A Keg for Dragon [IC]

[Antilles]

Templeton gives Alexander a quick once-over, apparently sizing him up. He appears to quickly make up his mind, as he greets them both with a big, warm and friendly smile. "Welcome to my humble shop, it is always a pleasure to have esteemed adventurers such as yourselves visit it. And I'm always interested in doing business, it's how I make my living after all." He gives Alexander a barely noticeable conspiratorial wink, all but confirming his suspicions about the man. He fetches three glasses and some non-dwarven yet very good whiskey, and pours all a glass.

"But as you say, today your business is information and not one of my fine items. I'll tell you what I know of that young lad. He's a good man, generally well liked, if a bit... odd. Though I guess normal people doesn't get picked as dragon wards, heh. Used to get these... moods, I guess you could call it, and went off into the woods for hours, sometimes a full day, at a time. Village gossip was he was either mad or a werewolf... nonsense if you ask me.

Now, while I normally hesitate so spread gossip and rumor," (both Lauren and Alexander get the feeling this isn't entirely true...) "the village is in danger and it might have some bearing on what's going on. I'm pretty certain Chapel moved here not for the fresh country air, but a matter of a significant debt of some sort. I had my suspicions up until recently, because he took every odd job that presented itself, more than he needed to pay for food and lodgings, and he never spent anything beyond that. However, around a week ago a dwarf came to the village, a southern dwarf by his accent. He was a fairly quiet sort, though he did visit my shop several times, and always to see Chapel. Didn't catch what they were discussing, not that I'd listen in on other people's conversations of course, but I did get the impression one of the subjects was money. I haven't seen the dwarf for a couple of days now, I think he left town. Oh, I just remembered his name. Gristle, I think it was." He finishes his cup.
"As for where they might be, I do not know. I try to stay out of a dragon's business as much as possible, it leads to trouble too often for my liking."

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Templeton resisting Impress 1d20+2=6. His disposition towards Alexander is currently at +9.

[ludomastro]

Alexander chews over his thoughts carefully.  "I see.  Thank you for your time.  Any guesses as to where we should look?  Anything that Chapel might have let slip?  Something you accidentally overhead him say?  A safe place he could esca .. uh, slip off to when he needed time to think?"

[Antilles]

Templeton shakes his head, causing quite a wobble in his chins. "Aside from wherever he would run off to in one of his moods, no. Although I don't know where it is, I suspect it's in a cave. The amount of time he's spent in his little hideout, it's got to be someplace decently comfortable."

[ArawnNox]

Lauren, getting fed up with all the vague answers turns to the man, but does her best to avoid sounding angry, "Well, if ye dinna know where his cave is, do ye at least know which direction he heads when leaving town t' get there?"

[Antilles]

"That, I can help with. He followed the north road out of town." It would seem to fit with Eliana's description of where Chapel's hideout is, which was north-west of the village. "Now, is there anything else I can help you with? Some supplies perhaps?"

[Catodon]

Vandarzryx stretches out in the warming sun and snoozes. Soon a low rumble is heard coming from the drake.

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I'm quite happy to keep watching. no probs.

[ludomastro]

Alexander smiles and says, "Can't think of anything that we need at present."  Lowering his voice he continues, "Is there something you were looking for perhaps?"  After listening to the response he steps outside with Lauren.

I know this guy is shady but there is good rest in the shade too.  Wonder what the going price for dragon memorabilia is these days?  Wonder if I can work that into a song somehow?

[Antilles]

Templeton eyes Alexander a moment, but doesn't seem to be willing to make the first move. Instead he gives the standard 'I'm not looking for anything in particular, but I'm always interested in any interesting or surplus items you come across.' As it appears they've gotten as much as they can from the shopkeeper, the duo say their goodbyes and head outside, where they start the short walk towards the village square, where they'd arranged to meet up with the rest of the party.

[ludomastro]

Alexander does some tumbling to loosen up his joints.  So, a general direction and a vague description.  Almost seems worthy of a questing song.

He stops after the third round of tumbling and begins humming the song he has been working on again.

He greets Vandarzryx with a short bow and relates the basics story, then asks, "Would you be able to spot a cave or other hiding place from the air?"

[Catodon]

Vandarzryx "I have the eyes the envy of hawks and I can carry a second pair as easily as an eagle carries a rabbit. I gather you have found something of the scent for me?"

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Vandarzryx can easily carry 300 pounds and up to 900. He wont be ridden though so people can be bundled into his chest pack or in his talons the way an eagle carries a rabbit. Search is 7 but even so an extra pair of eyes and keeping the party in managable groups is always good

[Fiendbasher]

When she sensed the others' approach, Ssryn raised herself up from her coils at the sunning spot she'd found for herself and gave them a head-bob of acknowledgement. Listening to the exchange, she noted to herself that her forte was night vision, not distance vision, thus she figured she was spared from being hauled aloft in a drake's claws... an experience that actually rated pretty high on the list of things she'd like to avoid... and waited to see what the group's decision was.

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My search is only +2... just sayin'.  

