Red Dragon Blues

It is /not/ a quiet day in the forest. In fact it is exactly the opposite. You can hear roars and a deep growling sound that sends chills down your spine. You're rushing toward the sound rather than away like any reasonable person would, and as you break into a massive clearing you see... A dragon. It really is a dragon. It's red scales glimmer in the sunlight, and it's a remarkable sight. What's truly remarkable however is that the dragon is /leaking/ darkness. It flows from its eyes, from its nose, and especially from its great and terrible maw. The growling sound you heard is the sound that it's making as it hacks up the black ooze...

You might feel sorry for it if not for the fact that red dragons are very well known for eating adventurers like yourselves as snacks.

Erendriel flies out from the temple district as soon as she hears something. On her flaming sky chopper. Now, on one hand, oh my gods this is a real life red dragon. She keeps her distance, flying around. But well, she can't help it. And yeah, she kind of feels bad for it, so from a safe(ish) distance she shouts "Don't use any magic. That will just make it worse." in Draconic.

Azog was just out jogging and chatting with Erendriel when he heard the alarm, and the two of them rushed out to see what was the matter. When they find a dragon, and not the familiar rainbow hue, he says, "Well. This is unusual even for Alexandria." Not so unusual that Azog doesn't bellow a challenge and advance, sword out, shield up, rushing in where fools and ... well, pretty much anyone with sense fears to tread.

Halani had already been in the relative vicinity... out of eyeshot but not earshot... so when Erendriel and Azog go zooming by, she figures out that something must be up. What with the rushing adventurers and horrible giant lizard noises. She actually looks towards the city once, as if briefly considering, or at least admitting the distinct possibility of something called the better part of valour. But then she shrugs, huffs her hair out of the ground of her face, and breaks into a jog after the orc and flying elf. Only to witness the dragon puking shadow gloop. "Now... that just isn't right, yeah? Not right at all.."

The red dragon growls or tries to as it ends in a wet hacking cough. "I... I am a wielder of the dragon fire, it will burn like everything else." he rasps in common, broken up by coughs. Its clear he is shaking, barely able to hold himself up. He doesn't respond to Azog's challenge, instead slumping to the ground, his form slowly turning from the scales red dragon back into Hun'rar's armored form. "Damnit... I'm a Warden, I don't get sick."

The magic that Hun'rar uses to change his form causes him to cough up even /more/. It's too much to come out of a single body, and the ooze that he's coughed up already is growing rapidly, and it takes a lumbering step toward Azog. He's close enough for it to lash out with one long tendril of darkness, smacking at the warrior.

Azog skids to a stop as the dragon turns into Hun'rar, boots kicking up turf. On Hun'rar, as it happens. He peers critically at the person as if to make sure it really is him and not an actual dragon, and says sourly, "First Sandy, now you. Is -everyone- turning into dragons, now?" He eyes Erendriel as he says this. "See, this is the problem with relying on magic. Coughing up crap and - Ack!” He raises his shield to ward off the blow, and he'll hack at the yuck with a mighty swing of his blade.

Erendriel winces when the red dragon transforms... and it's Hun'rar. "Oh... oh wow... oh no..." she gasps, going through an entire range of emotions and reactions in a few seconds. She does get closer now that she knows she's not in any danger of taking a claw, claw, bite. "Well I'm glad you're here Azog... anything I pump into that will just make it stronger. Don't let it jump in your mouth! That's how it gets you!" Coming down close to eye level with, she adds to Hun'rar "Are you alright? Is that... all of it?"

Halani winces... nay, flinches when the shadowy ooze tries to make friends with Azog. She looks down at her hands, curled into fists as they are, then at the blob. Then at the dragon man, then at the blob. A normal person would probably take a hard pass right about now. But Alexandria isn't really known for normality. Hearing Erendriel, Halani presses her lips tight together, then runs the rest of the distance to lend a hand. Or a foot.

Hun'rar struggles to keep his feet, hand going to his sword as he slowly pulls it out. "I... don't know." he says to Eren, barely able to stand, both sweating and shivering at the same time. "I will slay it... and walk this off. Just need some water or something." he says trying to take a shaky step towards the blob but its taking most of his effort to stay standing.

