[IC] Chapter 2-4: You Hear Them Whispering in the Crowns of the Trees

[Silent Giant]

We would likely lose any surprise, but we would negate its flight advantage.  I would defer to our two dwarves in the possibility of caves."  She looks at Lugar and Torin.

Yeah, I prefer to fight on the ground because I can't fly. Let's go.

[Silent Giant]

Based on how large the beast that left the tracks must be, it is probably larger than the cylinder in all dimensions. Whether it can fit, though, is hard to tell since you don't even know whether a 20-foot-long snake could slither its way through or not.
You can roll a hide check to see if you can find such spot, with +2 circumstance bonus since you are purposefully looking for it and not hiding in an "ad-hoc" way.

SG [1d20+5] = 14+5 = 19 hide

So what's the result?

[DM Surranó]

OOC - you'll know as soon as there will be someone entitled to a Spot roll

[Shanna Rendin]

Merri looks at Shanna.  "If you have something important to add to the discussion, speak.  Waiting for someone to ask you is a needless waste of time."

She turns to the group as a whole.  "Now, going back to the fairy and telling them we believe it to be a dragon would be fruitless.  Were they capable or willing to assist, they would.  We will have to face this beast, regardless.  It will not leave without a show of power from us or perhaps a bribe of some sort.  Since we lack the resources to buy off a dragon, we are left with the former.  We are a group of many talents.  I am certain that we can work together to defeat the dragon.  I have two thoughts on this.  We know it comes from the river.  Perhaps luring some of the animals in the area near it, we can draw out the dragon and ambush it while it is targeting them.  The other option is to investigate the water fall for a cave system that would comfortably hold it.  We would likely lose any surprise, but we would negate its flight advantage.  I would defer to our two dwarves in the possibility of caves."  She looks at Lugar and Torin.

Shanna turns to regard her fellow magic-user and narrows her eyes, not looking down on her for deciding to turn her considerable talents from pure learning to mundane martial combat.  "I have told you everything I know of dragons (use whatever OOC knowledge you need because Shanna knows it all and spelt it out to the group), as well as the specific subgroup that I believe we are currently facing.  Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.  I am also the 'new kid on the block' in this group, so I doubt highly anyone particularly cares what I think on this matter, as evidenced by several times when I could have been asked but instead had to speak up.  You believe in the possibility of fighting a dragon in its own lair.  I have rarely heard of such folly.  Magic, as you know, makes many things possible.  Among them is turning one's home into a giant deathtrap filled with a system of smaller deathtraps leading up to it.  The danger is limited only by the dragon's imagination, creativity, and intelligence, all of which are likely to be considerable.  Your first idea has some merit, though we should speak to our resident druid of the likelihood of these animals actually putting themselves in harm's way for a group of people who they do not know.  I believe we should speak to Cranberry, or whatever her name is, and let her know what she is up against.  Whether or not she helps us with actually slaying the dragon is immaterial as she may unknowingly provide us with the 'key.'"

[Merrinna Starsong]

Merri keeps her reply calm and measured. "Yes, I understand that you are new to the group, but you were chosen for a reason. You are not some commoner randomly pulled from a crowd. I already hold you in esteem as a fellow practitioner of the Art. Everyone is new at first. Why should you feel the need to act differently because of it? It is counter-productive. You have my respect. You should have to wait to be asked."

(In her defense, I know you busted the top off that knowledge roll. Merri doesn't know the extent of your knowledge. In her worldview, hierarchy exists to organize a group more efficiently and complete common goals. It is not a hard and fast rule used to impose their will and protect their pride like humans are prone to do. Sure Merri is just as arrogant and prideful as other Gold Elves. Yes she is better than everyone else because she is an elf, but she still recognizes the usefuless and abilities of the lesser races. She expects everyone to perform their role without being asked because that is just how it is. I try to view the world through her lense rather than just play a human with pointed ears. Sometimes that ends up coming across as dickish. )

"I do understand your trepidation at facing it in its lair. I share some of those concerns as well. We all expect traps and pitfalls. Both of my proposals have their drawbacks. Facing a dragon is no easy task no matter how you present it. I do not agree with running back to the people who have asked us to deal with their problem. They either know nothing of value or have withheld such information because they wish us to fail."

[Silent Giant]

" I do not agree with running back to the people who have asked us to deal with their problem.  They either know nothing of value or have withheld such information because they wish us to fail."

Yeah, they weren't helpful at all. We should check his lair but it's better if he is not there.

[Toot]

Shanna knows practically all the written lore (OOC - everything written in the MM) about true dragons in general, chromatic dragons as a subgroup, and green dragons in particular. Based on the descriptions the others gave she can also tell that a green dragon of this size is centuries old (OOC - Huge size, meaning at least Adult)

She also knows that dragons like to protect their lairs with deadly wards and while many sorcerers claim to have draconic blood in their veins, some dragons are said to alter their breath weapons mimicking how wizards and sorcerers alter their spells (OOC - metabreath feats), explaining how the burn marks could be mistaken for black dragon breath earlier.

She even recalls a famous quote from some archaic parchment, written by Aloysius Egon Greegier, an armchair dragon scholar,

Dragons are scaly, they lay eggs, and they are utterly lacking in any mammalian  characteristics.  The  notion  that  they  are  warm-blooded is silly.

Rumour has it that his quote was commented by a golden dragon, Kacdaninymila,

Just like a humanoid to quote three facts, get one of them wrong, and then draw an unrelated conclusion from the lot.

Briefly put, "Never say never."

OOC - sorry but the dice said our resident loremaster has surpassed our resident bard in storytelling this time

((Wow...I totally and completely missed this post.  I'm assuming Shanna relays all of this to the group as it is pretty critical in nature.))

[OoC: Sorry Shanna for not asking you questions but didn't you already tell everyone all the information about the dragon?  That's what I assumed when you stated, you're "assuming Shanna relays all of this information to the group..."

[Toot]

"Well me don't think standing around in open for Dragon to easily spot is such good idea.  Me think we should go back to faeries and explain what we found.  Who knows, they might have helpful information.  Toot doubts it cuz theys seem more interested in our worthiness then offering information that could help them fix their situation."

Toot gives the area another good scrutinizing to spot anything out of place and disbelieve anything that could be hidden by trick or illusion.

[Merrinna Starsong]

"They were probably hoping to feed us to the dragon so he would leave them alone for a while. Why else would they not say what was out here?"

[Shanna Rendin]

Shanna shrugs to Merrinna.  Now who was being paranoid?

"That is certainly possible, but we do not know if they even knew there was a dragon involved.  In any case, we should really come to a decision as it is not smart tarrying in a dragon's hunting grounds for long."