And the universe succumbs beneath his tooth and claw.

Revealing another, larger universe.

This universe is also sort of round and dark and oblong, though it is much larger.
There is an opening in the roof providing only limited light, depending on the time of day. Fortunately he can still see the whole place just fine. Very convenient.

He has therefore learnt an essential lesson. If something is bad, such as because it is not food but should be, he should get angry and attack it until it changes its mind.

This universe is also bad though, because he has now bitten as many as several things and none of them have been food.

One of them has hatched, she notices.

A red dragon has more parental instinct than the average lizard, but less than the average bird. Still, she'll toss some scraps of overcooked horse meat into the nursery chamber.

And she'll tell it, in perfectly clear Draconic, to eat.

He'd heard noises like that in the previous universe, although they sound different now that he's not swimming in food.

The monster manual might say wyrmlings can speak Draconic but they probably don't mean literally from the moment they hatch, right? It probably takes a year or two to learn, at least.

Uh, sure. Why not. You have to spend a couple years learning Draconic like anybody else would. Lets go with two years to full fluency, since you live a long time regardless but start out more intelligent and developed than a comparable human baby.

In that case, he doesn't understand it yet. He'll have to figure it out from correlations like everybody else.

This will continue for a few days, as he begins to get used to using his limbs and moving around, and his eyes learn how to recognise shapes and process them into objects.

Why did the universe stop having food? This is an outrage. It will pay for this.

She too, emerges into the bigger universe.

Oh look, more food. She should go eat it.

What new injustice is this?
Food is being brought to the universe for me to eat, as is intrinsically just.
But now this other entity, which clearly is not me, is eating the food.
This is a travesty.

Some deep instinct inside him tells him he should try his hardest to breathe at the travesty that is eating his food.

A bunch of fire comes out.

She is completely unharmed by this but on impulse and in retaliation will breathe it right back.

Then they'll both breathe fire at each other for a bit.

This isn't working. What if he tries to hit her with a claw?

As soon as you both stop breathing fire at eachother, the room returns to darkness. It doesn't matter though because you both have Darkvision and also Blindsense.

His attack: 1d20 + 11 (Claw) = 19
Her AC: 19
Hit lands.
damage: 1d4 + 3 = 7
His HP: 7d12 + 14 = 67
Her HP: 7d12 + 14 = 68 - 7 = 61

Ow. That hurts.

This is literally the worst thing that has ever happened, narrowly beating out that thing earlier where the universe ran out of food. She'll do the same thing right back.

Her attack: 1d20 + 11 (Claw) = 30
His AC: 19
Hit lands.
damage: 1d4 + 3 = 4
His HP: 67 - 4 = 63
Her HP: 61

Ow. That hurts.

Is that what he just did to her? It hurts that much? And he just did it because she wanted food, same as he did, and for no other reason?

Do siblings really need to fight each other like this? Is it not possible to do something better, kinder even?
Nah that's silly.

He'll try a bite attack.

His attack: 1d20 + 11 (Bite) = 27
Her AC: 19
Hit lands.
damage: 1d6 + 4 = 2
His HP: 63
Her HP: 61-2 = 59

Ow. Why do bad things keep happening to me.

She'll scream out in annoyance.

It's going to take a while for this to end, isn't it?

What if she tries to attack really really hard? Like, do an attack, but put all of her power into it. Like some kind of Power Attack? Maybe that'd help?

Totally a thing! It's a feat but it's a feat you have!

Great! Lets do that then! With a bite, since if her brother is using bites she'll try one too.

Her attack: 1d20 + 11 (Bite) - 1 (Power Attack) = 11
His AC: 19
It misses.

He manages to dodge out of the way. Possibly her trying to put more power into the attack made that a bit easier?

Reality has betrayed me. He was supposed to get bitten.

If she tried to put lots of power into it, and that was a mistake, maybe he can do the opposite?

Like, maybe he can be very careful and precise in his attack, and make some kind of specialised Strike at a weakpoint? Some kind of Vital Strike?

Do siblings have weak points?

And maybe with a claw this time.

They sure do! And Vital Strike is also a thing that you are capable of doing.

His attack: 1d20 + 11 (Claw) = 15
Her AC: 19
It misses.

This is bullshit. I was trying specifically not to miss.

Yeah, I think we're going to be here a while.

She doesn't care all that much so it takes her a full minute to respond to the crying noises and hurry over and observe that another egg has hatched.

Her two wyrmlings are slightly bloodied and disproportionately upset about it. They are both sitting at opposite ends of the chamber, not wanting to get in range and risk being hurt more, growling at eachother.

She should probably have put them in different chambers, or more clearly have marked which food was for which wyrmlings.
Too late for that now, instead she'll yell at them in Draconic.

He does not like the yelling but continues not to comprehend it.

Then she'll pick up the older one in her mouth.

Oh no, he has angered the bigger creature that brings food.
Now he will be the food, probably.

Unless?
He makes his sincere best attempt at dodging the bite. It worked on his sister sometimes.

It's technically a grapple, probably?
Mother is an Adult Red Dragon, CMB = 29.
Wyrmling is a wyrmling, CMD = 21.
It's not really possible for Mother to fail.

Obviously. He's Small and I'm Huge and general competence at all tasks is directly proportional to physical size.

Being physically close to Mother is warm, like there's a strong protective Aura of Heat radiating off of her.

It's nice, though not in the way that food is nice.
It'd probably kill him in seconds if not for, you know, immune.

She dumps him in a different chamber to have a timeout until they're both calmed down.

Hopefully in a few weeks he'll stop acting like a newborn and realise an adult dragon can provide more than enough food for several wyrmings at once, more in fact than he's even capable of eating.

Now knowing that there are multiple rooms, the world appears a lot bigger. He thought it'd take a long time to be big enough to fill the whole universe again but this is really something else. He'll stay here for now and calm down and keep eating when there is food until he has grown some more.

After they both forget they hate eachother she'll move them back together. If they want to they can play-fight a bit and get more experience at using their natural weapons. It's good for their development, and keeps dragonkind fit and strong.

When the third egg hatches a bit later, it's a runt. Perhaps an accident of genetic transcription or chromosomal crossover, or perhaps the natural sorcerous abilities of dragonkind simply failed to pass on to this specimen.

There's a few things wrong with it, but the most immediately noticeable is that it's not immune to fire.

Sounds doomed.

Agreed. Lets cook and eat it.

A sibling who can't hold his own against his clutchmates never really had a chance to begin with.

It only takes a few rounds for them to kill it, and a few more to render it crispy and delicious.

Such is life. There'd be no point wasting any more of her efforts on a child who never had a chance anyway. This way the kids will learn how to fight a bit quicker.

He has learnt his first three words of draconic.

There exists a natural category of things, which are edible and not immune to fire, called food.
There exists a natural category of things, which compete for the food. He can hurt them but they can hurt him right back so he must be wary and cunning about it. They are called sibling.
There exists a natural category of things, which brings food. It is called mother.

When she next comes back he'll try a sentence.

"Mother Food".

That is not quite a sentence! You have to put Bring between them!

"Mother brings food".

This is indeed quite complicated.
He will try other combinations within his limited vocabulary.

"Food Sibling".

Sibling is not food, no.
You want me to give your sibling the food? Sure.

Words have betrayed him.

The fourth egg doesn't hatch at all, and eventually mother throws it out.

Mother is, they come to understand, cruel and fearsome and mighty and possessing of immense power and wealth and importance, but others covet that and try to take it from her.

Her wyrmlings, she will explain, are born to the same fate and though they must obey their mother for now one day they will have to take on the whole world themselves to mark their own territory and gather their own wealth and power.

