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Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 6:12 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic looks at the other two and ponders for a second. Then she just shrugs. There doesn't seem to be much of a threat here, so she can't be too bothered by the rest of the group showing themselves. She lets herself relax and decides to fish for more information, or at least a reaction. "So what happened here?" she asks the four strangers. "It looks like things have been busy since we set the place on fire."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 11:41 pm
by ToastGhost
Frostymage wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:49 pm
Bottle nods. "Jus' tryin' to help. Yer welcome to join us, if you'd like."
The pegasus speaks up. "I've joined enough crazies for one lifetime. Bluescale's a good friend, and this griffons seem sane enough." The earth pony has a cutie mark of a blue scale, his namesake, apparently.
Artificer wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 1:08 am
Feeling somewhat out of her depth, Radiant silently trails behind, looking around for signs of residual magic, magic implements, and such like.
Anything remotely magical, be it herbs, totems, wands or the like, is smashed and trampled among the broken pieces of pottery, animal bones, and other discarded garbage. It's clear there's nothing here of value, it's been picked clean by the previous inhabitants.

Gothic, you think, just for a moment, you see a light from the saves to the east. One of them, in particular, and a very dull, temporary light.

Blinding Ray seems to notice it too. "Did... did you see that?" He points it out to the other two who didn't notice it. "Light, in the cave. Do you know if anything is in there?" He asks of the 4 campers.

They look at each other and don't give up an answer for a few seconds. "...not that we've seen. Anything that's down there has been down there."

They look at each other again, and resume not talking and poking at their food. The carrots are done and are being consumed by the ponies, for anyone keeping track.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Mar 21, 2019 11:44 pm
by Artificer
Radiant walks up and nudges Gothic. "Maybe we should tell these folks to head to town? They may have been former mercenaries and cultists but maybe the guards can get more info out of them. Plus maybe they'd like a new home now that the appeal of ransacking places have worn off."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 12:41 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic shrugs noncommittally. "They're certainly welcome to, if they want. Not every pony is made for society, and I can't say how well they'd get along even if they want to. But if they're interested in a more stable life, and they want to make peace in good faith, I'll be happy to do what I can to help them build something new for themselves."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:50 pm
by Artificer
Radiant is a little taken aback that this role has been delegated to her but nods and turns to the deserters.

She stares hard at the first pony.
"Hello, mercenaries. If you would like, there's a town nearby you guys may be able to find refuge in. They might be able to use your help in rebuilding the damage you and your former comrades have dealt."

Her gaze softens slightly. "But it will probably be better than staying around in the broken ruins of this camp. Perhaps you can find a new home under the aegis of Princess Celestia. If you want, my familiar can lead you there."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:04 pm
by ToastGhost
The two ponies look to eachother. The griffons do likewise. The pegasus is the first to respond, "Kind of you to offer, but we're not sure how welcoming they'd be to... our kind. Thanks, but I think we'll figure it out on our own."

One of the griffons also responds, "S'far as I know ponies usually don't take too kindly to griffons, that and we're solitary creatures anyway. For the most part. We'll rough it out here, move on before too long, likely make our way north. To greener pastures. Ain't that a pony expression too? Greener pastures?" The other one shrugs again. "Anyhoo, thanks but no thanks." Their meat is done and they begin pecking at it, if you're still keeping track.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:10 pm
by Artificer
"Something like that. Best of luck then."

Radiant, resisting a comment about the unlikelihood of greener pastures in colder Northern areas, wonders what exactly sort of meat they are eating before deciding her curiosity should remain unsated. She turned to her party and her gaze lands on the barbarian. She cocks her head at the cave. "Shall we?"

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:50 pm
by Frostymage
Bottle looks a bit forlorn when he hears that the others are unwilling to join or get help, but he manages to recompose himself. "Of course! I'm missing a bit of companionship from those warriors, but we'll press on anyway! Follow me!" He starts to walk towards the caves at a decent clip, with intermittent pauses to make sure the others are following.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:11 pm
by Artificer
Radiant picks up a stick, casts the Light cantrip on it, and offers it to the Barbarian.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:26 pm
by ToastGhost
Give me marching order. Blinding Ray volunteers for second. :scheming:

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 12:28 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic hovers (in the figurative sense, primarily, but possibly the literal sense too) around Radiant, putting herself between the party mage and danger.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 12:55 am
by Frostymage
Bottle is leading the way, always on the watch for enemies.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:41 pm
by Artificer
Radiant smiles at Gothic's efforts to protect her. "Thanks."

