Various discussions with dragons via the Dragon Necklaces before the party entered the Underworld.
Jon Marston and Ryan
The huge green female dragon swirled her neck down to come eye to eye with Mr. Jon Marston. Her red tongue flicked out, missing his check by an inch. The tongue quivered in the air for a couple of seconds before the great dragon retracted her tongue.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, as if she was in a state of euphoria. In a husky female voice she said, “Oh, how delightful, you smell of horses and livestock — oh, how I love to eat a plump horse. If you are to ride me in today’s race, you simply must promise me a pick from your herd. Where are they?” She lifted her head and scanned left to right, hoping to see his horse or a cow.
Jon Marston chuckled. He reached into his “storage”, and pulled out a small canvas sack and said,” I keep this to smell on when I get homesick. It reminds me of ye ol’ hacienda! Don’t fret Darlin’, if we win, I will take ya hunting. Ya look like you could Burn the Breeze.”
Ryan snorts, smoke billowing from her nostrils. “Very well,” she says. “We will shall hunt for a cow once this race is over.”
She lowered her neck, offering Marston an easy way to climb onto her back. Before Marston could fully get settled, Ryan suddenly vaulted into the sky, the force of her power forcing Marston to grab on to her saddle horn with both hands to avoid spilling out of the saddle and plummeting down the ground far below. Given that they started late, they had a lot of ground to make up.
“You know — I probably ate your parents — I remember a woman who tasted like you smell.” Ryan said, with a sly smile on her face.
“Where are you from?” She asked, as she picked up speed, trying to catch up to the other dragons.
“I am from the small ranch town of Netting.” Jon said, as he expertly held onto the back of Ryan, and continued,” I know you did not eat my Ma, you may have tried but she was too tough. Mayhaps it was a neighbor of mine more than likely.”
Ryan laughed, “Well, let’s get on with it… I want the cow and Sue has a lead already… he doesn’t lose.”
Argone and Sue
Argone’s dragon’s necklace glowed…..
Argone looked down at it, puzzled, and said “Now, right now, you want to talk”. He then stared down at his friends in distress.
Argone’s dragon necklace faded and the light went out.
As Argone looked at his chest, his tattoo, which normally radiated magical energy, lost it light and turned into a regular tattoo. He felt the magic gift of fire bolt fade….
Argone gritted his teeth and shrugged it off, saying to himself “Never used that thing anyway.”
Feng and Loo
In the middle of the fight, Feng’s dragon necklace glowed.
Feng blinked a little and touched his necklace “… Loo?”
Avari’s dragon necklace glowed, and then faded.
“It’s happened!” said Loo. “The truce has truly been broken….”
Feng held his necklace, remaining vigilant as he concentrated on his spells. “Broken…. are you and the others going to fight?”
Loo said, “Fight who? The good dragons are gone! Destroyed! A box of Orden was opened!”
Feng’s eyes opened wide “Oh no… L-Loo do you know who found a box? Would your box be close by to the good dragons?”
“I don’t know but I …. we are extremely worried…”
“The boxes were not originally together — they were separated and well protected — so no one could easily get them all together and open all of them at once,” said Loo. “You haven’t found a box yet have you? Promise me— if you do, you will not open it!”
“I haven’t”, said Feng. “As I speak to you, I’m in the middle of fighting against demons.” He paused, feeling the weight of worrying lying on his shoulders “… Loo, I would not ask you this because I understand how dearly you followed keeping this a secret… but with the truce broken, and the good dragons gone… please… even if you won’t tell me everything, tell me anything you can about the boxes. If anything, so I can keep them safe. I already thank you for telling me so much before, but if there is anything that would help us in anyway.. please… you’re my friend…”
There is a pause.
“Will you promise me with a blood oath— that you will not use what I will share to harm the evil dragons?”
Feng also paused, nodding to himself “I promise. I don’t want the destruction of any dragon. Evil or Good.”
Kriick and Blaze
Meanwhile, Kriick, unable to move anything but his eyes, looked down at the glowing necklace in his waistband pouch. “What the heck is glowing?” he wondered. Suddenly remembering the evil dragon who was linked to it, he thought, “Mmm maybe I should put that on sometime.” Then he looked up at the demon about to kill him. ”Oh well I’ll never find out now” he thought, and squinted his eyes shut waiting for the final blow.