He tries disobeying Mother sometimes but once he's old enough to understand what she wants she can just cast Suggestion at will and basically force him to do stuff. He cannot understand why anyone would want to go against that, maybe unless they were even bigger and stronger still.

One day when he is big like Mother he too will cast suggestion at will.

A Wyrmling can already dream what he will do, once he has all that power.

He's not as big as a adult dragon, yet, but nor is he a coward. The prestige and wealth and women are worth it and the pox this monster has been on his people is too much to bear and no doubt he could push to be chieftain because who'd be dumb enough to say otherwise when he walks back home carrying its head.

He’ll assemble a party of his relatives, allies and anyone with aligned interests, and reap the rewards of taking its head.

As soon as they find the thing.

The beast is invisible when it attacks and when it returns home, and you can hardly track it when it flies, but a few castings of See Invisibility can pin it down somewhat, and then all you need is a good tracker.

There's two ways into the cave, the one that can only be reached by flying and the other one that can also only be reached by flying.

What if we are all really good at climbing sheer cliff faces?

Climb is a class skill, for people like me.

Hypothetically, what happens if we're halfway up the cliff and trigger an Alarm spell?

The beast is a spellcaster too, and will have at least some kinds of defences. If she catches on too early she could burn you while you're out and exposed or Grease the rock face and watch you slip and fall or just pick up some boulders and drop them on you or -

Fly is 3rd circle, and could get one person up, or 4th circle Air Walk.

They’d have to leave a rope for everyone else, unless you know Communal Spider Climb. Everything better is beyond our abilities.

I know Fly. I give it to Trahk, or else spend a scroll of Spider Climb on our Ranger? Either way they can leave a rope for the rest of us.

I’d much rather we fight in the cave where it’s got limited space to move, then let it out into the open where it can go invisible and wait out our spells.

I can ask for Stone Shape, third circle, and seal an entrance, though the noise might alert the beast. If there’s two ways in and we don’t want her escaping, we’ll need to bring a second cleric, and hit both at the same time.

You'll probably also want a Dispel Magic, in case there's some kind of trap or warding at the entrance or a choke point, which takes up another third circle slot.

Spell slots are something casters have.
They come in different "circles" describing their relative power and complexity.
3rd means the next one after 2nd.

Three is this many fingers.

So we get up the cliff all sneaky, and then we all rush in and hit her really hard until she dies?

Then we figure out what buffs we want, so that the clerics can pray for them.

I can fit eight people in a Protection from Energy against the fire damage, that somewhat limits our party size if we want everyone under it.

We'll want to ensure everyone on the frontline can get past her damage reductions, and otherwise deal enough damage as fast as we can. We could try to prepare cold-damage attacks? But she'll might have Resist Energy herself to cover up her obvious weakness.

Since we know the beast can go invisible, we’ll want more than one countermeasure. Zarhbub can cast See Invisibility before we enter, and if we bring my wolf she could smell it out, but what after that?

She can’t attack without breaking the spell, and never attacking isn't a viable strategy so long as she's trapped. We don’t need to be too worried as long as we can hit back hard enough.

Ooh, can I be invisible too? That sounds fun.

She’ll have blindsense, and maybe See Invisibility herself, and in any regard if she attacks you first we’d be better off for it.

Let's go through the list again.

Eventually, Mother decides she's had enough of these brats.

She prepares to give them the speech.

Children, it is time for me to tell you the important things of being a dragon.

The world is vindictive and cruel to all who live in it, but as red dragons you are born to the highest caste and will come to stand above the rest. You come from a great and powerful line. Your mother, Arkrernux, is great great granddaughter of the great wyrm Daralathyxl, the most powerful dragon in all Golarion. But you can only reach his greatness if you reach his age, and that is no easy thing to do.

Survival must be your first concern.

What's a Arkrernux? What's a Daralathyxl?

They're names. Arkrernux is my name.

Do we have names?

Oh, right. She was supposed to give them names.
"Yes, you are Dergaix and Faumetun."

There, two perfectly good names. 

Can she pass a DC 60 perception check to hear the rather loud noise of stone being magically shaped, from 200 ft away through several thick walls?

1d20 + 23 = 36.

No, she cannot.

Wait which one of us is Dergaix and which is Faumetun?

I Suggest each of you sit still and be quiet until the end.

The DC is 16, but it's a very reasonable suggestion, so they take a -1 penalty.

They both have +7 Will saves.
1d20 + 7 - 1 = 16.
1d20 + 7 - 1 = 22.

Dergaix fails, Faumetun succeeds.

We can only beat her Suggestions like half the time, and if we pass she'll just use it again and also be angry about it.

So I'm going to roleplay like it worked for now.

Anyway, you are currently in a mountain in southern Belkzen. Belkzen is full of orcs who are likely to see you as a challenge to grow their names, so you'll want to avoid them for now. It does have some nice warm nesting spots but that won't be your problem for a while.

In the north of Belkzen is the territory of another red dragon family. Avoid it. There are also powerful dragons in a few other places like in Five Kings and west of us in Varisia. You'll want to avoid them too. You shouldn't even be thinking about claiming any significant territory until you're at least 400.

No, I'm only 130.

You're both 3.

Anyway, if you fly straight east you'll reach Lastwall. That place is overrun with paladins and if they see you they'll kill you. The lands further south are likewise overrun with hordes of mortals. You especially don't want to go southeast, to Nidal. Far to the northeast the land is infested with demons, you won't want to go there, and if you go north in general it starts to get really cold which is quite unpleasant.

Now, as long as you're young you'll be pretty stealthy, and most things you come across will go down fast to your fire breath. That should be your number one strategy: Sneak up, burn, if burn doesn't work fly away and find something that does burn. You won't want to think about maybe having some wyrmlings of your own until you're at least a hundred.

If all you ever think about is survival though, you're basically feral, no better than the people you're eating. That's why it's important to have a hobby. Personally, I collect treasure. Somewhere there's a hidden entrance with another room behind it where I've stashed all the shiniest gems and coins I've found. It's not a huge amount but it's important to remember the little things in life that bring us joy, so everything I’ve found that looks valuable I've gathered there.

You can't have that hobby, obviously. It's my hobby. Pick a different hobby for yourselves.

Probably I should mention the most important thing. The most important thing about being a dragon is -

Can she pass a DC 35 perception check to hear several people running from 150 ft away, in an echoey cavern, through only one wall?

1d20 + 23 = 39.
Yes, she can.

Arkernux stops mid-sentence. They still sound far enough away for some personal buffs.

-“Oh no my treasure!”

She’ll leap into the air as she casts Haste (including the Wyrmlings in the effect because she can so why not), Invisibility, and-

No more time. His party rounds the corner into the chamber, only thirty feet away.

He flies near the ceiling, to avoid being attacked from above. The other six orcs and one wolf present hold together below him as they charge through the cave. 

Trahk Mul is a Barbarian (level 12), for those keeping track at home.
He is currently Enlarged, Hasted, Flying, Raging, Protected from Energy (fire), and has Heroism, and Bull’s Strength.
He wields a magic greataxe, now also Large.

His warband has a Sorcerer (8, Orc bloodline), two Clerics (8, Lamashtu; 6, Rovagug), a Ranger (8, with a wolf companion), and a few lesser barbarians who think Trahk Mul is pretty great and they should throw their lot in with him.

They are carrying with them a Tribal Standard, as any group of orcs obviously would be.

Excuse me, I am under a suggestion to sit still.

I'm not. Gonna rush out the back door now.

Have a nice dying brother.

The Rovagug cleric isn’t with their squad. He's only loosely affiliated, really.
He Stone Shaped the back door closed and charged in with some buddies of his.

