The Journey North

[at]

Callo considered a more lengthy answer before simply replying "Callo."

Pulling a parasol from beneath her cloak she continued, "i've never been one for leaping before I look, and besides the journey is often half the fun."

[glassofsand]

"Then you wont be disappointed. I've aimed us about 10 miles outside of the city. We can asses the situation as we get in. It wouldn't do to have shown up closer and been seen."

[harknail]

OOC: Sorry I've been quiet, the forum stopped notifying me of changes so I though no one was posting. Looking back, there wasn't much for Nokomis to add anyway. She would have insisted on traveling with her brother, but no one suggested splitting them up.

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

I hope everyone had a good holiday,

I was hoping we could start back into the action:

when we last left off you had just go into soleb and you were about a days walk away.

you can get there by night fall.

as the group is walking towards the city they get about 3/4 of the way there without any hindrance. as they get closer please make spot checks.

what you all do see even without the spot: in the distance The great capital of Soleb stands about 100 ft tall and it is made out of stone, it has towers and gates. It is also armed with guards. some are riding on large lizards. the wall is 45 ft high and it surrounds the hole city.

[at]

Soleb ... Callo was known here, though it had been a few years. If they could see the guards then they could be seen also, a blue dragon was not inconspicuous.

[dice=20]+13 spot[rand=614212799975076601786881868821954512376397017544054703662282611323]

[glassofsand]

Guards? Had they repelled the attack, or, more likely, had they surrendered?

Spot:
[dice=20] + 10[rand=694213243899866912618373078294098578884818824008120599830755963922]

[flyingmouse]

Did both groups get teleported, or just the one?

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

both groups have been teleported and all ended up the same place, so the party is altogether.

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

the spot will tell you they are not human and Callo knows they should be if they still held the city. so you don't know what happened to the City guard as of right now.

the colors they are have on are not the powder-blue, but of a sand color with a insignia of sand dragon just pocking its head out of sand blowing fire. it shows the fire form the shape of a dune waving froward.

K ( nobility and royalty)

k( nature to know what they are riding)

K nature to know what they are)

the good spots will tell you: In the sand near the gate glass and Callo can make out the indentations of where small dragons could be hiding as an ambush should any thing come knocking. the city has in fact been taken over.

the blue has taken cover in the sand and is hiding for the time being. he is very close by
about ( 15 ft) and 20 ft deep.

[at]

Callo mutters an incantation and a light mist forms around the group, at this distance it would appear as nothing more than heat haze to the guards and would render the group invisible to their view.

"I have the power to hide us from the dragons, for a time". Reaching out an arm a phantasmal bird takes form before her and rapidly solidifies into a desert hawk as it soars through the mist and high into the sky.


(obscuring mist, 14 minutes. Callo can see and hear all that the bird does and intends to get a closer look at the city)

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

the bird fly's over the city and this is what it sees: given the int of the bird you can do rolls from what it sees. in the out walls there are burning bodies in a large pile, you can make out some have uniforms but they have been chard so badly they look black.

the half dragons have taken the main inner city and the castle. homes and shops have been ransacked or burned down. K( dungeonering) on one of the gates and to see how bad of a shape the structures are in, also on the towers. One roll for all of them.

humans are in shekels and doing what would be slave work, moving dead bodies, moving anything of value into a cart. half dragons take cart to an area of sand, then it disappears beneath the sand. If the humans stop working they are whipped, even killed at times. there is a stack of dead bodies ready to be carted out into the desert buy guards and they do this daily. some places have survived the attack but guards have taken up in them, and use them as out posts for their military.

under the sand you can see near the castle larger sand dragons then the ones out side come up and speak in draconic orders and pop back down. they seam to be a few throughout the city as well.

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

there are about 6 adult sand dragons 3 by the main castle. and an assortment of younger ones that are outside: mainly young and juvenile one or two young adults.

K( nature on these kinds of dragons)

[at]

Dec 28, 2012 13:58:34 GMT -5 (George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0) said:

the bird fly's over the city and this is what it sees: given the int of the bird you can do rolls from what it sees.

(It's a remote controlled magic bird, I can steer it but I have to use it's listen of 5 and spot of 7)

Callo describes what she can see to the group, knowing it would not be long before they would have to withdraw if they wished to remain hidden.
"Nine larger dragons, perhaps more, and many smaller ones scattered around. Half-dragon servants have enslaved the surviving population and are looting the city, taking the wealth beneath the sand".

As she talks Callo stabs a dagger into the sand before her and traces the rough shape of the city, marking the locations of significant sightings as she speaks them so that the rest might understand.



[dice=20]+6 Knowledge nature (or +12 arcana) for the dragons.
(regarding the damaged buildings, Callo knows little about masonry and engineering, all she can really do is describe the damage)[rand=842671936741597514746648839218013447092301549232638859718452670784]

[glassofsand]

OOC: "there are about 6 adult sand dragons 3 by the main castle" I think the DM means 6 total, three specifically by the castle.

Glass digs his nails into his side when he hears what's happening. "I can hide us here for hours with a simple rope trick. It would give me time to prepare more combat spells but my heart tells me no not make these people wait a moment longer. We should decide quickly though."

[harknail]

Nokomis perception roll: [dice=20]+20=24
Knowledge Nature: [dice=20]+15=28[rand=16218278743326664110981519334018236956561051774776249789686407894]

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

harknil and callo knows a weakness of these dragons, they keep the eggs under the sand but they leave them a lone, meaning the nests could be taken.

sand dragons hide in the sand but if your not touching the sand they cant tell where you are as well as if you are touching the land. they are territorial so any attack from anything will make the full force fight back to an outside threat. they hide all valued things in the sand so they can protect it better, and use them to set traps in some cases. the make other holes to make people think that is an entrance but use them as decoy to through them off, and set up and attack under the sand, or cover them in sand after they enter to suffocate them.

[stickyfish]

Brienne flits down from Skywatcher's shoulder and walks around the map of the city drawn in the sand. "What is our objective here?

[glassofsand]

"To free the people and not get them killed in the process."

[at]

Callo sends the bird towards one of the damaged gates, if they were taking the time to conduct repairs it would suggest that there intent was to conquer rather than raid.

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

Callo does not see dwarfs or gnomes that would be working on the damage, but she does not see and materials for an iron gate let alone 4 is very rare. there are humans working on the damaged walls, for they do have materials in order to do so.

as to the gates It could be they just don't have the worker the damage is no simple task and the materials to fix it make it impossible. so right now just looking at it would not tell you which way they will in fixing it or not.

your info on the dragons would say they took it and will defend it to the death, so the nature of them would say conquer and nest.