Kriick’s necklace glowed, “Psst…it’s Blaze.”
A magical energy rushed from Kriick’s necklace into his body, filling him with a tingling power. It did not hurt… the “hold person” is broken!
Kriick heard Blaze say in an annoyed, why-are-fooling-around-voice, “I could not shake you off to save my soul but you let a little hold person spell stop you? Really? I need you— all dragons need you!”
Feeling his body released from the spell Kriick replied to Blaze. “Umm thanks Blaze! Sorry I haven’t kept in touch but so much has been happening lately I really haven’t had time to talk plus I think we started off on the wrong talon! Right now I’m a little busy but at least I have a chance now! I’ll put the necklace on after this fight and I can see what I can do to help… that is if I survive!” Kriick then got ready to uncanny dodge the next attack.
Kriick sits up rubbing his eyes looking around then frowns. He thinks to himself, “I wonder where Argone went…probably to the outhouse. I know eggs don’t sit well with him.” fishing the necklace out of his pouch he slips it around his neck and replies “Oh hey Blaze! What’s going on? Sorry I didn’t try to contact you earlier I was injured pretty bad in the fight against the demons and I really needed the rest. I feel better now. How can I help? My crew told be something about one of the boxes of Orden being opened?”
Later that evening, after surviving the fight and talking to Jon but before falling asleep, Kriick went over the events of the day then suddenly got an idea. Reaching up, he grasped his dragon necklace. “Psst! Blaze! Ummm are you there?”
Blaze replied, “I need you, we need you, to find the Box of Orden that is located at the Grey Citadel!”
Kriick continued to try to contact Blaze. Finally, there was a response, “I’m not supposed to talk to you— your friend’s kidnapping of Esmeralda is causing a dragon war. You are the enemy.”
After hearing this, Kriick’s hopeful expression was replaced by a nasty scowl. “Oh, so everything’s all good when you’re calling me asking for help but the first time I call to possibly ask you for help suddenly I’m the enemy huh? As for Esmeralda she is where she is at because of her own actions!”
Kriick’s voice gained more courage as he continued on. “And as far as my friends go, I can talk to them about Esmeralda but we make decisions as a group so I can’t guarantee my friends will release a dragon who tried to KILL us!
Here I thought dragons were very wise and intelligent but even though you lose all the good dragons you insist on separation and war instead of coming together to save your species!”
His voice suddenly changed to annoyance. “You know what!?! I don’t even know why I reached out to you! I never really liked you in the first place and I don’t know why I was even paired with you in the first place! I’M NOT EVIL!”
Blaze replied, “Esmeralda was acting to stop the druid that travels with you. There is an ancient prophecy that an Air Genasi arch druid will open the Boxes of Orden and, hello, you travel with the ONLY such druid on Vala! Esmeralda, yes, a very nasty dragon with a temper, did attempt to kill Feng, but only to protect all dragons from the Boxes of Orden being opened. The problem is that Esmeralda partnered with Rexx, who allowed his wrath towards Argone to bleed into Esmeralda through some clever lies told by Rexx. So instead of just killing Feng, they went after Argone.”
“That is where Ess… that is what we called her, made her mistake but it doesn’t change the fact that Sue broke the truce when he allowed your party to take the polymorphed Esmeralda. That was a direct violation of the terms of our treaties and the evil dragons have declared war. Just when the war was to happen, someone opened a Box of Orden and the good dragons were destroyed. The evil dragons are still preparing to wipe life from Vala as they are likely all going to die once Feng opens the remaining Boxes of Orden. I am risking my very life talking to you… Xexilia, an Ancient Aberrant Gold Dragon is leading the Chromatic dragons. If Xexillia finds out I am sharing this with you, I will be torn apart. Do you find it odd that a Gold dragon is leading the Chromatic dragons? It is because of the opened Box of Orden!”
Avari and Esmeralda (aka, Ratatouille Story)
Avari glanced down at his necklace and pushed down the wave of disgust that threatened to overtake him. After the information he had gleaned from Feng’s retelling of his conversation with Loo and his own conversation with Chatter, what had happened seemed quite evident to him. Coolly, he released a breath, and the swirling emotion with it. There was comfort in futility.
