Raider's Camp

Grim tries to hide using any decent cover he can find

our plucky heroes dive for cover, even where there isn't any. Grim presses Clarice into a crack in the rocks, where he huddles over her and administers healing.

Elceran and Linston have no choice but to eat dirt. Use every ounce of their strength to push themselves as close to the earth as possible, and hope the grass does the rest.

The massive owl bear screeches as it flees, making a noise not even an army can miss, but it seems that flushing out wildlife is not unusual to them....

The scouts and spotters that will march at the van, have not even got themselves into position yet. And this close to camp have no expectations of anything to see.

So the thunder continues.

The chanting continues.

Louder, LOUDER, then quieter again. No one dares even raise their head to peek, until the rumble is truly fading into the distance.

It seems to take forever. But when the army has gone, the sun is still low in the sky, and it's still only morning....

Elceran only waits a moment more before standing up and starting a low sprint towards where their small camp was.

After the din of the marchers to dissipate Clarice pokes her head out of the crevice to see if she can catch a glimpse of Elceran or Linston.

"Have you seen the others?" she asks Grim.

Is everyone OK? Man, that was too close.

"I'm good now... thanks to Grim."

Clarice watches the dust cloud in the distance before turning her attention back to the others.

"Camp should be pretty empty about now."

I guess we should check out the cave the captured guy told us to.
Let's break camp.

"It should be a simple smash and leave mission. Then we get to try and out-pace an army to warn the town. But how hard could a drake be to train, or whatever? Or a baby dragon?"

Elceran helps pack up camp so they can get moving.

I am pretty sure the monk wanted us to destroy the eggs. If we take them, they could fall into the wrong hands. And, for what it's worth, I would think they would be damn hard to train.

"We destroy them!" Clarice says without hesitation.

"The less of those evil things in the world the better."

Elceran shrugs "Not all dragons are evil, you know?"

The group licks their wounds, and packs their gear, preparing to re-enter the now almost empty camp.

I did say, almost...

while attempting to enter the hatchery with the army in place would have been impossible. Having them away does not mean this will be a walk in the park.

You will need to prepare for the greatest challenge of your lives. Tighten your armour, sharpen your weapons, proof read your spell book, and...

progress to level 3

"True. But I'm guessing the ones we'll be dealing with are the evil variety."

If you guys are ready to proceed, let me know how. Wait until dusk? Cover of darkness? Dawn? Sneak in, or stroll in?