Would you like to fight them?

Oh shit change of plans going back in.

Arkrernux sees the party.
Zarhbub, possessing 90 feet of darkvision and See Invisibility, spots her too.
The wolf, just barely within range of scent, smells her.

Initiative:
Zarhbub: 1d20 + 2 = 22.
Arkrernux: 1d20 + 4 = 20.
Wolf: 1d20 + 5 = 7.

She’s right there. Everybody attack over there.

No I’m not.

Bark!

Fine, maybe I’m over here.
Sense Motive?

They’re here to kill you.

Figures.

Safe bet there aren’t any invisible attackers. They came in pretty loudly.
Casting Detect Magic at them would break her invisibility. She'll just go ahead and guess they've got a lot of magical effects on them, all at relatively low caster levels.
If they're starting a fight, probably they think they can win, and while Orcs aren't known for cleverness she isn't going to just assume they're wrong.

Arkrernux uses her 16 intelligence to see multiple possible futures.
It’s not magic or time travel or anything like that. It’s just thinking ahead. Creatures with 16 intelligence or higher can do that.

What happens if she targets the one who looks like an arcane caster, rushing in invisibly so nobody gets an Attack of Opportunity.

Can she kill him in one round? Nobody else looks like they can see through her invisibility. After that she could survive for one turn, return to the air and become invisible, and dodge them all until their buffs expire.

Great question!

Your bite does 2d8+15 damage, ordinarily. With Greater Vital Strike, it does 8d8 + 15, for a -1 to hit. With Power attack (and your BAB of +17), you can take a -4 to hit for an extra 12 damage.
Expected 63 damage.

Zarhbub probably has 8d6 + 16 ~ 46.5 base HP? He’s got ferocity, so he’s not really dead till he’s at -14. It’d depend on the rolls of the dice.
He can't be an illusion, while the real sorcerer is invisible nearby. You'd notice on Blindsense. He might have False Life, or Bear's Endurance, or Mage Armor, or Stoneskin?

It’s a gamble.

And then I step on top of her and Full Attack, taking out most of her HP in a single round.

Fucking what? How?

I have a lot of numbers that add on top of my already pretty big numbers to make the numbers get even bigger.

What happens if she delays her turn until the flying guy wanders into range looking for her? That way she'd get to Full Attack first.

You can’t kill me with a full attack in one turn, if that’s what you’re thinking.

And you’ll lose your invisibility, and then we can make ranged attacks too.

You want to fight me?

COME AND GET ME.

Fuck.

What happens if I open with my fire breath?

If we’re coming here at all we obviously know you’re a red dragon.

Protection from Energy is only third circle, and at level 8 it covers all of us for up to 96 points of damage.

12d10 fire damage is, on average, 66 damage. You won’t overwhelm the Protection in one round, and next round you won’t have your invisibility and they'll counterattack.

It's not a gamble, to do that. It's just suicide.

Why are orcs like this? Still, they’re underestimating 16 intelligence, because every orc does.

Her best bet is: Dispel Magic, on the Fly spell.

Because then she can immediately fly away.
She doesn't need to check. It's obviously a fly spell.
Orcs aren't known for their strong ranged attacks. She's pretty sure she can make it alive if their leader can't get into melee.

1d20 + 7 = 26.
Trahk Mul falls to the ground.
Trahk Mul takes 3d6 = 11 fall damage.

Also, Arkrernux is no longer invisible.

Excuse me, mother?

I just got back from the secret secondary escape tunnel.
There’s a group of rather angry looking green men there.
Also, the tunnel was blocked off by a wall of stone that wasn’t there yesterday.

I suspect some kind of magic may have been used.

... Fuck.

Okay don't worry she can totally still get them out of this. They just need to work together.

It's starting to feel like obeying this suggestion is obviously harmful.

Could I maybe not?

Fine, but only if it's really obvious that sitting still and being quiet will kill you.

Mother, we’re being attacked! What should we do?

They can see me now, right?

Frightful Presence (DC 21).

Trahk Mul: 1d20 - 1 (Wisdom) + 4 (Barbarian) + 2 (Iron Will) + 5 (Superstition) + 2 (Resistance) = 22. Passes.
Ladakh: 1d20 + 3 (Wisdom) + 6 (Cleric) + 2 (Iron Will) + 2 (Resistance) = 22. Passes.

A lot of the others are going to be Shaken by it, and they might not respond well to that:

Orcs are bullies and cowards. They flee when the odds have turned against them and any nearby leaders are dead— or have already fled. 

A frightened creature flees from the source of its fear as best it can. If unable to flee, it may fight.

Ladakh has a confession to make. She would like to get something off her chest.

Earlier, she Stone-Shaped the entrance to this cave closed, leaving only a small gap that an orc would need to squeeze through to get back out.
But she told everyone she was going to lock it up completely closed, and that she had an extra slot with which to undo it later.

She used an advanced Lamastan technique called Lying. Anticipating fear effects might come into play, she preferred it if all her allies believed escape was impossible, and their only hope was to win, or at least to keep her alive during the retreat.

She did not actually have a spare slot going free though, and she didn't want to be stuck here until tomorrow, so she didn't actually shape it totally closed.
Everybody just kind of rushed in without looking back.

In other words, you can scare these idiots as much as you want. None of them are running anyway. None of them realise they can.

Okay kids, the next part of my plan is a bit complicated. Please try to follow my exact words.

You know how we keep piles of dried wood around the cave for no obvious reason? I need you both to ignite some with your fire breath, and scatter them around.

I can cast Pyrotechnics at will if I've got fires to target, and fill the room with smoke they can't see through but I can. Since it's not targetting the attackers, I can recast and keep up invisibility, so I can stay alive until they're all buried in smoke. That should buy us enough time to either smash down their wall and escape, or else burn them while hiding in the air where they can't get us back, or else wait out their buffs and suffocate them all to death.

Weren't you going to kick us out of the nest a few minutes ago?

Dergaix wasn't listening to Ladakh back then.
He's still 70% that they only blocked the back door and if he rushes past he might escape.

I suggest you help with my plan. For your sake.

You're not actually able to cast that right now.

You already did the Dispel Magic. You don't have enough action economy to survive, if you're also trying to mind control me at the same time.

Sorcerers don’t have to prepare spells.

He needs to cast an extra Fly today? He’ll cast an extra Fly today.

I can fly again? No idea why but gonna run with it. You can’t hide from me in midair!

I CHARGE and RAGE my ENLARGED AXE into her FACE!

Just checking, what happens if I Full Attack right now?

Arkrernux has Haste, and Power Attack.
Her expected damage output is:
bite: 2d8+15 + 12
bite: 2d8+15 + 12
claw: 2d6+10 + 8
claw: 2d6+10 + 8
wing: 1d8+5 + 4
wing: 1d8+5 + 4
tail slap: 2d6+15 + 4

Arkrernux deals 6d8 + 6d6 + 75 + 52 (Power Attack) + 28 (Come and Get Me) = 184???

If you think you'll live that long, we get to attack first.

Also you're forgetting about my damage reduction.

Oh hey guys! Is this where the battle's happening? Boy that sure was a long tunnel.

Are we gonna break some shit now?

Probably if she's got a plan that relies on her wyrmlings helping, we should kill them first? It wouldn't be very hard.

Yeah I'm not with her. Best of luck to you guys.

He'll run for the front entrance.

And by run, he means fly. He's normally got 150 feet of fly speed but right now he also has Haste and nothing better to be doing.

Eh, it's fine. He'll be trapped at the entrance and they can go back and kill him afterwards.

