With the Kobold guards easily dispatched the group head into the cave. Sigrid morphs into an owl and flies off down the cavernous tunnel to scout ahead. For a moment it seems as if she has forgotten her glasses as she struggles to see in the darkness but she soon manages to gather her senses and swoops off down the passageway. The party follow and find the path ahead branching off in two directions, both of which are barred by ice walls. The walls themselves have a number of small holes in them, one of which is just wide enough for an owl sized creature to pass through. Sigrid tucks in her wings and squeezes her feathery form through the gap and flies onwards down the corridor beyond. Reaching yet another ice wall she again manages to find a way through and continues through the winding passage until she finds a third wall of ice. Deciding that the coast is clear for now, Sigrid retraces her steps (or perhaps flaps) and meets up with the rest of the group once more. She manages to communicate to the party that they are to follow and Lucian uses magical fire to melt the ice walls until they reach the third wall. Sigrid flies up to it and is able to see shapes moving behind the ice on the other side. There are a number of small holes in the wall and she notices what appears to be a crossbow being raised up to one of these holes. Turning quickly she heads back around the corner to the waiting party and morphs back into her humanoid form.
After a brief discussion on what to do next Sigrid conjures a tidal wave of water that crashes through the ice barrier and washes over whatever lay behind. Garrick steps forward and notices Kobolds, slowly getting to their feet, wiping water from their eyes. One of the Kobolds manages to quickly fire a crossbow bolt at Garrick but it clinks off the wall behind him. Lucian steps up and launches a bolt of flame at one of the Kobolds, turning it to ash as the flame hits it in the chest. Sigrid decides that stealth is the way forward and so raises her hood, blending seamlessly into the shadows. Garrick casts a beam of moonlight onto one of the Kobolds which screams in agony and collapses in a heap. The final Kobold, seeing the fate of his friends, decides to make a bid for freedom and runs off down the winding passage. The party quickly give chase.
Just when it seems that the Kobold has managed to escape to safety Finn rounds a corner and is shocked to discover a group of Kobolds stood around a very large ballista. On the ballista Finn notices that there is a distinct lack of arrow and a surprising amount of Kobold loaded into the mechanism. The Kobold itself has a number of flasks strapped to his body and a menacing grin on its face.
"What the?? Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit" utters the halfling, quickly scrambling out of the way as the trigger is pulled and a screaming Kobold flies over his head and smashes into the wall behind him. Whatever was in those flasks immediately ignites and the wall is covered in flames and charred flesh. Finn fires his crossbow at one of the Kobolds standing around the ballista, the bolt pierces it through the skull and it drops to the floor in a heap.
Stepping out from around the corner, Garrick, sees the Kobolds loading another of their kin into the ballista as Farraine joins the fray, firing a crossbow bolt of his own, killing another enemy. Finn peeks around the corner and takes out another enemy but they still manage to pull the trigger of the massive machine. A screaming Kobold screams as it is jettisoned through the air towards the party. Fortunately the aerodynamic effectiveness of a Kobold with explosive flasks tied to it pretty low and once again it's journey is brought to a sudden and fiery halt against the wall. The party continue to pick off the Kobolds one by one, they manage to load the ballista one final time but are defeated before they are able to send it hurtling through the air.
The party advance on the abandoned Kobold, still firmly anchored to the ballista. Sigrid speaks to the creature in it's own language, something it was not expecting. In return for information the Kobold requests its freedom. The party demand the information first and Garrick moves closer to the launch mechanism. The Kobold remains firm in its demand for freedom but the party remain steadfast, information then freedom. The Kobold is sure that his freedom is imminent and it is 100% correct in this assumption. Unfortunately it has miscalculated the length of time that freedom would last. Garrick’s patience finally runs out and he pulls on the trigger, freeing the Kobold from its ballista bastille. Less than a second later that freedom comes to an abrupt and explosive end on the far wall of the cavern.
Sigrid gives Garrick a disapproving look but says nothing as Lucian begin to melt the next wall of ice. As the ice melts a green gas starts to seep into the passage. Fortunately, the bountiful feast the party had consumed earlier that day has prepared them for such dangers and they proceed down the revealed passageway unharmed. As our heroes continue through the cave system they eventually find themselves in an enormous cavern, running across it in the distance is a large, deep gorge. On the other side of the gorge lies a large pile of gold and treasures. An ominous feeling creeps over the party.
Edging cautiously forward into the heart of the cavern the group stop in their tracks at the sound of booming wings. Out from the depths of the gorge emerges a massive White Dragon, a hateful gaze fixed on our heroes. Garrick floats into the air, level with the hovering creature and summons his spirit guardians that begin swirling around him. The dragon lets out a roar of cold breath at the floor below creating a sloping sheet of ice angled downwards towards the mouth of the treacherous gorge.
