.

Soar walks over to Candelabra and gives him a hug, nearly collapsing, murmuring slurred, quiet confessions to the elk that she’d failed, she’d lost Tangle and Bazavur, she’d caused the mission to be a catastrophe. She’d shed a few tears after waking up in the prison cave, but this is when she really collapses. 

She pulls herself together after a brief spell of this and walks to Jalt. She asks him what happened, not trusting herself to have a real conversation about everything. If he is not in the mood to talk, she goes to Grana. She asks her what she and her friends wish to do, are capable of doing. If they know about living off the land of this forest, if they wanted to rush back home. 

Her voice is a hollow echo of what it once was. And she is nearly dead on her feet. 

"Go home," Grana replies. "We want to go home. Can you take us there? You're not armed. I... the forest is dangerous, even for those of us who were born here, and I don't know this place well. Ganz is a tracker; he can help us find the way" she indicates one of the elves, "but we're not warriors. I'm a schoolteacher."

Still eyeing Jalt and giving him time to process, and unsure how they ever got free, Soar says in response to Grana, "I will get you home. I need an hour or two to bind up these wounds and rest. Then I can take care of threats in the forest. I don't have my... well, I don't have anything. But a thick branch, about this long, can serve as a club. Jalt, share what happened any time you can, and what we need to do if we want to take care of... our friends."

She tries to guide the group away, and then perhaps near their old hiding spot but not as close. She's looking for rest, not a scouting roost. She'll spend most time with Bazavur and Tangle's bodies, but tries to bind her wounds and rest. She does not cry. If anyone talks to her, she goes through an effort to speak, and will ask people's names and vocations and health statuses, to see what they're dealing with in what will be an arduous journey back to town. She'll look for any fallen branches and any stone she could chip into a sharp edge, to try to fashion a club. This is a very different Soar than the one who came into the dragon's lair.

Soar, make a Survival check to try to find a place to rest. You can make it as a straight roll or with disadvantage, depending on how you judge Soar's mood.

Survival check, disadvantage (or straight!) roll: 2

You struggle to find somewhere that you're happy with, and it takes longer than you'd planned. Eventually you find a spot next to the cliff face that offers no special benefits, but you can't seem to find anywhere better. You pick up a branch of wood but are not sure how to fashion it into something easier to use as a weapon.

Are you making camp to take a short rest?

(Soar would very much like to, so if it's up to her, she does so.)

And so she does. The elves assist, and Bazavur and Tangle are once again laid out in respectful poses at the edge of the camp while the elves make repeated nervous glances in the direction of the dragon lair, not fair away.

You both complete your short rest; please roll hit die in Avrae or the game channel.

There's been no sign of movement or interference from the dragon or the cultists, and you have not seen or heard the dragon take flight.

Rolled in avrae, all but one HD, so she's at 54hp now, short rest taken.

If Jalt pipes up, Soar speaks with him about what happened (will have to hold majority of what she does based on that). "We lost everything. Almost everything. We have our lives, and these people's, and I don't know why. We failed in our mission, completely, but at least I took down that dragonrider. Jalt, did you know that was the son of the king? Prince Neronvain, Grana told me. Maybe he was the mastermind of the attacks. Maybe he was working with the Warden somehow. Did you see the warden? The dragon won, and the cult won, but at least the traitor prince was taken down. Do you think you can try to bring Tangle or Bazavur back? What are we to do?"

She spends other parts of the rest talking with Grana and any others, asking about their vocations, if any have spent a lot of time in the forest, know how to forage. If any are woodworkers or fletchers. She looks at her branch and spends the remainder of the time either working on it to make it more weapon-like or if it's hopeless, looking around for a better option to make a better attempt, perhaps with the help of one of the elves. She makes it clear that their survival depends on how well she can hit things that might try to eat them. 

Jalt waits till mostly everyone is sleeping before he approaches Soar. In a whispered voice... we lost to that dragon. We lost Tangle and Bazavur...but the hoard is gone now. He said it must be this way... Jalt pauses a second and retells Soar everything that went down inside with the dragon and the elf. 

(Does he tell her that he has another 500gp of diamond to raise someone from the dead?)

(he does)

"He's... he's alive? That was the deal?" Soar says, her voice cracking, and her fallen face crumbling even more. "So we lost everything, and accomplished nothing." She goes to tug at her holy symbol, often a source of comfort, but it's gone now and her hand fumbles at her throat. She goes back to the well of hope once more, dry as it is. "But you did save our lives. We would be dead too, if not for that. Can you bring back someone today?!? And you said the hoard is gone now, but you said the dragon is leaving with... with... Neronvain. Is the cult bringing the hoard on foot? We don't have much but we could at least try getting back what they don't take.... we could attack from afar...." Soar says, her brain spinning. She's a coin flip from giving up and returning to her chapterhouse and giving up the hero life... or trying again to take down the cultists that the dragon might leave behind. 

Soar reflects on what she's just said. Greed is anathema to a death knight of the Lord of the Grave. Possessions are transitory and cannot be ferried from this realm to the next. Making decisions based on attachments to objects, however magical they may be, is against her religion.

At the same time, she hears Ontharr's voice in her head.

"You are very skilled and powerful. You wear magical armour and carry magical weapons. Of course I can requisition healing potions for you, or a magical shield. And that takes them away from soldiers who may die without them, and who do not have a powerful cleric or paladin at their side on the battlefield."

If there is a chance at getting some of those items back, to take them away from cultists who would use them against the forces of civilization, and instead to use them to fight Tiamat and the cult, then she's willing to take it. Even if all she has is eldritch blasts and a stick.

A couple of elves will have a look around to see if they can find any more suitable weapons for you all:

22

Okay, they manage to find one branch that is straight, with a little work, and they set about cutting off the twigs and leaves. They produce a makeshift quarterstaff; it's not something you can sell, but it's usable as a regular quarterstaff rather than as an improvised weapon. That's all they can do at this location; perhaps as you travel, they might manage more.

Soar almost marvels at the basic quarterstaff. She can barely speak. She's grateful. She tries some practice swings, getting used to it. (Adding a quarterstaff to sheet.)