For the past several days you have been traveling a road that winds lazily across the rolling grasslands of the Greenfields. Sundown is approaching when you top a rise and see the town of Greenest just a few short miles away. But instead of the pleasant, welcoming town you expected, you see columns of black smoke rising from buildings, running figures that are little more than dots at this distance. and a dark, winged shape wheeling over the keep that rises above the center of the town. Greenest is being attacked by a dragon!
Evelynn had fallen to the back of the group as they approached that fateful rise, laughing and joking with her changeling companion, Nina. The silver-haired half-elf wore a short-hemmed blue dress with a pair of daggers on her hips and a clear crystal on a chain around her neck, and in her hand she held a clump of dirt from the side of the road. She and Nina had taken up a game of mimicry to pass the time. Most recently, she'd challenged the changeling with a dwarven woman, an orc, and some kind of bird-headed person, certain that the feathers and beak would prove a problem... and now she was looking for inspiration for her next piece of art.
"Let's see, let's see..." She muttered, looking around. Her eyes fell on the backs of the rest of their party, up ahead, and her face lit up with mischievous inspiration. "Aha! I've got one."
The half-elf closed her eyes for a moment, fixing the image of her target in her mind. She gestured towards the clump of dirt in her hand as she concentrated, and spoke a single Draconic word of command. "Change!"
At her demand, the dirt obediently reshaped itself into the likeness of a man. Long hair, pointed ears, an open vest revealing a muscular chest, an axe and a cutlass in hand - it was a crude likeness, Evelynn's control not being that fine, but it was unmistakably meant to be Zilear.
Evelynn opened her eyes, grinning cheekily, to see Nina's reaction (and whether she'd take up the challenge) - but a moment later, they crested the ridge of the rise. Dirt-Zilear fell from her hand, forgotten, as she caught sight of the chaos below.
"Merciful Selûne!" She cursed, eyes wide in shock. Was that a dragon overhead? What was it doing in the Greenfields?!
Her hand went to the crystal at her neck, and she spoke another word ("Protect!"), bringing up a shimmering energy shield around herself that faded from sight after a moment. Then she looked to the rest of the party. "We have to get down there and help!"
Evelynn is casting Mage Armour, bringing her AC up to 16 for 8 hours and leaving her with one good spell slot for the day.
Nina had, after Evelyn's last little challenge, returned to her default appearance. She stood at average height, perhaps a touch on the tall side, with short cut blonde hair. Her eyes were a bright green, and her frame was that of a lithe runner, full of lean muscle. She had paused for a moment-shocked at the sight of devastation ahead of them. But when Evelyn cast her spell and announced her desire to help, Nina shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Yes," she said when at least slightly more composed. "Let's move!" She took point initially, rushing on ahead without taking the time to think if it was a good idea. Given the distance, though, she slowed long enough to talk to her companions. "Who can take a hit best?" Nina asked. "We need to be careful, and think things through." The idea that thinking things through might result in someone NOT helping Greenest did not even occur to Nina. "I'm tougher than I look, so I can go in first if we need me to."
AC 16 and 10 HP.
So I'm not SUPER fragile or anything, but I'm not exactly frontline perfection.
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