Present Party: Keviks, Lupan, Nana, and Wren
Setting: The small historical village of Dragon's Valley, in Midtia.
Finally, the party arrives in Dragon's Valley. The road there was very peculiar. Huge sections of the mountains around them had long, raking claw marks. There were huge ditches in the ground and scorch marks decorating the mountains around them. There were old foundations, pieces and bases of statues all around, left behind. Eventually, they found themselves in the village proper. At each of the four corners were large estates that presumably belonged to the local nobility. They looked similar to the estates they'd seen in Kystad. The largest building was in the very center, however. It appeared to be a large church, made mostly of stone. The symbol above the door was a golden sword, pointed upright. Behind it was a rainbow, set in a circle. The party, based on their interaction with the shrine last session, recognized the symbol. The church was likely for Heimdall.
Once they arrived, they said goodbye to their travelling companions. Finch gave them the recommendation to stop by the local tavern - Lancer's Loft. He and his friends knew the barkeep - Olix, they said - and they liked him a lot. He was frequently looking for performers as well. They also told the party to stop by the Hero's Way guild hall if they were looking for work, and if they got an interesting job, they'd be sure to see if the party wanted to come along.
The party moved on to where they'd be staying: the estate of the Wind family. They were actually members of Fang's extended family - his grandmother, uncle, aunt, and two little cousins, all from his mother's side. His grandmother, a gray tabby-looking tabaxi, introduced herself as Baroness Song (Bird's Song on the Wind was her full name.) They were also introduced to her son, Sound of Bells on the Wind - or rather, Bell. His wife was a yuan-ti pureblood named Hessta, and they had two daughters. The older was about ten - a gray tabaxi by the name of Flower (Little Flower on the Wind.) The little girl was a yuan-ti, as her mother had been. She was five, and her name was Essa.
Keviks and Nana left to explore the town and sell some things they'd gotten from the griffons on the road. Meanwhile, Wren and Lupan got settled in. Then, they decided to talk about what they might want to do with the pan flute and where they could bury it. After all, that was what Quest had wanted; for it to be buried in his home town of Dragon's Valley with his mother and sister. They decided to see if Fang had any insight on this matter.
They found Fang sparring with his younger cousin, Flower, using wooden swords. Oddly enough, they didn't seem to be playing either. Flower wasn't as good as Fang, by any means, but she was taking the fight as a serious sparring match. Bell was there to watch. The two of them went to speak with him, and mentioned Flower's talent with a sword.
"She was training to be a knight under a travelling adventurer who'd been in town. They trained for... half a year or so before he moved on," Bell explained. "Now she wants to join the Heimdall church and train to be a paladin... but they won't let her."
"Why not?" they asked.
"Because High Priest Vargas is a pig," Bell said, his words tainted with spite. "I've done everything short of bribing that damn church... and they won't take her."
They wished him the best of luck with getting her in, and he thanked them.
When Fang and Flower finished, Lupan and Wren told him about the pan flute. Fang suggested that the best course of action, in terms of finding out where Quest's family would be buried, would be to ask his uncle. He knew the town, he'd lived there his whole life. They did, and what they discovered was that there was a memorial to the Dragon Lancers more to the southwest.
Wren also took a moment to talk to the flute, to see if it had any insight. Unfortunately, all she got from the object was an alarming vision. She was a little shorter, running through a crowd. Everyone was shouting, screaming. Behind her was an earsplitting roar. Overall, the flute seemed to have a severe sense of sorrow and fear being here. The flute also conveyed a sense of nostalgia though and in her mind, Wren saw a tiefling woman and a tiefling girl in her mid-teens, both with long, dark hair and copperish-red skin. Quest's mother and sister, they presumed. They decided to catch up with Nana and Keviks to see about getting this flute buried.
~~~~~
Nana and Keviks found out that the guildmaster of Hero's Way was actually looking for various beast and monster parts. They stopped by the guild hall, and found a few familiar faces.
Boomer was actually there, talking to Lindsey Woods. Lindsey is a half-elven woman in a wheelchair who looked like she was in her mid-twenties. The party knew her as the receptionist for the Hero's Way guild in Kystad, so what was she doing here? As it turned out, Lindsey (or at least this one, as well as the one in Kystad) were Simulacrum - magical copies of another person. The original Lindsey worked at the guild's headquarters in Lanti, and she'd been copied this way because (in her words) she was the only one who knew how to run anything in this place. While she went to inquire about the griffon parts, another familiar face turned up, though this one was a bit less known.
