Dragon of Icespire Peak ***CLOSED***

Tabesha'l nods as she approaches the orc. " Indeed we must warn the settlers of the danger... and this one will come with us to tell what he knows."

" What do thy people call thee, slogh'ak ? You hath been defeated and now you are our prisoner, yes ? You shall have to redeem the honor you lost through your defeat. I, Tabesha'l of the House Pananthyr, am the one who defeated thee, thus I claim your life and demand service. Do you accept, or do you choose a swift death ?"

She gives the prisoner a non-comittal glance and a small, tight smile.

" Please answer quickly, we do have to move right away, as I'm sure you understand..."

Vaxis finishes his prayer, and turns to look at the Orc. He looks annoyed at his god being insulted, but tempers his irritation.

"I was attempting to allow you to die with honor, rather than have your kinfolk strip it away with your life. To die as a warrior, as I believe tradition holds. Mock me as you will, but denying having a proper death is as bad as the vilest villian."

He then looks to Brutus, and his expression softens.

"I bear no ill will towards our adversary. But as he mentioned before, wherever he goes now, he's a dead ghik. I only mean to spare him an even worse fate that befalls him were he to leave alive. I am having sorrow, Brutus...but it is the way it must be. It is our job as servants to the gods to allow that change to be as peaceful as possible."

Barric is surprised by the sudden vehemence from the firbolg. He had not seem him quite this angry before. He watches in silence as Brutus storms out of the ruin. Stirred by his words, Barric looks to his other companions.

"He speaks his heart, and I feel there is truth in what our friend said. If the orc tribes are being pushed out by the dragon, they will want it gone as much as we do. An enemy of our enemy. Perhaps we should treat this orc not as a prisoner or slave..." Barric glances meaningfully at Tebesha'l, "but as a potential ally."

He walks over and squats down next to the orc.

"How badly do your people hate this dragon? Would they be willing to put aside feuds for the time being to see it removed?"

“The shame of my defeat, of allowing the defeat of my hordesmen, is more painful than any death. Be done with me so that Gruumsh can have my soul...perhaps I will serve him better on Acheron the eternal battle against Maglubiyet and his wretched goblins. My people will not help you as long as they feel they have the power to take your towns from you.”

(OOC: we can continue the RP if you are not done with the orc, but once the party sets out for Phandalin, they make it back with no other combat encounters or dragon sightings.)

Dazlyn scratches his beard for a moment as he watches the drama unfold about what to do with the orc. Then, a brilliant idea strikes him:

”Tell you what, you pig-faced slimeball...we’ll let ye go an’ you can have this here old ruin as yer new home since the dragon kicked ye out of the old fortress at Icespire Peak. Norbus an’ me is done excavatin’ it, but there’s probably plenty of tunnels left for ye to dig out if’n ye want. That blasted wyrm can’t get in here...and why would he want to when he has a whole castle to himself! Ye can be the hero of yer tribe...tell ‘em whatever story ye need to fear them to not kill ya. Me only condition is that ye keep well away from Phandalin. Do we have a deal?”

DAZLYN Charisma (Persuasion) w/advantage 19 vs. DC 11 (orc’s stubbornness)

The orc ponders his fate and the choices before him for a few moments, then looks back at the dwarf and simply says: “Agreed.”

Connak puts his arrow back into his quiver and with a sound of relief says, "Fantastic... now let us get back to town, yeah?  I will start scouting to see if there are any more surprises on the way."

Vaxis breathes a sigh of relief.

"Thank the gods we could avoid more bloodshed today. I am ready to depart this gods-forsaken place with having much hurry."

Tabesha'l bows deeply to the dwarf. When she straightens up, a small smile plays on her lips.

" Very wise compromise, Master Dazlyn. Willst thou be joining us back to Phandalin then ? Methinks thou two would do well to be gone by the time our prisoner brings back his tribe to, shall we say... proceed with the change of ownership."

Turning back to the orc, she gives a small nod and says cooly: " Today both thy beast-gods and the dwarven luck has smiled on thee, creature. Do not betray thy promise, and do not let us bump into yon tribe again. Next time we shan't be so kind-hearted, of this thou can be certain !"

