This thing is a stupid caveman's dragon, and it considered children a delicacy on top of all that. That's the reason a big chunk of the thread is against raising it. We don't want excessively stupid and cruel minions. Comparing this thing to Relath is kind of off, Relath has an INT of 17 and actually happens to be competent when you get down to it. This thing is basically a brute that would have to be managed.
For an OOC reason, when things go after children that's when I want them dead and want them to stay dead.
Wait, when was the "considered children a delicacy" bit mentioned again? I figured it was just your run-of-the-mill True Neutral/unaligned might makes right predator, not an asshat that has some rather batshit CE tendencies.
Well, guess it's not gettin' that offer of gainful employment.
Reminder: Chromatic True Dragons, specifically and perhaps emphatically ones of the Red persuasion, in canon D&D, delight in kidnapping maidens, explicitly not because there is conceptual weight behind their purity, but above all other considerations: They find them absolutely delicious.
And no, I don't mean innuendously. I mean literally.
Claw sheaths that give the worn creature's claws the keen property and count as evil for the purposes of overcoming damage residence. They look to be constantly weeping blood so you may want to be careful with them
The Bane Arrows and Claws are something to keep in reserve just in case, or simply sacrifice.
Depending on how likely we think a conflict with good outsiders in the nearer future is.
Unless we can flip them with the Archon's ritual, some demon-bane arrows and Evil-harming claws are nice.
The Dex item can stay as it is and be used immediatly.
Reminder: Chromatic True Dragons, specifically and perhaps emphatically ones of the Red persuasion, in canon D&D, delight in kidnapping maidens, explicitly not because there is conceptual weight behind their purity, but above all other considerations: They find them absolutely delicious.
And no, I don't mean innuendously. I mean literally.
Wait, when was the "considered children a delicacy" bit mentioned again? I figured it was just your run-of-the-mill True Neutral/unaligned might makes right predator, not an asshat that has some rather batshit CE tendencies.
Well, guess it's not gettin' that offer of gainful employment.
In the end the answers did not prove that surprising in general: The youth had sought to make a name for himself, quite literally, by slaying a dragon that dwelt near the hunting grounds of his tribe and often asked heavy tribute of them in treasures recovered from the ruins or even children. Unsurprisingly the endeavor ended in the would-be dragon slayer's boat sunk and his sorrowful corpse returned to haunt rotting flesh.
The Bane Arrows and Claws are something to keep in reserve just in case, or simply sacrifice.
Depending on how likely we think a conflict with good outsiders in the nearer future is.
Unless we can flip them with the Archon's ritual, some demon-bane arrows and Evil-harming claws are nice.
The Dex item can stay as it is and be used immediatly.
Wait, when was the "considered children a delicacy" bit mentioned again? I figured it was just your run-of-the-mill True Neutral/unaligned might makes right predator, not an asshat that has some rather batshit CE tendencies.
Well, guess it's not gettin' that offer of gainful employment.
It got children sacrificed to it by the locals which it ate, it has some serious bad habits, but we have recruited an actual devil and an Alu-demon, after those the fact it has eaten children, shouldn't prevent it from at least getting an interview.
This thing is a stupid caveman's dragon, and it considered children a delicacy on top of all that. That's the reason a big chunk of the thread is against raising it. We don't want excessively stupid and cruel minions. Comparing this thing to Relath is kind of off, Relath has an INT of 17 and actually happens to be competent when you get down to it. This thing is basically a brute that would have to be managed.
For an OOC reason, when things go after children that's when I want them dead and want them to stay dead.
I don't see why the fact that it's likely to be a bad minion, mean that we shouldn't even talk with it before deciding, it's not like questioning it's skull cost anything but a bit of time.
And if that questioning seem promising, we just have to go to the place it died and we can speak with it's soul, I'm not saying we have to recruit it, I'm just saying that I want us to speak with it before we make the decision.
I don't see why the fact that it's likely to be a bad minion, mean that we shouldn't even talk with it before deciding, it's not like questioning it's skull cost anything but a bit of time.
