Chapter the Thirteenth: A Modern Pilgrimage

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, we should go check," agrees Henry. "We may need that bag of sand when we face the guardian of Fire, and if it's gone, we should replace it."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Given the short distance to Canterbury, the party has sufficient time to recover their equipment from the abandoned couch and still reach that famed city by the late afternoon of the next day.

Upon reaching the cathedral, arrangements are made to expose Tom to the four substances obtained at such risk, in the hopes that this might lift the curse from which he suffers. As best as can be told from the fellow's muddled speech, this must be done within the building to be effective.

As the final preparations are made, and the adventurers are about to enter the cathedral, a peculiar sound is heard from high above. It is not unlike the roar of a great wind, as recently encountered so memorably; yet it is not accompanied by any signs of a disturbance in the weather. Looking skyward curiously, one can detect what appears to be a flying creature of remarkable size, as if a whale had taken to the heavens. It directs its flight downward with considerable speed, landing between the party and the cathedral, much to the alarm of the various persons about.

Once upon the ground, the creature is revealed to be a winged reptile, perhaps half a dozen ells in length from its blunt snout to its pointed tail. The upper portion of its body is covered with green and gold scales, as if it were bejeweled. Its eyes blaze like rubies.

A cleric rushes forth from the cathedral, shouting at the creature. It turns its long, sinuous neck so that its head faces the fellow, inhales deeply, and emits a blast of fire at him. The unfortunate man is reduced to ashes. It turns it attention back to the adventurers.

[SunlessNick]

Ines looks for a moment as if she about to break and flee, but keeps control of herself. More than the other guardians, this monster is hard for her to see as anything but demonic - to anyone fleeing into the Cathedral building, she screams "The bells! Ring the bells!" hoping that they can hear her.

[Mr. Handy]

"Spread out!" says Henry, and he and Ivan move in opposite directions to make it harder for the dragon, for that is what they face, to incinerate more than one of them at a time. He takes out a white handkerchief and waves it. "We bear you no ill will, mighty one," he boldly addresses the dragon. "We wish to parley with you. What is it you desire?"

[Rooter]

Lila poises to fight or flee, her gaze fixed upon the awesome beast.

Spoiler:

Intelligence 11 + 1 Demonology[dice]0[/dice]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The adventurers wisely take various positions around the creature, to wit:

Doctor North, boldly addressing the being directly, stands before it.

Ines, rushing to alert the bellringer, stands behind it.

Ivan stands at its left side, and Miss Davenport at its right side.

The sound of the cathedral bells appears to have an effect on the creature, confusing and weakening it.

Spoiler:

Dragons are subject to the power of Faith; for the purposes of this encounter, all its characteristics will be halved by the sound of the sacred bells, rounded down.

It makes no response to Doctor North's entreaty. Rather it roars and makes an attack.

Spoiler:

1 = front, 2 = back, 3 = left, 4 = right[dice]0[/dice]

The creature lashes out with its left wing at the loyal Russian.

Spoiler:

DEX = 15, halved to 7[dice]1[/dice]

Ivan is just barely able to dodge the leathery appendage, which appears capable of inflicting much damage.

It appears that the being behaves more in the manner of an enraged animal than a rational creature.

[Mr. Handy]

"Can you calm it down like you would a smaller beast?" Henry suggests to Ines. He draws a pistol and takes aim at the dragon, ready to fire if her efforts fail or if it should be about to attack again. Ivan draws his sword and likewise makes ready to follow his master's lead.

[SunlessNick]

OOC:   The player's manual says a Gypsy can only use Animal Husbandry on monsters at 6th level.

Swallowing down her fear, and praying that the cathedral bells have allayed any demonic nature in the beast, Ines approaches it slowly, uttering soothing words as she goes.

OOC:   Charisma 10, +1 Animal Husbandry SunlessNick rolled 1D20: 17, failure whether the attemp could have worked or not.

Perhaps the dragon senses that Ines is behind the ringing of the church bells, or maybe it smells her fear.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

Another random attack as before[dice]0[/dice]

The creature snaps with its mighty jaws at Doctor North.

Spoiler:

DEX reduced to 7 as before[dice]1[/dice]

Fortunately its aim is poor, and its huge fangs merely snap together with a loud noise. Wisps of smoke appear from its nostrils, as if it is attempting to prepare for another blast of flame.

