The Dragon Chronicles – Chapter 38: To Everything

The Shadar-kai were a threat to the town, but not one we were not prepared to deal with personally.  The problem was, we had enough other things to deal with already, and their threats to keep sending more and more of their kind to the town was an annoyance.  Rather than going to the root of this weed to irradicate it, I had the idea that we should instead use them to a common end.  The Shadar-kai are not naturally hateful, but view their part in the world as the helpers of the Raven Queen, the goddess of death.  They do not seek to prolong life, but instead feel that it is the most important part of life, and it is their duty to make it so.  If you fall in battle, it was your time to go.  Plain and simple.  I stayed up late that night to draft a letter, to get my thoughts in order for what case I might make to the Shadar-kai to convince them to work with us.

I wrote the letter addressing them respectfully.  Death is a natural part of life, but I stress the word natural.  The people of Fellhaven have enough death without the help of the Shadar-kai.  Fine warriors, I called them, and said that for people who take no measures to preserve their own life, it was impressive that they had come so far as fighters.  There are greater battles to be fought in the empire than the pointless slaughter of townspeople.

“What is it you want?” I ask them.

The Raven Queen has her place.  Killing and death are not just for the good people of Fellhaven.  They can please their queen and feed her the deaths of the hordes that seek to destroy the empire and dominate the world, whose numbers are many and whose deaths will earn them a greater respect and acclaim.  As followers of the Raven Queen, they must also see the importance of balance and understand that the more thriving a society becomes, the more deaths they can give her in the future.  Seating an evil god in power ensures a sudden flow of death followed by a void.  There are things worse than death that the evil gods may turn on the Shadar-kai.  they will control them and in that time, the Shadar-kai will not only welcome death, but pray for it and it will not come.

I spoke of the man who paid them to cause trouble in Fellhaven.  An enemy of the future of the empire, he will be killed in time anyway.  They would not get their payment if we reach him first, but they would get their share of the larger part of his assets if they help to remove him.  They would also have the help of a small army to counter those in his immediate charge.

I ran my letter by the group in the morning and we decided to go forward with the plan, but we would need to find a courier for the message that would not be slain on sight by the Shadar-kai.  Cherry did some investigating and found a man who was willing to set up a meeting with the Shadar-kai.  He requested to meet us back at the tavern in a few days, after he spoke with their leader personally.

About this time, I remembered Cherry’s birthday would be coming up.  I wanted to do something fun to suprise her.  I brainstormed with Iceborn and Kriv and we determined that it would be most fun to throw her a party disguised as an ambush where the bandits are really strippers.  My idea was to have us attacked someplace out of town, but that was dangerous and it would be hard to sneak the presents and foods to the location without her knowing.  The guys thought it would be best to place the party at the tavern.  Everything would be kept behind the bar and the strippers would be rowdy patrons.

It was the day of the meeting with the shady messenger.  We went to the tavern to discuss the plans.  He told us that he could take us to speak with them the following day.  As soon as he left, a man approached the table calling us out.  Mocking us and demanding some sort of proof that our band of misfits had actually killed a dragon.  Cherry, not one for taking this sort of talk, jumped right in with a challenge of his manhood, to which a few of his buddies responded by coming to his side in aggressive stances.  They looked as though they were going to draw weapons in the middle of the tavern, as was Cherry.  She paused for a moment and suggested they take this fight outside.  At this point the minstrel changed his tune to a lively party ballad and the men tore their shirts off and started to dance for Cherry.  The look on her face was sheer confusion as the men got progressively less clothing on them, but when the pie and sticky buns were brought out and presents were placed on the table, she blushed and laughed until she cried.  It was a great party.  Gorgeous men, good food, good music; it was this sort of thing that brought gnomes and halflings closer together (quiet with the “short” jokes!)

