"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that. I will defend myself to the best of my ability, but if Cultists are fleeing, we should let them go after we search them for this phylactery. I also think we should try and capture a Cultist and question them for information that would help us. I wouldn't mind is a Charm Person spell was cast for that purpose."

Amara frowned at Roenthelm. She understood he would rather find a way to avoid a fight - but that did not make sense in some situations like this. She worried that he might become a liability.

"Charm person isn't likely to be enough - that makes someone friendly, but people in a battle or who already see you as an enemy aren't likely to be charmed at all. Suggestion might work. But there is a good chance only a few will know where it is. And letting any escape may let the phylactery escape with it - and therefore the dracolich to rise again and kill many more.

Don't you believe, Roenthelm, that killing one to save many is worthwhile?"

He is a worshipper of Ilmater. I remember long ago in Scornubel when they were hanging a man for murder. One of their priests of Ilmater protested the whole time and eventually took the murderer's spot instead of him. The priest died and the murderer went free.

"I fully agree with Amara.

If we have not found the phylactery then we can not let any of the cultists flee. We do not need to kill them necessarily, but they can not be allowed to leave until they've been fully searched. If they have the phylactery then they will use it to make a new dracolich which will result in large numbers of deaths, the same as we've already seen here.

Remember that these are devout killers who delight in death and suffering. They're not just opportunists who will kill if it gets them riches. These are people wholly dedicated, specifically, to the murder of innocents."

"I agree with Myarra and Amara. The Cultists can't go free unless they've been searched first. Stripped naked would give some justice to the people imprisoned, though." Vernon said to Byron, who told the party "Perhaps Gunther and his men can guard the front entrance to prevent anyone from leaving?"

Aamra is disgusted at Nolan's words. She doesn't doubt him. Nor does she relish killing (even though she had been taught that she should while growing up and, perhaps even for a while, did). But she certainly isn't against it when it needs to be done. But how can someone reason with that level of insanity?

Amara repeats Vernon's words for those who can't hear him. "I'm not sure they'd be powerful enough to stop cultists?" She said, looking at Nolan.

I honestly don't know Gunther's capabilities. But, I have a feeling that if this phylactery is in the mines, it'll be down stairs where we can't scry. So, we should make a decision. Go find the phylactery first, or go after the Dragon first?

Aliana pursed her lips in concern
"This is indeed a difficult decision.  Fighting the dracolich would be difficult, but it's at least something we can prepare for in advance, at least for the most part.   Going into the unscryed area to find the phylactery might be a good shortcut for destroying the dracolich, but it's a huge unknown in terms of what's there"

"Or we split forces. I won't be any good at helping with the dracolich or any other undead," Amara said, just to point out there was another option. She didn't actually think it was all that good of an idea.

"What about the Cultists that are with the Dragon? They will run in front to prevent Byron and Myarra from getting anywhere near it. Can your spells affect them?" Vernon asked Amara

"Anyone has a chance to shrug them off, but yes, my spells will usually affect people," Amara responded.

"From what you have scried are any cultist wizards strong enough to cast teleportation spells? I am sure they have a plan in place to take the phylactery to another area if the dracolich is destroyed.

We only get once to have the advantage of suprise so we have to decide if it is better to destroy the dracolich for good or free as many people as possible, it doesn't seem like we can do both with our current resources. Unless we want to send a couple of us down to see what we are dealing with below.

"It is certainly possible that some are that powerful, but I didn't see any specific confirmation of that. But when things are well in-control, one doesn't need to cast complicated spells often. And I wasn't watching a specific individual - rather primarily trying to map the area and then take notice of the people there. Some were certainly magic users - arcane or divine - but how powerful is unknown." Amara responded.

"Well, I see it this way. You can hide a phylactery anywhere. It'll be difficult to hide a big Dragon. You kill the Dragon, the Cultists hide the phylactery. You destroy the phylactery, you can't hide the Dragon." Vernon said to Amara and Byron "Don't say this to the rest of the group while Roen is here, but I think you should sneak into the mines using this abandoned cave, go straight to this under ground place you've been talking about, and kill all the Cultists. They are nothing but murderers. They killed me and made my brother into a blubbering idiot who cleans up shit in the street."

Amara nods and repeats part of what Vernon says, "Vernon says he reasons that you can hide a phylactery anywhere. It'll be difficult to hide a big Dragon. You kill the Dragon, the Cultists hide the phylactery. You destroy the phylactery, you can't hide the Dragon." She paused for a moment, "I tend to agree. Either we should first go after the phylactery or we do the two in tandem."

Aliana shrugged sheepishly
"If we're going down into unknown territory, I'd prefer 'all hands on deck', as the saying goes"

"I'd prefer to take the dragon on with whatever stealth we can manage, but your arguments are hard to dispute.

We really need to get the phylactery. And splitting the party is never a good idea."

"So phylactery first? Which means the unknown?" Amara asks, summarizing what she thinks she is hearing.

Twiggy grins "The future is unknown and that is what makes it fun. If this area is unable to be scried then we can assume there is a good bit of magic there. I can be hidden well enough and search for any alarms but I fall short of being able to disarm magic traps. We will need plenty of dispel magic and identify magic. Stealth will be our friend."

So, what are we doing then? Either way, I need to make some scrolls.

Given the pros and cons, I'm leaning towards going after the cultists and the phylactery first.

I really want to take out the dragon quickly, but if the phylactery survives, lots of people will die in the future.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:49, Wed 29 May.

"I suggest we split.

I suggest that most of you go after the dragon. That should make a lot of noise.

Twiggy and I, who are the most stealthy, should sneak in to the basement and search for the phylactery and deal with whatever is down there while the rest go after the dracolich.

I think it's fair to say that neither Twiggy nor I will be particularly effective in the fight against the dracolich, so we won't be terribly missed in that battle. And maybe hearing the battle will scare some of the cultists into grabbing the phylactery to run." Amara suggested. She knew splitting the party was not the best choice in many cases, but it seemed appropriate in this case.

Aliana frowned, the old adage "never split the party" ringing in her head.  But she also trusted her friends judgement

Byron listens to the others strategize.  He doesn't say anything as splitting the party or staying together means he's going to be fighting somewhere.

"You may not be well suited to fight the Dracolich, but I'm sure the Cultists themselves are very alive." Roen replied to Amara "If we're going to vote which mission to do, I suggest going down those stairs to find this phylactery. I agree that if that object escapes, we'll just be bringing more trouble to us and to top it off, I really don't think splitting the party is a good idea."