“What’s done is done, and the loss of an obligation only means the gaining of freedom”, he told himself. “It serves them all right for holding archaic traditions and truces in such high regard.” Whether or not he truly cared that little hardly mattered; he had become very skilled indeed at lying over the years, and his favorite target was himself. Sinking into the comfort of his own words was much easier than any further consideration. Yes, he could believe this was a good thing if he so wanted to.
Avari poured himself a goblet of wine, finishing it all in one go. He spent a moment staring into the dregs left clinging to the bottom before slamming the vessel down, coming to a decision.
Turning to the gilded cage that he kept Esmeralda in, he pulled it closer. “We’re going to have a talk later, you and I.” Not waiting for a response, as he knew that in her polymorphed form she only had the capabilities of a common rat, he reached into the cage to grab the rat and put her in a sack. Esmeralda snapped and clawed, but eventually Avari was able to get her inside a burlap sack which swung wildly in Avari’s hands as Esmeralda tried to contort her body around inside the bag.
Avari cast Sleep on the rat, who immediately fell asleep. Next, Avari began the ritual casting of Deep Focus, soothing the perpetual fire storm in his mind down to a gentle simmering. Once complete, he put a finger to his lips, the corner of his mouth quirking up slightly as a soft whisper of “Sleep now…” escaped. Next, with a slight grimace, he folded his hands until the Symbol of the Black Goat was formed, targeting Esmeralda. Now that all of the pieces were in place, he was ready to begin the real meat of his plan, bestowing a curse upon Esmeralda. He cast Bestow Curse with a similar effect to Bane, turning Esmeralda, in rat form, into a crystal (inanimate object).
Alone now with his shiny new statue, Avari made use of Speak With Inanimate Object. “Greetings and salutations to you, Esmeralda…I don’t believe that we’ve formally met. I’d very much like to get to know you properly, however.”
Esmeralda answered, “Who are you? Why have you imprisoned me?”
Avari casually replied, “I really don’t feel like it, so I don’t think I will. I mean, why should I?”
“LET ME OUT! “SHE IS COMING!” yelled Esmeralda. She continued, “I obeyed!”
“That sounds like you have a problem,” said Avari.
“SUE! SUE!” bellowed Esmeralda. “I DID WHAT YOU ASKED!”
“If that’s the case, then this changes the situation,” said Avari.
“There is a particular saying that I favor: Shouldst thou partake in foolish games, thou shalt only be the victor of foolish prizes. I believe it applies here very nicely, do you not? I have no pity for those that would seek to manipulate others when their attempt backfires. If this is true, and I do not believe that you have the mental faculties to lie to me right now, then you and your kind are beyond dead to me.”
“Huh? too many big words. LET ME OUT!” said a confused Esmeralda.
“I will make it easier for you. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. It is this, or death,” said Avari.
“Those are both very interesting questions with complicated answers. Did you know that you are the first dragon in all of this to ask me about my identity or motivations? A rather glaring oversight, I think, but I digress.” A thoughtful look crossed Avari’s face. “Who am I? I could give you a name, but that would hardly mean anything. I could tell you that I am a firm believer in the arbitration of justice, which is to say that justice is arbitrary, and I am acting as arbitrary arbiter in every sense, but that doesn’t really explain anything, does it? No, the relevant answer would be to tell you that I am a dragon, but I am also an outsider.” He paused. “As to why I have ‘imprisoned’ you, the chief answer, though you may not like it, is for your own safety. I have done nothing to you that I cannot undo, even if I am being repeatedly pushed towards greater extremes by the other dragons. I needed you safe, protected, and out of the way while I look to secure and protect the boxes of Orden. I made a promise to Sue and Chatter, and if nothing else I am a man of my word. If it really is true that you must be tried by the Dragon Council, I must keep your condition pristine until I have restored those dragons which have vanished. Lastly, I wanted to talk to you, which is far easier and safer for the both of us this way.”
At this time, Kriick, Jon Marston and Feng all received urgent alerts from their dragon necklaces as Avari was casting various spells on Esmeralda as detailed below in separate headings.
Meanwhile – Feng and Loo
Feng blinked, very unsure what was going on. “Loo? What are you talking about, what’s happening?”
Loo replied, “You have turned Esmeralda from a rat into an inanimate object so she can traded for ale! The Outrage!”
