Good Strikes Back (IC)

[Cavir]

Ye have strange ideas of wha' constitutes a gran' gift. This also be the biggest dragon I've ever seen. If it be fresh, it will make gran' dragon steaks and the hide can be worked.

"It is quite fresh, killed within the past hour. Steak, hide, and scales should be quite a bounty. How often do armor smiths get to work scales of that size?"

The dwarf takes a moment to go over to the head and uses a disintegrate

Sora was surprised by the sudden disintegrate spell. "Had hoped for a Speak with Dead spell before doing that." It was too late.

Tha' should keep him from coming bac' to look fer it. King said we'd be expectin' ye. They'll finish up the work 'ere, I can take ye to a place to wash, clean up and change. The feast be now pushed back by a day with this bounty.

"Thank you." Sora motions to the rest of the party to follow the elderly dwarf.

[MikelaC1]

Just before the group gets to their rooms, they run into a delegation of the dwarves that they freed, who want to thank them once again for freeing them. They are also told the trial for the leader dwarves has already been held, the dwarves were found guilty and were executed.

[Aracor]

Tessa bows slightly to the dwarves in acknowledgement.

I can tell you sincerely that we were glad to help, and I'm even more glad that you were able to get back to your people.

[Cavir]

Sora also gives a slight bow. "Justice has been served, good. I am sorry you had to go through that, but glad you are thriving nonetheless."

[MikelaC1]

The rest of that day and most of the next day is free for the group to explore and see how the dwarves live. Dwarves keep a very orderly society, everyone knows their job and everyone does it. Mining of course is a big part of it, and the dwarves are the unquestioned experts in the field. Gold, silver and even some platinum are pulled from deep within the mountain and gems of all sizes as well, which are sent off for skilled cutting into some of the most fabulous the party has ever seen. Its a good thing too, the dwarves are not able to grow much of their own food and rely on trade, although the breweries are stupendous to look at, and several of the group know from experience how potent their potables are. Military groups are tight and disciplined, earning the respect of Sora, its little wonder that the chaotic orcs are unable to deal with them, an impossible nut to crack.
The group reconvenes at about 4 PM in the afternoon, and have about 2 hours to do anything before the awards and feat will begin.

[Cavir]

Sora makes her way through various merchants to enhance and expand her collection of magical gear. She then uses proper dwarven etiquette, in dwarven, to seek out the dwarven Hall of Knowledge. There, she works on gathering information through both discussion and books. She is sincere in her search for information on the dangers of the world. She is happy to share what she knows on these topics and anything else their scholars are keen to ask about.

- History of Chicxulubi, known abilities and encounters with him. Possible claimed domains and lairs.
- History of Kahoutek, known abilities and encounters with him. Possible claimed domains and lairs.
- Other highest level threats

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Diplomacy to work well with the scholars. (1d20+31)[42]
Gather Information if needed, hoping the diplomacy will light the path to enlightenment. (1d20+9)[21] If needed and allowed, use Moment of Prescience for +20.

On the next intermission, Sora is happy to return and continue working with the scholars if they are interested.

[MikelaC1]

Sora finds that for some reason, all the books on Chicxulubi and Kahoutek were just signed out, less than 2 hours ago. Looking closely at the register books, she can see a very familiar notation, that of TB²

[MikelaC1]

While the party waits, Mulcri does up formal outfits for them all. When the time comes, a dwarf in full military attire comes to escort them to the great hall. They are seated at the head table, looking out over the formal hall which is filling up with dwarves who are remaining standing. As they move into position, serving girls are passing out flagons of ale to every spot, and the savory aroma of the roasting dragon meat is filling the hall. Right away, the group can see that this feast is the exact opposite of an amazon feat, its heavy on dragon meats cuts of all kinds. There is a salad of some sorts, its made of a vegetable that none of them are familiar with, but one that obviously somehow manages to grow in the rocky and sunless dwarf home, or was traded for. Its a good thing that dwarves manage to mine such large quantities of ore and gems, since they do require a lot of food in trade.
Eventually the hall fills and with a blare of trumpets, King Gorvan Greybeard enters. Its hard to tell the age of a dwarf by appearance but Gorvan doesnt show the fact that he has been the dwarven king for longer than any of the party has been alive.
The dwarves cheer the appearance of their king and then quiet for his words. We are gathered here today to honor the memory of our brothers who were worked to death in the devil mines of Corsada, to celebrate the release of the rest and to honor those who made that possible. Another dwarf comes forward with a tray of medals, and each member of the party is called in turn to come over to the King who pins a medal on each one, calling it a Dwarven Medal of Honor. As each member comes up, there is a banging of mugs from the audience and the drinking of a toast (they are big flagons). Once the awards are done, the King turns, clapping his hands and announcing, Let the feasting begin and with amazing speed, the plates of steaming dragon roast or steak are served out, the head table getting theirs first and the rows of audience all getting theirs in what seems like less than 5 minutes, the serving girls able to carry out a massive number of plates simultaneously. The King makes small talk with the group as the feast proceeds, its clear that he has something on his mind but is not willing to discuss it here. As well, they wasnt immediately obvious, but at the other end of the head table, the group can see Tiffany and Tishtina, but interestingly enough by her absence is Elinon.

