CH. 16 - Resistance

[HorizonsDream]

Realizing that the dragon is going to kill everyone, Kendra follows after the others to the front lawn as she draws her swords. She has no idea what she is going to do against a dragon, but she was going to have to try to fight it.

[BishGada]

'No!!!' Tulbas thinks desperately as his revenge fades away, 'Shield!' and then he quickly casts Grease on the stairs in front of Magnus hoping he will slip and break his neck!

=================================================
(OOC: Can Tulbas run also on the stairs or the dragons blocks them from his angle)

[TristenC]

gobax tumbles (nwp) for all he is worth away from the baaz and down the stairs to join the others. Once outside he will cast Protection from Fire on William

[Haahque]

Just as Haahqae's about to cast a spider climb spell on himself, another chunk of the ceiling lands nearby nearly throwing off the spell.

Turns out this house is going to collapse faster then he's going to be able to get out of it; unless he takes the direct route down the stairs.

The route takes him past a dragon...who can probably smell him and think he's female or something like that. Maybe it's because he bathed before that mission. Or see him and think he's female? No, it was asleep. Either way, he's going to have to be very careful as he passes the dragon today.

(I guess Haahqae will go out to the lawn with the others, then search for escape routes.)

[BishGada]

Although his full attention is given to Magnus, for a brief moment Tulbas notices the others run on the steps and he understand his revenge attempt at Magnus might be their doom as well. Even with his blacken heart, a flicker of regret stirs on his soul and instead of casting grease he casts 'Web' spell at Magnus, making sure all it's volume is around Magnus and Magnus alone. He know Magnus might burn the web, but it will hinder his movement and damage him in the process.
Next thing will be his own get away...

[JadedDM]

The entire group makes a beeline for the entrance, heading down the stairs as they collapse behind them. However, Tulbas pauses to cast one more spell--not at the dragon that means to kill them all, but at his mentor. However, Magnus is a far more experienced mage and sees it coming. He's able to avoid the webbing entirely, and continues unabated out the front entrance.

Once everyone is on the front lawn, the rest of the mansion comes down shortly after. The dragon, over a hundred feet in length (and that's not including his tail), is unharmed by the incident. The falling debris bounces off his scaly hide harmlessly, like water off a duck.

Gobax calls on Sirrion's blessing to protect William. A moment later, the dragon turns to face them and takes a deep intake of breath. He breathes a blast of flame around the perimeter of the front lawn, creating a wall of fire. A number of baaz soldiers are trapped on the other side, unable to come to the party's aid, and likewise, the party is now trapped between a massive dragon and a wall of fire.

"WHO AMONG YOU WISHES TO DIE FIRST?" Inferno asks.

==============

Gobax casts Protection from Fire on William for 5 turns (50 rounds).
Tulbas casts Web at Magnus. Magnus makes a saving throw vs. spell (1d20+1): 9+1 = 10, pass. He is not affected.

[HorizonsDream]

"Tulbas!" Kendra nearly screams. "You can worry about Magnus later. We have much bigger problems right now!" After all, they are surrounded by a wall of flame with a huge dragon right in front of them, ready to kill them. They need Magnus alive if they wish to survive this mess. "I'm not going to survive very long fighting a dragon in melee without healing," she says to the two clerics in the party. "And I'm the only warrior here. You want me out there as long as possible."

[BishGada]

Hearing the roar of the dragon Tulbas comes to his senses. 'What was that Kedra shouted? They need Magnus to survive? How pathetic and innocent child!! They need that selfish killer?!? Ha! He will try to run away the second he have a chance, backstab them or sell them to the dragon for his life. Since he is still here, maybe he can't Teleport himself as he did once with Tulbas himself. Either he has not the spell or scroll, or the mansion is warded against teleportation.' Tulbas thinks to himself. 'And he is still visible... Maybe he used all of his spells! He is most vulnerable now.' Tulbas gives another look at the dragon and understand these are his last moments alive. He tries once last feat before joining his family...
"Dragon! Hear me! You failed to keep your master alive! You know Magnus and his treachery. He and the priestess both tried to seize Tethys power and you can avenge him now! Instead of capturing this rebel force long ago, Magnus let them flee and reach Tethys. I witnessed it and came here as soon as possible to defend Tethys from the greatest threat which is Magnus! But I was too late, the same as you. You can kill these low wits cowards wanna be rebels afterwards or better capture and torture them, but don't let Magnus get away with his treason! I'll try to do the same!" He then visibly turns toward Magnus and casts 'Acid arrow' at him hoping that pointing the dragon failure and aiming all his rage at Magnus will give the others a chance to flee.

[JadedDM]

"And I'm the only warrior here. You want me out there as long as possible."

"Excuse me?" asks Miriam, readying her sword and shield. "I'm a better warrior than you."

