Ryonara

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Now that the group would finally have a moment's rest, Parum took out her viol and played a soft tune to help sooth everyone's wounds. She'd tend to their wounds while also checking her power, though she was concerned that she was all tapped out of any magic which could help the group. No more spells, not more inspiration. All she had left now were cantrips. She clenched her teeth in fear once more. She was now useless to the group. She couldn't even help them if she wanted to. Looking around Parum at least grabbed a sling and a few stones from one of the dead kobolds. If nothing else she might be able to use these to do some damage. But compared to her allies, Parum's ability to harm others were lacking. She wished she could be stronger, but now wasn't the time to worry about regrets. There was plenty of time to do that somewhere safer than here.

As everyone else roused to their feet Parum made sure to load a sling as she puts it away and takes out her rapier and viol. "We're getting close now. Let's not get careless. I'm sure that there are more enemies ahead of us and there may have been more enemies who have returned to the cave. First, why don't we investigate that southern passage? It may lead to an exit that we can use to escape from this place. Afterwards we can move onto the northern chamber and see what lies in wait there. Either way must lead to the eggs considering that Cyanwrath himself guarded this area."

Info

Parum uses 3d8+3 hitdie plus her 1d6 song of healing to restore 28 HP, putting her back to max.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Yeah let's take a short rest in the other room. I would prefer if Orchid waits skinning Cyanwrath until this place is actually safe, since I'm sure there's still danger here that we're not aware of. But if he insist, Parum isn't going to stop him but she will keep an eye on the entrance that had the trip wire. If possible she might try and rig it back up but otherwise just keep watch.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

To rest or not to rest. Admittedly Parum wanted to, but could they risk doing that? What if there were more cultist just waiting for Cyanwrath to come and report of his victory? If he didn't show up soon they'll suspect that he was defeated and might come after the rest of the party. But if they didn't rest now, they won't have that chance later either. They aren't in the strongest shape as it is and when they do run into trouble later on, they'll still be weak if not weaker. "Hmm... There's not a lot of cover here to safely rest, but I do think we need to rest. My primary concern however is enemy reinforcements. We don't have the means to try and stand our ground here. So let's try and rest up somewhere defensible, where we can both hide from anyone who might come in while also be able to see anyone who might show up. Either that or we try and return to the mushroom garden and take shelter there again, though honestly I don't want to risk disturbing the bats again."

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Now that everyone was moving forward, Parum thanked Torus for patching her up. She was still sore and frankly she didn't want to be here anymore, but all the more reason they needed to get through here even faster. It didn't seem like the other bodies had anything important on them, but Parum did take the lantern. Since she didn't have any darkvision, she'll need it to see anyone. If there was any oil left she'd try to turn it on as she follows the group into the next area.

In the new room, the first thing that Parum noticed was the dead kobold. It must've been one that had fled here to warn Cyanwrath and his warriors, though Parum didn't recall if any of her allies did an injury like this. It made Parum pity the kobolds; they were weak and puny, used and disrespected by everyone. If they weren't so evil, Parum wondered if maybe they would be good allies. Alas, there was no time to mourn the enemy. The next thing that caught her eye was the statue of what Parum presumed to be Tiamat, as well as the ornate chest located at it's base. "That's a trap." Parum said plainly. After being in this cave so long, it wouldn't surprise Parum the least bit of the kobolds have managed to rig the statue to do something to attack anyone who opened that chest, a very obvious piece of bait. She wasn't sure what the nature of the trap was, but she guessed it might have something to do with fire from the dragon's mouths.

"Does anyone remember if Cyanwrath or any of his warriors had any keys? Assuming that chest isn't just bait, maybe one of their keys can open the chest without some trap going off. At the very least I don't trust that it's located right there next to the Tiamat statue. If not, we should avoid it for now. I don't have anything to open it and we really don't need to take anymore injuries than needed."

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

With the last of the hostiles down, Parum fell to her knees. Her blood was hot and made her cloths and skin sticky, and her breath was quick but heavy. She needed to calm herself down or else she might pass out again. Looking up at everyone she smiled weakly. "Thank you... Everyone. For keeping me alive." Parum looked over to Brannor, his true form more apparent to her. She always knew he had some sort of bestial side to him but this... Was this druid magic? Or something... More? Both curious and concerned Parum approached him. "Brannor are you alright? In fact, does anyone have any potions? I doubt we'll have time to rest so... Now is as good a time as any to use those potions."

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Parum had mixed feelings about finally taking down one of the axemen who nearly killed her, but the other one was still standing. As much as her newfound aggression told her to stab him, she knew that he was more than capable of cutting down just about any of them with that axe of his. She needed to be smart about this as she took on a defensive stance and threw insulting words at him. "You couldn't even cut down a halfling. Some warrior you are!" However she was also very concerned about Brannor. He didn't look too good going up against Cyanwrath, and while everyone piling on damage against the axeman was important, Cyanwrath was likely a greater threat. She knew she only had one spell left, and dammit, she wasn't going to fail him! "Stay strong Brannor! You will defeat him!" She played another encouraging tune on her viol, filling Brannor with positive energy to keep him on his feet.

Info

HP: 7/23
Bardic Inspiration: 0/3
Spells:
Level 1 - 0/4
Level 2 - 0/2

Vicious Mockery vs axeman wisdom DC 13 = 2

Healing Word for Brannor = 7

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

"Oh shit."

