Kahan moves as quickly as he can to whatever side is less densely populated as he pulls out his Rod and begins casting.

Borimer slides off of the thorny impalement, its sharp pain almost eclipsed by the giant claw marks across his chest. He lashes out with the ebony obsidian-like blade.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:44, Fri 15 June 2018.

Shae moves to get a clear view of the dragon before starting to cast another spell.

Leo looks for an opening when the Dragon is looking the other way.  He goes for a back tab if possible or just a sneak attack or whatever is his best option to get maximum effect before the dragon swats him away.  ;^)

Sorry about my delays.  Have been traveling with family.  That, plus the fact that this site is now blocked by my firm, makes it more difficult to post.

The party begins to split up to distract the dragon as Tahldar suggests.

Tahldar casts a spell and instantly arrives at the far side of the dragon, a little too close to the tail than expected, but safely.

Kahan moves aside and casts directly from the Rod, and flames reach out and strike the dragon, injuring its underbelly.  (10 hp dmg)

Borimer strikes three times, hitting twice, and his obsidian blade makes streaks of blood pour from the dragon. (40 hp dmg)

Leo moves in close where the dragon isn't looking and makes a solid stab to the belly of the dragon near where it is now seared with flames.  (12 hp dmg)  (NOTE: Cannot do a backstab on a creature more than a size larger than your character.)

Shae casts a spell (needlestorm), and instantly the small twigs and needles of the tree before you fire out at the dragon.  Due to the area affect of this attack, Borimer and Leo are also in the line of fire but are somewhat shielded by the size of the dragon.  (Borimer suffers 6 hp damage and Leo suffers 5 hp dmg.)  The dragon is hit by a far larger number of needles and branches that spray it and stick between its scales and into its wing.  (27 hp dmg)

The dragon squeals in pain at these myriad attacks, swiping its tail...

Leo dodges the tail but Tahldar is hit and knocked back into the trees.  (12 hp dmg).

The dragon pounds its wings and rises into the air, stepping back and demolishing the "pointing tree" behind it.  Writhing in pain, it disappears into the sky, leaving you a little worse for wear, but now you know you have done it some solid damage.

And even more, now you don't know of any place the dragon can go to heal itself from its fresh wounds.

You see something shiny near where the tree was crushed by the dragon.

And Geebo has been standing in the background watching this with awe and fear.  The young gnome's eyes are wide.  "You fear no dragon.  This is a sight to behold."

Leo moves off to some cover not liking his scalding but feeling a bit lucky that it wasn't worse.

Not sure if this matters or was taken into account but Leo's weapon has the following effects: Poison (Blade Always Poisoned) (User always immune to the dagger's poison.)
Bleeding (When removed, chance to cause bleeding (per rules).)

Borimer pulls twigs and assorted flora from his skin, "Not sure about that my friend, I have a healthy fear of every dragon."

Kahan looks to Tahldar to see if he needs healing. He will bandage everyone's wounds if they feel like there is enough time before the fog returns. "We do not fear anything, really, more just... respect the amount of danger they pose. This dragon is not the most powerful enemy we have faced, but that doesn't mean we can leave our guard down," he corrected the fighter with a grin.

Borimer chuckles while Kahan binds his wounds, "True enough. It's that dead knight that killed me with a single word that keeps me looking over my shoulder."


i'm down almost 40 hp, probably need some spells or we won't have much of a meat shield left :)
This message was last edited by the player at 15:50, Thu 12 July 2018.

Talhdar will take whatever healing Kahan provides.  As the cleric mends his wounds he says "I see something by the tree that we should take a look at."

Shae keeps looking up at the sky wondering if the dragon will return.  “Lets see what’s by the tree and then get the the safety of the fog as raw as we can.  That could have gone a lot worse: and maybe next time it will.”

You inspect the base of the tree where you saw something shining.  What you find makes you take a step back in shock.  You see a skeletal arm which must have belonged to the gnome without any limbs.  On its hand is a human-sized gauntlet of shiny metal.  Still attached to the forearm is a second portion of the shield which was broken at attached by leather, which has now decayed.

You turn the shield over and read the inscription.  The bottom left corner of the shield is still missing, but this lets you fill in more blanks from the clue that the gnome had apparently been following:


Follow north and be stealthy...to avoid the Keshnar;
Where there is a clearing ...in the meadow of mist,
Follow the direction of the ...pointing tree.

 ...at Gnome's Head Rock.
 ...in stone,
 ...enter down the tunnel.

The large creature footprints continue north, but the tree had been pointing to the east.

Geebo sees the gauntlet and says with horror, "This was Master Hambro.  He left to see Tenvillah with his warrior gauntlets.  Tenvillah must write these instructions on shield.  I never know this til now."

