![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
<<< || Previous || Next || >>>
The plan was executed. That evening the party dined at Tiffanys then got an early night after which a rumour began to spread about a nest of dragon eggs now unguarded. In between they visited the smith to collect a small circular token allowing them to exchange short messages with Jeffery over a distance, the workings arcane but Aiu took possession and was startled in the morning when it vibrated in the pocket of her robe to announce (in words scrolling around the rim) "Cart moving 16 soldiers 1 general". After a bit of fiddling she managed to send a return message asking if Anthony was personally leading the exhibition and received a reply in the negative.
Overnight a large venomous snake had somehow made it's way into the inn and curled up with Daggakorian. Given the option Markos is far more comfortable with the totem warrior having a snake companion than a dragon companion, as the egg is still showing signs of life. No one else was willing to pass comment as long as the viper seemed content to remain near the mojh.
Also Aiu seems to have grown a little, perhaps starting to come more fully into her growth as a giant.
From the upper story of the inn it was just possible to see the cart leaving town along with two rows of foot soldiers and two mounted figures. It was not moving terribly fast, there was going to be at least an hour before they would be far enough outside town to be followed discretely. Meanwhile the party ate a humble breakfast prepared by Earl and set about replenishing supplies. Zenon found it easy to purchase alchemical frost from Tabitha then joined the others visiting the smith (where Jeffery was also), Aiu to replenish her supply of arrows and the others to enquire what the smith could make of the scales and claw taken from the body of the broodmother wyvern.
The smith suggested if they could get more scales he could craft a set of armour with the same protection as metal but only half the weight to replace Aiu's chain hauberk, and Zenon's souvenired talon could be used as a component in a wand - although the price quoted for the construction made the witch flinch and say "maybe later". To help with the first the smith lent Aiu a large hooked butchering knife and a magical sack connected to a box in his workshop. To Zenon he offered an alternative for of payment - after the current mission he will prepare a list of components which if collected would serve to reduce the price.
To aid with the current mission against Anthony and possibly involving facing a dragon the smith offered one more boon, the loan of any single item from his store. Markos and Aiu perused the shelves attempting to outdo each other in identifying the most useful enchanted weapon in Daggakorian's preferred style. Aiu handily outdid Markos and the final choice came down to one of three swords, identical except for the gem set in the pommel - ruby, emerald or sapphire representing fire, acid and cold damage respectively. Markos made the final decision strategically - emerald, as he, Zenon and Zedezir have access to fire and cold spells.
By now the cart and its escort had all but disappeared over the horizon so the party set out behind, the tracks plain enough for anyone to follow. When the remains of the watchtower came into view several of the horses and one guard could be seen standing outside and rather than risk a warning being raised they detoured around through the forest to pick up the tracks again where they entered the canyon.
The guard at the tower was later revealed to have been a "straw man" - regardless it did it's job.
No other sign was seen up ahead until reaching the mudslide which although somewhat dried since the previous day showed clearly where the cart had lost control on the way down, with the horse breaking loose and fleeing. All was quiet although as usual the nearby waterfall made it rather hard to be sure. Daggakorian crept down the slope to the lip overlooking the cave entrance and could see the cart still lying where it landed, one wheel broken.
Further investigation revealed booted tracks leading into the cave and the dragon egg above the mouth still present in its alcove, although definitely within hours of hatching. The one in Daggakorian's backpack was also becoming increasingly active. Not to leave well enough alone Daggakorian then crept through the entrance cave to the corner above the nest chamber, once there waving the others forward - Markos eagerly following but Zedezir choosing to wait awhile by the cavern entrance.
In the nest chamber was witnessed a large blue wyvern (Wrath) surrounded by Kings Guard pikemen trying to hold him at bay. The most perceptive members of the party noticed that Wrath has runes imprinted in his hide. Someone yelled something about "hurry up and get the eggs" and another broke and ran before the wyvern erupted into action, first knocking several guardsmen to the ground with his tail before unleashing a burst of brilliant white flame from his mouth. When those party members watching unshielded their eyes little was left of the pikemen but rapidly cooling armour and the smell of vaporising and cooking flesh.
