[ It's the next day! Honest. ] [ You've had a good meal, a good bath, and a good rest. Today, you will possibly have a good adventure! ] [ You're all gathered in the common room of the inn. Off to one corner of the room is a table of Duergar who're doing an excellent job of minding their own buisness. They came in this morning and haven't given you any trouble. ] [ You're just finishing up a meal, and should plan your day. So. ] [ Session Start! ] * HKenji brushes his still-wet hair back. * Patrick smiles. What else is new? ^_^ * Istvan has dry hair, as he has adapted his flaming weapon into a makeshift hairdryer. And he managed not to set his head on fire, too! * Vall has his nose in the map. * Seylin munches on the last of her puncakes. She looks contented. * Ariake is finishing up her food, and pondering the map upside down. * Patrick has wet hair and eats the last of his 'pigs in a blanket' (sausage wraped in pancakes). He leans back and grins. * Istvan is also eating, dressed as he usually is: mithril platemail, big ol' warpick, and other such stuff. He's currently in the process of downing some hearty looking breakfast stew. * Will is suffering from food coma. Too much puncakes... * Istvan finishes. "Good stew." * Patrick is in his adventurer garb. Meaning over his normal clothing he has a mithril chain shirt and light leather guards on his shins and thighs. Okay, so we've got the codger's canyon here, our canyon there, we're here, the troll kingdom is this general area, and the dwarven stronghold is there. Now, none of this is familiar to me. There's gotta be another passage between Anor'lomoth'edra, if we can find it, and where we entered. * Vall is dressed in regular traveler's clothes right now, having decided not to wear armor to the meal. * Seylin peers over Vall's shoulder. She can do that; she's tall. * Vall is pointing to the areas on the map he's referencing. * Patrick doesn't, because he's just sitting down and looking at the map and playing with his dagger. * Istvan is trying to keep up with the map hijinks from his position at the table * HKenji dines lightly on ricecakes from his own supplies. Ideas on where to go from here? So, are we gonna explore here some more before we decide to go anywhere else? * Ariake nods. "Getting a good idea of where we are would be best, I think..." I'd like to talk to that dragon. Dragons are ancient and wise creatures. * HKenji stands up. "As regards this drow city, though, I think it would be best to ask the locals." * HKenji walks calmly over to the Duergar table. "Do any of you speak surface common?" * Seylin nods. "I'll go with those suggestions." Dragons are petty, mean, and spiteful. A friend of mine died from a green sneezing on her. * Patrick balances the dagger on his finger, tip down, and grins. "Sounds good to me." ^_^ ... dragons are also large and hungry creatures. *eyes Vall* Present company excepted, I assume? Vall, you can't judge *all* dragons just by one. Uh, Vall? Check your Dragons 101 class again. [ From the looks of the Duergar, they don't. ] It's not everyday that one get's to speak with a dragon. I certainly would like to converse with one. Vall, are you even _capable_ of paying atention in class? * Istvan eyes Kenji, and rolls his eyes. He walks over, speaking Undercommon. [Forgive my friend. He's stupid.] I expect this sort of inattention from Tia, but you are another matter entirely. [ However, one of them casts a spell, and then says "Repeatcher' question, lad. I can understand ye' jus' fine now." ] * Ariake leans back, and sighs. Com'on. I slept through class and I *still* know what dragons do what. ^_^ [ The table of Duergar chuckle lightly at Istvan's remark. ] * HKenji blinks. "As you like. I was asking if any of you spoke surface common, but that seems apparent now. I seek entrance to a drow city I am told is nearby." * Vall smiles slightly. Not quite a Patrick-smile, but enough to let you know he's not entirely serious. * Istvan blinks, realizes he's no longer needed, then walks back to the table. "'sides, we got a part-dragon in the group. s'not nice to insult her family." * Tia enters the room. "Did someone say something about dragons?" [ The table breaks into grumbling; they must not like the Drow city. "Bah! Why'd ye wanna go mingle with those backstabbin' pansies?" ] * Patrick laughs. * Tia eyes the Duergar with sudden alarm. * Tia whispers to Patrick, "Wait, aren't