The Sword of Roses (IC)

[DigoDragon]

The mysterious human somehow manages to roll out of the lightning's way. The stone made a valiant stand where it was, but then burst into small pieces.

Zuri immediately looked up. "What?"

Something struck her in the back with a hard shove to throw her off Chaarix's back. She swings with the scissors, scratching something in the air. It lands on Chaarix's back, the scratch spreading to reveal a female human wearing a cloak of perfect black on the inside, and the outside... it warps the light as if granting some kind of limited invisibility. Zuri's reflexes grab's one of Chaarix's rear legs, hanging on with one hand while the other readies her improvised weapon.

"Please don't take this as insubordination, master," Zuri commented to Chaarix. "As for you, lady, that was rude!"

The female scoffed and drew a dagger. "whatever. Just hurry up and break your neck."


"THAT IS MY SISTER!" Zido yelled. He starts another stone spell, but the other human on the ground draws a whip.

"You're dancing with me, little lizard."

"I am a kobold! That's close enough to dragon to mess your face up!" Zido continues to charge his spell. The human male closes in, ready to whip it. Whip it good.

[Miltonian]

"Wizards," Chaarix spits, "I suppose you wanted to 'ride the dragon'. Sorry, you're not my type."

Zido and Zuri are in trouble. Chaarix is too, but her scales are much harder. She swoops down, dropping right over the man's head, and tries to deposit Zuri behind him. There, she can support her brother and together they might be able to pull some sneaky nonsense on the man.

Or at least, they could keep him distracted while Chaarix dealt with her tagalong.

Spoiler

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Aerobatics! (3d6)[9] vs. 12

[DigoDragon]

Chaarix's dive and deposit was a success; Zuri let's go of the dragon's leg and lands a stab at the human on the ground. He counters with an elbow jab that knocks Zuri off his back, but she's still right there in melee.

The cloaked human holding on to Chaarix somehow manages to keep her grib and her lunch. Just a "Whoaaaa!" uttered as she goes for a ride she was not bargaining for.

Zido casts is spell and flings it at the cloaked human on Chaarix's back. The stone missile misses by inches.

[Miltonian]

And with Zido and Zuri 'safe' on the ground, Chaarix decides that now is a good time to try spinning. It's a good trick, after all. She pulls up sharply and spirals her body, trying to throw the woman off with sheer centrifugal force.

Spoiler

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(3d6)[10] vs. 12 Aerobatics.

[DigoDragon]

The woman in the cloak gets thrown off Chaarix from the roll. She attempts to stab the dragon on the way out, but she missed her mark. THe woman stops herself and floats in mid air a moment.

"Grrr, clever girl, aren't you?"


On the ground, Zuri goes for another stab, but the man this time is ready for it and dodges. He tries to return the favor with a dagger of his own, but Zuri rolls out of reach. They are at a rogue standoff now.

Zido casts another spell and charges it up, watching for any guards coming.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix lazily banks and turns back towards the woman. "I admire your persistence," she says. Her foreclaws flex. "But what you're doing now is a far cry from 'begging for forgiveness', so there is still a lesson to be learned here."

Chaarix spends the turn evaluating the woman.

[DigoDragon]

"Bah, the lord doesn't need *two* dragons for his collection." She flicks her dagger and it begins to glow blue.


The rogue standoff continues, although the human is moving slowly to get back into the castle. Zuri seems to sense this and dashes to stop him. Zido looks up and sees the flying woman. He continues charging his spell, the mass of stone enlarging.

[Miltonian]

"If you kill me," Chaarix says, "Then a wrath which has toppled nations will fall upon your heads." She grins. "Really, your best shot is to surrender."

However, the woman is not showing any signs of it, so perhaps a little bleeding will help her decide...

Spoiler

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Chaarix attacks with her claws. Deceptive Attack! -1 to the woman's active defenses.

(3d6)[8] vs. 15 +1 - 2

[DigoDragon]

The woman veers right, expecting to dodge, but the deception catches her off guard and Chaarix strikes her true. Damage is dealt!

(roll damage, then I'll resolve the rest)

[DigoDragon]

The woman growls ans swings back at Chaarix. She holds the wound inflicted on her. And then a large stone spell from Zido collides with her and sends her to the ground below with a sickening crunch.

The man on the ground tried to knock Zuri away, but fails. She stabs him hard in the leg and he goes down in pain, now crawling as he tries to fight to get back to the castle.

The town guard, about a dozen strong, show up and let loose crossbow bolts. Several arrows then fly through the air. Three bounce off Chaarix's hide. Zido is not so lucky as two strike him and wounds him badly.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix is not afraid of crossbow bolts. However, she is afraid that they will kill her servants. So she decides to be the biggest threat in the room. And so, she lands directly in front of the guards. The hum of energy builds inside her mouth once more, ready to be unleashed. And unleash it she does. Bolts of electricity fire out and strike the dozen men, attempting to strike them down!

