Oh, by the Moon...
Midnight Dove shut her eyes, horrified by this sight.
"Poor... Poor thing..."
May your soul rest in peace, in the moonlit sky...
Virtuous Heart offers up a prayer to those above to take her soul and guide her to her next destination.
We will seek justice for you Treasured Heart she bows her head, then whispers to her companions
If anypony wants to pray I suggest not doing so near the table there as it already has a crimson occupant with a tail...
Moonstar looks at the table at the mention of the scaled occupant. Looking, and sounding, as regal as she ever has, she speaks in draconic, "You are the one named Cally yes? I have come, along with the one called Meepo, to get you away from the poblins. I can also teach you how to use your power so you may never again be captured by such creatures. I can teach you to how to be the great dragon you were born to be. So, will you accept my help and tutoring, or will you stay here?"
Shubshi wonders whether to take the mounted head of Treasured Heart for proof. He was sent for Sapphire Treats, of course, but it still felt a little like failing his job.
Better to have than not, he thinks, and waits until the situation with the dragon is taken care of before moving to take it as well as some of the more valuable objects in the room.
As soon as Moonstar utters Meepo's name - and the kopold moves up besides her - Cally's head turns, hisses, and blazes a wall of flame towards you...
Shubshi, Virtue and Midnight: DC15 Reflex save to avoid the breath attack... half of fire damage if not avoided.
Meepo and Moonstar are at the center of the attack, and take full damage - Reflex DC15 halves.
Zophio jumps back at the dragon's attack.
Please treat us not with undue alarm.
We were given to believe that Meepo was your friend,
If this is not the case, our contrition will have no end."
Shubshi utters a cut-off profanity as he avoids the blast of fire. "Oi, I have no clue what's going on but she doesn't look friendly!"
Meepo Reflex
Meepo nimbly darts aside from the blast, receiving only a minor singing.
"Cally!" Meepo protests. "Meepo is glad you're glad to see Meepo, but show the heat of your love metaphorically! Metaphorically! Good Cally."
Already forewarned by the scaly tail, Virtue hops sideways to avoid most of the blast.
Oh dear, Meepo I thought you said she was friendly!
Virtue hesitates, wanting to charge the dragon to protect her friends but concerned the dragon really might be friendly...
"Of course Cally friendly!" Meepo meeps. "Cally just cranky because poblins treat her so badly!" He glares. "Just look at awful condition of room they gave Cally! So untidy!"
He steps forward, arms outstretched for his tiny bundle of joy to leap into... and with a wing-assisted bound she does so... savaging him brutally with her claws and teeth... though her claws scrabble harmlessly against his tough lizard skin, and only her teeth draw blood.
He shrieks, briefly, as he tries to hang onto her... and fails. "Ouch!" he exclaims. "Cally is a bit excited to see Meepo again!" He beams, sucking at the gushing wound in his forearm. "She has given him a lovebite," he says, cradling his wounded appendage, "but doesn't remember her own strength," he says, a little downcast...
Meepo remaining HP 5/14
After, crouching in front of Meepo from the flames, Moonstar has moved, nor even twitched.
So, Cally's initial flame-burst damage should've been... 7 total. If you got hit, please amend your sheet with your additional HP.
I'll let Meepo's HP stand at 5/14 though.
"Cally, whatever else he may be, he is loyal, and you cannot buy loyalty. Not with gold, nor terror. You should value him for that if nothing else. Without him you would still be trapped in this room alone." Moonstar rises to full height once more but makes no move to interfere with what she does to Meepo.
"Sssss," Cally hisses, and blows a jet of flame at you.
"Ah, no, bad Cally! Ponies friends!" Meepo chitters back. "Friends like Meepo!"
DC15 reflex to avoid...
"Sorry!" Meepo calls. "Just means she likes you! Stop that!" He snaps, donking her head lightly, and the flame-jet cuts off in mid-stream.
Attack
Non-lethal damage
Cally AC17, HP22/22
"Say we just knock her out, tie her up and save ourselves the trouble?" Shubshi says. "I don't fancy getting burnt to death."
Zophio gasps obviously and says,
"Shubshi, do not assume that because she's scratching and baying,
That she can't understand every single word you've been saying."
Zophio looks to see if there's--an unreasonably long--chain attached to the dragon somewhere.
"Beautiful one, we are here to help you escape,
But the fires with which you welcome us will require bandages and tape.
We would appreciate it if you would use cooler and less dangerous ways
To communicate with your humble servants, you know diplomacy pays," in Draconic.
