The Evil of Ravenholm - Chapter 2: The Ashen Mountains

[SporkMaster5000]

Gerash frowned. The fat dragon was smarter than he expected. Or just fortunate. "I had hoped to have you drag them in to the lair so we could attack while he was swallowing. With all this open space an ambush will be difficult, at best." The necromancer sighed, "The priest we killed, did he ever bring food right to your former master, or are his offerings always left out here?"  

[NayrVentess]

Serrik nodded, "We alwaysz took food into the layer for Old Maszter, normally only live food out here, then Szholoruk comesz and getsz it. Only usz koboldsz could go into layer safely with food and...." Serrik's eyes then widened and he shook his head slowly, not liking the way this conversation was going.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Oh, excellent," Gerash remarked, "Then we can continue as planned." He pulled the skull he'd stolen from the wyrmpriest out of his bag and placed it over Serrik's face, then he crouched down in front of the kobold, "Listen very carefully," he took on the tone of a parent coaching their child for their first day of school, "You are to do your best impression of that priest, and drag one of these bodies into that lair. Hars will take the other. If you do this, and we are successful, you will be rewarded. If you fail, I will kill you."

He stood up and looked at Hars, "Be a kobold or dragonborn or something, look beat up. You and the kobold tell the dragon you betrayed the people you came with and want to worship him. Then cut his throat once it's full. We'll come in once you get started."  

[Arc Vembris]

Hars' skin takes on a scaley cast, matching the rust color of the kobold, but she grows taller instead of down to his size.

"I can't get small enough to be a kobold, I'll have to loosen up my armor to be a proper dragonborn."

Her arms quickly swell with muscle, which is likely representative of her true strength as anyone who has seen her fight can attest. She works to loosen up the hide armor as her form thickens. The head takes the most attention as she produces the blunt draconic nose and her hair congeals into short scaly barbs. She adds a bit of bruising and some comsmetic wounds to her face, neck and arms to complete the ensemble. All told she still resembles a rather slender variety of dragonborn, but not unnaturally so.

"Now I don't know dragontalk, kobold, so you better sell this performance." Hars tests the grip of her blades in her new larger hands and she gestures at the craven reptile with one of them as she speaks, refining a deeper dragonborn voice.  

[Vorastrix]

Pelloth sighed. "Two questions. What are the rest of us supposed to do while they get to have the fun of killing a fat dragon, and second, why are we listening to the dead guy?"  

[joe-dude667]

"I cansz assziszt too!" Said a small Kobold from behind the group. Though when they looked, Cain was standing there. "I cansz copy anyonesz voicesz."

Cain wanted to be in that place when the Dragon got attacked. He was determined to get the killing blow.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"They are not going to be killing the dragon, the kobold is going to be lying to him and Hars is going to strike the first blow. The point is the element of surprise, not to sit on our laurels and wait for it to die. And you're listening to me because if you don't like the idea of carrying a corpse in to feed the dragon, you can be the corpse we feed the dragon," Gerash replies to Pelloth, in no mood for a quibbling drow.

He turns to Cain, not quite as terse, but not exactly supportive, "It's the face I'm more concerned with. Dragonborn are just over-sized kobolds anyway, so Hars should be fine, but the more eclectic his visitors the more likely the dragon will be to get suspicious."  

[NayrVentess]

He still has a scared expression on his face, but Serrik doesn't struggle as Gerash plops the skull mask over his head. You get the impression that he isn't one to fight back against anyone so obviously more powerful than he...like basically every kobold. "If you want me to....Maszter."

Carry out the plan then, if you wish evil-doers.  

[iDragow]

Grashuk would hand his body over to the kobold, since Hars already had one. The plan was sound, but the chances were great of things not working out the way they had been planned. Nothing for it but to be ready to stab the dragon to death if it showed signs of knowing it was being set up.  

[NayrVentess]

Hoping that Hars the dragonborn would follow, Serrik glumly dragged the body that Grashuk had handed him off towards the cave. Legs shaking as he did so, the kobold struggled with the weight he was pulling, but didn't say anything to complain.

Does Hars/anyone follow?  

[SporkMaster5000]

Expecting Hars to follow imemdiately behind the kobold, Gerash follows with some distance between them. When they get closer to the lair proper, he'll go off to one side of the entrance and wait to see how the kobold and changeling manage.  

[Vorastrix]

Shrugging, Pelloth followed closely behind Gerash. He didn't really care for the plan, but he didn't have a better one.  

[joe-dude667]

As the Kobold ran off, Cain slowly followed behind, keeping to the shadows. Sword in hand.

[[Stealth=26]]  

[Arc Vembris]

Hars did indeed follow Serrik, carrying the body with ease, though she makes a show of seeming injured. She's had practice.  

[iDragow]

Grashuk will do the same as Gerash, although to the other side of the entrance.