Spoiler

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Move and Attack! Since I figure that, to appear and fire in the same turn, they also did a Move and Attack, I don't think they get their active defenses. Also, crossbows take a few rounds to reload, so Chaarix won't need hers this round.

...Anyway...

Attack! (As many as can be hit. I don't have a map here) vs. 14
(3d6)[14]
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[15]
(3d6)[10]
(3d6)[13]
(3d6)[9]
(3d6)[12]
(3d6)[11]
(3d6)[7]
(3d6)[14]
(3d6)[14]

Damage:
(2d6)[8]
(2d6)[7]
(2d6)[7]
(2d6)[10]
(2d6)[5]
(2d6)[7]
(2d6)[7]
(2d6)[9]
(2d6)[11]
(2d6)[6]
(2d6)[7]
(2d6)[5]

[DigoDragon]

Zuri lets the man go, instead rushing to aid her fallen brother who is bleeding. The injured man makes it to the doors and gets inside.

Chaarix manages to cook the line of guards (why do they line up in easy formation like this?) causing three to fall and the rest to scatter in a rout.

The cloaks of the fallen guard make for bandages, which Zuri does so with her scissors to stop Zido's bleeding. But when she goes to cut the cloak of the woman Chaarix fell, the cloak floats up out of reach and hovers there.

"What? Is that magic?"

Chaarix can tell that it is. And half of what she came here for.

[Miltonian]

A third, really. Two magic items and one sister.

She picks it up and examines it closer. "Yes," she says, "Yes it is magic." She quickly stuffs it into her satchel and turns to Zuri. "How is he?" she asks.

[DigoDragon]

"I'm... okay..." Zido weakly calls out. He gives a weak thumbs up.


Someone new comes out of the castle. An elven woman with blue-white hair, holding a large, bent candle stand and wearing a simple sleeping gown. She blinks seeing a large dragon and two kobolds outside the castle. The elf makes a 'shhh' motion and starts making her way quietly out towards the castle walls.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix nods to Zido. He was tougher than he looked. Good. He would probably need that, seeing as things were off to a...well, not a bad start, but certainly a messy one.

She fixes the elf woman with a glare and moves towards her as if to intercept or block her way, but she does not call out or give away her position to those who might be listening either.

[DigoDragon]

Zuri helps Zido up and plays the role of crutch so that the two kobolds can follow. Zido casts one last spell to grab the magic cloak out of the air. He drapes it over Zuri and then tries to keep up.

The elf pouts when Chaarix gets in her way. "Shh! Out of the way, Chaarix. Trying to escape here," the elf says with gritted teeth.

[Miltonian]

OH.

Chaarix feels a bit foolish now.

She nods and allows the elf to pass. Mumbling, "Good luck", she continues to pace in front of the palace.

"Well, my lord," she calls mockingly, "If you won't come out, I'm coming in!"

There. Now let's see what response that gets.

[DigoDragon]

"Uh.. you don't want to meet the lord. not right now," the elf whispered.


"Not to be a downer, but Zido could use a healer," Zuri adds.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix (and Milt) can take a hint. She huffs and says, "Oh very well. Everyone get on my back and we shall leave."

[DigoDragon]

The front doors explode outward and clatter across the grounds. A large black dragon, about Chaarix's size, steps through the opening.

"Someone called for their lord to come out. Well I am now here!" the dragon bellows. "What is this? The little not-dragon summoned a sibling?" The dragon snorts, icy cold smoke wafts out of his nostrils.

[Miltonian]

Chaarix pauses for a moment. "Of. Freaking. Course," she growls. Then, she turns on the charm. "Oh! Well, this does change things," she says with a warm smile, "And here I thought a human ruled these lands, and you know better than I, I am sure, that there is only one language they understand. No, this is much more...preferable."

She sincerely hopes that the kobolds and her sister are getting the heck out of here right now.

[DigoDragon]

She sincerely hopes that the kobolds and her sister are getting the heck out of here right now.

They are certainly doing just that! Chaarix's sister leads the two kobolds to some back exit that doesn't get much use.

The other dragon chuckles. "Of course it is. This is... optimal. My enemies shall cower before me or be destroyed. My allies however, shall be well rewarded for... loyalty. So, which is it do you fall under?"

[Miltonian]

Chaarix laughs. "Oh yes. I do apologize for that. You see, when I heard what had happened, I assumed a human had done so. You can understand my frustration. Beneath our dignity, as I'm sure you will agree."

Walk. Faster. You three...

[DigoDragon]

Zido gets picked up between the other two and they upgrade to a sprint.

This gets the dragon-lord's attention. "hmm? Ah, I see, distracting me so that your allies can escape. Clever girl."

The dragon leaps to the air toward the running trio, intent to pounce and probably maim.