they the bad men we killed earlier?" In order to kill a few, obviously. Hi, Tia. We were discussing the differences between greens and coppers. [ The table also shifts uncomfortably at the sight of Tia, 'cause she's scary. ] * Patrick tips the dagger up and catches it handle-first, slipping it into one of the folds in his clothing. [ The Duergar all grin. "Well. Tha' cannae be helped, I suppose. We'll tell ye all ye wanna hear, as we want them to die, too." ] I've never seen green or copper dragons before! Are they nice? Papa says he doesn't like the green ones much, though. Tia, we saw a copper dragon right outside the village yesterday, remember? You've seen a copper dragon before, yesterday when we arrived here, remember? * Patrick just smiles. Oh, that one's a copper? Heehee. Yep, it is! Is he awake yet? * Ariake nods. * Tia grins and wags her tail. Greens are nasty suckers, though. Mean and ornery and will sneeze acid on you the moment they spot you. I don't know. I think Kenji wants to go talk to him after he's done talking over there. * Tia looks at Vall. "That doesn't sound nice. Maybe I don't like greens either, then." * Tia glances over at the Duergar and decides they're not so bad after all. She meanders over and raises her hand. "Hi!" I lost friends to a pair of greens... a human and a halfling. * Tia glances back at Vall. "I'm sorry." She looks thoughtful. "What's a halfling? Am I a halfling? I'm half dragon!" I am most interested in the way to the drow city. And the way back, for that matter. Whatever information you've got on the city's layout would be appreciated. * Tia chimes in on Kenji's conversation, "Drow are bad men. We're going to go beat up bad men!" * Patrick snickers. * Ariake nods, looking more cheerful. * Tia grins as charmingly as she can manage, turning to giggle at one of the Duergar. [ The Duergar chuckle lightly at Tia's innocense, knowing that they'd prolly consider themselves 'bad men', too. The Duergar pulls out a map of the 'canyon' you're currently in. ] * Seylin walks over to get a better look at things (and to help keep Tia in line). * Vall wanders over as well. * Patrick gets up to help Seylin to keep Tia in line. * Will glances over in curiosity. * Seylin pulls out her pen and a piece of parchment, too. "Mind if we take notes?" * Tia leans over by Seylin's ear and whispers, "Hey, Sey, do you think maybe I could take one of them with me? They're not as cute as the bat- men, but I could settle for that." She grins. [ "This way," says the leader, pointing to one of the two large exits that lie on either side of the road plying the canyon floor. "Their city is roughly an hour along the chasm path. They've got walls there, and they're likely still in a foul mood, so if you're tryin' ter get in diplomatically before ye do yer killin', ye'll have a hard time." ] * Seylin shakes her head and whispers back. "No, Tia. They wouldn't like that, either." * Tia whispers back, "Aw, but they seem to be pretty nice." * Seylin whispers again. "They do seem that way, but they've got business of their own to take care of, and so do we." [ "Yeh, they're definitely feelin' diplomatic right now." The others at the table mutter a few choice remarks about their dark elven neighbors. ] * Tia nods and whispers, "You're right. They're not that cute, anyway." She grins again. * Seylin laughs quietly and resumes note-taking. * Patrick notetakes in his head! * HKenji shrugs. "They will respond to diplomacy." * Tia resumes listening to the conversation. * Tia whispers to Kenji. "What's diplomacy?" * Istvan is paying attention, but prolly doesn't look it. He's leaning back in his chair, eyes closed. One way or another. How many guards do they have at the gate? [ The table laughs. "Ye seem mistaken, friend," says the leader. "They're Drow. They assassinate diplomats when they've nothin' ter gain from 'em. I've got enough experience with 'em ter know when they think me welcome's overstayed, mind, which is why I'm here talkin' with ye rather than lyin' dead in me diplomat's suite back there." ] If they won't listen to my words, they'll listen to my sword as it slices through their neck. * HKenji doesn't much look as though he cares which way they go. I'm good at slicing necks! Kenji? Weren't we supposed to be avoiding the direct assault method? * Tia grins. * Patrick shrugs. * Ariake shrugs. "Diplomacy doesn't always work." What's