And if that questioning seem promising, we just have to go to the place it died and we can speak with it's soul, I'm not saying we have to recruit it, I'm just saying that I want us to speak with it before we make the decision.
I for one, do not wish to spend the screen time on it. It's previous choices make me think that this dragon is destined for the gallows in SD if it were to be brought back.
I for one, do not wish to spend the screen time on it. It's previous choices make me think that this dragon is destined for the gallows in SD if it were to be brought back.
Granted, I wouldn't mind spending the 2000 IM diamond to resurrect it if we were allowed to promptly kill it again and loot the second corpse for neat dragon stuff, but that would promptly be stopped by DP. So many cheesy plans put to an end.
I for one, do not wish to spend the screen time on it. It's previous choices make me think that this dragon is destined for the gallows in SD if it were to be brought back.
I for one, do not wish to spend the screen time on it. It's previous choices make me think that this dragon is destined for the gallows in SD if it were to be brought back.
Granted, I wouldn't mind spending the 2000 IM diamond to resurrect it if we were allowed to promptly kill it again and loot the second corpse for neat dragon stuff, but that would promptly be stopped by DP. So many cheesy plans put to an end.
We only need to spend 200 IM worth of oils to resurrect it, it died quite recently, so we can just use Blood Wish directed Reincarnation, to reincarnate it into a new Kongamato.
But we don't even need to commit to that, I just want us to take 5 minutes to interview it, before we decide whether it's minion material.
Depends on your time and resources, and your expected need for them later on. One Bane enchantment can be applied to 50 arrows, which could then be distributed among several archers.
As for the bracers, I would give them to Waymar for now. He's got +2 Dexterity gloves right now, but his Dexterity score is currently on an odd number, so the +3 would get him another +1 bonus to Attack and Reflex saves.
Aradia already has +2 Dexterity gloves (which need to be added to her character sheet @DragonParadox), as does Garin.
Depends on your time and resources, and your expected need for them later on. One Bane enchantment can be applied to 50 arrows, which could then be distributed among several archers.
As for the bracers, I would give them to Waymar for now. He's got +2 Dexterity gloves right now, but his Dexterity score is currently on an odd number, so the +3 would get him another +1 bonus to Attack and Reflex saves.
Aradia already has +2 Dexterity gloves (which need to be added to her character sheet @DragonParadox), as does Garin.
Good points about the Dex gear.
I feel than when you're starting an extended campaign, then building bows should be better than arrows. Yes it's a risk (less concentrated bane fire right now) but long-term it is far more effective and cheap.
"I can't help... but think... there are... safer royal whims to have... than this," Garin gasps as he nimbly jumps from branch to branch ahead of the thirty-foot-long painted lizard whose footsteps shook the earth it trod upon, its jaws snapping wildly, seemingly infuriated by its prey's ability to vanish and reaper dozens of feet in front of it whenever it seemed like it should by all rights have caught it.
"You are the one who wanted to test them, to see which would make good war beasts both in strength and wits," you remind him as you sweep your hands in the prescribed motions and utter the word of power to reduce the beast down to a harmless turtle, now peering up in confusion at a world that from its perspective must have suddenly grown enormous.
"That was mostly Wyla," your friend says, giving his aunt a mock glare as she carelessly swings her legs from where she is sitting on a branch some sixty-feet up in one of the giant jungle trees. The sorceress looks to all the world like a little girl having the time of her life, a faint blush of excitement on her pale cheeks.
"I'll get the next one, then," she calls out cheerfully, floating to the ground under the power of some lingering enchantment. Though certainly less agile than Garin now that the power of undeath within her has waned, Wyla makes up for it with a far better knowledge of this land and its dangers as well as skillful application of magic, both of which have served you well in finding the kinds of beasts that might eventually serve as mounts, beasts of burden, and more for any southern colonies you might wish to establish.
As it turned out 'the next one' was a three-horned brute about the same size as Garin's catch, though all similarities ended there. The trio of creatures were stripping moss with their hard almost beaked mouths and chewing young saplings that struggled towards the sun in one of the rare jungle clearings. The bone crest that stretched out behind their heads gives the creatures an air of stout belligerence that puts one in mind to some great reptilian bull.
