Episode One

"That's disgusting." Gwen looks at Nocturne's arms. "Right, looks, we should have the dwarf push this down there, yeah?"

I grab as much food as I can, cram it into a bag, and when I get close to the rats, I chuck it as far as I can muster. [Strength Roll: Nat 1 - 1 mod = 0]

Torfinn leans against the wall as he watches the rats. "Funny creatures arnt they Alibastar? Crazed, hungry, and not very intelligent. They can't even find the food cellar just down the way." Suddenly the smell of rotten food permeates his nostrils as nocturne rushes past him and begins throwing something black and squishy towards the rats. "Good show lass, but not very impressive." He says with a chuckle.

Alibastar watched as the food is hurled toward the rats, and steps back, waiting to see what their reaction will be.

The rotten food lands a mere foot in front of Nocturne. The rats perk up at the smell, now fully aware of the party. They suddenly don't seem interested in the food.

Gwen jogs down the corridor behind Nocturne. But a good distance back. The rotten food still smells disgusting. (Initiative 10 = 6r + 4)

Initiative order:

Nocturne

Rats

Torfinn

Gwen

Alibastar

You are in a dim tunnel, about 8 feet wide. Nocturne is in front, followed by Torfinn, then Al, and Gwen at the rear. A foot in front of Nocturne is a slippery, squishy mass of old food. Moving past it requires a successful DC10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check or you are knocked prone. 10 feet in front of Nocturne is the swarm of rats. Movement past each other in the tunnel is treated as difficult terrain.

"Eww! Gross, get it off me!" Snapping back to her sense, realizing eminent danger prepares to cast a spell. Entanglement. I will aim the spell so that the center (20ft square) hits the entirety of the swarm, while also close enough forward to make them have to go through difficult terrain. DC 14 Strength save or restrained. If restrained, the only preformable action is a strength check vs DC.

The rats try and fail to escape their bonds.

Torfinn eyes the situation carefully and decides to wait and see what the others do.

Gwen pulls out her bow, leans against one wall, using it to help steady her aim as she pulls back an arrow. She squints as she lets it loose and it flies into the middle of the rats. But not the middle of any rats in particular. (Shortbow 8 = 4 + 8r/4r) "Damn."

Gwen's arrow ricochets off the ground and hits the gate, making a ringing CLANG before falling back to the ground.

"Little bastards," Alibastar mutters under his breathe as he trudges forward. "I hate rats," then begins a chant in his island tongue. He steps beside Nocturne and gently as he opens his arms wide, now standing between her and the rotten food. He let's out a shout that is quickly outshined by the sound of thunder projecting from his hands he slammed together in front of him, blasting the rats, as well as spraying the putrid remains all over the rat swarm.

(Thunderwave, damage 14=8r+6r, con save of 14 to half damage and not be pushes back 10 feet)

The wave of thunder rolls down the tunnel, snatching the rats with it and slamming them into the gate with such force that you swear you could've heard their tiny bones snapping. The gate bursts open with a great crash.

Gwen raises an eyebrow at Alibastar. "Think the dragon heard that one? Or should we keep trying to be louder?"

"Well, maybe not the dragon, buy if there's anyone in these tunnels they might be on guard, so let's push on." Alibastar draw his sword, and moves forward, stepping carefully around the mangled remains as he passes through the gate.

Gwen follows after Alibastar, who has the light she needs to see. She makes use of this to also dodge through the gross stuff on the ground.

"Forward we go then."

"GET YER ASSES US HERE NOW! WE'VE GOT A MAJOR SITUATION!" You recognize the voice of Bear coming from the top of the tunnel. Concerned, you rush up to meet him.

"Don't worry about the tunnel right now, I'm sending a couple o' guards down to watch the gate. I'm guessin' you got it open? You were certainly down here long enough. Anyways, we've got a problem: You remember the dragon, right? Big, blue, flying around the castle? Well he's decided that he wants to attack now. We've got men stationed on top of the keep, but none of them have ever had to deal with much more than chicken thieves. We're going to need as many able bodies as we can spare to bring this thing down before it causes too much damage. I know it's askin' a lot for you to look a dragon right in the face, but there's a good chance that none of us will survive this ordeal anyways. I'll understand if you choose not to go. What do you say? Want to bring down a dragon?"

"I though you'd never ask! Been waiting for something exciting all day!" Torfinn says in a manner that sounds too cheerful for the situation. He stretches his arms and then rotates then at the shoulder before jogging in place as is he was warming himself up for some sport.

"Always wanted to kill a dragon. How big is your biggest bow?"

"Let's get to it, then!" Alibastar exclaims, turning around and heading back towards Bear, carefully avoiding the remains once again.

"I guess if I can best one dragon, another won't be any harder..."

Bear nods once before spinning on his heels and taking off through the door and down the hall at a much quicker pace than would seem possible for his stout frame. You follow closely behind him as he spends down corridors and around corners. Anyone in the hall immediately makes way for him or turns to follow along.

"Until now the dragon has been content to just fly around the keep without attacking. I don't know what changed its mind, but now I've lost more than a few good soldiers to the damned beast. Come on, keep up."

You are almost at a full sprint chasing after the Castellan. He guides you down more hallways and up seemingly endless flights of stairs. Finally he slows as he reaches a staircase that leads up to a heavy wooden trap door. "Alright, I want this thing gone but don't be stupid about it. Last thing I need is more casualties on my hands. If you kill it, great, but I'd be alright with it just leaving. If things don't seem to be going in a winning direction, don't hesitate to call the retreat. Just come back in one piece."

You climb the stairs and push the door open. Rain pours down on you as you emerge onto the top of the keep. The roof is a large, open area; featureless except for the parapets lining the edges and the solitary cylindrical tower in the southeast corner. Flashes of lightning illuminate the silhouettes of the guards stationed around the ramparts; they fire their arrows into the sky in rapid succession.

A great roar--the very same roar that awoke you at the inn--fills your ears with such power that your eardrums threaten to pop in protest. The giant blue beast shoots down from the sky like a bolt from a crossbow. Arcs of lightning blast from its gaping maw, crashing into a group of defenders. The smell of burning flesh fills your nostrils as three of them go down screaming and rolling around in an attempt to put out their smoldering clothing while another two are reduced entirely into piles of ashes. The dragon returns to the sky and continues to circle the keep.

[Each of you must make a Wisdom saving throw against the dragon's Frightening Presence. You may each make one knowledge or perception-based skill check before turn order begins. Roll Initiative.]

"Bear," Gwen shouts as she looks around the fort, "you said you were going to post men down by the tunnel, right? If you can, you should get them orders to pile up some of those boxes again. We made a mess of noise down there and someone might have heard us." She watches the dragon explode the group of soldiers (Will save 3 = 4r/4r - 1). "In fact, I'll save you the trouble and go do that myself." (Perception to scan the battlements/fort for any siege weapons or something else that might help against the dragon 18 = 19r - 1; Initiative 16 = 12r + 4).