Arnie follows Zar as the latter retreats to a safer position, then puts a hand on his wound and speaks a quick incantation.  Nothing happens.  It seems the great god of valor and chivalry has no desire to heal some sniveling wizard.

Back at the front, Felix now springs from the shadows, wildly swinging his crowbar in one hand and Arnie's trowel in the other.  He strikes the monster with considerably less force than he had imagined.

Josh rolled 6 using 1d20+1. lay on hands.

Josh rolled 16,11 using d16+1,d16+1. two attacks. - the 16 might have hit, but I'm pretty confident the 11 didn't
  Josh rolled 2 using 1d6+1. damage. (just in case)

Zar retreats out of the melee, hobbling and bleeding, and sends an arrow in the rough direction of the dragon, just to show his irritation.
Sidd meanwhile realizes that he has run out of offensive magics already and reaches for his trusty shovel. His strike is a bit on the weak side though, and unlikely to incapacitate the dragon.

12:55, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 4 using 1d20+1. Zar: Bow.
12:55, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 16 using 1d20. Zar disengaging.

19:32, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 10 using 1d20. Sidd: shovel vs dragon.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:56, Sat 26 Apr 2014.

Of the second volley of attacks, the clank of the crowbar announces the only success. Felix's first attack has dislodged a chunk of mica-flecked stone (AC 15)(2 dmg to stone dragon).

Arnie feels the prick of Gorhan's disapproval (+1 to his daily disapproval), which is little worse than a pebble lodged in a sandal. But it's thinking just such as this that transforms the pebble into a burrowing weevil.

Undeterred, the osseous dragon snaps its jaws at the cleric who faints dead away at the descent of the crashing cuspids, leaving naught but air where the cuspids meet. Arnie recovers in time to prepare his retaliation (+2 to A's next action) while the dragon begins to track its gaze across the ants, preparing to petrify one of them.

*S/Z: you only need to make the disengage roll if you wish to move from close to medium or far.

What is not shining favorably upon Omm, for he continues his bumbling ways and is unable to land a single blow!

The intent was to slice the back of the dragon's hind leg, thereby hamstringing the monster. The execution is something else altogether. Perhaps his sword was not weighted correctly?

Fate's Fell Hand indeed.

16:17, Today: Omm rolled 5,1 using d20+3,d3 with rolls of 2,1. Mighty Deed of Arms: Hamstringing.

Arnie might be facing a bit more disfavor than usual in the eyes of his patron god, but that doesn't feel like as much of a threat as the stone maw that's right here in front of him.  The quick prayer that follows doesn't seem to help matters much though...

Felix, on the other hand, makes a far better show of valor as he continues bashing away at the dragon with both of his weapons.  Once again, the trowel leaves little more than a scratch, but the crowbar makes a good gouge this time.

Josh rolled 7 using 1d20+1. casting.

Josh rolled 16,11 using d16+1,d16+1. two attacks.
  Josh rolled 6 using 1d6+1. damage.

From his relative safe vantage point halfway up the stairs Zar tries to shoot the dragon with an arrow, but his attempts are seriously inhibited by him closing his eyes. It is no wonder that he misses the dragon - it is rather remarkable though that he manages to not hit any of his friends either.

Sidd, swinging his trusty shovel right at the front line, has more luck (or ability). He is also avoiding the dragon's eyes and concentrates on its feet, viciously denting a toe with the blade of his spade. He might even have severed the little appendage!


22:11, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 3 using 1d4. dmg.
22:10, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 12 using 1d20. Sidd: Shovel.
22:10, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 3 using 1d20+1. Zar: Bow.

Even with Felix's demolition work, you're starting to think there has to be a better way.

The stone dragon attempts to make eye contact with Arnie (DC 10 Ref or turn to stone). Does Arnie have the cunning of Theseus?

Stone Dragon: -8 hp

OOC: You're not in the planetarium but in a cavern beyond, reached after taking of the portals out of the room. After some wandering, you encountered the stone dragon.

"Maybe we draw the dragon out into the mirrored room, let it get a good look at itself!" Omm suggests while effecting a measured withdrawal. "Get behind me boys, let's draw it out!"

With that, Omm holds his sword aloft in a defensive stance and slowly backs out of the  tunnel, hoping to lure the dragon into the mirrored chamber.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:23, Wed 30 Apr 2014.

Zar looks at the group's warrior in astonishment. ''Why the heck did I not think of this? Yes! Retreat to the mirror room it is!''
Since he has already disengaged he uses the opportunity to waste another arrow, and then hurries away through the cave tunnel.

Sidd is a bit slower on the uptake and hence needs all his concentration on pulling off getting away, and has none left to get in another strike with his shovel. Soon enough he is running back through the tunnels, too.

