Episode One

Alibastar takes control of the loaded ballista and aims it into the sky and opens fire at the dragon, with the aid of his companions. The three of them together manage to unload three large bolts through the sky. [r14+3=17, r5+3=8, r20(13+3=16 to confirm)]

Nocturne's produced flame whizzes through the sky in a red streak. A combination of wind and the dragon's airspeed results in the fire slapping the end of the dragon's tale pathetically. The dragon grunts at the impact but seems largely unconcerned.

Meanwhile at the tower, Gwen and Torfinn take turns grabbing large bolts out of the barrel and loading them into the ballista while Alibastar lines up the shot.

THUD

The first round sails through the sky and lands solidly in the crook where the dragon's left wing meets its body. The beast loses control for a moment, falling a short distance before regaining its flight. At the same time, Alibastar lines up the second shot and fires, but misses as he did not account for the dragon's fall. However, as the dragon regroups, it gives Al just enough time to find his mark.

CRACK

The third round is a bullseye, hitting the beast square in the chest. The roar of pain and anger is easily the most horrible noise anyone on the rooftop has ever heard. The dragon, now fully aware of the trio on the tower, charges full speed towards them. He crashes full-bodied into the stone structure creating a massive hole. He then pulls himself out and lands on all fours on the roof. The clouds directly above him begin to swirl and crackle with blue arcs of electricity. The dragon's rage is palpable.

Meanwhile, the tower begins to crumble. The three manning the ballista can feel it giving way beneath them.

Gwen abandons the tower, making for the more solid keep wall. (Acrobatics 17 = 11r + 6)

"Wow, you are the second biggest dragon I've ever seen, and the first most alive..." Move away full range (30ft?) and fail attempted sling throw (nat 2...)

Alibastar follows with Gwen, realizing how unstable the tower they are on has become, and makes his way onto the roof [Acrobatics 18=13r+5]. Seeing the beast land, he considered grabbing a bow and arrows, but feels they may not be very effective on such a large being... in fact, he's not quite sure how he's to follow shooting it out of the sky now they are face-to-face. The only thing that comes into mind is the greatness of The Stargazer, and before he even thinks, his mouth opens and begins to work on it's own, it seems.

"Great one, I am Stargazer, and I'm deeply sorry to have harmed you so, but I needed to try and stop you from slaying more of my companions." 'Fuckfuckfuck, we're going to die,' is all that was running through his head, yet continued doing the thing he could do best. "I plead you to hear me out, so I may attempt to tend to your wounds and save everyone else who is alive here, including you." He takes a hesitant step forward, hands outward as a gesture of peace. "Now why have you taken to laying waste to this town, powerful one?"

(( OOC: I hope I haven't overstepped my turn. If needed, I'll edit my post down.))

Torfinn watches 3rd shot hit the dragon in the chest, the horrible scream that followed only excited his blood lust causing him to shout "THAT'S IT BOYS!" Before Torfinn could react the dragon was almost at the tower flying full speed. The tower shook and his dwarven heritage told him what that ment, "Abandon ship!" He shouted but as he turned he could see Gwen and Alibaster already descending the tower. "Not without me!" He shouted as he raced to make his way off the tower (Athletics: roll 8 + 7 =15) apron reaching the bottom he sees no one ripping the beast to shreds but instead he sees Alibastar looking the beast in the fact talking "ohhh boy, this can't be good" He mumbles to himself as he unshoulders the crossbow he grabbed on the tower but he dare not point it at the dragon for fear of his new friends life.

The colossal beast stands, still seething in rage and taking up most of the available real estate of the small keep's roof. As Alibastar speaks, the dragon stares unblinkingly. The dragon's tense body relaxes ever-so-slightly upon hearing his words.

The great lizard's face moves within mere inches of the bard's face and he lets out a powerful snort. It smells of fresh rain and raw meat.

"You could not stop the All-Powerful Lennithon if you wanted to, puny mortal. Perhaps, though, you could be of use to me." Lennithon's face twists into a wretched grin. "You see... None of this raiding business is of any concern to me. In fact, it's quite below me. However, the damned sorcerer Frulam Mondath has some blasted sceptre that has an influence over me that I find difficult to overcome."