In her backpack Daggakorian's egg cracked, and squeaked. The wyvern's head twitched towards the sound, then back to the nest - out of site of the party but where similar sounds were beginning to be heard. Aiu seized the initiative and taking Daggakorian with her stepped out to give Wrath his egg back. Her rapid explanation appeared to be ignored as he responded with a roar so loud that the giant fell to the floor with her hands over her ears. The sight of the egg apparently stayed further action although as the encounter went on it became obvious how hard he was fighting against his very nature not to simply tear the party apart. Daggakorian inched past Wrath towards the nest, egg in outstretched hands, every bit of the wyvern's attention focused on her until Markos stepped forward and respectfully addressed him in the language of dragons, explaining* that this egg had been stolen by the captain of the guard in the town of Brimsworth and how our companion insisted we returned it.
*And by explaining I mean lying through his teeth, although there was a kernel of truth to the story.
Wrath responded with a less thunderous growling roar which finished with the word "Anthony" and Markos confirmed that was who he meant. Markos then told of the egg outside and asked if we should also bring that in - Wrath's response was "Child" which Markos took to be a yes and grabbing Zedzedir for assistance ran back outside, a ready Acrobatics spell preparing him to climb and retrieve the egg which by this stage had a crack running from top to bottom.
While this was happening Daggakorian reached the nest, just in the nick of time as her egg shattered revealing a tiny silver wyvern which stared at her for a moment, then sneezed fire (the mojh escaping injury by virtue of having no eyebrows - or other hair - to singe off) then did it's best to buffet her with surprisingly large wings before toppling backwards into the nest. The egg Markos and Zedzedir were carrying hastily-but-carefully burst just as they entered the chamber, a small gold-coloured wyvern scampering away towards the nest. Other colours sighted were blue, red green and pink but by this point the party were taking their leave. Markos had the temerity to ask Wrath that should he take revenge on Anthony he leave the other innocent townsfolk of Brimsworth be, to which Wrath responded with another deafening roar this time driving all to the ground in pain, but nevertheless letting them leave in favour of attending to his children.
Pushing his luck a little too far...
Outside it had begun pouring down with rain and the slope had once again become slick and treacherous. Instead the party set off along the river bank in search of somewhere to wait out the storm; eventually finding a rounded cave. It had the look of a ceremonial chamber of some description and Markos cast Detect Magic to confirm that the cave was indeed highly magical. There is a ceremony stored within that anyone can access and activate through a much simpler ceremony, and from the clues around it was deduced that probably this is a ceremony for bonding with an unhatched dragon, activated by lighting a fire in the hollow of the pillar in the center of the chamber and placing the egg over top. Since there seemed to be little spending the night here would do to damage the location the party settled in.
Come morning it was still raining and the exit was obstructed. A mesh of vines had formed covering the path back down to the riverbank, and Zedezir easily identified them as belonging to a species of carnivorous plant also known for its noxious spores and gases. Markos tried burning them away with a spell, to little effect, so when they were traced to their source - a large mushroom-like trunk above the cave entrance, he stepped back to let Zenon try his hand with cold. Indeed a few flasks of thrown alchemists frost were enough to encase the trunk, causing a pressure to build up inside and resulting in a very messy end to the creature.
About this time another message arrived on the "coin" carried by Aiu, simply reading "Anthony moving. Get out". Although she sent back a response trying to ascertain where Anthony was moving the reply didn't clarify matters much. To complicate matters "Big Red" was spotted hunting on the other side of the river, picking up and carrying off the horse which had broken loose from the cart the previous day. Faced with the choice of carrying on downriver looking for another way back up the cliff, attempting to cross the flooded river where a set of steps could be seen leading up the cliff on the far side, or returning to the cavern and possibly having to face off against Anthony ... the party set off back upstream.