diplomacy? Diplomacy is where you ask someone's name before you kill them, Tia. Maybe the dragon knows of another way in. [ More grins from the dark dwarves. "Well, that works. Gate's got thirty guards. Some back ways through smaller corridors, o' course, but that information's not free, no matter how displeased we are with 'em." ] Oh. What if they don't tell you? Then you kill them anyways. ^_^ How much are you asking for the information? * HKenji reaches into his sleeve. He withdraws a large pouch and spills a handfull of gems out onto the table. "I trust this will be sufficient?" * Seylin blinks once. "Yep. I think that's gonna work." * Ariake nods. * Patrick shrugs. Oh, okay. I can do that! * Vall 's eyes narrow when he sees how much Kenji's spending without even counting... again. .oO(Waste of good money.)Oo. [ One of the Duergar looks through the pouch and whispers something to the apparent leader, who says "Aye. There's a path two miles back from the road, near the west end o' the cavern. It's long an' twisty an' mighty uphill, but there's only four Drow guardin' it. They've got a noisemaker, mind, so you'll have ter kill 'em before they use it or do some *real* fancy talkin'." ] Show us. * Vall indicates the map [ The Duergar eyes Vall, looks at the map, and stabs a spot with a thick finger. "'Ere. Twists off thisaway." ] Thank you. * Ariake nods. "Many thanks!" * Patrick smiles. * HKenji nods. "My thanks." [ "No thanks necessary. Your gems and the assurance of killing Drow are more'n enough." ] * Tia grins at the Duergar. * Seylin looks slightly worried. * Patrick glances over at Seylin and whispers. * HKenji smiles a secret little smile. Shall we go examine this dragon? * Tia nods emphatically. * Ariake nods. "Yes, let's." * Seylin whispers back. * Will nods. "That will be great." * HKenji turns on his heel and walks out of the inn, heading swiftly for the dragon. * Istvan gets up slowly, and follows the group when they head out of the inn. * Tia gallops at Kenji's heels. * Ariake gets up and follows, then. * Vall frowns slightly to himself, and falls into step next to Istvan. * Patrick follows, whispering to Seylin on the way. *to Isty* "I don't trust them." * Seylin walks alongside Patrick. * Will follows Vall. * Istvan whispers back. "They're duregar. Of course you shouldn't trust 'em. But they hate drow, so... I dunno." * Tia whistles cheerfully. Yes, but did they give us the right information, since, in the right light, I can pass for one? * Patrick pats Sey on the back and whispers back once more. Or, more correctly, I'm often mistaken for one. They were talkin' to Kenji, not you. And I doubt anyone's gonna mistake us for drow. It wasn't *that* dark back there, Vall. Drow see perfectly in dark to no light. I doubt we're going to be able to fool them. Besides, we've got plenty of time to figure out what we want to do about things, right? We're not gonna go rushing into anything unprepared. * Istvan rubs his neck. "My problem is that you still haven't given us a plan for how we're supposed to invade a drow city without getting, y'know, *killed*." So much whispering going on back there. 'course we're not. ^_^ Well, that's why we're looking at the back door. And I did offer one, where the rest of the group would pose as my, er... slaves, in order to get in. I reference Istvan's statement, in that we'd get killed. _^ I am open to suggestions, if you have any others. I'd sooner marry a Scorpion than play your slave, Vall. * Ariake nods. "This needs careful planning..." Slave...? ... think up a new plan. That one's no good. I don't have any specific ones, but this just doesn't feel right somehow. And I tend to go with my feelings on this sort of thing... * Tia says to Kenji, "Scorpion? Aren't they like bugs? * Patrick smirks. "That much, eh?" We also have that wierd vision/omen to deal with too. :/ I don't like it, either. But it's the only plausible one I've come up with so far. * Tia looks slightly confused. I don't understand... They're also a clan, Tia. A dirty, dispicable, honorless clan. Oh. I don't like dirty, despicable, honorless people. * HKenji glances at Vall. * Tia glances at Vall too. She obviously doesn't understand the plan he suggested earlier. 