Completely unrelated to crystals and such because Rhagar already exists in that setting, this is the actual coppernight hold story.

The team, having responded to a bulletin quest, arrived at the mayor's office. The mayor explains, "Kavalar Coppernight, a dwarf prospector, led a couple of dozen volunteers in a quest for rich veins of ore. Several months ago, they began underground mining operations, as well as a surface excavation for a small keep. Hearing of this development, I sent two veteran militia members to investigate. They should have returned two days ago, but they haven't. I was hoping you bunch of capable adventurers could find out what happened."

Sora asks, "So... third time's a charm?"

The mayor says, "Sorry?"

Sora says, "First, Kavalar. Then the militia guys. Now us."

The mayor says, "Oh... well... yes. I hope. Don't risk your lives if you don't have to. I just want to know the situation."

Ideal says, "Do not worry, mayor. The situation will be handled professionally."

Ideal had met the group of dragonborn just the other day, actually. They had been through a fight that nearly cost them their lives. And would have if not for Ideal showing up and healing them before the fight was through. She helped out without being asked and the group won as a result. But to a proud dragonborn, it may have seen like she just made the fight end quicker and the group would have done fine without her. Still, she helped and that made her an ally.

Sora, of course, had grown up in the same town as Pyrus. So she is much like a little cousin who looked up to him.

Pyrus nods.

"We will only charge 50 gold for the information you seek.  If it turns out there is a bandit clan killing your people, an appropriately larger sum will be required to rout them.  To be negotiated upon the delivery of the report you ask.  Map."

He holds out his hand, expecting to be given a map to the destination.

  Rhagar may have Darkthorne Metagenetics do to his increasingly nebulous timeline.

  He is also thankful his draconian bloodline is thinned just enough that he was not risking exploding into a geyser of acid next to Sora and Pyrus, but has opted not to mention that detail.  He's still fully forming opinions about the others, but Sora stands out as what he suspects many would thing a white dragonborn should be.

  "Is there anyone else who would know of this location already? Competitors?  Territorial locals?" What IS it about Dwarven facilities that attract so much trouble?  Probably because they keep putting them where valuables are, instead of a bunch of boring trees nobody cares about like so many Elves.

The mayor hands Pyrus a map. It is extremely generic with a marker showing where the town is, a marker showing where Coppernight Hold is and a dotted line with an "approximation" of two miles' walk.

He decides not to argue about the price. He can afford 50 gp to at least find out what happened.

Sora looks over to Pyrus and then to the mayor. "Actually, I'm adding that if we see fit, we will charge in and rescue people. If we do so, we will be charging more. Do you still accept our terms?"

The mayor says, "That's fine. The money isn't coming out of my pocket. But be warned that the money is finite, and 50 gold is a decent sized chunk of that finite resource. However, if there are no dwarves left, you stand to gain treasure there. If there are dwarves and you rescue them, you stand to gain treasure from gratitude. So really, chances of you getting cut short are slim."

Ideal asks, "And Rhagar's question?"

The mayor says, "No competition that I'm aware of."

"Then we go."

Pyrus motions with his hand for the others to follow and begins following the map.

  Well, at least Pyrus has the same armor class as he does when bloodied.  So the sorcerer leading could work out.  More so when one considers the practical flaws of standing in front of said sorcerer.

  "If things go as the often do for such places, there will be less we must rescue than to rescue than there are to kill."

Pyrus has the map. So for now, he's leading. In combat, Sora leads. In social situations, well... Ideal and Pyrus haven't gotten that far just yet.

On the way there, Sora says, "I added what I did so we didn't have to waste time traveling 4 extra miles just for a simple "Yes, please rescue them" that I was relatively sure the mayor would have said. And then we would return to find we are too late, the prisoners dead. And to top it off, we would be short the money we would have had for rescuing people."

Ideal watches Sora talk, then looks at Pyrus, listening.

"Shrewd.  I'll do the negotiating for the group.  You may feel free to offer good ideas like that in the future."

To the others Pyrus adds.  "You also were not incorrect.  We likely will meet resistance.  Be prepared."

  "I do find it preferable for us to be alive, so some preparation is to be expected."

  It will be quite a few levels before Rhagar can handle diplomacy checks himself.  Who knew 'Diplomacy by pretending to be polite' was a level 10 unlock?

  "I was under the impression stopping to ask permission to rescue people meant you did not care that much about the victims?"

Ideal says, "You are correct, Rhagar."

