Sam knew he had gotten the riddle wrong as soon as he gave his answer - rather pathetically his first reaction to the Gryphon rearing up was to stand rooted still and lift up his hands over his face, making a noise not unlike a high pitched whine. When the expected blow did not come, it took him a moment to kick his mind into gear enough to start running.
His run was not dignified or graceful but it sufficed to get him along with the rest of the party deeper into the tower. The sounds of scraping metal and a pursuit behind them made him try to speed up (which mostly just had him tip forward too much and nearly fall).
When finally they seemed to be safe, he spent a moment with his hands on his knees taking a breath - to actually need to breathe would have been a novelty if not for the burning in his lungs or the panic in his mind. He didn't look up into the room until he heard a voice address them, but by then he was already stuck. Of course, it couldn't just be a pleasant conversation; before long there was a dragon before them. As soon as the spell was ended, Sam stepped back to press himself against the wall, as far away as he could get.
Jigano's advice about where to hit the dragon was mostly wasted on him, given that he did not ever intend to fight a dragon, fictional or no. He flinched as the flagstones approached, leaping over to the side to avoid them. When he looked up, there was a statue in the room...no, not a statue. He took in a panicked gasp as he realised Jigano, the competent one, was now stone.
Not knowing what to do, he stumbled up to his feet and fumbled to get his bow and arrows out from behind his back. He was not at all confident in his ability, but at least he could say he tried to help. Hiding behind Jigano (admittedly using her a little as cover, but she was stone now!) he tried to swing out and shoot, aiming towards the green jewel with lightly shaking hands.
His run was not dignified or graceful but it sufficed to get him along with the rest of the party deeper into the tower. The sounds of scraping metal and a pursuit behind them made him try to speed up (which mostly just had him tip forward too much and nearly fall).
When finally they seemed to be safe, he spent a moment with his hands on his knees taking a breath - to actually need to breathe would have been a novelty if not for the burning in his lungs or the panic in his mind. He didn't look up into the room until he heard a voice address them, but by then he was already stuck. Of course, it couldn't just be a pleasant conversation; before long there was a dragon before them. As soon as the spell was ended, Sam stepped back to press himself against the wall, as far away as he could get.
Jigano's advice about where to hit the dragon was mostly wasted on him, given that he did not ever intend to fight a dragon, fictional or no. He flinched as the flagstones approached, leaping over to the side to avoid them. When he looked up, there was a statue in the room...no, not a statue. He took in a panicked gasp as he realised Jigano, the competent one, was now stone.
Not knowing what to do, he stumbled up to his feet and fumbled to get his bow and arrows out from behind his back. He was not at all confident in his ability, but at least he could say he tried to help. Hiding behind Jigano (admittedly using her a little as cover, but she was stone now!) he tried to swing out and shoot, aiming towards the green jewel with lightly shaking hands.