“The gall! The dragons are why you lesser races are even alive and this is how you treat us! The truce was designed so dragons would not harm the lesser races– and the lesser races were to avoid hunting and harming dragons. But this is too much. I, and most of the neutral dragons are going to side with the chromatic dragons — we cannot allow this to continue. The disregard for dragons is unacceptable… we can’t let anyone retrieve or let alone open a Box of Orden!”
“Loo!” Feng’s voice turned firm again, slightly more mature than it used to be upon their first meeting. He didn’t know much about what was happening yet, but he didn’t like being talked down to yet without reason. “Loo, I ask you because I did not know what has happened to Esmerelda until you spoke of it… I have located one of the books… the Book of Counted Shadows…. the one you told me about needing… because I took what you told me seriously and to heart. Currently I keep coming across people who want to take every aspect of the natural order and break it into tiny pieces to fulfill their own gain, which more than likely will result in not just the death of dragons, but what’s sounding apocalyptic if things take a domino effect.” Feng sighed and took a breath, pulling his knees to his chest, and his voice turned softer now, again showing some of his youth “Loo there’s so much happening… and.. and some of it is stuff I’m not even aware of until I’m being accused of something… it feels like being younger again…” he paused, looking to his pendant for a moment before closing his eyes.
There is no reply from Loo.
Feng waited a moment, his heart hurting slightly, but he held his head up and replied, “You may not trust me… and you may not speak with me anymore, for you see me as lesser and a liar. I know I can’t very well convince you either because as you remember my charisma isn’t high and I’m probably fumbling my words… you may even hate me now… I have a feeling that my life will be one that people attempt to take for the second time in my life, though this time I know not very much why… despite all of this… and despite how you feel… I’ll still do what I feel is right. I have done nothing to Esmerelda and again, I don’t know what has been done. If it’s true what you say… then with full confidence in my heart, I know you aren’t correct. Think of him as you might, but Avari wouldn’t trade her like some trinket… on that note while I shall not chastise the way of the dragons, I will bring up that I have not appreciated how this situation has been handled on several fronts. You may look at him and scoff… and I’m not casting blame on anyone specifically… but Avari would have given her back from the very start if asked… and yet we aren’t told any of this until it is far too late, and then our party is expected either to let someone who tried to kill us polymorph right back into a black dragon right in front of us, or to hand her over to people who claim they are doing Sue’s will. Why, in all of this, did Sue not just tell Argone this? Why didn’t anyone tell anyone anything until we reach a point where things can only further escalate while the rest of the world suffers?” He took a breath before closing his eyes.
“Again, you may hate me well after this… you may pick a side and choose to fight against these lesser species. I’ll still be here, being me, even if I’m a lesser… I like me… and I’m going to do what’s right. And when this is all over… and we all do our best to fix everything… I’ll visit you… Even if you attempt to kill me… I’ll visit you and see how you are… because even if the bond is broken, you are still my A-Loo.” He paused for one more moment, just adding in at the very end, “I like to think though… even if it’s just a little bit… even if I’m a lesser creature… I did mean something to you as a friend.” With that, Feng focused his attention on something else, clearly upset about the situation at hand.
“Do you know why we were paired at the Dragon’s Challenge?” Loo quietly said, after a long time.
“Why?” Feng asked back after his own moment, thinking back to when he first met Loo.
“We are both from two different worlds… we are tasked with keeping the balance. And the others, what did you observe about how they were matched?” said Loo.
“Everyone had something similar with their dragon partner… that they had with themselves” said Feng, touching the necklace thoughtfully.
Loo replied, “Yes… Sue, without consultation, tries to match the riders with dragons that might identify with… you know, find common ground. To what end, though?”
“I can see that being frustrating, especially if the common ground you believe to be there does not exist on his side of the table,” said Feng.
“He paired the evil dragons with those of your crew with ‘good’ hearts, and the good dragons with those in your party with more chaotic and even selfish natures, hoping that, perhaps, each combination of dragon and rider would form a bond that would carry through after the dragon challenge so that the truce would continue. But your group failed, for you must realize by now that Esmeralda had not gone ‘rogue’ — it all part of the challenge. The sleep — the polymorph— all planned,” explained Loo.
