Fratty nods enthusiastically "Ooo, yes yes yes! I love teleportation, it makes your body feel all tingly! And the wizards make a great snack at the end!"

Kyrian smiles and nods "Beats those rickety boats."

"Do we want to take the ship back to Waterdeep, as they may be heading in that direction anyway, or take the castle there?" Honor asks.

Chysen nods at this, but glances to Kierro. "The dragons won't be able to enter Waterdeep." He warns. "Waterdeep is protected and dragons are not easily allowed entrance. Some dragons make it their home, so you could recruit more such there, but..." He glances to the dragons around the chamber. "I doubt any of us will be able to enter the city, unless someone has that ability and has not spoken of it yet."

Kierro glances out the window and toward the open sea, replying to Honor: "I would say the castle. Any leg of the journey by a hired boat could be liable to be hit by a storm sent our way."

He nods to Chysen. "That does present a bit of a challenge. I suppose we could set up camp a short distance from the city, some of us go in, either to find us a mage who would be able to help us or to stock up for an over-land journey."

The cleric pauses to take another sip of water. "What sort of city is Waterdeep, if I may ask?" He asks this while looking at Chysen, but glancing to the other dragons as well, inviting them to chime in if they have their own perspectives.

It is not a dragon that answers, but Morgan...

"Waterdeep is the City of Splenders." Morgan says. "My family is one of the most powerful noble houses in the city, and there is no city that can rival Waterdeep for its splender." He settles back into his seat, taking a pull from his ale. "Waterdeep is a fairly large city, with just about anything you might wish to find available somewhere within it. The overall ruler is the Open Lord, with several Hidden Lords making up a council that aids them in ruling. The nobles are next in the pecking order, usually holding high positions in the city of one type or another." He eyes Kierro. "Anything in particular you are looking to find out about the place?"

"Probably how to smuggle dragons in" Kyrian answers sagely

"The only way to get a dragon into the city is by using the staff." Morgan says with a shrug. "It is said that someone in the city has control of it, though I know it is not any of the city's rulers. One of the noble houses might have it, but I think that unlikely."

"Aurinax has the staff." Chysen speaks up. "It is called the dragonstaff of Ahghairon, and Aurinax, a gold dragon, has guarded it inside the city for years now."

Morgan frowns. "Suppose that makes sense, as I wasn't quite sure why dragons were allowed into the city at all, I can say that, if my family had that staff, all dragons would have been expeled, long ago." he glances to the dragons in the room. "Nothing against you lot, just that is how my family thinks."

Kyrian shrugs "In that case, it is simple. We just enter the city, brutally murder this Aurinax fellow, take the staff and allow the dragons to enter the city. Once we have done that, we find a wizard and get them to teleport us all close to the items. Sounds fun if you ask me" 

Kierro's eyes gleam at the description. He had traveled everywhere in his duties back home, but large cities were where he felt he thrived.

"It sounds like a wonderful place. I'll look forward to seeing it, then. I suppose I should ask what a traveler might be drawn to. Culture, landmarks, festivals, and the like."

His mouth hangs agape for a moment, before he speaks in response to Kyrian: "No. The ward around the city's important. Without it, everyone in that city becomes vulnerable to attack from any dragon that wishes it. And besides, both the staff and the ward it creates are probably kept under constant watch. Any sign of a dragon in the city is bound to draw attention to us."

Kierro leans back in his chair, huffing a bit. "But most importantly. It's murder. And completely unreasonable. Aurinax protects that city and hasn't done anything to harm it, or us for that matter. We don't have to bring the dragons into the city, after all. If it becomes necessary, I will seek out Aurinax and request that they be allowed in. Though I doubt it will need to come to that. Killing him would do nothing but make everything worse."

Kyrian pouts a little, but waves his hand nonchalantly "Fine, fine. We will just borrow the staff. As in steal it. We can let our dragons in and then put it back before anyone notices. Then again, if they DO notice us, we can have a murder-fest in self defence!"