At that moment, Lennithon winces and his eyes turn a violent red where they once were a deep purple. He fires off a blast of lightning into the night sky.

Once again enraged, he begins to shout in Alibastar's face. "Find it mortal! Break the accursed sceptre and free me from my chains! If you do, you and your allies will be handsomely rewarded! A dragon does not offer up pieces from his hoard freely. Now go! Get yourself and the rest of this idiot army off the roof so that I don't kill more of you."

Lennithon takes flight again with a flap of his massive wings that knock everyone off balance. He speeds like a bullet as high and far as he can go and resumes circling in the sky.

"Over here!" shouts one of the guards at the western wall, "Come quick!"

The party rushes over to meet him and looks down at the keep's gate. From the darkness, a creature strides into the dim light of the dying fires around the keep. Although it is shaped roughly like a human, it is at least seven feet tall, it's skin is covered in blue scales, it's fingers bear wicked claws, and it's face has the muzzle and reptilian eyes of a dragon. The creature stops about eighty yards from the main gate of the keep and scans the walls. A line of kobolds fans out behind it. With their spears, the prod four human prisoners into the dim light. You can make out a woman, a teenage boy in a blood-soaked tunic, and two children. The half-dragon hails the keep:

"Defenders of Greenest! This has been a successful night, and I'm feeling generous. Do you see these four pitiful, useless prisoners? We have no need for them so I will trade them back to you. Send out your best warrior to fight me, and you can have these four in exchange. You have an hour. If the sun has come up and I don't have an answer, their skulls will decorate my armor."

As you look behind you to the east, you can see a distinct reddening of the sky foretelling the onset of dawn.

Torfinn shoulders the crossbow as he strides toward the edge of the western wall. He feels rage brewing in his mind at the sight of the prisoners. "Kobolds" Torfinn grumbles, he wished he had his men here for he would have had the pitiful creatures dispatched on sight for keeping defenseless prisoners. He eyes the half dragon from his position before speaking loud enough for his comrades to hear, "I would like the honor of crushing him. He may only be HALF a dragon but I would find him a suiting replacement for the beast." He draws his mace and begins warming up his arm.

Gwen climbs up nest to Torfinn, looking over her shoulder at where the dragon flew off. Then she looks down to see the half-dragon as he finished his short speech. She sneers. "I don't like fighting uggos. You can have him."

"If you think you can take him," Alibastar comments to Torfinn, "but if there's a doubt in your head, we need to think of a plan."

Gwen pokes Alibaster in the side "Did I really hear that big blue flapper right?"

"Aye, it's true I don't trust his honor. Should he fear for his life, I wouldn't want to have the prisoners at risk or have them kobolds standing in my way." He looks around at the group. "Suggestions?"

"We could have our blue flapper fly down and eat them. Hmm, but then it might eat the prisoners. Is that considered an acceptable loss during a time of war? No? Probably not. Maybe it could just land on them. No that would squish the prisoners, too. Oo! What if it lighteninged all over them! Wait, no, electricity carries and it's aim wasn't that good. Maybe we can just yell at him and call him ugly until he gets so mad he has a heart attack. Or maybe his friends will realizes he's super uggs and leave him when he starts gettin his ass beat by Torfi. Oo! When the battle starts can I shout at the fuggo while you fight?! That would be so fun! Oo, now I have to think up some good taunts. What about..." Gwen continues to ramble on as she wanders over to look down at the half-dragon, seeming to forget the party in her enthrallment with thinking up insults.

"Lizard breath, scales for brains, scaredy tail, slither kisser..." Gwen slams her fist down on the wall. "Blue-balled cloaca breath!" She turns to Torfinn, "If things get bad, I might be able to snipe some of those horrible little bastards from up here. Or maybe we could sneak out through the tunnel and ambush them when he starts losing. OR we could parachute from our new pet and drop on them out of the sky! They wouldn't expect that, would they?"

"SHUSH! How about we use the element of suprize? We were working on clearing the tunnels, why don't we use them, sneak out and flank them? We could use the guard in the garrison for the frontal assault. Maybe even disguise them to look like us, or just basic adventures if the dragonborn hasn't seen our faces well enough."

Gwen narrows her eyes at Nocturne. "The Purple People Eater makes a good suggestion. But it would be hard to disguise a human as a dwarf, so Torfinn should still probably go out the gate to fight lizard lips."