"Yeah, what are we, chopped liver?" asks Pen.

"Now is not the time to bicker," William adds. "We can do that after the dragon is dead. Go, we'll back you up."

"Dragon! Hear me! You failed to keep your master alive! You know Magnus and his treachery. He and the priestess both tried to seize Tethys power and you can avenge him now! Instead of capturing this rebel force long ago, Magnus let them flee and reach Tethys. I witnessed it and came here as soon as possible to defend Tethys from the greatest threat which is Magnus! But I was too late, the same as you. You can kill these low wits cowards wanna be rebels afterwards or better capture and torture them, but don't let Magnus get away with his treason! I'll try to do the same!"

"I HAVE A BETTER IDEA. I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU, ONE BY ONE, INSTEAD," Inferno offers. "THEN I WILL BURN THIS CITY TO THE GROUND, AND INCINERATE EVERYONE IN IT."

==========

(OOC: Okay, Tulbas is attacking Magnus. Can I get actions for Round 1 for Gobax, Haahqae, and Kendra, as well?)

[TristenC]

Gobax casts Cure Light Wounds on one of the others (not Kendra)

(Order of priority if the intended recipient is injured: Pen, Miriam, William. If None of them are, he will heal himself)

Grubnick takes his pipe out and sets it in his teeth, Kinda wish Delharn were here to see this... he says as an aside to William. He'd #5¢^!@& Love it. he chuckles.

===

Sorry Horizon, but there is no way in hell i can justify Gobax healing the person who executed his mentor.

edited to add speaking bit

[BishGada]

Keeping his concentration on killing Magnus Tulbas says, "Kill all of them you will, but please the Dragon Queen by killing Magnus first. He sabotaged Tethys work and almost plainly defied him and by that defied her and severed the connection between you and your rider, harming your soul. The rebels are but his pawns. Look at him now pretend to side with them, using them to try to catch you off guard." Tulbas converse with the Dragon. He have no idea if the legends about the dragons and their riders he read in Raetmal library are true. It is said they share senses so deeply as if their souls are bound together. But it doesn't matter as far it can serve to focus the Dragon rage at Magnus. "Cut the head off and the rest will crumble." He says, not as command but reciting a common phrase as tactic argument.

==================================================
(OOC: Please note that Tulbas said: "Kill all of them you will, and thus sides with the Dragon and exclude himself from the group )

[HorizonsDream]

OOC: I kinda forgot that Miriam and Pen were there.

IC: Kendra looks at Miriam and Pen for a moment, and decides it simply isn't worth it at this point. They had other things to worry about. Though, she does find it laughable that Tulbas is trying to get the dragon to kill Magnus first out of all of them. It was the rebels that killed Tethys, so it wasn't as if he was going to convince the dragon otherwise. She doesn't even really know how to go about fighting a dragon, but she moves in to attack him while hopefully trying to avoid his mouth, claws, and tail.

[Haahque]

This whole thing is a disaster; Why do dragons make everything worse? Possibly it’s their tendency towards killing indiscriminately and burning down entire cities without reason? How did the dragonarmy even survive this long? Perhaps if Haahqae can find a way out of this terrible situation he’ll find a nice place to hide far away from everything and wait for the dragon army to destroy itself. But where could that be that’s safe from the army? Maybe the tower of high sorcery would be a good place… And Ismene might even be there.

Haahqae looks around at his “allies”; Tulbas is making a fool out of himself like usual; the goblin appears to be making himself mildly useful while Kendra and Miriam seem ready to fight the dragon in an uncoordinated unpracticed style. They’re fools, trying to fight a creature like that without a dragonlance or whatever that blasted cleric had said was used for killing dragons that they couldn’t have. Why are the old gods so cruel? If they were playing around with timelines and predicting the future wouldn’t they have an inkling that something like this might have happened and managed to get us some sort of weapon to kill it with if they hate dragons so much?

Or maybe they’ve played around with timelines so much they’ve seen Haahqae’s potential and are trying to kill him here and now before he can make the world a better place. Well; old gods be damned; they’re way too careless about how they throw away the lives of thousands of people; even if they aren’t gnomes, they don’t deserve to be discarded like this.

Haahqae has barely noticed it; but his grip around his sabre and he’s circled around behind the dragon, searching for weak points in the beast.

(Action: Move behind the dragon and backstab it with the sabre if possible. Haahqae would like to delay until after Kendra attacks to do this.)

[JadedDM]

Magnus starts things out by putting his hands together and chanting a spell. "Ast kiranann kair Gardurm Soth-aran/Suh kali Jalaran!" Lightning begins cackle between his two hands, bouncing between them and growing in charge, until he then hurls it toward the dragon in a jagged blast, doing surprising damage to the gargantuan creature.