To Kierro, Honor asks "The castle is safe from attack as well, correct? Or can gods tear apart its cloudy foundation?"

"I'd rather leave Waterdeep as potential allies, and not burn a bridge I don't have to," Honor says. "We hardly need the lot of us to hire a single spellcaster."

“We’re not stealing anything. Or killing anyone.” Kierro responds. “Nothing of the sort. That’s why we were banished to this world; because some of our kind performed such acts. Continuing to do them here proves that the gods were right to do so.”

He nods in agreement with Honor. “I very much wish to explore the city, meet its people. Remain in their good graces...

As to the castle, I’m not sure. If it flies above cloud level it will be hard to hit it with a storm.”

Flopping back in his chair, Kyrian sighs "You're so damn BORING. I would just go and do it myself, but unfortunately I like this group. What would you have in mind instead? If it isn't exciting then I am not interested."

“May i offer a compromise? I totally agree that we can just talk with this dragon guardian. It is a dragon after all and as such a simple request from us should hold quite some weight, especially if made by someone with the same mindset as a gold dragon. Now how do we go about finding that golden fellow? How about we ask the local crime syndicate? I am sure they have some connections in high places. And if it comes to aggressive  negotiations, we do not need to feel bad about it. Although, aggression shouldn’t be our first choice of action, it is always so final and hard to correct.” Nadariel adds his two copper to the discussion.

Kierro closes his eyes a moment, exhaling before replying: ”Honor’s right, we likely don’t need to bring an army of dragons in as backup unless something dire happens. I... I know this doesn’t sound exciting, Kyrian, but I’m trying to help us. We have to get home. And I’d rather avoid confict with the city that could be of great help to us. I’d want to avoid any involvement with the local crime syndicate as well, not much good can come of that.”

Morgan would describe some of the sites and activities in Waterdeep to Kierro if Kierro wished to know more.

You would all know that finding a dragon would not be an issue for any of you, as you can sense them from a fair distance. If you are of the same moral compass as the specific dragon, that distance increases even further.

Caradran coughs and attempts to offer some help, "As you can see, I don't travel with an entourage of dragons. I find that it draws unnecessary attention, and oddly enough I agree with Kierro that murdering everything in sight isn't likely the right answer. With that said, if Aurinax is really as ancient as to be charged with guarding an entire city, then I am not sure they will be amenable to a conversation where we just ask for what we want. On the other hand, I have some methods that can be quite persuasive, if you would allow me to assist in that conversation."

"With regards to how we get to Waterdeep, I believe some of us can also transform into rather large birds. I wonder if that might help manage the load that each dragon had to carry. Albeit we would have to slow our pace a bit, but it would still probably be faster than the castle."

(OOC: (made this one a little darker than gold so it is easier to see) Esmeralda and Caradran... Both good?)

(OOC: I was halfway through this post when I realized something... Those of us that have DD should also have Polymorph... We could just turn into a giant eagle and carry some people... Although the speed might be a little slower than the dragons, it is still faster than the castle.)

(OOC: Wait a minute, you can also cast polymorph on others....we can alternate by flying ourselves and having the dragons carry us)

With Palvin spending a bit of extra time with the ship captain that morning, the group eventually assemble on the flying castle. You find that the multiple Githyanki are still there, waiting patiently with their charge, Latrius's other dragon.

Even as the castle rises up into the sky, the view to the East fills with storm clouds. Evrything East, as well as South and East, is filled with roiling storms, and there is little doubt that it is an act of a god, or, more likely, gods in the plural.

The castle flies above those clouds, skimming easily over the tops of the storms.

The day starts out fine, the Lords feeling smug that they are able to bypass the god's attempt to keep them from traveling. It is not until late in the afternoon that five shapes lift up out of the roiling storms and move to confront you.



Roll initiative.

Kierro Initiative: 15

Chysen Initiative: 15