[Cavir]

Sora is sure there is serious discussion to be had later but for now she allowed herself to embrace the festivities. She was ready on time for the escort to the great hall. Taking her seat she looks over the underground sea of gathering dwarves. She knew it was an honor just joining them for the feast, never mind seated at the head table. She would be honored to wage war alongside them.

The food smelled delicious. She looked forward to it. The amazonian warmage accepts the Dwarven Medal of Honor with the respect due. With the king's blessing, Sora dug into the feast, enjoying the wide variety offered. In terms of ale she was no match for a dwarf but held her own well. That's when she noticed Tiffany and Tishtina. She nodded respectfully across the distance. She couldn't help but wonder why Tishtina took the books. To research for us? To keep us from going after Chicxulubi? Sora hoped the answer would reveal itself in the meeting after the feast. If Chicxulubi did live he would surely hunt the group. Sora wanted to be as prepared as possible.

[Debatra]

Mulcri is happy to make small talk with whomever wishes to; be it the King, her companions, or anyone else at the table. The King's indication of other matters to discuss is as clear to Mulcri as it is to the rest of the group, and she attempts to subtly signal to him that the message has been understood. Being rather hardy for an Elf, and with a magically-enhanced constitution on top of that, she allows herself to drink as much ale as she pleases, though she still ends up stopping at little more than a light buzz.

[Aracor]

Tessa takes her ease, and enjoys the vastly different cultural feast than that which she's used to. She will gladly talk to anyone who wants to, though she tries to keep it to light topics. The message that King Greybeard has implied is received, so she is content to wait for the rest of the information and live in the moment for now.

It turns out that dragon steak is actually quite tasty!

[ngilop]

Tinac politely engages in conversation with whomever strikes up a conversation with the healer. The dragon steak is a bit tough for his like, but it is tasty enough.

[MikelaC1]

The feast continues until Greybeard finishes, whereupon his queen and his two princes take their leave. Once the King is gone, the feast becomes a lot more rowdy, with wrestling matches, drinking contests, tests of strength and all manner of carrying on. About 20 minutes after the King departs, each of the group receives a tap on the shoulder with a whispered comment that the King would like a word with them. The group is escorted to a meeting room where the king is, along with Tishtina (who has a number of books in front of her) and Tiffany. The king bids them to sit.
The appearance of Chicxulub is of great concern to us and Tishtina has done some research on how to deal with him. If, of course you are willing to take this on
Tishtina takes over with the first book. Up until now, Chicxulub has been called the tarrasque of red dragons, short bursts of activity, long periods of dormancy and then every two or three decades, a much longer period of activity. The last period of long activity was over 6 decades ago, leading some to speculate that he might even be dead, which of course we now know thats wrong
She pushes aside the second book. We always thought Chicxulub had his lair in the southern Komaths, while Kahoutek ruled the Dragonspires. The Acturnon mountains are believed to be the purview of ancient blue Machholz so what Chicxulub was doing there was anybody's guess, he might have been pursuing an alliance with Machholz to take out Kahoutek, but thats doubtful.
Tiffany steps in with a third. Given how long Chicxulub has been out of action and the fact that you defeated him, we suspect he is about to embark on a long period of activity. But he has to regrow his body since the clone takes several months to take effect and now is the time to act. If we could find Chicxulub's lair.
Our best lead on that is an agent of ours known as the Ravager, his real name is Ulton Glorygem. The problem is, his last known location was in Terkaton, doing some spywork there, against the Empire of the Sun directly and Chicxulub indirectly
We propose that you travel to Terkaton and try to make contact with the Ravager, see what he knows and if possible, team up with him to deal with Chicxulub before he becomes a living threat.

[Debatra]

Mulcri perks up a little at the mention of Ravager, but then when his real name is said she cries out before she can stop herself. "So that's what it-" She cuts herself off, placing a hand over her mouth as she looks around the room in uncharacteristic embarrassment. When she speaks again, it is in a noticeably less formal tone. "I... My apologies. Ravager's an old friend of mine. One I haven't seen in years. It's good to- Well, it will be nice to see him again. I'm sorry. Please, continue." Though not rude enough to actually do it, she finds herself tempted to become invisible after her outburst.