Among the presents, I had prepared a new dagger for Cherry from the tooth of the white dragon.  I had given it a dangerous bite to scaled flesh, which she immediately tested out on Kriv, who reflexively knocked her across the table.  I laid my face in my hand and shook my head.  I expected nothing else, nor did I expect less than Lomweg popping up to enjoy the entertainment and a few sticky buns.

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The Dragon Chronicles – Chapter 37: Nightmare

As the second day was coming to a close, Iceborn came to me with some items that I had asked him to bring me in order to make a magic dagger from his broken horn.  I placed another card for the Akashic Order and went to my room at the inn to prepare the dagger.  As I was fastening the horn into place, there was a knock at the door.  The messenger had arrived.

I explained to him that I intended to infuse the dagger with a nightmare from my friend, and as such I would need the help of an Akashic to share the experience.  He seemed to think this would be possible, and offered us some tea so that we could get to sleep easily.  As we sipped the tea, another knock came at the door.

The messenger opened the door and turned to me to see if it was okay if “Heddro” came in.

“Oh, yes, let him in.”

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“No, it’s not what it looks like,” I laughed a little, “I’m enchanting a dagger for Iceborn and I need to share a nightmare with him in order to finish it.”

“Oh,” he said, not really sure what that meant. “Well, how long is that going to take?”

I turned to the messenger.  He looked a little confused for a moment at being brought into the conversation.  “It should only take a few hours.”  Heddro looked depressed.

“You can stay, if you want,” I told him.

“No, it’s okay, I’ll just be…around…”

I felt bad for him as he left the room.  I finished my tea and helped the messenger lay down runes around the bed.  He had us both lie down together, each with a hand on the stone that he used to carry thoughts.  In my other hand I held the dagger.  He chanted as we drifted off to sleep.

The shift was sudden.  I went from total relaxation to extreme anxiety as I was plunged into a fiery crypt with Iceborn.  Mutilated bodies reached out to us, clawing and tearing at our flesh.  He pulled me closer.  He moved forward toward a giant fortress.  I asked him if he knew this place, and he said it had never been there before.  As we moved in, we found ourselves in darkness that burned like fire.  I tied to move away from the burning, but it was everywhere.  Nothingness was scorching.

Another violent shift brought us to the edge of some tribunal of devils.  They argued loudly until one rose up above the others.  The lesser devils addressed him as Asmodeus.  My skin may have burned but a cold chill of needles crawled beneath.  As he spoke to the devils, it was clear that he knew about the vacancy left by Erathis and that he was also much desiring the throne.  As they debated the feasibility, his main challenger stood down and agreed to his demands.  He was promptly pulverized with one heavy blow.  The fact he had finally agreed was not the issue so much as the initial dissent, and this was to show others what happens when the boss doesn’t get his way.

I felt ill and couldn’t hold myself any longer, we both woke up.  The messenger sat back looking totally horrified.  Iceborn also looked confused.

“So this is what you see?  When you sleep?” I asked.

“This was new to me,” he said.

“It didn’t come from my head, and I never told you about Erathis.”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened to me in the garden.”

“What did happen to you in the garden?”

“When I went to Lakemists, the Princess informed me that the followers of Erathis have been keeping a sort of pattern or equation that helps them determined the events that will take place.  The only problem is that about the time we sealed the rift, the pattern fell apart and they can’t get it to add up.  It’s broken.” I explained.  “When I went to the garden, I met an avatar of Sehanine, and she told me that the reason the pattern doesn’t work is that Erathis is no longer the deity in charge.  The seat is open now to be claimed by any god and is determined by which ever can amass the most followers.  Which is why Tharizdun has been so desperate, why Tiamat has been on the move.  And it looks like Asmodeus wants it now too.”

Everyone was stunned when I finished talking.  I turned to the messenger whose jaw was on the floor.

“Owe me a few more?” I said jokingly.  There was a whimper.  Not from the messenger or Iceborn, but coming from under the bed.  My heart sank.  “Oh no.  Come on out, we’re safe now.”  Lomweg crawled out, eyes wide, shaking.  “We’re home again, we don’t have to go back there.”