She refocuses on keeping an eye out for anything magical, especially of the trap kind, from the back of the party.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 6:57 pm
by ToastGhost
Some things the four scouts tell you that might be pertinent:
  • There are definitely still things in there. Dragon-dogs, half-dragons, and one "wearer of purple" as they describe her, a deadly dragon-blooded creature of some sort.
That's about it actually. :-I

Image
The first part of the caves is illuminated this far thanks to the sunset. You can't tell if you see a glow from the south or east, or if it's a reflection of the light. Ceiling's about 15 feet high, and seems to echo some sounds from deeper in. You might hear a growling noise or footfalls of some kind.

How do you advance?

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:00 pm
by Frostymage
Bottle is going to light a torch, hold it in his mouth, and slowly advance into the cave ahead of everyone else, no fear. He doesn't want to be dependent on a unicorn for light in case they go down if there's a fight.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:03 pm
by Artificer
Radiant extinguishes the light. "Maybe we should follow the bottom side of the cave? Might make it easier to peek around the corner and see what's up further down the line."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:09 pm
by ToastGhost
Image
You hear shuffling to the east near the 3, and can see a distinct set of stairs next to a 10-15 foot drop, but not much beyond that due to the light.

South by the 2, you think you hear snoring. :pcstare:

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 12:24 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic cranes her neck and tilts up her ear, listening closely to the snoring. "Might be best to investigate that," she mutters quietly. "I wouldn't put my bits on getting through here without making any noise. If there's trouble, the last thing we need is an opponent coming up from behind, blocking off our exit."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 7:59 pm
by Artificer
Radiant thinks for a bit. "Do you think you should go in alone? We aren't the most stealthy and if we hide around the corner we'll still be nearby to help if you don't stray too far."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 1:05 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic wraps her Cloak of Elvenkind around herself tightly, its muted, enchanted colors blending easily into their surroundings in the dim light. "I can certainly give it a try. It shouldn't be too hard to sneak a peek at a sleeping beast without disturbing it, and the more we know about our enemy the better."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 3:45 pm
by ToastGhost
Image
Gothic hides and scouts out the next two rooms. In 13 there's what looks to be what served as a treasure store, with various coins laying on the ground of what remains, alongside empty wooden and metal storage spaces, some worthless trinkets, and a kobold on the ground, clutching a half-full bottle of wine while laying alongside seven other completely empty bottles. He's snoring loudly and you don't think you'd wake him even if you were wearing platemail.

12 is what seems to be an empty barracks, with bedrolls, a warm cookpot, and a few weapon racks with undesirable weapons on them. You definitely hear stirring and the cackle of a torch or fire to the east, though.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 10:34 am
by Artificer
Radiant sets her raven to pick up the coins that it can find and return them to her.

She motions at the sleeping kobold and sends a Message to Gothic. "Should we tie him up and interrogate him or something" While at the same time, she dredges her memories for what she knows about kobolds in the area.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:03 pm
by Frostymage
Bottle looks around, then peeks around the corner before heading into the room. "Probably a good idea. Pity he wasted all this at once. Coulda' used a bit more to top off my stores."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:30 am
by ToastGhost
There's 16 coins in total in the drunken kobold room, which is now its official name.

Blinding Ray follows after Gothic into the barracks. He starts to say "You think there are more kobolds to th-" before being interrupted by a crossbow bolt ricocheting off his armor! :flail:

ROLL INITIATIVE!! :sweetielarm: Wait, I guess I'm the one to do that. :ponder:

Image
Initiative Order wrote: Bottle Bash - 18
Crossbow Cultists - 16
Southern Gothic - 13
Changeling Guards - 7
Radiant Rose - 4
Blinding Ray - 1
Gothic remains in stealth, likely going for the position on the map. Otherwise, Bottle is the first to kick this off!

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 7:29 pm
by Frostymage
Bottle drops into a rage as he runs in to engage the front guard, whacking him once he's there with his greatclub (+5 to hit, 1d12+7 damage).

Assuming he falls, he then steps back so that other members can fire past him into the next guard to approach. (If the cultist remains up, he does not retreat lest he provoke an AOO.)

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 7:40 pm
by ToastGhost
The Dice Gods wrote:d20+5 = 23, Hit!
12 damage, the archer goes down!
WHAM! Bottle clubs the batpony unconscious then backs off, but is still fired upon by the other two!

Both miss though, thanks in part to the half-cover Bottle takes. It's now Southern Gothic's turn. Also I'm too lazy to update the map, so put Bottle in that northeast corner in the barracks while taking away one crossbowpone.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 7:26 am
by Weird Autumn
Gothic looks at the sleeping kobold and considers trying to take him out of equation, but she realizes that even if he woke up he'd be too inebriated to be a threat. Instead, she attempts to sneakily swoop over their attackers' heads and get a look at room 11. (Stealth +3)

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 8:29 am
by Weird Autumn
Realizing the ceiling is too low to fly under sneakily, Gothic vaults over the group and goomba stomps the guard farthest in the back. She pulls off her action command for a second bounce.

