998 Spheros 8th

998 Spheros 8th bridge New Cyre

As we discussed our plans to counter the goblin invasion my companions and I carefully examined all of our options. The consensus was that we should hazard a division of our forces. We decided to send the fleet-footed Pazenga back to Drenlin’s Ferry to get word to Prince Orgev via Failin while the balance of our company would rest over night and begin the long trek to the bridge. Before we neared the bridge in question, Pazenga loped up and rejoined our fellowship, an impressive accomplishment. As we finally approached the bridge itself, we discussed the likelihood that it might be held by a goblinoid advance guard. My companions and I thought that we could be facing a serious battle against an elite force of hobgoblins but in truth we had no conception of the danger we were about to face.

As we crested the last hill and came in sight of the bridge we saw a tactical situation that, while not ideal, could be dealt with effectively by the diverse skills of our company. The bridge was made of quarried stone and was about ten feet wide and about one hundred feet long. The span was warded by two adjacent towers on each side and these towers were manned by a single hobgoblin archer each. Furthermore there was a cluster of a half dozen hobgoblins on the far side of the bridge. The bridge itself spanned not just a river but a deep chasm as well. The small ribbon of blue was visible some fifty yards below. The two hobgoblins in the nearest tower immediately began firing on us with their powerful bows, and despite the incredible range, they managed to get a number of arrows all they way to our position, some even causing shallow wounds. The hobgoblin captain put a horn to his lips and blew a mighty blast. I thought perhaps he was summoning those hellhounds or a small force of worg-mounted cavalry. Imagine my shock when a green dragon the size of a pony dropped out of the sky and lit upon on the distant tower.

For just a heart beat panic seized my spirit. I feared I would vomit and hope faded. I was certain my comrades and I could defeat an elite advance force of hobgoblins, but with dragon aerial support, the skirmish could spin out of my control. When the panic faded I seized upon the idea that our only hope of surviving the battle was to get one of us up into the air, to counter the flying dragon and elevated archers. By casting a spell of levitation on Zed I thought to kill two birds with one stone. I would have an ally in the air to counter the dragon’s depredations and also Zed could be sped anywhere on the battlefield at need. Therefore I cast my spell and begged Pazenga to use his uncanny speed to drive Zed into the enemy. My hope was to have Zed engage the deadly dragon and the tower-archers on the far side of gorge allowing Elarin and I to employ ranged magic at a safe distance. Ironically, nearly the opposite occurred. When Pazenga smashed Zed into the hobgoblin infantry on the bridge, the dragon took to the sky and crossed the gorge heading in my direction!

As I fled before the dragon’s wrath I drew my new improved force missile wand and fired a volley at the beast. Despite the enhanced power of the wand, the spell fizzled uselessly as the creature was still out of range. As the mighty beast bore down on me I screamed to Elarin for assistance but he was involved in a furious duel with a hobgoblin swordsman. Elarin must have noted the desperation in my voice because he selflessly broke off from the hobgoblin and sprinted on a trajectory that would cut off the green beast. Before Elarin could intercept the dragon and relieve us, the winged reptile belched forth a cloud of vitriolic mist. We were very fortunate in that Bryanna had already retreated beyond the reach of the acid cloud and I myself was just at the very limit of its reach. Had I not stumbled, I might have avoided the burning gas altogether. But as it was, the searing vapors melted the outer layer of my exposed skin. The burning of my lungs was all but unbearable. I countered the acidic gas with a powerful healing enchantment and was fully restored.

A few seconds later Elarin darted in and blasted the reptilian monstrosity with four fire rays, an unbelievable feat when you consider that he was only previously able to conjure a single fire ray per casting (even as Bryanna and I are so limited). The dragon was severely burned about the chest, the scales blackening and sloughing off. I attempted to exploit the distraction and quickly cast my Phantasmal Assailants spell, but to no avail. Dragons are highly resistant to most magics or so I have read.

