A steep-sided crater punctured the wilderness. Near the center of the depression, several humanoid figures clustered around a collection of bones. Two small, dragon-like creatures near the crater rim stood alert and stared at the companions' approach. On the far side of the crater, a sinister apparition presided over the gathering.
Gildras raised a hand in warning, and the friends stopped dead in their tracks. The five of them stared down the sloping path into the pit, and those within stared back up at them. After a few moments of tense silence, many of the robed figures picked up their tools and resumed digging, effectively ignoring the newcomers. One short, stout creature waved its hand in what appeared to be a greeting. The friends were confused at this behavior. Gildras, in particular, was very apprehensive.
Within the excavation site, there were several men who clearly appeared to be normal human beings. They were all armed, and appeared to be quite strong, and yet they made no threatening gestures. Two guard drakes paced nervously at the bottom of the road, eyeballing the companions, and occasionally letting out a loud hiss, but they were otherwise docile. The small creature, which Gildras determined to be a gnome, occasionally looked up at the party with mild interest, but was obviously more focused on the work at hand. What truly frightened the tiefling warlord, and the deciding factor in his dilemma, was the spectral apparition. There was no way the presence of the undead could be tied to anything good. With grim determination, Gildras drew his sword, and raised it high.
The gnome froze, and stared up at the warlord in unfeigned disbelief. "They're attacking us? They're attacking us! To arms! You men, there... protect the site!" Pointing to the drakes, the tiny dig master cried out, "Get them, you useless lizards! GET THEM!" With that, the gnome drew his cloak up over his head and vanished from sight!
One of the guard drakes rushed up the hill, its rapid, reptilian, side-to-side stride dizzying to look at. It snapped at Phoebe, who forced it to back down with a misfired Lance of Faith. Her aim was off, but it was enough to startle the creature into temporary submission. Gildras, sword at the ready, stepped forward, shoved Bakbuk into flanking position behind the drake, and brought his blade down hard, slashing the beast across the left cheek. It hissed and snapped at the tiefling, and Bakbuk whipped his maul around in a Reaping Strike and clobbered it in the haunches. Bone cracked, and dwarf smiled.
The Enemy!
Paget scrambled up and over a short, rocky landfall as the guard drake hissed and spit at him. He leaped off of a medium-sized boulder and tried to plant a Deft Strike between the creature's shoulderblades, but the beast stepped aside and the halfing missed his mark. The second drake came slithering up the hill and opened its wide jaws as if to chomp Bakbuk in two, but Raxil fired an expertly timed Magic Missile into its gaping maw, causing it to snap its mouth shut and flail its head back and forth in shock, pain, and anger. Hearing the drake's shriek of agony, the four human diggers fisted whatever weapons they could find nearby... pickaxes, shovels, hammers, and the like... and started rushing up the hill. At the same time, the spectral apparition floated down into the pit. Icy, undead claws sprouted from the dirt near Gildras' boots and tried to grope him, but the warlord managed to kick them aside with fear and revulsion, and avoided their deadly grasp.
The gnome's high-pitched and gravely voice could be heard above the chaos, yelling, "Kalarel, fear not. Your treasure is safe in my hands." The spectral image nodded towards its left, as if in response, but none of the companions could see the gnome apart from a tiny swirling dust cloud that marked its passage.
Back up on the road, one of the drakes lunged at Paget, but Bakbuk drew its attention and its teeth snapped together mere inches from the halfling's head. Phoebe summoned and launched a Lance of Faith at the beast, but the drake's powerful, long tail swept it aside and the divine weapon shattered in the dirt. Paget grinned at the cleric and offered up a cocky shrug, but his smile turned into an expression of terror and pain as one of the specter's icy claws emerged from the ground and gripped the rogue's ankle. Flesh withered and cracked, and Paget felt as if his very life was being drained from him.
4E Meta: Those claws are nasty. On a hit they deal instant necrotic damage, and drain the victim of a Healing Surge.Gildras managed to push Paget out of harm's way by using his Wolf Pack Tactics, but the maneuver unbalanced him and his follow through with his longsword against the lead drake cut nothing but air. Bakbuk, on the other hand, landed a mighty side-swiping Cleave, which smashed into the drake's side just as one of the human rabble was stepping into melee range. The force of Bakbuk's blow knocked the reptile sideways into the rocky landfall, crushing the unfortunate worker between scaly flesh and unyielding stone. The man slumped to the ground, dead, leaving a red, wet smear on the boulder behind him. The dwarf smiled and grunted in satisfaction.
"Nice one!" Paget yelled as he muscled past in an attempt to finish off the wounded drake with a Sly Flourish. The creature went unexpectedly wild, however, and swatted the rogue aside easily with the side of its head. It turned with lightning reflexes and bit down hard. Paget cried out as he felt the bones and tendons in his wrist being crushed in the drake's iron jaws. Suddenly, two glowing beams of energy seemed to come out of the sky and slammed into the lizard's neck, causing it to release its grip on the halfling instantly. Paget looked up, and saw Raxil standing above him on the hillside, wand in hand, and laughing like a school boy. As the drake shuddered one last time, dropped to the ground, and started to slide down the rocky hill--dead--the young wizard raised his arms and victory and declared himself to be "Raxil, the dragon slayer!"
Paget rubbed his sore wrist, and growled "Congratulations, you get an achievement."
DM Note: This is something of a family personal joke, based on WoW's achievement system. Somehow, the standard "grats" that are offered when a player earns a new achievement has leaked into our home life. Whenever someone in our household is overly proud of himself for accomplishing something that might generally be regarded as unimpressive, X will shrug and sarcastically remark, "Congratulations, you get an achievement."By this time, the remaining three diggers had reached the battle on the road and engaged the heroes in melee with their primitive weapons. As each ducked and dodged, trying to find an advantageous position, blows were traded with Gildras, Bakbuk and Paget. Just about everyone took cuts, scrapes and bruises as the combatants squared off to face one another in earnest.
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