+6 for 1d6+4
+5 for 1d6+3
2d6 sneak attack

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:13 pm
by ToastGhost
The Dice Gods wrote: d20+6 = 17, Hit! 13 Damage, guard is KO'd!
d20+5 = 24, Hit! 6 Damage, another guard is wounded!
Autumn puts her full weight down on the first changeling, sending his skull down to the ground with an impressive THUD! His eyes are all swirly now and you don't think he'll be active anytime soon. In the flow of combat you managed to smack the other guard good, but he and his buddies form up on you, making three attacks in total!
The Dice Gods wrote: d20+?: Miss, Miss, Hit!
4 Damage to Southern Gothic
With all the spears being poked at you, it's hard to not catch at least one. A graze to the side, could be worse, but could be better.

Image

It's now Radiant's turn.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:29 pm
by Artificer
Radiant moves to the Northeastern corner of the room and, peeking out around the entrance to the passageway, fires a ray of frost at the nearest opponent. The ray leaves short lived patches of ice as it passes through the damp cave tunnel.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 12:53 pm
by ToastGhost
Then a lot of stuff happened and you fought a big dragonguy boss. :party:

Also Blindray Ray got knocked the heck out, but is currently stable at 0 HP. He's lying on the ground with his hooves in the air, moaning softly, and swirls for eyes. :pcstare:


It may have been described aloud at the time, but the chamber you are in has been enlarged from it's original shape, the entire room being dedicated to a carved shrine to a five-headed dragon flying from an erupting volcano. Other dragons can be seen flocking towards it, carved along the walls. Otherwise the only object of note in this room is a small chest right before the volcano and the five-headed dragon. The chest has a visible lock on it.

There are entrances/exits to the room north up some winding, steep steps, east down some broader, flat steps, and up the ladder you came from that leads to the cultist barracks.

It's up to you what to do and where to go, but you should probably take care of Ray first. He looks a little out of it. :nngh:

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:16 pm
by Weird Autumn
Gothic looks over the carvings along the wall curiously, before inevitably turning her attention to the locked chest. She taps the outside carefully and checks for any sign of traps. (Perception +3, I assume that's the relevant check)

As she inspects the chest she glances over her shoulder at Ray. "Someone's taking care of him, right? I'm not much of a physician, myself."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:33 pm
by ToastGhost
d20+3 = 19
Oh yeah, this thing feels off. There are a lot of small holes in the wall, specifically in the mouths of many of the black dragons, and in other places. Probably acid. :areyousure:

Problem is you don't see a decent way to disable it unless you can think of something. You'd need to do a hell of a job picking it. A feather touch, if you will.

Pick it, ignore it, find a key, it's up to you. You just know breaking or forcing it open would be a bad idea. :-I

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:04 pm
by Frostymage
Bottle is going to head over to Ray and attempt to wake him up. (+1 Medicine)

If he fails, he's going to simply pick him up and sling him over his back, carrying on with the rest of the group.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:15 pm
by ToastGhost
The Dice Gods wrote:NATURAL 20
Bottle deduces some water (or other substance) should be enough to wake him up, and low and behold, Blinding Ray is back up at 1 HP.

He quickly, albeit not too quickly, starts banding himself up amidst horn glow. "That sucked." He expends a couple uses of cure light wounds on himself, but is looking pretty drained. "I wouldn't mind a nap or heck, a sleep. I doubt there can be much in here worse than that though."

Your current options are deeper into the caves to the east, up some stairs to the north-west, back the way you came, or a well-deserved sleep in a spooky cave where nothing could go wrong, :-I

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:21 pm
by Artificer
"Frankly, I'm not sure we can take much more. We should regroup and come back. We'll probably be at risk of losing the chance of finding whatever else there is to be found, but I don't think losing a fight with some sort of cult is something I'll enjoy."

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:24 pm
by Artificer
Knowledge History +5 on anything relevant to what she has seen in this cave and its carvings.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:31 pm
by ToastGhost
d20+5 = 14, Partial Success
The beast depicted may be the theoretical "Mother of all Dragons", the one that's been giving the ponyfolk quite a scare when they are subjected to that one incense. If this is a shrine to her, any chamber beyond this one would be of severe importance, spiritually or otherwise.

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:32 pm
by ToastGhost
On that knowledge check, you still recognize you haven't found what Celestia asked or specified.

But you did beat a lot of jerks so there is that. :pinkietoot:

Re: [D&D5E] QUEEN OF THE DRAGON THRONE

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:35 pm
by Artificer
Radiant grimaces and taps her hoof thoughtfully. "This does seem like an antechamber to something of great importance to the dragon fetishists. What we find beyond may be of great value."

She glances at Gothic. "If you're up for it maybe you can take a look? I think Ray is done for the day though."