[Mr. Handy]

Henry fires his pistol at the dragon, and then Ivan rushes in and swings his sword at the beast.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

DEX = 10 and DEX = 9 respectively; [dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice]

The pistol shot is unsuccessful, these weapons being notoriously unreliable, but the Russian slashes at the creature's side with his sword, striking at a soft, unarmored portion of its belly.

Spoiler:

[dice]2[/dice]

However, the wound appears to be quite superficial, only a small trickle of sickly yellow-green ichor dripping from the beast's flesh.

Spoiler:

I am disregarding the dragon's armor of 10, which would it make it nearly impossible to injure.
Normal hit points = 8d6, so let's make it 4d6[dice]3[/dice]

A quick analysis of the situation suggests that half a dozen such attacks would be required to kill the animal.

Roaring with pain (perhaps out of proportion to its injury), it strikes out again.

Spoiler:

as before[dice]4[/dice]

This time it lashes its tail, which bears a heavy, sharp stinger, at Ines.

Spoiler:

dex 7[dice]5[/dice]

Alas! The bold Gypsy lass is struck!

Spoiler:

normal damage by the dragon is 1d6 + 8; will make that 1d3 + 4[dice]6[/dice]

The wound appears most serious, no doubt due to the deadly poison the creature bears in its stinger.

Spoiler:

at level 3 Ines should have 6 + 2d6 hit points[dice]7[/dice]

[Rooter]

"This is futile," Lila cries anxiously. "There must be some way to appease it." All she can think of is that dragons are said to covet treasure. She draws her silver dagger and approaches the creature cautiously. Instead of attacking, she places the dagger down on the ground at its feet then retreats. It is a small offering perhaps but it is made of pure silver and the nearest thing she has which might be called treasure. Will it be enough?

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

INT = 7 rounded down to 3[dice]0[/dice]

The beast is easily distracted, if only temporarily, by the sight of the precious metal, even in such a small amount. As it toys with the object, much as a dog playing with a bone, the party has time to launch another attack or take some other action.

[SunlessNick]

On her knees and barely clinging to consciousness, Ines wonders if the dragon may require an offering from everyone in the company. Emptying her bag on the cobbles, she feebly pushes her coins and jewelry in the beast's direction.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

INT = 3[dice]0[/dice]

It would seem that each offering distracts the creature for a moment, allowing for at least some safety as plans are made to deal with this difficult situation.

[Mr. Handy]

Henry places a gemstone before the creature and rushes around behind it to help Ines, knowing that he must act swiftly before the poison can spread. "Shall we press the attack, while it is distracted?" he asks the others.

[Rooter]

Lila agrees this seems their most likely opportunity. While the dragon's attention is momentarily elsewhere, she draws her iron dagger and rushes in to strike.

Spoiler:

DEX 18 + 1 Danger Bonus[dice]0[/dice]
Hit Dice[dice]1[/dice]

Spoiler:

I've just looked in the manual and I've been doing this wrong, I thought Hit Dice meant how much damage a character did but it's actually for how many Hit Points they have, sorry. Please ignore the above. Damage for all characters should be 1d6 + Damage Bonus.
[dice]2[/dice]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

After sustaining this more serious injury, the creature flies off, ichor dripping from its wounds.

The local population having, understandably, fled the area, the cathedral stands empty. As Doctor North tends to the barely conscious Ines, Tom rushes inside, throwing himself at the foot of the altar where Thomas Becket breathed his last.

[Mr. Handy]

Henry works quickly, trying to drain the tainted blood before it can spread the poison through Ines's body, "Once she's stable, Ivan can carry her inside," he says. "It may help her to be on such holy ground, and the prayers of the faithful wouldn't go amiss. We also need to bring the elements we collected to break the curse on Tom."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Doctor North's medical skills, aided, no doubt, by the favor of Heaven, are able to prevent Ines from succumbing to the flying serpent's venom, but she remains quite weak for the time being. Meanwhile, the others are able to gather together the four elements presumed to be necessary to bring the afflicted man eternal rest. Tom himself, as if under an unseen power cast by the place of his infamous crime, is in an unresponsive state, unable to provide guidance as to the exact procedure to be followed. It will up to the adventures to decide how best to proceed.