Sora nods. "Yeah. And I know we care. And we would jump in to rescue someone if they need it. But I don't know how much the mayor or his town would care if we rescued people without first agreeing to certain terms."

Ideal says, "For a small town like this, a verbal agreement should be enough. But when we work in a city, be sure you get things in writing or else you will likely be cheated."

"I do not care much about dwarves beyond what they can do to advance our goals," Pyrus clarifies, "Victims or otherwise.  But I won't object much if Sora makes a habit of rescuing the weak without promise of reward so long as it doesn't set us back overmuch.  Powerful as she is, she's earned the right to use her strength to crush the oppressors of the helpless.  And she's already proven to be shrewd enough to not throw away possible reward.  Just know that slowing your progress toward gaining more wealth and power means slowing the means you'll need to get what you want done done.

'Sorry, sir.  I would have been able take out the enemy general.  But because I gave away all my wealth to the poor, I no longer have the stealth armor that would have enabled me to bypass his 10,000 troops.'"

  "You would have to bypass them quite swiftly if you expect magical armor do to the job for you."  That and become proficient in either leather or hide armor.

  "Not all are comfortable in putting their tasks down in official writing, I have found.  You may need to pass up those lucrative jobs you hope for if you hold to that."

Ideal adds, "That and some jobs only open up after doing certain other jobs. It could be the best payed jobs require us to do an unpaid job some day. But as Pyrus pointed out, we can survive the occasional setback."

Sora looks confused and asks, "What makes you convinced magical armor specifically designed for sneaking would not be helpful in sneaking? I get the whole 'rely on yourself', but your statement seems to indicate that gear is near pointless."

Pyrus will let Rhagar answer Sora's question for himself.

"So what are your goals, Ideal?"

    "Most armors that renders one invisible only last for moments, and enhanced stealth only goes so far.  Unless circumstances are already favorable for evading them, this will not be enough to  bypass 10,000 troops."  Not having a proper arcana check is why Rhagar is unaware of a power creep Cloth through Hide armor available as low as level 5 that grants encounter long (or until you attack) invisibility, as well as a stealth buff aura. As an encounter power.

  Also he's taking the '10,000 troops' thing literally, because of course he is.

OOC: Gloaming Armor; Cloth, Leather, or hide.  Moerde... morden.... that guy's Magnificent emporium.  page 15.
LV 5/10/etc/30
Properties: Item bonus to stealth = enhancement bonus.
Utility (Illution): Encounter;Standard.
Effect: You become invisible until you attack, or until the end of the encounter. You can end this as a minor action.
LV 15+: While you are invisible, allies within 5 gain the item bonus to stealth checks.

Fast forwarding a bit, the group finds the excavation site. For convenience, the GM handwaves the perception check this time (it's only a DC 10 anyway).

Sora says, "I hear some movement..."

Ideal adds, "Child-sized, from the sound of it. I can only assume whatever is there is hostile."

Rhagar did so freakishly well, he actually recognizes the sound of clawed feet on the ground and even hears a partial hiss. He can easily make out these are either kobolds, or a DOZEN baby dragons. Oh wait. Baby dragons are quadrupedal. Nope. He totally knows it is kobolds.

Pyrus doesn't let it show he didn't hear or see a thing.

"Good assumption.  I'll do the talking once we know what we're dealing with."

  "Nearly a dozen Kobolds seems to be what you would be dealing with.  Are you certain you can convince them with words alone to make our lives easier?"

Sora says, "Let me try with you, Pyrus. You tend to be short with people and I tend to make people like me. Since I've never dealt with kobolds in a friendly way before, I'm not sure which would be more effective here."

Ideal shrugs and says, "Either way, if we're going to let them know we are here, may as well set an ambush and let them come to us rather than fight on their terms, should this turn into a fight." She glances at Rhagar. "....nice hearing, Rhagar..."

"Good guard bad guard works best when interrogating prisoners, but perhaps it may serve us well here.  I intend to lie to them to get them to tell us what we came to find out.  A precautionary ambush set-up is a shrewd idea.  Me and Sora will converse with them from back here.  You two can be ready to flank them should they charge us."

He goes over his lie with Sora for a bit.  When everyone is ready, Pyrus will address the kobolds.

"Blessings of Tiamat, friend kobolds!"