"Torfinn, do you want to lead the frontal assault, or come with us to lead the flank?"

"He's asking for a duel and a duel Il give him. I'm not against back up plans though so Il leave you all to that" Torfinn says in the tone of a joke but his expression is still cold and focused.

Gwen turns back to the wall and leans over it, stroking a pretend beard in one hand. "Yeah, I can totally make that shot."

She continues to rub her invisible beard and her eyes grow wide. "Or..." She starts talking really loudly, trying to focus her voice toward where the lizard man waits with his kobold squad. "Oh man, I hope they don't keep an eye on the battlements. Then all of our archers would be worthless!"

Gwen turns back to the group, thumbs up and smiling. "Now they'll be looking up here instead of behind them!"

Shortly after the half-dragon delivers his speech, Escobert and Governor Nighthill emerge onto the roof accompanied by a small host of soldiers. They approach the adventurers and listen in silence as the group determines to let Torfinn fight the monster.

Nighthill approaches Torfinn and takes his hand. "My friend, you have demonstrated your prowess all throughout this dreadful night. I realize that this is an awful burden to ask you to bear, and I have no right to ask it of you, but you have the best chance of anyone here to defeat him." The Governor shakes Torfinn's hand firmly and nods before going over to the tower to assess the damage. Escobert meets Torfinn's eye and beats his fist against his chest once, he then addresses everyone on the roof in a great booming voice:

"Men and women of the Greenest Guard, you have fought well tonight and have done your town proud. However, we are not finished. The invaders remain in our home, and they still hold some of our own. We will rescue those who need it and we will drive these bastards out!" Escobert practically shouts the last part with a fist raised in the air. "Four strangers stand amongst you," he continues, "four faces that you've never seen before tonight. But tonight, these four strangers have taken on our plight as if it were their own without hesitation and without question. They have proven themselves to be worthy allies and trusted friends. Once again, one of our new friends has volunteered to put himself in harm's way in defense of this town and its people. Now it is our turn to return the favor. I will need ten of you to stay behind and clear up this damage. The rest of you will come with me and make sure our friend does not make the ultimate sacrifice." Escobert pauses one last time and looks around, meeting everyone's eyes, "Now what are we waiting for!? Let's get moving!"

Ten soldiers begin sorting through the rubble of the tower while Escobert leads Governor Nighthill, the adventurers, and the rest of the soldiers down the stairs and through the castle halls to the gate. The officers flanking Bear move to the great door and raise the massive wooden bars out of their locked position. They push and the door crawls slowly open, the timbers creaking and groaning with every inch. A gust of air rushes into the keep's antechamber bringing a toxic combination of smells; smoke, charring wood, and burning flesh. The sky beyond is beginning to turn a dusky grey.

The group emerges into the open air and begins the descent down the hill, where at the bottom lies a clearing surrounded by a circle of torches. The half-dragon stands in the middle of the circle, a smug smile on his face. Behind him are his kobold minions, still holding the prisoners. As the defenders of Greenest reach the bottom of the hill, the half-dragon shows the palm of his hand and says, "Stop."

"These are the terms: Your Champion will step forward and I will release the three children into your custody. You will then retreat back into your keep, leaving only your Champion as well as four others, to keep my servants honest. The woman will remain in our custody. If there should be any interference in the duel whatsoever, she will be killed. Once the duel has concluded, the woman will be released to you, and you will be free to scrape the remnants of your Champion from the ground. I, Landedrosa Cyanwrath, am a man of my word. What say you? Will you honor these conditions and respect the sacred rite of the duel?"

Gwen raises her hand.

The half-dragon stares.

Gwen shuffles her feet and looks back and forth, not making eye contact for just over the amount of time that is uncomfortable. Then before anyone else can talk she says. "Um! I'm confused, Mr. Cyanwrath. I thought you were a lizard?"

If the half-dragon heard this last comment, he did not show it. Instead he continues to stare back and forth between those gathered at the bottom of the hill.

"Well? Do you accept, or shall I kill the prisoners and have my chieftain complete the destruction of this town?"

Gwen whistles a little under her breathe and whispers "Rude." She then proceeds t nudge Torfinn forward. "Go on, Torfy, kill 'im."