'cause much as I like the idea of savin' your family, Vall... I ain't going on a suicide mission for it. * Patrick laughs. "Wow, you got some strange definition of 'plausible'." What does plausible mean? Doable, Tia. I understand, Istvan. If you come up with a better idea, let me know. Believable. Or possible, maybe. Oh, okay. Anything is possible, but much of what is possible isn't always plausible. What's possible? I don't get it. ... it's possible I'm gettin' a headache. * Istvan rubs his temples. * Tia nods to Istvan. "Me too." In this situation, though, I think all of the plausible has to be possible. And I think I'm confusing myself. Sorry, Istvan. * HKenji shrugs and keeps heading for this dragon. * Ariake tries to make sense of this, and fails. * Patrick keeps going and smiling. If he's confused, he's sure not showing it. * Tia runs after Kenji. "Wait for me, Kenji!" * Will didn't even try to keep up with the conversation. Thinking is for others. ^_~ * Will follows Tia. Right now, the best option we have, unfortunately, is stealth. Little recon won't hurt, I suppose, but I ain't going down that side tunnel until we have a good plan. I didn't do so good on my stealth tests. * Vall slows down, falling even farther behind the group, then changes direction when he's far enough back from the others, to return to his room at the inn to gather his stuff. I can generally do stealth. [ The dragon is up there once more, sunning itself. ] I'm sneaky! ... I ain't exactly built for the stealthy approach. * Patrick smiles. "Did someone ask for sneaky?" * Istvan pats Tia on the shoulder. "We're unstealthy, and proud of it!" and I wear plate mail all the time. * Tia waves to the dragon. "Hi, Mr. Dragon!" But I agree with Istvan. Plan first, sneak later. * Tia grins at Istvan. * HKenji approaches the dragon slowly and respectfully. * Tia runs toward the dragon, her tail wagging excitedly. * Ariake approaches as Kenji did, bowing politely. Mr. Draaaagon! * Tia hails the dragon from afar, grinning widely. * Patrick smiles and waves. * Seylin giggles a little at Tia, then slowly walks up to the dragon. She smiles brightly and bows. * Will waves. * Tia runs straight to the dragon and gazes up at it. * Vall heads back out of the inn, and turns the other way, towards the one cavern entrance the Duergar had indicated. Hiya, Mr. Dragon! Nice to meet you! My name's Tia! [ The dragon rolls over and looks at Tia. Its scales are copper and it must be young, as it's not too much larger than Tia herself. ] [ "Well, hello there, Tia! What brings you by my lair? Have you come to take the dragon's challenge?" ] * Tia 's tail sways wildly from side to side, and she can't stop grinning. "Challenge? What kind of challenge?" [ "It's simple! I ask you three riddles. For each riddle you and your friends can get right, I give you something from my collection. Fun and prizes!" ] Ooh! I love riddles, right, Kenji? What's your name, by the way, Mr. Dragon? I would be honored to match wits with such an honored creature. [ "Doubly honored, then!" The dragon hops in place. "And the rest of you? You wanna play too?" ] I wanna play! I wanna play! * Patrick smirks. "Sure!" I doubt I'll be any good at it, but I would be honored to try. * Tia hops along with the dragon. I'm not good at riddles, but I'll join in for fun. Yeah! I'd love to! Me! Me! Me! * Istvan shrugs. "Why not." * Tia flutters her wings as she jumps up and down. She's obviously very enthusiastic about this. [ The dragon grins. "Alright, then!" He hops up to a podium that looks like it's been made just for this purpose. "Everyone ready?" ] * Patrick gives the dragon a thumbs-up. Yep! Ready! I'm ready! * Will nods. "Fire away." * Tia runs in circles as she waits. * Vall starts making his way through the caverns, looking for the passage the duergar had indicated. * Istvan shrugs. "Ready." * Ariake nods. [ "Alright, then! First riddle, then; 'I'm one of the wildest Outsiders you'll ever meet. But scramble me up and I'm healthy to eat! What am I?'" ] * Tia glances at Kenji. "It sounds like an egg." Is an egg an outsider? * Seylin looks around and blinks as she realizes something, then whispers to Patrick. * Ariake sits and thinks. * Patrick whispers back. Is it, Kenji, is it? Can eggs be outsiders? * Seylin sighs and whispers back. What if I put an egg outside? Like on the playground? Eggs. * Patrick nods to Seylin and whispers. * Tia grins proudly. "I thought of that myself." ... Slaad. But what about the first part. One of the 'Wildest Outsiders'? * Will mumbles to himself, "ousiders, scramble, eat, eggs..." * Seylin