So long as they still get to kill all the dragons, it doesn't really matter who kills which ones when.

um

It totally matters who kills which dragons when!

If I don't kill the big dragon personally right now, we'll all be stuck trying to pass deception checks for the rest of our lives pretending I killed the big dragon personally.

That seems like a lot more work.

The sounds of battle rage behind him as he deftly manoeuvres through the cave under total darkness.

In two rounds he's at the door, and for some convenient reason there is a wyrmling-sized hole in it, and a round after that with his +16 to stealth you wouldn't even notice he was ever there.

This is bullshit how are you still alive.

Oh I forgot to mention I also have Stoneskin.

Sorcerers are pretty cool, aren't they? I should try to find another one.

And then the last axe-swing descends upon her neck, and 130 years of survival amount to nothing.

She was only trying to protect her children.

No she wasn't.

And even if she was, her children are Evil too.

Protecting Evil isn't Good.

There's nothing intrinsically Unlawful about serving only ones own vices, while living alone in the wilderness.

Yes there is, and even if there wasn't, she did not at any point even attempt to have a Code of Honour, to keep a promise for the sake of keeping a promise, or to follow any kind of rule.

Plus, if she wanted the world to be a generally more Lawful place, she wouldn't have, you know, made more Chaotic Evil dragons.

130 years of survival amount to almost nothing.

Dergaix finds himself soaring over the night skies of southern Belkzen, a red dragon wyrmling on his own, nowhere to call home, with no choice but to take on the whole world.

The world is, unfortunately, Golarion.
Golarion does not very much approve of dragons.

Dragon's blood is widely believed to have restorative properties, and trades at a high price.

The scales and other parts of a dragon are often valued as useful spell components, or crafting materials.

The malleable underbelly of a dragon's hide is considered a fine material for masterwork weapons, providing a better grip.

The Rotten Tongue war chief Ury Sevenskulls has, as his name suggests, a necklace of seven silver-plated red wyrmling skulls that he wears at all times.

Iomedae Herself has a Celestial Gold Dragon servant. If her Holy Book thought to mention Chromatic dragons, it was probably only to describe how she slew them.

Smiad, the Lawful Good empyreal lord of dragonslaying, charges his followers to slay all evil dragons, while assisting the good works of benevolent ones. You can tell which is which by the colour of their skin.

Dergaix's skin is red. Red is not one of the Good colours.

There is an obscure and very minor god of Evil dragons, Dahak. Like many gods, He does not live in the afterlife of His own alignment. He is Chaotic Evil, but He lives in Caina, in Hell. He purchased a domain there from Mephistopheles, in exchange for an artifact-level magic quill.

It is widely assumed to be part of some kind of cunning scheme, but really the Abyss is just a dangerous place even if you're pseudo-divinity and Dahak is a coward who'd rather buy safety from Hell even if it means selling out His own alignment to do it.

Perhaps if you serve Him very loyally, you can go there instead of the Abyss.
None of the other gods would even give you the time of day.

This is hopelessly unfair.

This is, statistically, a moderately above average start in life for a red dragon, and a massively above average start in life for a sentient on Golarion. You're only 3 years old and already CR 6.

You've got perfectly reasonable mental stats, a very good fly speed, pretty solid attacks and defences.

You belong to the single most powerful species in the world.

A species that has been on the verge of extinction for millennia.

I only get any of that if I stay alive for hundreds of years.

Probably I won't make it through the winter. I'll just freeze to death.

Hot air rises over belkzen, and the night is warm in summer high above the badlands. Your +10 perception sees the edges of hills and dried river beds in the terrain below under the moonlight. Though you can't make out individual people, little glowing lights between the hills tell of villages and clanholds.

Why. Why so many like them and so few like me?

More efficient reproductive cycles?
Lower infant mortality rates?
Opposable thumbs?

Either that or the gods just like them more and you less.

They hate you because you're better than them, and so they know they can only hope to win by ganging up. That's why everyone treats red dragons like they're the worst, the absolute bottom.

Even the Holy Paladins of Lastwall would be rooting for their own enemies the orcs, in a fight against a red dragon.

Because they're more Good, comparatively, not because they're less selfish but because they're less powerful. Good is when the weak win and the strong lose.

This is rigged.

This is life. You exist.

If the rules are rigged against you, then cheat. It's not like anyone wasn't going to assume you're not to be trusted anyway.

So what are you going to do next?

If you continue to fly down the Mindspin mountains, you will eventually hunger.

The mountain peaks are cold and barren, but between them are richer valleys of long grass and small scattered woods.

There are giants, ogres, trolls, orcs

No thanks.

Amongst the grass you see a small herd of Aurochs grazing.

15 adults (CR 2, large) and 10 young (CR 1, medium).

They don't have wings.

How high can they jump and get me with those horns?

They are 10 feet in size, and have 5 feet of reach, so they could probably get someone 15 feet above them without jumping?

If they did jump, it'd be a DC 20 acrobatics check to jump 5 feet, and they do not have acrobatics as a skill.

Wait why what are you planning.

Dergaix's fire breath has 20 feet of range, and he needs to stay at 25 feet in the air to be sure of safety.

He won't be able to hit the ground at that height, but he'd be able to hit the taller Aurochs from above.

Dergaix can't see how he can lose this matchup.

Oh shit a dragon scatter.
Oh wait, it's just a wyrmling.

Hmm.

Lets stick together as a herd for now, and run towards the woods.
Maybe he'll do something stupid, or maybe he'll just go away on his own.

You have 40 feet of land speed.
I have 150 feet of fly speed.

We are not the same.

Then the aurochs will stop, and look at him.

Burn.

It's DC 15 to dodge. He has +4 to reflex?

The Auroch had a readied action.
The Auroch falls prone.

He is outside the 20 foot flamethrower range now, and is unharmed?

Huh.

The other Aurochs are all stopped too and staring, though they're still upright.
Dergaix will lower himself an extra five feet and breathe again and-

Aurochs are intelligence 2; they are creatures of instinct, and they have in this moment a few competing instincts.

The first is to prevent any individual from being separated from the herd, to protect their young and injured kin and charge as a defensive line to make full use of their Stampede ability. That isn't useful against a dragon.

The second works against giant eagles stealing their calves, and is to flank them from all sides and gore them to death. That also isn't usually useful against a dragon, but it might handle a very small one.

The third is to scatter. There are two different calls for move-as-a-herd and scatter-individually. They can regroup later or try to join up with other herds, if need be.

Aurochs have been around a while, and instincts can have a wisdom well above their intelligence.

Across eons this approximate situation has happened many times. The answer to what the Aurochs will do is logically dependent on what would happen if they did. Still, it only depends to the limits of what intelligence 2 brains can be evolved to do.

Suppose this Auroch chose to fight.

With the sound of bellowing he charges.

A great mass of meat pushes off itself, jumps up on the prone cow as a platform without regard for what injuries such weight might inflict on his own kin, and with frothing mouth and the sheer angry rage by which the Auroch race has survived this long against the rest of Golarion carries himself into the air horn-first and -

AC 19.

Flippity flappity I'm outside your range again but oh shit was that close.

He sees how the distance game is played properly now. They may be relying on int 2 and instinct but he has int 10 and explicit comprehension. So long as he attacks only unready opponents, so long as he uses his superior speed to move between them and avoid ambushes, he can reliably kill them without risk of retaliation.

If the herd tried to force him to, defending their dead with zealous rage, he'd have to kill the whole group before he could eat any at all, and most of the meat would rot or be left for scavengers, but they wouldn't bother to force him to do that, would they?

Yeah nevermind that only had one chance of working.