---

To speed things along, I'll just sumarize Pyrus' intended bluff (24).  He'll be posing as a scary, but favorable cleric of Tiamat and will try and get them to brag about ousting the dwarves.  Did you keep any alive for amusement?  Tiamat will be proud of your conquest!  So forth.  Sora's job will be to avoid any bluffs and stick to true statements that will improve the kobold mood.  "Tiamat is the goddess of taking other people's stuff, you know.  She will approve of your actions.  Pyrus and I are dragonborn, said to be distant relatives of Tiamat."   So forth.

  Oh, so that's where they are going with this?  Okay then.

  "I'm sure you know what happens if you are stupid enough to kill one of Tiamat's blood in your midst.  My associates are hardy enough to survive, but you?  not so much"  Burst 5, that's an 11x11 area, the map isn't even that WIDE.

Not that Rhagar took THAT checkbox, but still.

The kobolds send forward a minion to speak with Pyrus and Sora. He glances nervously at Rhagar, but tries to stay focused. All the tiamat love going on does at least begin to set him at ease and soon, he boasts.

As it turned out, shortly after the soldiers set off, a white dragon wyrmling and her kobold followers struck the building site. The assault against the dwarven enterprise was difficult and costly, but ultimately successful. The majority of the dwarf miners, builders, and guards perished defending their new home. Only a few dwarves were taken prisoner.

Since then, the dragon has holed up in the newly constructed chambers, hoping to recruit more kobolds from a nearby tribe to join her forces. After gathering more cannon fodder, the dragon plans to use Coppernight Hold as a launching point for further attacks.

It is clear the kobolds are convinced the heroes are on their side and soon, they invite the heroes to "come and have council with Myxnthrix. (GM note: The module cares so little about the baby dragon, she didn't even get a name, so I just made a dragonish name for her)

No offense to present company, but white dragons are supposed to be the least clever of all the chromatics, so Pyrus is confident his ruse will hold up even when facing the boss.

"Your invitation is accepted, little one.  I think your master will be pleased indeed with your bringing us to him.  Though etiquette requires that he first be informed and agree to our entering his new lair.  You can mention that because of his recent success I will not charge much for an official blessing should he choose to ask one of me."

  "Are we still leaving receipts for those?  So few seem to want that blessing if it means putting it in writing." Whoa man, I joined the Dragon Cult for spooky robes, attacking random adventurers, and trying to arrange poorly thought our plans with dragons! I didn't want a commitment!

The kobold heads off.

Sora looks at Pyrus and says in a quiet tone, "If we are able to see Myxnthrix, we could kill her and the entire encampment will scatter. Oh sure, one or two will be furious and fight us to the death, but we will have saved a lot of effort. But there is a chance we may be too outnumbered to risk it. I will stay mostly quiet when we face the dragon."

Ideal stays put, though, not wanting to risk a kobold spotting her.

(Just letting some RP happen between the time the messenger heads off and the time you get invited to come in)

Pyrus addresses the group.

"We should bring the Tiefling with us."

  "That would be Ideal"  The player could not help themselves, we are so sorry.

  "If such actions are taken, then hopefully it is not between the dragon and priest."  Even if they were close enough to hit eachother with their breath attacks, cold resistance.

Sora says, "Funny, Rhagar. But while it would be Ideal, how are we going to explain it just changed to one more person?"

"The scale-less one is intimidated by kobolds and was hiding," Pyrus explains, "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear that."

  "If you think you can make that believable, it could work."

Soon, he comes with the wyrmpriest (who seems annoyed with Pyrus) and pretty much a whole mess of kobolds.

"Where's your holy symbol, priest?" the wyrmpriest asks in an almost demanding tone.

Sora wisely chooses to leave the bluffing to Pyrus.

Pyrus doesn't conveniently have a symbol of Tiamat among his belongings.  Nor can he think of a good excuse for why a priest of Tiamat wouldn't have one.  So he simply approaches while reaching into a pouch.

"In here."

FWOOM!  He breathes fire on the lot of them!

Sora suddenly appears next to the wyrmpriest, having moved so fast, it only took her the time the wyrmpriest glanced at Pyrus' money bag for Sora to get to him!

The moment Pyrus belts out fire on the kobolds, Sora fires ice shards out her mouth, piercing the kobolds! Between the two of them, four kobolds go down and two get seriously wounded, one of which is the priest!

Rhagar meanwhile may not be causing as widespread harm with his own breath (Hey, SOMEONE has to stand outside of the Priests's own spitting distance... aside from Ideal), but still causes a notable difference as a dagger flies through the air and into the back of the protesting Priest's throat, silencing them in a swift and permanent...  Okay, after some long moments of bloody gurgling then permanent, fashion.