I needn’t have bothered as the dragon had had enough of the Elarin’s fire magic and retreated back to the tower and his secret cache of enchanted potions. Although he flew relatively slowly, the beast was maneuverable, much more so than the manticore we had fought previously.
Meanwhile Zed was engaged in a bizarre melee due to a side effect of my levitate spell. Nearly surrounded by a half dozen elite hobgoblin infantry, the warforged warrior was striking around him while floating five feet above the bridge. The strokes of his mighty adamantine war-sword causing him to bob and spin nearly out of control and spoiling his aim. Still he was making good account of himself and the hobgoblins began to fall before his blade. Zed’s situation would have been much more desperate save for Pazenga. Our loyal gith martial artist covered Zed’s flanks and kept him from being overrun or dragged down. After Elarin, Bryanna, and I defeated the last of the hobgoblin swordsmen on our side of the chasm, I sent the elf spell-sword to the edge of the precipice to finish off the wounded dragon. Bryanna and I then turned our attention to the hobgoblin archers in the two adjacent towers. This was a serious miscalculation on my part and one that very nearly cost Elarin his life.

By the time Elarin got into position at the edge of the precipice, the emerald dragon had consumed a potion to make itself invisible. And as we were to later discover, he had healed himself as well. In my paranoia, I was convinced that the dragon was coming for me, forgetting that Elarin had severely wounded the beast while I had done little but run from it. The elf warrior and I both prepared our most powerful spells, ready to strike when the dragon appeared. Disastrously the creature had used its superior maneuverability to swing around our flank, invisibly, and attack with complete surprise. Elarin was struck from behind and pitched off the cliff into the abyss. Fuming in frustration and grief I managed to shout out another spell before the reptilian monstrosity flew out of range, but once again to no effect. At this point we all believed our comrade slain but unbeknownst to us Elarin had landed on a ledge some seventy feet from the bottom, bones broken but still alive. Elarin wisely chose to let all believe him slain, most especially the cursed dragon.

The emerald dragon then turned in our direction again but we were saved by my wife’s quick thinking. Bryanna threw up a thick fog bank to hide us from the dragon’s eyes and the creature again headed for the far side of the bridge. The mist also served a second function in hiding us from the swords and arrows of the remaining hobgoblins.

By this time Zed and Pazenga had slain the majority of the goblinoid elite infantry. Zed was using the tower wall to slowly work his way up the conical top and Pazenga was engaging the single surviving swordsman at close quarters. The dragon did not, however, return to its tower as Zed predicted and instead landed in the middle of the bridge. For this reason Zed reversed his direction and headed back toward the bridge level.

Byranna, her earth elemental familiar Shard, and I used the protection of the concealing mist as a base from which to launch attacks against our lone hobgoblin swordsman. Shard landed the final blow that laid the enemy soldier low. Thus freed to assist the others, I cancelled the levitation spell on Zed and slowly moved in to support him on the dragon‘s flank. I glanced over at Pazenga and our gith monk was engaged in a stalemate with the same goblinoid soldier, both were exhausted and unable to land a decisive blow, no aid was coming from that quarter. Zed, perhaps sensing my purpose, heroically advanced on the savage dragon. When I was sure he had its full attention, I slipped in and drawing my last dregs of mystical might, cast my phantasmal assailants spell with a power born of desperation. The creature’s reptilian scream heralded the spell’s success. Zed exploited the lingering lethargy left by the spell and drove his sword deep into the creature’s chest, finally killing it.

Immediately after the battle, Zed began butchering the dragon as though it were a farm animal and not a child of the gods. We wasted much time debating the morality of profiting from the corpse of a sentient being before beginning our true purpose, that of destroying the bridge. Pazenga has argreed to scout the other side of the bridge and bring back news of the approaching army meanwhile Zed will employ his invulnerable adamantine blade to the critical work of demolishing the stone bridge.