Having done so, he does his best to unlock the shackles. [dice=Disable Device]1d20+1
If he doesn't he simply backs out of the entrance to the room, ensuring a clear path to the exit, to allow Cally to leave of her own accord, and show her that they mean no harm.
Almost the moment Meepo bops her, Cally hisses and bounds away behind the wreckage of a table... and the battered Meepo shows no desire to pursue.
On close examination, Cally is indeed wearing a shiny iron collar, with a short length of half-melted chain dangling from it... but as Zophio approaches, she hisses, one claw rising up to guard her neck.
"My necklassss," she hisses, "No takessss necklassss. Likessss treasssuresss. No takesss me from treasssuresss. Minesss. Minesssss~" She hisses, long tongue flickering...
Virtue looks between Zophio and Cally, surprised and pleased that the Zebra has created such a rapport with the dragon.
So... has Cally seen any other ponies wince she was captured and put in here? Or just those horrid and evil poblins we're trying to eradicate?
Shubshi gets singed by fire while he's speaking and he ducks out of the way to the side of the room to avoid getting hit by another cone. "That hurt. If she does that again I'm knocking her out."
Zophio relays the pegasus's question to Cally in draconic.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Noponiesss," Cally hisses, "noponiesss come into Cally'sss lair. Poniesss ssshould come, leave tributesss..."
With an incredible amount of luck, Midnight managed to dodge Cally's fire. She quickly took several steps back to avoid another blow, muttering what sounded like a little prayer.
It was close...
"Alright," she said, making an effort to stay calm. "We found Cally. Now, will she return to the tribe with us?"
Moonstar looks at Cally "We are not here to take your treasures Cally, but if you want tributes, you must earn them. I can teach you how to earn tributes, lots of tributes."
Shubshi nods in thanks to Midnight Dove but still looks quite angry. He mutters something about not being a darn pony under his breath.
The longer we wait, the more prepared the rest of the poblins will be, we need to move on now...
her head turns to Cally.
We can get you out of here and to somewhere safe you can claim and earn tributes, but we have to leave here, or at least move on for now. Return later if you must...
she prances, impatient to eradicate the rest of the evil poblin nest.
"If Cally really wants to keep safe what she has, she will need the poblins destroyed, and if she wants to succeed, she will need to work with us to destroy them and make this a safe place for her hoard, at least until she she finds a better place."
"Cally lairsss here, tributesss here, livesss here..." Cally hisses, "Poniesss mussst earn tributesss, Cally recsievesss tributesss for being beautiful, powerful dragonessss," there's a sibilant smile in Cally's tone, if not on her lips. "Poniesss can go if they givesss Cally presssentsss..." Cally hisses, "because then poniesss good tribute bearsss, not invadersss..."
Zophio grunts with impatience. For whom, it's unclear. He whispers to Meepo,
"Is this the original dragon's lair?
If so, clearing out the poblins seems too much for any stallion or mare."
All the same, the zebra prepares a tribute of half his gold.
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"No," Meepo replies, stammering in the common tongue. "Meepo hatch Cally from egg," he says, "Cally has never been her before. Meepo not let Cally out of playpen except to play. Sunken dungeon too dangerous for Cally," Meepo nods firmly, despite the devastation surrounding you.
"Sspeak normally," Cally snaps in draconic, "not consspire and plot in your gibberling tongues!"
Ok then we do need to move on! confirms Virtue with a nod of her head.
She moves off through the other door the group had yet to investigate.
Shubshi raises his talons in surrender of not knowing a thing about what's going on, the others too busy with the conversation to translate for him.
"You have been bewitched by the poblins. There are no treasures here. Your necklace is the remains of a chain that had tied you to that spike. Those nasty poblins have a dark master, and it is playing with your mind. Your real treasures are not here, taken by the poblins after they locked you in this room. We can defeat the master who bewitched you."
While speaking, Moonstar moves to stand near something she can duck behind should Cally let loose another burst of flame.
Cally hisses, spurting flame. It's clear she doesn't believe you at all... but, though she watches carefully, she doesn't impede Virtue's march to the far door. "Dragons eat knights, you know..." she hisses her soft protest...
"Nooo..." Meepo wails piteously. "Ponies promised to help Meepo rescue Cally! Ponies promised..."
"Meepo, we would like to help her... Just wait a little."
The oracle had seen Zophio preparing some gold:
"How much do you have? I can give her some coins too."