“She was playing her role — the unexpected — the ‘surprise’— the point was to test Argone’s ability to keep the truce under extreme conditions,” said Loo.
[DM note: I have been waiting so long for this reveal].
“Sue allowed you to take Esmeralda, again as a test. The point was to see how you treated dragons.”
“Feng, the prophecies speak of a Gensai arch druid that could free the dragons from the curse of the boxes of Orden AND save Vala. When you arrived with Argone for his challenge, we dragons sensed something… hope.”
“But your friends have shattered that hope….” Loo said and then paused.
“I was paired with you to measure your character as I too, sit in the balance. If you really are the fulfilling of prophecy, how you balance the recklessness of your closest friends will demonstrate whether you are capable of the greater task at hand. You seem to be a cork in the ocean — you make no attempt to manage the conflict within your party. You should rise and claim the mantle of the arch druid — protect the balance! All of Vala is counting on you, I am counting on you!”
Feng paused again, before finally taking a breath “If this is all true, then why were you so shocked when I told you about the reading I received relating to the prophecy, followed by ‘I thought you cared about dragons?!’? before we briefly discussed the boxes? Was that a test?”
“Prophecies, many at least, have conditional forks, like A or B but only A=C. Yes, any intelligent being with knowledge or a forked prophecy would investigate without revealing much. Also, think back to when Esmeralda was disrupting the ceremony, she did not use her breath effectively or perhaps even at all and she allowed herself to be put to sleep. Most Dragons can just choose to save, particularly with something as basic as sleep gas. Chatter was also being tested — you will recall it was his first challenge. Chatter had a legacy — he needed to be tested too. He didn’t harm Esmeralda with Sleep— it was designed to see whether he would try to harm Esmeralda. So, just like we didn’t share the entire test plan with Chatter, I also acted surprised when I reveal things to you— you have not proven to me that you are the fulfillment of prophecy yet. I need to see how you react to emotions and new facts. I am doing what any arch druid would do— I am trying to maintain the balance,” said Loo.
“One of the purposes of the dragon’s challenge is to see if the dragonborn are integrating properly with the other races— again to measure the health of the truce. A dragonborn that does the test with only dragonborn support cannot be the Chosen One. The prophecies tell of the Chosen One, who has allies across the races. Argone was the first possible Chosen One— but now without other evidence, it seems that he and your group are a false hope…. a false fork of prophecy.”
Loo said, “We are ancient dragons, we have very complicated ways… do not underestimate a dragon… ever – even Chatter and his childlikeness. Even he has dragon’s magic.”
Feng took a deep breath, thinking over everything that has been said. There are a lot of things he could say… but for now, all he could say was this “I know dragons are complicated, but regardless… I know who I am… and I will do my best.”
Meanwhile – Ryan and Jon
{And a reference to Simon and Garfunkel!}
“Jon!” said Ryan through the Dragon Necklace, “What has happened to Esmeralda? You must break her out of the glass prison she is in. SHE is coming and it is not going to be good for anyone!”
Jon hesitated, then asked,” Who is she? Alma? Please Helm not Alma?!!”
“Xexilia, an Ancient Aberrant Gold Dragon, is coming for you! And us!” yelled Ryan.
“Here is the thing, Darlin’, I cannot help with Esmeralda because I am not with Avari”, Jon explained. ”I am in some sort of Demi plane of hell and he is not! You have my permission to find him and set him on fire, but you cannot kill him!”
Ryan retorted, “You know what Aberrant means right? It means not normal, not your standard ‘goodie-two shoes’ gold dragon, no…. it means something has changed it, something has warped it, it is NOT normal and it 100 times more powerful than any of us, oh, and it bat-shit crazy!”
Ryan continued, “Yeah, basically, she is a demi-god dragon and she is pissed!”
“I hear ya, and it sounds like you better hurry and find Avarii!!”
“We are ALL in danger –not just from another A-hole opening another Box of Orden and killing either the neutral or evil dragons, but we are now all in grave danger from an angry bitch who switches her allegiances whenever her current lover gets up to wash his face.”
[DM NOTE: “Xexillia” is pronounced like “Cecilia”– so Ryan’s last comment has a Simon and Garfunkel reference, and you have to either be over 40 to understand that or a fan of excellent folk music.]