Reaching the cavern entrance they discovered that the wagon had been set upright and the wheel replaced, although not firmly attached. Someone had been loading bits of eggshell into it and Markos removed a couple of the pins securing the wheel before once more the group crept into the cavern. Peering around the corner there was neither sight nor sound of Wrath or the hatchlings, but a filthy man in the remains of a Kings Guard uniform could be seen grabbing up the glowing mushrooms and stuffing them in a sack. Markos had a spell prepared for just this sort of eventuality and cast Detect Creature (Lycanthrope) confirming that yes, yes it was. When this information was shared with the rest of the group they were determined that he should not be let live, and it was Aiu who stepped out first with bow drawn. However before she could shoot the man dived to the side disappearing into what should have been a solid patch of floor, beneath a layer of water which had flowed into the chamber with the rain. Markos doubled up on a lessened Fireburst hoping to outline a hidden creature in the flames but instead boiled away the top layer of water revealing a channel eroded through the sand and disappearing through the wall, easily deep enough to allow a person to pass.
Not knowing how far it might go, and no-one being willing to face a werewolf alone underwater in tight quarters the party instead turned their attention to the nest. One unhatched egg remained - infertile or simply late to hatch it was impossible to tell. The nest did yeild a few baby-scales and even a few of Wrath's large blue scales but not enough for Aiu's / the smith's needs. The party was about to move on when the man burst back out of the water, gasping and spluttering and cursing the party for staying, which rapidly turned into begging for his life to be spared so he could look at beautiful women.
After some questions and a lot of mistrust it was established that this was Jurro, not the brightest of guardsmen but nevertheless another of Anthony's captains. He was aware the party was responsible for Hinds' death and while impressed had no wish to follow him on that road. He became a soldier because he thought it would bring him glory, riches and women and made it clear he would do his best to remain loyal to Anthony both because Anthony pays him and it's a matter of honour/pride, and because Anthony supplies the medicine which lets him control the curse. However if let go he saw no need why the party need to appear in his report about being ambushed by Wrath (he escaped only by fleeing, but the burns had yet to finish healing, hence the mushrooms.) He would doubtless be punished for failing to get an egg, but that seemed to him to be the better option than becoming an uncontrolled beast.
"Show us on the doll where the bad man bit you.' - Aiu/L.
Jurro was persuaded to (reluctantly) show the party where Anthony bit him (at the back of the leg, deep ugly scars) and to (even more reluctantly) give up for analysis a few drops of the medicine of which he only has enough for another couple of days. Anthony supposedly brews the medicine himself, and it was promised that if a substitute can be found it will be made available to Jurro. (And the other werewolves as any way we can reduce Anthony's hold over them is to our advantage. Anthony was also apparently a werewolf even before any of the captains knew him.)
In the meantime it was still too wet to climb out of the oasis but Jurro had another option - if we were prepared to follow him. Withdrawing a magical rope from his now clearly also magical bag ("about twice the capacity as it looks") he sent it across the by now dangerously mucky and sinkhole-ridden floor of the cave to fasten itself to rocks on the other side. Then tying the group together he commanded it to pull them safely across to the far side. This was a technical success - Aiu made it across perfectly with Zenon close behind but both Markos and Zedezir fell and were dragged through the thick mud.
Zenon demanded the bag but Jurro refused outright and none of the others were willing to support Zenon's claim.
Markos did suggest Zenon could challenge Jurro to single combat for it if he really wanted.
On the far side and down in the lower chamber Aiu set to carving chunks of scales off the body of the broodmother. Experimentally Markos put his hand in the smith's bag and felt around discovering not cloth but a wooden surface. He quickly penned an account of events to this point and left that as well. Jurro wondered if there might still be an egg in the womb of the Broodmother - he was left to find that out for himself and rejoined the group some time later, gory and disgusted with no success.
Outside the exit on this side of the river were lots of tiny wyvern tracks leading off into the jungle. There was also a partially completed cabin of burnt logs which Jurro claimed ("I built it, it's mine"). An impressive effort for the little time he had, and injured as well. (Again reluctantly and frequently flinching away) Jurro was persuaded by Aiu and Markos to let Zedezir properly clean and bind his burns - on closer examination while they were definitely healing at a somewhat accelerated rate this seemed to be unevenly distributed suggesting that just maybe the werewolves have weak points where they are not as resistant to harm.
Once more the party settled into wait out the rain.
[Session ends]