Ideal gasps and rushes in, charging the nearest kobold, but in a fluke of fate, trips over a rock on her second to last step, causing her swing to go wide and only hit air.

The screams attract the attention of the other kobolds who were hanging back and they get into position! One slinger rushes enough to even run via keyword run (in order to make it all the way up the STAAAAIRS) and still manages to hit Sora with a gluepot, sticking her to the ground!

The slinger right in front of the group, however, fails to hit anyone as he throws a pot uselessly past Pyrus.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:40, Sat 02 May 2015.

Rhagar moves up a bit, and finally lets loose with his own breath attack, severely wounding the two closest enemies if not the already close to death Dragonshield.  He follows up with a strong rapier thrust that enters the forehead and exits the neck of the closest Dragonshield, at least keeping up his one non minion enemy per turn streak going.

OOC: Slinger... A? B? really need to mark these things <.<  I have declared him slinger A. 4 HP left.
Dragonshield 1, Dead.

Ideal makes up for her initial miss by stabbing the nearby dragonshield through the heart and kicking him off her sword.

A minion steps up to swing at Rhagar and misses.

Sora steps forward and roars, causing the minion to drop unconscious and the slinger to cringe!

But another minion rounds the corner and charges Sora, making her look down at him and narrow her eyes with a draconic growl.

Pyrus steps forward and shouts, "Cower!"

The kobolds shriek.  Two of them soil themselves!  Pyrus follows up with another dragon breath, taking out the minion that attacked Sora!

A couple minions charge Sora and Rhagar! The one charging Sora misses, but the one charging Rhagar hits! ...if only a flesh wound.

The slinger steps back and slings a pot at Pyrus, hitting him hard! "Live by fire! DIE by fire! AAAHAHAHAHAHA!" the kobold yells maniacally as Pyrus is now on fire.

  Rhagar's fine print restrained wings lift him over the Minions in front of him before they can react, and he comes to a stop by the farthest and unharmed slinger.  A slash of the blade followed up by a sweeping trip with his tail and kick to the back of their head results in a half dead Kobold now within Pyrus BBQ distance instead of outside of it.

Theme power: LOL fly shift my speed.
Attack, vs will stabby encounter hits slinger, slides, and deals 14 total DMG.
Slinger HP: 10 left.

Ideal slaps Pyrus on the back and he suddenly feels no pain! "We've got them right where we want them!" Ideal yells. She then heads over to Sora's side and slays another kobold!

Sora stomps the kobold in front of her, crushing him under her foot. She then steps forward and stabs the slinger, leaving only one left. "SURRENDER AND LIVE!"

Is it because she fully expected him to not surrender that he does? Well... he does.

(Encounter over)

Pyrus bursts out laughing.

"Red scales, little one!  Through me flows the blood of a red dragon!  You did well to surrender."

He looks to the others.  "Bind him."

He's still on fire after all.

  Rhagar flicks the blood from his rapier, and retrieves his spare daggers.

  "Were he smart enough to know that, he might have been smart enough to not attack you in the first pace."

Ideal gets to binding the remaining kobold while asiding to the team. "Impressive. Sure, they were only kobolds, but... impressive."

Sora nods. "This is the power of draconic blood. The kind kobolds wish they had."

Ideal glances down at the priest. "....some do have that kind of power. It is likely very fortunate for us you bunch took out this priest first."

"Let's see if he is smart enough to do numbers.  How many of you kobolds are left down there, little one?"

  "There was a reason they were the first to be stabbed, yes."  The kobolds saw first hand what happens when Blast attacks get pointed in their direction, after all.

The kobold says, "Uhhh...." he looks around and says, "About as many as you see here are probably still down there."

"Good.  A young dragon with his escort should prove a worthy fight.  Let's go."

He heads down the shaft.

  Rhagar looks around, and says "I assume you mean as many bodies, you are the only one left here."

The kobold thinks about getting snarky with Rhagar. But his survival instincts yell at him for thinking of getting snarky with the only people standing between him and the afterlife. "Yes." he answers Rhagar.

Sora frowns, nods, and heads off to the rope ladder.

Ideal asks the kobold, "Just how big is Myxnthrix?"

The kobold answers, "....about as big as you. Not quite as big as the rest of your team."