Auroch herds are kinship herds. An Auroch herd that fought losing battles would quickly go extinct. At the sound of a bellow they are scattering every which way.

They cannot stop the dragon killing any of them, but they can stop it killing all of them. Whoever he chases will be the sacrifice that saves the rest.

What does he care he'll pick a victim and flamethrower them to death.

Once he's sure the others are leaving him well enough alone, he'll cook the meat and eat until he is full enough to fly again.

Recently, Nub figured out how to disguise himself as grass by dressing up in gathered foliage. Ever since then, Nub has been passing his stealth checks approximately always.

His preferred hunting strategy is therefore to find smaller creatures, walk up behind them, and kill them in one hit.

Nub is out hunting rabbits when-

You hear the sound of a herd of Aurochs in distress.

It's very loud. It's not very far away.

Nub cannot comfortably take down Aurochs by himself. They move as a herd. If you shoot one, they just circle so that the injured auroch is protected by the others. If they spot you the whole herd stampedes and you are crushed no matter how well you hide, and if they can't spot you they just leave.

What poisons a Goblin Alchemist can make won't take down a beast of their size.

Still, it's a lot of meat, and the horns are quite fetching, and if they're distressed for some other reason maybe there's scavenge to be had.

Nub will stealthily stealth towards where the noise came from, switching his rabbit-gutter for a shortbow and knocking a poisoned arrow.

You come across a Red Dragon Wyrmling eating a dead and burnt Auroch.

He has +10 to Perception.

Nub has a +4 Size bonus to Stealth (Small).
Nub has a +4 Racial bonus to Stealth (Goblin).
Nub has a +5 Dexterity bonus to Stealth (20 Dexterity).
Nub is not wearing any armour.
Nub has a +3 Class Skill bonus to Stealth (Rogue).
Nub has a +2 Skill Ranks bonus to Stealth (He's a level 2 Rogue).
Nub has a +3 bonus to Stealth (Skill Focus feat).
Nub has a +4 bonus to Stealth (Camouflage).
Nub has +25 to stealth.

1d20+10 = 25
1d20+25 = 34

Nub wins.

On paper, there is no way Nub can win this fight.

Nub is level 2 and alone, Dergaix is CR 6.
Even if Nub does any of his favourite sneak attacks, he cannot deal 59 HP worth of damage in the one round it would take the wyrmling to get airborne.
Nub has 2d8 + 0 = 11 hit points.
The DC to dodge the wyrmlings breathe weapon is 15.
Nub would be lucky to survive 18 consecutive seconds of the dragon knowing he existed.

There's no way a small wyrmling can eat a large bovine in one sitting. There will be plenty of leftovers. Nub can just take the rest when it leaves or falls asleep.

Nub should back off to a safer distance, and be patient.

If you tried to sit Nub down and make him do the marshmallow test, he would eat it, stab you, and run off with the rest of the marshmallows before you could finish explaining the rules.

If Nub has a moral philosophy, it is only because he stole it from a seagull.

Nub's not even hungry. He has several rabbits in his bag already.

It's the principle. He shouldn't have to wait around for a dragon to finish eating so he can pilfer the rest.

Nub may be young and inexperienced, but he is still a sentient creature, with a soul and a mind.

Why is this taking so long.

Scholars of goblinology have methodically listed all the plans that goblin-like minds come up with when mere violence seems insufficient.

Nub comes up with #12, the "pretend to be a large group of goblins" plan. This requires making fake goblins out of twigs, tying strings to all of them, and pulling the strings to make them all shake at once.

Nub remembers he doesn't have any fake goblins made out of twigs or the time and patience to set all that up.

Nub comes up with #7, the "provoke one enemy into defeating another" plan. There are many Auroch trails leading away. They couldn't have gone that far. He could make them chase him back here and then they would trample the dragon while he pretends to be a bush.

No that doesn't work the dragon can fly.

Fine, he'll use an expendible item. Nub draws a Smokestick from his bag, and stealthily walks up to within reach of the Auroch.

Suddenly you are surrounded by smoke.

So? He's a dragon. He has 60 feet of blindsight.

Well nobody ever told Nub that.

How far does the smoke go?
10ft, barely enough to conceal the auroch.

Out of an abundance of caution, he'll fly above the smoke. Maybe this is some property of the beast not known to him yet, that it dissolves into smoke some time after death.

Nub cannot actually lift a dead Auroch.
They weigh thousands of pounds. He can't even drag one. Probably an Auroch could drag a dead Auroch, if he tied them together, but it couldn't do it at stampeding speed and that plan obviously ends with a dead Nub.

Nub owns exactly one magic item, a Type I Bag of Holding.
He has no idea what it's standard price is, he didn't buy it at a store.
He's had it for a week now.

Nub barely understood the concept of weight to begin with, and having a magic bag he can put stuff in that never weighs more than he can carry was not helpful to his developing a better understanding.

It's not that the bag has never been full before, but it's always been full of many things. Nub would just empty it out at home and fill it again with new things.

Nub didn't think his bag had a weight limit, or a volume limit. He thought it had a count limit, and only that he did not know what that limit was because he hadn't bothered to count it.

This is the first time Nub has tried to put a single very large object in the bag and for no discernable reason it isn't working.

Also, the body is too big and doesn't fit through the opening.

Dergaix will land directly next to the cloud of smoke, within range of his fire breath.

And he will just sit there and watch.

Fine.
Nub only wants to take the best bits.
Most of it isn't important.

Nub feels around with his hands to the head and cuts off the horns, though it takes him a few moments.

Nub cuts out the eyes, which he thinks an alchemist might value.
Nub cuts out the tongue, which is considered a delicacy.
Nub thinks to try hacking a few slabs of meat off the side.

Should he try to get any organs out of it?

The smoke begins to clear.

Times up?

He'll stand very still and impersonate grass.

For some mysterious reason the dragon maintains direct eye contact, despite his attempts at stealth.

Wait I can explain

Dergaix would like to attempt a Knowledge Local (or possibly Nature?) check to identify the small green humanoid in front of him.

Knowledge is trained only, and you are not trained. Also you grew up in a cave, and know about other creatures almost entirely from your mother's mediocre attempts at describing them.

Also he's in a pretty convincing grass costume.

You've only met one kind of humanoid in your entire life, which coincidentally was also green.

A baby orc.
A baby orc by itself trying to steal his food?
A baby orc means adult orcs somewhere, probably.

Dergaix should just immediately flee.
Or Dergaix could burn it real fast and make the world one dead orc better off.
Call it his good deed for the week. Or maybe just revenge.

You can use Bluff to allow you to use Stealth. A successful Bluff check can give you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you.

"There's something behind you!", Nub shouts.

Also, in case it doesn't work, he'd like to ready an action.

Dergaix doesn't speak Goblin.

Nub doesn't see what that has to do with anything.

Nub has a +3 Class Skill bonus to Bluff (Rogue).
Nub has a -3 Charisma bonus to Bluff (Charisma 4).
Nub has a +2 Skill Ranks bonus to Stealth (He's a level 2 Rogue).
Nub has +2 to Bluff.

A red dragon wyrmling has +10 to sense motive.

Nub is starting to wish he was some other different Goblin, with a completely different array of statistics, perhaps with levels in Bard. It probably wouldn't work anyway, but at least then it would be some other different Goblin about to die instead of him.

1d20 + 2 = 16
1d20 + 10 = 22

Dergaix wins.

Dergaix can tell the baby Orc is bluffing.
Bluffing about what?

He doesn't speak Orc, but probably it tried to lie and say its parents were nearby?
Good enough for Dergaix then.

He should just burn it.

Nub jumps into his Bag of Holding, tying it closed behind him.

...

