More of the cold room and discussions
Subject The cold room
Allistair thinks for a moment. "My knowledge of dragons is not comprehensive, but there are a couple of other points that might prove useful. Obviously, this particular creature is practically immune to any kind of cold-based attack, magical or otherwise. On the other hand, it is very weak against any kind of fire-based attack, so that my fireballs and Kal's scorching ray will most likely have the greatest effect on it."
"Also like most dragons it can tunnel through the earth at a fairly decent rate, but due to the magical nature of this place I doubt it is able to tunnel through these walls or it wouldn't still be in there. There is also a good chance that it will be large enough that it will not be able to pass through the doorway, so we can avoid direct physical attacks from the beast, which are second only to it's deadly breath. Even if it cannot pass through the doorway though, it can most certainly send its breath down the hallway, so we would be far from out of danger. Since we do have a straight shot into the room from the hallway though, I could use my fireballs from the opposite end of the hallway, which would probably be far enough away for me to be safe from its cold breath."
"If the dragon is small enough to come down the passageway we will certainly have to deal with it's claws and bite, but at least we could find small comfort in the fact that it is a relatively small and weak dragon. Any dragon though, has scales as hard as steel, and it will be very difficult to kill."
"In general, I have heard that more intelligent dragons, even if evil, can be coerced or reasoned with, but only if one is in an obvious position of power and superiority. We have neither I'm afraid, and even if we did this particulary dragon may be too stupid to care and just attack us out of anger."
From: Josh
Subject The cold room
Kal speaks up, addressing everyone's doubts:
"We must fight and destroy this creature of evil. We have been collectively chosen by our gods for this mission. If it is their will that we die in this challenge, then we must die. Did we expect this mission to be easy? Certainly not. We cannot balk now.
Having said that, I think we should take a day and rest up for this challenge. I would like to properly prepare for this battle."
From: Kevin
Subject The cold room
Harp thinks for a moment. Of course they would have to kill the dragon, they had had to kill everything they had met so far. It was as if this place had been built by some adolescent on a power trip - how hard can I make things before i crush you. But that was of no matter know. They were here, and they had to finish their job.
"Kal, I agree, but before we move on, I think it would be worth it to have Mund and I take a look and see if we can tell how large this creature is. If, as Allistair says, it is a young dragon, then we may be able to defeat it without waiting. If it turns out to be a large dragon, then I agree, we rest tonight, review our blessings and magic, and tackle it in the morning. But, if it is small, and we can tackle it today, I want to.
Mund, I want you to join Ragnar and me. Ragnar's blessing is still in effect, and if this creature is evil, as Allistair says, then his blessing will help us. All I want to do is get a glimpse of it so we can get an idea of how big it is. If it is large, then we are the ones best suited to take damage as we retreat out of the room. The rest of you wait out here and be ready to close that door if we come running through."
OOC: Mark, my idea is for Mund and Harp to be in front of Ragnar, moving into the room until we see it. Once we see it (Ragnar can carry Mund's torch) we will move out of the room as quickly as possible. I want to be able to decide to attack with the full group before Ragnars's Magic Circle expires.
From: Randy
Subject The cold room
"Harp!" Ranthir exclaims a little more sharply than he intended. Calming his voice a little, he adds "Can I have a word with you." Ranthir pulls Harp to the side and voices his concerns.
"Once the door is open we may be unable to stop the creature from pursuing us out of the room. We don't know that the magical seal will come back into effect once the door has been opened. I really think that we should try to find a method of opening the door from a distance, perhaps using ropes. If we are planning on waiting at all, we must not open the door. If we do decide to open the door, we must do it planning on fighting."
Ranthir speaks with authority that he has not shown since their previous adventure. He doesn't consider the fact that Harp has rank over him, he speaks out of passion and concern.
From: Kevin
Subject The cold room
Ran, the door opens in. I do not see how we can pull it open when it goes the other way. We need to find out how large of a dragon we are up against, and the best way to do that is to send in a small party of the heartiest of us with magical protection and the ability to fight back. If someone has a better idea, I am willing to listen, but we have limited time." Harp will look around for constructive comments. If heard, he will listen, if none, then he will motion to Mund and Ragnar to join him in moving toward the door.
From: Randy
Subject The cold room
If nobody else voices concern, Ran will state that he thinks that they are making a mistake. The best course of action is to get the door open so that the magic users can cast their spells.
"I think that a smarter course of action is to have Mund open the door and then turn and run. The rest of us should be positioned as far back down the hall as we can while still keeping within fireball range. Our magic users can then throw their spells as soon as Mund is back behind them. We can then work by retreating into the main room and readying more ranged attacks as the dragon undoubtedly pursues us. If we send a party into the room I fear that those members will not return. Do not underestimate this enemy Harp. Once the door has been opened, I do not believe we will have the chance to close it with any effectiveness against a dragon."
From: Porter
Subject Discussion
Where is this conversation taking place? In the hall or in the big room?
From: Josh
Subject Discussion
If Kal overhears the conversation between Harp and Ran, he will voice his opinion:
"I don't think it matters much what size the beast is. We have no choice but to fight it, and from what I understand even the youngest dragons are formidable enemies.
We should go at this thing at full strength. Why are we rushing through this place?"
From: Karl
Subject Discussion
"I agree that it would be good to be at full strength. However, it seems that we begin our challenges when we enter each door off the main room. That is, it appears we trigger whatever magic ports our foes into the battle rooms when we open the main door. In this case a dragon was ported. How sure are we that we can just take a rest now? Do we have a guarantee that the dragon is trapped on the other side of that door? How do we know he wouldn't be able to break out and eat us in our sleep?"
From: Porter
Subject Discussion
Where is this conversation taking place? In the hall or in the big room?
It makes a difference as to what Mund is going to do.