Dramatis Personæ

Dane Sardock (Winston)
Gabriel Auditore (Rigil Kent)
Gestlin the Unpredictable (CommJunkee)
Magnifico the Clown (Feste)
Rainald North-Hammer (Gigermann)

Of Action and Consequence

13 May 2014

The Heroes arrived back aboard the Gleaming Endeavor, having been retrieved from ashore by Shaun, and discussed amongst themselves how they might see what it was these hostile strangers they had just encountered were up to. It was decided that they should ride the dragons in a fly-over of the excavation site—which Gestlin dubbed the “Pantheon” for reasons he explained at length but none heeded. Magnifico would go, of course (though he greatly feared the archer’s arrows might find him unable to defend himself), and Dane volunteered, being less encumbered by heavy gear and possessed of keen vision—he removed his armor and anything else he didn’t have immediate need of, to lighten his mount’s burden. They decided to do a test-ride, flying around the ship, to see if it could be done; Primus was used to bearing Magnifico by now, but Dane had some difficulty with Secundus at the start, being accustomed to more horse-like creatures with saddles and other riding accoutrements, but they managed it.

Satisfied with their test, the two made for the island at best speed; the dragons, normally quite swift in the air, flew much more slowly, burdened by their riders. They flew just above treetop height and scanned the landscape for activity as they approached the Pantheon. Below, amongst the ruins, Dane spotted the elf-archer from before, who upon seeing the dragons, bolted in the some direction, no doubt rushing to warn his fellows at the excavation site. The elf deftly scrambled, leapt, and ran, so fast that even Gabriel might keep up with some difficulty, though the dragons’ route was more direct. Dane glanced back to see that the elf had climbed atop a ruined wall and aimed his bow, so he warned Magnifico to dive down low, out of sight; as they did so, Primus failed to pull up in time to avoid smashing into another ruined structure, and crashed to the ground with Magnifico. Both injured, but not so severely, Magnifico collected himself quickly and spurred Primus back into the air, followed again by Secundus and Dane, having circled tightly around. Once again at treetop height, Secundus was struck in the shoulder by an arrow, and the two came crashing down, Dane falling into the boughs of a tree; Primus and Magnifico quickly followed them down to give aid. Secundus’ wing was crippled; Magnifico produced one of the healing-scrolls Brother Mendel had made for emergencies and used it to mend the dragon’s injury such that he could fly. Again they took to the air, this time intent upon fleeing back to the ship, but Primus was struck through the neck by an arrow; the wound was deep, but Primus managed to keep aloft, while Magnfico clung to him tightly, fearing another fall.

Meanwhile, upon seeing the dragons dive for cover at the first, those still aboard the ship hasted back to the boat, to get ashore and come to the aid of their endangered fellows. They arrived on the beach about the same time the dragons converged on their position on their way back to the ship, and so instead landed there to join the others. Gestlin cast a few spells to aid the fighters and got back into the boat, sliding down low so as not to be seen while he maintained his concentration, while Shaun rowed away from shore, keeping low also. Magnifico sent the dragons back to the ship without him, where Brother Mendel could tend to Secundus. Now ready, they moved cautiously inland toward where they had last seen the elf, and searched for some time, but their foe was nowhere to be found. Rainald was greatly angered at his friends having been cowardly ambushed without provocation, and began to loudly call out to their invisible foe, berating his cowardice and demanding he come forth and fight. Angered all the more by their foe’s refusal to appear, Rainald began stomping his way up the hill toward the Pantheon, calling out insults and challenges all the way; the other Heroes followed behind and beside Rainald at several paces, some keeping hidden as they could, all expecting an arrow to be loosed from some hiding place to strike him in the eye. Rainald reached the Pantheon and found it deserted of their enemies, while the other Heroes caught up to his position, spread out and watching for another ambush. Rainald continued to call out after the strangers, but none would reveal themselves, so he angrily began smashing and breaking their carefully-laid supplies and excavation gear. At this, the nobleman—who gave the order to the elf to have the Heroes followed and slain—emerged from behind a far pillar, and demanded that Rainald cease his vandalism. Rainald pointed his spear at the stranger, fire in his eyes, and demanded the nobleman fight him; his foe was cocky and self-sure, blustering, saying that Rainald would surely fall. Dane, slinking in the shadows behind Rainald, impatiently loosed an arrow at the nobleman—to Rainald’s irritation—but the arrow reversed its path and narrowly missed its owner instead, confirming the Heroes’ suspicion that the rest of their enemies were lurking nearby, perhaps invisible. The nobleman was unbothered by the bow-shot; he flexed and stretched, and swung his broadsword in the air, in preparation for the duel. Rainald cast aside his spear and drew forth Gramjarn, and beat his shield in challenge. Then the two began to advance toward each other, not in haste, but burdened with violent purpose. To be continued…

Notes

• Brother Mendel’s and Merasiël’s players were unavailable for this session, so we had to do without—otherwise, Merasiël might have been the other rider. Gestlin’s player was late as well.
• Once again we found ourselves ignorant of the dragons’ capabilities, and determined they had points that needed spending, especially to give them the Mount skill, to hopefully aid those attempting to ride them—seeing that the riding of them is becoming a bit of a habit
• The scouting flyover was meant to be nothing more than that—scouting—but Magnifico’s fears were realized when they were attacked; the two plus dragons were completely unprepared—though afterward, we figured they probably could have taken the elf on with a bit of tactical thinking, of which they were incapable in the heat of the moment
• Rainald’s tirade was a dangerous gamble on my part, but honestly, we didn’t have any better ideas at the time—and it was certainly in-character for him
• As a result of the late start, and the early finish to avoid getting into a big fight with half the group missing, we didn’t accomplish a whole lot in this session
• It was revealed afterward by the GM that the adventurers on the island are actually a group of PCs from one of his face-to-face campaigns; they had already faced ours some time ago, at least once