Then finally, nodding at Connak: " Thou hath the right of it, Thuniviel, and I understand thy hurry in going back to town after a job well executed. Yet I suspect thou will want to tell our new mining friends here about their share of the jewels we found: as we previously agreed, their part of the find comes to 15 per cent, which we shall leave for them in Phandalin as soon as we get the stones appraised. Isn't that right ?" Her face seems set in stone, but one can detect the smallest trace of amusement gleaming in the sky-blue eyes underneath the mage's hood.

There is one sentiment that anyone can openly read on Connak's face after Tabesha'l reveals the existence of the gems to the dwarves, and that is - not amused.

The group will find Brutus outside making his necklace waiting for the group.  He joins on the walk back to town.

Barric seems content with the compromise and does not comment further on it.  He steps outside next to Brutus, and speaks as he gets his equipment ready to travel.

"The orc will live."

He says nothing else, and is quiet the way back to Phandalin, keeping his bow ready and both eyes on the sky.

DAZLYN TO TABESHA’L: “Damn right we’re going with ye to Phandalin! Gots to collect on me part of the loot yer kinfolk found! He must’a stumbled across it while we was scattering evr’y which way from that blasted sky lizard...I don’t recall it being mentioned before all this commotion started.”

DAZLYN TO CONNAK: “Fine job lad! Ye managed to run an’ hide from the green skins whilst I killed ‘em with me pickaxe and then found the loot me an’ Norbus has been diggin’ fer months for while me an’ that blue-skinned fella faced down a dragon! And here I was beginning to think this little expedition was gonna be a total bust! Now, do ye want to sit around here jaw-jackin’ until that wyrm shows back up or (motioning to the orc) are you gonna hurry it up cut that wretched pile of troll shite loose so we can be about our way?”

(OOC: I still need to prepare a few things for your visit to town before I will be ready to do that scene. In the meantime, you guys can go ahead an apply your level 3 advancement choices in your character sheets. I assume you will want to visit the Townmaster first to collect on that, then the Miner’s Exchange to turn loot into gold...there are also RP opportunities there that have not been fully explored yet...and then maybe to Barthen’s Provisions or Lionshield Coster to buy stuff and finally to the Stonehill Inn for a meal, a celebratory drink and a good night’s sleep in an actual bed. Let me know if anyone want to change any of that.)

The group manages to return to Phandalin with no issues or dragon sightings. Once they reach the edge of town, Dazlyn and Norbus peel off to go have a drink at Stonehill’s but say that they will be waiting for Connak at the Miner’s Exchange to collect on their share of the loot.

The party approaches Harbin Wester’s modest home but before they could even knock, they hear a gruff voice from behind the door:

”Don’t knock on that door you idiot! Do you have any idea how well dragons can hear?! I’m guessing you’ve gone and done some noble deed that you’re now expecting me to pay you for? And what proof do you have that said ‘noble deed’ has been completed?’

(OOC: the party can easily imagine Wester using sarcastic air quotes around the words “noble deed”.)

Connak replies, loudly, "No noble deeds.  JOBS.  A job outlined on the board.  If you want proof, we can go fetch the dwarves that were prospecting the ruins from the Inn, but I warn you, they're louder and more boisterous than we are and I hear dragons love mayor meat above all else." 

Vaxis' nostrils flare.

"If you are not needing help, then why post to the board? You asked we inform the dwarves. We did that, and made sure they reached town safely. If there was more to this, you're bounty note did not say."

50 gold coins come spilling out the mail slot.

”There! Now hurry up and get off my front porch before you attract any more attention!”

Footsteps can be heard retreating away from the inside of the door.

Connak pockets 10 of the 50 gold and says in passing, "If only we could collect without him speaking at all."

Vaxis sighs.

"Ugh, this man is going to make me lose religion."

Connak heads towards the miner's exchange, talking casually, "Lets go cash in these gems.  What do you all say, the dwarves fifteen percent comes out of Tabesha'l's share?"