21:23, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 4 using 1d20. Sidd: disengage.
21:22, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 4 using 1d20+1. Zar: bow.

Felix makes a last quick attack that glances off of the stony scales, then runs back with the others.  Arnie, though normally a great proponent of any plan that starts with "move valiantly away from the enemy," is currently preoccupied by something in the dragon's eye...

Josh rolled 2 using 1d20+1. Ref - time to find out what this gaze attack does

Josh rolled 10 using 1d20. F - disengage.
Josh rolled 14,9 using d16+1,d16+1. attacks.

The cavern, not a tunnel, does not allow for a "measured withdrawal" in the same manner a sloping valley might. It's sprawling and preternaturally dark. Really, it only allows for a madcap dash, preferably through one of the portals and not into one of the walls or, worse, the waiting point of a stalagmite, just to mention a couple of hazards.

Arnie won't be facing any of them. He's a monument to the perils of petrification. After his all too few years on this earth, he has finally caught the eye of something more majestic than himself, and just his luck, it's more basilisk than vixen.

A few minutes later, the rest of you, gasping, return to the manor's subterranean planetarium.

Omm comes to a stop in the planetarium with shield and sword at the ready, more than half-expecting the dragon to be hot on the party's heels. When he doesn't see the dragon he breaths a sigh of relief, but then notices a missing companion.

"Anyone seen Arnie?" he asks aloud to his other companions. "Arnie?!" he calls out in desperation, perhaps suspecting what might have happened. It could have been any of them: they got lucky.

"Dammit!" he spits out in frustration. For the moment, he waits for the dragon to appear, while shielding his eyes and relying more on his sense of hearing to detect the dragon's presence.

Felix, ever the master of tact and respect, says Yeah, I ran past him on the way out.  Let's just say he's looking a lot more cultured these days.  Better dressed, too.

''Let's worry about poor Arnie later!'' Zar calls and comes to a stop.
''Douse the lights! Douse the lights! We want the basilisk or whatever to be hit with a full broadside of itself - once it is here! Not before.''

Omm shoots a look to Sidd, who had been carrying the party's lantern. "Close the shutter!"

Perhaps the shutter could be closed to just provide the bare minimum of light and then placed in a spot of the cavern which would draw the dragon to it, with the party hiding in the shadows nearby?

Either way, Omm tightly grasps sword and shield and prepares for the dragon to emerge into the planetarium.

Felix makes sure to keep a little distance between himself and the others once it goes dark.  If they have to fight the creature again, he might as well be able to hit it from a different side than everyone else.

''I carry the lantern? I carry the lantern!'' Sidd, who has been too much occupied with survival up to this moment, remebers the lantern and closes its shutter. Preparing himself to pull it open again once he has an indication that the dragon-basilisk is near. Probably by the death screams of one of his companions if not his own, but well.

Having re-assembled yourselves in the dungeon-level starscape, you hushedly await the stone-footed pursuer. Either it doesn't have an abundance of self-esteem or it has enough sense to avoid inimical environments. The latter, of course.

Omm waits in suspense, expecting the dragon to appear at any moment. When it does, he sighs and comments, "Well, if the dragon won't take the fight out here, on account of the mirrors, maybe we take the fight to it...armed not with swords, but MIRRORS!"

The warrior then attempts to remove one of the suspended mirrors from the chain. Worse case scenario, he will hack one of mirrors free of its chain with his sword, but he will first attempt to finesse it. If the mirror breaks, so be it, there can't be much to that old wives tale anyway. The goal is to secure a sizable shard of mirror and use it against dragon.

Done! The warrior also recalls from his training how a phalanx could harness the very power of the sun. Could he do the same?

Felix follows Omm's lead and looks for a mirror that is both small and low enough for him to remove from its fixture and carry back to the field of battle.

Zar looks thoughtfully at Omm. ''I dunno. Without light a mirror is pretty useless. And the light out in the caves was pretty dim.''
''It is pretty bright in here though. Perhaps we need to channel the light out of the planetarium, along a series of mirrors?''

"How do you suppose we do that?" Omm asks with curiosity. He then checks to see whether the light of Sidd's lamp provides enough illumination to see his own reflection in the mirror. It had been a while since he had last seen his own mug and it was undoubtedly as handsome as ever, but still, it paid to know for certain.

Both Sidd and Zar follow Omm's example and equip themselves with mirror shards.
''Allright! Let's go avenge... Heck, what was his name?''

19:11, Today: Sidd and Zar rolled 8 using 1d20+2. Initiative.

Arnie?  Sure, I guess we could dedicate this to avenging him, as long as it gets us out of this place.

Josh rolled 5 using 1d20+1. new init roll.