looks annoyed and whispers back. Slaad? Gotta be Slaad. Yeah. Big frog thingees. * Patrick whispers back. Not eggs? * Ariake nods. "That's it!" Scramble it up... salad. Slaad. Salad. Slaad is another word for salad? Why not eggs? No, it's an... an... angry... * HKenji frowns. Scramble the letters, Tia. It's a scrambled word, Tia. * Tia looks thoughtful. "Oh." * Patrick smacks his head and smiles. "That's good." You're a slaad, Dragon. * Tia glances at Kenji. “He is? I thought he was a dragon.” He is a dragon, Tia. In this case, he's also a slaad. * Seylin turns her attention back to the group. What's a slaad? So did you guys get it right? A frog demon. ...A frog demon? Are they good to eat? I doubt it. ...Oh. That's too bad. * Tia grins at the dragon. "Slaad!" * Will makes a face, "Yuck. A frog demon salad can't be good for you." [ "Very good! Now come get your prize!" He holds out a bottle containing an odd-colored liquid; probably a potion." ] Take it, Tia. Be careful with it. * Tia glances at Will and grins. "But frogs don't taste so bad. They don't have a lot of taste, though. Also, they're a little slippery." * Seylin giggles at Will. * Tia nods to Kenji and takes the bottle gingerly. * Patrick snerks. [ "Now, are you ready for the next riddle?" ] Yes. Yes, yes! I want another one! Uh-huh! Sure. ^_^ * Tia grins. * Ariake nods. "Sure." Suppose. Yup yup. [ "What was the sight my eyes were giving, when I saw the dead carrying the living?" ] * Tia thinks for a moment, then turns to Kenji, "Uhh...dead people?" * Patrick snerks and says in a stage-whisper voice. "I see dead people." Is it dead people, Kenji? Or...blood? * HKenji frowns in thought. ... zombie attack's a bit too obvious. What about ants? Ants carry dead ants sometimes. That's true... I saw them! I followed the ants to their little house. But dead ants don't carry live ants. Oh. Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was confused. * Tia looks sheepish. S'okay Tia. ^_^ * Seylin repeats the riddle softly to herself a couple of times. The Mantis often ply the rivers as traders in their boats of dead wood. I would say that then do the dead carry the living. How can dead people carry living people? Aren't dead people pretty...dead? It's not necessarily dead people, though, Tia. Nobody said it had to be dead people. Nobody said it had to be dead *people*. ^_^; ... good point. Dragon, the sight your eyes showed you were sailors on a wooden boat. Oh. You're right. Boats are dead? [ "Very good! Such a clever bunch, you are. Come get your prize!" He holds out an ordinary-looking cloth sack. ] I guess they're made out of dead trees. Wow, a bag! That they are! Go for it, Kenji! * HKenji steps forward and respectfully takes the sack. Can I put the bottle in your sack, Kenji? I'll hold the bottle for you, if you wish, Tia. Oh, I can hold it. It's okay. * Tia wags her tail. I just wanted to try the bag. [ "Now. Are you ready! Ready! I say, for my third and final riddle?" ] Ready!!! Yep! Yes! I am. * Tia turns a few revolutions before facing the dragon again, her forepaws stamping in anticipation. * Will nods. * Ariake nods. "Sure!" Yup. * Tia stares at the dragon through the bottle of interestingly colored liquid. "Look, Mr. Dragon! I can make you change color!" Heeheehee. [ "I love the tearing of sweet flesh, and I'm voraciously hungry. What am I?" And then he plucks something from a string and tosses it into your midst! The something explodes like a fireball, and everyone needs a reflex save. ] * Seylin eeps and tries to jump out of the way. * Istvan doesn't move in time, and flinches... and doesn't even get singed. "... that was rude." * HKenji is caught flat-footed, deep in thought, and is nicely crisped. [ You all scatter to avoid the blast! Everyone succeeds except Kenji and Will, while Tia and Istvan just kind of sit there and take it. By that time, the dragon's airborne, and it's time to roll initiative! ] * Tia blinks. "Wh-why did Mr. Dragon do that?" * Ariake is near the edge of the blast, and is singed quite a bit. Her eyebrow twitches once. "What the..." * Will was never known for fast reflexes, and was burned. :( Treachery! * Patrick easily dodges out of the fireball. "Alright, that was just uncalled for." ^_^ * Seylin manages to jump out of the way, then takes to the air herself. "Hey, what was that for?" [ As it takes off, something clatters to the ground where it was sitting