Ideal ohs and follows her team mates.

Pyrus tries to go for another bluff surprise round by acting casual.

"If you like that last one, wait till you hear this one.

"So a dragonborn, a shifter, a gnoll, and an angel all walk into a tavern..."

  <blue>"I have heard this one, and still do not understand the punchline about horses drinking from mugs."<blue>

Not leaving things to chance or bluff alone, Sora cuts to be in front of Pyrus. "There's only two...."

Ideal comes up next to both Pyrus and Sora, looking ready to help at a moment's notice.

Rhagar passes along that the statue is unstable.

Then Sora does one of her "leave a blur behind her" superspeed aggro things again and is suddenly in the face of the enemy, breathing shards of ice at them.

The skirmisher dances around Sora and stabs at her, hitting only armor.

Ideal hurls a javelin at the skirmisher, piercing its leg and says, "That one goes first." before moving towards the dragonshield as if expecting her team to destroy the skirmisher that fast.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Tue 05 May 2015.

Pyrus pitches an acid orb that sizzles on the skirmisher's armor harmlessly.

  Rhagar crosses the room, and before the Skirmisher can even react (Thanks, initiative order!) has a rapier thrust through an eye socket, brain, and back of his skull.

  The draconian flicks blood and brains from his blade, and comments to the dragonshield "You will not make it if you run."

Sora and the dragonshield whiff at each other, but Ideal comes up and stabs the dragonshield. Who seems only annoyed by the attack.

  Rhagar once again takes advantage of the openings provided by Ideal and Sora, as he slips behind the Dragonshield and impales them from behind with his rapier.

  Level 1 may mean the party members are (for 4th ed) squishy, but it also means the enemies are as well.

  "Should I have clarified that was suggesting he surrender?"

Pyrus shrugs.

"This way is more convenient.  No rope tying."

Sora says, "Sorry, Pyrus. Figured it was better to strike fast and hard than to wait."

Ideal says, "The kobolds were expecting us anyway. Not sure how, but it was clear they were not surprised at our attacking them."

  "They may have heard the screaming." quite possibly!

"Or they had a passcode.  No matter.  They're dead now.  Let's move on."

After a short rest of course.

The room rounds a corner to a hallway that leads straight to a pair of stone double-doors.

Ideal stairs at the doors. "...nothing says 'dangerous' and 'trap' quite like a pair of doors where you don't know what lies on the other side."

Sora says, "On the other hand, nothing says 'funnel' and 'gather for breath weapon' quite like a door at the end of a hall."

Ideal says, "Yes, but that works both ways."

Sora says, "Then I suggest you all stay behind me."

Ideal says, "I guess in the end, there really isn't much option besides just opening the doors and attacking."

  "Not if we wish to accomplish out task in a timely manner, at least."  Sure, they COULD turn around and leave.  Or slowly pick off stragglers a bit at a time over the course of a week.  But what little dwarves might be alive at the moment would likely be used as an emergency food supply by then.

"An entire room full of enemies all going after Sora alone might be disastrous, but a dragon's breath weapon hitting us all isn't to be taken lightly either.  Is there any way the door can be rigged to be opened by a rope?  If we can get the enemy to come back to this corner, that would probably be best."

Ideal says, "Not really..."

Sora says, "I could open it from as far as twenty five feet." She demonstrates by holding her sword out and then letting go as it levitates there.

Ideal is taken aback from the demonstration, but does a good job at not showing it. "That... would be just far enough to be outside the range of a small dragon."

  It's so easy to forget that Battlemind is one of the Psychic Powers™ classes, compared to the other ones.  Sort of like Monks that way.

  "Still a short enough distance for Pyrus and I to attempt to strike a few enemies once the door opens, at least.  It remains to be seen if the hole up or come to us."

Pyrus gives an impressed nod to Sora.

"Let's do that.  I'm certain the dragon will send his minions to their doom.  If they somehow lack the guts to face us, that will work in our favor."

  Rhagar used sling on Slinger, it's super effective!  Rhagar will never quite understand how type bonuses work at this rate.

After the group steps back a bit, Sora opens the door with her telekinesis.

For a moment, there is nothing. Then suddenly a slinger rushes into view and gets a rock in the lung "AAAAAAHAHAHHOOOWWWW!!!!" but hurls a glue pot and hits Sora in the FACE! "MMPF!" is all that can be heard from poor Sora just before the glue not only glues her mouth shut, but glues her feet to the floor.

