Session 5: Light in the Sky

General Summary

The party emerged from the tunnel into a crowded cellar and found themselves pressed up against terrified townsfolk. The looks on their weary faces showed that they had gone beyond panic, having seen their town terrorised and believing themselves safe in the keep, there were no tears left to cry and they looked almost resigned to their fate. Children clutched on to their mothers silently and the men and women, defeated and beaten in battle and life, looked down at the floor and simply waited for the end to come. The sounds of conflict, the crack of lightning followed by screams and a dragon very nearby, echoed down the stairs from the keep.

The party pushed through the crowd led by Piccasso but the press of bodies made it hard-going. As the party looked out from the cellar all was dark except for a few small fires that have sprung up in the courtyard of the keep as lightning has hit combustible objects. A sudden bolt of lighting illuminated the ramparts and men were blown off their feet or simply burnt alive by the horrifying power on display above. In a brief burst of lightning they saw the horned head of the dragon, terrifying jaws set in a grin as men died horribly.

 

The companions felt a sudden, unnatural fear clutch at their hearts. They had never seen a dragon up so close and were frozen in terror as they found themselves unable to tear their gazes away from the awesome but terrible majesty of the gigantic beast hovering above.

As the dragon withdrew after another blast of killing lightning, the party, legs shaking and with a cold feeling in the pit of their stomachs, managed to stagger out into the flaming darkness. In the courtyard of the keep, a scene of carnage assaulted the eyes through the flashes of lightning, those with the dark-sight almost wished to be blind as charred bodies lay everywhere. As they stumbled forward, still numb with fear and with the smell of burning flesh heavy in the smoky air, they heard a blood-curdling scream and a soldier plummeted to the courtyard with a sickening thud in front of them. Many villagers, men, women and children, huddled or lay prostrate in the courtyard frozen with fear, unable to move. However, several calm, robed figures moving amongst the dead and dying, stopping by some to issue last rites and by others to give what aid they could in this desperate hour.
  Above circled death itself...
  The adventurers looked around to see where they could help as they gradually overcame the dragon fear and their heads cleared. Picasso, his simple mind overcome by the dragon fear, simply cowered under his shell but the others made their way towards the battlements through the blood and death that surrounded them. Citrus the young sorcerer was surprisingly calm as they made their way across the courtyard, a cold and determined look on his face. This was not the first time he had faced dragons or seen the destruction they could cause.

As the blue dragon circled lazily and attacked the fort he taunted the people within, his proud and disdainful voice ringing out across the courtyard in mocking tones. He had little interest in the lives of the small, pathetic creatures that scurried below him. He spoke several names as he circled, 'Tiamat' and 'Rezmir' being the only ones that those nearby could hear clearly. As he prepared to swoop down for more murderous fun the dragon spotted a diminutive figure on the battlements who stood out from the insignificant beings around him.....   Meanwhile the companions steeled themselves and prepared for action. The giant clutched a crossbow from a surprised and terrified guardsmen and prepared to fight back in anyway he could against his awesome foe, however desperate and pointless that attack might be. Khorg, with no ranged weapon to hand, just stood, drained by this night's trials and watched helplessly as the dragon swooped down once more, the buffeting of the huge wings knocking more men from the battlements. Governor Nighthill once again stood strong and called out commands from the top of the tower. The Giant and Khorg held their breath and watched as the tiny figure of Citrus spotted Governor Nighthill and made a break for the tower, dangerously isolating himself in the open should the dragon see him.   They were indeed not the only ones who saw him run across and the dragon itself headed straight for Citrus. Several unfortunate soldiers were instantly crushed to death as the huge dragon crashed down onto the battlement in front of Citrus, causing him to clutch out at some fallen rocks to steady himself against the force of the landing.     Incredulously, when it looked like it was all over for Citrus, the dragon spoke to him in common:  

I SEE YOU ARE 'MARKED' LITTLE ONE, I WILL SPARE YOU AND THE LIVES OF THE PUNY CREATURES IN THIS TOWN ON THIS ONE OCCASION BUT IN RETURN I REQUIRE A FAVOUR.....

Citrus stood as if dumbstruck for a moment or two, not believing what he had just heard as he prepared to die. In front of him stood his hated enemy offering to spare his life!
 

WELL.....?

  The dragon waited patiently for Citrus, elsewhere in the keep people closed their eyes and prayed to their gods to spare them. The only other sounds to be heard were the holy words of Father Falconmoon and the other clerics moving amongst the fallen.
  No one else heard what Citrus said quietly to the dragon but it seemed to have the desired effect as the dragon immediately pushed off from the crumbling battlements, heading straight up and away from the keep.   As he departed his voice boomed out once more:

LOOK FOR ME IN THE SUN LITTLE ONE, WHEN THE TIME COMES I WILL ASK MY FAVOUR, BE READY....

With that the dragon disappeared into the darkness of the night, a last flash of lighting before he vanished from sight.
  Townsfolk and soldiers dared to creep out from their shelters and lift their heads towards the skies in vain hope that they would make it through the night. For some time the whole town waited, sure that the dragon would return to continue his attack but he was nowhere to be seen.   The characters approached Governor Nighthill once more, at first he did not notice them as he reorganised the keep's defence and saw to his demoralised and wounded troops. Eventually he turned to the adventurers and thanked them warmly. He was most intrigued as to how Citrus had managed to talk with the dragon and seemed to scare it away and Citrus played it cool, not quite sure what happened himself!   Governor Nighthill led the companions to the north of the keep and stood at the battlement looking towards a distant point in town. There appeared to be a gathering raiders there and several figures that stood out from the others. A tall female figure was spotted wearing unusual armour and a hulking muscular figure spoke with her, hunched over to reach down to her height.   Governor Nighthill stared determinedly at the group of raiders and spoke quietly, almost to himself more than the party:  

I’d give anything to know what we’re up against, and why. For that, we need prisoners. A commander, even a low-ranking one, is best.

The party offered to help but Nighthill warned them off trying to capture the strange lady or her large companion saying that they were dangerous opponents. Nevertheless the party decided that they would make an attempted kidnap on this group and set off minus Picasso, who, confused by recent events merely lurked in a tree and did not see his friends depart on their mission.   With a minor detour to take care of some kobolds that came across their path the party reach the area, a square among the houses where they had seen the commanders from afar but they were long gone. There was however a Dragonclaw officer present with three guards, similar to the one they saw at the temple of Chauntea.     Thanks to some well-aimed ranged shots from Zhorg and Citrus and the uncanny shape-shifting abilities of The Giant they managed to take the officer alive and despatch his guards quietly and they trudged back towards the keep, the Dragonclaw officer tied up and unconscious on the back of The Giant in the form of a large brown bear.  

Missions/Quests Completed

Dragon Attack
Prisoners

Character(s) interacted with

Governor Nighthill
Eadyan Falconmoon, Priest of Chauntea
Lennithon, Blue Dragon