[IC] (D&D 5E) The Tyranny of Dragons, Part 1; Hoard of the Dragon Queen

[Vertigo]

Caw's Turn | Init: 19

HP 09/09 | Status: None

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Caw had never stabbed anyone before - not the way he stabbed the kobold, anyhow. He'd stabbed those that wished him harm. He'd stabbed to dissuade, or to get away. To hurt, sometimes, though he could not claim it had happened often. Mostly he'd stabbed to survive.

Never before had he stabbed to kill. His arrows had taken lives in the battles he'd partook in today, but that had been different too. He'd taken lives from afar, and he'd never had to see the blood from up close. He'd protected his friends. He'd had no choice.

The limp body of the kobold felt thrice as heavy as it should have when Caw dragged it away from view. He could only imagine two-thirds were the weight of guilt.

Caw set the kobold down in the shadows, then took his place next to it. For a moment, he stood solemnly in silence, head hanging low.

"Live," he whispered in Vaal's drawling tone. He did not know what it meant, but he had found the word beautiful when he'd first heard it. It was the only sendoff Caw could hope to offer. With it done, the kenku bent down to close the kobold's eyes. But it made no matter. He could still see its stare.

Caw backed away. Silently, as if the kobold was just sleeping and he was trying not to wake it up.

A bright, pink streak shot across the sky once more, drawing Caw's attention. He turned to follow its trail, but it disappeared from view before his eyes could adjust. He didn't see where it hit - but the could hear it strike true somewhere unseen.

Then he noticed the halfling. They were huddling behind another barrel a little further ahead. Caw clasped a hand to his beak to quell a gasp, then dug further behind the barrel. Had the halfling seen him? He could only hope not. If they had...

Caw's gaze trailed back to where the kobold's body lay motionless. Its head was turned the other way - but he could still see its stare.

Turn Summary

Caw moves behind the next barrel with a 15 stealth.

[CollectorOfMyst]

Unknown Foe x 4 | Init: 19

Human Foe A | Healthy
Half-Elf Foe | Healthy
Human Foe B | Healthy
Halfling Foe | Healthy

Human Foe A backs up, his eyes reflecting the fires of the night. Moving behind the cart so that it shields his body, he takes aim at... something? The arrow whistles into the sky. not to the keep or the road leading to it, but the air between it. Francesca Bourreau takes three points of piercing damage!
Half-Elf Foe takes a glance at the kobold that approaches them, and it points. They turn, and keeping themselves out of the sight of the strange attacker, move to the far wall.
Human Foe B, still prone, crawls closer to Human Foe A.
Halfling Foe flinches as a pink streak of light flashes above them, but it does not hit them. No, it instead kills Kobold E, who had tried to hide in the shadow of a doorway.

[Tangletail]

Vaal took in the situation once more. It'd be too much trouble to try and pry the window open now. But... it wasn't all terrible. When he peaked out from his hiding place he could see that something certainly had the group at panic. And there were a few bodies lying on the ground. Dying or already dead. Which would mean the snipers from somewhere on the wall was putting in some work. That... did cause him some concern over his own safety however. He did not want to know if they knew the difference between a friendly kobold or an enemy kobold.

He peaked about for some form of high ground, or cover, and then turned his attention to the rest of the group behind himself. "We might as well fight this one..." he sighed. His eyes flitted to the injured woman to get a read on her condition and then back out to the market. "I would suggest that you stay back for now. You're in rough enough condition as is. When everyone is ready... we'll storm and attack at once. The advantage of surprise may reduce the cost this might bring."