[Aracor]

Mulcri, do you have a Discern Location prepared? That should make it pretty easy for us to find your friend, right?

[Cavir]

Sora

"No need to apologize Mulcri, friends are good to have. It's a blessing that you already know the Ravager. Can he be contacted by Sending?"

Sora's mind went into strategy mode, where she thrived. Not dealing with Chicxulub wasn't even considered. "Chicxulub was killed by who he had considered nobodies. He'll hunt us for sure and reign destruction in our name. We could use that to get him where we want, or make him think we are somewhere else to draw him away from his lair. Better we choose the circumstances rather than he surprise us again better prepared. We can be much better prepared too. Information is key."

"So many questions. To start, what is known of Chicxulub's abilities beyond having Hellfire? Is he limited in using Hellfire? Is there a defense against it? What spells does he know? Any allies he has called on in the past? Our own experience with him should be detailed for the future."

Sora had more questions, but that was enough for the moment and they had time to talk.

[MikelaC1]

Mulcri, do you have a Discern Location prepared? That should make it pretty easy for us to find your friend, right?

If only it were that easy, we have already tried that. Good old fashioned detective work is what you need.

Sora

"No need to apologize Mulcri, friends are good to have. It's a blessing that you already know the Ravager. Can he be contacted by Sending?"

Sora's mind went into strategy mode, where she thrived. Not dealing with Chicxulub wasn't even considered. "Chicxulub was killed by who he had considered nobodies. He'll hunt us for sure and reign destruction in our name. We could use that to get him where we want, or make him think we are somewhere else to draw him away from his lair. Better we choose the circumstances rather than he surprise us again better prepared. We can be much better prepared too. Information is key."

"So many questions. To start, what is known of Chicxulub's abilities beyond having Hellfire? Is he limited in using Hellfire? Is there a defense against it? What spells does he know? Any allies he has called on in the past? Our own experience with him should be detailed for the future."

Sora had more questions, but that was enough for the moment and they had time to talk.

Again sending has been tried and failed. Your objective should be to destroy Chicxulub before he reforms, it will be so much easier.

Tishtina opens the third book. Chicxulub is one of the 10 elder great wyrms among the chromatics. There are 2 of each color, each with their own "territory". We have discussed Kahoutek, the other elder great wyrm among reds, for the moment the other colors arent that important. We know this much about the elder great wyrms, they can use their breath weapon without restriction, without "reloading" as it were. Twice a day, they can charge up their breath to where no magic can resist it, and once a day, they can even maximize it, much as mortal casters maximize their own spells. They tend not to use such power on a first attack, because it renders the prey inedible and destroys any treasure they might have. In your case however, having beaten him once, hes not going to hesitate. They are also all 20th level arcane casters.

She closes the book with a smile at Sora I read faster than you.

[Cavir]

Sora

"No problem. I'm glad we thought along the same lines. That mostly matches with what we faced. I believe Chicxulub was able to maximize his breath twice, once for each type. If I remember right Kahoutek always uses Hellfire?"

"Chicxulub used a Silence spell to hide his approach. His spellcasting is why I focused on enervation at first. Mulcri's fog spells further impeded him. I expect him to have magical protections next time so dispelling will be critical too."

"Books have been consulted. Perhaps studying his appearances in the past will give a clue? What about more current information? Can a concerted effort be made with divinations against Chicxulub or areas of the southern Komaths? If an area is shielded from that, that is a clue in itself."

"You mentioned the chromatics, what about the metallics? Perhaps one is willing to impart information or even join the fight? "

[MikelaC1]

The problem with that is even a simple Mind Blank spell would prevent that sort of scrying and not really show up unless you went inch by inch in searching, and that sort of scrying would attract negative attention from the Empire of the Sun, so finding Ulton that way wont work. As for Chicxulub, the great elder's take their orders directly from Tiamat and given how her power and status has increased in Hell, she is more able to protect them from divination.

The last communication from Ulton mentioned a gold dragon in the Southern Komaths who was watching Chiculub but we never got a name or a location and the Ravager thought he would only deal with him. Any metallic dragon that strays too close to the Empire usually gets
a price on their head and so they tend to be very careful about who they deal with. But if you could free the Ravager, maybe he could contact the dragon and see what aid he is willing to offer.

[Cavir]

Sora

"It was worth a thought. Did Ravager have any other contacts? Any contacts or leads for us as a starting point?" She seemed to be out of other questions for now.

[ngilop]

Hmm.. so another big dragon as an ally or an enemy of my enemy thing? I am not sure about these elder wyrms getting killed to be honest.. That leaves a very big hole to fill in terms of power structure... the various attempts to fill that vacuum might be worse than just the one dragon who mostly naps his life away. Tinac scratches the back of his head in thought before he continues. Needless to say.. if another giant flying magical lizard ever shows up.. first thing I am doing is strengthening our durability to injury.