“Promise?”

“Well, I can’t promise.  And for all I know that might come here.  But for now, we’re okay.”

The dagger was still in my hand, it was smoking and smelled like sulfur.  I handed it to Iceborn, who examined it.  “This is excellent.”

“Each day you can use that dagger to inflict your nightmare on an enemy.  They will see and feel what we did.  Just be sure you mean to kill them, because that nightmare had some very important information that you don’t want getting to the wrong people.”

Iceborn nodded in agreement.

“You and Kriv are the only people that know about my nightmares.”

“Lucky us.”

The Dragon Chronicles – Chapter 36: Execution

Peaceful, post-celebratory slumber was shattered by a knock at the door.  Helios called out in a panic.  There had been screaming from the refuge camp and rumor of ghosts attacking people.  The cleric woke up everyone at the inn, except Kriv, who he could not locate. In a hurry, we threw our clothes on and headed out to investigate.  People were hurt, some dead and being hauled off to the temple.  When we arrived, we found a small crew of sickly humanoids with chain weapons and dark leather bondage style armor.  When they noticed us, one glared at me with eyes much like mine, and I knew these were Shadar-kai.  Beings from the Shadowfell shaped by their worship for the Raven Queen.  I feared that the rift might have been reopened, but that was very unlikely since it was well-guarded.

No time to spare we rushed in to fight them.  The chain fighters lashed out, striking everyone in the area with brutal force.  I stepped back to get out of the way and began firing into them with gradual intensity to get a feel for the threat.  They were very tough, but not tough enough.  When all but one was slain, the survivor began to speed off down the alley.  He nearly escaped, but ran straight into my icy grasp.  I held him in place as the others decided what to do.

“Whatever you’re going to do, hurry, he’s dying as I hold him,” I shouted.

“Let’s tie him up and take him to the jail,” Iceborn said.

Holding on to a shred of life and chilled to the bone, he was released from the grip into a tangle of rope. We took him to the jail and put him in a cell.  The questioning began.  Where he was from, what he was doing, who he was working for.  All he could tell us was that he had come from Monolith, paid to stir things up, seek us out and kill us.  He would not tell his employer’s name.

After this, the debate started over what to do with him.  He had killed people here at the festival, so he could be put to death.  I proposed that his information was worth as much as his mercenary work, so I didn’t really care if he died.  Iceborn decided to make an example of him.

“Well, if I am to be put to death anyway, then I suppose I might as well give you the name of my employer.”

The Shadar-kai gave a name and we led him to the square.  Iceborn and Helios instructed the guards to have the children moved someplace where they wouldn’t see the execution.  Iceborn made the announcement that this Shadar-kai would serve as an example, that Fellhaven will not be pushed around and that murderers will be punished.  As the crowd looked on, Iceborn asked if he had any last words.  He shook his head.

“You fought well, may we meet again on a different battlefield,” Iceborn said as he brought his dagger to the Shadar-kai’s throat.

“Sooner than you think,” he responded and as Iceborn’s blade sliced, it met with only air.  Iceborn was alone.

A screech came from behind us, in the crowd and a floating apparition rose up.  People began to scream and flee.  Some started to attack each other.  As the area cleared, the Shadar-kai we had meant to execute approached from the end of the street with a handful of others.  Our immediate danger was the wraith between us and them.  At this time, Kriv was climbing though the waves of fleeing civilians.  He arrived just in time.

Taken off-guard and in no position for a fight, we were assaulted by the wraith.  Iceborn went mad and began to swing his axe.  His eyes fixed on me and I braced myself for the attack.  Luckily, in his madness he swung too far and only the handle struck me.  He shook off the control and turned to face the wraith.