Rather than trying to bait the creatures apart, Wyla surprises you by simply taking the shape of one through a quick incantation and stomping over to see how they react to others of their own kind. The results make it clear that they will need a firm and strong hand to manage in groups, perhaps a minotaur... As you share the suggestion to Waymar he goes a step further and suggests half in jest of horned knights on horned steeds. "They would not be that much more rowdy than some of the hedge knights that sailed into the Deep these past few months," he finishes with a slightly bitter smile. The state of knighthood in Westeros has come to gnaw at him all the more after having been proclaimed one himself.
"Maybe you should try riding one of those things," Tyene cuts slyly.
"Cloud would disown me," Waymar laughs. Then with a worried look at the head bashing contest between Wyla and the lead three-horn he adds, "Do you think that's safe for a lady to..." the words die as the beast is knocked unconscious in aflash of sorcery.
"I suspect she will be fine," you note dryly. You somehow doubt the roar of joyous triumph Wyla gives in her current reptilian shape is for the benefit of the beasts. How long had it been since she could truly be at ease and enjoy herself among friends? Possibly since her death, for even her meetings with Garin would have been shadowed by the curse of unlife upon her.
Changing the unconscious creature into a turtle, you take care to mark its shell with a trident before letting it sleep off its headache in your bag.
***
Your next catch was almost unintended. As the five of you moved to pass a small stream tumbling noisily through the jungle you see a pair of delicate lizards, with thin almost snake-like necks and long tails swishing through the underbrush for balance. Suspicious that anything so seemingly fragile could survive in these jungles you look upon them with a mage's eye, yet they seem perfectly natural creatures, if unusually cooperative and clever, not to mention playful.
Realizing they might make interesting familiars for mages so inclined, and to be honest not wanting to leave the little fellows out here to be eaten or stomped on by some of their titanic kin, you gather up the full pack of four-and-ten in all, though rather than bothering to change their shape you simply cast them into enchanted sleep.
At Tyene's suggestion you then sink your awareness into the jungle seeking a dog-sized beast, preferably one with wits to match, reasoning that the first settlers on these strange and perilous shores could do with a companions who know the perils of the land. Ultimately you happen upon a large pack of similarly thin-limbed beasts, though with scales shaded in dark greens gathered around the fallen carcass of a long-necked giant, picking the bones clean of strips of meat too small to interest whatever killed it.
By far the most notable thing about them, however, is their squawking and squabbling in a dozen different voices, carrying not just the sounds of the jungle but also fractures of speech, which Wyla confirms come from the Brindled Men. This must have been a tamed pack gone wild, likely when their masters met some untimely end. Flying further afield you add two more wild packs to the first lucky find, coming out at three-and-twenty of the creatures in total, making you very glad Wyla and Tyene are also here to help with ferrying the creatures north.
Just as you are about to carry the last of them to their temporary holding pens on Naath, however, you hear a crash echoing through the jungle followed by the sound of screams, much clearer screams than the echo lizards could make. Rushing in the direction of the sounds you find an enraged creature armored in thick bony plates like some reptilian knight with a mace at the end of its tail charging after two hunters armed with tall bows and short stabbing spears, Brindled Men from what little you can see of them through the blood.
Instinctively you reach out with the same spell of transformation that had served you so well, the creature's flesh melting and reforming even as it reaches the shocked hunters.
At first they seem wary of their unexpected rescue, and little wonder if what Malarys told you of the petty tyrants of these jungles is true, but after they speak to Wyla a while and you tend to their wounds without asking for any recompense they warm to you, their tale spilling out soon after, they are the last of a broken tribe, one supposedly cursed by some ghost or wicked sorcerer to wither and die never knowing a home under the green boughs.
Wyla is quick to invite them to Naath, pointing out that her island is beyond the bounds of the jungle, and if their tormentor should follow them after that then all the better that treasure should come to her rather then needing to hunt it down. It is the first time you have ever seen anyone slump in relief at Wyla's fanged smile.
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OOC: Good rolls over all, the only things you could not find were Parasaurolophuses, and your random encounter was positive (if not massively so).