[MikelaC1]

Hmm.. so another big dragon as an ally or an enemy of my enemy thing? I am not sure about these elder wyrms getting killed to be honest.. That leaves a very big hole to fill in terms of power structure... the various attempts to fill that vacuum might be worse than just the one dragon who mostly naps his life away. Tinac scratches the back of his head in thought before he continues. Needless to say.. if another giant flying magical lizard ever shows up.. first thing I am doing is strengthening our durability to injury.

As we said, if you dont wish to take on this mission, you are free to decline. A great elder wyrm is a bit above your paygrade...but remember that he does have a reputation for holding a grudge.
We can teleport you to a point about an hours walk from Terkaton, teleporting into a city that is the capital of a military dictatorship like the Empire of the Sun is going earn you a nasty response, all sorts of unpleasant tricks tied to an Anticipate Teleport. From there you can travel to the western gae, which is the one that most travelers would enter through. At that point, time for some gumshoe work.

[Aracor]

I'll admit it - I don't see any compelling reason NOT to take this mission, and quite a few to take it.

If we can either take out the dragon before it re-awakens, or at least take the fight back to him instead of him choosing the time and place, that seems like all upside.

[Debatra]

"Regardless of whether or not we want to deal with this, it's our problem now." She turns to face her compatriots. "I don't know how many of you speak Draconic, but I feel the need to point out that Chicxulubi did swear vengeance on us as his physical form died."

[Cavir]

Sora node in agreement with Mulcri. "I speak Draconic too. I look forward to meeting the gold dragon if it is friendly to us and the chance arises."

"I agree. Chicxulub will hunt us and kill everyone in that path along the way. If he can't find us he'll start destroying cities until we come face him or someone leads him to us. We'll have to deal with whatever vacuum is created later. Remember how much Good came of dealing with the balor's operation. Chicxulub needs to be dealt with aggressively. We've killed him once. He'll be smarter about the next encounter but we can be better prepared too if we're smart and work together. Tinac, your spellcasting is ability is vital. I hope you will continue with us. And yes, if another... giant flying magical lizard ever shows up unexpectedly then defensive measures would be perfect."

"We could use what information there is about the Empire of the Sun, its rules and customs, so we can make cover stories and not stick out while there, but we don't need to tie up His Majesty's time with those details."

[Toliudar]

Otrea and Hillock

Otrea has been, characteristically, silent and watchful throughout the discussions. She speaks softly.

"I agree. I think that travelling to Terkaton and seeking out this Ravager is our best next step. Perhaps to depart first thing tomorrow?"

[MikelaC1]

Terkaton is an evil city, but its the evil of a strict military dictatorship, not some gangland free for all. A soldier's word is law, but there is a civilian complaint board which takes misconduct or corruption seriously and since every soldier's aim to is to be promoted to levels that take him out of the line of fire and into higher pay, they arent throwing their muscle around everywhere. If you dont make trouble for anyone, very few will make trouble for you. Its very much a human city so a group of amazons, one of them an elf, is going to stand out but I would advise against any sort of magical disguise, it will fool the common soldier yes, but probably wont fool a warmage and they'll want to know what you are up to. She looks specifically at Sora Erandol and Terkaton are not currently at war but Im sure they would have many questions for General Solaran if they found her skulking around.

[ngilop]

Well, soldiers always need healers so maybe they wont be so against me. Most likely, I will have to stay visible too. But, seems safer that way.

[Cavir]

She looks specifically at Sora Erandol and Terkaton are not currently at war but Im sure they would have many questions for General Solaran if they found her skulking around.

"Yes, that would not be fun. We need a believable cover story. Adventurers looking to face the challenges of eastern South Enicom or the Komath Mountains themselves? We are in the city to learn and prepare for the trip?"

"Is there any word on where the city Ulton frequented or any other contacts he or we have there?"

[MikelaC1]

"Yes, that would not be fun. We need a believable cover story. Adventurers looking to face the challenges of eastern South Enicom or the Komath Mountains themselves? We are in the city to learn and prepare for the trip?"

Those covers sound perfect

"Is there any word on where the city Ulton frequented or any other contacts he or we have there?"

Unfortunately no. Ulton was working deep undercover. In fact, while he had made a contact with that gold, that was his only draconic contact. Even though the metallic dragons have no love for the chromatic elder great wyrms, they also feel humans have no place in interfering in what they consider a draconic affair. And while they espouse more nobility than the chromes, they do share their love of treasure and would regard Chicxulub's stash as being draconic property, to be shared amongst the dragons that took him down. Ulton had to make sure no word got out to any other draconic agent, chromatic or metallic.