Poes Adventure Journal
Eighth Entry (after 5/09 session)

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Ever have one of those days? You know, when nothing you do seems to work and every time you turn around you’re tripping on something or stabbing yourself in the foot? You’d think being a chosen implement of the Goddess of fate would give you some protection from the worst of the bad turns that life tends to dish out. Maybe I’ve been spending too much time in my cups lately and not enough time with the old prayer beads. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that raven hangin’ around lately either…Clearly just keeping the heroes of prophecy from getting themselves killed before they fulfill whatever destiny She has picked out for then isn’t enough to keep Her happy. Guess I’d better get me to church, so to speak. Heh.

Anyway, things worked out alright in the end I guess. Despite our dwarf’s best efforts to the contrary. He cut a deal with one of the dragon’s that was after the heroes and their star metal. He bought the creature’s sob story about sibling rivalry and wanting to get free from his older brother. I couldn’t believe the rest of them went along with the dwarf’s plans. Only Kobe showed any real suspicion and that was mainly because there wasn’t any money in it for us. I smelled a rat right away, but not being a hero I shut up and did as I was told. Too bad about the human slaves the beast ate while they had it “hiding” in our keep. The raven always gets her due – one way or another. Heh.

Anyway, the fun started with a chorus of “Got bread?” as Ron’s magical wards were tripped by the second beast’s kobold minions. Thank the Queen for that – I was getting sick of sitting in the courtyard waiting for something to happen. Three nights in a row is a long time without a drink…

Ron was on the case immediately, hurling a spell that immobilized the newcomer. Right about then I and the heroes noticed that the beast our dwarf had negotiated a deal with wasn’t coming out of the tunnel as planned. Well, he wasn’t, but his kobold minions sure were, spilling out of the tunnel like a colony of upset ants. attacking on our back ranks. Big surprise there. Heh.

I figured Guss and Kleister could handle things back there, so I took off running to try to get at the larger reptile while it was stranded on the ground. I heard shrill screams from behind me as I ran – Kobe and Sunny must have been hit by something. Things started happening fast…I heard Ron slinging another spell and then cursing as Meep, a kobold he’d tried to befriend, (don’t ask…) turned on him. No good deed goes unpunished I guess. I reached the wall and hurled myself over it. Crap. It was a lot further down than I remembered. I fell flat on my face. I pulled myself back to my feet and stumbled over to the prone dragon. Three arrows whizzed over my head, missing the dragon altogether. Whoa. Beros must have gotten his hands on Guss’ bow…

I lost that train of thought as the dragon reared up in front of me…just as a kobold snuck past my guard and smacked me in the chest with his weapon. A shuriken flew past my head as I scrambled away from the kobold as fast as possible. Whaaa? I was inexplicably terrified. A few panicked moments later I realized I’ve been enspelled. Frack. At least I didn’t wet my pants…hate to get the new armor all rusty so soon.

I tightened my grip on the long sword and charged back into the fray. Kleister was yelling from within a cloudy area of the battlefield. I couldn’t understand what he was saying (just between you and me, that’s sadly not that unusual…), but it didn’t sound like things were going well. My fears were confirmed when I heard our dwarf chanting some healing prayers…things must have been bad if he was actually healing instead of trying to kill something. Did I mention that this was all his fault? Yeah, stupid and ornery. Great combination. Luckily, Ron Burgundy was on our side. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the dragon’s foul cloud. Then, as the beast’s claws raked across his body, he hurled another spell that pushed akobold and the dragon itself back and into the cloud he’d conjured earlier. Yeah. Ron was a front line fighter today. I may just be out of a job. Heh.

Kobe climbed the wall near me, trying to get back into the thick of things I guess. I figured he’d get things under control inside the fort, so I sprinted around the corner to take out thekobolds cowering there. They looked like healer types – the dried feet and bones hanging around their necks were dead giveaways – so I figured someone should take care of them before they could heal their scaly leader. As I closed with them though a wave of nausea hit me and I staggered back yet again, suddenly weakened. Frack , not again. I shook it off and, hearing cries from inside the keep decided I’d better check in on the heroes. Gaining the top of the wall I saw Ron picking himself up off the ground. From the looks of things, he very nearly bought the farm there. Frack. Frack. Frack . I really can’t afford to let one of the heroes die. I whispered a prayer to the Queen to keep him up and felt a cold shiver run down my spine. Not sure what that was exactly, but the next time Ron took a blow from akobold I winced as the pain shot through my body. I guess that’s what I get for praying. Serves me right I suppose. I ran past Ron to engage the dragon, trying to keep Ron free to kill things since I certainly wasn’t going to be doing much worshipping of that sort this evening. Lucky for us, Guss andKleister had managed to hold the other dragon in the tunnel all of this time. I watched as Guss plunged his sword into first one, then two differentkobolds and then nimbly leapt over the dragon’s swinging tail. And I can barely keep my sword pointed in the right direction tonight. Damn. He’s really making me look bad. Heh . I settled for doing my best to get in the way of the other dragon – maybe I could buy enough time that one of the heroes could take it out.

Our dwarf started chanting again…and I felt several blows rain down on me. Ron must have gotten in trouble again. Suddenly, a bestial roar of pain blasted out from the cave and then just as suddenly cut off. A feminine voice cut through the chaos of the battlefield like a knife. “Surrender now! Or Die!” I nearly dropped my sword before realizing Sunny wasn’t yelling at me…and I’m wasn’t the only one. Kobold weapons clattered to the ground and even the dragon’s great head bowed in surrender. Only Beros was unfazed. He took the opportunity to sink several arrows into the remaining dragon’s side. This broke whatever glamor Sunny had spun over us all and time seemed to start up again. The dragon launched itself into the sky, trying to flee. He didn’t get far before Kobe’s dagger found a soft spot – in his backside. Heh. The ground rumbled as his carcass fell from the sky.

I spent the better part of the night praying and performing burial rites for the many dead – kobold, dragon, halfling and human. No time like the present to start getting back in Her good graces. Wait, I’d better go – I think the heroes are planning something again. I should probably find out what’s going to be trying to kill them next…

Poe, Cursed servant of the Raven Queen