Kahan looks visibly shaken by the sighting of Ozymandius, and it shows in the haste in his climbing. When they reach the bottom, he begins looking for tactical ways to retreat or find cover from the beast in case it chases them. "I am sorry for your loss, Geebo, but I am sure we will find whatever caused these deaths sooner rather than later. We seem to be cursed with bad luck, so be prepared for the worst. We need to find shelter, though, and soon. Perhaps an area free of mist as well," he commented, watching upwards for any signs of the dragon through the mists.

OOC: How long until dark?

Tahldar shudders at the sight of the Dragon.  He climbs as swiftly as he can down the vines and is glad he cast spider climb on the majority of his party.  Time is of the essence when you have a Dragon on your tail.

Once landed he is somewhat not surprised to see broken bodies at the bottom.  It was a long and dangerous climb.

He looks at the armless and legless Gnome and is not sure of what happened to him.  Something ripped the mans limb's off and in this crazy land it might have been just about anything.

"Should we get to somewhere safe soon?"

Shae casts a detect magic spell on the shirt of the dead gnome and inspects the shield.

"We probably should."  Leo looks around and keeps watch while the others investigate.

Shae casts detect magic and finds that the shirt of the dead gnome is magical.

The broken shield is not magical, but upon inspection, an inscription has been engraved on the inside of the broken shield.  The inscription is in Gnomish but half of it is cut off because of the shield being broken in two.  What you see is (translated):

...to avoid the Keshnar;
...in the meadow of mist,
...pointing tree.
...at Gnome's Head Rock.
...in stone,
...enter down the tunnel.

The inscription was put there by ordinary hands as if trying to copy it down to remember, not as if a riddle or elaborate inscription.

Trailing away to your right (east), you see large footprints.  They are old but are so deep you can still make out their faint outline.  [No rangers or any specialties in animals/monsters or tracks?]  They lead from the skeleton to the broken shield and then to the east.  Upon further inspection, you see similar footprints going straight ahead (north) and others going to your left (west).  Whatever killed this gnome and tore apart its limbs was large with feet the size of the broken shield.

In Gnomish, Geebo exclaims in fear, "The Fiend of the Mist."  You remember the sounds you heard the night before and the gnomes fearing this fiend.  Its howls had been nerve wracking.

As you contemplate this, a loud crashing sound startles you.  It was like something crashing to the earth a hundred yards to the west.  You hear a deep yet familiar voice cry through the mist, "I will find you!"  It is Ozymandius.  He has landed in the woods and mist but is just as blind as you.  Visibility is limited here to about 30 feet.

Two Hours Until Dark

The cliff face is to the south.  You can go in any direction north, east or west.

Borimer has already withdrawn the Godslayer, his head swiveling to the west when Ozymandius calls out his threat, "Shall we go that way..?"

Tahldar says to Borimer in a hushed reply, "No way am I heading west to the dragon."

Speaking to Geebo he says "Which way to Gnomes Head rock?  Take us this way if you know."

OOC:  Head to Gnome Heads rock if Geebo can take us.  If he doesn't know then head east to avoid the dragon.

Borimer is happy to oblige and prepares to follow Geebo.

Geebo is very frightened at this point.  "I have never been this far before," he says. "I know not what these words mean or where to go."

Fingas has been watching and observing.  He seems very curious about you and he even mimics Borimer's heroic unsheathing of his sword.

"We cannot go south because of the wall," he says aloud, "and west is the dragon, which we can deal with later.  East and north are the footprints.  If we go east, we stay along the side of the cliff but we might get cornered if that dragon goes our way.  I say we follow the footprints north.  What say you?"

He is trying to maintain calm and composure as a leader, but you can tell he is very frightened.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:44, Wed 09 May 2018.

Tahldar remains calm and steadfast despite the presence of the dragon and the strange and aggressive nature of the world they find themselves in.  Which is odd since the mage is likely the physically weakest among them, and is short and light of weight.

In the absence of any knowledge of which way to go he says, "North is fine.  Hopefully we'll find this Gnomes head rock.  Especially since dark is coming and we need to find a safe place to stay."