"You know I know you're in there, right?"

Nub continues not knowing Draconic as he tries to hold his breath.

One week earlier

"Porters need wages. Porters need food and water. Porters need hazard pay.
With a bag of holding, you can go where ever you need.

Get a bag of holding, they said.
It's so convenient, they said.
Sure it's pricey, but it'll be with you forever.
It's an investment, they said.

And then fucking Gorg fucking loses it, and everything we put inside."

"I did not lose it, someone took it."

"It was your watch, wasn't it?"

"Who the fuck would take it? We're in the middle of nowhere. Nothing is here."

"Doesn't one of you have some spell for finding stuff?"

"Sure, I'll prepare Locate Object. Shall we hope whatever took it is still within 520 feet an hour from now?"

"There are tracks."

"What kind?"

"Goblin, I think."

"I'll keep detect magic up, so we can see the bag if we get within 60 feet. That way we just need to catch up to the bastard."

Currently

A band of incredibly frustrated, mildly dehydrated adventurers burst out of the woods.

They have been following Goblin tracks all week. They have killed dozens of Goblins by now. None of them have had their bag. All of them, upon having the situation explained to them, have told compatable tales of a Goblin named Nub who does stuff like that, and where he was last seen. Still it has taken this long.

Nub was wandering what those guys have been up to recently.

Not that he can see them.

Nub is still in the bag holding his breath, actually.

They're not green, so probably not orcs?
But they are bigger, and have weapons. He's not going to fight them.

On the other hand, they're still pretty far away.

Dergaix has only experienced it once, but so far he does not like the idea of being robbed. He'd prefer that things that are his stay his, and things that are not his become his.

He can't lift an Auroch, but he's had quite a bit to eat already.

The Bag weighs 15 pounds. He can lift it no problem.
It has the baby Orc. It looks somewhat valuable.

Dergaix's mother liked to collect valuable things.
Maybe Dergaix should start today?

He picks up the bag and flies off.

What the fuck did we do, or which god did we piss off, to deserve this.

There is enough air in the bag for 10 minutes.

After that you can hold your breath for 2 rounds * 10 Constitution = 2 minutes.

After that, the constitution checks start at DC 10 and go up by 1 every round. Statistically, you will fail one of them pretty soon, after which you fall unconscious, begin dying, and then die.

Nub waits about 5 minutes before stealthily stealthing the bag open, and slipping his head out for air.

No he doesn't. You can't open a Bag of Holding from the inside. You could stab the bag from the inside if you wanted, but you wouldn't end up on Golarion, you'd end up in the Astral.

What kind of monster would interpret the rules like that? What did Nub ever do to him?

Fine. Mostly Nub has gotten things out of the bag by turning it inside-out, and then putting everything he wanted to keep back into the bag again.

Can Nub turn the Bag of Holding inside-out from inside the Bag of Holding?

Without opening it or puncturing it?

Only if he is a PhD level Topologist.

Nub would like to pray to the gods. He doesn't do that often, because it doesn't seem to matter. Nub prays to the Goblin Hero-Gods, who were freed from Asmodeus by Lamashtu, and who created the Goblin race and who will lead it to greatness.

Nub prays to Hadregash, who taught goblinkind tribal loyalty, strategic thinking, and deference to authority. Nub didn't think strategically enough, and has never been particularly loyal to his tribe. Has Hadregash forsaken him?

This situation is survivable. You should at your first opportunity tell the dragon you will humbly obey it and that you have great value as a servant. Normally it wouldn't believe you because like most Goblins you are Chaotic, but fortunately it has good Sense Motive and you have trash Bluff, so rationally it'll believe you if you appear to be telling the truth, which you should be doing because again you have trash Bluff.

Once you've done that, you can repay your tribe for all your past mischiefs and more by getting them in early on the next local power structure. By the time some hero kills this wyrmling your ingroup will have already gotten enough resources for long enough for the whole affair to still be a net win.

What do you mean I can just truthfully tell the dragon I will obey it and be a useful servant? I'm not an idiot, obviously I'll turn and run the first chance I get.

Also, he doesn't speak Goblin.

Those are just skill issues. The Goblin Hero-Gods will not solve them for you. It'd just weaken the gene pool.

Nub prays to Venkelvore, Hadragesh's consort, who's hunger causes Her to steal food even from the other Hero-Gods. She teaches Goblins to be always hungry, that enough is never enough. She got him into this situation, didn't She? Maybe She can get him out of it, too.

You've had a surplus of available food for months now. If you'd just produced a few dozen children already, evolutionarily speaking it wouldn't matter that you're about to die.

But I wanted more food and stuff?

Wanting more food and stuff is for people who've saturated their ecosystems local carrying capacity. Breed more, then come back to Me about feeling hungry.

Nub prays to Zarongel the Bark Breaker, who taught goblins how to kill dogs, and who has fire for hair as a gift from Lamashtu that Nub doesn't really understand at all. Does He have any advice?

Buddy, just try your best to kill the dragon. It's not totally impossible. Even if you can't do it, at least give it your best shot. With enough Goblins one of you will figure out a way that works eventually, and then he can tell the rest.

Nub prays to Zogmugot, Lady Lastbreath, who is goddess of scavenging and flotsam and drowning, who tricks the unclever with shiny things and then drowns them in the sea if they displease Her.

Why not just grab all the valuables while they're still in reach and take your chances in the Astral? You've only got a couple rounds left either way.

No help at all, figures.

Nub is going to try to do every useful think he still can while inside the bag, and then if nothing happens until right before he's about to pass out he'll try to cut it open and see what happens after that.

A few thousand feet in the air, and a few miles south of where those adventurers last saw him, Dergaix stop flying, and pulls Nub out of the bag.

Retrieving a specific item from a bag of holding is a move action, unless the bag contains more than an ordinary backpack would hold, in which case retrieving a specific item is a full-round action.

Nub's not an item, he's a creature. Rules as Written, there's no way to take a creature out of a Bag of Holding.

Then Dergaix turns the entire bag inside-out.

Do the contents all fly apart in random directions?

The canvas sheet of a camping tent is tied into a bundle around the adventurers spare clothes, scrolls, the Aurochs horns and meat, Nub's rabbits, and a few rocks that Nub thought were shiny.

The other end of the rope is around Nub's waist, along with the coin purse and a small bag of every potion and useful alchemical item Nub could find in the Bag of Holding.

They are 4600 feet in the air. They will fall 500 feet in the first round, and 1500 feet in each subsequent round.

Dergaix would like to attempt a DC 20 Fly check to stylishly fall at the same speed as Nub, and thereby remain only a short distance away from him.

1d20 + 14 = 33.

Dergaix is more aerodynamic than a flailing Goblin.
If he wants to stay nearby he can do that.

Dergaix would like to use his breath weapon.

2d10 fire damage, DC 15 to half?

Nub has a +3 Base Reflex Save (Rogue 2)
Nub has a +5 Dexterity bonus (20 Dexterity)
Nub still isn't wearing any armour.
Nub has +8 to Reflex saves.
1d20 + 8 = 20.

Nub passes, and can take half damage.
Nub drank a potion of Resist Energy (fire) while he was inside the backpack.

2d10 / 2 - 10 = - 3.
Nub is fine.

Nub would like to attempt, in order, a DC 30 Linguistics check to express a desire to submit to this dragons will via Interpretive Dance, a DC 20 Acrobatics check to perform said Interpretive Dance while in freefall, and an opposed Bluff check to be believed about it because even now he would still in fact be lying.

Linguistics is a Trained-Only Skill.

It might be a class skill for Rogues, but you still have to actually put a rank into it at some point. You never learnt any Linguistics, so you're not allowed to even attempt the check.