Nana and Keviks both knew of Veers - the changeling that worked for Hugo DeMarco, the lich guildmaster of Hero's Way in Kystad. They'd seen Veers with two others: an elven woman in heavy armor and an inventor-type human man. That same man exited the back of the guild hall, and introduced himself to Boomer, who was allegedly waiting for him. He said his name was Liam. Nana and Keviks did not speak to him as he and Boomer left, but kept that knowledge in mind for later.
After turning in the griffon parts to Lindsey to give to the guildmaster, they asked about the jobs that were available.
Lindsey said, "Well, we've had some trouble with human traffickers lately in the area which is always a problem. We're basically asking for any adventurers who see them to kill them, and, if possible, take at least one alive and bring them here for questioning. Rewards would be given in gold based on either proof of death or the state of the living captive. Other than that... it's not us, but the Horizon Walkers asked us to let people know about a dragon hunt going on."
She produced a poster that read:
HELP WANTED: DRAGON HUNT
2 Adult Dragons
2 Wyrmlings
The entire hoard will be split among all participating party members.
Lindsey also told them, "I happen to know as well that the dragons they're going after are blue dragons, if you wanted to know. If you think you're up for it, I'd say go for it. I've been on a couple of these. You can get up to 1500 gold after the fact, depending on how big that hoard is."
"Each?" Nana clarified.
"1500 each," Lindsey confirmed. "But it's dangerous. Even those little guys can hurt a lot. But they also go in with parties of 10 to 12 people usually, so you won't be alone. If you guys want the job, head over to the Horizon Walker Guild. They'll give you more information and answer your questions. Tell them Lindsey sent you."
The party reunited in town, and after catching each other up, decided to stop by the Horizon Walkers Guild first before going to bury the flute. When they arrived, they were admitted upstairs to see the guildmaster.
They were met with a changeling, somewhere in their mid-40s. However, strangely, their hair and eyes were a bright pink color. They introduced themself as Ruz (pronounced like the word "ruse" - ROOZE) and they were the guildmaster. Between what they told the party, and what Nana recalled of blue dragons, this was what they knew:
- Blue dragons are definitely not the strongest of dragons, but they are among some of the smartest and most tyrannical.
- It is not uncommon for them to mate for life or even get married. Ruz knew that to be the case for these two dragons.
- They typically lair in deserts, but since the explosion of chromatic dragons in Midtia, many have found their homes in the mountains.
- Blue dragons should never, under any circumstances, be fought in the air. They're too quick and prone to escape.
- They have a burrowing speed, but it's more effective in desert sands than it would be in the mountains.
- The party would be chiefly in charge of the wyrmlings, and in that case, should never allow the wyrmlings to reach their parents.
The hunt would begin on the day after tomorrow. The party agreed to meet in the front hall of the Horizon Walker's guild hall at about eight o'clock in the morning.
From there, they traveled to the southwest part of the village, where they found the Dragon Lancer memorial, at the very back of a graveyard. The memorial consisted of statues of each Lancer. However, in most pieces of art, their leader - Variel, the elven paladin - was always front and center. In this case, Quest was actually the center statue, and his statue was sitting on top of a dragon's skull. His legs were crossed, right over left, and he was playing a stone pan flute. The base of his statue read: "Quest Carron, the Dragon Lancer: 832 - 880." Beside Quest's statue, on either side, were two tombstones. The one on the left read, "Nevina Carron: 814 - 851." The one on the right read, "Melody Carron: 837 - 851."
Wren produced the pan flute, and took a moment to play a song of mourning. The notes echoed telepathically in her brain, just as they did through the air. The whole party felt warmth coursing through their bodies that felt so much like nostalgia and relief, mixed with grief. The last notes, even after Wren stopped playing, almost seemed to echo for a little while longer.
"Here?" Wren asked the flute quietly.
In her chest, she felt a severe sense of longing. It could only mean one thing: Here. Now.
Nana used Mold Earth to create a small hole by the statue. Wren dropped the flute in, and they buried it again. The small mound glowed for just a second, a bright red light.
Behind them, they heard, "You did it..."
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| Dragon Lancer: Quest Carron Tiefling Form College of Satire Bard (Art by @guttertongue on Twitter) |
When they turned, standing before them - fully corporeal, it seemed - was Quest Carron. Tears streaked down his face and he smiled so wide and thankfully.