A moment later, Tulbas casts his own spell, conjuring up an arrow made of acid. He hurls it, not at the dragon trying to kill him, but rather at Magnus. However, the arrow misses the wizard entirely due to poor aim, and instead splashes harmlessly against the lawn.

Kendra rushes up to the dragon, the elven blade given to her by the lover she just killed in one hand, the masterwork dragon sword given to her by the prefect she failed to protect in the other. The dragon's hide is as hard as steel itself, but amazingly she manages to cut through it with the first sword, against all odds.

Haahqae, still invisible, sneaks around to the dragon's backside, where it's hundred foot tail is. He tries to stab it with the sabre he took from Xyleena, but it bounces harmlessly off the crimson scales and dispels the invisibility on the gnome.

Fiona fires a pair of arrows while Pen and Miriam slash with their own swords, but like Haahqae have no luck in piercing the dragon's defenses.

Gobax, refusing to heal Kendra, instead heals Miriam slightly.

Inferno may be massive, but that makes him slow, and so he only now attacks. First, he starts generating a potent aura of fear. Kendra, who has spent some time around dragons lately, manages to shake it off. And Pen, as a kender, is immune. But Haahqae and Miriam feel a dark terror seize their hearts, and their hands won't stop shaking as a result. The dragon then moves in, slashing at Pen and Kendra for light damage, then biting at Miriam for considerable more.

Finally, William finishes his prayer to Paladine, blessing the entire party.

================

Initiative Order
Magnus: 2+3 = 5
Tulbas: 4+2 = 6
Kendra: 2+5 = 7
Haahqae: 5+4 = 9
Fiona: 4+7 = 11
Gobax: 7+5 = 12
Pen: 10+2 = 12
Miriam: 10+4 = 14
Inferno: 5+12 = 17
William: 3+20 = 23

Round 1!

Magnus casts Lightning Bolt at Inferno. Inferno attempts to resist magic [MR 40%] (1d100): 72, fail. Inferno attempts to save vs. spell for half damage (1d20): 5, fail. Inferno takes (7d6): 5,5,4,1,6,5,2 = 28 damage. Inferno is now moderately wounded.
Tulbas casts Acid Arrow at Magnus [TH 12] (1d20): 3, miss.
Kendra slashes her elven sword (+2 hit/dmg) with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) at Inferno [TH 22] (1d20+3): 19+3 = 22, hit for (1d12+3): 2+3 = 5 damage. Then she slashes her masterwork sword (+1 hit/dmg) with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) at Inferno [TH 22] (1d20+2): 8+2 = 10, miss.
Haahqae sneaks around to Inferno's rear and attempts to backstab (+4 hit) Xyleena's sabre with no proficiency (-3 hit) [TH 24] (1d20+1): 12+1 = 13, miss. Haahqae is no longer visible.
Fiona fires a sheaf arrow from her short bow with great aim (+1 hit) at Inferno [TH 24] (1d20+1): 2+1 = 3, miss.
Gobax casts Cure Light Wounds on Miriam, restoring (1d8): 4 HP.
Pen slashes his long sword with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) at Inferno [TH 24] (1d20+1): 9+1 = 10, miss.
Miriam slashes her blessed long sword (+1 hit/dmg) with great strength (+1 hit/dmg) and skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) [TH 21] (1d20+3): 12+3 = 15, miss.
Inferno activates his dragonfear aura.
----Kendra saves vs. petrification (1d20+1): 14+1 = 15, pass.
----Haahqae saves vs. petrification (1d20+1): 5+1 = 6, fail. Haahqae suffers a -2 to hit and damage penalty.
----Pen is immune to fear.
----Miriam saves vs. petrification (1d20+2): 6+2 = 8, fail. Miriam suffers a -2 to hit and damage penalty.
Inferno slashes with his right claw at Kendra in studded leather (-2 hit) [TH 0] (1d20-2): 8-2 = 6, hit for (1d10): 1 damage. He then slashes with his left claw at Pen in chain mail (-2 hit) [TH 1] (1d20-2): 8-2 = 6, hit for (1d10): 2 damage. Pen is now moderately wounded. Inferno then bites at Miriam with her magic shield (-2 hit) [TH 2] (1d20-2): 8-2 = 6, hit for (3d10): 3,1,7 = 11 damage.
William casts Bless on the party. All allies gain +1 to hit and against fear effects for 5 rounds.
Fiona fires a sheaf arrow from her short bow with great aim (+1 hit) while blessed (+1 hit) at Inferno [TH 24] (1d20+2): 4+2 = 6, miss.

(OOC: Actions for Round 2?)

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra doesn't have a clue as to how long this is going to last, but she keeps up her attack with her swords. She managed to find a hole in the dragon's scales once, she so she hopes she can do it again.