Not wanting to get hit by my party again, I stepped to the edge of the street and began firing more serious spells.  The wraith finally dissipated and the Shadar-kai moved in.  They made menacing comments as they fought, saying we would fall eventually, that there would be more of them to come if they failed.  It looked as though they might not fail, the chain warriors were seriously dangerous.  The fighters had charged down the street to face the Shadar-kai head-on while Helios and I stood firm, out of reach of the flurry of metal.  A warrior slipped through and raced toward Helios, and in one swift motion, Helios flashed a holy light that sent the warrior running back the way he came.  He fell over himself and ran straight into the swinging blades and death.  His comrades were already being burned alive by my flaming sphere.  At last they fell.

We stopped to catch our breath.  As we looked at the bodies and at each other, we noticed that most of the damage we had taken had not come from enemies.  Iceborn took the most significant damage from the Shadar-kai, but Kriv’s only injury was a minor burn I had inflicted and I was bruised up from Iceborn’s attack.  The streets were quiet again.  People slowly returned to see if the Shadar-kai had been defeated.  There was a tension in the air and you could hear a heartbeat.

“Is this a party or what?” I shouted as I stomped off toward the festival area, trying to break up the silence.

The Dragon Chronicles – Chapter 35: Careful

Opting to forgo the evening festivities in favor of our first quiet time together in about a month or so, Heddro and I stopped for the night at the inn. He was quiet for a while as we looked out the window into the party outside. Lomweg perched on the ledge, breathing in the smells of carnival food and bobbing his head to the music.

The bed was just big enough for the two of us, so we spooned facing the night sky. Finally, Heddro broke the silence. He began talking about how he couldn’t believe he actually beat Iceborn in the tournament and how he felt like a different person since his time in Monolith.

Heddro left Fellhaven on his own after Monolith had been attacked. Since Trueflame would not even consider accepting him as a soldier, Heddro found a mercenary crew when he got to Monolith. His crew fought alot of bloody battles against evil dragonborn and kobolds. He still felt extreme guilt over the man he killed.

“He thought we were with them and he attacked us. We thought he was one of them, and we killed him. It was a mistake. It was a terrible mistake.”

I gently kissed his hand. He sighed and pulled me closer. He said he was glad to be with me.

“Every night when we would stop to rest, I would look up at the moon and think of you. Hoping you were looking at the moon at that same moment. I missed you.”

“While I was on the road to Lakemists, when I would stop to make camp, I would fall asleep staring into the trees, hoping that one night I might catch you hiding in the branches.”

“I worried about you. I know I shouldn’t. You’re a dragon slayer, you’re so much stronger than me and I know your friends need you.”

“I think I need them more than they need me,” I explained how I had been able to do so little when Solstice was poisoned and how I had nearly let her be killed because I couldn’t stay awake.

“And where were your friends while this was happening?”

“Well, Kriv was guarding the temple and the others were…at the inn I guess…”

“Sounds to me like you can do quite a bit on your own.”

We talked about why Heddro felt the need to fight in Monolith and how he didn’t want to go back. I told him he didn’t need to go back and I didn’t want him to. There was plenty of call around Fellhaven for dedicated guards.

“So, I have to ask, where’s your brother been while all this is going on?” Heddro asked lightly.

“Well, that’s something I need to tell you,” I said hesitating as I tried to think of how to explain the situation. The fact that I was Tock was irrelevant at this point since that physical difference was no longer an issue. For all intents and purposes, where Heddro is concerned, Tock never was Tock.

“What? You’re not really related and you’re seeing each other?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. That would be easier to explain.”

“What then?”

“Well, we’re really…the same person.”

“You are not the same person, there’s no way. How?”

“I dressed like Tock…”

“But you had a beard…”

“I’m a wizard. Simple tricks can imitate that,” I held out a hand against the moonlight and conjured a sixth finger.

“Gah! Okay, stop, I don’t want to know what else you can do with that. So you mean to tell me that all the times Tock was with us, that was you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? I mean, why would you want to dress like that?”