Nevermind then. Nub would like to grab the Bag of Holding, climb into it, and then stab it from the inside. He doesn't like being here any more and would rather take his chances on the Astral.

It's not within reach. Dergaix is still holding it in his back claw.

Can Nub stab the Dragon?

Dergaix recently learnt the advance technique of staying within reach of his Breath Weapon but out of reach of melee attacks. He's hoping to try it out on a different opponent in a new setting, to see how general the strategy is.

As long as you don't grow wings and he keeps passing his Fly checks, no, you can't.

Can Nub shoot the dragon with a poisoned arrow?

Sure. He's only 15 feet away.
Nub has a +1 Base Attack Bonus (Rogue 2).
Nub has a +5 Dexterity Bonus (20 Dexterity).
Nub has a +1 Size Modifier (Small).
Nub suffers no range penalty.

Nub has a +7 To hit. Dergaix has an AC of 19.
There is a 40% chance to hit, in which case you can deal 1d4 damage.
You will average 1 damage / round, killing Dergaix in approximately 6 minutes.

As for poisons, he has a +7 to saves, and your best options are mostly DC 11 and would take at least 3 effects to incapacitate him if you get lucky.

Also you have approximately 3 rounds before you hit the ground.

It doesn't even matter what I say, does it?

Nub shoots.

1d20 + 7 = 8.

Nub misses.

Dergaix is confused why the fire wasn't effective. Maybe Orcs are all immune to fire? Mother did seem to think it wouldn't work on them before.

He'll have to try his luck in melee with something besides his sister eventually, now seems as good a time as any.

He intentionally falls more towards Nub and makes a bite attack.

1d20 + 11 = 12.

Nub has an AC of 10 + 0 + 5 (Dexterity Modifier) = 15.

Miss.

 "Dexterity Modifier" Implies Nub is trying to move out of the way.

Why should he bother? He's dead either way. He should just go limp and wait the universe out as he falls to his inevitable death.

Fine. Bite lands.
1d6 + 4 = 5.
Nub has 11 - 5 = 6 hit points remaining.

Nub continues to wait for death.

Dergaix is starting to suspect that this creature is not in fact a baby Orc.

For one, it appears to have more training, equipment, and the evidence of past misadventures than one would expect.
For two, it lacks the tender fattiness that one would expect, especially of one that would grow to be as big and strong as the Orcs he saw before.
For three, it appears to have accepted its inevitable demise. Mother always Suggested to him "big dragons don't cry so shut up", so probably this one is grown also? Which implies it isn't an Orc, but some other creature.

Also it tastes bad. Dergaix does not actually want to eat it, even cooked.

Dergaix will attempt a grapple.

Against an unresisting opponent, it can't fail.

... Has he really given up on fighting back?

The grounds starting to get close.

Dergaix will attempt a DC 10 Fly check to arrest their fall.

With a +14 to Fly that can't fail, except for how Nub, his gear, the entire contents of the Bag of Holding and The Bag of Holding itself are a Heavy Load for a Small Quadruped with 17 Strength. Dergaix will have reduced fly speed with this much weight.

... How does that work? They weren't this heavy on the way up.
Oh it's the bag isn't it, it weighs the same amount whether it's full or empty.
... Is that how bags work? Dergaix is genuinely confused here.

He'll think about it later.

The not-Orc doesn't seem to be the same kill-stealing creature it was a few minutes ago, but maybe it's just bluffing.

Dergaix is a cautious wyrmling. He'll try dropping it from high up a few more times to confirm.

Did he just abandon hope and then be saved anyway?

Nub almost actually starts hoping again, before realising that would be silly. The dragon is just toying with him. He'll be dead soon either way.

Few creatures are more cruel and fearsome than the mighty red dragon. King of the chromatics, this terrible beast brings ruin and death to the lands that fall under its shadow.

Red dragons often keep humanoid slaves, most often human and elven maidens, which they treat as beautiful and delicate but replaceable additions to their hoards. When these slaves become old or injured, they are typically eaten. Other slaves are instead kept to expand and maintain the red's lair.

Dergaix is starting to enjoy this actually, at least it seems more appealing than eating the disgusting creature would be. Maybe he could get more use out of it, some other way?

If only it could understand what he said, probably he could have as much fun telling it what to do as his mother had with him, and he wouldn't have to wait until he was bigger because they're just so pathetic already.

Maybe if he puts it down somewhere, he can make it lead him to others of its kind, and Dergaix can bully them too?

See, I told you it'd work.

Between 4697 and 4701, a series of conflicts known as the Goblinblood Wars were fought between the army of Isger and the inhabitants of the Chitterwood.

It began with humans wanting the forest for their own designs, and imagining its denizens would not be too much of a challenge. Seeing an external threat, the local Goblinoid tribes briefly stopped fighting each other, resulting in what scholars of Goblinology called strategic tribal migrations caused by excess population growth and what the people nearby called wanton destruction. Loose warbands breaking off from the conflict wandered as far as parts of Varisia in the east and the Five Kings Mountains in the west.

One could pretend that Chellish Hellknights, Andoran Eagle Knights, Druman Mercenaries, and adventurers from all over put aside their differences to put an end to the menace. More accurately, each defended their own territories out of self-interest, and when faced with the choice of fighting Goblins forever or burning Chitterwood to the ground, did not need to tolerate each other much to pick the second option.

Many Hobgoblin survivors fled into the Menador Mountains, and eventually into Molthune. Most Goblins who survived did so by fleeing underground into the Caverns of Chitterwood, but some groups settled even further afield, leading to the present situation where random Goblin tribes could plausibly be hiding in caves, hills, or forests pretty much anywhere without that posing any serious conflicts with the lore.

The Isgeri armed forces were mostly annihilated, but being a more civilised race, their orphaned children didn't need to flee into dark caves or wild mountains. Instead, they were taken in by the kindhearted charity of local philanthropists House Thrune, who funded, through the Church of Asmodeus, a network of monasteries and orphanages to care for the children of what the history books clearly state was always their vassal state.

All of this is Paizocanon

In the year 4710, Governor Teldas of Molthune proclaimed that any labourer who serves five years in Molthune's armies can become an imperial citizen, even accepting foreign and monstrous soldiers. This practice was exploited by the Hobgoblin Azaersi, a survivor of the Goblinblood Wars herself, who's Ironfang Legion took to the strict military discipline like Hobgoblins to strict military discipline until it seemed like a good idea to stop doing that, at which point she turned on her masters like a Goblin turning on her masters, robbed them of a few valuable artifacts, and declared independence.

In 4717 General Azaersi launched simultaneous attacks on Molthune and Nirmathas, quickly lost, and was forced to flee with her forces into the Mindspin Mountains between Nirmithas and Nidal, where she established Oprak as a nation that hobgoblins and other so-called "monsters" could call home, at the price of that home being a military dictatorship with a fully command economy.

The "Empire" of Molthune learnt its lesson and continues to recruit monstrous races into its armed forces to this day.

Fortunately, those parts haven't happened yet because our campaign starts in 4707 and the Goblinblood Wars are still fresh in everyone's memories. Dergaix won't have to worry about Hobgoblin Legions and level 20 Swashbucklers until he's almost a teenager, if he's even still alive by then. The Mindspin Mountains to his west are still filled with the kinds of monsters who could plausibly become a monstrous nation if someone showed up to unite them under overwhelming authority, but they're not really considering invading their neighbours right this second.

Instead, he gets to worry about a Nirmathas greatly distracted by their war with Molthune, with this region recieving only rare patrols by both sides mostly trying to ensure the other isn't up to anything sneaky.