[Catodon]

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I hear snake tastes like Chicken   
[/spoier]

[Antilles]

The group wanders out of the village while discussing their next move. They quickly decide they should do some aerial reconnaissance before heading out to the cave, but when Vandarzryx proclaims that two pairs of eyes would see better than one, the rest quickly grow silent. The drake has made his opinion about being ridden quite clear before, so whoever gets to go in the air with him will have to do so in his claws, a daunting prospect to be sure.

After a small discussion between them, the lucky chosen is Lauren, who glumly secures any lose items on her, then prepares for take-off. The drake grabs the dwarf in one claw, then takes off with a large gust of air. As he climbs, he adjusts his grip so he's holding Lauren securely in both claws. The dwarf finds the grip painfully tight, but as soon as they clear the tree-line she finds herself wishing it was tighter still, bruises and cracked ribs be damned. The flight is quite terrifying for the young dwarf, knowing that she's helpless in the face of almost certain death should the drake's grip fail.

She does her best to concentrate on keeping a look-out as the drake glides over the hilly forest terrain, but the rigors of the journey and the unfamiliar perspective makes her job very difficult. Is that moving shape she caught a glimpse of a deer running from something, or an orc leaping into cover? Was that a gnarled tree-stump or a goblin cowering, trying to blend into the background? She does spot two things of interest, though.

The first is the entrance to the cave where Chapel is said to have a hideout. It is a sparsely forested hill where one of the sides is exposed rock, almost like a small cliff. The rocks are covered in moss and vines, with a few trees in front of it that would provide some cover. If she didn't know that there was something there, Lauren would've been hard pressed to spot it, but that knowledge plus the unusual angle lets her spot a darker patch indicating an entrance behind the thickest of the vegetation. She's too high to see any tracks, but she can't see anything unusual in the area.

The second happens when, while circling the hill looking for anything out of the ordinary, Lauren spots something off in the distance towards the mountains, and a gut feeling makes her tell Vandarzryx to move closer. As they fly towards the area where she spotted something, Lauren worries she might have imagined seeing something as she can't spot anything on the way over there. However, the feeling of having been right is quickly drowned out by the shock of a dozen arrows flying through the air towards her and the drake. Most miss their mark, though a couple impacts the drake, doing little damage to his scales. One, however, bounces off Vandarzryx's chest/belly area and nicks Lauren's neck. It's a shallow gash, but a little more to the right and she would've been in big trouble.

Vandarzryx wants nothing more than to go down and show those fools what happens when they mess with a drake, but he realizes Lauren is too exposed and it would be reckless to bring her into a fight like this, so he banks hard to the side and flies low, barely over the tree tops to provide cover, and makes it out of range before any more arrows hit the mark. He makes best speed back to the town. During the maneuvering, Lauren can spot several orcs, most dressed like scouts though a couple are dressed like proper warriors.

They quickly return to the outskirts of the village where they left the other half of the party.

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Sorry for taking so long to get back to the game, took a while to get my computer fixed and almost as long to get my ass in gear updating again. But hey, better late than never, right?

Lauren suffers 1d6=4 subdual and 1d6=6 stress from the harrowing flying experience, Fortitude save
1d20+4=9 fails, gains fatigued I, Will save 1d20+5=11 failed, gains shaken I.
Lauren Search check #1 1d20+6=9 (-2 circumstance for different perspective, +2 circumstance for Vandarzryx flying to give best possible vantage point)
Lauren Search check #2 1d20+6=25 (-2 circumstance for different perspective, +2 circumstance for Vandarzryx flying to give best possible vantage point)

Misc attack checks against Vandarzryx and Lauren: 1d20+3=23, 1d20+3=10, 1d20+3=22, 1d20+3=20, 1d20+3=8, 1d20+3=5, 1d20+3=12, 1d20+3=11, 1d20+3=16, 1d20+3=22, 1d20+3=12, 1d20+3=18 (With range penalties and such they only hit on 19 and 20, so still a couple of hits. I'll spend one AD to turn one into a crit.

Damage roll 1 against Vandarzryx: 1d6=4 -1 DR = 3 lethal.
Damage roll 2 against Vandarzryx: 1d6=2 -1 DR = 1 lethal.
Damage roll 2 against Lauren (crit): 1d6=3 -2 DR = 1 lethal.

[Catodon]

With a gust that drives before it leaves and bends the grass flat the drake lands.
Vandarzryx speaks “fell folk stalk down from the mountains and draw close in the woods. Loreniesforj has the eyes of the eagle to espy them. Also from the vantage point I provided she was able to see the hidden cave of the chosen Chapel. We must make haste if we are to reach the cave before the orcs reach here…but I am mighty and cannot see threats for the folk here as clearly as yourselves. Speak before I move so that I may act justly.”  

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perhaps the big lizard is learning…

[Fiendbasher]

The naga is roused from her rest by the wind stirred up at the drake's return, and she rises from her coils. Listening to his words she considers carefully before responding.

"It sseemz unlikely thhat an army of orcz and goblinz will attack in thhe middle of the day. But dussk is another matter. Or dawn. We would haff to make hasste indeed to reach the cave and be back before dussk. Do you tthink it is possible from what you haf sseen?"