“It started back at the university. People treat you different if they think you’re…”

“If they think you’re a man…”

“…yeah…it was just easier sometimes to be someone else.”

“So I shot you with the crossbow that day in the forest?” Heddro started to look back at all the encounters with Tock.

“Yes. You did,” I pressed his fingers to the scar. “I’ve never really understood why it left such a scar.”

“You were the one with the dagger to my ear.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re here with me now?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you cared. When that orc nearly killed me and I was bleeding down there in the sewers. When the fight was over and everyone else had started scavenging the bodies for gold, you came to help me.”

He held me tight. Still and quiet for a moment, I whispered, “I found another dragon.”

“Where?”

“The garden. It’s a silver dragon.”

“Like yours?”

“Like a full grown dragon.”

“And you just found it there? Did no one else notice a dragon in the garden?”

“It’s sleeping, disguised as a giant boulder.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know…” the room was quiet again. I kissed Heddro’s hand. He kissed the top of my head and I clutched his hand to my chest. He let out a sigh of pleasure as his body shifted. I rolled over to face him and kissed him again. His hand slid down my side across the scar on my rib. As things heated up, I stopped for a moment, “Be careful.”

“Sorry, am I being too rough?”

“No, I just…I haven’t…”

“Oh,” he said, pulling his hands back, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to…”

“No, it’s not that, just…be careful.”

The Dragon Chronicles – Chapter 34: Metal

Heddro fought a few more rounds of the tournament, eventually getting beaten by the wild man with the collar. It’s scary to think that guy would be moving on to the finals, because who knows what nastiness his bites were spreading.

Helios, our new cleric friend, was staying close to the arena to tend the bloodied fighters. Iceborn, Kriv and Cherry stayed at the arena also, sizing up the competition. After Heddro finished his fight, the two of us went for a walk around the fair. He didn’t say much as we walked through the streets of Fellhaven, but I could tell he wanted to. There was a look in his eyes that said he was happy to be there, but a plague of memories he couldn’t escape.

In a short while, word spread that the tournament finals had begun and the finalists would be facing Kriv. Wanting to see which lucky fighters would take home trophies, Heddro and I made our way back to the arena. Cherry seemed less interested in the fights and more interested in provoking one from Heddro, constantly shooting spitwads at him or tossing bits of her snack. He ignored her, but I was getting very irritated.

Kriv stepped into the arena, the crowd cheered wildly for the hero. His first opponent would be wild man. It was nasty, but not even close. Though the wild man got some bites in, he actually did very little damage to Kriv’s scaly hide. Kriv wailed on him with massive fists and feet, causing the wild man to stumble a bit at the end. Shaking off the dizziness, the wild man paid no attention to his battered face and was ready for a fight to the death when the judges called the fight. His master quickly tied the leash back on him and dragged him away.

“Ugh, bitey thing,” Heddro shuddered as he watched the wild man leave the arena. He rubbed his arm in the spot he had been attacked earlier in the day.

The last fighter to reach the top of the ladder and have the chance to fight for a trophy, Atrak, the warforged. Kriv groaned as he pondered where he might be able to strike the metal warrior. Iceborn slapped him on the shoulders and gave him a few motivating words and the fight began.

Atrak was not particularly agile, but he was able to take the hits with no trouble. Kriv relied more on his combat experience to know when to dodge the metal assault. For a while it seemed like neither was getting anywhere, and the fighters paced the arena as if it were a ballroom. Finally, Kriv spun around and laid a heavy, clawed foot into Atrak’s torso and the metal bent with a horrific sound. You could hear the crowd’s shock and excitement. At this point, the spectators became very vocal, cheering and shouting. The fight had gotten very interesting now that the unstoppable Atrak had been shown to be vulnerable.