Parum saw the two men rush her and all she saw was black. "So this is how I go down. I guess... It wasn't so bad. I always did want to be important. I guess there's a certain... Appeal... To getting singled out." For the longest time Parum felt nothing but blackness. She counted twenty seconds, five minutes, half and hour. It felt like an eternity. "Is this what death is like? Or maybe some sort of purgatory? What sort of afterlife is this... I'm a good person, I'm devout. Where is my heaven? Please... Please don't leave me here! I don't want to be alone here!" And suddenly Parum's eyes opened. She gripped her rapier and viol and looked around. Those two warriors were still around her and she wasn't feeling as bad, but still in pain. Things weren't looking good for her allies. Orchid and Torus never got healed, and Brannor was fighting against Cyanwrath himself. She wanted so much to be anywhere but here. She should've stayed in college. But as Parum came to her senses her fears, much like her blood, flowed out from her body. She couldn't run, she's always known this. She always had a chance to run away with no one stopping her. She didn't come to this cave to run. She was going to fight.

"That... Tickled." Parum played a sharp note that echoed into the mind of one of the axemen as a deafening symphony of screeching metal and screams. The little blue halfling that they've cut down wasn't out of this fight just yet!

Info

HP: 7/23
Bardic Inspiration: 0/3
Spells:
Level 1 - 0/4
Level 2 - 1/2

Parum casts Dissonant Whispers onto the most wounded of the axemen, DC 13 Wisdom save. He'll take 15 points of psychic damage, or 7 if he passes.

If the axeman fails his save, Parum will also use her reaction to take an attack of opportunity on him and stab him with her rapier.
Attack of Opportunity = 25/19
Critical Hit = 16

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Hekazu

Alright, I'll accept forming a Poisonous Cloud that will effectively blind him then, as well as poison him for psychic damage.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Hekazu

The wonderful thing about illusions is that with enough creativity and a high enough caster level, they can do anything.

You craft an illusion that takes root in the mind of a creature that you can see within range.
The target must make an Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, you create a phantasmal object, creature, or other visible phenomenon of your choice that is no larger than a 10-foot cube and that is perceivable only to the target for the duration. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.

The phantasm includes sound, temperature, and other stimuli, also evident only to the creature.

The target can use its action to examine the phantasm with an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If the check succeeds, the target realizes that the phantasm is an illusion, and the spell ends.

While a target is affected by the spell, the target treats the phantasm as if it were real. The target rationalizes any illogical outcomes from interacting with the phantasm. For example, a target attempting to walk across a phantasmal bridge that spans a chasm falls once it steps onto the bridge. If the target survives the fall, it still believes that the bridge exists and comes up with some other explanation for its fall—it was pushed, it slipped, or a strong wind might have knocked it off.

An affected target is so convinced of the phantasm’s reality that it can even take damage from the illusion. A phantasm created to appear as a creature can attack the target. Similarly, a phantasm created to appear as fire, a pool of acid, or lava can burn the target. Each round on your turn, the phantasm can deal 1d6 psychic damage to the target if it is in the phantasm’s area or within 5 feet of the phantasm, provided that the illusion is of a creature or hazard that could logically deal damage, such as by attacking. The target perceives the damage as a type appropriate to the illusion.

Phantasmal Force

Bold is mines. I figured that I could do more than just blind him, but also include other effects as well, just to be on the safer side.

What Cyanwrath would see is a cloud of greenish-black fog assault him, effectively blinding him as well as "poisoning" him (This is what the Phantasmal Force damage would feel like). It's pretty much Parum faking a Stinking Cloud spell, while also using the phantasm to amplify her music in order to deafen him as well, just for good measure. And best of all since it's a phantasmal force and not an actual stinking cloud spell, only Cyanwrath would be affected, leaving Parum's allies to take advantage of his simulated blindness/deafness/poisoned condition.

Understandably this might seem quite powerful for just a second-level spell, but Illusions tend to have that drawback of "far more useful than it's given level if people don't realize it's an illusion". They're great as long as the enemy doesn't ubiquitously know it's not possible and thus ignore it. Though at least with Phantasmal Force, it'll eat Cyanwrath's action if he wants to save from it.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Three tough looking warriors plus Cyanwrath. Somehow, Parum felt surprised even though she knew that of all the people in this damnable dragon cult, of course he'd be here. Frankly she wouldn't be surprised if there were more dragons in here too. If she wasn't in the middle of a life-or-death battle right now she'd be bemoaning their misfortunes, but as her old bardic teacher taught her, fortune favors the bold. And if she wanted to survive she'd need to be very bold. Firstly, Parum needed to ensure Cyanwrath doesn't end up defeating Brannor. She had saved the last bit of her inspirational energies just for this. She played a furious tune on her viol, filling the air with arcane music as she directed her spell towards the half-dragon.

She said nothing, allowing her music to serve as the verbal, her performance to fulfill the somatic, and her instrument to serve as the material component of her Phantasmal Force spell. Cyanwrath would hopefully soon see nothing but darkness, unable to use even his dragon senses to see his foe as the noise from Parum's instruments would also deafen him from anyone's voices or actions, and the smell of death filled his nostrils with a poisonous stench. As she played this tune Parum would move further away from the battle, to ensure that she's well away from the pitch melee going on between the warriors so she could continue distracting and harrying the enemy.

Info

HP: 20/23
Bardic Inspiration: 0/3
Spells:
Level 1 - 1/4
Level 2 - 1/2

Parum casts Phantasmal Force onto Cyanwrath, creating an intense illusion that hopefully will render him completely unable to sense anyone around him though either sight, sound, or smell. Intelligence Save DC 13.
Phantasmal Damage = 3

Lastly she uses her final Bardic Inspiration to Brannor.