Finn takes a careful aim at the beast, a bolt speeds from his crossbow striking the beast in the torso but it merely bounces off the scaled armour. Sigrid summons 2 giant eagles that pop into existence and swoop towards the dragon. Lucian girds his loins and mutters words of power, calling forth a gigantic hand. The wizard balls his own hand into a fist and the spectral hand mimics his actions. Lucian swings his arm and the massive fist whirls through the air connecting with the dragon’s head. The impact booms and echoes around the cavern and a tooth flies out of the dragon’s massive maw and tumbles through the air. Garrick reaches out and catches the tooth mid flight and quickly places it into his pocket.
Farraine joins the fight and fires his crossbow at the hovering beast, alas the steel tipped bolt bounces harmlessly off the Dragon's skull and clinks on the cavern floor. Farraine curses the monster and demands it to come down and fight him face to face. The challenge appears to anger the beast and it draws in a lung full of air before expelling it in an icy blast, smashing into Lucian, Finn and Sigrid. The Wizard and Druid are knocked to the floor unconscious and the halfling only just manages to dodge out of the way of most of the blast at the last second. Garrick turns towards his fallen companions and immediately cast a healing spell on Lucian, his eyes blink as he slowly gets back to his feet. Lucian brushes the dirt from his robes, there is a cracking sound from above and he looks up just as icy stalactites come crashing down on top of him. Wiping the blood from a number of cuts Lucian fumbles in his robe pockets and retrieves a potion of healing and quickly swallows its contents. Angered by the targeted onslaught of attacks the Wizard mutters a spell and lightning bolts erupt from his finger tips at the Dragon.
"UNLIMITED POWER!" screams the Mage as arcs of lightning leap across the Dragon's body.
Farraine taunts the dragon once more, challenging it to come down and fight him.
"Challenge Accepted" followed by another large intake of breath. With a mighty roar the Dragon unleashes another blast of cold, icy breath in the direction of Garrick and Farraine. Both of them manage to miraculously survive the attack and Garrick quickly heads over to the prone Sigrid and raises her from her unconscious state with words of healing. Slowly getting to her feet the Druid manages to cast a ward of protection to boost her defence against the devastating Dragon attacks. Lucian steps from the shadows and hurls a huge ball of fire at the deadly beast. Waves of flame envelope the creature but it seems to only anger it further as it lunges at Garrick, grasping him in its jaws, teeth piercing the Cleric's flesh. It raises its claws and takes a further swipe as Garrick is held firmly in its mouth. His body goes limp and with a shake of the Dragon's head the Cleric's body skids across the cavern floor.
Sigrid rushes over to her fallen friend and administers aid, slowly helping the dazed Cleric to his feet. Lucian, seeing his companions suffering at the hands (or is it feet?) of their enemy, casts another ball of fire at the beast. Once more flames lick the scaled torso of the Dragon and seem to give Farraine an idea. After a number of failed attempts to inflict damage on the creature from range, he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a flask of oil. Hurling it at the airborne enemy the flask breaks on impact, the flames from the Wizard's spell ignite the oil covering it's scales and it howls in pain.
Turning to face the fighter, the Dragon swoops down and bites and claws at Farraine. Teeth puncture and claws rip the fighter's flesh, blood pours from the gaping wounds, miraculously the fighter remains conscious "Is that all you've got?" he exclaims in typical defiance of danger. Garrick, seeing his party in trouble casts another healing spell, replenishing their spirits once more and giving them a fresh desire to end this fight once and for all. Finn raises his crossbow once more and a bolt streaks through the air and lodges itself in one of the Dragon's eyes. It screams in agony as blood begins to drip from the wound. Sigrid takes the opportunity to unleash a spell of her own and the beast howls again. Lucian hurls another ball of flame at the beast causing yet more damage to the creature.
Farraine purposefully draws his sword, "Now you're in trouble" he says. With a roar of primal rage he swings his blade at the Dragon. Blow after blow after blow connect with the scaled armour of the beast, slicing through its hardened defence, blood oozes from the wounds. It flaps its gigantic wings once more and takes flight, retreating away from the angered Farraine, now covered in the blood of his foe. It aims another of its breath attacks at Garrick as it moves away but the Cleric is able to dodge the worst of the icy blast. Our heroes stand battered, bruised and bleeding but thoroughly undefeated and determined to win this battle. I wonder when they will notice that the Dragon is not the only enemy in the Cavern.
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