before, and its scales change quickly from the color of burnished copper to a sickly, disgusting black. ] ...oh. * Tia shouts out. "That was mean!" ... that explains that. And you hurt Kenji! I don't like you anymore! * Ariake snaps her fingers. "Wonderful. Well, then..." Treachery and deceit, just like a scorpion! ... someone wanna get it down here? Give us your name before you die, dragon! * Tia brandishes her axe and roars thunderously. * Patrick brings out his Bow of Badass. "Someone have a death wish?" [ The dragon roars back at Tia. It's Kenji's turn! ] * HKenji draws and strings his bow in one smooth motion, sending a pair of arrows into the air after the beast. [ Kenji's arrows hit scales and bounce off. Seylin! ] * Seylin flies a short distance from the dragon, then pulls out her own bow and nocks an arrow to it. She eyes him, then fires! [ Seylin's shot meets similar results. ] [ Patrick! Show 'em how a REAL archer does it! ] * Patrick eyes the dragon and fires a flight of three masterwork arrows at it. [ Patrick gets the same results! There's that sinking feeling. ] Uh-oh. *That's* not good... * Patrick keeps smiling. [ Istvan, go! ] So, that's where the armor is... * Istvan steps up to the head of the group, pulls out his shortbow, and fires off two shots. "C'mon, people, spread out! Don't clump up so it can breathe whatever the fuck this thing breaths on us!" [ One of Istvan's shots squirms in between a pair of scales! The dragon sneers! ] [ The dragon mutters and wiggles it's hands; nothing seems to happen, but then it flies straight at Istvan and tries to take a bite out of him! ] [ The dragon does a good job of it, coming away with some of Istvan's armor, along with a fair part of his shoulder. ] [ Tia, show him your fury! ] * Istvan bleeds profusely. "Argh!" [ The dragon is back in the air now, too. ] That's *very* not good! * Ariake growls. "That does it. Try flying the unfriendly skies, bastard." * Tia roars in anguish and launches into the air after the dragon. * Tia flies into a rage. * Tia swings her axe at the dragon! That's what you get for biting Istvan! And burninating Kenji! [ Tia is every bit as fast as the dragon, and cuts into it with her bigass axe! And yells at it! ] [ Will, go! ] * Will mutters a short prayer to Bahumut. *casts prayer* [ Now, Ari! ] [ Ariake casts a spell! And now it's Kenji's turn. ] * HKenji comes up with a plan and gains HOPE! * Patrick has HOPE! "Let's kick some ass, guys." * HKenji draws forth a short, oddly familiar rod from his sleeve as he drops his bow. He drops into a runner's crouch and watches the dragon carefully. * Seylin feels hopeful! [ Seylin's turn! ] * Seylin swaps her bow for her halberd and *streaks* towards the dragon, taking a swing at it as she flies past. [ Seylin scores a hit! ] [ Go, Patrick! ] Patrick, wait for it! * Patrick smiles. "Mmm? Sure." * Patrick draws a trio of arrows but holds his fire. [ Istvan! ] * Istvan fires off another two arrows at the dragon as it swoops back up into the sky... [ Istvan scores two hits, one of which draws a great deal of blood from the dragon's neck! ] ... punk. [ The dragon comes back around for another attack on Istvan, since he's proving himself a more worthy target! But wait, what's Kenji planning? ] * HKenji takes off as soon as he sees where the dragon is headed. "Istvan! DOWN!" * HKenji blurrs across the cave floor and leaps straight for the dragon's mouth. * HKenji slides straight into the dragon's mouth and hits the button on the Immovable Rod that he ganked from those duergar waaaaaay back when. [ Kenji jams in the dragon's throat, but it keeps going until that immovable rod hits its hip. There's a loud, LOUD crunching and snapping and the dragon comes to a very abrupt halt. ] [ So abrupt, in fact, that Kenji gets launched from its mouth again. ] * Patrick smiles. "You crazy fuck Kenji...” * Tia 's eyes fly wide open as she sees Kenji flying out of the dragon's mouth. * Seylin watches from her position in the air. Her mouth is wide open. "Holy..." * HKenji flies straight across the fucking canyon and smacks into the wall. [ Kenji crashes into the dragon's podium, rather, but at great speed. ] * HKenji doesn't make a sound, even when he smacks the podium. * Will watches in awe. [ The dragon bellows in obvious pain. 