And immediate retaliation! Ideal tosses a javelin that finishes off the slinger.

A hissing can be heard saying in draconic, "I know you can underssstand me, blasphemers! We are not foolish enough to fight on your termsss! I am going to kill the dwarf prisonerrsss for every minute you ssstand out there!"

Sora mmmmmmpfs! unable to talk then rips from the glue. "Darn you! You throw glue at me and expect me to run in there?!"

A dwarven voice can be heard struggling and resisting.

Pyrus bursts out laughing!  He answers in draconic.

"Well done for figuring out we're here because of the dwarves, Myxnthrix!  But see, we get their money whether they live or die!  And by threatening to kill them you've told us you have nowhere to run!  So if it is a siege you want, then so be it!  We can wait for you to eat your retinue one by one!  And by then the friends of these dwarves will have joined us to overwhelm you!  Now that's a fight on our terms!"

(( OOC: bluff to hide that Sora's not keen on letting the dwarves die. ))

He puts a hand on Sora's shoulder to indicate, "Don't charge them." and readies a blast for when an enemy appears.

  "The Dragonling may last quite some time in a siege.  Plenty of kobolds to eat when it gets hungry.  I suspect they would feed themselves to it willingly"

The dragon responds, "Ha! Three dwarves could feed us for weeks to come! I know for a fact you did not come with provisions to last you that long! And not only that, YOU are the backup! That sorry town could only spare militia men and now you because they were lucky some adventurers came by?! HA! I'm calling your bluff! And I doubt they will pay as much for dead bodies as they will for live ones, so even from a greed point of view (which I can appreciate), you SO don't have me fooled!"

Sora growls low and quiet, but is expecting Pyrus to have this handled.

Ideal seems on edge, though, crouching as if ready to charge in.

"First dead dwarf in 10...9...8..."

---

Not that your bluff on "don't care about dwarves" didn't work, he is just extremely on guard now due to your bluff earlier and knows how tactically disastrous it would be to go into the hall due to the slinger reporting how you slaughtered the others en-mass.

Pyrus hmms.

"You are right that live dwarves are more valuable than dead ones.  So if you slay them, you'll be hurting our purses.  But once dead, they are of no more value to you as bargaining chips.  We do have food enough to wait you out in the form of your slain minions if it comes to that.  Kobolds don't make for fine dining, but they'll do in a pinch.  So let's not waste both our time and strike a bargain.  Live dwarves in exchange for your release.  We were hired to recover survivors, not face a dragon in combat.  And to prove that we will make good on our end of the bargain, we will withdraw to the exit.  You can send an expendable retainer to verify."

He mutters to his allies, "I trust this arrangement is acceptable to you as well?"

  "There are more dead Kobolds outside that room than there are live ones inside, we have less mouths to feed, time is not a problem.  Do you think a dwarf is worth two kobolds?  They are bigger, after all, though not that much bigger."

Ideal looks even more nervous.

"You have killed too many of my kobolds to leave here with any kind of deal! I loathe you! In fact, I think I shall kill this dwarf purely out of spite! May your purse run DRY!"

Sora can wait no longer and charges in! As soon as she appears, she gets assaulted! Despite being hurt, she doesn't get deterred and becomes a blur as she phases right through the enemies! "NO YOU DON'T!" She screams as she stabs the dragon squarely in the rear! Then lets out a draconic roar as she spews ice shards, downing 5 kobolds, injuring one, and hurting the dragon even more!

Ideal says, "Oh fudge." and rushes into the room, ignoring the kobold she passes swinging at her. "Sora!! Don't scare us like that!" and then seeing the carnage, she adds, "And leave a FEW for the rest of us, for goodness sake!"

Sora feels inspiration in Ideal's words and ignores her wounds!

"HAH!" Pyrus laughs.

He steps forward and lets out a massive blast of energy that hits the dragon hard and injures a kobold in it's wake.

"Thank you for giving us the excuse we needed to crush you!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:56, Thu 07 May 2015.

A slyblade hops around and gets behind Ideal, slashing at her backside only for fire to shoot at the kobold from Ideal's wound, hurting the kobold twice as much as he hurt the tiefling!

  Rhagar hurries forwards, wishing things were going more smoothly but knowing how often any debate but with a blade is wasted.

  He silently glides around the corner and comes to a stop behind the dragonling, impaling it through the back of the neck with one hand and grabbing the back of it's head with his free one.  The Draconian twists his target's head around so it's violent death throes spray freezing cold upon the remaining minion.

