Seeing the gnolls at the top of the hill pointing in his direction and preparing for battle, Tanner realizes that any hope of surprise on their part has almost certainly been lost. Hoping to regain some element of surprise, Tanner stops moving forward, and from his hiding place he'll cast Silent Image.

Quietly singing to himself as he calls upon his arcane bardic magic. Then, focusing on the image of the Black Dragon that stared him down earlier today, he'll try to conjure an image of that Black Dragon rising up from the woods behind his charging comrades. Starting at the distance limit of the spell's range, Tanner will concentrate on making the ferocious image of the Black Dragon fly up out of the trees and head towards the gnolls on the hill. Tanner will keep the dragon at a menacing distance for the first round or two to try and terrify the gnolls and minimize the fact that the dragon isn't making any sound.

ooc: Cast Silent Image using Tanner's VERY strong memory of the Dragon from earlier. Also using his Performance Skill (+12) to create as compelling Black Dragon performance as possible. Rule Check: As the Dragon swoops in to attack, can Tanner cast Ghost Sounds to augment the illusion of his Silent Image spell? The PHB is unclear to me on that?
A tall, gangly human youth looks at you, his questioning green eyes filled with the energy and enthusiasm of youth. Clad in a fine chain shirt with a buckler emblazoned with crossed lute and sword, he wears an Elven rapier at his side and a rustic lute over his shoulder.