Azog's attack slices cleanly through the tendril and it drops to the ground. Once there it wiggles and then like it's larger counterpart it lunges at Azog. Now, it seems there are /two/ of these things.

Erendriel shakes her head when she sees the familiar sight of the ooze splitting. "Reminds me of the one that got me," she murmurs. "Well Hun'rar, I'm glad. Anyway, I do have one contingency I could use to fight this thing." She then goes into her pack, pulls out a scroll, and uses her Mnemonically enchanted robes to summon a swarm of spiders to surround the oozes. "I really am becoming a witch," she then says softly.

Azog 's helmet on, his faceplate down, he still keeps his mouth closed as much as he can to avoid the splatter. There's not so much to talk about now anyhow, or that needs saying. He winces as he's now facing two things rather than one, but they're not quite as big with bits hacked off, and he'll hack off more a quickly as he can. Smaller yuck is better, right?

Halani hasn't lashed out at the ooze yet, her eyes bugging wide when Azog's strike causes it to have a baby. She looks between it and the armoured orc, then tests out a kick on the nearer tentacle. Before accidentally opening her mouth in a startled yelp when spiders seem to swarm from everywhere all over the shadowy goop.

The warrior's swings mean that there's plenty of (now smaller) oozes to go around. One of them flattens itself and crawls over the spiders. Who knows what effect that's having. One attacks Halani, throwing itself practically right at her face, and the rest continue to plague Azog. The more he swings, the more of them there are. The more to cling to. To crawl along. To find some way inside of cracks of armor.

Hun'rar takes a shaky step forward and takes a deep breath, coughing but after several painful hacks takes a deep enough breath to cover a good deal of the blobs in waves of fire that spread from his lips. As soon as the fire ends he continues to cough.

Erendriel is not getting hit by these things if she can freaking help it. She circles around, staying behind Azog and Hun'rar (sorry), letting them take any ooze lunges that are attempted. "I wish I could be of more help guys. Really. But that's like, all I can do."

Azog is not getting anywhere fighting this ooze with his sword, so he stabs it point-first into the ground, where the hilt is at a convenient height for him to grab later, and he'll fish in his back for his lantern oil. Maybe that'll work. He stomps and kicks at the blobs that get too close, though there's only so much he can do as he tries to light the lamp oil and get a nice fire started on the blobs.

So maybe kicking it wasn't the best idea... as if suddenly realizing she was there, one of those tentacles lashes up at her. Jumps, really, while her mouth is still open and freaking out about the spiders. She gets it closed, but not before the stuff smacks right into her face. "Mmmfmfmfmfm!" Yeah. Time to punch face. Her own face in this case. The monk stumbles back slightly as she tries pummel the ooze off of her face with her bare fists.

GAME: Halani rolls fort: (4)+12: 16

Hun'rar needs some time to recover after breathing fire, coughing and hacking. His sword is help limply in his hand, though he doesn't drop it. "Damnit, don't let it get you. Stay back Eren, Azog.. stay back. This is my problem. Just... going to shake this off and smite it."

The first of the oozes has managed to disappear, flowing into a thousand spider bodies that twitch and move discordantly. Seems that there is something wrong with them. Halani's ooze suddenly shrinks a little, but doesn't seem to have given up on getting into her mouth, her nose, her eyes. Whatever part of her it can touch it's sliding over. It's basically wrapped around her face now. The other oozes are intent on Azog, and with him distracted trying to light some lamp oil they take advantage; clamoring up his legs and searching for holes in his armor to slide into.

Azog eyes Hun'rar, and part of him feels obligated to comply. If a man says he's got it, you give him the chance. It's his honor. On the other hand, there's ooze on him, and so he'll pour the oil on himself and light it, and on the ooze nearby him also. Let's see how that goes?

Halani isn't in much position to honour Hun'rar's request at this point, even if he had made it of her. She probably wouldn't have even heard anyways. She continues to stumble back away from where the oozes are.. or where she last saw them, anyways, pulling at the ooze to try and get it off of her face.

Erendriel winces as she sees the oozes really gunning for him. She'll dispel the spiders since she doesn't want them crawling into his full plate. That'd' be disgusting. "I'd offer to make you invisible, Azog but... I know your preferences."