Oh, and four adventurers who claim a baby red dragon stole their stuff and that he might be working with some goblins they found, and who would not at all be believed about it were it not that truth spells exist.

But really, what can they do about anything, everyone else is busy and they're only level 3. It's not like adventurers get more powerful over time but much more quickly than dragons do.

Dergaix is obviously not going to put much effort into learning to speak Goblin.

He's the Boss. They should learn to speak Draconic. It's a better language anyway.

Goblins: Organization: gang (4–9), warband (10–16 with goblin dog mounts), or tribe (17+ plus 100% noncombatants; 1 sergeant of 3rd level per 20 adults; 1 or 2 lieutenants of 4th or 5th level; 1 leader of 6th–8th level; and 10–40 goblin dogs, wolves, or worgs)

By the time they reach the place, it is just before dusk, not that anybody involved will care.

Nub's tribe lives in what, if you studied it carefully and passed a few checks, you could infer was once a village of some other more productive species. The two mostly intact buildings were once a blacksmith and a small chapel. A few buildings that might have once been storehouses are now rubble covered in overgrowth, but their basements were stone or brick or something, and someone at some point who may or may not have been a goblin dug small-sized tunnels between them and a chamber under the chapel, which now serves as the community space.

Nub's tribe has *rolls dice* 40 combatants.
It has 40 non-combatants, mostly children.
Adult women are also, to Goblins, usually considered combatants.
Most people can't tell them apart anyway.
It has 30 goblin dogs (technically a kind of rodent), the superior species off which regular dogs are merely an accursed imitation.

It has 1 chief: Fighter 7.
It has 2 lieutenants: Cleric 5, Alchemist 4.
It has 3 sergeants: Fighter 3, with the job of managing the other combatants.
It has 34 level 1 or 2 characters, mostly Fighters, Rogues, Rangers, a few magic casters, and a junior Cleric.

But not including Nub. He doesn't count.

What? Why not?

Remember when you stole our stuff and then, when we tried to beat you up about it, nobody had any idea where you were?

You said "stop stealing our stuff" and I stopped.

Where have you been, then?

Out stealing everyone else's stuff.

Do you have anything nice to bring home, then?

So about that

He didn't prepare Comprehend Languages yesterday, but if nobody does anything stupid for an entire hour without his active intervention he can ask the dragon what it wants.

Alchemists rule and Clerics drool.
It'll take him a minute, but he can prepare an Extract of it.
And he has Infusion, so he can make the Cleric drink it.

You drink it.

You are the spiritual leader of our community and this means you should do it bye.

Sigh. Why does wanting to be in charge of stuff always lead to him having to do things.
He drinks it.

"What do you want?"

Wow, that was fast. They're learning it already!

"I am in charge now. All of you shall be my minions."

"And if we won't?"

"Who wants to fight me first?"

Then he'll explain the situation to the goblin in the shiny metal clothes.

If we all attacked him at the same time, would we win?

Yes, easily in fact, if the dragon just stood there.
More likely he'll realise that, fly out of range, and then burn your weakest kin to death first, one by one, at his leisure.

Even if you found a way to kill him during that, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Your best alternative would be to flee, which might save some of you individually but would guarantee the destruction of your tribe and the deaths of almost all your children. 

If you carefully planned an ambush, choosing buff spells in advance, you could win more cheaply, probably.

And no doubt everyone else will realise that too.
He knows what is required of him.

"We will submit to him, then."
Bluff +2

"The Chief says that we will submit to you."
Truth.

1d20 + 2 = 13
1d20 + 10 = 21.

He's planning to butcher you in your sleep.

Figures.

"Please instruct the rest not to get involved, then."

He knows full well what is about to happen.
Hadregesh's service does not require that he deceive himself at all about the ways of the world, as so many other gods do.

He'll just nod.

He approaches nonchalantly.
Bluff +10

Sense Motive? What Sense Motive?

Full Attack. Power Attack.

While using fly to Hover, to get the high ground.

1d20 + 14 = 16, Fly check passes.

Gubbirk has an AC of 23.
Dergaix gets a +1 bonus from being On Higher Ground (Flying).

Bite: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 23. Hit.
1d6 + 4 + 4 = 11 damage.

Claw: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 13. Miss.

Claw: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 26. Hit.
1d4 + 3 + 2 = 8 damage.

Gubbirk has 71 HP.
71 - 19 = 52 remaining.

Sorry, did you say he has higher AC than me?

Well yeah, he's wearing Full Plate.

And higher HP then me?

Full Attack. Power Attack.

Dergaix continues to have AC 19.
Gubbirk has a +1 Greatsword.

Greatsword 1: 1d20 + 12 - 2 = 21. Hit.
1d10 + 14 + 6 = 22 damage.

Greatsword 2: 1d20 + 7 - 2 = 14. Miss.

Dergaix has 59 HP.
59 - 22 = 37 HP remaining.

What the actual fuck.
Is this Goblin stronger than me?

No, your strength is 17 and he has only 16.
Oh you mean in melee? yeah.

You're both CR 6, but he's got worse options in other situations.

It's a fair fight overall, very level appropriate.

If people go through life encountering fair fights every week, on average they will live two weeks. Dergaix is trying to live a few hundred years at least, here.

What did he do wrong exactly?

He assumed that because he met a Goblin he could easily beat, all Goblins he could easily beat?

I'm a Dragon.

He's a little green guy in metal clothes.

So were the Orcs, and they killed your mother.
You're both about the same size?
He has lots of levels in Fighter.

How did he get so many levels in Fighter?

Gubbirk has a long and violent backstory. He spent three harsh years fighting in the Goblinblood Wars, and witnessed many terrible-

Never mind I don't care.

How do I tell how many levels in Fighter a creature has, before fighting it?

... I guess you could ask? Though they'd probably lie.
You could throw rocks at them one at a time, and see how many hit?

People wearing Full Plate are usually strong enough to be dangerous at your current age. When you're older you'll be able to Detect Magic at will, at which point you should go off of the most potent aura present, or count how many magic items they have between them in a group.

Dergaix would like to perform another Full Attack Power Attack, and then escape melee by taking a 5 Foot Step in the Up direction.

1d20 + 14 = 32, Fly check passes.

Gubbirk continues to have an AC of 23.
Dergaix gets a +1 bonus from being On Higher Ground (Flying).

Bite: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 30. Hit.
1d6 + 4 + 4 = 10 damage.

Claw: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 14. Miss.

Claw: 1d20 + 11 + 1 - 2 = 30. Hit.
1d4 + 3 + 2 = 6 damage.

52 - 16 = 34 HP remaining.

Gubbirk has this cool feat called Step Up.

Whenever an adjacent foe takes a 5-foot step away, he can make an immediate action to step after them, thereby preserving adjacency for melee.

Cool. Can he fly though?

There's nothing in the feat description that says he needs to be able to fly, it just says he can do it. Arguably he can even do it while entangled, prone, blind, and paralyzed, to pursue a hidden invisible ethereal enemy retreating directly through a solid wall.

There's no possible way I'd accept that interpretation.
Step Up does not give you wings.

Spoilsport.

He's got throwing axes as a ranged option, though it's not exactly his area of expertise.

1d20 + 11 = 28. Hit.
1d4 + 3 = 5.
Dergaix has 37 - 5 = 32 HP remaining.

Dergaix flies above his target and uses his breath weapon.

Gubbirk has +5 to Reflex saves.

1d20 + 5 = 14.
He doesn't dodge it.
He also doesn't have any protections against fire up.
Nobody told him he'd be fighting a red dragon today.

2d10 = 8.
34 - 8 = 26 HP remaining.