Having none of this, Atrak hurled everything he had into the fight, seeing Kriv as his first worthy opponent of the day. Sheer force bludgeoned Kriv’s body as Atrak’s fists and feet ignored any attempt to block. Equally ferocious, Kriv roared in with carefully timed strikes. Iceborn coached his friend from the edge of the arena, giving him encouragement to go on in spite of the pain. Both fighters backed off for a moment to gather their strength and then quickly charged in for an intense clash. The sounds of flesh on metal rung out at an incredible pace as the warforged and dragonborn seemed ever more eager to reveal a victor. Kriv was beginning to look as though he would soon be out of the fight, but his opponent didn’t look so great either. Hearing the cheer of his friends gave him just enough power to rush in with a furious chain of blows. The final strike sundered rivets and the pieces of Atrak’s torso popped open as he staggered to his knees. Pausing for a moment and staring up at Kriv, the kneeling Atrak brought up a fist and tapped out.

The crowd screamed with excitement. Kriv helped Atrak to his feet, and because the fight had been so tremendously close, Kriv presented Atrak with a trophy. “I might have won, but you kicked my ass. You earned this.” Atrak accepted the trophy, looked it over and then held it up to his shoulder to see how it might look as ornamentation. Helios met Kriv as he left the arena, looking him over for injuries.

Day One of the festival was coming to a close, but the first night was just beginning. Music and light filled the air of Fellhaven.

Out of Character: A Campaign Evolves

So this Dragonsbane Empire game is really coming along. We’ve added a new player to the group. An old buddy who’s always been into D&D, and has tested out 4e with another group, has decided to play a cleric of Pelor. Yeah, I know, that fits into the story perfectly. He didn’t really get to do much during the first session, but we did get him into the group plot-wise. The tournament was awesome fun, and the “changes” to my gnome…well…that’s been pretty fun too. I feel like Tock/Lola gets to be a gnome again.

Tock’s circumstances had gotten very serious as of late, and while gnomes are very open about their emotions, one shouldn’t go on feeling blue for a prolonged period. It was also an important change, because it felt like although he had obeyed the luck of the draw without question, that was not at all Sehanine’s will. She asks that her followers make their own destiny and let nothing tie them down, and Tock had grown practically dependent on the cards to decide for him. Until the moment he had to choose.

Lola is a different person. She doesn’t ask permission to exist as she is or love who she loves. She understands that as much as Sehanine has chosen to live in her, her heart knows the divine will better than a deck of cards.

The other players in the group are seeing some changes in their characters as well. The dragonborn initially denied his heritage and wanted nothing to do with it, but now he wants to do what is right. He wants to be a faithful follower of Bahamut after seeing and experiencing the other side of things. Evil exists and there is a reason Bahamut stands up to it.

The tiefling is also beginning to see that there is some honor in this life and his mercenary past does not dictate his future. What once desired a level of control, now realized that those who follow choose to do so, and that being a leader means making the decisions and taking the heat for it. It is a job, but one he does well.

Cherry remains very much the same. She needs to have fun and if she’s bored, she’ll make her own fun. Very often her fun comes at the expense of others. She has difficulty biting her tongue, but has gotten better. Her first impression of a person is often the one she tends to keep, and she doesn’t believe that a person can change. Maybe because she herself has not changed…yet.

Well, now that my gnome mini is a poor representation of my character, and because I’ve really enjoyed playing the wizard, I decided to buy a real mini and paint it for the game. On order from Reaper, I’m waiting for Cassie, the gnome wizard. She’s cute, and hopefully the right size. Fits my character perfectly. I’d love to get new minis for everyone, because now that we’ve put so much time and thought into them, the generic D&D minis just don’t cut it. The dragonborn is just some human fighter who we meant to paint blue, the tiefling has a mohawk but no horns, and the halfling is actually another gnome but carries a handaxe. You can see the problem here. If I could afford it, I’d buy them all special minis. Perhaps if they would like to buy the mini, I can paint it for them. Would be nice.