GAME: Halani rolls fort: (3)+12: 15

Hun'rar takes several struggling steps towards the ooze, to get closer and get more of the ooze within a 30ft cone as he breathes in and delivers another gout of flame. As soon as he does though he explodes into another fit of coughing.

Hun'rar's and Azog's fire kills the oozes, all of them save the one on Halani's face. That one suddenly leaps off of her face, bounces off her head, and throws itself at Erendriel.

Halani stumbles back one more time before catching her heel on a dip in the ground and falling down, ending up supine, face to the sky. Eyes wide. One twitching. "This one feels... violated."

Azog peers up from his feet on fire. It tingles. but that seems to have stopped the oozes, so he'll go to Halani with the last of his lamp oil, and he'll see what he can do to help her. Carefully, or as carefully as you can when this is about flaming lamp oil to the face.

Hun'rar takes a step, wobbles a bit on his feet and then goes down in a clattering of armor and weapons. It takes all his strength just to get to a seated position. "Just... give me a moment... need to... get my breath back." he says coughing some more.

GAME: Hun'rar rolls fort: (7)+19: 26

Erendriel goes wide-eyed as this ooze starts hurling itself through the air her way. Fortunately she stayed back! "No, stay back!"she shrieks, pulling up and getting another 30 feet in the air.

The ooze makes one last reach for Erendriel, and then sulks away into the underbrush where it quickly disappears. Where it goes, no one knows. More importantly, in spite of Hun'rar's brave words - he really doesn't look good.

Halani's eye seem to get a bit of focus back, and then she's staring up at Azog. He's not exactly much of a reassuring sight right now, what with his armour and carrying fire, but she just sort of stares. "This... I didn't left it in my mouth!" She tells him. "It didn't get in my mouth!" Of course, there wasn't much she could do about her nose. And the fact that it was hugging her face for several seconds. And her hands had been in it to the knuckles.

Azog will get the slime off Halani as best he can with a rag, then, and will not set her on fire since she seems to have avoided the worst of it. His boots are no longer on fire, the oil finally burning out. His feet hurt pretty bad, but pain is just a thing. No reason to stop for it. He looks over to where Hun'rar is, or is not, getting done what he said he would do. Is the ooze gone?

Erendriel looks at Hun'rar after she dodges and the thing runs off. "You need help? Borrow my broom. Fly back. Unless you can fly yourself?"

Hun'rar shakes his head "I can... I can still feel it. Just need some time, I will... figure this out." he says laying back on the ground, arms spread out taking deep breaths. "I.. am a Warden, I have trained myself hard... I will be fine, Gilead protects me." he does not look fine.

Halani manages to wave Azog away with a muted thanks as she feels about her face, feeling for any sign of any more face hugging ooze. "Go help your friends," she tells him, then pushes herself up to a seating position. Swallows once, then looks over at Hun'rar. "What was it?" she says to him, though it comes out as little better than a croak. So she repeats herself a little louder, more deliberately.

Azog's opinion of whatever a Warden is keeps plummeting as Hun'rar fails to make good on his claims and seems to be unaware of his surroundings. "Come, we will take you to the Soldiers' Defense. The slime is gone." He will leave Halani and get a shoulder under Hun'rar and lift him up to help him walk along. No jogging back to the city, anyhow.

Erendriel comes in for another landing. Leaning on her broom, she looks at the sprawled out Hun'rar. "If you're sure... there's on harm in accepting help, but I'm not going to try to make you uncomfortable." Then she looks to the brave Azog and Halani. "Good job both of you. That was a plague ooze."

Hun'rar nods, his eyes closed. "Yes, plague... I'm a paladin, not suppose to get sick. Tried to burn it out... didn't work." he mumbles. "Just need... to rest a bit. Try something new." he tries to push Azog away but doesn't have the strength to do anything about it.

Halani pushes up to her feet, then looks in horror at Erendriel. "Plague?" Then she retches. It's a dry heave. May even sound forced. "This one.. I.. I don't want the plague!" A few stumbling steps and then she is following the trio... being left out here with plague ooze is the last thing she wants.

-End