Fingas says, "You handled that dragon very well.  I was just getting ready to jump in and help when it flew away.  This will make a fine story over a banquet."

Borimer sneers at Hatt's promise of aid and addresses the others, "Do we want to follow the footprints north or find Gnome's Head rock?"


its been so long i honestly don't remember if we already know who the footprints belong to or where gnomes head rock is, or if fingas actually has a good excuse for not being in the fight :)

"I say we go east. Those footprints might lead to a dead body, or worse," Kahan responds, blatantly and intentionally ignoring everything Fingas has to say. So far he has done nothing but bluster and make things worse.

"East it is.  I think that is the way to Gnomes head rock." Tahldar says as he looks over the shield.

"If we can get some down time I have many tales to tell.  But first lets get this mission done."

Leo shrugs.  "East is fine with me."

Sorry.  Delays are my fault.  I can't even begin to say how much is going on in my life right now, but I want to keep this going.

That said, the footprints belong to the large creature in the mist that the gnomes are afraid of--the creature that ripped apart the gnome.  That and the dragon are the two things you primarily are concerned about here, as well as what happens when the mist clears if you are not on solid rock at the time.


You take the broken shield and head to the east.  You walk for over an hour, almost two, and you begin to think that maybe you misread the signals.  You also begin to think that soon the mist will start to dissipate and you will be left on this grassland with nowhere to stand for safety.  The constant mist surrounding you and cutting off your line of sight also makes it all the more tedious.  That tediousness is only occasionally broken by the instant panic that seizes you when you hear the dragon shriek somewhere overhead.  The mist seems to dim its senses, including smell, or you are sure it would land right on you.  You minimize discussion to avoid attracting the dragon.

Then, suddenly, the grass yields to a wall of rock.  You see in the rock the faces of the gnomes.



Geebo suddenly gets excited.  "We almost arrive, we have.  I remember this."  He then shuts his mouth and covers it with his hand.  It is not the sound of the dragon you hear next.  It is the hideous howl of what the gnomes called "the fiend of the mist," and it is right behind you.

You spin but see nothing in the mist.  Then you feel a slight tremor in the ground.  It is not the earthquake.  It is the pounding on the ground of something large approaching you--charging at you.

You will have only seconds until it arrives.

Kahan begins casting as he steps backwards towards the rocks. "Geebo, run on ahead! Get help if you can," the priest insists.

As Tahldar moves as fast as his legs allow, the mage casts invisibility on Geebo, then himself.

OOC: Run and look for somewhere that is defensible, ie a rock passage that is narrow and not easily passable by a large creature.  I will cast invisibility on Geebo and then myself if there's time.

Shae runs up to the rocks to gain higher ground.  Her ancestral spear is ready to strike out as she prepares to cast a spell.

Borimer draws his sword and turns to face the charge of whatever terror is upon them. This may give his companions time to seek shelter from which to attack the creature. Borimer braces for the worst and pushes back thoughts of the dragon hearing their combat.

Leo follows Shae in hopes of finding cover and to find a place to stay out of sight until the best course of action is more clear.

Kahan begins casting.

Shae and Leo run up to higher ground, followed by Geebo, who is frightened and huddles between the rocks.

Fingas steps up to the base of the rocks, sword raised to help Borimer.

Tahldar runs up to Geebo and casts invisibility.  The gnome huddles between the rocks but then disappears from sight.  Tahldar then casts invisibility on himself as he stands a little up in the rocks beyond Shae and Leo, and he disappears from sight just as the creature comes into view...

At first, you see the mist swirl and its whorls spin like pinwheels as something moves through the trees to the open ground in front of the rocks.  Then you see it and see that it is something out of a nightmare.

Its body is formed as if from steel blades.  Each part of its form is as sharp as the sharpest sword--blades stemming from every part of its body.  Standing nearly 20 feet tall, even its metal claws are as large and deadly as longswords.  And although roughly humanoid in shape, the figure has four arms. Its eyes blaze red but there is life in there.  This is no simple golem.



It looks down at you from its towering height above and then rushes at Borimer with the speed of a demon...

Kahan's entangle spell takes effect, surrounding the creature with tentacled growths from the ground, but they only have a momentary effect on the bladed creature, which cuts through the entanglement with its blades.

But Kahan has bought you precious moments to think about how to handle this creature and get the initiative for the next round.

Geebo, meanwhile, is mumbling in terror, "Keshnar!  Keshnar!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:32, Mon 08 Oct 2018.

"Oh, this is gonna hurt...one of us anyway..." Borimer strikes out twice at the bladed beast.