Back by the statue, there was a shimmering sound, and before the party were two people: a tiefling woman and a tiefling girl - his family. Quest approached them, and wrapped them both in his arms.
"I'm almost done," he assured them. "We're so close."
"I know," his mother said. "We'll be waiting for you."
His sister wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. "You'll be great."
At last, he stepped away. His mother and sister disappeared, and Quest turned to the party.
"I can't thank you enough for the kindness you've done for me today... but I will have to ask one more favor of you, if you'd be willing."
They agreed, and Quest led them very excitedly out of the village a ways, heading south. They went into the mountains, where Quest eventually stopped. He waved his hand and the rock crumbled inwards, revealing a tunnel. He warned the party to tuck and roll on the way down, and jumped in. They could hear him cheering and whooping on the way down. Upon closer inspection, this tunnel was, in fact, a slide. The party climbed in, and made their way down this dark, twisting slide. They all landed with relative grace, and the assistance of Feather Fall courtesy of Nana.
They found themselves in a real tunnel now, leading only in one direction. Nana's lantern lit the way. Quest was nowhere to be found. They followed the path to the end, where it opened into a large, stone cavern. In the center was an area that was slightly raised, like a pedestal. On top of the pedestal was an egg made of copper.
And then it shook. And shook again. And again. And then it tumbled to the ground, the shell scattering into several pieces.
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| Quest The Copper Dragon Demigod |
"Oh," it remarked in Common, "this is going to be fun."
The dragon led the group further into the cave, and they found themselves in a new cavern. This one was filled with gold and gemstones. There was a large, round table with fresh food available and a stage in front of it.
Of course, the party had multiple questions. The dragon took to the stage to answer them after some coercion.
"My name is Quest," he told them. "I am formerly Quest Carron, and I am now a god. Or almost. I'm almost a god."
They learned quite a few things about Quest, the metallic dragons, and about the fate of his fellow Dragon Lancers:
- The first metallic dragons were recorded as creatures of folklore - complete fiction - and people believed in them so much that Odin took notice. It was Odin that granted the first iteration of the metallic dragons their godhood.
- The dragons reincarnate when great evil is about to come upon the world. They choose heroes to fight the great evil, and then those heroes, when they die, become the new metallic dragons. That was what happened with Quest and the other Dragon Lancers. So, considering that they're being reincarnated now... a great evil is coming. Quest does not know what it is.
- Things, however, didn't exactly go to plan. The Dragon Lancers didn't die - not technically. In their last fight with an ancient red dragon, that dragon had arcane abilities he should not have had. Each of the Lancers ended up trapped in (what Quest believes) would be their most valuable possession. For Quest, that was his pan flute. For the others:
- Variel, the elven paladin, was attached to their sword
- Axel, the changeling monk, was attached to his staff
- Tylfine, the half-elf sorcerer, was attached to her locket
- Dharvas, the triton wizard, was attached to his spellbook
- While in the pan flute, he could sense his companions' presences, which is how he knew they were all probably, like him, trapped.
- They spent considerable time buried underneath rocks until they were all unearthed by the same tiefling with black skin and green eyes. Quest described him as a sleezy merchant.
- It was discovered that their items had necromantic auras, and the merchant hired people to attempt to separate the "magic" from the items. Their spirits were still awkwardly tethered to the items, but now they had to possess whatever was available to try and find their way back to those items.
- Now that Quest's spirit was a) reunited with the flute and then b) put to rest, he should have been able to ascend to godhood... but it appears that there is another step he was not told about by his predecessor, whose name was Celenwe. He has no idea how to "transcend" as he put it.
The party decided to help him, in any way that they could. They also resolved to try and find his friends in their travels. So, Quest joined the party, disguised as a gold tiefling with red eyes and white hair that goes by the name "Deceit." He insisted on going to the nearest tavern, for his first drink in two hundred fifty years.
On the way out, Quest also insisted that Lupan would see The Spring Lord again. Tonight. Suddenly, Lupan also felt like a drink was a good idea.
The party decided to accompany him, all except Nana. She took the time to fill in the prince, who was shocked (to say the least) by this revelation. She spent the night giving him all the necessary information. She also wrote a letter to Hugo DeMarco and sent that off, informing him about everything that happened with Quest. She'd made a deal with him to keep him up to date on the situation regarding the dragons.
It seemed as though, for the time being, the party had adopted a copper dragon demigod.
~~~~~
ART LINKS:
https://twitter.com/guttertongue/status/1045505333265924097
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