Acknowledging that the dragon likely will find them he adds, "If the dragon happens upon us, everyone stick to me.  I can use a shield of force to protect against it's breath, which if it touches you will turn you to crystal."

OOC:  Move north as quick as we can.

Leo nods in agreement as far as going north.  "There doesn't really seem to be an end to this but persevering is about our only option."

Borimer nods and prepare to head north. He un-heroically sheathes his sword.

You head north with Fingas leading the way and Geebo sticking near Borimer and Tahldar.

The mist is thick, and the dragon is nowhere to be seen.  You hear its garbled squeals occasionally, and then the howl of something unknown to your left.

The fronds of the grass, leaves, and all plants are starting to grow a deeper blue, matching the bluish tint of the mist.  You recall that once the mist dissipates, anything touching the plants will be drained of water, according to the gnomes.

After about 15 minutes of walking, the mist clears a bit, revealing a meadow and a strange tree.



"Tenvillah tell me of this tree before," says Geebo.  "We on right way to Tenvillah."  He seems a bit more jovial again but then realizes he doesn't remember which way to go from here.  "Tenvillah say, 'You follow tree to come see me.'  This tree, maybe?"

1.5 hours to the clearing of the mist.

Fingas says, "It could also be the pointing tree in that broken riddle we found on the shield:

...to avoid the Keshnar;
...in the meadow of mist,
...pointing tree.
...at Gnome's Head Rock.
...in stone,
...enter down the tunnel.

"But we don't have the whole riddle or know what it will take us to.  But if it helps us avoid the Keshnar, it's definitely worth following."

"We might as well try going east. Or, right. Whatever direction that tree is pointing. Without the rest of the shield, we can't be sure what it says in the directions," Kahan agrees with a shrug.

"Yes, let's follow the way the tree points, and hurry.  We don't have a lot of time."

OOC: Go east (assuming the tree points that way).

Borimer gives the pointing tree a dubious glance before continuing in that direction...

Leo nods in agreement and is anxious to get moving.

You move out of the mists to follow the pointing tree.  This is when the dragon spots you.

It slams down 30 feet away, ready to attack as its head lowers and it bares its teeth.

"Gaaah!" Tahldar shrieks in fear at the sight of the Dragon.  Desperate to get away he begins to cast.

OOC:  Tahldar will try to capture the Dragon in a half sphere Wall of Force.  He is 9th level so can create a half sphere with a radius of 13.5 feet.  It will last 19 minutes.

Borimer tries to ignore the coldness in the pit of his stomach and charges the dragon...

Shae spreads herself out away from the others so as not to give the dragon a grouping of individuals to attack with its breath weapon.  Moving about 30 feet to the right, she casts a spell as she moves.

Leo attempts to move to the side and hide in shadows hoping the dragon is distracted by the charging warrior.

Leo sneaks into the shadows.

Tahldar casts, but the dragon is far too large to fit within the half sphere and the spell fails.

Shae is also casting.

Meanwhile, Borimer is running headlong toward the dragon.  The dragon rears back, ready to release its breath weapon on Borimer…

And then Shae finishes casting, and a giant wall of thorns flies up from the ground near the dragon, blocking everyone except Borimer from its view.  This distracts the dragon, which releases its breath on the wall of thorns.  A huge column of thorns turns to crystal and then collapses with a tinkling crash to the ground, leaving a gaping hole in the five foot thick wall.

Borimer reaches the dragon, striking out with Godslayer and hitting twice.  The dragon is taken aback by the attack and the damage to its chest and leg, and swipes with its claws...

...hitting Borimer across the chest and knocking him back directly into the wall of thorns, where Borimer is further hurt by the claw length thorns of the wall.  (24 total damage.)

While Borimer begins to compose himself, the dragon steps back and begins rotating to get everyone in its sights for the next round so they will not be blocked by the wall of thorns.  In the process, its huge body knocks down the pointing tree, which has probably stood there for centuries.

Tahldar is disappointed his spell failed but is glad to see Shae's was more successful even if didn't hold up for long.

"Split up!" Tahldar shouts as he sees the Dragon prepare another blast.

OOC: I will cast a dimension door to get on the other side of the Dragon from the rest of the PC's.