'Cause, I mean... holy SHIT, man. ] Remind me to get him a drink after this. [ It's Tia's turn now! ] * Tia recovers from her surprise, dives toward the dragon, and takes a swing. She roars yet again. ... when I stop bleeding, remind me to do the same. [ Tia scores a big hit! ] [ Will's turn! ] * Will runs over to Istvan. "Are you alright? Hang in there." *casts cure critical wounds* [ Isty grows his shoulder back! It's even as beefy as it was before getting eaten. ] [ Ariake's turn! ] ... much better. Thanks. * Ariake waves her hands and mumbles the words, and suddenly Will, Patrick, and Istvan blur a little as they begin vibrating with happy speed. [ Patrick stops waiting to do something! ] * Patrick decides now is a good time to lay waste to the dragon and fires a volley of four arrows straight at it. [ Two of Pat's arrows get past the dragon's hide, but the first doesn't matter 'cause the second goes into the dragon's brain cavity via its eyeball. Combat.... over. ] * Tia lands by the dragon carcass and crushes Patrick in a huge hug. * Patrick is crushed in a huge hug? He grins, but... it looks like a loopy grin. "Hey, Tia... Need... To... Breathe..." * HKenji stands up. [ Kenji's... aww. ] How am I ever going to get this head all the way home? * Seylin lands next to Patrick. "Wow! Oh, wow! You guys are *amazing*!" * Tia lets go of Patrick and grins. Sorry, Patrick. * Will nods, "That was some show you guys put up. Anybody in need of healing?" * Patrick takes a deep breath and smiles. "No problem Tia." ^_^ * HKenji looks at the indentation in the dragon's podium. Hm. Not bad. * Istvan wanders over to Kenji. "You, my friend... have balls the size of watermelons." Hey, Kenji! That was badass man. I'm afraid I don't understand the expression, Istvan. * Seylin hugs Patrick, too, although she's obviously a lot more gentle than Tia. * Tia trots over and hugs Istvan too, then Kenji. Would you be so kind as to retrieve that ever so useful rod from wherever it is? * Patrick hugs Seylin back. "You were really good too." ^_^ * HKenji restrains himself from groaning in pain from the hug. That was so cool, Kenji! I want to learn how to do that too! Nah, I just scratched it a little. You guys totally kicked its... um. You know. For one who truly follows bushido, such acts are a matter of course. * Patrick winces as Seylin touches a burn spot. "Heh, guess I didn't completly avoid that fireball." ^_^; * Istvan grins at Tia, then pulls out his war pick. "Gimme a sec. I'll dig it out." *mutters something in dwarven; his pick gets all flamey* Oh, sorry! Here, let me fix that! I thought you were going to die when you jumped at it like that! You don't look so good Kenji. May I take a look at your wounds? * Seylin places a hand on Patrick's shoulder and casts her healing spell. That is unnecessary, friend Will. Lord Ikoma taught us that scars are how we remember our history. * Istvan walks over to the dragon's corpse, and starts hacking away at its torso. "C'mon, stupid rod... where are you?" I will heal. Hey, hey! Istvan! Tia, would you care to join me in relieving this creature of its head? Okay! Don't hack away at the scales too much. They can be turned into armor. * Tia grins widely and hefts her axe. Should I just chop it? Like...there? * Istvan looks up. "You can use the scales from the other side." *hackhack* * Tia points at its neck, close to the head. * Seylin removes her hand and looks at Patrick with concern. "Better?" * Will nods. "If you say so Kenji." * HKenji pulls a good woodcutting axe from his sleeve. "Right here." He marks a spot. Okay! * Patrick nods and smiles softly. "Very much so." He lets his Bow of Badassitude (tm) return to the glove. * Tia lifts her axe high and brings it down hard on the spot Kenji indicated. * Seylin smiles back. "Good." She looks over at the others. "Need any help with that?" Um, Kenji? Sorry about the head, but the shot just looked too good to pass up. ~_^ Not a problem, Patrick. It will add to the mystique. * HKenji swiftly goes about severing the head, and then shoving it into the bag the dragon gave him. * Tia cleans off her axe as soon as the job is done. "Heehee! Did I do a good job, Kenji?" Yes, Tia. A very good job. * Istvan keeps on hacking. "... I think I just cut through its spleen." *hackhack* * HKenji closes up the bag. "Truly, a great treasure. I shall be the envy of the Matsu." * Tia grins, pleased. "Thanks, Kenji! I'm always happy to help!" * Patrick nods. Hey, what do you want to bet that stuff he gave us was cursed? [ Istvan finds the path the rod took; a bunch of burst and deformed instestines. ] * Tia takes the potion she got from the dragon out from her bag. "Like this?" You should test the potion, Patrick. Find out what it is. It's a funny color. The bag seems fairly obvious. I plan to. * Tia hands the bottle to Patrick. After all, it DOES hold the entire dragon's head. I wonder what it tastes like. * Patrick takes the bottle. "What do you think the bag is?" It would appear to be a bag that holds quite a lot of material. ... ooh, this is gonna get messy. *hacks in the appropriate direction* It could, potentially, be cursed. And you know the other thing? Where there's dragons... There's treasure. Why was that dragon so mean? He said he wanted to play a riddle game! He lied! * Patrick 's eyes glimmer. Think it might be hidden away somewhere? Like maybe a secret passage? * Will takes a look at the rod Isty is holding, "Ewww. Better find a stream to wash that or something" Or in an obvious but out of the way location. I see no reason for the dragon to have given us cursed treasure, however, given that he expected to take it back from our corpses. ^_^ [ Istvan finds the rod! ] Ah, that is true. * Tia nods. "That makes sense." * Tia grins at Istvan. Still, if it's finding hidden things... * Istvan reaches in, and pulls out the rod. "... you should prolly wash this before putting it back in your sleeve, Kenji." * Patrick whispers to Seylin. ...yeah. [ There is a cave behind the podium. Prolly the dragon's home. ] * HKenji reaches into his cloak and pulls forth a waterskin, and carefully washes the rod. Messy, yet effective. * Seylin whispers back. [ No shit. ] * Istvan speaks another word in dwarvish, and his pick flames up fiercely, burning the chunks of flesh off of it before petering out, leaving the pick nice and clean. * Tia looks down at the rod and points at it. "What's that, Kenji?" I believe your gaijin sorcerors refer to it as an... "Immovable Rod". Yeah. Those things are totally badass. ...Immovable Rod? * Seylin wipes the blade of her halberd and stows it away. "So! Who wants to go treasure hunting?" Yes. You press the button and it stays exactly where it is. * Tia raises her hand and grins at Seylin. "Me!" Never heard of it before, but I'm damn glad you have one today. * Patrick smiles and nods. Not even a speeding dragon, as you saw, could significantly move it. * Tia turns back to Kenji. "Ooh! Can you show me? I want to see!" * Istvan looks back in, and pulls out the chunk of armor missing from his shoulder. "... hoo boy. This is gonna be fun." * Seylin walks over to the cave entrance and peers in. * Patrick walks along with Sey. ... gonna have to fix it later. *turns to Patrick* After we check the cave, I'll come out and skin this sucker. Once we get back to civilization, I can maybe make some armor outta it. Or, if not, I know people who can. * Istvan eyes the dragon. "Prolly enough to make a good suit of leather armor... be tough as hell." [ Inside the cave, which winds inward a bit, is a large, filthy, stagnant pool. Just the thing for a black dragon. ] * Patrick smirks. "I'm sure you're plenty good at it. I'm gonna need to make more arrows and find out what this potion does anyways." * Tia walks into the cave and sniffs the pool. She wants to bathe, but smelling it, she decides against walking into the water. * Seylin seems to be staring at something in the cave. "Eww, muck. Let's see if there's anything else." * Tia trots over to Seylin. * Patrick nods and turns on his electric lantern to see better. Do you see any shinies? I'm checking. [ Seylin mucks in the muck, until she bumps up against something non-mucky. ] * Istvan finishes eyeing the corpse, then follows the others into the cave. "... I really hope whatever treasure this thing had isn't down in that pool. Might not be worth the cost of looking." I'm gonna need another bath after this... hey! I found something! * Will follows after the rest of the group into the cave. Hmm? * Patrick wades into the muck after Seylin. * Tia splashes into the pool. "What is it, Sey?" [ Seylin pulls out a tightly-bound sack. It's full of money, when she looks. And there's more stuff there, too, but the GM needs to figure out what. So! ] * Seylin holds up the sack. "We got it!" * Tia makes an expression of disgust. "Ugh." * Patrick grins. "SWEET!" [ Session end! Unless you want to put off the rest of the hoard. ]