 "That was incredibly foolish, Sora.  Even if I prefer the end result." There she goes, being what he can't be.

---

Move: duh.
ACTION POINT: theme shift=speed.
Standard: Daily, hits dragon, EXACTLY enough to kill it.
Minor: Breath hits Minion.
Boss: Dead.
Minion: dead.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Thu 07 May 2015.

The remaining kobolds seem crazed as one stabs Ideal and another stabs at her but misses.

Ideal stabs the minion near her in the neck, then rips the sword out the neck sideways in order to slash the slyblade that was behind her. Then moves up to the other slyblade in preparation for Rhagar to get a nice sneak attack in...

Sora then charges the one that was behind Ideal, challenging the kobold! "The fools are the ones lying dead on the ground before us, Rhagar!"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:21, Thu 07 May 2015.

Pyrus burns a kobold near to death.

"Indeed.  Good job, all."

The slyblade, still alive after Pyrus' assault, pulls a spite move and stabs Ideal in the back! She squeals from the pain and Sora's eyes glow, the kobolds blade appearing to protrude from his belly as if he had just stabbed himself in the back! He falls dead.

  Rhagar has different views on what the biggest amount of enemies you should charge is than Sora, being a single target DPS class.

  With Ideal bloodied, he steps up and backhands the remaining kobold with the handguard of his rapier hard enough to send teeth flying, and the kobold himself stumbling across the room next to Pyrus.  "There is your survival, clean death, and painful death.  Must I explain which will grant which?"

  Seeing events unfold as this is typed reveals that the Kobold has selected, painful death.  Of course.

The slyblade risks Pyrus' wrath and moves away, not quit getting hit, before deftly stepping past Sora to stab at Ideal! But he misses.

Ideal turns around, her wounds closing as a mysterious flame licks across where the wounds used to be. She stabs at the kobold, misses, and hops aside to give room for Sora and Rhagar to flank.

Sora moves into position and misses her attack also.

Pyrus casually flicks an acid orb at the last kobold.

"Who's surprised?  Not I."

  Rhagar draws his rarely used hand crossbow (bolts cost money, rocks don't) and through the magic of fatality flavor text, carves open the Slyblades stomach, and sweeps his crossbow through their open wound. He fires his crossbow into the ceiling, reeling out intestine with it.

  He ignores the screaming kobold in favor of Asking ideal "Your wounds seem better, though will you be allright?"

Ideal says, "I healed myself, but thank you for your concern."

She then looks at Sora. "And what about you, Sora? You were hurting badly earlier. Feeling better?"

Sora says, "I still don't understand what it is about you, but your words seem to make my wounds disappear."

The dwarf is staring wide-eyed. "Well that was the craziest, most amazing display of combat prowess I've seen in m' life!"

"Indeed.  And if you couldn't guess from Sora's risking her life for yours, I was lying to the dragon about the group not caring about your lives beyond coin.  Apparently he cared less about his own life than his spite."

He examines the ceiling decoration.

"You're an artist that specializes in red, Rhagar.  I admire your work."

  "Really Pyrus? It seemed rather unprofessional in hindsight." Kobold status, asking why he isn't dead yet.

  He looks to the Dwarves, and ask "Do you know of any other surviving mine staff?"

All of the dwarves' expressions turn grim. "....just us."

Ideal says, "Nothing can be done for your brethren. But you live. And now we can take you home, soon to restore the hold."

Sora says, "There is only one kobold in all this place that surrendered. If any of you recognize him as one of the ones who killed your brethren, then I shall turn him over to you for your own justice. If not? Then I ask you leave the kobold to my team."

The dwarf says, "Your kindness and heroism is appreciated. But our justice will not bring back our dead. You already killed the ones we hated most. By all means, do with your prisoner as you wish."

Pyrus chuckles at Rhagar's comment.

"One must allow themselves an indulgence from time to time.  But speaking of professionalism..."

He addresses the dwarves.

"When I told the dragon that we were hired to recover captives, that also was a lie.  We were hired only to discover what happened here.  When Sora brought up the possibility of rescuing captives, we were told our reward would have to come from the mine itself.  So we'll be taking the dragon's hoard as part of our fee."

  "At least we were able to save you three in the process.  A preferable outcome is not always possible."

  Rhagar wonders just how much of a hoard there even is yet, with so little time passed and such a small dragonling.