Nights of Steel and Fire (D&D)

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris hailed the guards as they approached the gate.

"Hail! I am Lord Gaheris Trollbane of the Church of Tyr, and I come to seek an audience with Lord Dhelt on behalf of the Abbey of the Blinding Truth."

[LadyTevar]

"And you can call me Torma!" the little copper dragon added cheerfully, her tailtip wagging. She even winked at Zul, whom she'd met earlier. Now, all she'd need is for Gaheris to sigh, turn and tell her to 'introduce herself properly'....

[Cynical Cat]

The guard's jaw dropped, moved soundlessly for a moment, and then he yelled inside. Flying creatures weren't that unusual on a cliff top crossroads city, even if the guard was rarely close to them. Wall crawling, motor mouthed baby dragons were. "Page!"

[Rogue 9]

"Torma, you know better than that," Gaheris said with a glower at the dragon. "We'll be talking about this later."

He turned back to the guard. "I'm sorry about her behavior; she can be a little hard to keep under control. She's harmless enough, though."

[LadyTevar]

"Torma, you know better than that," Gaheris said with a glower at the dragon. "We'll be talking about this later."

He turned back to the guard. "I'm sorry about her behavior; she can be a little hard to keep under control. She's harmless enough, though."

Yes, yes! Gar was getting into character! Torma rejoiced, even as her head and wings lower from the 'Chastisement'. "Sorry, Sir Gaheris," she answered, her voice suitably repentent, and even including his title.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Astinius felt the strength ebb from his limbs [2 points Strength Damage]. The monster continued to coil around him and stab at him [grapple check 31, damage 4, another Fortitude save]

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The guards flinched away from the cheery dragonling walking on their wall. Clearly they weren't expecting to deal with this situation.

Astinius had briefly forgotten in his panic that he had prepared a spell he did not typically. He brought the spell to mind and uttered the word of power which may blind his opponent and make escaping more tenable. It was a long shot,but he may get lucky.

(Power word:blind)

Concentration check

Saving throw:

And Mr. Toad continued to scream.

[Cynical Cat]

Astinius was unsure what effect the power word had on his attacker, it was still holding onto him and thrashing.

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A young man wearing a dark blue tunic with a sword belt wrapped around his waist arrived. He surveyed the situation. "What is going on?" he asked mildly.

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris stepped forward and nodded in acknowledgment. "I am Lord Gaheris Trollbane of the Church of Tyr. My companions and I seek an audience with Lord Dhelt on behalf of the Church.

"Allow me to apologize for Tormantineth's behavior towards your guards. She's quite... impetuous," he said with a quick glare towards the dragon, "but she means no harm."

[LadyTevar]

Torma did her best to look as harmless and cute as possible, keeping her lips closed as she smiled at the young man in blue.

[Cynical Cat]

"Please follow me," said the young man. "Lord Dhelt is away at the moment, but is expected to return shortly." He lead the group through the gate and towards the keep. Lord Dhelt appeared to have austere tastes.

[SirNitram]

"Huh. A paladin with taste. This is new." Malkamar said without immediately thinking. The Shadovar remained at his least threatening, following along with the dragon and paladin.

[Cynical Cat]

The young man shot Malkamar a nasty look. "My lord takes his duties very seriously. None of his duties involve spending tax money on personal luxuries."

[SirNitram]

"I would never make such an accusation; paladins remain a cut above the likes of me when it comes to such morals. I have no doubt his few luxuries are from his own pocket, as befits anyone setting the example he has."

[Cynical Cat]

The man looked at Malkamar suspiciously, sure that the Shadovar was subtly mocking him in some way. Then he shrugged and lead the way passed plate armoured guards and through the keep's doors.

[LadyTevar]

Torma's flexible neck was put to good use, opening staring at everything as she was escorted into the keep. Not only did it fit the role of 'impressionable young dragon', it let her judge a bit more about the guards and owner of the Keep, and perhaps learn a little about how it was laid out.

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris was mortified, but hid it. He kept a practiced neutral expression on his face as he silently followed their escort to the keep.

[Cynical Cat]

More grapple goodness (27) with 5hp and another poison save if failed.


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The young man lead them to an office. Two men in plate armor stood on guard outside it. Inside was a big middle aged man with neatly trimmed grey hair and beard. He wore dark grey velvets and had a sword by his side, with a hilt set with topazes and ivory.

The young man bowed. "My Lord Dhelt, these men and dragon have requested an audience with you."

"Thank you," said Dhelt. "You may withdraw." The man bowed and left.

"Gaheris Trollbane, your face and name are known to me. What do you need?"

[LadyTevar]

Torma looked at the older paladin with wide eyes, then to Gaheris, then back to the older man. She opened her mouth to speak...

... and was instantly muzzled by the Shadovar reaching around her mouth and holding it shut. "MRRRF!!!"

[SirNitram]

"My apologize, m'lord." Malkamar said without missing a beat, his hand still on the dragon's jaw. "She's excitable."

[Cynical Cat]

"They often are at that age," said Dhelt.

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris gave a shallow bow at the waist while resisting the urge to stomp on Torma's tail. "We come on behalf of the Abbey of the Blinding Truth. Time is short, so I'll get to the point. The Abbey was attacked by a pair of pit fiends this morning. One was slain, but the other seized Abbot Khazar and escaped with him captive. We have reason to believe that the baatezu were summoned by cultists from Elturel that have recently taken up operations in Westgate, cultists following something called the Mak Thuum Ngatha. I would ask if you know anything of such a cult."

[Cynical Cat]

"No such cult has come to my attention," he said. "This is, however, a busy city with a constant influx of strangers. If they've kept a low profile here there is no reason why I would know about them. As for Mak Thuum Ngatha, the name means nothing to me."

[LadyTevar]

With Malkamar's hand firmly holding her mouth shut, all Torma could do was listen and sulk, her tail lashing at the humiliation. Just wait. JUST WAIT. They had to sleep sometime.

[Rogue 9]

"They refer to it as 'The Way Made Flesh.' Other than that, I know nothing about it; I had never even heard the name until today. Has there been nothing? It's strange that a group with the means and ambition to summon greater devils and openly attack a fortress of Tyr would leave no tracks at all."

[Cynical Cat]

"That is because you are young," said Dhelt. "Along with bones that ache when the weather gets too cold, one of the benefits of living to my age is a certain measure of cunning and experience. A cult that can strike hard as far as way as Westgate has no need to be visible here unless it wishes to. If they are here, they want their operations to be secret and thus have done nothing to attract attention. That suggests their operations here are important and not very mobile."