She prepared nine of them.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Sshiniess..." Cally and Meepo whisper together, their eyes utterly locked on the glittery gold coins you've just produced.
"My/Our sshiniess," Cally/Meepo hiss gently, almost purring...
Meepo, we rescued her!
she frowns slightly
Cally doesn't seem to want to leave... if she wants to come then no problem we'll be happy to escort her, but we need to move on now...
Still holding the gold out in front of him, he backs away slowly to see if the entranced reptiles will follow them out.
We should eradicate the poblins from this place, isn't it our duty to fight evil wherever we find it?
questions Virtue
Unless we have more of a duty to make sure Cally is escorted out of here? Can someone with more knowledge about these sorts of things and their priorities please tell me!?
she looks a little confused
"You're right. But maybe Cally could come with us, and, maybe, help to fight the poblins? After all what they've done to her," Midnight Dove suggested. "That way, we could escort her once we're done."
"I believe the safety of our charges,
Comes before slashes, attacks, and barges," Zophio said calmly.
All well and good Zophio, but has anyone managed to convince Cally she's our charge?!
Virtue stomps a hoof impatiently
What does she want to do then?
"Yesss..." Cally hisses softly. "Ponies will belong to Cally, and serve Cally, and tell other ponies about Cally. Ponies will bring Cally treasures, many treasures, treasures enough to flood Cally's home with gold and gems, and on top ponies will build Cally a castle of gold and a bed of gems, and Cally will sleep comfortable and warm in the daylight... yess..." Cally hisses. "Yesss?"
Meepo, who's leaned slowly forward at all the talk of gems, jerks backwards. "No!" He snaps. "It must not be! Cally's evil stepsister Immoldroth will find Cally and kill her! Kill her!"
"Bah," Cally hisses, "Cally is not afraid of Immy! Cally is mighty!" She roars, belching flame. "Immy will never stand against mighty Cally! Immy so weak, even ponies could easily slay her," Cally hisses, and coils. "Ponies will slay Immy and bring Cally her head, yesss~?" Her smile is... crooked, and full of tongue and teeth. "Then Cally will call ponies friendsss?"
"Kill a dragon?" Zophio says without thinking. He covers his mouth with his hoof as if he's accidentally used profanity. "Say that again?" He says uneasily, hoping no one notices that doesn't quite rhyme.
Recovering, he continues,
"Your sister I would be happy to remove
Our friendship in order to prove,
But without the other ponies for which we search,
We wouldn't even make it to her perch."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Besides, where is Immoldroth now?" the oracle asked. "Is she somewhere in this dungeon?"
"Friends are not servants Cally. Friends are equals and work together as a team, and without that equality, without working together, there can be no friendship, only lonelyness. Your sister may be weaker than you, but she has far greater control and training than you. If you want her defeated, than you must train and learn to control your power much better."
It is commonly known that Immoldroth slew her siblings, claiming their treasure for her own, but chooses not to face her father Arkynaster, the fabled Red Dragon of Canterlot. She makes her lair somewhere in the north - it is believed to lie somewhere in the Kingdoms of the Twelve Foals, and presumably they pay tribute to her lest she ravage their lands. Amongst pony adventurers, slaying Immoldroth would be a task for the bravest of heart, strongest of muscle, most learned of arcane, purest of faith and most cunning of wits.
Such is not unknown however - the Green Queen Harrowfel once hired adventurers to assassinate her mate Venomeer, though their method is unknown, and the free breezies of the Shadowcrowns claim the great green dragon is not dead at all, somewhere in the depths of that blighted wood. The Trust of Venomeer is one of Canterlot's oldest, most respected, and most cautious of the city's financial institutions.
At the mention of her sister, Cally merely hisses... "Ponies are not equal to dragonsss," Cally sizzles. "Ponies should be glad to be well-treated servants of Cally." She thrums, as Meepo nods willingly along...
Shubshi stays out of the conversation, hiding quietly in the corner.
"There is more to a being's worth than just power Cally. Treasure is just one kind of wealth, friends who will help you, care about you, and share with you, are a different kind of wealth. Gold can not feed you nor slake your thirst, and servents can't give you much. What about those other kopolds? We rescued them, but instead of helping to rescue you, they left you behind and went home because they valued themselves more than you. If they were your friends, they would have come to rescue you from poblins, no matter the difficulty. There is a kind of power to be gained by having friends to help, and that power is greater than any you have seen, but it does require making friends and that means treating others as equals."